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09-21-2020, 02:48 PM | #1 |
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Daily Recovery Readings - September 22
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. September 22 Daily Reflections A "LIMITLESS LODE" Like a gaunt prospector, belt drawn in over the last ounce of food, our pick struck gold. Joy at our release from a lifetime of frustration knew no bounds. Father feels he has struck something better than gold. For a time he may try to hug the new treasure to himself. He may not see at once that he has barely scratched a limitless lode which will pay dividends only if he mines it for the rest of his life and insists on giving away the entire product. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 128-29 When I talk with a newcomer to A.A., my past looks me straight in the face. I see the pain in those hopeful eyes, I extend my hand, and then the miracle happens: I become healed. My problems vanish as I reach out to his trembling soul. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Step Eight is, "Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all." Step Nine is, "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others." Making restitution for the wrongs we have done is often very difficult. It hurts our pride. But the rewards are great. When we go to a person and say we are sorry, the reaction we get is almost invariably good. It takes courage to make the plunge, but the results more than justify it. A load is off your chest and often an enemy has been turned into a friend. Have I done my best to make all the restitution possible? Meditation For The Day There should be joy in living the spiritual life. A faith without joy is not entirely genuine. If you are not happier as a result of your faith, there is probably something wrong with it. Faith in God should bring you a deep feeling of happiness and security, no matter what happens on the surface of your life. Each new day is another opportunity to serve God and improve your relationships with other people. This should bring joy. Life should be abundant and outreaching. It should be glowing and outgoing, in ever widening circles. Prayer For The Day I pray that my horizons may grow ever wider. I pray that I may keep reaching out for more service and companionship. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It The Step That Keeps Us growing, p.264 Sometimes, when friends tell us how well we are doing, we know better inside. We know we aren't doing well enough. We still can't handle life, as life is. There must be a serious flaw somewhere in our spiritual practice and development. What, then, is it? The chances are better than even that we shall locate our trouble in our misunderstanding or neglect of A.A.'s Step Eleven--prayer, meditation, and the guidance of God. The other Steps can keep most of us sober and somehow functioning. But Step Eleven can keep us growing, if we try hard and work at it continually. Grapevine, June 1958 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Making tough decisions Decision Making An AA member in a supervisor's position was faced with the need to terminate an unsatisfactory employee. Procrastinating about this unpleasant matter, she found herself wishing that the employee would suddenly find another job, thus making the termination ordeal unnecessary. But further reflection showed that the procrastination was related to the same problems that had dogged her in her drinking years. She was a people=pleaser; she felt guilty about inflicting pain on others. She was finally able to make the tough decision and call the employee in for termination. In the process, she discovered that a brief prayer time for preparation and a gentle manner removed some of the pain for her and the employee being terminated. She learned that the principles of the program could help her become more decisive without being brutal. I'll look over any tough decisions I;ve been putting off and determination why I'm behaving that way. Am I prolonging tough decisions just as I did when drinking? ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple One Day at a Time. Program slogan This slogan means we are to take with us only the joys and problems of the present day. We don’t carry with us the mistakes of the days gone by. We have no room for them. We are to work at loving others today. Just today. It’s crazy for us to think we can handle more than one day at a time. During our illness, we lived everywhere but in the here and now. We looked to the future or punished ourselves with our past. One Day at a Time teaches us to go easy. It teaches us to focus on what really means anything to us: the here and now. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me turn the slogans of my programs into a way of life. Help me to live life moment by moment, One Day at a Time. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll practice living in the present. When I find myself living in the past or in the future, I’ll bring myself back to today. