[bluidkiti]

November 25

Daily Reflections

A POWERFUL TRADITION

In the years before the publication of the book "Alcoholics
Anonymous," we had no name. . .by a narrow majority the verdict
was for naming our book "The Way Out." . . .One of our early lone
members. . . found exactly twelve books already titled "The Way
Out.". . . So "Alcoholics Anonymous" became first choice. That's
how we got a name for our book of experience, a name for our
movement and, as we are now beginning to see, a tradition of the
greatest spiritual import.
"A.A. TRADITION: HOW IT DEVELOPED." pp. 35-36

Beginning with Bill's momentous decision in Akron to make a
telephone call rather than a visit to the hotel bar, how often has a
Higher Power made itself felt at crucial moments in our history! The
eventual importance that the principle of anonymity would acquire
was but dimly perceived, if at all, in those early days. There seems to
have been an element of chance even in the choice of a name for our
Fellowship.
God is no stranger to anonymity and often appears in human affairs
in the guises of "luck", "chance," or "coincidence." If anonymity,
somewhat fortuitously, became the spiritual basis for all of our
Traditions, perhaps God was acting anonymously on our behalf.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I am not so envious of other people, nor am I so jealous of other people's possessions
and talents. When I was drinking, I was secretly full of jealousy and envy of those
people who could drink normally, who had the love and respect of their families, who
lived a normal life and were accepted as equals by their friends. I pretended to
myself that I was as good as they were, but I knew it wasn't so. Now I don't have
to be envious any more. I try not to want what I don't deserve. I'm content to live with
what I have earned by my efforts to live the right way. More power to those who
have what I have not. At least, I'm trying. Have I got rid of the poison of envy?

Meditation For The Day

"My soul is restless till it finds its rest in Thee." A river flows on, until it loses itself
in the sea. Our spirits long for rest in the Spirit of God. We yearn to realize a peace,
a rest, a satisfaction that we have never found in the world or its pursuits. Some are
not conscious of their need, and shut down the doors of their spirits against the
spirit of God. They are unable to have true peace.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may feel the divine unrest. I pray that my soul may find its rest in God.

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As Bill Sees It

Three Choices, p. 327

The immediate object of our quest is sobriety--freedom from alcohol
and from all its baleful consequences. Without this freedom, we have
nothing at all.

Paradoxically, though, we can achieve no liberation from the alcohol
obsession until we become willing to deal with those character defects
which have landed us in that helpless condition. In this freedom quest,
we are always given three choices.

A rebellious refusal to work upon our glaring defects can be an almost
certain ticket to destruction. Or, perhaps for a time, we can stay
sober with a minimum of self-improvement and settle ourselves into a
comfortable but often dangerous mediocrity. Or, finally, we can
continuously try hard for those sterling qualities that can add up to
fineness of spirit and action--true and lasting freedom under God.

Grapevine, November 1960

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Walk In Dry Places

What ought to work-- but doesn't
Understanding Alcoholism
One of the old theories about alcoholism was that we drink because we had deep psychological problems. It followed that if we could clear up these problems, we would no longer need to drink excessively.
Another theory was that staying dry for a long period of time would dislodge one's alcoholic tendencies. After a certain length of sobriety, we would be able to return to normal drinking. (NOT)
Both theories sound plausible, but in practice neither has worked. Many of us came to grief trying to make these ideas work.
What we eventually learn about psychological problems is that they may intensify our troubles, but they are not the real cause of our alcoholism. The cause may be rooted in some physical problem that enables us to achieve unusual highs from drinking. We also know that one drink acts as a trigger for more drinking--- at least for us.
Our answer has been, first and foremost, to eliminate the first drink. Even if it doesn't square with theories, it works.
No matter how long I've been sober, one drink would be deadly to me. Accepting that fact enabled me to get sober after finding that theories about my problem weren't working.

