bluidkiti
04-02-2023, 06:58 AM
God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
and Wisdom to know the difference.
Thy will, not mine, be done.
April 3
Daily Reflections
ACCEPTING OUR HUMANNESS
We finally saw that the inventory should be ours, not
the other man's. So we admitted our wrongs honestly and
became willing to set these matters straight.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 222
Why is it that the alcoholic is so unwilling to accept
responsibility? I used to drink because of the things
that other people did to me. Once I came to A.A. I was
told to look at where I had been wrong. What did I have
to do with all these different matters? When I simply
accepted that I had a part in them, I was able to put
it on paper and see it for what it was - humanness. I
am not expected to be perfect! I have made errors before
and I will make them again. To be honest about them
allows me to accept them - and myself - and those with whom
I had the differences; from there, recovery is just a
short distance ahead.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When I was drinking, I was absolutely selfish, I thought
of myself first, last, and always. The universe revolved
around me at the center. When I woke up in the morning
with a hangover, my only thought was how terrible I felt
and about what I could do to make myself feel better. And
the only thing I could think of was more liquor. To quit
was impossible. I couldn't see beyond myself and my own
need for another drink. Can I now look out and beyond my
own selfishness?
Meditation For The Day
Remember that the first quality of greatness is service.
In a way, God is the greatest servant of all, because He
is always waiting for us to call on Him to help us in all
good endeavors. His strength is always available to us,
but we must ask it of Him through our own free will. It
is a free gift, but we must sincerely seek for it. A
life of service is the finest life we can live. We are
here on earth to serve others. That is the beginning and
the end of our real worth.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may cooperate with God in all good things.
I pray that I may serve God and others and so lead a
useful and happy life.
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As Bill Sees It
Atmosphere Of Grace, p. 93
Those of us who have come to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it
than we would refuse air, food, or sunshine. And for the same reason. When we refuse
air, light, or food, the body suffers. And when we turn away from meditation and prayer,
we likewise deprive our minds, our emotions, and our intuitions of vitally needed support.
As the body can fail its purpose for lack of nourishment, so can the soul. We all need the
light of God's reality, the nourishment of His strength, and the atmosphere of His grace.
To an amazing extent the facts of A.A. life confirm this ageless truth.
12 & 12, pp. 97-98
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Walk in Dry Places
More will be revealed
Spiritual Growth
There's an old saying, "To him that hath, more shall be given." That saying applies to our growth in AA. If we dedicate ourselves to the program, new information and understanding will continue to flow in our direction.
This is not because God is singling us out for special favors. It's simply a law of life. When we are interested in a subject, we find more knowledge coming to us almost "Out of the blue" as we continue to seek it. It's almost as if hidden forces were gathering up ideas and pushing them in our direction.
What's happened is that we have put ourselves in line for such growth. We have our antennae out, and we become conditioned to recognize useful ideas as they come to us. We are Open-Minded to our good.
This same process has also led to more general knowledge about alcoholism. When the early AA's attained sobriety, most of the information about alcoholism was summed up in a handful of books. Now there are hundreds of books, symposia, and speeches dealing with the subject. More was revealed, and we can hope that even more will be revealed as we continue to focus on recovery.
I can expect useful information to come to me from a number of sources. My interest in my recovery and self-improvement helps attract the information and understanding I need.
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Keep It Simple
Rest is the guardian of health.---Melba Colgrave
Now that we are sober, we're feeling better than we have in years. We're busy too. We attend meetings and visit friends. We have work,
school, families, and homes to keep up with.
It's easy to forget to rest. We forgot that our bodies and minds need time off. We need plenty of sleep each night. And we need a lazy weekend now and than to let our bodies recover from to go,
go, go of daily life.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me listen to my body. Remind me to slow down and rest now and then.
Action for the Day: How much have I rested lately? Have I gotten enough sleep each night? What can I do in the next two days to rest my body, mind, and spirit?
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Each Day a New Beginning
Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either. --Golda Meir
We all know people who live on the fringes of life. They seem uninvolved with the activity in their midst, as though a pane of glass separated them from us. And there are times when we join the persons standing alone away from the vibrancy of life. Fears keep people apart, particularly the fear of letting go of the vulnerable self and joining in the feelings of the moment.
To fully reap the benefits of life, we have to risk full exposure to one another and to the experience of the moment. Full involvement in the ebb and flow of life will bring the weeping that accompanies both the pain and the joy of life. It will also bring the fruits of laughter.
Both laughter and weeping cleanse us. They bring closure to an experience. They make possible our letting go. And we must let go of pain, as well as joy, to ready ourselves for the next blessing life offers us.
When we keep ourselves apart, when we hold off the tears or the laughter, we cheat ourselves of the richness of life. We have to go through an experience fully in order to learn all it can teach us and then be free of it.
Past experiences never let me go until I fully grieve those that need to be grieved or laugh over those that deserve the light touch. The present is distorted when the past shadows it.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 11 - A Vision For You
The very practical approach to his problems, the absence of intolerance of any kind, the informality, the genuine democracy, the uncanny understanding which these people had were irresistible. He and his wife would leave elated by the thought of what they could now do for some stricken acquaintance and his family. They knew they had a host of new friends; it seemed they had known these strangers always. They had seen miracles, and one was to come to them. They had visioned the Great Reality—their loving and All Powerful Creator.
pp. 160-161
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
EMPTY ON THE INSIDE - She grew up around A.A. and had all the answers--except when it came to her own life.
It's important to interject here that I loved to drink. Drinking put me into the middle of life. I was a social drinker--drinking made me extremely social. I didn't particularly like drinking with other women; I drank with the big boys. I always had a tremendous capacity for alcohol, and I learned to shoot an excellent game of pool, which made me quite popular in the local tavern scene. At one point I even had my own motorcycle. When I read "Bill's Story" in the Big Book and he said, "I had arrived," I knew what he meant.
p. 514
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
Maybe there are as many definitions of spiritual awakening as there are people who have had them. But certainly each genuine one has something in common with all the others. And these things which they have in common are not too hard to understand. When a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and resources alone. He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being. He has been set on a path which tells him he is really going somewhere, that life is not a dead end, not something to be endured or mastered. In a very real sense he has been transformed, because he has laid hold of a source of strength which, in one way or another, he had hitherto denied himself. He finds himself in possession of a degree of honesty, tolerance, unselfishness, peace of mind, and love of which he had thought himself quite incapable. What he has received is a free gift, and yet usually, at least in some small part, he has made himself ready to receive it.
pp. 106-107
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"The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what
direction we are moving."
