bluidkiti
06-20-2023, 07:07 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.
June 21
Daily Reflections
FEAR AND FAITH
The achievement of freedom from fear is a lifetime
undertaking, one that can never be wholly completed.
When under heavy attack, acute illness, or in other
condition of insecurity, we shall all react to this
emotion - well or badly, as the case may be. Only the
self-deceived will claim perfect freedom from fear.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 263
Fear has caused suffering when I could have had more
faith. There are times when fear suddenly tears me apart,
just when I'm experiencing feelings of joy, happiness
and a lightness of heart. Faith--and a feeling of
self-worth toward a Higher Power -helps me endure
tragedy and ecstasy. When I choose to give all of my
fears over to my Higher Power, I will be free.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Intelligent faith in that Power greater than ourselves can
be counted on to stabilize our emotions. It has an
incomparable capacity to help us look at life in balanced
perspective. We look up, around, and away from ourselves,
and we see that nine out of ten things that at the moment
upset us will shortly disappear. Problems solve themselves,
criticism and unkindness vanish as though they had never
been. Have I got the proper perspective toward life?
Meditation For The Day
A truly spiritual man or woman would like to have a serene
mind. The only way to keep calm in this troubled world is to
have a serene mind. The calm and sane mind sees spiritual
things as the true realities and material things as only
temporary and fleeting. That sort of mind you can never obtain
by reasoning, because your reasoning powers are limited by
space and time. That kind of a mind you can never obtain by
reading, because other minds are also limited in the same way.
You can only have that mind by an act of faith, by making the
venture of belief.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may have a calm and sane mind. I pray that I may
look up, around, and away from myself.
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As Bill Sees It
This Matter of Honesty, p. 172
"Only God can fully know what absolute honesty is. Therefore, each of us has to
conceive what this great ideal may be--to the best of our ability.
"Fallible as we all are, and will be in this life, it would be presumption to suppose that
we could ever really achieve absolute honesty. The best we can do is to strive for a
better quality of honesty.
"Sometimes we need to place love ahead of indiscriminate 'factual honesty.' We
cannot, under the guise of 'perfect honesty,' cruelly and unnecessarily hurt others.
Always one must ask, 'What is the best and most loving thing I can do?'"
Letter, 1966
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Walk In Dry Places
Remember the Golden Key
Living in the Spirit
Whenever trouble arises, the first thing to do is to turn it over to our Higher Power. We can take all necessary practical steps to solve a problem, but we don't need to decide what the answer may be. Do this, and you'll soon be out of your difficulty.
This is essentially the formula of the Gold Key as taught by Emmet Fox. It is also the core idea os Steps three and Eleven. It is a manner of living one's life iwht the constant knowledge that a Higher Power is always part of it.
We should also condition ourselves to believe that our Higher Power has been with us all along and will continue to show us the way. Nothing depends on our being "spiritual" or "saintly" or perfect in behavior. With all our shortcomings, we are and ever will be children of God.
My Higher Power is always with me today, supplying whatever I need for the accomplishment of any good purpose.
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Keep It Simple
The future is much like the present, only longer.---Dan Quisenberry
In many way we don't know what the future holds. But in terms of recovery, we know the future holds the Twelve steps. They will be with us for life.
We should never fall into the trap of thinking we "know" the program. We'll never know all the truth and love the Steps hold for us. "Knowing the Steps" is a project we'll never finish. As we change , the Steps change. As the seasons come and go, the same field or the same tree becomes a different picture.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I pray for Your help as I work the Steps and continue my recovery. Help me discover new treasures.
Action for the Day: I will ask long-time members of my program how they keep the program fresh and alive.
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Each Day a New Beginning
There is no such thing as conversation. It is an illusion. There are interesting monologues, that is all. --Rebecca West
How often we want to be heard, to be truly listened to by our spouse, our children, friends and co-workers. And we deserve to be fully attended to. So do the other persons in our lives who come to us to be heard. We let our minds wander in the midst of important messages. And we may miss the very phrase that we need to hear--the answer to a problem, perhaps. Our minds wander, randomly, looking for a place to light, unconsciously searching for peace, the serenity promised by the Twelve Steps.
Living fully in the present, soaking up all the responses of the life we are immersed in for the moment, is the closest we can get to our higher power, our God. Being there--fully--is conversation with God. How can we know all that God intends for us to know if we don't take advantage of God's many messages? Every moment of every day offers us information, divine information. Each time we turn our minds away to self-centered thoughts, we're refusing the chance to grow.
As I come together with friends and family today, I will remember to listen for God's message. I will hear what I need to hear if I will but listen.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
BILL'S STORY
Next morning I telephoned a friend in Montreal. He had plenty of money left and thought I had better go to Canada. By the following spring we were living in our accustomed style. I felt like Napoleon returning from Elba. No St. Helena for me! But drinking caught up with me again and my generous friend had to let me go. This time we stayed broke.
p. 4
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
A LATE START - "It's been ten years since I retired, seven years since I joined A.A. Now I can truly say that I am a grateful alcoholic."
The Third Step was the most difficult for me. But having completed it, I found that I could face or untangle the other steps if, and when, I could remember to relax, trust the program, and implement the step rather than fight it. Accepting my Higher Power did not fully change my attitude of resistance. It just made yielding to instruction a more rational and acceptable mode of behavior. For each step, I still had to go through the process of recognizing that I had no control over my drinking. I had to understand that the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous had helped others and could help me. I had to realize that if I want sobriety, I had better do the step whether I liked them or not. Every time I ran into trouble, I ultimately found that I was resisting to change.
p. 541
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Four - "Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole."
AUTONOMY is a ten-dollar word. But in relation to us, it means very simply that every A.A. group can manage its affairs exactly as it pleases, except when A.A. as a whole is threatened. Comes now the same question raised in Tradition One. Isn't such liberty foolishly dangerous?
Over the years, every conceivable deviation from our Twelve Steps and Traditions has been tried. That was sure to be, since we are so largely a band of ego-driven individualists. Children of chaos, we have defiantly played with every brand of fire, only to emerge unharmed and, we think, wiser. These very deviations created a vast process of trial and error which, under the grace of God, has brought us to where we stand today.
p. 146
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Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out.
--Art Linkletter
It is in the silence of the heart that God speaks.
--Mother Teresa
"Our entire life--consists ultimately in accepting ourselves as we are."
--Jean Anouilh
"You are infinitely lovable, infinitely desirable, because the One who
most desires and loves you is also infinite."
--Deepak Chopra
You will find that the spiritual energy will permit you to perform tasks
far beyond your conditioned capacity in terms of time and
accomplishment.
--John-Roger
Gratitude is the memory of the heart.
--Italian Proverb
God, help me stay serene, confident, and joyful as I go through my
day.
