'S' TOPIC DISCUSSION

[caressa222]

Quote:

Reflection for the Day 2003

The first psychiatrist to recognize the work of Alcoholics Anonymous, Dr. Harry Tiebout, used many concepts of The Program in his own practice. Over many years, the doctor's study of the "conversion experience" led him to see, first, that it is the act of surrender which initiates the switch from negative to positive; second, that the positive phase is really a state of surrender which follows the act of surrender; and third, that the state of surrender, if maintained, supplies an emotional tone to all thinking and feeling that insures healthy adjustment. Am I living in a constant state of surrender?

Today I Pray

May I understand that I do not have to "unlearn" my respect for "self-reliance," that trait of character, which I heard praised so often from the time I was a tiny child. Only my understanding of the word must change. For as I come to know that "self" is part of God, that I am nothing except in His Being, there is no quarrel between self-reliance and God-reliance. May I rely upon that self, which is God's.

Today I Will Remember

Not part-god, but part of God.

You are reading from the book:

A Day at a Time by Anonymous

Surrender is such a big part of my recovery. I have to surrender my thoughts, my problems, my joys and my very being over to the God of my understanding.

It is only by surrender that I am empowered to do what I need to do for myself on a daily basis. Of myself I am nothing, but through Him, I can become all things.

I must always remain teachable, open to all things, and most importantly self-honesty. Without that, I am living delusional and full of grandeur of my own self-importance, rather than in love and humility.

Quote:

Not part-god, but part of God.

Really like this. God is or He isn't! We can be god like or like God's image as to who we should be in today.

[caressa222]

So glad that the Serenity Prayer can not be worn out. It has been a true blessing to me. Short and to the point, it allows me recognize that of myself I am nothing, with God all things are possible.

One of the biggest results of prayer is the fact that I am sober 22 years. For that alone, I will be eternally grateful.

Prayer has been the answer for me for so many years. So many times I found myself stressed, only to feel the hand of my God, touch me and bring me peace. I always liked the saying, "God answer's knee-mail." The old knee doesn't allow me to go there any more but I think it is the surrender of the mind and spirit as much as it is the body, so have to accept 2 out of 3 these days.

The most important thing that I have learned is that is good to pray but it is more important to be still and listen for the answers. Faith for me isn't praying over and over again for the same thing, but praying and leaving things in God's Hands. I do pray and put a person in God's Hands and give them what they need instead of putting a request as to what I think they need. Not easy, but I try not to play God with other people's lives these days.

[caressa222]

SYMPTOMS OF INNER PEACE

How would you rate your level of "Inner Peace"? 

Enough to stay calm in a den of lions? 

Enough to get through a good day? 

Enough for the next five minutes, 

so long as everybody leaves you alone?

You may need a good case of inner peace, 

a disease that could leave you stress-free 

and contented for years to come. 

A chiropractor named Jeff Rockwell 

composed a list he calls

"Symptoms of Inner Peace." 

You may have already caught this disease! 

See how many of these symptoms you exhibit:

1. 

A tendency to think and act 

spontaneously rather than from

fears based on past experiences.

2. 

An unmistakable ability 

to enjoy each moment.

3. 

A loss of interest in judging self.

4. 

A loss of interest in judging others.

5. 

A loss of interest in conflict.

6. 

A loss of interest in interpreting 

the actions of others.

7. 

A loss of ability to worry 

(this is a serious symptom).

8. 

Frequent, 

overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

9. 

Contented feelings of connectedness 

with others and nature.

10. 

Frequent attacks of smiling 

through the eyes of the heart.

11. 

Increasing susceptibility to love 

extended by others as well as 

the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

12. 

An increasing tendency 

to let things happen.

Inner peace is a communicable disease 

that could possibly infect

your home or workplace. 

You may already be showing signs of it

and quite possibly be passing it along to others! 

Rockwell warns:

"If you have all or even most 

of the above symptoms, 

please be advised that your condition 

of PEACE may be so far advanced 

as to not be treatable."

Have you caught it?

[majestyjo]

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

SEX

"Sexual pleasure, wisely used
and not abused, may prove the
stimulus and liberator of our
finest and most exalted
activities."
-- Havelock Ellis

Sex is most beautiful because it enables the human being to
experience and give love at an intimate and personal level. It also
combines all the spiritual senses of body, mind and feeling in one
expression, balancing tenderness with strength, patience with desire,
need with selflessness.

Also the awareness and experience of a beautiful sexuality should be
taken into all other manifestations of life --- work, leisure, friendship,
sports and prayer.

The gift of sex is one of our finest and most creative attributes and
leads to all that is noble in man, therefore, it should not be used
irresponsibly. Today I understand that I have a responsibility to the
gifts that God has shared with me.

May I find in my sexuality an awareness of You.

[caressa222]

Service has always been a big part of my recovery. I started out by going to lots of meetings to find a group I felt comfortable in. My sponsor said, "Don't ask what the group can do for you, but what you can do for the group."

Back in my day, smoking was allowed, so it started in the kitchen cleaning coffee cups and ash trays. My favourite spot was at the door being a greeter.