--Oliver Wendell Holmes
"If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even
as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or
Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all
the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, here lived a great
streetsweeper who did his job well."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
--Anon.
A pint of example is worth a gallon of advice.
--Unknown
God, help me accept all the twists and turns along my path. Help me to
say whatever to the good and the unfortunate incidents that come my
way.
--Melody Beattie
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
WONDER
"Men love to wonder, and that is
the seed of science"
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
In my sobriety the world is a wonderful place. I often sit back and am
amazed at the splendor of life, at the simple happenings that give such
joy, at the nobility that is revealed in man, at the creative adventure and
mystery of life. I meditate in wonder.
Now I see how drugs kept me blind from so much. Alcohol kept me a
prisoner of mediocrity and much of the wonder of life passed me by. As a
drinking alcoholic I existed in life, rather than lived life. I was a bored
spectator rather than a participant. I reacted to things, rather than
initiated events Alcoholism equals dullness. Recovery symbolized energy.
Today I can dream dreams and rest in the wonder of it all. God is Good.
O Lord, let me see the wonderful mystery of life even in the ordinary.
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"Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you."
I Peter 5:7
"I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will
glorify Your name forevermore."
Psalm 86:12
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Daily Inspiration
We are extremely precious to God and are never left alone not even for one second. Lord, Thank You for Your promise to protect and care for me always.
It is important to remember that different can be better. Lord, as I resist change and cling to the familiar, help me to remember that Your plan is perfect and will truly make me happy.
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NA Just For Today
For You Alone
"The idea of a spiritual awakening takes many different forms in the different personalities that we find in the fellowship."
Basic Text p. 48
Though we all work the same steps, each of us experiences the spiritual awakening resulting from them in our own way. The shape that spiritual awakening takes in our lives will vary, depending on who we are.
For some of us, the spiritual awakening promised in the Twelfth Step will result in a renewed interest in religion or mysticism. Others will awaken to an understanding of the lives of those around them, experiencing empathy perhaps for the first time. Still others will realize that the steps have awakened them to their own moral or ethical principles. Most of us experience our spiritual awakening as a combination of these things, each combination as unique as the individual who's been awakened.
If there are so many different varieties of spiritual awakenings, how do we know if we've truly had one? The Twelfth Step provides us with two signs: We've found principles capable of guiding us well, the kind of principles we want to practice in all our affairs. And we've begun to care enough about other addicts to freely share with them the experience we've had. No matter what the details of our awakenings are like, we all are given the guidance and the love we need to live fulfilling, spiritually oriented lives.
Just for today: Regardless of its particular shape, my spiritual awakening has helped me fill my place in the world with love and life. For that, I am grateful.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could be better changed in ourselves. --Carl Jung
Children are smart. Remember how we used to imitate our parents' behavior? We'd dress up like them, mimic their words, even copy their attitudes. We wanted to be just like them because we thought they were the most wonderful people in the world. We can see this happen all around us, younger ones imitating parents, older brothers and sisters, and older friends. It's very flattering.
The problem is that children imitate not just healthy behavior and attitudes, but also sometimes the not-so-healthy. We get very uncomfortable when we look at a younger person misbehaving and see ourselves in that person. Suddenly, we aren't flattered any more.
When we see things we don't like in others, we must first look at ourselves to see if we need changing. This is all we can do--change ourselves. Others may follow our example or they may not, but we can be sure that, when we watch our own behavior, most of what we see of ourselves in others will be flattering.
What change can I make in myself to set a good example today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
If we were logical, the future would be bleak indeed. But we are more than logical. We are human beings, and we have faith, and we have hope, and we can work. --Jacques Cousteau
What is faith? It is believing in possibilities. It is the ability to carry on with our plans or to be true to our work even though we feel discouraged or tired. It is staying active in relationships even when we receive little in return or when our friends aren't able to respond.
If there were no doubt, there would be no need for faith. Faith is temporarily putting our doubts on the shelf and working toward our goals. Faith is trusting that help and support will be there for us even though they're not in view. It is looking at a map and choosing a new destination, getting on the road to go there, and trusting the marks on the map symbolize a real place that we will find.
I will leave room for my doubts and discouragement, but I will not indulge them. I will choose to go with hope. I will give my energy to the better possibilities.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either. --Golda Meir
We all know people who live on the fringes of life. They seem uninvolved with the activity in their midst, as though a pane of glass separated them from us. And there are times when we join the persons standing alone away from the vibrancy of life. Fears keep people apart, particularly the fear of letting go of the vulnerable self and joining in the feelings of the moment.
To fully reap the benefits of life, we have to risk full exposure to one another and to the experience of the moment. Full involvement in the ebb and flow of life will bring the weeping that accompanies both the pain and the joy of life. It will also bring the fruits of laughter.
Both laughter and weeping cleanse us. They bring closure to an experience. They make possible our letting go. And we must let go of pain, as well as joy, to ready ourselves for the next blessing life offers us.
When we keep ourselves apart, when we hold off the tears or the laughter, we cheat ourselves of the richness of life. We have to go through an experience fully in order to learn all it can teach us and then be free of it.
Past experiences never let me go until I fully grieve those that need to be grieved or laugh over those that deserve the light touch. The present is distorted when the past shadows it.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Acceptance
Surrender to the moment. Ride it out and through, for all its worth. Throw yourself into it.
Stop resisting.
So much of our anguish is created when we are in resistance. So much relief, release, and change are possible when we accept, simply accept.
We waste our time, expend our energy, and make things harder by resisting, repressing, and denying. Repressing our thoughts will not make them disappear. Repressing a thought already formed will not make us a better person. Think it. Let it come into reality. Then release it. A thought is not forever. If we don't like it, we can think another one or change it. But to do that, we must accept and release the first thought.
Resistance and repression will not change a thing. They will put us at war with our thoughts.
We make life harder by resisting and repressing our feelings. No matter how dark, how uncomfortable, how unjustified, how surprising, how inappropriate we might deem our feelings, resisting and repressing them will not free us from them. Doing that will make them worse. They will swirl inside us, torment us, make us sick, and make our body ache, compel us to do compulsive things, keep us awake, or put us to sleep.
In the final analysis, all that were really called on to do is accept our feelings by feeling them, and saying, Yes, this is what I feel.
Feelings are for the present moment. The more quickly we can accept a feeling, the more quickly we will move on to the next.
Resisting or repressing thoughts and feelings does not change us or turn us into the person we want to be or think we should be. It puts us in resistance to reality. It makes us repressed. Eventually, it makes us depressed.