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Anger conquers when unresolved. --Anonymous Emotions need recognition. But not only attention; they also need acceptance as powerful dimensions of who we are. Their influence over who we are capable of becoming is mighty. Respectful attention and willing acceptance of our emotions, whether fear or anger or hateful jealousy, takes away their sting. We can prevent them from growing larger than they are. Like a child who screams and misbehaves more and more fiercely until attention is won, our emotions grow larger and more intense the longer we deny their existence. Our emotions bless us, in reality. They enrich our experiences. They serve as guideposts on the road we're traveling. How we "feel" at any single moment flags the level of our security, how close we are to our higher power, the level of our commitment to the program. They serve us well when acknowledged. On the other hand, when ignored or denied, they can immobilize us, even defeat us. My feelings frequent my being, always. They steer my behavior. They reflect my attitudes. They hint at my closeness to God. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition THERE IS A SOLUTION None of us makes a sole vocation of this work, nor do we think its effectiveness would be increased if we did. We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs. All of us spend much of our spare time in the sort of effort which we are going to describe. A few are fortunate enough to be so situated that they can give nearly all their time to the work. p. 19 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition - Stories Doctor Bob's Nightmare A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935. To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge. In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know. My next move was to take up the study of medicine, entering one of the largest universities in the country. There I took up the business of drinking with much greater earnestness than I had previously shown. On account of my enormous capacity for beer, I was elected to membership in one of the drinking societies, and soon became one of the leading spirits. Many mornings I have gone to classes, and even though fully prepared, would turn and walk back to the fraternity house because of my jitters, not daring to enter the classroom for fear of making a scene should I be called on for recitation. p. 173 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves." But that is not all of the danger. Every time a person imposes his instincts unreasonably upon others, unhappiness follows. If the pursuit of wealth tramples upon people who happen to be in the way, then anger, jealousy, and revenge are likely to be aroused. If sex runs riot, there is a similar uproar. Demands made upon other people for too much attention, protection, and love can only invite domination or revulsion in the protectors themselves-- two emotions quite as unhealthy as the demands which evoked them. When an individual's desire for prestige becomes uncontrollable, whether in the sewing circle or at the international conference table, other people suffer and often revolt. This collision of instincts can produce anything from a cold snub to a blazing revolution. In these ways we are set in conflict not only with ourselves, but with other people who have instincts, too. p. 44 ************************************************** ********* Without memory, there is no healing. Without forgiveness, there is no future." "A quiet hour is worth more to you than anything you can do in it." --Sara One Jewess "If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else" --Chinese Proverb A good exercise for the heart is to bend down and help another up. He who divides and shares is left with the best share. --Mexican Proverb "Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier." --Mother Theresa If your eyes are blinded with your worries, you cannot see the beauty of the sunset. --Krishnamurti *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation HEAVEN "If you're not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there." -- Martin Luther When I was a practicing alcoholic, I imagined heaven to be a dull formal place, rather like a never-ending cathedral. Beautiful, but serious. My pain and guilt were so great that I rarely laughed, and when I did it was usually inappropriate and violent: I laughed at others! Today heaven is associated with recovery. It is a place of joy, acceptance and forgiveness. A place where people can be themselves and where variety abounds. Christians play with people from other religions -- and the atheists make the music! The laughter of "peace" abounds. I am "at one" with my Father and all my brothers and sisters. I am home! God of Love, when I hear the sound of laughter here on earth, I think what joy awaits me in heaven. ************************************************** ********* "Happy are the people to whom such blessing fall; happy are the people whose God is the Lord." Psalm 144:15 "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it." Matthew 16:24-25 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Envision the joy of victory when you are faced with troubles and you will clearly see what direction you must take. Lord, with You my storm will pass and I will grow stronger as I grow closer to You. Take heart in the beauty of your life because God loves, helps, fights and wins. Lord, I will never fear because nothing can triumph over Your Will. ************************************************** ********* NA Just For Today Keeping The Gift "Life takes on a new meaning when we open ourselves to this gift." Basic Text, p.102 Neglecting our recovery is like neglecting any other gift we've been given. Suppose someone gave you a new car. Would you let it sit in the driveway until the tires rotted? Would you just drive it, ignoring routine maintenance, until it expired on the road? Of course not! You would go to great lengths to maintain the condition of such a valuable gift. Recovery is also a gift, and we have to care for it if we want to keep it. While our recovery doesn't