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Keep It Simple

Love is the reward of love.---Johann von Schiller
When we used alcohol and other drugs, we shared little as possible. There was little love in our hearts. We had become selfish. This caused us to be lonely.
Then something happened to change all of that. Remember the first time you walked into a meeting? You were met by people who shared. Maybe they shared a smile, their story, or just a cup of coffee with you. The sharing that goes on in a Twelve Step program is great. We learn that the more we give, the more we get. We get well by giving to others. Helping others is a great way to hold on to sobriety. Love is the reward of love.
Prayer for the Day: I pray that I will be there when others need me. I pray that service will become a big part of my program.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll think of friends who could use my help. I’ll talk to them and offer to be there for them.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Change occurs when one becomes what she is, not when she tries to become what she is not. --Ruth P. Freedman
Learning self-acceptance, and then loving the selves we are, present perhaps our two biggest hurdles to the attainment of emotional and spiritual health. Fortunately, they are not insurmountable hurdles. The program offers ready assistance.
Women everywhere are making great strides in self-love and self-acceptance. We are learning self-love. And we are changing. The support we can give our sisters, and the support we receive, multiplies many times the healthy energy created--healthy energy that touches us all.
Emotional and spiritual health are gifts promised by the program, when we work it. We must move beyond our perfectionism and relish our humanness. And the Steps are the way. We must learn humility and develop faith, and the Steps are the way. Learning to love all our parts, the qualities we like and the traits that discouragingly hang on, offers a new freedom. A freedom that invites change. A freedom that safeguards the emotional and spiritual well-being that we strive for.
Confidence will come with my healthy self-acceptance.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

BILL'S STORY

We went to live with my wife's parents. I found a job; then lost it as a result of a brawl with a taxi driver. Mercifully, no one could guess that I was to have no real employment for five years, or hardly draw a sober breath. My wife began to work in a department store, coming home exhausted to find me drunk. I became an unwelcome hanger-on at brokerage places.

pp. 4-5

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

Crossing The River Of Denial

She finally realized that when she enjoyed her drinking, she couldn't control it, and when she controlled it, she couldn't enjoy it.

Plummeting into the pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization that that relationship became, I had my first drunk driving arrest. It terrified me; I could have killed someone. Driving in a total blackout, I "came to" handing my driver's license to the patrolman. I swore it would never happen again. Three months later it happened again. What I didn't know then was that when I put alcohol in my body, I'm powerless over how much and with whom I drink--all good intentions drowned in denial.

p. 330

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

Let's examine for a moment this idea of dependence at the level of everyday living. In this area it is startling to discover how dependent we really are, and how unconscious of that dependence. Every modern house has electric wiring carrying power and light to its interior. We are delighted with this dependence; our main hope is that nothing will ever cut off the supply of current. By so accepting our dependence upon this marvel of science, we find ourselves more independent personally. Not only are we more independent, we are even more comfortable and secure. Power flows just where it is needed. Silently and surely, electricity, that strange energy so few people understand, meets our simplest daily needs, and our most desperate ones, too. Ask the polio sufferer confined to an iron lung who depends with complete trust upon a motor to keep the breath of life in him.

p. 36

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A recovering alcoholic without a sponsor is much like a ship without a rudder.
--unknown

"A positive attitude is like a fire: Unless you continue to add fuel, it goes out."
--Alexander Lockhart

We're all going to have winds and waves in our lives but nothing that
happens can destroy your life unless you allow it to destroy what's in you. Work on
building conscious contact with God that is stronger than anything in the world, so you
don't look to the world as your guidance.
Look within and you will find the power and love of God.
--Mary Manin Morrissey

"The sweetest of all sounds is praise."
--Xenophon

Start living now.
Stop saving the good china for that special occasion.
Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes.
Every day you are alive is a special occasion.
Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God.
--Mary Manin Morrissey

"If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans for the day."
--unknown

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

IDEALISM

"I am an idealist. I don't know
where I am going but I'm on my
way."
-- Carl Sandburg

Today I am on the move. I feel an energy in my life that gets excited each day. New
people, new places, new ideas all give me "a spiritual charge" that help me enjoy my
life.

I don't have all the answers and sometimes I am confused but today I can live with this
and enjoy it. God seems to reveal Himself more in the questions rather than the
answers; it is the problems that produce the growth.

The journey of my life is an adventure that is free and unchartered, even the pain and
problems produce a benefit that can be used for my recovery. Nothing need be wasted.

I am the Way. I am the Truth. I am the Light.

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“Your heart will be where your treasure is.”
Luke 12:34

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger.
The wise person makes learning a joy; fools spout only
foolishness. The LORD is watching everywhere, keeping his eye
on both the evil and the good. Gentle words bring life and health;
a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. Only a fool despises a
parent's discipline; whoever learns from correction is wise.
Proverbs 15:1-5

Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith,
we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord
has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into
this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we
confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory.
Romans 5:1-2

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Daily Inspiration

If you worry a little each day, it eventually will add up to years. Lord, without Your strength it is so easy to let circumstances rob me of my joy.