Resisting events or circumstances in our life does not change things, no matter how undesirable the events or circumstances may be.
Acceptance turns us into the person we are and want to be. Acceptance empowers the events and circumstances to turn around for the better.
What do we do if were in resistance, in a tug of war with some reality in our life? Accepting our resistance can help us get through that too.
Acceptance does not mean were giving our approval. It does not mean surrendering to the will and plans of another. It does not mean commitment. It is not forever. It is for the present moment. Acceptance does not make things harder; it makes things easier. Acceptance does not mean we accept abuse or mistreatment; it does not mean we forego boundaries, our hopes, dreams, desires, wants, or ourselves. It means we accept what is, so we know what to do to take care of ourselves and what boundaries we need to set. It means we accept what is and who we are at the moment, so we are free to change and grow.
Acceptance and surrender move us forward on this journey. Force does not work.
Acceptance and surrender - two concepts that hurt the most before we do them.
Today, I will practice accepting my present circumstances and myself. I will begin to watch and trust the magic that acceptance can bring into my life and recovery.
I am open to positive changes in my life today. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Value Your Connection to Creativity
Creativity is a force– a living, real force. It’s the power of love, the power of life, a gift of the Divine. You’re connected to that force.
Open up to your creative powers– in work, in play, in love. Make creations that are beautiful to look at. Make creations you like to see, creations that are pleasing to you. Creativity comes in many forms– cooking, decorating, speaking, drawing, writing, or building a castle in sand at the beach. How you choose to create is up to you.
“I used to love taking pictures when I was a child,” one man said. “Then one day, in a rage, my father smashed my camera to the floor. He told me taking pictures was nonsense. It was twenty years before I let myself take a picture again. Now, I can’t stop.”
Who told you you weren’t creative? Stand tall, speak up, and tell them they’re wrong. Own your creative powers. Allow your creativity to heal and flourish.
Value your connections to creativity. Value the way you choose to express your creative power. It’s your expression of love.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Pray and manifest your power
The Sufis have a saying: Praise Allah, and tie your camel to a post. This brings together both parts of practice: pray, yes, but also make sure that you do what is necessary in the world.
–Jack Kornfield, Seeking the Heart of Wisdom
It’s easy to play the martyr. We spend our lives in struggle and turmoil longing for the sweet by-and-by when everything will be fine.
Today is the sweet by-and-by. Yes, right now. It’s here. If we’re to have good in our lives, it’s up to us to seek it out.
Here are two things the Bible teaches about faith. One, it says that faith is like a mustard seed. The tiniest bit of it can grow tall and in its own time will sprout. The other thing the Bible says is that faith without works is dead. If you’re not doing something, then you’re not keeping your faith alive.
Pray. Turn it over to God. But do something, too.
Stop waiting for someone to come along and rescue you.
Learn to rescue yourself.
God, help me take guided actions today to make my life a better place.
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In God’s Care
This instant is the only time there is.
~~Gerald Jampolsky
How many precious moments of sunshine, birds’ song, or friends’ laughter we never lay claim to because we’re lost in our thoughts about yesterday or tomorrow. God has given us these moments we’re experiencing right now, and in each one is a gift – intended for each of us.
The smile we get from a loved one or a stranger is precious and worthy of cherishing; but to cherish it, we must notice it When our mind is not quietly and intently immersed in the present, we fail to garner the strength God is offering us every moment.
Our higher Power is evident wherever we look, but we must see; our Higher Power is evident in every voice, but we must hear. Our Higher Power is evident within, but we must be quiet and know.
I will quiet my mind so I can see and hear and know that God is present, now.
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Wanting to Join
Dumbing Ourselves Down
by Madisyn Taylor
Playing it small in order to fit in with a group of people robs the essence of your soul level self.
The ability to go into any social situation and sense the level of consciousness in that situation is a gift. It enables us to move considerately in a world that holds people of all levels of awareness. However, there is a difference between shifting our energy to accommodate people and dumbing ourselves down to a regrettable degree. Sometimes, when we get into a particular social situation, we may feel pressure to play it small in order to fit in. Perhaps everyone is drinking or smoking excessively, engaging in gossipy small talk, or complaining bitterly about politics. It is one thing to notice this and modify our expectations and another thing entirely to join in.
When we notice where people are coming from and acknowledge to ourselves that their energy is not in alignment with ours, we have several choices as to how to proceed. One viable option is to quietly endure the situation, keeping to ourselves until it is time to leave. In this way, we take care of our own consciousness and protect our growth process. Another option is to interact in a way that honors and pays respect to the people in the group, while gently attempting to shift the level of consciousness with our input. In order to do this, we must maintain our own vibration, which means that joining in by dumbing down is not an option.
When we choose to dumb ourselves down to fit in, we not only sell ourselves short but we also lose a possible opportunity to influence the situation for the good of all concerned. Our desire to join in may come from our natural yearning to feel connected to the people around us. There is no shame in this, but being able to stand on our own, separate from the crowd, is a powerful milestone on any spiritual path. It can be difficult in the moment, but when we arrive on the other side, our integrity intact, we may find ourselves feeling positively smart. Published with permission from Daily OM
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
In almost every instance, the returned slipper says, “I stopped going to meetings,” or “I got fed up with the same old stories and the same old faces,” or “My outside commitments were such that I had to cut down on meetings,” or “I felt I’d received the optimum benefits from meetings, so I sought further help from more meaningful activities.” In short, they simply stopped going to meetings. A saying I’ve heard in The Program hits the nail on the head: “Them which stops going to meetings are not present at meetings to hear about what happen to them what stops going to meetings.” Am I going to enough meetings for me?
Today I Pray
God keep me on the track of The Program. May I never be too tired, too busy, too complacent, too bored to go to meetings. Almost always those complaints are reversed at a meeting if I will just get myself there. My weariness dissipates in serenity. My busyness is reduced to its rightful proportion. My complacency gives way to vigilance again. And how can I be bored in a place where there is so much fellowship and joy?
Today I Will Remember
Attend the meetings.
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One More Day
Excessive fear is always powerless.
– Aeschylus
Something may be interfering with our sleep. Eyes wide, we lie in bed night after night. We move through the days like robots, just getting by. Our lack of sleep may stem from worries and problems that we can’t face.