--Melody Beattie
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LIES
"The cruelest lies are often told in
silence."
--Robert Louis Stevenson
In treatment I said that I did not "tell" many lies - and although this
was not true (hence a lie), it missed the fact that most of my lies were
"lies of silence". It was what I did not say that produced the
confusion; the pretended self-confidence that hid the pain and shame;
the half-spoken truth that harbored the disease.
Communication is the key to any spiritual relationship and a sick
silence creates the ultimate blasphemy. God created you and me to
relate. In the interchange of our ideas is the miracle born. A sick,
angry and ego-centered silence is our shouted "no" to God.
O Lord of the paradox, let me see how the lie of silence can be used to
destroy my world.
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"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
Ephesians 6:11
"For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."
I John 3:20b
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13
"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who
hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully
use you."
Luke 6:27-28
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his
friends."
John 15:13
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Daily Inspiration
Set aside time for quiet because it is here that you will come to know yourself and to know God. Lord, the distractions and interruptions of my day are many, but for a few moments each day we will talk.
When life seems hard and filled with troubles, look for reasons to be thankful. Lord, Your beautiful presence is always with me.
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NA Just For Today
New Levels Of Honesty
"We have been experts at self-deception and rationalization."
Basic Text, p. 27
When we come to our first meeting and hear that we must be honest, we may think, "Well now, that shouldn't be too difficult. All I have to do is stop lying." To some of us, this comes easily. We no longer have to lie to our employers about our absence from work. We no longer have to lie to our families about where we were the night before. By not using drugs anymore, we find we have less to lie about. Some of us may have difficulty even with this kind of honesty, but at least learning not to lie is simple - you just don't do it, no matter what. With courage, determined practice, the support of our fellow NA members, and the help of our Higher Power, most of us eventually succeed at this kind of honesty.
Honesty, though, means more than just not lying. The kind of honesty that is truly indispensable in recovery is self-honesty, which is neither easy nor simple to achieve. In our addiction, we created a storm of self-deception and rationalization, a whirlwind of lies in which the small, quiet voice of self-honesty could not be heard. To become honest with ourselves, we first must stop lying to ourselves. In our Eleventh Step meditations, we must become quiet. Then, in the resulting stillness, we must listen for truth. When we become silent, self-honesty will be there for us to find.
Just for today: I will be quiet and still, listening for the voice of truth within myself. I will honor the truth I find.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
To be able to invite pain to join in my experience and not have to control my life to avoid pain is such a freedom!
--Christina Baldwin
If we really stopped to think about it, we would be astounded to discover how much of our time is spent trying to avoid pain. We are afraid to say what we think or tell others our needs because we fear rejection. We are afraid to face the pain of our own anger. We are afraid of telling others who we are. When we are afraid of opening up to others for fear they will hurt us, we are not free, we are prisoners of our own fears.
Pain is a natural part of life, and we are gifted with the ability to feel it. Pain teaches us, makes us work harder sometimes, and it helps us appreciate pleasure.
When we accept pain, and stop exhausting ourselves trying to avoid it, we will be free to live life more fully and without so much worry.
How has my own fear limited my freedom?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
In the life of the Indian there is only one inevitable duty - the duty of prayer - the daily recognition of the Unseen and Eternal. He sees no need for setting apart one day in seven as a holy day, since to him all days are God's. --Ohiyesa, Santee Dakota
Some of our past troubles came from our naive arrogance. We failed to acknowledge anything beyond ourselves. Whatever was unseen or eternal remained invisible to us. We were skeptical, scientific, task-oriented, self-centered, and unreflective. It's like we had been racing down a country highway at top speed, hardly tuned in to the rich vitality of life that surrounded us. When we stopped the car and explored the road banks, we could suddenly smell the grasses, hear birds singing, perhaps see a whole community in an anthill, or watch a darting squirrel.
Coming to believe in a Power greater than ourselves is not something we create on our own. It is largely a matter of shifting our attention, of being open to the spiritual. We don't need to force it. We need only be willing to quiet ourselves and notice. Ultimately, every moment is sacred.
Today, may I live from moment to moment.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
There is no such thing as conversation. It is an illusion. There are interesting monologues, that is all. --Rebecca West
How often we want to be heard, to be truly listened to by our spouse, our children, friends and co-workers. And we deserve to be fully attended to. So do the other persons in our lives who come to us to be heard. We let our minds wander in the midst of important messages. And we may miss the very phrase that we need to hear--the answer to a problem, perhaps. Our minds wander, randomly, looking for a place to light, unconsciously searching for peace, the serenity promised by the Twelve Steps.
Living fully in the present, soaking up all the responses of the life we are immersed in for the moment, is the closest we can get to our higher power, our God. Being there--fully--is conversation with God. How can we know all that God intends for us to know if we don't take advantage of God's many messages? Every moment of every day offers us information, divine information. Each time we turn our minds away to self-centered thoughts, we're refusing the chance to grow.
As I come together with friends and family today, I will remember to listen for God's message. I will hear what I need to hear if I will but listen.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
The Good Feelings
Let yourself feel the good feelings too.
Yes, sometimes-good feelings can be as distracting as the painful, more difficult ones. Yes, good feelings can be anxiety producing to those of us unaccustomed to them. But go ahead and feel the good feelings anyway.
Feel and accept the joy. The love. The warmth. The excitement. The pleasure. The satisfaction. The elation. The tenderness. The comfort.
Let yourself feel the victory, the delight.
Let yourself feel cared for.
Let yourself feel respected, important, and special.
These are only feelings, but they feel good. They are full of positive, upbeat energy - and we deserve to feel that when it comes our way.
We don't have to repress. We don't have to talk ourselves out of feeling good--not for a moment.
If we feel it, it's ours for the moment. Own it. If it's good, enjoy it.
Today, God, help me be open to the joy and good feelings available to me.
"Faith is the thread we hang on to when our life is falling apart" --Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse
Sometimes faith is right there, holding us up, keeping us light so that hard times feel manageable. And other times we have to 'act as if' we have faith to get through the tough times. We have to pray for faith. It feels so good to know that no matter what is going on today, I have the faith to know that my Higher Power is guiding and supporting me. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
You’re Right Where You Need to Be
You’re right where you need to be– on your path, guided, in just the right place for you today.
Many times on my journey I stopped short, convinced I would never find the place I was trying to find, only to discover that it was right in front of me all the time. I had gone there instinctively. Gone right where I needed to go, right where I was heading.
There is a part of us that knows where we need to be and understands where we really want to go. There’s a place in us that has the map, even if our eyes and conscious mind can’t see it, can’t figure it out, or aren’t certain it’s there.