come with an extended warranty, there is a routine maintenance schedule. This maintenance includes regular meeting attendance and various forms of service. We'll have to do some daily cleaning - our Tenth Step - and, once in a while, a major Fourth Step overhaul will be required. But if we maintain the gift of recovery, thanking the Giver each day, it will continue. The gift of recovery is one that grows with the giving. Unless we give it away, we can't keep it. But in sharing our recovery with others, we come to value it all the more. Just for today: My recovery is a gift, and I want to keep it. I'll do the required maintenance, and I'll share my recovery with others. pg. 276 ************************************************** ********* You are reading from the book Today's Gift. Kindness and intelligence don't always deliver us from the pitfalls and traps. --Barbara Grizzuti Harrison Being human means we'll have hard times along with pleasant ones. Whether with friends, at school, or at home, we'll find reasons for sadness or anger as easily as for laughter. In every part of our lives, we're offered just what we need for growth. Being the best we know how to be doesn't mean we'll escape confusion or pain. Through the troubling times we learn to trust in a Higher Power; we learn patience; we learn to let go and let God decide outcomes. The troubling times offer us growth and serenity, our keys to happiness. What hidden gifts will I find in today's troubles? You are reading from the book Touchstones. Time never challenged the Indian or worked against him. Time was for silently marking the passing of the seasons. It was a thing to be enjoyed. --Tim Giago We have a choice as to how we view the passage of time. We can look at it as a gift to be enjoyed, marking the transitions and cycles of life. Or we can think of time as a long, thin string of pressures and frustrations - specific minutes and hours that we try to speed up or slow down. Our relationship to time is a very important part of our recovery. We are learning to live in the present, one day at a time. We are letting go of the past. The future we place in trust to our Higher Power. Time doesn't work against us or challenge us, it just flows. This day need not be painless or close to paradise for us to live in the present moment. Being aware of our lives without struggling against time makes the day rich and full of meaning. Today, rather than wrestling with time, I will be aware of my experiences and let time flow. You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning. Anger conquers when unresolved. --Anonymous Emotions need recognition. But not only attention; they also need acceptance as powerful dimensions of who we are. Their influence over who we are capable of becoming is mighty. Respectful attention and willing acceptance of our emotions, whether fear or anger or hateful jealousy, takes away their sting. We can prevent them from growing larger than they are. Like a child who screams and misbehaves more and more fiercely until attention is won, our emotions grow larger and more intense the longer we deny their existence. Our emotions bless us, in reality. They enrich our experiences. They serve as guideposts on the road we're traveling. How we "feel" at any single moment flags the level of our security, how close we are to our higher power, the level of our commitment to the program. They serve us well when acknowledged. On the other hand, when ignored or denied, they can immobilize us, even defeat us. My feelings frequent my being, always. They steer my behavior. They reflect my attitudes. They hint at my closeness to God. You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go. Trusting Ourselves Many of us believed that heeding the words of God or our Higher Power meant following rigid rules, an instruction booklet for life. Many of us now believe differently. The rigid rules, the endless instructions, the exhortation to perfection, are not the words our Higher Power whispers. The words of God are often those still, small words we call intuition or instinct, leading and guiding us forward. We are free to be whom we are, to listen to and trust ourselves. We are free to listen to the gentle, loving words of a Higher Power, words whispered to and through each of us. Today, help me, God; to let go of shame based rigid rules. I will choose the freedom of loving, listening, and trusting. Today I will find someone who needs my love. Today I will share my strength, hope and experience so that someone else can be reborn. --Ruth Fishel ***** Journey to the Heart Embrace Change You don't have to fear change. What you need to fear, a friend once told me, is things remaining the same. When that happens, life has stopped. Life is an evolution. Your life is constantly, quietly evolving each moment into something new, something different, something that adds gracefully, beautifully, and perfectly to what was. You can trust that process with all its insights, clarity, confusion, and emotions. You can trust that process with its peace, joy, laughter, and its side trips. Learn to honor and love the process of continual evolution and transformation. It's how things grow. It's how you grow. It's how life is. Learn to embrace change. ***** more language of letting go Be uniquely you We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or to other peoples' models, learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channels to open. --Shakti Gawain We have much in common with each other. And recovery, growth, and change are strengthened by honoring these similarities. But each of us is