Our confrontation with illness may have suddenly made us see how powerless we are over some parts of our lives. Where once we had felt that everything had an acceptable answer, we now have to live with an answer we don’t like and we can’t change. We may pull that original sense of helplessness into other areas of our lives. Gradually, we understand that life has always been unpredictable; we just refused to see it until we were forced to. We learn to accept the things we can’t change and work toward changing the things we can. We deal wit our problems. Our anxiety subsides. We’re able to rest.
Today, I’ll accept unchangeable answers.
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Food For Thought
Trusting God
Most of us have spent a great amount of time and energy trying to order and arrange our own lives. We have searched frantically for something to hang on to which would solve our problems - a new diet, a new job, a new lover. Nothing has worked permanently. The harder we have tried to straighten ourselves out the more our problems have defeated us.
When we came into the OA program, we were advised to "let go and let God." At first, this may have seemed to us to be a huge cop out. The idea of passively waiting for a Higher Power to do for us what we could not do for ourselves was an insult to our pride and our illusions of self-sufficiency. We were afraid to let go.
Our Higher Power requires that we be willing to trust Him with our lives in order to receive His strength and direction. From our vantage point of limited knowledge, there is a risk involved in letting go. If we are willing to take this risk and if we have the courage to face our fear, we will eventually receive the peace and support which we so desperately need. Besides, what do we have to lose except our own weakness?
Grant me courage to trust You completely.
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One Day At A Time
~ The Future ~
When I look into the future, it's so bright it burns my eyes.
Oprah Winfrey
I receive the gift of abstinence one day at a time. I am relieved from the obsession to eat one day at a time. With the help of my Higher Power, I can live life on life's terms... one day at a time.
As my recovery builds and builds, I start to imagine all the possibilities for my life. Things I never had the confidence or emotional stability to pursue are options for me. Now that I am free from the despair and self-destruction of overeating, there is space to actualize new adventures. But before I become overwhelmed or grandiose in my thinking, the Program gently reminds me that it is STILL just one day a time.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will work my program so that I have a future.
~ Christine S. ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Cling to the thought that in God's hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have - the key to life and happiness for others. With it you can avert death and misery for them. - Pg. 124 - The Family Afterward
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Compulsion is a word you will hear a lot now that you have made the decision to begin recovery. You may often feel compelled to drink or use drugs again even when you don't want to. Compulsion is a symptom of our disease and we use all the new tools of our program to counteract compulsions.
Please help me understand that compulsion is a symptom of my disease and as such need not be acted upon. I offer my compulsive behavior to God, as I understand God.
Blessings
I can lose my blessings. If I don't appreciate them, they can disappear. If I feel overly entitled, if I take what is mine for granted, if I behave as if it is simply owed me and I don't need to notice or appreciate them, I am literally telling them to shrink. There is a wisdom, even a divine sort of self centerdness to gratitude, because what I focus on with appreciation has a way of expanding in my life. If I erase my blessings, I don't feed them with the grace of gratitude. If I give thanks for them, I show the creative force that brings forth all good things, that I am awake enough to appreciate what has been so generously given.
I know enough to say thank you
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
When things go wrong, they are not particularly anyone's fault. You can't expect every meeting to be perfect and your sponsor to have every answer. You know you can't control or fix everything that goes wrong and neither can 'they.'
When things go wrong, I don't let them get too far.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
To the mind that is still, the world surrenders.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I am open to positive changes in my life today.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
This deal is as simple as A.B.C. - Accept, Begin and Continue. It doesn't take a lawyer or some intellectual gorilla to decipher that. And you can do it downtown or uptown or anywhere else. It doesn't make any difference. And if you'll hold on to the God of your understanding, the truth about yourself - namely that you cannot take one drink - and hold on to your AA friends, you'll hold on to total abstinence. And that's the name of this game. - John C.
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AA Thought for the Day
April 3
Seeking Approval
Today I still enjoy getting the approval of others,
but I am not willing to pay the price I used to pay to get it.
I will not bend myself into a pretzel to get others to like me.
If I get your approval, that's fine; but if I don't, I will survive without it.
I am responsible for speaking for what I perceive to be the truth,
not what I think others may want to hear.
- Daily Reflections, p. 101
Thought to Ponder . . .
The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
P R I D E = Personal Recovery Involves Deflating Ego.
~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
Open Mind
"To get sober and to stay sober,
all you really need is a truly open mind.
Just resign from the debating society and
quit bothering yourself with such deep questions
as whether it was the hen or the egg that came first.
Again I say, all you need is the open mind."
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 26
Thought to Consider . . .
Minds are like parachutes -
they won't work unless they're open.
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
ABC Acceptance, Belief, Change
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Publicity
From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"Meanwhile, a great tide of public approval, stimulated by A.A.'s friends of press, radio, and in recent times television,
began to sweep in upon us and it has never ceased. Each month a clipping service feeds our Headquarters
scrapbooks with a very large amount of material. Writers constantly ask Headquarters to check their manuscripts. A.A.
members are helped to appear anonymously on radio and TV programs. The making of arrangements for publicity has
become a constantly increasing activity of our A.A. office. How many lives have been saved, how many years of misery
have thus been averted for thousands of alcoholics and their families, only God knows."
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pgs. 206-07
*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"In AA ... I was once again able to hear the sounds of nature. I looked at a pine tree one day and began to cry at how
beautiful it was. I learned to laugh again."
Marina, California, October 1994
"Birches,"
AA Grapevine
~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*
"We, in our turn, sought the same escape with all the desperation of
drowning men. What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be
the loving and powerful hand of God. A new life has been given us
or, if you prefer, "a design for living" that really works."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 28~
"An alcoholic in his cups is an unlovely creature."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill's Story, pg. 16~
For it is only by accepting and solving our problems that we can begin to get right with ourselves and with the world
about us and with Him who presides over us all.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 125
Misc. AA Literature - Quote
Atmosphere of Grace
Those of us who have come to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it than we would refuse air, food,
or sunshine. And for the same reason. When we refuse air, light, or food, the body suffers. And when we turn away
from meditation and prayer, we likewise deprive our minds, our emotions, and our intuitions of vitally needed support.
As the body can fail its purpose for lack of nourishment, so can the soul. We all need the light of God's reality, the
nourishment of His strength, and the atmosphere of His grace. To an amazing extent the facts of A.A. life confirm this
ageless truth. TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 97-98
Prayer For The Day: A Prayer for Being Grateful - Lord God, may we be grateful for our lot, and compassionate toward
all those who are suffering every kind of distress at this difficult time. May we hold back nothing, and hasten to be the
ministers of prayer and mercy, like the disciples of Him who went about doing good in times of need.
