Give to the world the best you have and the  best will come back to you.
--Madeline Bridges

Sometimes we feel lazy or bored, and then we  don't do our best work. Perhaps we are daydreaming instead of listening closely  to what a friend is trying to tell us. When we are not really paying attention  to our activities or the people around us, we'll likely miss out on something  important because we do receive in equal measure what we give. And this truth  works in every aspect of our lives.

When we  treat our friends, our families, even people we don't know well with kindness,  we'll experience kindness in return. Our own actions and attitudes toward others  are what we can expect from others as well. 


You are reading from the book:
 Today's Gift by Anonymous

I cannot give you the formula for success, but  I can give you the formula for failure - try to please  everybody.
--Herbert Bayard Swope

Principles are rules or codes of conduct we  set for ourselves; like being honest, striving to be on time, and taking  responsibility for bills and expenses. It is up to us to abide by these  principles.

When we compromise a principle for someone else's benefit,  we jeopardize the strength of that principle and its
importance to us. If we  want to be honest, then lying to cover up another's actions compromises that  principle. If we want to be on time and someone makes demands that cause us to  arrive late, we have compromised ourselves and let someone else's desire  dominate.

We need to set certain standards for ourselves and abide by  them, even if another person will not be pleased. To let principles trump over  the demands and desires of another is a victory for our inner peace. If we are  true to ourselves, we will learn we can count on ourselves no matter what.

Is anyone making demands upon my  principles? Help me be true to myself and not make compromises I will  regret.
 
You are reading from the book:
Night Light by Amy E. Dean

It is impossible that anything should be produced if there were nothing existing before.
--Aristotle

Everything comes from something. All the organic compounds in our world come from four elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. From these simple ingredients have developed the marvelous chains of self-replicating proteins that fill the planet with jungles, gardens, farms, the swarming life of the sea, and four billion people.

Each of us contains all human possibilities within ourselves. Nothing that we do comes from nowhere; we all have the capacity for great goodness as well as great selfishness and blindness. The choice, at every moment, is ours. What will we use out of our formidable repertoire of responses?

Most of us have a pattern of response that we are comfortable with. Our habitual behavior saves us from the discomfort of always having to make a choice. But in exchange for comfort, we give up a little bit of our spontaneity. Every once in a while, it's good for us to become aware of what our habits are, and what determines our usual behavior.

Today I'll take myself off automatic pilot and navigate the whole course in person.
 
You are reading from the book:
The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg

The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but  from hope to hope.
--Samuel Johnson

A truly powerful force in the universe is that  of optimism. Optimism lies at the root of our mental and physical health.  Feelings of hope can stimulate the body’s immune system and inspire recovery  from a critical illness.

Optimism expresses itself in the persistence and  resilience of living things. A child learning to walk repeatedly falls down and  picks himself up until he stands erect. A decade after the eruption of Mount St.  Helens destroyed the local ecology, life had reestablished itself on this  volcano with amazing abundance and rapidity. And despite its hostile  environment, a sole dandelion miraculously pushed itself up through a crack in  the concrete. That dandelion was optimistic that it could and would  survive.

In the long run, the forces of love and life always triumph over those of fear and death. No matter how 
challenging the obstacles or difficult the tests, there is always cause for optimism.
 
You are reading from the book:
Listening to Your Inner Voice by Douglas Bloch


 

A man has made at least a start on discovering  the meaning of human life when he plants shade
trees under which he knows full  well he will never sit.
--D. Elton Trueblood

Our lives are enriched by the contributions of  those who lived before us. Many men and women gave more than they ever took from  society, and now we enjoy the rewards. Some people were fired with a spirit to  beautify the world and planted trees that will live for 200 years. Others wrote  music that speaks to us from another generation, and others established a  government that guides our principles of justice. They gave so much because they  knew they were a part of their community and the world.

Most of us cannot  make the great contributions that will make us famous, but we enrich our lives  when we contribute freely to improving our community and the world. We do that  when we simply say hello to our neighbor, when we serve on a volunteer cleanup  committee for a local park, and when we do Twelfth Step work in the program. We  too have beautified and contributed to the world, and that gives us a feeling of  peace and self
respect.

Today, I  will appreciate all that comes freely to me from others, and I will give what I  can to make the world a better place.
 

You are reading from the book:
 Touchstones by Anonymous

The sad truth is that most evil is done by  people who never make up their minds to be either good or  evil.
--Hannah Arendt

How often have we found ourselves in a  predicament and innocently saying, "How did I get into this?" When someone has  been injured by our actions because we failed to think about them, do we take  the responsibility? If a friend is unfairly treated on the job, do we take a  stand for him? When we know people are starving, what do we do about it? When  our loved ones say they are lonely and wish we would talk to them, how do we  respond?

In this program we have chosen to live by our values. We cannot  sit passively and fail to live up to those values. Each situation is different,  so we must think about what is called for. When we do not think about our  reactions, we are in danger of adding to the evil in the world. When we act upon  our principles, we feel more hopeful and wholesome.

Today, I will be  alert to the difference between good and evil in my actions. I pray for the  strength to take a
stand.

You are reading from the book
 Touchstones by Anonymous