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Post by caressa222 on Jan 19, 2018 21:47:33 GMT -5
January 20
Daily Reflections
"WE PAUSE . . . AND ASK"
As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or
doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.87
Today I humbly ask my Higher Power for the grace to
find the space between my impulse and my action; to
let flow a cooling breeze when I would respond with
heat; to interrupt fierceness with gentle peace; to
accept the moment which allows judgment to become
discernment; to defer to silence when my tongue would
rush to attack or defend. I promise to watch for every
opportunity to turn toward my Higher Power for
guidance. I know where this power is: it resides within
me, as clear as a mountain brook, hidden in the hills
- it is the unsuspected Inner Resource. I thank my
Higher Power for this world of light and truth I see
when I allow it to direct my vision. I trust it today
and hope it trusts me to make all effort to find the
right thought or action today.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
In A.A., we're all through with lying, hangovers, remorse
and wasted money. When we were drinking, we were only
half alive. Now that we're trying to live decent, honest,
unselfish lives, we're really alive. Life has a new
meaning for us, so that we can really enjoy it. We feel
that we're some use in the world. We're on the right
side of the fence, instead of on the wrong side. We can
look the world in the face instead of hiding in alleys.
We come into A.A. to get sober and if we stay long
enough, we learn a new way of living. Am I convinced
that no matter how much fun I got out of drinking, that
life was never as good as the life I can build in A.A.?
Meditation For The Day
I want to be at one with the Divine Spirit of the
universe. I will set my deepest affections on things
spiritual, not on things material. As we think,
so we are. So I will think of and desire that which will
help, not hinder, my spiritual growth. I will try to be
at one with God. No human aspiration can reach higher
than this.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may think love, and love will surround me. I
pray that I may think health, and health will come to me.
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As Bill Sees It
Light From A Prayer, p. 20
"God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the
courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the
difference."
<< << << >> >> >>
We treasure our "Serenity Prayer" because it brings a new light to us
that can dissipate our oldtime and nearly fatal habit of fooling
ourselves.
In the radiance of this prayer we see that defeat, rightly accepted,
need be no disaster. We now know that we do not have to run away,
nor ought we again try to overcome adversity by still another
bulldozing drive that can only push up obstacles before us faster than
they can be taken down.
Grapevine, March 1962
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Walk In Dry Places
First things first____Order
Busy people often declare, with some exasperation, that they cannot do everything at once. People with emotional problems, a group that includes many alcoholics, often feel that they are trying to do everything at once. Quite often, this pressure means that we waste our time fretting about all the things facing us, becoming totally ineffective as a result.
The simple slogan "First things First" shows us how to set priorities in an orderly way. In every situation or problem, there is always one step we can take that is more important than the others. Following that, we find a step of second importance, another of third importance, and so on. Sometimes, a certain action comes first simply because other things depend on it.
By using "First things first" as a guiding principle in our lives, we can live in an orderly, disciplined manner. If we have to reduce our activities, we can decide which few ought to retain. Having made these decisions, we can be at peace about our choices. We cannot do everything at once and we need not feel guilty about it.
Knowing that order is Heaven's first law, I'll do things today in an orderly manner.
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Keep It Simple
SERVICE---A beautiful word fallen upon bad days.---Claude McKay
Service is really a beautiful word. Service means respect. When we serve others we're part of the human race. We all need to help each other. Service is a sure way to stay sober. Helping someone else stay sober helps us stay sober. And service frees us from self-will. It teaches us about how to care for ourselves and others. It teaches us that we're worthwhile. It teaches us that we make a difference. Service keeps us feeling good. Am I quiet when the topic of service comes ap at meetings? If so, how can I change this?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, show me where I can be of help. Give me the courage to make a difference. Give me the courage to really serve others in need.
Action for the Day: I'll list five ways service has made or can make my life better.
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Each Day a New Beginning
The pain of leaving those you grow to love is only the prelude to understanding yourself and others. --Shirley MacLaine
Life is a process of letting go, letting go of conditions we can't control, letting go of people--watching them move out of our lives, letting go of times, places, experiences. Leaving behind anyone or anyplace we have loved may sadden us, but is also provides us opportunities for growth we hadn't imagined. These experiences push us beyond our former selves to deeper understandings of ourselves and of others.
So often those experiences that sadden us, that trigger pain, are the best lessons life is able to offer. Experiencing the pain, surviving the pain that wrenches us emotionally, stretches us to new heights. Life is enriched by the pain. Our experiences with all other persons thereafter are deeper. Instead of dreading the ending of a time, the departure of a loved one, we must try to appreciate what we have gained already and know that life is fuller for it.
Today will bring both goodbyes and hellos. I can meet both with gladness.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of us would have recovered long ago. But we found that such codes and philosophies did not save us, no matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things with all our might, but the needed power wasn’t there. Our human resources, as marshalled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly.
pp. 44-45
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
Around this time our big A.A. book was being written and it all became much simpler; we had a definite formula which some sixty of us agreed was the middle course for all alcoholics who wanted sobriety, and that formula has not been changed one iota down through the years. I don't think the boys were completely convinced of my personality change, for they fought shy of including my story in the book, so my only contribution to their literary efforts was my firm conviction, being still a theological rebel, that the word God should be qualified with the phrase "as we understand him"--for that was the only way I could accept spirituality.
p. 229
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
A.A. has many single alcoholics who wish to marry and are in a position to do so. Some marry fellow A.A.'s. How do they come out? On the whole these marriages are very good ones. Their common suffering as drinkers, their common interest in A.A. and spiritual things, often enhance such unions. It is only where "boy meets girl on A.A. campus," and love follows at first sight, that difficulties may develop. The prospective partners need to be solid A.A.'s and long enough acquainted to know that their compatibility at spiritual, mental, and emotional levels is a fact and not wishful thinking. They need to be as sure as possible that no deep-lying emotional handicap in either will be likely to rise up under later pressures to cripple them. The considerations are equally true and important for the A.A.'s who marry "outside" A.A. With clear understanding and right, grown-up attitudes, very happy results do follow.
pp. 119-120
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I place my recovery in first place. --Shelley
The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our encouragement, who will need our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt. --Leo Buscaglia
Today, help me God, to let go of my resistance to change. Help me to be open to the process. Help me believe that the place I will be dropped off will be better than the place I was picked up. Help me to surrender, trust and accept, even if I don't understand. --Melody Beattie
And we should not be discouraged because answers do not come immediately.
"You can read all the manuals on prayer and listen to other people pray, but until you begin to pray yourself you will never understand prayer. It's like riding a bicycle or swimming: You learn by doing." --Evangelist Luis Palau
"There are prayers that help us last through the day, or endure the night. There are prayers of friends and strangers that give us strength for the journey. And there are prayers that yield our will to a will greater than our own." --President George W. Bush
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
BELIEF
"One person with a belief is equal
to a force of ninety-nine who have
only interest."
-- John Stuart Mill
I believe in sobriety because it works for me. I believe in sobriety
because it makes me feel good about myself. I believe in sobriety
because it has enabled me to rejoin the human race; I was so tired of
feeling lonely, ashamed and isolated.
Also this belief I have in me has rekindled a positive relationship with
my higher power. Today God is a friend. Today I understand more
about what He wants for me. Today I am broad enough in my thinking
to find God in anything that is positive and creative --- from music to
hugs in the park!
Belief has developed with my spiritual program, and I am able to face
the daily pains and conflicts of life. Today I know what it is to be a
winner --- and, thank God, it doesn't mean I have to be perfect or in
control. My total belief in God and self enables me to love me through
my failings.
Master of the beliefs of all men, thank You for the gift of my believing
in myself.
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He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3
"This, then, is how you should pray: "`Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6:9-13
"Jesus spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart." Luke 18:1
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Daily Inspiration
Each of us can change the world one person at a time. Lord, grant that I may be a positive influence on just one person today.
You have a responsibility to be the best that you can be. Lord, may I find a good balance in my life so that I neither neglect myself and my duties nor my responsibility to those that need or depend on me.
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NA Just For Today
One Promise, Many Gifts
" Narcotics Anonymous offers only one promise, and that is freedom from active addiction..."
Basic Text, p. 102
Imagine how it might be if we had arrived at the doors of Narcotics Anonymous, desperate, wanting to stop using drugs, only to be met by a sales pitch: "If you just work the steps and don't use drugs, you'll get married, live in the suburbs, have 2.6 children, and start wearing polyester. You will become a responsible, productive member of society and be fit company for kings and presidents. You will be rich and have a dynamic career." Most of us, greeted with such a heavy-handed spiel, would have shrieked and bolted for the door.
Instead of high-pressure nonsense and frightening predictions, we are greeted with a promise of hope: freedom from active addiction. We feel a blessed relief come over us when we hear that we never have to use drugs again. We aren't going to be forced to become anything!
Of course, after some time in recovery, good things start happening in our lives. We are given gifts-spiritual gifts, material gifts, gifts that we've always dreamed of but never dared hope we'd get. These, however, are truly gifts-they are not promised to us just because we become NA members. All we are promised is freedom from addiction-and it's more than enough!
Just for today: I have been promised freedom from active addiction. The gifts I receive are the benefits of recovery.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
The power of a man's virtue should not be measured by his special efforts, but by his ordinary doing. --Blaise Pascal
The airplane kit is on the table in front of us. We have the glue, the little wooden pieces, and the instructions. We work for hours putting together each piece, step by step. A dab of glue here, a clamp there, maybe some rubber bands to hold the bigger pieces together. We work slowly, allowing the glue to set overnight, even though we want to see it fly right now.
We follow each step in order, even though we think we know how to do it on our own. Patience is the most important asset we bring to this activity--the willingness to allow each step its own time and proper place.
After we've done all the careful work and waited till the glue is firm, we take it out for a trial flight. It soars! So do we, when we allow ourselves time to learn each step of the way.
What part of my future am I assembling today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
How good and how pleasant it is that brothers sit together. --Psalm 133
Men are lonely and more vulnerable to addictions and codependency when they have no firm friendships with other men. Do we have one or two male friends who truly know us, know what really goes on in our lives, what we feel, and what our doubts are? If we do, these relationships are precious. We need to nourish them. If we do not, we need to find others who might become friends. We begin by taking small steps in the development of a friendship.
The joys of sharing with other men, finding humor in our mutual flaws, and joining in similar interests have no substitutes. Relationships develop when someone reaches out. It is easier for us to do this if we remember our friendship is a gift to someone else. We need friendships with both women and men in order to be whole. But understanding ourselves as men begins with closeness to other men.
I am grateful for precious friendships with men and women in my life. They help me grow. Today, can I strengthen my friendship with another man?
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
The pain of leaving those you grow to love is only the prelude to understanding yourself and others. --Shirley MacLaine
Life is a process of letting go, letting go of conditions we can't control, letting go of people--watching them move out of our lives, letting go of times, places, experiences. Leaving behind anyone or anyplace we have loved may sadden us, but is also provides us opportunities for growth we hadn't imagined. These experiences push us beyond our former selves to deeper understandings of ourselves and of others.
So often those experiences that sadden us, that trigger pain, are the best lessons life is able to offer. Experiencing the pain, surviving the pain that wrenches us emotionally, stretches us to new heights. Life is enriched by the pain. Our experiences with all other persons thereafter are deeper. Instead of dreading the ending of a time, the departure of a loved one, we must try to appreciate what we have gained already and know that life is fuller for it.
Today will bring both goodbyes and hellos. I can meet both with gladness.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
New Beginnings
Resentments are the blocks that hold us back from loving others and ourselves. Resentments do not punish the other person; they punish us. They become barriers to feeling good and enjoying life. They prevent us from being in harmony with the world. Resentments are hardened chunks of anger. They loosen up and dissolve with forgiveness and letting go.
Letting go of resentments does not mean we allow the other person to do anything to us that he or she wants. It means we accept what happened in the past, and we set boundaries for the future. We can let go of resentments and still have boundaries.
We try to see the good in the person or the good that ultimately evolved from whatever incident we feel resentful about. We try to see our part.
Then we put the incident to rest.
Praying for those we resent helps. Asking God to take our resentments from us helps too.
What better way to begin a New Year than by cleaning the slate of the past, and entering this one free of resentments.
Higher Power, help me become ready to let go of my resentments. Bring any resentment that is hidden within me, and blocking me, to the surface. Show me what I need to do to take care of my self by letting go of resentments, and then help me do that.
I choose to live in the light of my truth today. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Learn When It’s Time to Adapt
Life is constantly changing. So are we. With change comes the need to learn to adapt.
Some adaptation comes naturally. On my trip, I watched even the subtle changes in my body as I traveled from climate to climate. In the warm, dry climate of Arizona, I needed more water. My body needed lotion, my hair different shampoo and conditioner. In the higher mountain climates, I found myself breathing differently, needing to give myself more time to rest. People who live in different places and different cultures adapt to the climate and ways of the world around them.