Ask and you shall receive,
Seek and ye shall find,
Knock and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7
Courage to change the things I can;
and Wisdom to know the difference.
Thy will, not mine, be done.
April 3
Daily Reflections
ACCEPTING OUR HUMANNESS
We finally saw that the inventory should be ours, not
the other man's. So we admitted our wrongs honestly and
became willing to set these matters straight.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 222
Why is it that the alcoholic is so unwilling to accept
responsibility? I used to drink because of the things
that other people did to me. Once I came to A.A. I was
told to look at where I had been wrong. What did I have
to do with all these different matters? When I simply
accepted that I had a part in them, I was able to put
it on paper and see it for what it was - humanness. I
am not expected to be perfect! I have made errors before
and I will make them again. To be honest about them
allows me to accept them - and myself - and those with whom
I had the differences; from there, recovery is just a
short distance ahead.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When I was drinking, I was absolutely selfish, I thought
of myself first, last, and always. The universe revolved
around me at the center. When I woke up in the morning
with a hangover, my only thought was how terrible I felt
and about what I could do to make myself feel better. And
the only thing I could think of was more liquor. To quit
was impossible. I couldn't see beyond myself and my own
need for another drink. Can I now look out and beyond my
own selfishness?
Meditation For The Day
Remember that the first quality of greatness is service.
In a way, God is the greatest servant of all, because He
is always waiting for us to call on Him to help us in all
good endeavors. His strength is always available to us,
but we must ask it of Him through our own free will. It
is a free gift, but we must sincerely seek for it. A
life of service is the finest life we can live. We are
here on earth to serve others. That is the beginning and
the end of our real worth.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may cooperate with God in all good things.
I pray that I may serve God and others and so lead a
useful and happy life.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Atmosphere Of Grace, p. 93
Those of us who have come to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it
than we would refuse air, food, or sunshine. And for the same reason. When we refuse
air, light, or food, the body suffers. And when we turn away from meditation and prayer,
we likewise deprive our minds, our emotions, and our intuitions of vitally needed support.
As the body can fail its purpose for lack of nourishment, so can the soul. We all need the
light of God's reality, the nourishment of His strength, and the atmosphere of His grace.
To an amazing extent the facts of A.A. life confirm this ageless truth.
12 & 12, pp. 97-98
************************************************** *********
Walk in Dry Places
More will be revealed
Spiritual Growth
There's an old saying, "To him that hath, more shall be given." That saying applies to our growth in AA. If we dedicate ourselves to the program, new information and understanding will continue to flow in our direction.
This is not because God is singling us out for special favors. It's simply a law of life. When we are interested in a subject, we find more knowledge coming to us almost "Out of the blue" as we continue to seek it. It's almost as if hidden forces were gathering up ideas and pushing them in our direction.
What's happened is that we have put ourselves in line for such growth. We have our antennae out, and we become conditioned to recognize useful ideas as they come to us. We are Open-Minded to our good.
This same process has also led to more general knowledge about alcoholism. When the early AA's attained sobriety, most of the information about alcoholism was summed up in a handful of books. Now there are hundreds of books, symposia, and speeches dealing with the subject. More was revealed, and we can hope that even more will be revealed as we continue to focus on recovery.
I can expect useful information to come to me from a number of sources. My interest in my recovery and self-improvement helps attract the information and understanding I need.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Rest is the guardian of health.---Melba Colgrave
Now that we are sober, we're feeling better than we have in years. We're busy too. We attend meetings and visit friends. We have work,
school, families, and homes to keep up with.
It's easy to forget to rest. We forgot that our bodies and minds need time off. We need plenty of sleep each night. And we need a lazy weekend now and than to let our bodies recover from to go,
go, go of daily life.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me listen to my body. Remind me to slow down and rest now and then.
Action for the Day: How much have I rested lately? Have I gotten enough sleep each night? What can I do in the next two days to rest my body, mind, and spirit?
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either. --Golda Meir
We all know people who live on the fringes of life. They seem uninvolved with the activity in their midst, as though a pane of glass separated them from us. And there are times when we join the persons standing alone away from the vibrancy of life. Fears keep people apart, particularly the fear of letting go of the vulnerable self and joining in the feelings of the moment.
To fully reap the benefits of life, we have to risk full exposure to one another and to the experience of the moment. Full involvement in the ebb and flow of life will bring the weeping that accompanies both the pain and the joy of life. It will also bring the fruits of laughter.
Both laughter and weeping cleanse us. They bring closure to an experience. They make possible our letting go. And we must let go of pain, as well as joy, to ready ourselves for the next blessing life offers us.
When we keep ourselves apart, when we hold off the tears or the laughter, we cheat ourselves of the richness of life. We have to go through an experience fully in order to learn all it can teach us and then be free of it.
Past experiences never let me go until I fully grieve those that need to be grieved or laugh over those that deserve the light touch. The present is distorted when the past shadows it.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 11 - A Vision For You
The very practical approach to his problems, the absence of intolerance of any kind, the informality, the genuine democracy, the uncanny understanding which these people had were irresistible. He and his wife would leave elated by the thought of what they could now do for some stricken acquaintance and his family. They knew they had a host of new friends; it seemed they had known these strangers always. They had seen miracles, and one was to come to them. They had visioned the Great Reality—their loving and All Powerful Creator.
pp. 160-161
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
EMPTY ON THE INSIDE - She grew up around A.A. and had all the answers--except when it came to her own life.
It's important to interject here that I loved to drink. Drinking put me into the middle of life. I was a social drinker--drinking made me extremely social. I didn't particularly like drinking with other women; I drank with the big boys. I always had a tremendous capacity for alcohol, and I learned to shoot an excellent game of pool, which made me quite popular in the local tavern scene. At one point I even had my own motorcycle. When I read "Bill's Story" in the Big Book and he said, "I had arrived," I knew what he meant.
p. 514
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
Maybe there are as many definitions of spiritual awakening as there are people who have had them. But certainly each genuine one has something in common with all the others. And these things which they have in common are not too hard to understand. When a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and resources alone. He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being. He has been set on a path which tells him he is really going somewhere, that life is not a dead end, not something to be endured or mastered. In a very real sense he has been transformed, because he has laid hold of a source of strength which, in one way or another, he had hitherto denied himself. He finds himself in possession of a degree of honesty, tolerance, unselfishness, peace of mind, and love of which he had thought himself quite incapable. What he has received is a free gift, and yet usually, at least in some small part, he has made himself ready to receive it.
pp. 106-107
************************************************** *********
"The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what
direction we are moving."