If you’re spinning in circles, feeling lost and confused, trying to figure out where you need to be and not all that certain where you’re going,stop. Breathe deeply. Look around.
You’re right where you need to be. Maybe you’ve been there all along.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Calm yourself first
Calm yourself.
Many incidents will come to pass in our lives. Sometimes, things happen to get our attention, to point the next lesson out, to help guide us along our path. Sometimes, things just happen.
Our emotional responses to the world are important. How do you feel? What do you like? What don’t you like? Have you been denying something, something taking place before your eyes? What we sense, what we feel, and, more important, what we know deep inside is an important part of our spirit, our connection to the Divine.
It’s important not to underreact. It’s important not to overreact.
When something comes up, calm yourself. Feel your emotions. Don’t move into denial. Feel each wave of each feeling. Allow your thoughts to pass through you. But the key is not to act on these emotions. Let them pass through you first.
Your power comes from being centered and clear. That’s where your answers, insights, and lessons will come from,too.
The first thing to do when something happens is feel what you feel.
The second is calm yourself. From that place of calm, you’ll be guided into your next step.
God, teach me to take guided action, not action motivated by turbulent emotions.
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In God’s Care
It is well, when one is judging a friend, to remember that he is judging you with the same godlike and superior impartiality. ~~Arnold Bennett
It’s amazing how well we know our friends and how we think they should behave. And isn’t it interesting that what we want others to do always benefits us in some way? When we are upset with people, it’s usually because they have failed to fulfill an assignment we have mentally given them – or because their errors are a little too much like our own.
We couldn’t fairly or accurately judge people without knowing an infinite number of things about them. And we would have to know how those things influenced their judgment. Too, we would have to be sure that our perception was without flaw before we could judge fairly.
God, of course, is the only competent judge of anyone. Only God knows everyone’s past, present, and future. Only God can be fair. What, then, are we doing in the judge’s chair?
My only judgment is that I’m not competent to judge anyone.
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Day By Day
Dealing with problems
Eventually we reach a point in recovery where one trying incident doesn’t have to ruin the whole day. We reach a point where we’re less sensitive or emotional. We learn to take each day with everything in it. We learn to take each day with humor, acceptance, and love.
This is not to say that we become doormats; it just means we’re going to find ways to calm down and not complicate existing problems. Just for today, let’s leave all our trials and complications to our Higher Power.
Am I learning to be less sensitive or emotional?
Higher Power, when I start to feel the pressure of today’s tribulations,
help me remember that you can handle anything.
My plan for handling problems today is…
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The Day the Sun Stands Still
The Summer Solstice by Madisyn Taylor
Summer solstice represents a time to reflect upon the blessings we have received in seasons past and look toward new growth.
On the longest day of the year, the sun, which has on the days preceding seemed to rise higher and higher into the sky, reaches its zenith and rises no more. This day, which in the Northern Hemisphere can occur between the 20th and 23rd of June, marks the start of summer and is known as the summer solstice. From time immemorial, the coming of summer’s light and warmth has been a time of gladness and celebration. In June, the snows had long since melted, the ground had thawed, the first fruits were ripening on their vines, and Mother Nature had once again renewed herself. Though most of us have turned away from our agricultural heritage, the summer solstice remains a time of new beginnings and life-enriching endings. It is the day the sun reaches the peak of its power as well as the day that heralds the shorter days that eventually bring with them autumn’s chills.
For ancient peoples of the Americas and Europe, the summer solstice was a particularly joyous day—and one auspicious for those seeking year-long luck, fertility, abundance, and prosperity. Men and women on two continents would gather to pay tribute to the sun’s magnificence, to pray for a bountiful harvest, and to bolster the sun’s energy with bonfires and fireworks. Today, the summer solstice represents an optimal time to reflect upon the blessings we have received in seasons past and visualize the new bounties we hope to receive in the season just beginning to flourish. At noon, when the sun is at its highest point, we can pay reverence to its incredible strength and its ability to create life while also musing on the impermanence of life as represented by the impermanence of the season. You can reestablish your innate connection to nature on the summer solstice by spending time outdoors; following the sun’s procession as the day passes; burning sun oils such as orange, be! nzion, or juniper; or decorating an altar with solar images, summer greens, or colorful blossoms.
Just as the summer solstice is symbolic of agricultural growth, so is it symbolic of personal growth. It is a wonderful time to nurture your potential as you would nurture a tiny seedling and let your creative energy express itself fully. On the summer solstice, you may feel compelled to emulate the noontime sun and be at one with the world around you or to let your inner brilliance shine forth at full strength, if only for a single day. Your life, like the seasons, follows a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, and summers, whether literal or figurative, can always be celebrated. Published with permission from Daily OM
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
“Direct” is a key word in the Ninth Step. There are times, unfortunately, where many of us are hopeful that indirect amends will suffice, sparing us the pain and supposed humiliation of approaching people in person and telling them of our wrongs. This is evasion and will never give us a true sense of breaking with the wrong-doings of the past. It shows that we’re still trying to defend something that isn’t worth defending, hanging on to conduct that we ought to abandon. The usual reasons for sidestepping direct amends are pride and fear. As I make amends to others, do I realize that the real, lasting benefits accrue to me?
Today I Pray
May I be sure that the best reward for coming on straight as I try to repair my damages is, after all, my own. But may I avoid making amends purely for my own benefit — to be forgiven, to be reinstated, to flaunt the “new me.” Ego-puffing and people-leasing are not part of the real “new me.” God save me from opportunism.
Today I Will Remember
No puffery or people-pleasing.
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One More Day
One cloud is enough to eclipse all the sun.
– Thomas Fuller
Sometimes a beautiful day suddenly falls to pieces because of a criticism from a friend or being stuck in traffic before an important appointment. Later we may have wondered why one small happening could overshadow other happy events.
Quite possible the answer lies within us and our expectations. if we expect each day and all our relationships to be without mishaps or misunderstandings, we set ourselves up to be disappointment. If we direct our energies toward pleasing our friends and relatives at the expense of our own needs and values, we are placing too much responsibility in their hands. We can have more rewarding days when our expectations are realistic. Each day will have unexpected delays or unappreciated remarks, but they are just a scattering of clouds in a bright, wide, wonderful sky.
I will have more realistic expectations.
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Food for Thought.
Discipline
If we think of discipline in terms of punishment, we miss the more constructive meanings of the word. Discipline is order, training, practice, study. Without it, our lives are ineffective and full of chaos. Before we came to OA, our eating patterns were probably chaotic. We may have been short of order in other areas, too.
Discipline is a tool which produces self-respect and a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. When we discipline ourselves to eat three measured meals a day, we achieve physical and emotional results which make our spirits sing! The discipline of the OA program liberates us from the tyranny of self-will and self-indulgence.