We can learn to adapt to the situations in our life,too– to the constant evolution of the world around us. At home, at work, within our social groups, change is constantly taking place. Most of us are constantly on the move– meeting new people, being exposed to new situations, or needing to deal with situations that have themselves changed.
There are times when we can’t adapt to the changes around us. When no matter how hard we try, we cannot force ourselves into the new circumstance. Our body won’t allow it because this change isn’t right for us. We need to learn to adapt to change but we also need to learn to tell when a situation is wrong for us and not force ourselves to fit.
Be sensitive to this changes both subtle and dramatic around you– and in you. Give yourself time and freedom to adapt to these changes and figure out what they mean to you. Give yourself time to catch up. Be gentle with yourself. Listen to your needs. Let yourself adapt to the changes that are right for you.
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More Language Of Letting Go
We can go only so far
There is no such thing as complete acceptance. When we can remember a loss with a little distance and much less pain, you have accepted the loss and mourned it fully. You accept that life is different now and move on.
–David Viscott, Emotionally Free
There are certain events that we may never accept fully. What can be accepted, though, is that we are required to live with these losses and find a way to go on.
Some people were horribly abused in childhood, beyond what anyone can be expected to endure. Some of us have experienced unthinkable losses later on in life. A spouse may have betrayed us. We may have lost our family through divorce. We may have lost our physical health through an accident or illness. A loved one may have died.
It’s okay to stop waiting for and expecting total acceptance of the unthinkable in your life. Instead, gently do one thing each day to demonstrate that you’re willing to move forward with your life.
God, grant me compassion for myself and others. Help me learn to be gentle with broken hearts, including my own.
Activity: Make a list of all the questions you have for God, the “why’s.” For instance, why did so-and-so have to die, why did I have to lose my family, why did this have to happen to me? Then, as much as possible, do not dwell on those questions. Trust you’ll get your answers possibly later, possibly when you can talk to your Higher Power face-to-face. For now, let those questions be the unsolved mysteries of life.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
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; sound, that the positive phase is really a state 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.
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One More Day
Life is full of internal dramas . . . played to an audience of one. – Anthony Powell
Our lives are filled with dramas. Some of them we were able to talk about to similarly involved people, and some, we found, had to remain private.
Heath changes can create hundreds of new dramas. In the beginning far too many of us made the mistake of telling our experiences to anyone who asked. We talked too often, too long, and too much.
We are learning that gently lesson of who, when, and how much to tell — selectivity. We discover that no one really wants to be always involved in our dramas, in each tiny success or failure. We can keep our own counsel and give ourselves private praise.
I can choose when — and when not — to share some of the dramas in my life.
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One Day At A Time
New Worlds
“Each friend represents a world in us,
a world possibly not born until they arrive,
and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”
Anais Nin
Most of us are so compulsive at almost everything we do, that allowing people in to know our garbage of the past and present is unheard of.
You go to a meeting, find a new recovery friend, and that friend opens a new door. You and that friend step through and WOW, the world in that room looks great! Later at another meeting, you meet another recovery friend and another door is opened. You and your two new friends step through and you find an even better world view. This continues to happen meeting after meeting, Step after Step, room after room and your personal life begins to look much brighter and more beautiful. You find that there really is hope.
Funny how it's still the same world, but friends, recovery and Higher Power make it a much better world view.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will never end this beautiful cycle of finding new worlds as long as I never lose sight of my Higher Power, my recovery friends and my recovery program.
~ Jeanette
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
But the actual or potential alcoholic, with hardly and exception, will be ABSOLUTELY UNABLE TO STOP DRINKING ON THE BASIS OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE. This is a point we wish to emphasize and re-emphasize, to smash home upon our alcoholic readers as it has been revealed to us out of bitter experience. - Pg. 39 - More About Alcoholism
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Right now you don't have to pretend to be someone you are not. You don't have to pretend to be strong (if you're a man) or weak (if you're a woman). You don't have to pretend that you don't want to use, if you do--share what is real. We can't help if we don't know the truth.
Grant me the courage to simply be who I am, say what is real in my gut, and respond genuinely to others.
Endless Opportunities
I can start over each day. I can start over each hour of each day. The universe is impersonal in that sense. It's always waiting for me to tell it what I want. Like attracts like. I tell the world what I want more of, by what I am thinking and feeling right now, right this minute. Today, every hour on the hour, I will allow myself to see something positive about my day. I'll let myself send out an order by my pleasant thoughts and feelings for more of the same. When I catch myself heading down a negative path I'll stop and consciously observe what is going through my mind. Life is full of chances and so is my day. I can start it over any time I want to.
I shift my life a thought at a time
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
'Thoroughly have we seen a person fail who has rarely followed our path.' This is an interesting slip of the tongue from Chapter Five of Alcoholic's Anonymous. Yet it contains a lot of wisdom.
I cannot work the steps too soon, because I do not know how soon it may be too late.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Be careful of your thoughts; they may become words at any moment.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I choose to live in the light of my truth today.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I don't have a drinking problem today, I have a sobriety problem. If I pick up a drink, I've got a whole new problem. - Barney M.
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Post by majestyjo on Jan 20, 2018 11:34:46 GMT -5
January 21
Daily Reflections
SERVING MY BROTHER
The member talks to the newcomer not in a spirit of power but in a
spirit of humility and weakness.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE p. 279
As the days pass in A.A., I ask God to guide my thoughts and the words
that I speak. In this labor of continuous participation in the Fellowship,
I have numerous opportunities to speak. So I frequently ask God to
help me watch over my thoughts and my words, that they may be the
true and proper reflections of our program; to focus my aspirations
once again to seek His guidance; to help me be truly kind and loving,
helpful and healing, yet always filled with humility, and free from any
trace of arrogance.
Today I may very well have to deal with disagreeable attitudes or
utterances -- the typical stock-in-trade attitude of the still-suffering
alcoholic. If this should happen, I will take a moment to center myself
in God, so that I will be able to respond from a perspective of
composure, strength and sensibility.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
To grasp the A.A. program, we have to think things out. Saint Paul
said: "They are transformed by the renewing of their minds." We have
to learn to think straight. We have to change from alcoholic thinking
to sober thinking. We must build up a new way of looking at things.
Before we came into A.A., we wanted an artificial life of excitement
and everything that goes with drinking. That kind of life looked normal
to us then. But as we look back now, that life looks the exact
opposite of normal. In fact, it looks most abnormal. We must reeducate
our minds. Am I changing from an abnormal thinker to a normal
thinker?
Meditation For The Day
I will take the most crowded day without fear. I believe that God is
with me and controlling all. I will let confidence be the motif running
through all the crowded day. I will not get worried, because I know
that God is my helper. Underneath are the everlasting arms. I will
rest in them, even though the day be full of things crowded in upon
me.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be calm and let nothing upset me. I pray that I may
not let material things control me and choke out spiritual things.
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As Bill Sees It
Citizens Again, p. 21
"Each of us in turn--that is, the member who gets the most out of the
program--spends a very large amount of time on Twelfth Step work in
the early years. That was my case, and perhaps I should not have
stayed sober with less work.
"However, sooner or later most of us are presented with other
obligations--to family, friends, and country. As you will remember, the
Twelfth Step also refers to 'practicing these principles in all our
affairs.' Therefore, I think your choice of whether to take a particular
Twelfth Step job is to be found in your own conscience. No one else
can tell you for certain what you ought to do at a particular time.
I just know that you are expected, at some point, to do more than
carry the message of A.A. to other alcoholics. 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."
Letter, 1959
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Walk In Dry Places
Giving Wisely is Safe___ Helping others.
Most of us admit that we were selfish people when we drank. Even when we brought drinks for others, we did so either to seek their approval or in the expectancy that they would return the favor.
Our need in sobriety is to become unselfish by giving freely and cheerfully of ourselves. This, too, has its pitfalls. Feeling guilty about past selfish-ness, we may go overboard in helping others do things that they need to do for themselves. This can only lead to failure and disillusionment. It is common to hear AA members complain about people who are not in recovery despite help extended to them in finding a job, a place to live, and other necessities.
But in giving, it is not always right tolook for a "guid pro quo"… something in return….or even for the others person's recovery and well-being. It's best to let the giving itself be its own reward. If we fel good about what we have done, we probably are doing the right things. Later on, when additional and unexpected rewards come to us, we can accept them as bonuses.
I can make progress in overcoming selfishness and self-centeredness if I give selflessly to others and take an honest interest in their problems.
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Keep It Simple
What is defeat?...Nothing but the first step to something better.------- Wendell Phillips
A man walks into a meeting. He says," I surrender. I can't drink like other folks." We smile and welcome him. We know that feeling. All of us in the program must admit defeat. Our illness is more powerful than we are. We begin recovery when we surrender. Admitting defeat is our first step into a beautiful world. Like all first steps, it's hard. But what a world we find ourselves in! A world where we count. A world where all are really equal! This first step brings us into God's world of care. We get love. We give love. We stay sober because daily we admit defeat.
Prayer for the Day: In surrender, I can't drink and use other drugs. I'm different. Higher Power, help me surrender daily.
Action for the Day: Every so often, I need to admit defeat and talk about what it was like, what happened, and where I am now.
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Each Day a New Beginning
Too many activities, and people, and things. Too many worthy activities, valuable things, and interesting people. For it is not merely the trivial which clutters our lives but the important as well. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
We need interaction with others, and we need activities. We have many gifts to offer those who cross our paths, and we need the many gifts they have to offer us. But we soon have little to share, to give to others, if we neglect the special times, the empty spaces needed for nurturing the soul.
Some time away from people, activities, and things, some time away to commune with God, to seek guidance, to seek security in the fullest sense, will prepare us to better give our gifts to others. That time alone will also ready us to accept others' gifts to us.
It is true we find God's message in others. But the time alone with God lowers the barriers that too often prevent us from hearing another of God's messages as expressed through the friends and even foes who cross our paths.
My gift to myself is some time alone. I deserve that gift today and every day.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Lack of power, that was our dilemma. we had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power?
Well, that’s exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem. That means we have written a book which we believe to be spiritual as well as moral. And it means, of course, that we are going to talk about God. Here difficulty arises with agnostics. Many times we talk to a new man and watch his hope rise as we discuss his alcoholic problems and explain our fellowship. But his face falls when we speak of spiritual matters, especially when we mention God, for we have re-opened a subject which our man thought he had neatly evaded or entirely ignored.
p. 45
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
After the book appeared, we all became very busy in our efforts to save all and sundry, but I was still actually on the fringes of A.A. While I went along with all that was done and attended the meetings, I never took an active job of leadership until February 1940. Then I got a very good position in philadelphia and quickly found i would need a few fellow alcoholics around me if I was to stay sober. Thus I found myself in the middle of a brand new group. When I started to tell the boys how we did it in New York and all about the spiritual part of the program, I found they would not believe me unless I was practicing what I preached. Then I found that as I gave in to this spiritual or personality change I was getting a little more serenity. In telling newcomers how to change their lives and attitudes, all of a sudden I found I was doing a little changing myself. I had been too self-sufficient to write a moral inventory, but I discovered in pointing out to the new man his wrong attitudes and actions that I was really taking my own inventory, and that if I expected him to change I would have to work on myself too. This change has been a long, slow process for me, but through these latter years the dividends have been tremendous.
pp. 229-230
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
And what can be said of many A.A. members who, for a variety of reasons, cannot have a family life? At first many of these feel lonely, hurt, and left out as they witness so much domestic happiness about them. If they cannot have this kind of happiness, can A.A. offer them satisfactions of similar worth and durability? Yes--whenever they try hard to seek
them out. Surrounded by so many A.A. friends, these so-called loners tell us they no longer feel alone. In partnership with others--women and men--they can devote themselves to any number of ideas, people, and constructive projects. Free of marital responsibilities, they can participate in enterprises which would be denied to family men and women. We daily see such members render prodigies of service, and receive great joys in return.
p. 120
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When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm. --Sherrie R.
God claims by grace those who have no claim to grace.
"In any moment of decision, The best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing." --President Theodore Roosevelt
"Forgiveness ought to be like a canceled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one." --Henry Ward Beecher
Someone once said that it's bad to suppress laughter; it goes back down and spreads to your hips! So, keep laughing, everyone! --unknown
The best way to get the last word is to apologize.
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
TOLERANCE
"The price of freedom of
religion or of speech or of the
press is that we must put up
with, and even pay for, a good
deal of rubbish."
-- Justice Robert Jackson
I need to be tolerant in my sobriety. I need to allow others to say what
they feel and live according to their standards.
I was intolerant towards people who were different from myself. Much
of what I criticized yesterday, I accept today; some things I still reject.