--Oliver Wendell Holmes
"If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even
as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or
Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all
the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, here lived a great
streetsweeper who did his job well."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
--Anon.
A pint of example is worth a gallon of advice.
--Unknown
God, help me accept all the twists and turns along my path. Help me to
say whatever to the good and the unfortunate incidents that come my
way.
--Melody Beattie
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
WONDER
"Men love to wonder, and that is
the seed of science"
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
In my sobriety the world is a wonderful place. I often sit back and am
amazed at the splendor of life, at the simple happenings that give such
joy, at the nobility that is revealed in man, at the creative adventure and
mystery of life. I meditate in wonder.
Now I see how drugs kept me blind from so much. Alcohol kept me a
prisoner of mediocrity and much of the wonder of life passed me by. As a
drinking alcoholic I existed in life, rather than lived life. I was a bored
spectator rather than a participant. I reacted to things, rather than
initiated events Alcoholism equals dullness. Recovery symbolized energy.
Today I can dream dreams and rest in the wonder of it all. God is Good.
O Lord, let me see the wonderful mystery of life even in the ordinary.
************************************************** *********
"Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you."
I Peter 5:7
"I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will
glorify Your name forevermore."
Psalm 86:12
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
We are extremely precious to God and are never left alone not even for one second. Lord, Thank You for Your promise to protect and care for me always.
It is important to remember that different can be better. Lord, as I resist change and cling to the familiar, help me to remember that Your plan is perfect and will truly make me happy.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
For You Alone
"The idea of a spiritual awakening takes many different forms in the different personalities that we find in the fellowship."
Basic Text p. 48
Though we all work the same steps, each of us experiences the spiritual awakening resulting from them in our own way. The shape that spiritual awakening takes in our lives will vary, depending on who we are.
For some of us, the spiritual awakening promised in the Twelfth Step will result in a renewed interest in religion or mysticism. Others will awaken to an understanding of the lives of those around them, experiencing empathy perhaps for the first time. Still others will realize that the steps have awakened them to their own moral or ethical principles. Most of us experience our spiritual awakening as a combination of these things, each combination as unique as the individual who's been awakened.
If there are so many different varieties of spiritual awakenings, how do we know if we've truly had one? The Twelfth Step provides us with two signs: We've found principles capable of guiding us well, the kind of principles we want to practice in all our affairs. And we've begun to care enough about other addicts to freely share with them the experience we've had. No matter what the details of our awakenings are like, we all are given the guidance and the love we need to live fulfilling, spiritually oriented lives.
Just for today: Regardless of its particular shape, my spiritual awakening has helped me fill my place in the world with love and life. For that, I am grateful.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could be better changed in ourselves. --Carl Jung
Children are smart. Remember how we used to imitate our parents' behavior? We'd dress up like them, mimic their words, even copy their attitudes. We wanted to be just like them because we thought they were the most wonderful people in the world. We can see this happen all around us, younger ones imitating parents, older brothers and sisters, and older friends. It's very flattering.
The problem is that children imitate not just healthy behavior and attitudes, but also sometimes the not-so-healthy. We get very uncomfortable when we look at a younger person misbehaving and see ourselves in that person. Suddenly, we aren't flattered any more.
When we see things we don't like in others, we must first look at ourselves to see if we need changing. This is all we can do--change ourselves. Others may follow our example or they may not, but we can be sure that, when we watch our own behavior, most of what we see of ourselves in others will be flattering.
What change can I make in myself to set a good example today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
If we were logical, the future would be bleak indeed. But we are more than logical. We are human beings, and we have faith, and we have hope, and we can work. --Jacques Cousteau
What is faith? It is believing in possibilities. It is the ability to carry on with our plans or to be true to our work even though we feel discouraged or tired. It is staying active in relationships even when we receive little in return or when our friends aren't able to respond.
If there were no doubt, there would be no need for faith. Faith is temporarily putting our doubts on the shelf and working toward our goals. Faith is trusting that help and support will be there for us even though they're not in view. It is looking at a map and choosing a new destination, getting on the road to go there, and trusting the marks on the map symbolize a real place that we will find.
I will leave room for my doubts and discouragement, but I will not indulge them. I will choose to go with hope. I will give my energy to the better possibilities.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either. --Golda Meir
We all know people who live on the fringes of life. They seem uninvolved with the activity in their midst, as though a pane of glass separated them from us. And there are times when we join the persons standing alone away from the vibrancy of life. Fears keep people apart, particularly the fear of letting go of the vulnerable self and joining in the feelings of the moment.
To fully reap the benefits of life, we have to risk full exposure to one another and to the experience of the moment. Full involvement in the ebb and flow of life will bring the weeping that accompanies both the pain and the joy of life. It will also bring the fruits of laughter.
Both laughter and weeping cleanse us. They bring closure to an experience. They make possible our letting go. And we must let go of pain, as well as joy, to ready ourselves for the next blessing life offers us.
When we keep ourselves apart, when we hold off the tears or the laughter, we cheat ourselves of the richness of life. We have to go through an experience fully in order to learn all it can teach us and then be free of it.
Past experiences never let me go until I fully grieve those that need to be grieved or laugh over those that deserve the light touch. The present is distorted when the past shadows it.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Acceptance
Surrender to the moment. Ride it out and through, for all its worth. Throw yourself into it.
Stop resisting.
So much of our anguish is created when we are in resistance. So much relief, release, and change are possible when we accept, simply accept.
We waste our time, expend our energy, and make things harder by resisting, repressing, and denying. Repressing our thoughts will not make them disappear. Repressing a thought already formed will not make us a better person. Think it. Let it come into reality. Then release it. A thought is not forever. If we don't like it, we can think another one or change it. But to do that, we must accept and release the first thought.
Resistance and repression will not change a thing. They will put us at war with our thoughts.
We make life harder by resisting and repressing our feelings. No matter how dark, how uncomfortable, how unjustified, how surprising, how inappropriate we might deem our feelings, resisting and repressing them will not free us from them. Doing that will make them worse. They will swirl inside us, torment us, make us sick, and make our body ache, compel us to do compulsive things, keep us awake, or put us to sleep.
In the final analysis, all that were really called on to do is accept our feelings by feeling them, and saying, Yes, this is what I feel.
Feelings are for the present moment. The more quickly we can accept a feeling, the more quickly we will move on to the next.
Resisting or repressing thoughts and feelings does not change us or turn us into the person we want to be or think we should be. It puts us in resistance to reality. It makes us repressed. Eventually, it makes us depressed.
Resisting events or circumstances in our life does not change things, no matter how undesirable the events or circumstances may be.