God is calling us to experience peace, satisfaction and joy as we have never experienced. Lord, I will follow You as You lift me to new levels of living.

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NA Just For Today

Meditation

"Quieting the mind through meditation brings and inner peace that brings us into contact with the God within us."
Basic Text pg.45

As our recovery progresses, we often reflect on what brought us to Narcotics Anonymous in the first place and are able to appreciate how much the quality of our lives has improved. We no longer have to fear our own thoughts. And the more we pray and meditate, the more we experience a calm sense of well-being. The peace and tranquillity we experience during our quiet times confirms that our most important needs - our spiritual needs - are being met.

We are able to empathize with other addicts and strengthen our conscience in the process. We learn to avoid judging others and experience the freedom to be ourselves. In our spiritual reflection, we intuitively find "the God within us" and see that we are in harmony with a Power greater than ourselves.

Just for today: I will reflect upon the gift of recovery and listen quietly for my Higher Power's guidance.

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
All music is what awakes from you when you are reminded by the instruments. --Walt Whitman
A small group of friends sat in a room around a record player. It was a heavy old thing, with parts that had to be operated by hand and only one speaker--nothing like a modern stereo at all, but more like an antique phonograph. The record--a recording of their favorite music--was old, too, and scratched, its grooves worn smooth as a stone in some places. The tone arm skipped and scratched, and the sound was tinny, hard on the ears.
Most of the friends squirmed in their seats as they listened, and several grumbled that it was impossible to hear the music with such inferior equipment.
But one of the group sat listening, her eyes closed, swaying to the music and humming softly to herself.
"How can you enjoy this?" the others asked.
"Ah," she said with a mysterious smile. "I am listening beyond the recording to the music I know is there!"
Can I find the music that's playing for me today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
It's the awareness, the full experience... of how you are stuck, that makes you recover. --Frederick S. Perls
When we become aware of how far off our path we have strayed, when we see how cold and hard we were to someone we love, when we are no longer blind to our blindness - then we are touched by painful feelings. We feel guilty about the harm we caused. We grieve the lost moments and lost opportunities. We may feel angry with ourselves for our stubbornness. But even with our pain, we are worlds away from that blindness.
This new awareness is a spiritual place. It brings us back into contact with our Higher Power and makes us available to the words of wisdom and concern of others. It reminds us that no man can walk this path on his own power. We all must remain open and in contact with the healing relationships around us.
I pray for awareness today as my doorway to spiritual healing.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Change occurs when one becomes what she is, not when she tries to become what she is not. --Ruth P. Freedman
Learning self-acceptance, and then loving the selves we are, present perhaps our two biggest hurdles to the attainment of emotional and spiritual health. Fortunately, they are not insurmountable hurdles. The program offers ready assistance.
Women everywhere are making great strides in self-love and self-acceptance. We are learning self-love. And we are changing. The support we can give our sisters, and the support we receive, multiplies many times the healthy energy created--healthy energy that touches us all.
Emotional and spiritual health are gifts promised by the program, when we work it. We must move beyond our perfectionism and relish our humanness. And the Steps are the way. We must learn humility and develop faith, and the Steps are the way. Learning to love all our parts, the qualities we like and the traits that discouragingly hang on, offers a new freedom. A freedom that invites change. A freedom that safeguards the emotional and spiritual well-being that we strive for.
Confidence will come with my healthy self-acceptance.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Awareness
When we first become aware of a problem, a situation, or a feeling, we may react with anxiety or fear. There is no need to fear awareness. No need.
Awareness is the first step toward positive change and growth. It's the first step toward solving the problem, or getting the need met, the first step toward the future. It's how we focus on the next lesson.
Awareness is how life, the Universe, and our Higher Power get our attention and prepare us for change. The process of becoming changed begins with awareness. Awareness, acceptance, and change - that's the cycle. We can accept the temporary discomfort from awareness because that's how we're moved to a better place. We can accept the temporary discomfort because we can trust God, and ourselves.
Today, I will be grateful for any awareness I encounter. I will display gratitude, peace, and dignity when life gets my attention. I will remember that it's okay to accept the temporary discomfort from awareness because I can trust that it's my Higher Power moving me forward.