unique. We each have our own strengths, weaknesses, gifts, vulnerabilities-- our own personalities. The purpose of spiritual growth is not to eliminate the personality. It is to refine and enhance it, and allow each of us to express ourselves creatively. We are not meant to be just like anyone else. Comparison will leave us uncomfortable, either on the side of pride or of inadequacy. You are you. The wonder of life comes in finding your own rhythm to the dance, your own way of seeing the world, your own brush stroke, phrase, or special combination. There is an old story about a writer who goes to his teacher and says, "Teacher, all the stories have already been told. There is no need for me to write. Everything that needs to be said has already been written." "It's true that there are no new stories," the teacher said. "The universal lessons have been taking place for a long, long time. And the same themes have influenced humanity since time began. But no one sees that story through your eyes. And no one else in the world will tell that story exactly the way you will. Now return to your desk, pick up your pen, and tell the world what you see." The beauty of the world lies both in our differences and in our similarities. Allow the beauty that is channeled through you to be flavored with your own special perspective on the world. There's a difference between ego and personality. Drop the ego. Let your personality, in all its glories and foibles and eccentricities, come shining through. Respect how much you have in common with other people. Then be uniquely you. God, thank you for making me unique. ***** Cultivating Safety From the Overcoming Fear On-line Course by Debbie Ford The following is an excerpt from the "Overcoming Fear" on-line course. If you would like to take the entire course, click here. We can control the quality of our lives if we are willing to face our fears rather than burying, suppressing or avoiding them. Confronting our deepest fears, our terror, is a way out of the agony of our ongoing stories and into the glorious world of empowerment. Almost all of us were terrorized in some way when we were young. For you, maybe it was when you were bullied in school or when one of your siblings locked you in the closet. Something happened to activate the feeling of fear, of sheer terror, and at some point you rejected your fear and made a decision that this was a bad way to feel because you associated it with some negative event. Now it is time for you to be the adult and take charge of your internal world. You have to be the one to take back your power, even if you're scared. When you are in fear, it's because you believe in that darkness more than you believe in the light. You might believe that if you do enough, read enough, pray enough or chat enough, you can obliterate your fear, but I am here to tell you that it's impossible to make the fear happy. You might think that if you listen to it long enough, it will go away. But it won't. You must confront it. You must take back your power. You say, "Yes Debbie but how?" Well here is the antidote for your fear: LOVE IT. Don't try to discard or rid yourself of your fear, because you probably aren't strong enough. But what you can do is bring the light to the darkness. That light is love. When faced with your fear, you can ask yourself, "How can I love myself even when I'm in the middle of my fear? You can turn around and face your fear. You can stop te! rrorizing yourself further for being scared and instead find out how old that fear is. You can ask yourself, "How many years, months, weeks, days and minutes have I been terrorized by the same thing?" Count it out and write it down. And then find some sweet compassion for the kid in you that is scared to death. The greatest way to take on your fear is to create safety for yourself. Safety is the key to courage. And action is your way of showing yourself that you are safe and that you can take care of yourself.. For example, if you hold a secret fear that you could become a bag lady but have no financial plan, then you're going to be continuously terrorized. Get a money mentor. Find out how much money you need to put away and then start on that path. If you're afraid that someone is going to attack you, get trained in self-defense. If you're afraid your business partner is going to extort you, have an agreement drawn up that protects you. If you're fearful that your partner is going to leave you, find out what you would need to do to know that, even if they did leave, you're a desirable and extraordinary person? If you're scared that you're going to pass your limiting beliefs and issues on to your kids, what transformational class would you have to attend or what coaching could you ! participate in to ensure that you're giving them your highest? If you're scared you're going to get sick, what measures could you take right now to nurture your well-being? Add tai chi or yoga classes to your weekly schedule and seek out an integrative healthcare practitioner (such as an acupuncturist or body worker) to mitigate stress and keep your body in balance. Since ultimately you are the one that can make you feel safe, what environment do you need to create around you? What support structures could you put in place? Ask yourself where in your life are you not protecting yourself - not taking care of yourself. What subtle adjustment or quantum step can you take this week to put in a measure of safety somewhere in your life where you are fearful? Whether it's adding antioxidants to your daily regimen, putting money in savings, having an alarm system