As we develop trust in our Higher Power, we begin to see that the hardships and difficulties we face are means to spiritual development. Through them, we acquire self-discipline and strength. Our lives become ordered according to God's plan.
Make me willing, Lord, to accept the discipline of an ordered life.
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One Day At A Time
A Person of Worth
“It is funny about life:
if you refuse to accept anything but the very best
you will very often get it.”
W. Somerset Maugham
Upon entering recovery, I found it ironic, even strange, that I was so very good at taking care of others and helping them secure the help that they needed, yet often in my life I have not done this for myself. I would grow depressed and very frozen in anger, grief, and fear. Why wasn’t I ever able to care properly for myself? At what point did I begin to expect the worst as my own allotment in life?
It is possible that I dreamed of a “rescue” or an intervention of some kind that would “save me.” It is likely that my Higher Power knew of my tendencies for magical thinking. He caught my attention by the introduction of someone who knew of a program that would point me in a realistic direction. In this program, I would be taught to take small actions -- “One day at a time” -- that would encourage and re-build my shattered self-esteem. I now am in possession of a wonderful program that has given me tools for recovery and change so that I can learn to treat myself as well as I treat others.
One day at a time...
I no longer accept anything but the best, as it will indirectly affect my recovery. This is my new mindset: that I am a person of worth.
~ January K.
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
In the spring of 1940, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave a dinner for many of his friends to which he invited A.A. members to tell their stories. News of this got on the world wires; inquiries poured in again and many people went to the bookstores to get the book 'Alcoholics Anonymous.' By March 1941 the membership had shot up to 2,000. Then Jack Alexander wrote a feature article in the SATURDAY EVENING POST and placed such a compelling picture of A.A. before the general public that alcoholics in need of help really deluged us. By the close of 1941, A.A. numbered 8,000 members. The mushrooming process was in full swing. A.A. had become a national institution. - Pg. xviii - 4th. Edition - Foreward To Second Edition
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
As we learn to accept our disease, our circumstances and what we must do to recover, we come to realize that although we may not have control over these situations, we do have control over how we react to them. Bill W., co-founder of 12-step programs, wrote 'We neither ran nor fought. But accept we did. And then we were free.'
I chose to accept this wonderful opportunity to grow spiritually and know this 'new freedom and new happiness' of which they speak.
Personal Truth
Today, I know that no one from my past needs to see things the way I do for me to get better and move on. Trying to convince others of what I have learned through my own journey can be an exercise in futility and delay my progress. First of all, each of us has our own truth that is unique unto itself. Second of all, each of us is at a different level of understanding and acceptance of who and where we are in life. Each member in my family had different experiences. That I thought we somehow matched up was an illusion. We each experienced our childhoods in our own way and have a right to our own perceptions. I do not have to get anyone to see it my way in order for me to feel comfortable. My truth is my truth, theirs is theirs.
I honor my own experiences and personal truth, as well as those of others.
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
There is a difference between sharing our experience and imposing our opinions on someone. A sure way to set yourself up for a 'slip' is to be convinced that others will slip if they don't listen to your opinion.
When my opinion means more to me than my sobriety, I set myself up for a SLIP (Sobriety Loses Its Priority).
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
In AA, we surrender to win, not to whine.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
'Faith is the thread we hang on to when our life is falling apart' - Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse
Sometimes faith is right there, holding us up, keeping us light so that hard times feel manageable. And other times we have to 'act as if' we have faith to get through the tough times. We have to pray for faith.
It feels so good to know that no matter what is going on today, I have the faith to know that my Higher Power is guiding and supporting me.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
For an alcoholic, drinking alcohol is like dancing with a gorilla; you're only finished dancing when the gorilla says so. Tom W.
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AA Thought for the Day
June 21
Why AA?
Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover,
to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you,
to have a host of friends -- this is an experience you must not miss.
We know you will not want to miss it.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 89
Thought to Ponder . . .
Every recovery, though it may go unnoticed, improves the world in some way.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Always Alive.
~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
Change
"Let us never fear needed change.
Certainly we have to discriminate between
changes for worse and changes for better.
But once a need becomes clearly apparent
in an individual, in a group, or in AA as a whole,
it has long since been found out
that we cannot stand still and look the other way.
The essence of all growth is a willingness
to change for the better
and then an unremitting willingness
to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails."
Bill W., Grapevine, July 1965
1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 115
Thought to Consider . . .
God used two people to create me;
He used a whole Fellowship to change me.
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A C T I O N = Any Change Toward Improving One's Nature.
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Steps
>From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"Though subject to considerable variation, it all boiled down into a pretty consistent procedure which comprised six steps. These were approximately as follows:
1. "We admitted that we were licked, that we were powerless over alcohol.
2. "We made a moral inventory of our defects or sins.
3. "We confessed or shared our shortcomings with another person in confidence.
4. "We made restitution to all those we have harmed by our drinking.
5. "We tried to help other alcoholics, with no thought of reward in money or prestige.
6. We prayed to whatever God we thought there was for power to practice these precepts.
"This was the substance of what, by the fall of 1938, we were telling newcomers. Several of the Oxford Groups other ideas and attitudes had been definitely rejected, including any which could involve us in theological controversy."
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 160
*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"Many blessings have been showered upon me during my five years and nine months of sobriety -- great spiritual gifts, as well as the more ordinary supplies of money and goods. These great gifts come one after the other in spite of my own foolishness and fumbling, as I very slowly grope my way toward the light of reason and love."
Universal City, California, February 1970
"Freedom Began in Prison,"
AA Grapevine
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*
"Although financial recovery is on the way for many of us, we found
we could not place money first. For us, material well-being always
followed spiritual progress; it never preceded."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 127~
"We cannot be helpful to all people, but at least God will show us
how to take a kindly and tolerant view of each and every one."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 67~
"Returning home we find a place where we can be quiet for an hour, carefully reviewing what we have done."
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 75 (Into Action)
"Many of us also like the experience of an occasional retreat from the outside world where we can quiet down for an undisturbed day or so of self-overhaul and meditation."
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 89 (Step Ten)
Misc. AA Literature - Quote
Only God can fully know what absolute honesty is. Therefore, each of us has to conceive what this great ideal may be--to the best or our ability.
'Fallible as we all are, and will be in this life, it would be presumption to suppose that we could ever really achieve absolute honesty. The best we can do is to strive for a better quality of honesty.
'Sometimes we need to place love ahead of indiscriminate 'factual honesty.' We cannot, under the guise of 'perfect honesty,' cruelly and unnecessarily hurt others. Always one must ask, 'What is the best and most loving thing I can do?'
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, give me the willingness to sit quietly today with my thoughts and emotions. Let me not run from them, but acknowledge them with the help of Your love.
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.