To love a person should not require "sameness"; equally, I can accept
a person without agreeing with what they say or how they behave.
Disagreements and conflicts lead to growth; change requires a variety
of forces.
Not everything I say to do is "pure" --- and that has become the key to
the acceptance of others. My history teaches me that I benefit from the
variety of opinions that are represented in mankind.
Lord, You have created many ways to Truth, may I appreciate them
through the experiences of others.
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"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock." Matthew 7:24
"Beloved, we are God's children now." 1 John 3:2
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field God's building.
1 Corinthians 3:7-9
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Daily Inspiration
When your burdens seem heavier than usual, know that your blessings are more than usual. Lord, I call on You for the strength, the wisdom and the confidence that I will need today.
God values us so much that He gave us all that He has; His Son Jesus. Show that you value Him, too, by putting Him first in all aspects of your life. Lord, when I put You first in my life, order and peace follow.
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NA Just For Today
Unity And Uniformity
" Unity is a must in Narcotics Anonymous."
Basic Text p. 60
Unity is not uniformity. Unity springs from the fact that we have unity of purpose-to recover, and to help others stay clean. Even so, we often find that while we strive to fulfill the same purpose, our means and methods may be radically different.
We can't impose our ideas of unity on others or confuse unity with uniformity. In fact, a big attraction of the NA program is the absence of uniformity. Unity springs from our common purpose, not from standards imposed on the group by a few well-meaning members. A group that has the unity which springs from the loving hearts of its members allows each addict to carry the message in his or her own unique way.
In our dealings with each other in NA, we sometimes disagree rather vocally. We must remember that the details of how we get things done isn't always important, so long as we keep our focus on the group's primary purpose. We can watch members who vehemently disagree over trivial things pull together when a newcomer reaches out for help. Someone was there for us when we got to the rooms of NA. Now it is our turn to be there for others. We need unity to help show the newcomer that this way of life works.
Just for today: I will strive to be a part of unity. I know that unity does not equal uniformity.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
If you realize you aren't so wise today as you thought you were yesterday, you're wiser today. --Olin Miller
Smug was a kitten who thought she knew everything. She knew how to clean herself with her sandpaper tongue, how to sleep, eat, and keep warm, and how to sharpen her tiny claws. One day, her mother wanted to teach Smug to climb trees. I don't need to learn this, thought Smug, I already know everything I need to know. Without much interest, Smug watched her mother climb a tall tree and come down again. When it was Smug's turn, she said, "I'll stay on the ground where it's safe." Just then, a large black dog came trotting around the corner. Aren't we often like Smug, certain that we know all we need to know, or that we really don't need to know something another is trying to teach us? When we rid ourselves of the pride that keeps us from learning these things, we'll feel a little safer if any big black dogs come around the corner. And we will have grown smarter by recognizing our need to know more.
Am I smart enough to admit my need to learn more today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
There are things for which an uncompromising stand is worthwhile. --Dietrich Bonhoeffer
For many of us, a time came when we said; "I'm not going to live this way anymore!" This was a deep, internal decision for change, even though we didn't know how it would come about. Somehow we had reached bottom, and we no longer debated about whose fault our problems were. We quit negotiating over what we would change and what we would not change. We were willing to put all our energy into finding a better life, no matter what it would require. That is the kind of inner readiness that finally made real change possible.
Such willingness to take an uncompromising stand and give ourselves totally to a worthwhile cause is a model for our lives. It's the beginning of deep change. Many men and women have taken similar heroic stands for other causes, like world peace, compassion for the poor and hungry, human rights, and protection of the environment.
On this day, I will take a stand for what is worthwhile.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Too many activities, and people, and things. Too many worthy activities, valuable things, and interesting people. For it is not merely the trivial which clutters our lives but the important as well. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
We need interaction with others, and we need activities. We have many gifts to offer those who cross our paths, and we need the many gifts they have to offer us. But we soon have little to share, to give to others, if we neglect the special times, the empty spaces needed for nurturing the soul.
Some time away from people, activities, and things, some time away to commune with God, to seek guidance, to seek security in the fullest sense, will prepare us to better give our gifts to others. That time alone will also ready us to accept others' gifts to us.
It is true we find God's message in others. But the time alone with God lowers the barriers that too often prevent us from hearing another of God's messages as expressed through the friends and even foes who cross our paths.
My gift to myself is some time alone. I deserve that gift today and every day.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Wants and Needs
Part of taking responsibility for us means taking responsibility for what we want and need, and knowing that's okay to do.
Learning to tune in to us, learning to listen to ourselves, is an art. It takes practice. We can use our ability to guess what others want and need/ and apply that skill to ourselves.
What does it sound like we might want and need? What would we guess would help us feel better? What are our feelings telling us? Our body? Our mind? Our intuition?
If we ask, then listen closely; well hear the answer.
We are wiser than we think, and we can be trusted.
What we want and need counts. It's important, and it's valid. It's okay to learn to participate in meeting our own needs.
We can learn to identify what we want and need and be patient with ourselves while we're learning.
Today, I will pay attention to what I want and need. I will not discount myself.
As I continue to grow on my spiritual path to recovery, I bask in the miracles of transformation and healing that are taking place in my life today. --Ruth Fishel
*****************************************
Journey To The Heart
Discover Your Own Truth
No truth is ours until we make it our own.
All the truths in the world don’t matter unless and until we discover them to be true for ourselves. That’s what the journey is about. An insight, a lesson, a new belief is at the end of each adventure– whether that adventure happens in a moment, an hour, a day, or a year. This lesson doesn’t come from books, although books might help along the way. It doesn’t come from classes or lectures or well-meaning friends. The lesson we’re seeking comes from inside us, from our hearts, from our deep abiding connection to consciousness and the truth.
It springs quietly from within us as we notice one day that we believe something new, something different, something more free, more fun, and more life-enhancing than what we believed before. For a moment we may turn back and say, Why didn’t I know that? Why didn’t I see that before? Then we step back on our path, laugh, and go on our way understanding that is why we are really here. Not to know everything in advance. But to allow ourselves to go freely through all the lessons that teach us all we came here to learn.
You are on a journey of discovery. Find out what’s true for you. Remember. A truth isn’t yours until it rings true for you.
*****************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
Try sharing with someone else
When we hoard what we have been given, we block the door to receiving more. If you are feeling stagnant in your life, share some of what has been given to you.
Let go of some of the sorrow that you have experienced by sharing your experience and the compassion that you have learned from it with another. Share your success by teaching someone else your methods. Share in the abundance given to you; donate to a favorite charity or church. Give of your time, your money, your abilities. When you give, you open the door to receive more.
Sharing your experience, strength, and hope is key in a Twelve Step program. It’s a key to all of life, whether we’re recovering from addictions or not.
Find some way to share yourself. Maybe it will be as simple as picking up the tab at lunch. Volunteer to help with a local project. Just find one small way to give. Give without any thought of compensation. Don’t look for a thank you; give without expectation. Be aware of how you feel in the act of sharing; be aware of the glow that you feel in the deepest part of your soul. Then, do it again. Keep sharing small pieces of your gifts– your experience, strength, and hope– until sharing becomes a natural part of you.
Open your heart to all you’ve been given by sharing your gifts with someone else. That small glow you first felt in the bottom of your soul will soon overflow in your life. Maybe we gave compulsively and without joy at some time in our lives. The answer isn’t to permanently stop giving, It’s to learn to give with joy.
God, help me give abundantly of what’s been given to me. Teach me how to give, so that both my giving and my receiving are healthy and free from attachments.
*****************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Every person, no matter what his or her balance for good or evil, is a part of the Divine economy. We are all children of God, and it is unlikely that He intends to favor one over another. So it is necessary for all of us to accept whatever positive gifts we receive with a deep humility, always bearing in mind that our negative attitudes were first necessary as a means of reducing us to such a state that we would be ready for a gift of the positive ones via the conversion experience. Do I accept the fact that my addiction and the bottom I finally reached are the bedrock upon which my spiritual foundation rests?
Today I Pray
May I know that from the first moment I admitted my powerlessness, God-give power was mine. Every step taken from that moment of defeat has been a step in the right direction. The First Step is a giant st4ep. Though it is often taken in despair, may I realize that I must be drained of hope before I can be refilled with fresh hope, sapped of wilfulness before I can feel the will of God.
Today I Will Remember
Power through powerlessness.
*****************************************
One More Day
Historic continuity with the past is not a duty, it is a necessity.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes
Our personal histories mark the pathways of life. Our having lived and loved and worked makes a difference in thousands of ways. This impact on life is a history and heritage for our loved ones and for ourselves. What memories have we created for those we love? Perhaps quilts that will be treasured as family heirlooms. A family farm or profession? But what else?
Even more important than heirlooms and family jobs are loving memories and personal histories. Recorded histories, especially anecdotal, can be written or tape recorded. Pictures can be taken, and older photos can be labeled for the generations to come. What will we leave when we die? Communication, tradition, and the ability to love unconditionally.
This small but important moment is a good time to record my journey thus far and to affirm my sense of continuity.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
~ POSITIVE THINKING ~
Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.
Zig Ziglar
I came into Twelve Step meetings after descending into a well of negative thinking. It was a vicious cycle, one I wasn't even aware of for the longest time. My negative thinking fostered many resentments, hurts and binges. Once I became aware of this and started to work on changing my destructive thinking, I discovered that letting in just one negative thought opened the door to more negative thinking.
Then one day in a meeting I heard a longtimer say that negative thinking attracted negative (thinking and actions) and positive thinking attracted positive (thinking and actions). That made sense with what I was experiencing. As I walked out of that meeting, I determined that I would do everything I could to keep all my thoughts positive in order to attract more positives to my life.
It worked! The more positive I could keep my thoughts, the better I felt about everything, and the more good things happened to me. My general attitude soared. When a bad thing happened (and they do happen) I found good things about it and focused on the good. Many many times I discovered that the "bad" thing had actually been a new good direction in disguise.
Positive attracts positive. Negative attracts negative. I'd rather attract positive.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will remember to turn to the program to help maintain my peace and serenity, especially through the bad times.
~ Rhonda ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
But there was always the curious mental phenomenon that parallel with our sound reasoning there inevitably ran some insanely trivial excuse for taking the first drink. Our sound reasoning failed to hold us in check. The insane idea won out. Next day we would ask ourselves, in all earnestness and sincerity, how it could have happened. - Pg. 37 - More About Alcoholism
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Learning to be tolerant of others, a difficult task at best, does not mean that we have to agree with them! Tolerance disagrees agreeably, we think. If someone disagrees with us right now, we can agree to disagree.
Right now I ask for the serenity to agree to disagree because my discomfort for prolonged times could lead me to pick up that first fix, pill, or drink!
Bearing Witness
When I have an undesirable thought today, like jealousy, anger or self doubt I will just observe it in my mind. I will allow the thought to really be there. I won't try to deny it or eradicate it. I will simply give it space and witness it. As I do this, the thought transforms. As I see it for what it is and accept it as a part of me, I give it the breathing room it needs to play itself through, to change into something else. I cannot hide from me, nor do I wish to. I can be my own best friend by allowing myself the space to think what I am really thinking and feel what I am really feeling knowing that it doesn't have to lead to blind action. There is another more powerful and fruitful action that I can take. It is in simply witnessing, allowing and trusting that this process will lead to awareness, transformation and a more permanent change than is possible through denial. Today I will give myself the gift of self reflection.
I observe the workings of my inner mind
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Today you are leading a life. When you were drinking and drugging, you were a life being led.
It is God's job to make miracles and I am one of them.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Being recovered from alcoholism is like getting a gunshot wound. You can recover from it, but it does NOT make you bulletproof.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
As I continue to grow on my spiritual path to recovery, I bask in the miracles of transformation and healing that are taking place in my life today.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Other diseases have blood tests and X-rays. We have an inventory. And if you stick around long enough to do it, you'll be actually able take a picture of your alcoholism. You'll actually be able to see your disease. - Scott R.
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Post by caressa222 on Jan 21, 2018 20:41:00 GMT -5
January 22
Daily Reflections
"LET'S KEEP IT SIMPLE"
A few hours later I took my leave of Dr. Bob. . . The
wonderful, old, broad smile was on his face as he said
almost jokingly, "Remember, Bill, let's not louse this
thing up. Let's keep it simple!" I turned away, unable
to say a word. That was the last time I ever saw him.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE, p 214
After years of sobriety I occasionally ask myself: "Can
it be this simple?" Then, at meetings, I see former
cynics and skeptics who have walked the A.A. path out
of hell by packaging their lives, without alcohol, into
twenty-four hour segments, during which they practice a
few principles to the best of their individual
abilities. And then I know again that, while it isn't
always easy, if I keep it simple, it works.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
In the beginning, you want to get sober, but you're
helpless, so you turn to a Power greater than yourself
and by trusting in that Power, you get the strength to
stop drinking. From then on, you want to keep sober, and
that's a matter of reeducating your mind. After a while,
you get so that you really enjoy simple, healthy, normal
living. You really get a kick out of life without the
artificial stimulus of alcohol. All you have to do is
look around at the members of any A.A. group and you will
see how their outlook has changed. Is my outlook on life
changing?