I held several positions in my group, then got involved with other things when I got 2 years clean and sober and went to the local jail, detox, recovery house and sharing my story at different groups.

From there I tried to extend my hand to others and give to others in the community.

It helped me with my self-confidence and gave my life purpose and a reason for being.

[majestyjo]

Thought for the Day

Friday, APRIL 6

From the book: Today's Gift

In quarreling about the shadow, we often lose the substance.

—Aesop


There is a fable about a man and his camel who were hired by a wealthy man to get him across the desert. The journey was so hot that they stopped to rest one day, and the only shade to be found was in the shadow of the camel. The two of them began to argue about who had the rights to the camel's shadow--the owner or the renter. They were so involved in their argument that the camel ran away and they didn't notice until it was long gone.

Sometimes we get so caught up in being right that we become like these two, fighting over a shadow. Instead of paying attention to our journey and sharing what we have, we let ourselves get distracted. It is more important to notice what we have, to share it as best we can, and continue our journey.

What can I share with another today?

[majestyjo]

Thought for the Day

Saturday, APRIL 14

From the book: Touchstones

A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast.

—E. B. White


What do men really want? What are we seeking? Many of us have felt driven and still feel restless or compulsive at times. We frantically followed our impulses to self-destructive extremes. Even those painful actions of our past were motivated, at the bottom line, by a spiritual search. What did we really seek in the bottle, or in the passionate bed, or in our work? Slowing down enough every day to let ourselves know what we are looking for gives us a much better chance of finding it.

Today we can slow down by taking twenty minutes for solitude and quiet, for meditation or prayer. We can call a friend simply for a moment of contact. We might read something to give ourselves some ideas to ponder, or we can listen to music, which will transport us to another world. Perhaps we can simply walk more slowly from our cars or the bus stop to our homes. Often it is not the events in our lives that bring change but the space between events.

Today, I will try to remember that slowing down may help me find what I am seeking.

[majestyjo]

S is for Slow. you will often see me identify myself as a slow recovering alcoholic/addict. i say slow because I had a lot of memories that were buried deeply and it took a while to dig them all out. i can still have new memories in today. i learned from the people when i came in, and i still continue do learn from the new people. it isn't getting any nicer out there. i try to go to a meeting in today with an attitude of a newcomer. i still havelts to learn. When you think you know everything, you know nothing.

[caressa222]

One More Day

Man can do much for himself as respects his own improvement, unless self-love so blinds him that he cannot see his own imperfections and weaknesses.

– Martha Wilson

Remember Hide and Seek? Oleeey oleeey in free? What wonderful times they were when we were so certain we could hide from others. Now we are adults, and one would think we are no longer hiding. That’s not, unfortunately, always true. Many of us hide within negative behaviors which become habits.

Looking at our own weaknesses is a difficult task. We understand we have character defects, but we’re afraid to change our familiar patterns. If we can admit there is a problem, we’ve taken the first step. Wanting to change comes next. Finally, we won’t be hiding anymore.

Self-improvement is within my reach if I admit my negative behavior.

We have to acknowledge and feel our feelings in order to let them go.

[caressa222]

One More Day
August 17

Sadness is almost never anything but a form of fatigue.
– Andre Gide

There are times in every life when the road gets a little bumpy. Occasionally we become so overwhelmed with work, with life in general, that we become exhausted. With fatigue can come sadness — sadness at not being able to work the way we expected to, sadness at not looking or feeling as well as we want to, or sadness caused by grieving. We may feel sorry for ourselves or feel nearly paralyzed by fatigue.

We can recognize that fatigue is one of the many forms that sadness takes. Feeling of sorrow or helplessness can be diminished by confiding them to a friend or to a physician. We can only be as well as we expect to be — as well as we allow ourselves to be.

When I feel very fatigued or sad, I can be open and honest about my problem. Hiding behind fatigue only causes sadness.

[caressa222]

Wengo through a lot of sadness and grief. Every day on a day, lots of loss in our life and we don't recognize it as grief and it takes time to heal.

[caressa222]

December 28

Daily Reflections

SUIT UP AND SHOW UP

In A.A. we aim not only for sobriety - we try again
to become citizens of the world that we rejected, and
of the world that once rejected us. This is the
ultimate demonstration toward which Twelfth Step work
is the first but not the final step.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 21

The old line says, "Suit up and show up." That action
is so important that I like to think of it as my motto.
I can choose each day to suit up and show up, or not.
Showing up at meetings starts me toward feeling a part
of that meeting, I can talk with newcomers, and I can
share my experience; that's what credibility, honesty,
and courtesy really are. Suiting up and showing up are
the concrete actions I take in my ongoing return to
normal living.

My sponsor/spiritual advisor told me this many years ago and it has been something I have told myself many times over the years to motivate meet.

Suit up and show up and the rest will follow.  Good things followed when I turned my day over to my Higher Power.

[caressa222]

S is for Satisfaction. Satisfied that you program is working for you.

Satisfied that the program still works in today, even if we have to tweak it once in a while to bring it up into today. what use to serve us in the past may no longer be no longer validated in today.

Satisfied that we tried. The failure is in not trying. Just for today, I will try to be the best me I can be.