Today I celebrate all of me exactly as I am. --Ruth Fishel

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Journey to the Heart

Make Today a Healing Day

Take time for healing. Take time for what soothes your body, your mind, your soul.

Take a bath. Light a candle. Read a book. Take a walk. Get a massage. See your favorite healer if you desire. See a movie. Buy some flowers. Drink a cup of tea.

Sometimes we talk ourselves out of doing something healing for ourselves. We’re too busy, too tired. But that is when we most need to take care of ourselves. Listen to your heart. What does it want? Listen to your body. What does it need? Trust what you hear.

Make today a healing day. Then take some time and make every day a healing day.

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More Language Of Letting Go

Express your power gently

Express your power naturally and as gently as you can.

When I started learning what it meant to take care of myself and to own my power, I talked loudly, spoke up, and yelled in order to set boundaries, limits, and to express myself. That was the way to get my point across. That’s how I’d showed people I meant what I said.

I had to say it loudly.

About five years after I started this process of learning what it meant to own my power, I met a bear called Winnie the Pooh. The book that introduced me was The Tao of Pooh. Lights started coming on. The seeds of new lessons began to sprout.

To own my power, I could quietly say what I meant. The clearer I was about what I had to say and who I was, the less I had to shout. Owning my power wasn’t something I had to plan out, premeditate, and obsess about.

The more I took care of myself and connected to myself, and the clearer I became, the more natural and easier it became to own my power. My power–including setting limits, saying no, refusing to be manipulated, and saying I’d changed my mind– often became a natural, graceful, timely expression of me.

There are still times in our lives when we have to be firm, sometimes forceful, and repeat what we’ve said, sometimes loudly. The quieter and more relaxed we can be when we say what we mean is usually in direct proportion to how much we believe in ourselves.

Let your power, boundaries, and expressions of who you are arise naturally.

Learn and respect the value of responding as gently, but as firmly, as you can.

God, help your power flow through me. Teach me to take care of myself gently, in a way that reflects harmony with myself and as much as possible, the people in my life.

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A Gift of the Heart
Letting People Know You Love Them

It’s easy to take our feelings for granted and to assume that the people we care about know how we feel about them. But while those we love are often quite cognizant of our feelings, saying "I love you" is a gift we should give to our loved ones whenever we can. Letting people know you love them is an important part of nurturing any kind of loving relationship. Few people tire of being told they are loved, and saying "I love you" can make a world of difference in someone’s life, take a relationship to a new level, or reaffirm and strengthen a steady bond. Everyone needs to hear the words "I love you." Three simple words – I - Love - You. When you declare your love for someone you admit to them that you care for them in the most significant way.

It can be difficult to express your love using words, particularly if you grew up around people that never expressed their affection verbally. But you should never be afraid to say "I love you" or worry that doing so will thrust you into a position of excessive vulnerability. It is important to share your feelings with those that matter to you. Part of the fulfillment that comes with loving someone is telling them that you love them. Besides, love exists to be expressed, not withheld.

If you love someone, let them know. Don’t be afraid of the strength of your emotions or worry that your loved one won’t feel the same way. Besides, the words "I love you" are often best said to another without expectation of a return investment. As each one of us is filled with an abundance of love, there is never any worry that you’ll run out of love if your expression of love isn’t said back to you. Saying, "I love you" is a gift of the heart sent directly via words to the heart of a recipient. Even though it may not always look that way, love from the heart is an offering that is always unconditional and given without strings attached. That is the true essence of the gift of "I love you." Published with permission from Daily OM

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

“What you have may seem small; you desire so much more. See children thrusting heir hands into a narrow necked jar, striving to pull out the sweets. If they fell the hand, they cannot pull it out and then they fall to tears. When they let go a few, they can draw out the rest. You, too, let your desire go; cover not too much..”
– Epictetus

Let me expect not too much of anyone, particularly myself,. Let me learn to settle for less than I wish were possible, and be willing to accept it and appreciate it. Do I accept gratefully and graciously the good that has already come to me in The Program?

Today I Pray

May I search my soul for those little hankerings of what which may keep me from delighting in all that I have. If I can just teach myself not to want too much, not to expect too much, then when those expectations are not satisfied, I will not be let down. May I accept with grace what the grace of God has provided.

Today I Will Remember

I , alone, can grant myself the “freedom from want.”