Meditation For The Day
I will never forget to say thank you to God, even on the
greyest days. My attitude will be one of humility and
gratitude. Saying thank you to God is a daily practice
that is absolutely necessary. If a day is not one of
thankfulness, the practice has to be repeated until it
becomes so. Gratitude is a necessity for those who are
seeking a better life.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that gratitude will bring humility. I pray that
humility will bring me to live a better life.
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As Bill Sees It
Fear as a Steppingstone, p. 22
The chief activator of our defects has been self-centered
fear--primarily fear that we would lose something we already
possessed or would fail to get something we demanded. Living upon a
basis of unsatisfied demands, we were in a state of continual
disturbance and frustration. Therefore, no peace was to be had unless
we could find a means of reducing these demands.
<< << << >> >> >>
For all its usual destructiveness, we have found that fear can be the
starting point for better things. Fear can be a steppingstone to
prudence and to a decent respect for others. It can point the path to
justice, as well as to hate. And the more we have of respect and
justice, the more we shall begin to find the love which can suffer much,
and yet be freely given. So fear need not always be destructive,
because the lessons of its consequences can lead us to positive values.
1. 12 & 12, p. 76
2. Grapevine, January 1962
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
No Humiliation in Humility____ Self-understanding.
With few exceptions, every alcoholic eventually meets humiliation and defeat. This is especially painful in a world that places high value on winning and on having the approval and admiration of others. We feel diminished by these defeats. Nobody likes to be humbled, to be made to appear less than other people.
Yet these humiliations serve a constructive purpose if they lead us to seek humility. Truly humble people cannot really be humiliated, because they no longer rely on the false supports of worldly praise and approval. We develop humility as we withdraw from a reliance on our own powers and personality and realize that we ourselves can do nothing; it is our Higher Power who does the work.
Still, there is a paradox in humility. The person who admits he or she can do nothing will, in the process, tap into powers that were never available in the previous state of mind. In truth, humility is never humiliation or weakness, though these may lead to it. Humility is really a road to the power that only God can give us.
I'll watch myself today for the crazy things that set me up for humiliation. I won't try to impress others or win their admiration today.
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Keep It Simple
Go often to the house of your friend: for weeds soon choke up the unused path. ----Scandinavian proverb.
Our program has two parts: the Steps, and the fellowship. Both keep us sober. We can't stay sober if we go it alone. We need to work the Steps. We also need people--the help of our friends daily
Recovery is about relationships. We get new friends. We get involved. We give. We get. In times of need, we may not want to ask our new friends for help. Maybe we don't want to "burden them."
"Maybe we're afraid to ask for help." Well, go ahead. Make that call. Ask your new friend to spend time with you. You deserve and need it. They deserve it; they need it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to get help from my friends as if my life depends on it.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll see or call two program friends and let them know how I'm doing.
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Each Day a New Beginning
One cannot have wisdom without living life. --Dorothy McCall
Living life means responding, wholly, to our joys and our pitfalls. It means not avoiding the experiences or activities that we fear we can't handle. Only through our survival of them do we come to know who we really are; we come to understand the strength available to us at every moment. And that is wisdom.
When we approach life tentatively, we reap only a portion of its gifts. It's like watching a movie in black and white that's supposed to be in Technicolor. Our lives are in color, but we must have courage to let the colors emerge, to feel them, absorb them, be changed by them. Within our depths, we find our true selves. The complexities of life teach us wisdom. And becoming wise eases the many pitfalls in our path.
Living life is much more than just being alive. I can choose to jump in with both feet. Wisdom awaits me in the depths.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
We know how he feels. We have shared his honest doubt and prejudice. Some of us have been violently anti-religious. To others, the word “God” brought up a particular idea of Him with which someone had tried to impress them during childhood. Perhaps we rejected this particular conception because it seemed inadequate. With that rejection we imagined we had abandoned the God idea entirely. We were bothered with the thought that faith and dependence upon a Power beyond ourselves was somewhat weak, even cowardly. We looked upon this world of warring individuals, warring theological systems, and inexplicable calamity, with deep skepticism, We looked askance at many individuals who claimed to be godly. How could a Supreme Being have anything to do with it all? And who could comprehend a Supreme Being anyhow? Yet, in other moments, we found ourselves thinking, when enchanted by a starlit night, “Who, then, make all this?” There was a feeling of awe and wonder, but it was fleeting and soon lost.
pp. 45-46
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
In June 1945, with another member, I made my first--and only--Twelfth Step call on a female alcoholic and a year later I married her. She has been sober all the way through and for me that has been good. We can share in the laughter and tears of our many friends, and most important, we can share our A.A. way of life and are given daily opportunity to help others.
p. 230
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
Where the possession of money and material things was concerned, our outlook underwent the same revolutionary change. With a few exceptions, all of us had been spendthrifts. We threw money about in every direction with the purpose of pleasing ourselves and impressing other people. In our drinking time, we acted as if the money supply was inexhaustible, though between binges we'd sometimes go to the other extreme and become almost miserly. Without realizing it we were just accumulating funds for the next spree. Money was the symbol of pleasure and self-importance. When our drinking had become much worse, money was only an urgent requirement which could supply us with the next drink and the temporary comfort of oblivion it brought.
p. 120
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There is no mountain, God cannot help us to climb. --Shelley
Learn to listen to your inner voice. Listen to your heart. It's your connection to God, to people, to the universe, and to yourself. --Melody Beattie
"Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace." --Author Unknown
"The tree in which the sap is stagnant remains fruitless." --Hosea Ballou
People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering. --St. Augustine
There is a hole and empty place within us that we have tried to fill. Today we know that this is a God shaped hole, that only God can fill. A place where acceptance, understanding, love and support are a given. --Author Unknown
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
POETRY
"Poetry is not an assertion of
truth, but the making of that
truth more fully real to us."
-- T. S. Eliot
God is able to communicate Himself in a thousand different ways and
one such way is poetry.
Spirituality is discovering God in His creation, and this involves more
than religion or denominationalism. Spirituality is a comprehensive
approach to God's world and is the unifying factor at the center of
the universe. Spirituality is about what is true --- wherever it is found
in the world.
Poetry and other art forms become part of the spiritual journey for
us as we struggle to understand and communicate truth.
In poetry may I find an expression of Your love for me; in my use of
poetry, may I express my love for You.
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"I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." Psalms 34:4
Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit. Psalm 147:5
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:36-38
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Daily Inspiration
Behave as though God is standing next to you because He is. Lord, we make a great team and together we are able to make a big difference.
If you think success and really believe it will happen, you will perform in a manner that leads to success. Lord, may I always avoid negative thoughts and visualize myself in the manner that You intended for me.
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NA Just For Today
The School Of Recovery
" This is a program for learning."
Basic Text p. 16
Learning in recovery is hard work. The things we most need to know are often the hardest to learn. We study recovery to prepare ourselves for the experiences life will give us. As we listen to others share in meetings, we take mental notes we can refer to later. Tobe prepared, we study our notes and literature between "lessons." Just as students have the opportunity to apply their knowledge during tests, so do we have the opportunity to apply our recovery during times of crisis.
As always, we have a choice in how we will approach life's challenges. We can dread and avoid them as threats to our sereniW or we can gratefully accept them as opportunities for growth. By confirming the principles we've learned in recovery, life's challenges give us increased strength. Without such challenges, however, we could forget what we've learned and begin to stagnate. These are the opportunities that prod us to new spiritual awakenings.
We will find that there is often a period of rest after each crisis, giving us time to get accustomed to our new skills. Once we've reflected on our experience, we are called on to share our knowledge with someone who is studying what we've just learned. In the school of recovery, all of us are teachers as well as students.
Just for today: I will be a student of recovery. I will welcome challenges, confident in what I've learned and eager to share it with others.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Animals are such agreeable friends they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms. --George Eliot
A pet is often liked by everyone and seems to have no enemies. Why is this? Pets are friendly and interested in others. They seem to get joy out of just being with us. They do not have a critical attitude. When mistreated or neglected for a while, they are quick to forgive and quickly seek once again to be by our side. Each of us is a valuable part of the family. When we treasure one another and don't waste our time finding each other's faults, we will begin to have fewer faults. When we accept our loved ones as they are and enjoy sharing our lives with them, our lives become more enjoyable, and our family love grows because we are each more lovable.
What can I accept in others today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
The human heart in its perversity finds it hard to escape hatred and revenge. --Moses Luzzatto
This program promises many rewards for those who follow it, but it does not promise to be easy. We search our conscience for resentments and face them. No man can progress in his recovery while holding onto resentments, old angers, and hatreds. When we hold them, we protect dark corners of our souls from the renewal we need. As we allow ourselves to be made new through this program, we no longer reserve those small corners for the game of power and resentment. They will eventually consume us and justify in our minds a return to the old patterns.
Nothing can be held back. We must be willing to surrender all - even if we do not know how. No one can stop being resentful simply by deciding to stop. When we are willing to be honest, to be humble, to be learners, to be led in a constructive direction, to allow time to be guided rather than seek instant cure, then we will learn trust and will surely make progress.
I do not need to know exactly how to let go of my resentments or what will happen after 1 do. I simply must toe ready to let them go.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
One cannot have wisdom without living life. --Dorothy McCall
Living life means responding, wholly, to our joys and our pitfalls. It means not avoiding the experiences or activities that we fear we can't handle. Only through our survival of them do we come to know who we really are; we come to understand the strength available to us at every moment. And that is wisdom.
When we approach life tentatively, we reap only a portion of its gifts. It's like watching a movie in black and white that's supposed to be in Technicolor. Our lives are in color, but we must have courage to let the colors emerge, to feel them, absorb them, be changed by them. Within our depths, we find our true selves. The complexities of life teach us wisdom. And becoming wise eases the many pitfalls in our path.
Living life is much more than just being alive. I can choose to jump in with both feet. Wisdom awaits me in the depths.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Appreciating Our Past
It is easy to be negative about past mistakes and unhappiness. But it is much more healing to look at ourselves and our past in the light of experience, acceptance, and growth. Our past is a series of lessons that advance us to higher levels of living and loving.
The relationships we entered, stayed in, or ended taught us necessary lessons. Some of us have emerged from the most painful circumstances with strong insights about who we are and what we want.
Our mistakes? Necessary. Our frustrations, failures, and sometimes--stumbling attempts at growth and progress? Necessary too.
Each step of the way, we learned. We went through exactly the experiences we needed to, to become who we are today. Each step of the way, we progressed.
Is our past a mistake? No. The only mistake we can make is mistaking that for the truth.
Today, God, help me let go of negative thoughts I may be harboring about my past circumstances or relationships. I can accept, with gratitude, all that has brought me to today.
I deserve to have wonderful things to happen in my life today. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Open to the Power of Comfort
Packed in the back of my Jeep I stored my favorite red woolen blanket. I didn’t need it for warmth because I didn’t sleep in the cold. I needed it to remind me of the importance of comfort.
Open yourself to receive comfort, the comfort that touches the heart and nurtures the soul. Many of us grew up and lived our lives without experiencing true comfort, true nurturing. Many of us didn’t know it existed. But at some level, that’s what we’ve been looking for.
Comfort is the loving arms of a mother who sees only the beauty of her child. A mother who attends to the needs, who nurtures the heart and soul of her child. This kind of comfort is acceptance and love at its finest.
Open your heart to receive comfort. Learn to give it,too. Comfort touches and heals our souls. Take it with you like a favorite blanket wherever you go.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Let go of your plans
Letting go can feel so unnatural. We work hard for a promotion, a relationship, a new car, a vacation. Then the universe has the gall to come along and mess up our plans. How dare it! And so, rather than opening ourselves to the experiences that await us, we hold on to the plans that we made for ourselves. Or we hold on to bitterness about our plans going awry.
Sometimes losing our dreams and plans for our future can hurt as much as losing a tangible thing. Sometimes accepting and releasing our broken dreams is part of accepting a loss.
Let go of your expectations. The universe will do what it will. Sometimes your dreams will come true. Sometimes they won’t. Sometimes when you let go of a broken dream, another one gently takes its place.
Be aware of what is, not what you would like to be, taking place.