Acceptance turns us into the person we are and want to be. Acceptance empowers the events and circumstances to turn around for the better.
What do we do if were in resistance, in a tug of war with some reality in our life? Accepting our resistance can help us get through that too.
Acceptance does not mean were giving our approval. It does not mean surrendering to the will and plans of another. It does not mean commitment. It is not forever. It is for the present moment. Acceptance does not make things harder; it makes things easier. Acceptance does not mean we accept abuse or mistreatment; it does not mean we forego boundaries, our hopes, dreams, desires, wants, or ourselves. It means we accept what is, so we know what to do to take care of ourselves and what boundaries we need to set. It means we accept what is and who we are at the moment, so we are free to change and grow.
Acceptance and surrender move us forward on this journey. Force does not work.
Acceptance and surrender - two concepts that hurt the most before we do them.
Today, I will practice accepting my present circumstances and myself. I will begin to watch and trust the magic that acceptance can bring into my life and recovery.
I am open to positive changes in my life today. --Ruth Fishel
******************************************
Journey To The Heart
Value Your Connection to Creativity
Creativity is a force– a living, real force. It’s the power of love, the power of life, a gift of the Divine. You’re connected to that force.
Open up to your creative powers– in work, in play, in love. Make creations that are beautiful to look at. Make creations you like to see, creations that are pleasing to you. Creativity comes in many forms– cooking, decorating, speaking, drawing, writing, or building a castle in sand at the beach. How you choose to create is up to you.
“I used to love taking pictures when I was a child,” one man said. “Then one day, in a rage, my father smashed my camera to the floor. He told me taking pictures was nonsense. It was twenty years before I let myself take a picture again. Now, I can’t stop.”
Who told you you weren’t creative? Stand tall, speak up, and tell them they’re wrong. Own your creative powers. Allow your creativity to heal and flourish.
Value your connections to creativity. Value the way you choose to express your creative power. It’s your expression of love.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Pray and manifest your power
The Sufis have a saying: Praise Allah, and tie your camel to a post. This brings together both parts of practice: pray, yes, but also make sure that you do what is necessary in the world.
–Jack Kornfield, Seeking the Heart of Wisdom
It’s easy to play the martyr. We spend our lives in struggle and turmoil longing for the sweet by-and-by when everything will be fine.
Today is the sweet by-and-by. Yes, right now. It’s here. If we’re to have good in our lives, it’s up to us to seek it out.
Here are two things the Bible teaches about faith. One, it says that faith is like a mustard seed. The tiniest bit of it can grow tall and in its own time will sprout. The other thing the Bible says is that faith without works is dead. If you’re not doing something, then you’re not keeping your faith alive.
Pray. Turn it over to God. But do something, too.
Stop waiting for someone to come along and rescue you.
Learn to rescue yourself.
God, help me take guided actions today to make my life a better place.
*****************************************
In God’s Care
This instant is the only time there is.
~~Gerald Jampolsky
How many precious moments of sunshine, birds’ song, or friends’ laughter we never lay claim to because we’re lost in our thoughts about yesterday or tomorrow. God has given us these moments we’re experiencing right now, and in each one is a gift – intended for each of us.
The smile we get from a loved one or a stranger is precious and worthy of cherishing; but to cherish it, we must notice it When our mind is not quietly and intently immersed in the present, we fail to garner the strength God is offering us every moment.
Our higher Power is evident wherever we look, but we must see; our Higher Power is evident in every voice, but we must hear. Our Higher Power is evident within, but we must be quiet and know.
I will quiet my mind so I can see and hear and know that God is present, now.
******************************************
Wanting to Join
Dumbing Ourselves Down
by Madisyn Taylor
Playing it small in order to fit in with a group of people robs the essence of your soul level self.
The ability to go into any social situation and sense the level of consciousness in that situation is a gift. It enables us to move considerately in a world that holds people of all levels of awareness. However, there is a difference between shifting our energy to accommodate people and dumbing ourselves down to a regrettable degree. Sometimes, when we get into a particular social situation, we may feel pressure to play it small in order to fit in. Perhaps everyone is drinking or smoking excessively, engaging in gossipy small talk, or complaining bitterly about politics. It is one thing to notice this and modify our expectations and another thing entirely to join in.
When we notice where people are coming from and acknowledge to ourselves that their energy is not in alignment with ours, we have several choices as to how to proceed. One viable option is to quietly endure the situation, keeping to ourselves until it is time to leave. In this way, we take care of our own consciousness and protect our growth process. Another option is to interact in a way that honors and pays respect to the people in the group, while gently attempting to shift the level of consciousness with our input. In order to do this, we must maintain our own vibration, which means that joining in by dumbing down is not an option.
When we choose to dumb ourselves down to fit in, we not only sell ourselves short but we also lose a possible opportunity to influence the situation for the good of all concerned. Our desire to join in may come from our natural yearning to feel connected to the people around us. There is no shame in this, but being able to stand on our own, separate from the crowd, is a powerful milestone on any spiritual path. It can be difficult in the moment, but when we arrive on the other side, our integrity intact, we may find ourselves feeling positively smart. Published with permission from Daily OM
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
In almost every instance, the returned slipper says, “I stopped going to meetings,” or “I got fed up with the same old stories and the same old faces,” or “My outside commitments were such that I had to cut down on meetings,” or “I felt I’d received the optimum benefits from meetings, so I sought further help from more meaningful activities.” In short, they simply stopped going to meetings. A saying I’ve heard in The Program hits the nail on the head: “Them which stops going to meetings are not present at meetings to hear about what happen to them what stops going to meetings.” Am I going to enough meetings for me?
Today I Pray
God keep me on the track of The Program. May I never be too tired, too busy, too complacent, too bored to go to meetings. Almost always those complaints are reversed at a meeting if I will just get myself there. My weariness dissipates in serenity. My busyness is reduced to its rightful proportion. My complacency gives way to vigilance again. And how can I be bored in a place where there is so much fellowship and joy?
Today I Will Remember
Attend the meetings.
******************************************
One More Day
Excessive fear is always powerless.
– Aeschylus
Something may be interfering with our sleep. Eyes wide, we lie in bed night after night. We move through the days like robots, just getting by. Our lack of sleep may stem from worries and problems that we can’t face.
Our confrontation with illness may have suddenly made us see how powerless we are over some parts of our lives. Where once we had felt that everything had an acceptable answer, we now have to live with an answer we don’t like and we can’t change. We may pull that original sense of helplessness into other areas of our lives. Gradually, we understand that life has always been unpredictable; we just refused to see it until we were forced to. We learn to accept the things we can’t change and work toward changing the things we can. We deal wit our problems. Our anxiety subsides. We’re able to rest.
