Meditation for World Peace

Peace begins in the heart of each individual. When you center yourself in the love of God and focus your thoughts on peace, you create a sacred place within your heart, dedicated to experiencing and expressing the love of God. As you then begin to let divine love radiate out from you to your family and friends, you take the first step in generating peace around you. When you extend your thoughts of love and peace to your community, your country, and then to nations and people everywhere, you create an atmosphere of peace that embraces the world.

For Adult Children of Alcoholics

Freedom

Today I Affirm My Freedom From Addiction Of Any Kind.

I am alive and free!

So often I have followed a spiritual calling by going to the wrong address. What I strive for is wholeness - completeness and integration. I know now that serenity will not be found in chemicals, relationships, or in any unhealthy dependency.

In my search for meaning, I might have turned to chemicals, food, and relationships - only to emerge feeling empty, numb and confused. Today I stop depending upon people and things for my fulfillment. Today I declare myself free from unhealthy dependencies. I am a child of God and I am learning to see myself as God sees me.

My consciousness is awakened by the news that I have what it takes to live a full and productive life. Today I affirm my life and my freedom from addiction of any kind.

For Survivors of Sexual Abuse

Conflict Resolution

When I give full recognition and expression to my feelings and hear someone else out as well, a sense of resolution and well-being enters.

So often when others cross our boundaries or we cross theirs, we do not even understand that we've done so. Rather than explore our part in a conflict, we may drag out all our defenses to prove we are right, or to cling to an image of perfection. What started as an attempt to clarify something can easily end up as an argument in which we discount the feelings of anotehr and have ours discounted.

When I realize I had no modeling in my childhood for conflict resolution, I sometimes feel very incompetent. I've only begun to learn true listening in my recovery, so I feel like a two- or three- or six year old. In a way I am those ages, and this is good reason to look for progres not perfection. 

When I let go of notions of right and wrong an speak only to express, not to prove anything, then I will hear the messages of the heart's wounds, whether it is my heawrt or my partner's or friend's. When the heart has been made vulnerable and expressed itself, we begin healing and can move to a comfortable feeling of resolution.

For NA Members - Just for Today

Carry Me

"We believe that our Higher Power will take care of us."

We all have times when it seems as though our lives are falling apart. There are days, or even weeks, when it seems that everything that can go wrong is going wrong. Whether it's the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, or the end of a relationship, we doubt that we'll survive the changes taking place in our lives.

It's during the times when the world is crashing down around our ears that we find our greatest faith in a loving Higher Power. No human being could relieve our suffering; we know that only God's care can provide the comfort we seek. We feel broken but we go on, knowing that our lives will be repaired.

As we progress in our recovery and our faith in our Higher Power grows, we are sure to greet the difficult times with a sense of hope, despite the pain we may be in. We meed not despair, for we know that our Higher Power's care will carry us through when we can't walk on our own.

Just for today: I will rely on God's care through the painful times, knowing that my Higher Power will always be there.

Body, Mind & Spirit

How Important Is It?

The young man in the meeting was very angry and upset. His lawn mower had broken down. He was having a cookout in his back yard that evening, the yard "looked terrible," and he's paid a lot of money for that mower! After he went on for some time, an older woman gently interrupted him and asked, "Was anyone hurt? Was there danger? Would your guests walk out? And finally, "Did you lose your sobriety over it?" The young man smiled, as he answered "no" to all the questions. "No, it was not that important after all." 

We all overreact sometimes to situations, people, and events that, later, we see were really not important. The next time we are bothered by someone or something that threatens to ruin our day, we will try to remember to ask ourselves, "How important is it?" If it's not important, we'll spend our time and energy on what is important. There is a world of difference.

Today help me to know what is important, to forget what's not, and ask others for perspective when I'm not sure.