God, help me let go of my expectations and accept the gifts that you give me each day, knowing that there is beauty and wonder in each act of life.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
In a very real sense, we are imprisoned by our inability or unwillingness to reach out for help to a Power greater than ourselves. But in time, we pray to be relieved of the bondage of self, so that we can better do God’s will. In the words of Ramakrsihna, “The sun and moon are not mirrored in cloudy waters, thus the Almighty cannot be mirrored in a heart that is obsessed by the idea of ‘me and mine.’” Have I set myself free form the prison of self-will and pride which I myself have built? Have I accepted freedom?
Today I Pray
May the word freedom take on the meanings for me, not just “freedom from” my addiction, but “freedom to” overcome it. Not just freedom from the slavery of self-will, but freedom to hear and carry out the will of God.
Today I Will Remember
Freedom from means freedom to.
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One More Day
To live happily is an inward power of the soul. – Marcus Aurelius
While we were still very healthy, we may not have realized how much we depended on others for our physical and emotional well-being. Perhaps we rarely turned toward our own strength or to a Power greater than ourselves. Because we had depended so little on ourselves, we may have, at first, felt defeated.
Ironically, we’ve become strengthened by illness. Sour searching and taking personal inventory are tools we used to discover the mental and spiritual reserves that were always available to us but little used.
The love and support of others are still important to us, but now we have a greater sense of balance which strengthens us and our relationships.
My inner spiritual messages transcend my need to depend on others. This strengthens me, my faith, and all the people touched by my life.
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One Day At A Time
~ SERVICE ~
The only ones among you who will be really happy
are those who will have sought and found how to serve.
Albert Schweitzer
In my first few 12 step meetings, I was so angry. On one hand, I didn't think I needed to be there, although deep inside, I knew I did. People were nice enough, greeted me, made me feel welcome, but I kept myself apart with my anger. I was angry that there seemed to be a small core group of members who attended weekly and obviously knew each other well. I didn't think they'd let me in their inner group; I didn't get invited.
Next, I tried to get the program without working the Steps. That inner group talked about the Steps all the time. I'd show them how good I was; I'd get the program, get the recovery they'd gotten, by taking a shorter route. The Steps were for dummies, and I wasn't dumb. I quickly found out the Steps are the only way to get the 12 step program, hence its name.
I struggled for a long time. Then I started giving service to my group. It started off by simply straightening up the room because I always got there early. I asked for a key so I could put out the books. I started greeting newcomers, who usually showed up early. When the person who'd signed on to do the topic didn't make it one week, I agreed to lead the meeting.
To my shock, I was giving service. In looking back at my first weeks in the program, I realized that the "inner core" of my home group had become my very good friends. When had I been asked in? Never. I joined when I began to give service and became one of them, the service-givers to the group. I learned why they seemed to have such effortless growth-- it came from giving service. With service I always get back much more than I put in.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will remember to give of myself. I will remember that giving service in the program gives me so many gifts in return.
~ Rhonda ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
When we see a man sinking into the mire that is alcoholism, we give him first aid and place what we have at his disposal. For his sake, we do recount and almost relive the horrors of our past. But those of us who have tried to shoulder the entire burden and trouble of others find we are soon overcome by them. - Pg.132 - The Family Afterward
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
It doesn't cost a lot of money for us to recover. It cost a lot of time. We have to be diligent and program consciousness from this hour to the next, every hour for the rest of our lives. We 'have' to do it, until we 'want' to do it.
I embrace our program in gratitude.
A Still Small Voice
I will have faith. I will follow that still small voice within me. When I have doubts, which of course I will have, I will reach down within myself and pull up something that I thought wasn't even there, I'll pull up faith that things will be all right. Whether or not things are going just the way I want them to, I'll have faith that they will somehow right themselves in the end. It will work out, or it won't work out, but still, all will be OK. I will give myself the gift of faith.
My faith sustains me
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
'For a time we are living inside a scream where there seems to be no exit, only echoes. The small cares that seemed so important yesterday seem like nothing, and our daily concerns become petty and irrelevant. When we finally reclaim ourselves, as we ultimately do, we are changed.' -Kent Nerburn, Simple Truths
Cooperating with God is the easier softer way.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Alcoholics make pour choices.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I deserve to have wonderful things to happen in my life today.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Drinking is not a word, it's a sentence. - Anon.
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Post by caressa222 on Jan 22, 2018 16:36:59 GMT -5
January 23
Daily Reflections
HAVING FUN YET?
. . . we aren't a glum lot. If newcomers could see no
joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn't want it. We
absolutely insist on enjoying life. We try not to
indulge in cynicism over the state of the nations, nor
do we carry the world's troubles on our shoulders.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS , p. 132
When my own house is in order, I find the different
parts of my life are more manageable. Stripped from
the guilt and remorse that clocked my drinking years,
I am free to assume my proper role in the universe,
but this condition requires maintenance. I should stop
and ask myself, Am I having fun yet? If I find
answering that question difficult or painful, perhaps
I'm taking myself too seriously - and finding it
difficult to admit that I've strayed from my practice
of working the program to keep my house in order. I
think the pain I experience is one way my Higher Power
has to get my attention, coaxing me to take stock of
my performance. The slight time and effort it takes to
work the program - a spot-check inventory, for example,
or the making of amends, whatever is appropriate - are
well worth the effort.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Alcoholics are people whose drinking got them into a "blind alley."
They haven't been able to learn anything from their drinking
experiences. They are always making the same mistakes and suffering
the same consequences over and over again. They refuse to admit
they're alcoholic. They still think they can handle the stuff. They won't
swallow their pride and admit that they're different from ordinary
drinkers. They won't face the fact that they must spend the rest of their
lives without liquor. They can't visualize life without ever taking a
drink. Am I out of this blind alley?
Meditation For The Day
I believe that God has all power. It is His to give and His to withhold.
But He will not withhold it from the person who dwells near Him,
because then it passes insensibly from God to that person. It is
breathed in by the person who lives in God's presence. I will learn to
live in God's presence and then I will have those things which I desire
of Him: strength, power, and joy. God's power is available to all who
need it and are willing to accept it.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may get myself out of the way, so that God's power may
flow in. I pray that I may surrender myself to that power.
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As Bill Sees It
Worshipers All, p. 23
We found that we had indeed been worshipers. What a state of
mental goose flesh that used to bring on! Had we not variously
worshiped people, sentiment, things, money, and ourselves?
And then, with a better motive, had we not worshipfully beheld the
sunset, the sea, or a flower? Who of us had not loved something or
somebody? Were these not things the tissue out of which our lives
were constructed? Did not these feelings, after all, determine the
course of our existence?
It was impossible to say we had no capacity for faith, or love, or
worship. In one form or another, we had been living by faith and little
else.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 54
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Walk In Dry Places
Thinking well of ourselves___ Raising self-esteem
Although there may have been conceit and thingyiness in our past behavior, most of us suffered from feelings of low self-esteem. We often felt alone and unworthy. Often, we had memories of parents and others who reminded us of our shortcomings or compared us unfavorably with others.
Whatever our past problems, we can raise our self-esteem in the present. We can begin by forgiving ourselves and others for past wrongs and mistakes. We must become willing to give up any belief or practice that causes us to dislike ourselves. We can remember that our self-esteem does not depend on achievements or on winning in competitions with others. Despite our failings, now and in the past, we are worthy in the sight of God and are entitled to God's grace.
Growth in the program usually brings growth in self-esteem. If we think well of ourselves, in the right sense, others will tend to think well of us, too. With proper self-esteem, we will not be crushed or dismayed when someone seems to dislike us. Our feelings about ourselves will be much more than a mirror of others' opinions.
I will think well of myself today, I will not put myself down, even jokingly. I will know that if God is for me, no one can be against me.
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Keep It Simple
Sex, like all else between human beings, is never prefect. --- Theodore Isaac Rubin
Addiction made our sex lives a mess. Maybe we wanted prefect sex or we wanted no sex.
We were afraid. Maybe we wanted a high from sex we just couldn't seem to get it. Some of us had lots of sex partners; some of us had none. What now?
We're doing what we need to do by being in recovery. We're getting to know ourselves. We're living by our real values. We’re being honest with ourselves and others. We're learning to love and care about others. It's open, honest caring we express with our bodies. Thus, sex can be trusting and safe.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I turn over my sex life and my will to You---Just for today. I know You want me to be happy.
Action for the Day: What do I believe about sex? How does it match with what's said in the third paragraph above?
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Each Day a New Beginning
She had trouble defining herself independently of her husband, tried to talk to him about it, but he said nonsense, he had no trouble defining her at all. --Cynthia Propper Seton
To recover means to learn who we are, independent of friends, children, parents, or intimate partners. It means knowing how we want to spend our time, what books we like to read, what hobbies interest us, what our favorite foods are. It means understanding self-direction. It means charting a daily personal course and staying on it. It means defining our responsibilities and carrying them out.
Having an independent identity does not preclude depending on others for certain needs. Perhaps we revel in massage--both getting and giving. Maybe we share the expenses of a household or the responsibilities of raising children. Depending on others to meet their responsibilities does not negate our independent identity; it strengthens it. We choose where and when to be dependent. Healthy dependency complements healthy independence.
Recovery is giving me options. Each day gives me new opportunities.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Yes, we of agnostic temperament have had these thoughts and experiences. Let us make haste to reassure you. We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God.
Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider another’s conception of God. Our own conception, however inadequate, was sufficient to make the approach and to effect a contact with Him. As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe underlying the totality of things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and direction, provided we took other simple steps. We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.
p. 46
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
In conclusion, I can only say that whatever growth or understanding has come to me, I have no wish to graduate. Very rarely do I miss the meetings of my neighborhood A.A. group, and my average has never been less than two meetings a week. I have served on only one committee in the past nine years, for I feel that I had my chance the first few years and that newer members should fill the jobs. They are far more alert and progressive than we floundering fathers were, and the future of our fellowship is in their hands. We now live in the West and are very fortunate in our area A.A.; it is good, simple and friendly, and our one desire is to stay in A.A. and not on it. Our pet slogan is "Easy Does It."
And I still say that as long as I remember January 8th in Washington, that is how long, by the grace of God as I understand Him, I will retain a happy sobriety.
pp. 230-231
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
Upon entering A.A., these attitudes were sharply reversed, often going much too far in the opposite direction. The spectacle of years of waste threw us into panic. There simply wouldn't be time, we thought, to rebuild our shattered fortunes. How could we ever take care of those awful debts, possess a decent home, educate the kids, and set something by for old age? Financial importance was no longer our principal aim; we now clamored for material security. Even when we were well reestablished in our business, these terrible fears often continued to haunt us. This made us misers and penny pinchers all over again. Complete financial security we must have--or else. We forgot that most alcoholics in A.A. have an earning power considerably above average; we forgot the immense goodwill of our brother A.A.'s who were only too eager to help us to better jobs when we deserved them; we forgot the actual or potential financial insecurity of every human being in the world. And, worst of all, we forgot God. In money matters we had faith only in ourselves, and not too much of that.
pp. 120-121
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I touch my feelings, knowing, I have never been so free, I have never been so happy, sobriety, has changed me. --Shelley
There is a guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening we shall hear the right word… Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which flows into your life. Then, without effort, you are impelled to truth and perfect contentment. --Ralph Waldo Emerson
Look for the beauty inside of each person. --I. June Stephenson
The God who calls us into the unknown travels with us. --Robert W. Rae
Spiritual vision means looking at life as God does. --Lisa D. Wiener
Whatever our future holds for us, we will find God already there. --Patricia Garrison
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
SLEEP
"Sleep that knots up the raveled
sleeve of care."
-- William Shakespeare
When I was new in my recovery from alcoholism I was told to
remember the letters H.A.L.T.: Do not get too: Hungry, Angry, Lonely
or Tired.
Sleep is something my body needs, and even if I do not always know it,
my body does. The tiredness in my body is telling me to slow down.
Sleep is part of my spiritual program because it enables me to feel
rested, invigorated and alive. Through sleep I am able to be creative
and positive in my life --- showing a practical love to my body. Sleep is
me taking care of self!
Thank You for the joy and rest that comes with sleep.
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"But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more." Psalm 71:14
Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalm 141:3
Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.
The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.
The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
Psalm 141:3,8,9,13,14,17,18,20
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Daily Inspiration
Shine a little brighter today because someone needs your light. Lord, may I reflect You like sun hitting a mirror.
If you are not happy with what you have, how will you be happy with what you want to have? Lord, may I appreciate the good things in my life and refuse to feel sorry for myself or compare myself to others.
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NA Just For Today
Serenity Check
" Lack of daily maintenance can show up in many ways."
Basic Text p. 91
Ever had a perfect stranger remark about how great the weather was, only to reply "It stinks"? When this happens, we are probably suffering from a lack of daily maintenance in our program.