Today, I’ll accept unchangeable answers.
************************************
Food For Thought
Trusting God
Most of us have spent a great amount of time and energy trying to order and arrange our own lives. We have searched frantically for something to hang on to which would solve our problems - a new diet, a new job, a new lover. Nothing has worked permanently. The harder we have tried to straighten ourselves out the more our problems have defeated us.
When we came into the OA program, we were advised to "let go and let God." At first, this may have seemed to us to be a huge cop out. The idea of passively waiting for a Higher Power to do for us what we could not do for ourselves was an insult to our pride and our illusions of self-sufficiency. We were afraid to let go.
Our Higher Power requires that we be willing to trust Him with our lives in order to receive His strength and direction. From our vantage point of limited knowledge, there is a risk involved in letting go. If we are willing to take this risk and if we have the courage to face our fear, we will eventually receive the peace and support which we so desperately need. Besides, what do we have to lose except our own weakness?
Grant me courage to trust You completely.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
~ The Future ~
When I look into the future, it's so bright it burns my eyes.
Oprah Winfrey
I receive the gift of abstinence one day at a time. I am relieved from the obsession to eat one day at a time. With the help of my Higher Power, I can live life on life's terms... one day at a time.
As my recovery builds and builds, I start to imagine all the possibilities for my life. Things I never had the confidence or emotional stability to pursue are options for me. Now that I am free from the despair and self-destruction of overeating, there is space to actualize new adventures. But before I become overwhelmed or grandiose in my thinking, the Program gently reminds me that it is STILL just one day a time.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will work my program so that I have a future.
~ Christine S. ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Cling to the thought that in God's hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have - the key to life and happiness for others. With it you can avert death and misery for them. - Pg. 124 - The Family Afterward
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Compulsion is a word you will hear a lot now that you have made the decision to begin recovery. You may often feel compelled to drink or use drugs again even when you don't want to. Compulsion is a symptom of our disease and we use all the new tools of our program to counteract compulsions.
Please help me understand that compulsion is a symptom of my disease and as such need not be acted upon. I offer my compulsive behavior to God, as I understand God.
Blessings
I can lose my blessings. If I don't appreciate them, they can disappear. If I feel overly entitled, if I take what is mine for granted, if I behave as if it is simply owed me and I don't need to notice or appreciate them, I am literally telling them to shrink. There is a wisdom, even a divine sort of self centerdness to gratitude, because what I focus on with appreciation has a way of expanding in my life. If I erase my blessings, I don't feed them with the grace of gratitude. If I give thanks for them, I show the creative force that brings forth all good things, that I am awake enough to appreciate what has been so generously given.
I know enough to say thank you
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
When things go wrong, they are not particularly anyone's fault. You can't expect every meeting to be perfect and your sponsor to have every answer. You know you can't control or fix everything that goes wrong and neither can 'they.'
When things go wrong, I don't let them get too far.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
To the mind that is still, the world surrenders.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I am open to positive changes in my life today.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
This deal is as simple as A.B.C. - Accept, Begin and Continue. It doesn't take a lawyer or some intellectual gorilla to decipher that. And you can do it downtown or uptown or anywhere else. It doesn't make any difference. And if you'll hold on to the God of your understanding, the truth about yourself - namely that you cannot take one drink - and hold on to your AA friends, you'll hold on to total abstinence. And that's the name of this game. - John C.
*****************************************
AA Thought for the Day
April 3
Seeking Approval
Today I still enjoy getting the approval of others,
but I am not willing to pay the price I used to pay to get it.
I will not bend myself into a pretzel to get others to like me.
If I get your approval, that's fine; but if I don't, I will survive without it.
I am responsible for speaking for what I perceive to be the truth,
not what I think others may want to hear.
- Daily Reflections, p. 101
Thought to Ponder . . .
The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
P R I D E = Personal Recovery Involves Deflating Ego.
~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
Open Mind
"To get sober and to stay sober,
all you really need is a truly open mind.
Just resign from the debating society and
quit bothering yourself with such deep questions
as whether it was the hen or the egg that came first.
Again I say, all you need is the open mind."
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 26
Thought to Consider . . .
Minds are like parachutes -
they won't work unless they're open.
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
ABC Acceptance, Belief, Change
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Publicity
From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"Meanwhile, a great tide of public approval, stimulated by A.A.'s friends of press, radio, and in recent times television,
began to sweep in upon us and it has never ceased. Each month a clipping service feeds our Headquarters
scrapbooks with a very large amount of material. Writers constantly ask Headquarters to check their manuscripts. A.A.
members are helped to appear anonymously on radio and TV programs. The making of arrangements for publicity has
become a constantly increasing activity of our A.A. office. How many lives have been saved, how many years of misery
have thus been averted for thousands of alcoholics and their families, only God knows."
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pgs. 206-07
*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"In AA ... I was once again able to hear the sounds of nature. I looked at a pine tree one day and began to cry at how
beautiful it was. I learned to laugh again."
Marina, California, October 1994
"Birches,"
AA Grapevine
~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*
"We, in our turn, sought the same escape with all the desperation of
drowning men. What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be
the loving and powerful hand of God. A new life has been given us
or, if you prefer, "a design for living" that really works."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 28~
"An alcoholic in his cups is an unlovely creature."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill's Story, pg. 16~
For it is only by accepting and solving our problems that we can begin to get right with ourselves and with the world
about us and with Him who presides over us all.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 125
Misc. AA Literature - Quote
Atmosphere of Grace
Those of us who have come to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it than we would refuse air, food,
or sunshine. And for the same reason. When we refuse air, light, or food, the body suffers. And when we turn away
from meditation and prayer, we likewise deprive our minds, our emotions, and our intuitions of vitally needed support.
As the body can fail its purpose for lack of nourishment, so can the soul. We all need the light of God's reality, the
nourishment of His strength, and the atmosphere of His grace. To an amazing extent the facts of A.A. life confirm this
ageless truth. TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 97-98
Prayer For The Day: A Prayer for Being Grateful - Lord God, may we be grateful for our lot, and compassionate toward
all those who are suffering every kind of distress at this difficult time. May we hold back nothing, and hasten to be the
ministers of prayer and mercy, like the disciples of Him who went about doing good in times of need.
Ask and you shall receive,
Seek and ye shall find,
Knock and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7