installed, getting insurance, or praying to the divine, do what it takes to ease your heart and mind. Make a commitment this week. Find an area where you have fear and take it on! Published with permission from Daily OM ***** A Day At A Time Reflection For The Day For a considerable period of time after I reached The Program, I let things I couldn’t do keep me from doing the things I could. If I was bothered by what a speaker or other people said, I retreated, sulking, into my shell. Now, instead of being annoyed or defensive when someone strikes a raw nerve, I try to welcome it — because it allows me to work on my attitudes and perceptions of God, self, other people, and my life situation. We may no longer have active addiction, but we all certainly have an active thinking problem. Am I willing to grow — and grow up? Today I Pray May God give me courage to test my new wings — even a feather at a time. May I not wait to be entirely whole before I re-enter the world of everyday opportunity, for recovery is ongoing and growth comes through challenges. May I no longer make desperate stabs at perfection, but keep my aims in sight and develop as I live — a day at a time. Today I Will Remember Things I can’t do should not get in the way of things I can. ************************************************** ***************** Food For Thought Scales During our dieting days, we probably spent much time getting on and off the scales. In OA, we are advised not to weigh more than once a month. Though we want to get rid of excess weight, we do not want to be obsessed with pounds and ounces. This program involves much more than weight control, and to make the scales our ultimate judge is to miss the mark. If we are honestly abstaining from compulsive overeating and working our program, we will lose weight. The rate of loss will vary from person to person and from week to week. Even, and especially, when the scale registers what we want it to register, we continue to honestly abstain and work the OA program. In OA, we are more concerned with the progress we make in controlling our disease than we are with our specific weight on any particular day. If our illness is under control, weight control will follow. Scales are useful for measuring physical progress, but they are not a god. May I use the scales wisely? ***************************************** One Day At A Time ACCEPTANCE "And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes." The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous Dissatisfaction has been part of my disease and it played a significant role in bringing me to recovery. It is the human condition to dislike where we are. Like many of us, I used to think that only some mystical, non-existent person, place, thing or situation would make me happy. If only my spouse loved me as I want to be loved; if only the boss would see and appreciate my contributions; or if only my house and children were perfect. I sat year after year speculating and fantasizing my life away. The Serenity Prayer tells me to ask God for the wisdom to know His will for me. I lived in darkness and despair until I learned that my Higher Power is here. He is in charge. I must, through prayer and meditation, seek God's will and do the next right thing. I need to cooperate with my Higher Power to change my attitude. To that end, I do the footwork just for today. One day at a time... I will seek and accept God's will for my life. ~ Danny ***************************************** AA 'Big Book' - Quote We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: 'Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.' Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever. If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol. - Pg. 33 - More About Alcholism Hour To Hour - Book - Quote The slogans we are learning are like combinations to unlock something of value and make it accessible to our mind. Even if we don't like the slogans hanging on the walls and repeated at meetings, we at least consider the possibility of opening our mind to it's intent. What situation, God, can I find this hour where a slogan will lead me to the solution? I Will Be Me I will be me, today. One thing I never seem to do well at, is trying to be someone else. I can imitate and learn from others, but I cannot be them. Only they know how to do that, it's a natural outgrowth of all that they have experienced in life, of all they are. That's the bad news. The good news is no one can be me as well as me. Being me builds on who I already am. It's exercise for my personality and my spirit. If I allow myself to actualize my own unique gifts and visions they will have originality to them, a freshness. - Tian Dayton PhD Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote 'When adversity strikes, my message is always, Even this will pass...and better days than we have ever experienced will come.' ~Dr. Norman Vincent Peale I can't run from God, so I let God run me. "Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book God speaks through people, don't worry about which ones. Time for Joy - Book - Quote Today I will find someone who needs my love. Today I will share my strength, hope and experience so that someone else can be reborn. Alkiespeak - Book - Quote 'Analysis' has 'anal' in there. That tells me something. - Trip S. ***************************************** AA Thought for the Day September 22 Right Living Service, gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with God's help, the knowledge that at home or in the world outside we are partners in a common effort, the well-understood fact