June 21
Daily Reflections
FEAR AND FAITH
The achievement of freedom from fear is a lifetime
undertaking, one that can never be wholly completed.
When under heavy attack, acute illness, or in other
condition of insecurity, we shall all react to this
emotion - well or badly, as the case may be. Only the
self-deceived will claim perfect freedom from fear.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 263
Fear has caused suffering when I could have had more
faith. There are times when fear suddenly tears me apart,
just when I'm experiencing feelings of joy, happiness
and a lightness of heart. Faith--and a feeling of
self-worth toward a Higher Power -helps me endure
tragedy and ecstasy. When I choose to give all of my
fears over to my Higher Power, I will be free.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Intelligent faith in that Power greater than ourselves can
be counted on to stabilize our emotions. It has an
incomparable capacity to help us look at life in balanced
perspective. We look up, around, and away from ourselves,
and we see that nine out of ten things that at the moment
upset us will shortly disappear. Problems solve themselves,
criticism and unkindness vanish as though they had never
been. Have I got the proper perspective toward life?
Meditation For The Day
A truly spiritual man or woman would like to have a serene
mind. The only way to keep calm in this troubled world is to
have a serene mind. The calm and sane mind sees spiritual
things as the true realities and material things as only
temporary and fleeting. That sort of mind you can never obtain
by reasoning, because your reasoning powers are limited by
space and time. That kind of a mind you can never obtain by
reading, because other minds are also limited in the same way.
You can only have that mind by an act of faith, by making the
venture of belief.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may have a calm and sane mind. I pray that I may
look up, around, and away from myself.
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As Bill Sees It
This Matter of Honesty, p. 172
"Only God can fully know what absolute honesty is. Therefore, each of us has to
conceive what this great ideal may be--to the best of our ability.
"Fallible as we all are, and will be in this life, it would be presumption to suppose that
we could ever really achieve absolute honesty. The best we can do is to strive for a
better quality of honesty.
"Sometimes we need to place love ahead of indiscriminate 'factual honesty.' We
cannot, under the guise of 'perfect honesty,' cruelly and unnecessarily hurt others.
Always one must ask, 'What is the best and most loving thing I can do?'"
Letter, 1966
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Walk In Dry Places
Remember the Golden Key
Living in the Spirit
Whenever trouble arises, the first thing to do is to turn it over to our Higher Power. We can take all necessary practical steps to solve a problem, but we don't need to decide what the answer may be. Do this, and you'll soon be out of your difficulty.
This is essentially the formula of the Gold Key as taught by Emmet Fox. It is also the core idea os Steps three and Eleven. It is a manner of living one's life iwht the constant knowledge that a Higher Power is always part of it.
We should also condition ourselves to believe that our Higher Power has been with us all along and will continue to show us the way. Nothing depends on our being "spiritual" or "saintly" or perfect in behavior. With all our shortcomings, we are and ever will be children of God.
My Higher Power is always with me today, supplying whatever I need for the accomplishment of any good purpose.
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Keep It Simple
The future is much like the present, only longer.---Dan Quisenberry
In many way we don't know what the future holds. But in terms of recovery, we know the future holds the Twelve steps. They will be with us for life.
We should never fall into the trap of thinking we "know" the program. We'll never know all the truth and love the Steps hold for us. "Knowing the Steps" is a project we'll never finish. As we change , the Steps change. As the seasons come and go, the same field or the same tree becomes a different picture.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I pray for Your help as I work the Steps and continue my recovery. Help me discover new treasures.
Action for the Day: I will ask long-time members of my program how they keep the program fresh and alive.
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Each Day a New Beginning
There is no such thing as conversation. It is an illusion. There are interesting monologues, that is all. --Rebecca West
How often we want to be heard, to be truly listened to by our spouse, our children, friends and co-workers. And we deserve to be fully attended to. So do the other persons in our lives who come to us to be heard. We let our minds wander in the midst of important messages. And we may miss the very phrase that we need to hear--the answer to a problem, perhaps. Our minds wander, randomly, looking for a place to light, unconsciously searching for peace, the serenity promised by the Twelve Steps.
Living fully in the present, soaking up all the responses of the life we are immersed in for the moment, is the closest we can get to our higher power, our God. Being there--fully--is conversation with God. How can we know all that God intends for us to know if we don't take advantage of God's many messages? Every moment of every day offers us information, divine information. Each time we turn our minds away to self-centered thoughts, we're refusing the chance to grow.
As I come together with friends and family today, I will remember to listen for God's message. I will hear what I need to hear if I will but listen.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
BILL'S STORY
Next morning I telephoned a friend in Montreal. He had plenty of money left and thought I had better go to Canada. By the following spring we were living in our accustomed style. I felt like Napoleon returning from Elba. No St. Helena for me! But drinking caught up with me again and my generous friend had to let me go. This time we stayed broke.
p. 4
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
A LATE START - "It's been ten years since I retired, seven years since I joined A.A. Now I can truly say that I am a grateful alcoholic."
The Third Step was the most difficult for me. But having completed it, I found that I could face or untangle the other steps if, and when, I could remember to relax, trust the program, and implement the step rather than fight it. Accepting my Higher Power did not fully change my attitude of resistance. It just made yielding to instruction a more rational and acceptable mode of behavior. For each step, I still had to go through the process of recognizing that I had no control over my drinking. I had to understand that the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous had helped others and could help me. I had to realize that if I want sobriety, I had better do the step whether I liked them or not. Every time I ran into trouble, I ultimately found that I was resisting to change.
p. 541
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Four - "Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole."
AUTONOMY is a ten-dollar word. But in relation to us, it means very simply that every A.A. group can manage its affairs exactly as it pleases, except when A.A. as a whole is threatened. Comes now the same question raised in Tradition One. Isn't such liberty foolishly dangerous?
Over the years, every conceivable deviation from our Twelve Steps and Traditions has been tried. That was sure to be, since we are so largely a band of ego-driven individualists. Children of chaos, we have defiantly played with every brand of fire, only to emerge unharmed and, we think, wiser. These very deviations created a vast process of trial and error which, under the grace of God, has brought us to where we stand today.
p. 146
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Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out.
--Art Linkletter
It is in the silence of the heart that God speaks.
--Mother Teresa
"Our entire life--consists ultimately in accepting ourselves as we are."
--Jean Anouilh
"You are infinitely lovable, infinitely desirable, because the One who
most desires and loves you is also infinite."
--Deepak Chopra
You will find that the spiritual energy will permit you to perform tasks
far beyond your conditioned capacity in terms of time and
accomplishment.
--John-Roger
Gratitude is the memory of the heart.
--Italian Proverb
God, help me stay serene, confident, and joyful as I go through my
day.
--Melody Beattie
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LIES
"The cruelest lies are often told in
silence."