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One More Day

Be a football to Time and Chance, the more kicks the better, so that you inspect the whole game and know it’s utmost law.
– Ralph Wldo Emerson

There’s something attractive about having a controlled life, a life in which we’re never embarrassed or disappointed or fooled. Perhaps it’s safety we seek when we try to control everyone and everything around us. As is so often true, we can’t get one thing without forfeiting another. In this case, if we choose safety, wee lose spontaneity and excitement.

Although we don’t want to take dangerous risks or make foolish choices when clearly better ones present themselves, we may want to loosen our tight, controlling grasp on our lives. To live fully and joyously, we do want and need to examine the range of experiences life offers. Yes we may get a few bumps and bruises, but we’ll always find joy and contentment

Today, I will welcome the unexpected in my life.

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Food For Thought

Regaining Control

Temporary loss of control resulting in a slip does not need to send us off on a protracted binge. We have tools, which we may use to regain control and reestablish firm abstinence.

If we find ourselves deviating from our food plan, however slightly, we need to make contact with our sponsor or another OA member. Honestly admitting that we are having trouble prevents us from losing touch with reality and slipping back into our old habits. If we pretend that all is well when it is not, we cut ourselves off from the help and support we need.

When we are tempted, it is a good idea to remove ourselves from the source of temptation and get involved in another activity. Reading the literature or going to a meeting can renew our OA commitment.

In the last analysis, it is our Higher Power who provides the control, which we lack. To turn over our lack of control is to open ourselves to the Power that keeps us abstinent.

Control my life. Lord.

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One Day At A Time

~ CHOICE ~
The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.
George Eliot

I spent most of my life blaming others for my woes and the fact that I was a compulsive overeater. I thought, "If you had had a mother like I did, an ex-husband or a tough life like mine, you would also have turned to food for comfort or to block all the painful feelings." I was sure that had I had an easier life like I perceived others to have, I wouldn't have had to do the things around food that I did. I never took responsibility for my part in all this because, in truth, I was the one who chose to react to my life in that way. Nobody forced me to behave the way I did and nobody held me down and forced food into my mouth.

I never used to realize that I do have choices in life. I can choose not to eat foods that are harmful to me; I can choose not to surround myself with unhealthy relationships; I can choose not to let other people's problems become my own; in fact, I have choices in most things that I do. I can choose to have a more positive attitude today, instead of focusing on all the negatives. I do not have to react to life's adversities with destructive behaviors. I can choose to be active in my life rather than being reactive, like a sailing ship in a stormy sea that is totally at the mercy of the weather. I can choose to seize life with both hands and live it the best I know how.

One day at a time... . . .
Today I choose to work this program of recovery knowing that, even with life's difficulties, the promises of the program will come true in my life, and I will know serenity and peace.
Sharon S.

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

We have elsewhere remarked how much better life is when lived on a spiritual plane. If God can solve the age-old riddle of alcoholism, He can solve your problems too. - Pg. 116 - To Wives

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

It may be your family, friends, or co-workers that support you now or they all may have abandoned you. You may be surprised by who you can count on. Someone that you did not expect to come through might and others whom you thought you could count on may fall short of your expectations. Try not to blame the ones that fall short and be grateful for the ones who go the extra mile.

My friends and family, like myself all have different strengths and weaknesses. I ask that I not be too critical of the ones who can't be the support I want today and I give blessings for those who can.

Having Fun

Today, I will have fun. What's the point of all the work I do in recovery if my life doesn't become lighter and happier? Even though I am working through deep issues, there is no reason why I can't have some enjoyment in the process. Fun is when I relax and let things happen - when I can laugh at myself and other people - when I don't take everything in life so seriously. It is when I can enjoy a seemingly meaningless conversation just for its own sake. Fun is when it doesn't have to be all my way - when the heavy load is removed, when my meter is turned off and I just goof around in the moment. Fun is something I don't have enough of for a number of silly reasons. Today I see that there is no reason not to enjoy myself.

I can let go and have fun.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

We make two great decisions in life: one, the decision to get clean and sober; the other, the decision to stay that way. Never make the decision not to stay that way when you are depressed or unhappy.

'Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time.' ~Robert Schuller

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

We are only as sick as our secrets; we are only as healthy as our honesty.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I celebrate all of me exactly as I am.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

The more my head swells the less my mind expands. - Anon.