In recovery, life can get pretty hectic. Maybe those added responsibilities at work have got you hopping. Maybe you haven't been to a meeting for awhile. Perhaps you've been too busy to meditate, or haven't been eating regularly or sleeping well. Whatever the reason, your serenity is slipping.
When this happens, it is crucial that we take action. We can't afford to let one "bad day"; complete with a bad attitude, slip into two days, four days, or a week. Our recovery depends on our daily maintenance program. No matter what is happening in our lives, we can't afford to neglect the principles that have saved our lives.
There are many ways to recover our serenity. We can go to a meeting, phone our sponsor, meet another recovering addict for lunch, or try to carry the message to a newcomer. We can pray. We can take a moment to ask ourselves what simple things we haven't been doing. When our attitudes head downhill, we can avert a crash with simple solutions.
Just for today: I will examine the maintenance of my daily program of recovery.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Little girl, little girl, where have you been? --Mother Goose
She's been everywhere and nowhere in and around the house. She's been in her room crying with her doll, on the grass kicking her ball, on the floor big-eyed and blank in front of the TV. Her things are everywhere in the way, as if left there to block the path. She learns to be happiest alone in her room. There she can gather roses to give to the Queen and receive in return a diamond as big as a shoe. There she can wait for some prince, or dream of crossing the street without looking back. We are all the same way, even as adults. We live with our dreams and fantasies, and our secret lives thrive in privacy. All around us, our loved ones live out their private lives often unnoticed by us until we enter them. When we honor others' unspoken needs, when we allow others their privacy without being asked, or when we appreciate something they've done, we share the joy of living together in natural harmony.
How invisible are those in our presence every day?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Spontaneity is the quality of being able to do something just because you feel like it at the moment, of trusting your instincts, of taking yourself by surprise and snatching from the clutches of your well-organized routine a bit of unscheduled pleasure. --Richard Lannelli
The idea of turning our lives and our will over to the care of God is a very revolutionary thing to do. We are being told, "Let go of your excessive carefulness. Let the spirit guides you." When we are in touch with ourselves, with the people around us, with God, we are free to experiment. We don't learn from doing the same things correctly again and again. We learn from trying new things and making mistakes.
Over control is spiritually deadening. This is a program of life. Our renewal is a miraculous event. Why stop now? We can be in touch with the messages around us without trying to control the outcome. When we let God do the worrying, we find many possibilities open up,
As this adventure of life unfolds, I will not shy away from it.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
She had trouble defining herself independently of her husband, tried to talk to him about it, but he said nonsense, he had no trouble defining her at all. --Cynthia Propper Seton
To recover means to learn who we are, independent of friends, children, parents, or intimate partners. It means knowing how we want to spend our time, what books we like to read, what hobbies interest us, what our favorite foods are. It means understanding self-direction. It means charting a daily personal course and staying on it. It means defining our responsibilities and carrying them out.
Having an independent identity does not preclude depending on others for certain needs. Perhaps we revel in massage--both getting and giving. Maybe we share the expenses of a household or the responsibilities of raising children. Depending on others to meet their responsibilities does not negate our independent identity; it strengthens it. We choose where and when to be dependent. Healthy dependency complements healthy independence.
Recovery is giving me options. Each day gives me new opportunities.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
New Energy Coming
Fun becomes fun, love becomes love, and life becomes worth living. And we become grateful. --Beyond Codependency
There is a new energy, a new feeling coming into our life. We cannot base our expectations about how we will feel tomorrow, or even a few hours from now, on how we feel at this moment.
There are no two moments in time alike. We are recovering. We are changing. Our life is changing. At times, things haven't worked out the way we wanted. We had lessons to learn. The future shall not be like the past.
The truly difficult times are almost over. The confusion, the most challenging learning experiences, the difficult feelings are about to pass.
Do not limit the future by the past!
Reflect on the beginning of your recovery. Haven't there been many changes that have brought you to where you are now? Reflect on one year ago. Haven't you and your circumstances changed since then?
Sometimes, problems and feelings linger for a while. These times are temporary. Times of confusion, uncertainty, times of living with a particular unsolved problem do not last forever.
We make these times doubly hard by comparing them to our past. Each situation and circumstance has had its particular influence in shaping who we are. We do not have to scare ourselves by comparing our present and future to a painful past, especially our past before we began recovering or before we learned through a particular experience.
Know that the discomfort will not be permanent. Do not try to figure out how you shall feel or when you shall feel differently. Instead, trust. Accept today, but do not be limited by it.
A new energy is coming. A new feeling is on the way. We cannot predict how it will be by looking at how it was or how it is, because it shall be entirely different. We have not worked and struggled in vain. It has been for and toward something.
Times are changing for the better. Continue on the path of trust and obedience. Be open to the new.
Today, God, help me not judge or limit my future by my past. Help me be open to all the exciting possibilities for change, both within and around me.
I let God guide me in my recovery today, knowing that all decisions that come from good and love will bring me joy. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Honor the Needs of Your Body
Take time to rest and regroup as often as you need. At the beginning of the journey and along the way take time to honor your body. When you honor your body, you honor your soul.
You have been working hard on yourself, on your spiritual growth. You are moving forward, evolving at a rapid pace. Give your body time to catch up. Your body isn’t a bother; it’s an ally. Your body knows what it needs, and what your soul needs,too.
Tune in to your body. Listen. On those days when your body is adjusting, regrouping, shifting because you’re growing and healing emotionally and spiritually, let it do that. Don’t ignore it. Don’t force it. Be gentle. Recognize its nuances. Ask it what it needs. Juice? Vitamins? Rest? Exercise? Let it tell you. Then go easy. Do tasks that are easier, that seem to fit what you can handle that day.
After a spiritual growth spurt, our body works diligently to flush the toxins released when emotions are cleansed and healed. After a day, week, or month of intense spiritual growth, our body is tired from flushing through so many emotions, going through so many changes. To deny the body’s connection to our growth, to push it when it needs rest, is denying the importance and impact of the spiritual work we’re doing.
By taking time to honor the body, to honor its shifts and needs, it will be there for you in a way it has never been before. Rest and care will help it come back to center quickly. You will have the benefit of a healed spirit and a body that was allowed to adjust and adapt to that healing process. You will be honoring the oneness of body, mind, and soul. You will be honoring your newfound connection.
Taking time to honor the needs of your body is taking time to respect the needs of your soul.
*****************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
Remember to let go
A friend called me into the next room. I didn’t want to move. I was head-deep in obsession, fretting about something I couldn’t change, at least not at that moment. I reluctantly walked to the window where he stood, walking in that stiff, unnatural way we jerk about when we’re obsessing.
“Look at the moonlight reflecting off the waves,” he said.
I stared at the white shimmering ripples in the ocean, like diamonds in the night.
We talked for a moment, about whether it was phosphorescence– that delightful and new phenomenon that causes the sea to glow in the dark– or whether it was simply moonlight bouncing off the waves. We decided it was light.
I walked away, a little more relaxed. Letting go isn’t something we do to manipulate the universe into giving us what we want. It’s a way of opening our hearts to receive the gifts it and God have for us.
God, help me remember that I don’t have to let go today, but I’ll be happier if I do.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
We must never be blinded by the futile philosophy that we are just the hapless victims of our inheritance, of our life experience, an of our surroundings — that these are the sole forces that make our decisions for us. This is not the road to freedom. We have to believe that we can really choose. As addictive persons, we lost our ability to choose whether wee would pursue our addictions. Yet we finally did make choices that brought about our recovery. Do I believe that in “becoming willing,” I have made the best of all choice?
Today I Pray
May I shed the idea that I am the world’s victim, an unfortunate creature caught in a web of circumstance, inferring that others ought to “:make it up to me” because I have been given a bad deal on this earth. We are always given choices. May God help me to choose wisely.
Today I Will Remember
God is not a puppeteer.
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One More Day
Those wrinkles are the map of my life. … They’re battle scars. – Etta Furlow
One woman calls her wrinkles a patina that glows only with age. When first we notice tiny sprinkles — crow’s feet or smile lines — we may lament our loss of youth.
Naturally, our faces change as we age. Our life experiences, both joy and pain, etch themselves on our faces as surely as they mold our minds and spirits. Our bodies may begin to change as well. Previously nimble fingers may stiffen; backaches and a slowed pace may become the norm.
Skin is but a wrapping for the inner soul, and the soul’s enjoyment of life is not diminished by its wrapping. Our spirits never grow old. Our belief in the beauty and joy of life is renewed with each season. And we remain strong.
My body will change as the years go by, but I will stay aware of my spirit and faith. This keeps me emotionally vibrant.
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One Day At A Time
~ CRITICISM ~
To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
Elbert Hubbard
For so many years, I thought I was the only kid who had been raised with criticism. Fear of criticism is one of the reasons I walked on eggshells at home. I learned to fear success in anything and everything. If I could only be "middle of the road," maybe no one would notice me and I wouldn't have to deal with criticism. I did what I had to do to survive.
As I grew older, I received constructive criticism by wise people, but sadly, I didn't know how to utilize such a gift. It hurt me, and I turned away from well-meaning people. I rebelled against their advice.
The program has taught me that all criticism is not bad. I never thought a day would come where I was comfortable with it. I recently took a correspondence course to help me with my work, and naturally the instructor had to critique my work. I worried about that before I took the course. In fact, I'd wanted to take that class for years, but had not been able to handle the cold fear that stabbed at me when I looked at the application. I finished the class last month. There was much criticism to help me to learn, and I didn't shrink from it. I learned from it. It's all in the attitude.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will pray to remember I have choices. I will pray to keep my attitude in a good place so that I might see all the opportunities available to me.
~ Rhonda ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
...for deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. - Pg. 55 - We Agnostics
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
To a practicing addict who lives wholly in the sensations of the body, the recovery state may seem like utter boredom. But as we learn to live balanced in body, mind, and soul we will wonder why we ever thought the state of addiction exciting.
May I know that it is not so much boredom as me being boring that's my problem.
I Have Faith
I rely on faith. Faith sustains me and guides me. Faith is my constant companion. It leads me through passages of terrifying darkness and blinding light. Faith allows me to weave my life into a coherent whole, to walk on a path that others have lit, to strike out on my own and cut my way through the underbrush. There is nothing in my life that faith doesn't make better. There is no day that faith doesn't give meaning and purpose to. There is no relationship that faith doesn't guide and sustain.
I need my faith to live
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
'Nothing contributes more to the peace of the soul than having no opinion at all.' -George Christopher Lichtenberg
When I have no opinion on outside issues, I cannot be drawn into controversy. (Tradition Ten)
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Few alcoholics or addicts blame themselves before exhausting all other possibilities.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I let God guide me in my recovery today, knowing that all decisions that come from good and love will bring me joy.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
When I slide over from being 'On the Program' to 'Self Will Run Riot' it's seamless. There's no bump, no warning, I'm just there. That's why I need Step 1O. - Trip S.
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Post by caressa222 on Jan 23, 2018 21:32:45 GMT -5
January 24
Daily Reflections
GETTING INVOLVED
There is action and more action. "Faith without works
is dead." . . . To be helpful is our only aim.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS , pp. 88-89
I understand that service is a vital part of recovery
but I often wonder, "What can I do?" Simply start with
what I have today! I look around to see where there is
a need. Are the ashtrays full? Do I have hands and feet
to empty them? Suddenly I'm involved! The best speaker
may make the worst coffee; the member who's best
with newcomers may be unable to read; the one willing to
clean up may make a mess of the bank account -
yet every one of these people and jobs is essential
to an active group. The miracle of service is this:
when I use what I have, I find there is more available
to me than I realized before.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Alcoholics who are living in a blind alley refuse to be really honest
with themselves or with other people. They're running away from life
and won't face things as they are. They won't give up their
resentments. They're too sensitive and too easily hurt. They refuse
to try to be unselfish. They still want everything for themselves. And
no matter how many disastrous experiences they have had with
drinking, they still do it over and over again. There's only one way to
get out of that blind alley way of living and that's to change your
thinking. Have I changed my thinking?
Meditation For The Day
I know that the vision and power that I receive from God are
limitless, as far as spiritual things are concerned. But in temporal and
material things, I must submit to limitations. I know that I cannot see
the road ahead. I must go just one step at a time, because God does
not grant me a longer view. I am in uncharted waters, limited by my
temporal and spatial life, but unlimited in my spiritual life.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that, in spite of my material limitations, I may follow God's
way. I pray that I may learn that trying to do His will is perfect
freedom.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Alike When The Chips Are Down, p. 24
In the beginning, it was four whole years before A.A. brought permanent
sobriety to even one alcoholic woman. Like the "high bottoms," the
women said they were different; A.A. couldn't be for them. But as the
communication was perfected, mostly by the women themselves, the
picture changed.