--Robert Louis Stevenson
In treatment I said that I did not "tell" many lies - and although this
was not true (hence a lie), it missed the fact that most of my lies were
"lies of silence". It was what I did not say that produced the
confusion; the pretended self-confidence that hid the pain and shame;
the half-spoken truth that harbored the disease.
Communication is the key to any spiritual relationship and a sick
silence creates the ultimate blasphemy. God created you and me to
relate. In the interchange of our ideas is the miracle born. A sick,
angry and ego-centered silence is our shouted "no" to God.
O Lord of the paradox, let me see how the lie of silence can be used to
destroy my world.
************************************************** *********
"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
Ephesians 6:11
"For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."
I John 3:20b
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13
"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who
hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully
use you."
Luke 6:27-28
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his
friends."
John 15:13
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Daily Inspiration
Set aside time for quiet because it is here that you will come to know yourself and to know God. Lord, the distractions and interruptions of my day are many, but for a few moments each day we will talk.
When life seems hard and filled with troubles, look for reasons to be thankful. Lord, Your beautiful presence is always with me.
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NA Just For Today
New Levels Of Honesty
"We have been experts at self-deception and rationalization."
Basic Text, p. 27
When we come to our first meeting and hear that we must be honest, we may think, "Well now, that shouldn't be too difficult. All I have to do is stop lying." To some of us, this comes easily. We no longer have to lie to our employers about our absence from work. We no longer have to lie to our families about where we were the night before. By not using drugs anymore, we find we have less to lie about. Some of us may have difficulty even with this kind of honesty, but at least learning not to lie is simple - you just don't do it, no matter what. With courage, determined practice, the support of our fellow NA members, and the help of our Higher Power, most of us eventually succeed at this kind of honesty.
Honesty, though, means more than just not lying. The kind of honesty that is truly indispensable in recovery is self-honesty, which is neither easy nor simple to achieve. In our addiction, we created a storm of self-deception and rationalization, a whirlwind of lies in which the small, quiet voice of self-honesty could not be heard. To become honest with ourselves, we first must stop lying to ourselves. In our Eleventh Step meditations, we must become quiet. Then, in the resulting stillness, we must listen for truth. When we become silent, self-honesty will be there for us to find.
Just for today: I will be quiet and still, listening for the voice of truth within myself. I will honor the truth I find.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
To be able to invite pain to join in my experience and not have to control my life to avoid pain is such a freedom!
--Christina Baldwin
If we really stopped to think about it, we would be astounded to discover how much of our time is spent trying to avoid pain. We are afraid to say what we think or tell others our needs because we fear rejection. We are afraid to face the pain of our own anger. We are afraid of telling others who we are. When we are afraid of opening up to others for fear they will hurt us, we are not free, we are prisoners of our own fears.
Pain is a natural part of life, and we are gifted with the ability to feel it. Pain teaches us, makes us work harder sometimes, and it helps us appreciate pleasure.
When we accept pain, and stop exhausting ourselves trying to avoid it, we will be free to live life more fully and without so much worry.
How has my own fear limited my freedom?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
In the life of the Indian there is only one inevitable duty - the duty of prayer - the daily recognition of the Unseen and Eternal. He sees no need for setting apart one day in seven as a holy day, since to him all days are God's. --Ohiyesa, Santee Dakota
Some of our past troubles came from our naive arrogance. We failed to acknowledge anything beyond ourselves. Whatever was unseen or eternal remained invisible to us. We were skeptical, scientific, task-oriented, self-centered, and unreflective. It's like we had been racing down a country highway at top speed, hardly tuned in to the rich vitality of life that surrounded us. When we stopped the car and explored the road banks, we could suddenly smell the grasses, hear birds singing, perhaps see a whole community in an anthill, or watch a darting squirrel.
Coming to believe in a Power greater than ourselves is not something we create on our own. It is largely a matter of shifting our attention, of being open to the spiritual. We don't need to force it. We need only be willing to quiet ourselves and notice. Ultimately, every moment is sacred.
Today, may I live from moment to moment.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
There is no such thing as conversation. It is an illusion. There are interesting monologues, that is all. --Rebecca West
How often we want to be heard, to be truly listened to by our spouse, our children, friends and co-workers. And we deserve to be fully attended to. So do the other persons in our lives who come to us to be heard. We let our minds wander in the midst of important messages. And we may miss the very phrase that we need to hear--the answer to a problem, perhaps. Our minds wander, randomly, looking for a place to light, unconsciously searching for peace, the serenity promised by the Twelve Steps.
Living fully in the present, soaking up all the responses of the life we are immersed in for the moment, is the closest we can get to our higher power, our God. Being there--fully--is conversation with God. How can we know all that God intends for us to know if we don't take advantage of God's many messages? Every moment of every day offers us information, divine information. Each time we turn our minds away to self-centered thoughts, we're refusing the chance to grow.
As I come together with friends and family today, I will remember to listen for God's message. I will hear what I need to hear if I will but listen.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
The Good Feelings
Let yourself feel the good feelings too.
Yes, sometimes-good feelings can be as distracting as the painful, more difficult ones. Yes, good feelings can be anxiety producing to those of us unaccustomed to them. But go ahead and feel the good feelings anyway.
Feel and accept the joy. The love. The warmth. The excitement. The pleasure. The satisfaction. The elation. The tenderness. The comfort.
Let yourself feel the victory, the delight.
Let yourself feel cared for.
Let yourself feel respected, important, and special.
These are only feelings, but they feel good. They are full of positive, upbeat energy - and we deserve to feel that when it comes our way.
We don't have to repress. We don't have to talk ourselves out of feeling good--not for a moment.
If we feel it, it's ours for the moment. Own it. If it's good, enjoy it.
Today, God, help me be open to the joy and good feelings available to me.
"Faith is the thread we hang on to when our life is falling apart" --Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse
Sometimes faith is right there, holding us up, keeping us light so that hard times feel manageable. And other times we have to 'act as if' we have faith to get through the tough times. We have to pray for faith. It feels so good to know that no matter what is going on today, I have the faith to know that my Higher Power is guiding and supporting me. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
You’re Right Where You Need to Be
You’re right where you need to be– on your path, guided, in just the right place for you today.
Many times on my journey I stopped short, convinced I would never find the place I was trying to find, only to discover that it was right in front of me all the time. I had gone there instinctively. Gone right where I needed to go, right where I was heading.
There is a part of us that knows where we need to be and understands where we really want to go. There’s a place in us that has the map, even if our eyes and conscious mind can’t see it, can’t figure it out, or aren’t certain it’s there.
If you’re spinning in circles, feeling lost and confused, trying to figure out where you need to be and not all that certain where you’re going,stop. Breathe deeply. Look around.