that in God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that love freely given surely brings a full return, the certainty that we are no longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that we need no longer be square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong in God's scheme of things -- these are the permanent and legitimate satisfactions of right living for which no amount of pomp and circumstance, no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 124 Thought to Ponder . . . A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. AA-related 'Alconym' . . . Y A N A = You Are Not Alone. ~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~ Faith "While drinking, we were certain that our intelligence, backed by will power, could rightly control our inner lives and guarantee us success in the world around us. This brave philosophy, wherein each man played God, sounded good in the speaking, but it still had to meet the acid test: How well did it actually work? one good look in the mirror was answer enough." c. 1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 225 Thought to Consider . . . Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen *~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~* F A I T H = Finding Answers In The Heart *~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~* Another Difficulty From: "To Wives" Still another difficulty is that you may become jealous of the attention he bestows on other people, especially alcoholics. You have been starving for his companionship, yet he spends long hours helping other men and their families. You feel he should now be yours. The fact is that he should work with other people to maintain his own sobriety. Sometimes he will be so interested that he becomes really neglectful. Your house is filled with strangers. You may not like some of them. He gets stirred up about their troubles, but not at all about yours. It will do little good if you point that out and urge more attention for yourself. We find it a real mistake to dampen his enthusiasm for alcoholic work. You should join in his efforts as much as you possibly can. We suggest that you direct some of your thought to the wives of his new alcoholic friends. They need the counsel and love of a woman who has gone through what you have. 2001, AAWS, Inc., Alcoholics Anonymous, page 119 *~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~* "With the help of the Fellowship, the Twelve Steps, and a Higher Power ... I do not have to be a newcomer again." Montpelier, Vt., March 2003 "Confessions of a Reluctant Newcomer" Emotional Sobriety II *~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~* "Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family back. This just isn't so. In some cases the wife will never come back for one reason or another. Remind the prospect that his recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his relationship with God. We have seen men get well whose families have not returned at all. We have seen others slip when the family came back too soon." ~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 99~ One of the many doctors who had the opportunity of reading this book in manuscript form told us that the use of sweets was often helpful, of course depending upon a doctors advice. He thought all alcoholics should constantly have chocolate available for its quick energy value at times of fatigue. He added that occasionally in the night a vague craving arose which would be satisfied by candy. Many of us have noticed a tendency to eat sweets and have found this practice beneficial. ~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 133~ Though they knew they must help other alcoholics if they would remain sober, that motive became secondary. -Alcoholics Anonymous p. 159 Most of us would declare that without a fearless admission of our defects to another human being we could not stay sober. -Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 57 Misc. AA Literature - Quote When we insisted, like infants, that people protect and take care of us or that the world owed us a living, then the result was unfortunate. The people we most loved often pushed us aside or perhaps deserted us entirely. Our disillusionment was hard to bear. We failed to see that, though adult in years, we were still behaving childishly, trying to turn everybody - friends, wives, husbands, even the world itself - into protective parents. We refused to learn that overdependence upon people is unsuccessful because all people are fallible, and even the best of them will sometimes let us down, especially when our demands for attention become unreasonable. We are now on a different basis: the basis of trusting and relying upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. Just to the extent that we do as we think He would have us do, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity. Prayer for the Day: My First Prayer - I surrender to Thee my entire life, O God of my understanding. I have made a mess of it, trying to run it myself. You take it, the whole thing, and run it for me, according to Your will and plan.
__________________
"No matter what you have done up to this moment, you get 24 brand-new hours to spend every single day." --Brian Tracy
AA gives us an opportunity to recreate ourselves, with God's help, one day at a time. --Rufus K. When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. --Franklin D. Roosevelt We stay sober and clean together - one day at a time! God says that each of us is worth loving. |
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