This process of identification and transmission has gone on and on. The
Skid-Rower said he was different. Even more loudly, the socialite (or
Park Avenue stumblebum) said the same--so did the artists and the
professional people, the rich, the poor, the religious, the agnostic, the
Indians and the Eskimos, the veterans, and the prisoners.
But nowadays all of these, and legions more, soberly talk about how
very much alike all of us alcoholics are when we admit that the chips are
finally down.
Grapevine, October 1959
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
No Hidden Thoughts_____Moral Inventory
It is fortunate that we can think in secret, because our thoughts would quickly get us in trouble if others could read them. In our thoughts, we can choose what we wish to reveal to others before we speak or act.
In the long run, however, we do not really conceal our true thoughts and feelings. The nature of our thoughts shapes our character and becomes part of us. It even affects our appearance. It is not difficult at all to identify people who are fearful, angry, or jealous.
This process has its good side, because kind thoughts and feelings also affect our appearance, and in positive ways. Norman V. Peale wrote that "God runs a beauty parlor," meaning that plain people with gracious thoughts tend to become more attractive as years wear on.
We need not fear our own thoughts and feelings if we are continuing to work the program. As the sober years stretch out, we will be improving our thoughts and feelings, and this will tell others what the program is doing for us and through us.
I'll remember today that I don't really keep my thoughts and feelings secret. I will think well of myself and all others. I know that there are no hidden thoughts in the long run.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Few people can be happy unless they hate some other person, nation, or creed. Bertand Russell
In recovery learn to give up hate. We must stand for justice, not for hate. We must learn to respect people. They, in turn, will respect us in most cases. We begin to see how important it is to give up hate--if we want others to care for us. Hate is often our secret. Hate is found deep in our hearts and minds. It eats at our souls. It hurts our spiritual growth. Sometimes people are public about their hate. There are even dangerous groups based on hate. But, the most dangerous hate is the private and unspoken. Do I have public hates? Do I have secret hates?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, search my hearts and show me any hates I have. Help me rid myself of them.
Action for the Day: I'll list any people, nations, to creeds I hate. I'll pray to have this hate removed. I'll pray for these people, nations, or creeds.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
I look in the mirror through the eyes of the child that was me. --Judy Collins
The child within each of us is fragile, but very much alive, and she interprets our experiences before we are even conscious of them. It is our child who may fear new places, unfamiliar people, strange situations. Our child needs nurturing, the kind she may not have received in the past. We can take her hand, coax her along, let her know she won't be abandoned. No new place, unfamiliar person, or strange situation need overwhelm her.
It's quite amazing the strength that comes to us when we nurture ourselves, when we acknowledge the scared child within and hold her, making her secure. We face nothing alone. Together, we can face anything.
I will take care of my child today and won't abandon her to face, alone, any of the experiences the day may bring.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God. This applies, too, to other spiritual expressions which you find in this book. Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. At the start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with God as we understood Him. Afterward, we found ourselves accepting many things which then seemed entirely out of reach. That was growth, but if we wished to grow we had to begin somewhere. So we used our own conception, however limited it was.
p. 47
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
I was born in a little town In Virginia in an average religious home. My father, a Negro, was a country physician. I remember in my early youth my mother dressed me just as she did my two sisters, and I wore curls until I was six years of age. At that time I started school, and that's how I got rid of the curls. I found that even then I had fears and inhibitions. We lived just a few doors from the First Baptist Church, and when they had funerals, I remember very often asking my mother whether the person was good or bad and whether they were going to heaven or hell. I was about six then.
p. 232
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
This all meant, of course, that we were still far off balance. When a job still looked like a mere means of getting money rather than an opportunity for service, when the acquisition of money for financial independence looked more important than a right dependence upon God, we were still the victims of unreasonable fears. And these were fears which would make a serene and useful existence, at any financial level, quite impossible.
p. 121
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Allowing an unimportant mistake to pass without comment is a wonderful social grace. --Judith Martin
"One never knows what each day is going to bring. The important thing is to be open and ready for it." --Henry Moore
"You cannot plan the future by the past." --Edmund Burke
Slow down to relish the wonder of God's creation. --Glen Childress
God makes possible what we cannot accomplish alone. --Gary Shank
Faith in God changes our manner of living. --Chester L Schneider
God's reassuring, caring love is with us moment by moment. --Walter N. Maris
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
OPPORTUNITY
"Too many people are thinking
of security instead of
opportunity; they seem more
afraid of life than death."
-- James Byrnes
Today I am aware of the opportunities that I did not recognize when I
was drinking. Drinking stopped me from seeing the life that was
before me. I drank myself away from the daily miracle. I missed the
sunsets, the fun of relationships, the joy of the theater and the
satisfaction of being "aware".
In the business world I did not see the opportunity for profit and
expansion; I did not create or have faith in my ideas, and I was not
able to understand or absorb the new information to be successful in
my life. Alcoholism kept me on the outside of my life.
Today I am alive in my life, creating, expanding and enjoying my
leisure. With sobriety I have the opportunity to experience God in
the many aspects of life.
Teach me to find You in the risks of life.
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"Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven." Psalm 107:30
We are to grow up in all aspects into Him. Ephesians 4:15
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
2 Peter 1:3
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Daily Inspiration
If you can't see more blessings than you can count, you aren't looking hard enough. Thank you, Lord, for all of my blessings and especially those that I don't recognize or take for granted.
Be joyful in whatever you do today because you have been blessed, are being blessed and have many more blessings waiting for you. Lord, I am so grateful for Your love.
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NA Just For Today
From Isolation To Connection
" Our disease isolated us... Hostile, resentful, self-centered, and self-seeking, we cut ourselves off from the outside world."
Basic Text p. 3-4
Addiction is an isolating disease, closing us off from society, family, and self. We hid. We lied. We scorned the lives we saw others living, surely beyond our grasp. Worst of all, we told ourselves there was nothing wrong with us, even though we knew we were desperately ill. Our connection with the world, and with reality itself, was severed. Our lives lost meaning, and we withdrew further and further from reality.
The NA program is designed especially for people like us. It helps reconnect us to the life we were meant to live, drawing us out of our isolation. We stop lying to ourselves about our condition; we admit our powerlessness and the unmanageability of our lives. We develop faith that our lives can improve, that recovery is possible, and that happiness is not permanently beyond our grasp. We get honest; we stop hiding; we "show up and tell the truth&quto; no matter what. And as we do, we establish the ties that connect our individual lives to the larger life around us.
We addicts need not live lives of isolation. The Twelve Steps can restore our connection to life and living-if we work them.
Just for today: I am a part of the life around me. I will practice my program to strengthen my connection to my world.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Only with winter patience can we bring The deep desired, long-awaited spring. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Family life requires patience. We probably realized that a long time ago. The Greek origin of the word patience is pathos, which means "suffering." In our lives together, we often suffer. Life is full of bumps and scrapes, both physical and emotional. In our search for greater family unity and harmony we need to realize that we will not be able to escape all suffering. This is why we need patience. It is a form of love. When we suffer the bumps and scrapes and still have faith something good will come of it, we are living out our love. From this winter- patience we will surely find a reward.
How have I practiced my patience already today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
You have got to know what it is you want, or someone is going to sell you a bill of goods somewhere along the line that can do irreparable damage to your self esteem, your sense of worth, and your stewardship of the talents that God gave you.
--Richard Nelson Bolles
In recovery, getting to know ourselves sometimes means developing a new form of toughness. As we deepen our relationships with ourselves, we have a clearer sense of what we care about, what is truly important, and what is not. Certainly we have learned there is evil in the world. Harm does come to good people and the good side does not always win. So we must be men who know ourselves and are not pushovers when our basic values and needs are challenged. We leave room for being wrong, and we continue to grow and learn. But we stand up for what we believe as we see it today.
We must not join the forces that would put us down or destroy us. Those negative forces are within us more often than they are outside. Wherever they come from, knowing clearly what we want and care about is our strongest defense.
I will seek the wisdom to know my values and the strength to defend my beliefs.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
I look in the mirror through the eyes of the child that was me. --Judy Collins
The child within each of us is fragile, but very much alive, and she interprets our experiences before we are even conscious of them. It is our child who may fear new places, unfamiliar people, strange situations. Our child needs nurturing, the kind she may not have received in the past. We can take her hand, coax her along, let her know she won't be abandoned. No new place, unfamiliar person, or strange situation need overwhelm her.
It's quite amazing the strength that comes to us when we nurture ourselves, when we acknowledge the scared child within and hold her, making her secure. We face nothing alone. Together, we can face anything.
I will take care of my child today and won't abandon her to face, alone, any of the experiences the day may bring.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Clearing the Slate
One of the greatest gifts we can give is an open, loving heart. And holding on to negative feelings from past relationships is our greatest barrier to that gift.
Most of us have had relationships that have ended. When we examine these relationships, we need to clear the emotional slate. Are we holding on to anger or resentments? Are we still feeling victimized? Are we living with the self-defeating beliefs that may be attached to these relationships - Women can't be trusted.... Bosses use people.... There is no such thing as a good relationship....
Let go of all that may be blocking your relationships today. With great certainty, we can know that old feelings and self-defeating beliefs will block us today from giving and getting the love we desire. We can clear the slate of the past. It begins with awareness, honesty, and openness. The process is complete when we reach a state of acceptance and peace toward all from our past.
Today, I will begin the process of letting go of all self-defeating feelings and beliefs connected to past relationships. I will clear my slate so I am free to love and be loved.
Today I will accept all of me just as I am. I will put aside all judgments and I will rejoice at the miracle of my uniqueness.
--Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Stay in the present Moment
Stay in the present moment. That’s where you find life’s magic.
How overwhelmed we feel when we anitcipate the future, all that needs doing, all the tasks, the work, the potential problems, the responsibilities. How tired we become when we dwell on what we’ve done already, the energy we’ve expended, and the imperfect results.
Yes, sometimes to stay in the present we need to visit the past, to clear out an old feeling, to heal an old, limiting belief. But that visit can be brief. And sometimes we need to think about the future– to make commitments, to plan, to envision where we want to go. But to linger there can cause unrest. It can spoil the moment we’re in now. Stay in the present moment, and the past and the future will fall naturally and easily into place.
Stay in the present moment, and the magic will return.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Learn to let
Someone said, “Let go and let God,” and this is a wonderful recipe for overcoming fear or getting out of a tight place. In any case, the rule for creation is always to let.
–Emmet Fox
Darren, a friend of mine, keeps Light Show in his computer. It’s a program of his own making. In this file, he records all incidences of Divine Guidance, Divine Intervention, answered prayers, and serendipitous events in his life. Whenever he begins to doubt the presence of a Benevolent Force, whenever he stops trusting life, whenever he feels abandoned or wonders exactly how wise it is to trust God, he turns to his own light show to remind himself how powerful and wise it really is to let go.
People can tell others how miraculous it is to let go, how beneficial it is to practice a hands-off policy when it comes to manipulating or controlling the affairs of others, how stunning it is to let go of goals and let nature take its course. I could tell you how beneficial letting go is in creating healthy relationships.
But that’s my light show. Why not create your own?
Don’t try, don’t force, don’t make it happen. Let. Let it happen.
Let go and let God.
God, show me how letting go can benefit my life.
Activity: Start a file in your computer or dedicate part of your journal to a light show. Document how you try to controll a problem, or a person, or the outcome of a particular situation. Enter that incident into your light show. Then, practice letting go. Make notes about what helped you, any tools you used such as meditation or prayer. When the problem gets solved, or the goal gets accomplished, or you simply get the peace and grace to live effortlessly with an unsolved problem, enter that into your logbook. Whenever you need reassurance, refer to your lightshow.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Among the many gifts that we are offered in The Program is the gift of freedom. Paradoxically, however, the gift of freedom is not without a price-tag; freedom can only be achieved by paying the price called acceptance. Similarly, if we can surrender to God’s guidance, it will cost us our self-will, that “commodity” so precious to those of us who have always thought we could and should run the show. Is my freedom today worth the price-tag of acceptance?
Today I Pray
May God teach me acceptance — the ability to accept the things I cannot change. god also grant me courage to change those things I can. god help me to accept the illness of my addiction and give me the courage to change my addictive behavior.
Today I Will Remember
Accept the addiction.
Change the behavior.
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One More Day
The type of hugging I recommend is the bear hug. Use both arms, face your partner and perform a full embrace. – David Bresler
We all need physical contact. And this contact does more than put us in touch with other people; it reminds us of our human need to love as well as to be loved.
Some of us may have a sense of aloneness, regardless of how many or few people surround us. If we live alone, it can be most difficult to get our daily ration of hugging and touching. Perhaps we need to consider buying a pet. A bird, a cat, a dog will offer affection all the time. All they require is a good, loving home. Or perhaps we need to think about the contact we have with others. Our expressions of love bring us the unexpected bonus of physical well-being.