You’re right where you need to be. Maybe you’ve been there all along.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Calm yourself first
Calm yourself.
Many incidents will come to pass in our lives. Sometimes, things happen to get our attention, to point the next lesson out, to help guide us along our path. Sometimes, things just happen.
Our emotional responses to the world are important. How do you feel? What do you like? What don’t you like? Have you been denying something, something taking place before your eyes? What we sense, what we feel, and, more important, what we know deep inside is an important part of our spirit, our connection to the Divine.
It’s important not to underreact. It’s important not to overreact.
When something comes up, calm yourself. Feel your emotions. Don’t move into denial. Feel each wave of each feeling. Allow your thoughts to pass through you. But the key is not to act on these emotions. Let them pass through you first.
Your power comes from being centered and clear. That’s where your answers, insights, and lessons will come from,too.
The first thing to do when something happens is feel what you feel.
The second is calm yourself. From that place of calm, you’ll be guided into your next step.
God, teach me to take guided action, not action motivated by turbulent emotions.
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In God’s Care
It is well, when one is judging a friend, to remember that he is judging you with the same godlike and superior impartiality. ~~Arnold Bennett
It’s amazing how well we know our friends and how we think they should behave. And isn’t it interesting that what we want others to do always benefits us in some way? When we are upset with people, it’s usually because they have failed to fulfill an assignment we have mentally given them – or because their errors are a little too much like our own.
We couldn’t fairly or accurately judge people without knowing an infinite number of things about them. And we would have to know how those things influenced their judgment. Too, we would have to be sure that our perception was without flaw before we could judge fairly.
God, of course, is the only competent judge of anyone. Only God knows everyone’s past, present, and future. Only God can be fair. What, then, are we doing in the judge’s chair?
My only judgment is that I’m not competent to judge anyone.
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Day By Day
Dealing with problems
Eventually we reach a point in recovery where one trying incident doesn’t have to ruin the whole day. We reach a point where we’re less sensitive or emotional. We learn to take each day with everything in it. We learn to take each day with humor, acceptance, and love.
This is not to say that we become doormats; it just means we’re going to find ways to calm down and not complicate existing problems. Just for today, let’s leave all our trials and complications to our Higher Power.
Am I learning to be less sensitive or emotional?
Higher Power, when I start to feel the pressure of today’s tribulations,
help me remember that you can handle anything.
My plan for handling problems today is…
************************************************** **********
The Day the Sun Stands Still
The Summer Solstice by Madisyn Taylor
Summer solstice represents a time to reflect upon the blessings we have received in seasons past and look toward new growth.
On the longest day of the year, the sun, which has on the days preceding seemed to rise higher and higher into the sky, reaches its zenith and rises no more. This day, which in the Northern Hemisphere can occur between the 20th and 23rd of June, marks the start of summer and is known as the summer solstice. From time immemorial, the coming of summer’s light and warmth has been a time of gladness and celebration. In June, the snows had long since melted, the ground had thawed, the first fruits were ripening on their vines, and Mother Nature had once again renewed herself. Though most of us have turned away from our agricultural heritage, the summer solstice remains a time of new beginnings and life-enriching endings. It is the day the sun reaches the peak of its power as well as the day that heralds the shorter days that eventually bring with them autumn’s chills.
For ancient peoples of the Americas and Europe, the summer solstice was a particularly joyous day—and one auspicious for those seeking year-long luck, fertility, abundance, and prosperity. Men and women on two continents would gather to pay tribute to the sun’s magnificence, to pray for a bountiful harvest, and to bolster the sun’s energy with bonfires and fireworks. Today, the summer solstice represents an optimal time to reflect upon the blessings we have received in seasons past and visualize the new bounties we hope to receive in the season just beginning to flourish. At noon, when the sun is at its highest point, we can pay reverence to its incredible strength and its ability to create life while also musing on the impermanence of life as represented by the impermanence of the season. You can reestablish your innate connection to nature on the summer solstice by spending time outdoors; following the sun’s procession as the day passes; burning sun oils such as orange, be! nzion, or juniper; or decorating an altar with solar images, summer greens, or colorful blossoms.
Just as the summer solstice is symbolic of agricultural growth, so is it symbolic of personal growth. It is a wonderful time to nurture your potential as you would nurture a tiny seedling and let your creative energy express itself fully. On the summer solstice, you may feel compelled to emulate the noontime sun and be at one with the world around you or to let your inner brilliance shine forth at full strength, if only for a single day. Your life, like the seasons, follows a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, and summers, whether literal or figurative, can always be celebrated. Published with permission from Daily OM
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
“Direct” is a key word in the Ninth Step. There are times, unfortunately, where many of us are hopeful that indirect amends will suffice, sparing us the pain and supposed humiliation of approaching people in person and telling them of our wrongs. This is evasion and will never give us a true sense of breaking with the wrong-doings of the past. It shows that we’re still trying to defend something that isn’t worth defending, hanging on to conduct that we ought to abandon. The usual reasons for sidestepping direct amends are pride and fear. As I make amends to others, do I realize that the real, lasting benefits accrue to me?
Today I Pray
May I be sure that the best reward for coming on straight as I try to repair my damages is, after all, my own. But may I avoid making amends purely for my own benefit — to be forgiven, to be reinstated, to flaunt the “new me.” Ego-puffing and people-leasing are not part of the real “new me.” God save me from opportunism.
Today I Will Remember
No puffery or people-pleasing.
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One More Day
One cloud is enough to eclipse all the sun.
– Thomas Fuller
Sometimes a beautiful day suddenly falls to pieces because of a criticism from a friend or being stuck in traffic before an important appointment. Later we may have wondered why one small happening could overshadow other happy events.
Quite possible the answer lies within us and our expectations. if we expect each day and all our relationships to be without mishaps or misunderstandings, we set ourselves up to be disappointment. If we direct our energies toward pleasing our friends and relatives at the expense of our own needs and values, we are placing too much responsibility in their hands. We can have more rewarding days when our expectations are realistic. Each day will have unexpected delays or unappreciated remarks, but they are just a scattering of clouds in a bright, wide, wonderful sky.
I will have more realistic expectations.
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Food for Thought.
Discipline
If we think of discipline in terms of punishment, we miss the more constructive meanings of the word. Discipline is order, training, practice, study. Without it, our lives are ineffective and full of chaos. Before we came to OA, our eating patterns were probably chaotic. We may have been short of order in other areas, too.
Discipline is a tool which produces self-respect and a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. When we discipline ourselves to eat three measured meals a day, we achieve physical and emotional results which make our spirits sing! The discipline of the OA program liberates us from the tyranny of self-will and self-indulgence.
As we develop trust in our Higher Power, we begin to see that the hardships and difficulties we face are means to spiritual development. Through them, we acquire self-discipline and strength. Our lives become ordered according to God's plan.
Make me willing, Lord, to accept the discipline of an ordered life.
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One Day At A Time
A Person of Worth
“It is funny about life:
if you refuse to accept anything but the very best
you will very often get it.”
W. Somerset Maugham
Upon entering recovery, I found it ironic, even strange, that I was so very good at taking care of others and helping them secure the help that they needed, yet often in my life I have not done this for myself. I would grow depressed and very frozen in anger, grief, and fear. Why wasn’t I ever able to care properly for myself? At what point did I begin to expect the worst as my own allotment in life?
It is possible that I dreamed of a “rescue” or an intervention of some kind that would “save me.” It is likely that my Higher Power knew of my tendencies for magical thinking. He caught my attention by the introduction of someone who knew of a program that would point me in a realistic direction. In this program, I would be taught to take small actions -- “One day at a time” -- that would encourage and re-build my shattered self-esteem. I now am in possession of a wonderful program that has given me tools for recovery and change so that I can learn to treat myself as well as I treat others.
One day at a time...
I no longer accept anything but the best, as it will indirectly affect my recovery. This is my new mindset: that I am a person of worth.
~ January K.
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
In the spring of 1940, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave a dinner for many of his friends to which he invited A.A. members to tell their stories. News of this got on the world wires; inquiries poured in again and many people went to the bookstores to get the book 'Alcoholics Anonymous.' By March 1941 the membership had shot up to 2,000. Then Jack Alexander wrote a feature article in the SATURDAY EVENING POST and placed such a compelling picture of A.A. before the general public that alcoholics in need of help really deluged us. By the close of 1941, A.A. numbered 8,000 members. The mushrooming process was in full swing. A.A. had become a national institution. - Pg. xviii - 4th. Edition - Foreward To Second Edition
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
As we learn to accept our disease, our circumstances and what we must do to recover, we come to realize that although we may not have control over these situations, we do have control over how we react to them. Bill W., co-founder of 12-step programs, wrote 'We neither ran nor fought. But accept we did. And then we were free.'
I chose to accept this wonderful opportunity to grow spiritually and know this 'new freedom and new happiness' of which they speak.
Personal Truth
Today, I know that no one from my past needs to see things the way I do for me to get better and move on. Trying to convince others of what I have learned through my own journey can be an exercise in futility and delay my progress. First of all, each of us has our own truth that is unique unto itself. Second of all, each of us is at a different level of understanding and acceptance of who and where we are in life. Each member in my family had different experiences. That I thought we somehow matched up was an illusion. We each experienced our childhoods in our own way and have a right to our own perceptions. I do not have to get anyone to see it my way in order for me to feel comfortable. My truth is my truth, theirs is theirs.
I honor my own experiences and personal truth, as well as those of others.
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
There is a difference between sharing our experience and imposing our opinions on someone. A sure way to set yourself up for a 'slip' is to be convinced that others will slip if they don't listen to your opinion.
When my opinion means more to me than my sobriety, I set myself up for a SLIP (Sobriety Loses Its Priority).
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
In AA, we surrender to win, not to whine.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
'Faith is the thread we hang on to when our life is falling apart' - Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse
Sometimes faith is right there, holding us up, keeping us light so that hard times feel manageable. And other times we have to 'act as if' we have faith to get through the tough times. We have to pray for faith.
It feels so good to know that no matter what is going on today, I have the faith to know that my Higher Power is guiding and supporting me.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
For an alcoholic, drinking alcohol is like dancing with a gorilla; you're only finished dancing when the gorilla says so. Tom W.
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AA Thought for the Day
June 21
Why AA?
Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover,
to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you,
to have a host of friends -- this is an experience you must not miss.
We know you will not want to miss it.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 89
Thought to Ponder . . .
Every recovery, though it may go unnoticed, improves the world in some way.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Always Alive.
~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
Change
"Let us never fear needed change.
Certainly we have to discriminate between
changes for worse and changes for better.
But once a need becomes clearly apparent
in an individual, in a group, or in AA as a whole,
it has long since been found out
that we cannot stand still and look the other way.
The essence of all growth is a willingness
to change for the better
and then an unremitting willingness
to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails."
Bill W., Grapevine, July 1965
1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 115
Thought to Consider . . .
God used two people to create me;
He used a whole Fellowship to change me.
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A C T I O N = Any Change Toward Improving One's Nature.
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Steps
>From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"Though subject to considerable variation, it all boiled down into a pretty consistent procedure which comprised six steps. These were approximately as follows:
1. "We admitted that we were licked, that we were powerless over alcohol.
2. "We made a moral inventory of our defects or sins.
3. "We confessed or shared our shortcomings with another person in confidence.
4. "We made restitution to all those we have harmed by our drinking.
5. "We tried to help other alcoholics, with no thought of reward in money or prestige.
6. We prayed to whatever God we thought there was for power to practice these precepts.
"This was the substance of what, by the fall of 1938, we were telling newcomers. Several of the Oxford Groups other ideas and attitudes had been definitely rejected, including any which could involve us in theological controversy."
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 160
*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"Many blessings have been showered upon me during my five years and nine months of sobriety -- great spiritual gifts, as well as the more ordinary supplies of money and goods. These great gifts come one after the other in spite of my own foolishness and fumbling, as I very slowly grope my way toward the light of reason and love."
Universal City, California, February 1970
"Freedom Began in Prison,"
AA Grapevine
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*
"Although financial recovery is on the way for many of us, we found
we could not place money first. For us, material well-being always
followed spiritual progress; it never preceded."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 127~
"We cannot be helpful to all people, but at least God will show us
how to take a kindly and tolerant view of each and every one."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 67~
"Returning home we find a place where we can be quiet for an hour, carefully reviewing what we have done."
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 75 (Into Action)
"Many of us also like the experience of an occasional retreat from the outside world where we can quiet down for an undisturbed day or so of self-overhaul and meditation."
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 89 (Step Ten)
Misc. AA Literature - Quote
Only God can fully know what absolute honesty is. Therefore, each of us has to conceive what this great ideal may be--to the best or our ability.
'Fallible as we all are, and will be in this life, it would be presumption to suppose that we could ever really achieve absolute honesty. The best we can do is to strive for a better quality of honesty.
'Sometimes we need to place love ahead of indiscriminate 'factual honesty.' We cannot, under the guise of 'perfect honesty,' cruelly and unnecessarily hurt others. Always one must ask, 'What is the best and most loving thing I can do?'
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, give me the willingness to sit quietly today with my thoughts and emotions. Let me not run from them, but acknowledge them with the help of Your love.
Ask and you shall receive,
Seek and ye shall find,
Knock and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7