I need to love and be loved. I will share my caring nature more freely with other living creatures.
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One Day At A Time
~ POSITIVE ATTITUDE ~
Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money,
than circumstances, than what people do or say.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.
Charles Swindoll
I can't remember ever having a consistently good attitude. When I was younger, I usually wore a mask of a good attitude, so many people were attracted to the mask but not to the real me, and I knew it. It didn't help my attitude grow more positive.
Coming into the Twelve Step program, my attitude was all negative. My theory was that if I expected the worst from everyone and everything, if by chance I got something better, I could be pleasantly surprised. This makes me laugh now. With that attitude, would ANYTHING ever be considered good enough to "pleasantly surprise" me? No, and it didn't. I ignored the many good things that happened--or I created a dark side to them.
In a meeting, I once heard that positives attract positives, and negatives attract negatives. This has stuck with me for years. It might be a scientific thing, but for me it refers to attitude. When I make the choice to be in a bad mood, I struggle through the day. Nothing seems to go right, and if it does, I don't notice it or appreciate it. When I make the simple choice to be in a good mood despite whatever problems I'm facing, good things happen to me. People smile back, elevating my mood. I can find humor in things around me. The sun is shining even on a rainy day. It's all up to me.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will make the choice to be happy for just today. I will look for the good in myself, in others and in the situations around me. I will keep my attitude positive.
~ Rhonda ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
To Christ I conceded the certainty of a great man, not too closely followed by those who claimed Him. His moral teachings - most excellent. For myself, I had adopted those parts which seemed convenient and not too difficult; the rest I disregarded. - Pg. 11 - Bill's Story
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Let us speculate on another subtle 'trick' of our disease: It lies to us! 'It wasn't so bad; I'm not really out of control; everyone drinks a little; these people are stupid.' These are lies.
I pray that the subtle lies of addiction go in one ear and out the other!
Blessings
I can lose my blessings. If I don't appreciate them, they can disappear. If I feel overly entitled, if I take what is mine for granted, if I behave as if it is simply owed me and I don't need to notice or appreciate them, I am literally telling them to shrink. There is a wisdom, even a divine sort of self-centerdness to gratitude, because what I focus on with appreciation has a way of expanding in my life. If I erase my blessings, I don't feed them with the grace of gratitude. If I give thanks for them, I show the creative force that brings forth all good things, that I am awake enough to appreciate what has been so generously given.
I know enough to say thank you
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
You are an exceptional human being. There has never been anyone with your personality, ability, and unique way of seeing things. Take the world by storm because you have what it takes!
I used to feel impending doom. Now I feel impending good.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Talking about the spiritual part of the program is like talking about the wet part of the ocean.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I will accept all of me just as I am. I will put aside all judgments and I will rejoice at the miracle of my uniqueness.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
The highest rank in AA: Sober. - Ken.
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Post by majestyjo on Jan 25, 2018 9:57:22 GMT -5
January 25
Daily Reflections
WHAT WE NEED - EACH OTHER
. . . . A.A. is really saying to every serious drinker,
"You are an A.A. member if you say so . . . nobody can
keep you out."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 139
For years, whenever I reflected on Tradition Three
("The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire
to stop drinking"), I thought it valuable only to
newcomers. It was their guarantee that no one could bar
them from A.A. Today I feel enduring gratitude for the
spiritual development the Tradition has brought me. I
don't seek out people obviously different from myself.
Tradition Three, concentrating on the one way I am
similar to others, brought me to know and help every
kind of alcoholic, just as they have helped me.
Charlotte, the atheist, showed me higher standards of
ethics and honor; Clay, of another race, taught me
patience; Winslow, who is gay, led me by example into
true compassion; Young Megan says that seeing me at
meetings, sober thirty years, keeps her coming back.
Tradition Three insured that we would get what we need
- each other.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
We used to depend on drinking for a lot of things. We
depended on drinking to help us enjoy things. It gave us
a "kick." It broke down our shyness and helped us to have
a "good time." We depended on drinking to help us when we
felt low physically. If we had a toothache or just a
hangover, we felt better after a few drinks. We depended
on drinking to help us when we felt low mentally. If we
had a tough day at the office or if we'd had a fight with
our wives, or if things just seemed against us, we felt
better under the influence of alcohol. For us alcoholics,
it got so that we depended on drinking for almost
everything. Have I gotten over that dependence on drinking?
Meditation For The Day
I believe that complete surrender of my life to God is
the foundation of serenity. God has prepared for us many
mansions. I do not look upon that promise as referring
only to the after-life. I do not look upon this life as
something to be struggled through, in order to get the
rewards of the next life. I believe that the Kingdom of
God is within us and we can enjoy "eternal life" here
and now.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to do God's will. I pray that such
understanding, insight and vision shall be mine, and
shall make my life eternal, here and now.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
We Cannot Stand Still, p. 25
In the first days of A.A., I wasn't much bothered about the areas of
life in which I was standing still. There was always the alibi: "After
all," I said to myself, "I'm far too busy with much more important
matters." That was my near perfect prescription for comfort and
complacency.
<< << << >> >> >>
How many of us would presume to declare, "Well, Im sober and I'm
happy. What more can I want, or do? I'm fine the way I am." We
know that the price of such self-satisfaction is an inevitable backslide,
punctuated at some point by a very rude awakening. We have to grow
or else deteriorate. For us, the status quo can only be today, never for
tomorrow. Change we must; we cannot stand still.
1. Grapevine, June 1961
2. Grapevine, February 1961
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Finding a Higher Good____Handling Trouble.
There are times when things just don't work out, despite our best efforts. Even in sobriety, we can have business or marriage failures, accidents, sicknesses, or trouble in holding a job. Sobriety is no guarantee that things will always work out according to our expectancies.
But no disappointment or failure has to throw us or cause permanent distress. It is some comfort to remember that the meeting of the first two AA members came out of a business failure, not a success. On many occasions, a disappointment or a setback can actually give a person the insight and understanding needed for a new, more successful effort.
We do not, of course, want to rationalize failure. We should also accept responsibility when failure has been the result of negligence or wrong action on our part. Nevertheless, as we continue to seek and to follow God's guidance, w will find the course of our lives that fits our needs and capabilities. There is a higher good in everything. Even our drinking was indirectly beneficial in pushing us toward AA and the program's healing principles.
I will not waste time today brooding over mistakes or losses. I'll know that God is in charge of my life and can turn liabilities into assets and defeats into victories.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
The best way to find a helping hand is at the end of your arm.----Swedish proverb
During our illness, we hurt others. We hurt ourselves. We messed up a lot.
So, a lot of us come to recovery not trusting ourselves very much. The truth is, as addicts, we couldn't be trusted.
But in recovery, we can be trusted again. We can again live and love ourselves. We do this by finding our spiritual center. This is the place inside of us where our Higher Power lives. We turn our will and our lives over to this spiritual center. We do as our spiritual center tells us. And from our spiritual center, we'll find our values. We'll live better lives. We'll come to trust ourselves again.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for helping me believe in myself again. I'll treat myself with love and kindness. I know You want me to.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list four ways I couldn't be trusted during my addiction. I'll also list four ways I can now be trusted.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
The time of discipline began. Each of us the pupil of whichever one of us could best teach what each of us needed to learn. --Maria Isabel Barreno
"When the pupil is ready, the teacher appears." Life's lessons often come unexpectedly. They come, nevertheless, and they come according to a time frame that is Divine. As we grow emotionally and spiritually, we are readied for further lessons for which teachers will appear. Perhaps the teacher will be a loving relationship, a difficult loss, or a truant child. The time of learning is seldom free from pain and questioning. But from these experiences and what they can teach us, we are ready to learn. As we are ready, they come.
We all enjoy the easy times when the sailing is smooth, when all is well, when we are feeling no pain. And these periods serve a purpose. They shore us up for the lessons which carry us to a stronger recovery, to a stronger sense of ourselves. To understand that all is well, throughout the learning process, is the basic lesson we need to learn. All is well. The teacher is the guide up the next rung of the ladder.
Let me be grateful for my lessons today and know that all is well.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. “Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?” As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way. It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be built.*
* Please be sure to read Appendix II on "Spiritual Experience."
p. 47
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
My mother had been recently converted and, actually, had become a religious fanatic. That was her main neurotic manifestation. She was very possessive with us children. Mother drilled into me a very Puritanical point of view as to sex relations, as well as to motherhood and womanhood. I'm sure ideas as to what life should be like were quite different from that of the average person with whom I associated. Later on in life that took its toll. I realize that now.
p. 232
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
But as time passed we found that with the help of A.A.'s Twelve Steps we could lose those fears, no matter what our material prospects were. We could cheerfully perform humble labor without worrying about tomorrow. If our circumstances happened to be good, we no longer dreaded a change for the worse, for we had learned that these troubles could be turned into great values. It did not matter too much what our material condition was, but it did matter what our spiritual condition was. Money gradually became our servant and not our master. It became a means of exchanging love and service with those about us. When, with God's help, we calmly accepted our lot, then we found we could live at peace with ourselves and show others who still suffered the same fears that they could get over them, too. We found that freedom from fear was more important than freedom from want.
pp. 121-122
************************************************** *********
"You cannot speak that which you do not know. You cannot share that which you do not feel. You cannot translate that which you do not have. And you cannot give that which you do not possess. To give it and to share it, and for it to be effective, you first need to have it. Good communication starts with good preparation." --Jim Rohn
Each day is a gift from God to be used in serving others. --Ruth C. Borges
"Confidence never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions." --Unknown
"Stress comes from within; it is your reaction to circumstances, not the circumstances themselves." --Brian Tracy
"Keep doing what you're doing and you'll keep getting what you're getting." --Anonymous
"Hope is a gift we give ourselves, and it remains when all else is gone." --Criswell Freeman
"You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with." --Wayne Dyer
"The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the buts you use today." --Les Brown
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
HONESTY
"Honesty is the first chapter of
the book of wisdom."
-- Thomas Jefferson
It is impossible to have a spiritual program without being honest. It is
impossible to be recovering from addiction without being honest. An
aspect of sobriety is honesty.
Today I can see that I was never really known when I was "using"
because I was so dishonest. I stopped other people from getting to
know me. I stopped me from getting to know me. Part of my pain
involved my dishonesty; part of my loneliness and feelings of isolation
was caused by my dishonesty; the unmanageability that nearly
destroyed my life grew in my dishonesty.
Today I need to be honest, rigorously honest --- even in the small
things. I can no longer exist to please others --- I need to please myself.
I need to love myself by being honest.
O God of wisdom, let me find truth in the honesty of my own life.
************************************************** *********
"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you. Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about you." 1 Peter 5:6-7
"Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice." Psalm 105:3
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High,because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:35-38
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Avoid saying "No one knows." because God knows and understands more perfectly than we ourselves do. Calm my fears, Lord, and lift the burdens that I cannot carry alone.
To have a great day isn't always doing what you like, but trying to like what you must do. Lord, today I will spruce up my attitude and have a great day no matter what my circumstances.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
An Added Gift
" We see it happening among us every day This miraculous turnabout is evidence of a spiritual awakening."
Basic Text p. 49
We watch them walk in to their first meeting defeated, their spirits broken. Their suffering is obvious, and their desire for help even more apparent. They collect a welcome chip and go back to their seats, shaken by the effort.
We see them again, and they seem a little more comfortable. They've found a sponsor and are attending meetings every night. They still won't meet our glance, but they nod their heads in recognition as we share. We notice a spark of hope in their eyes, and they smile uncertainly when we encourage them to keep coming back.
A few months later, they are standing straight. They've learned how to make eye contact. They're working the steps with their sponsor and are healing as a result. We listen to them sharing at meetings. We stack chairs with them afterward.
A few years later, they are speaking at a convention workshop, They've got a wonderful, humorous personality. They smile when they see us, they hug us, and they tell us they could never have done it without us. And they understand when we say, "nor could we, without you."
Just for today: I will find joy in witnessing the recovery of another.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear. --Lao-tzu
A group of friends went swimming one day and one of them lost a ring in the bottom of the lake. Everyone started diving from different directions to find it until there was so much mud and sand stirred up that no one could see anything. Finally, they decided to clear the water. They waited silently on the edge of the shore for the mud from all their activity to settle. When it finally cleared, one person dove in slowly and picked up the ring. When we are confused about something in our lives, we will often hear answers and advice from all directions. Our friends will tell us one thing and our families another, until we feel pretty well mixed up. If we look away from our problem and let patience and time do their work, the mud inside us will settle and clear. Our answer will become visible, like the glimmer of silver in the water.
Am I overlooking the simple solution?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
A richer, more fulfilling, and more peaceful masculine spirituality will depend in no small measure upon new ways of learning to be sexual. --James B. Nelson
For most men, sexuality is one of the central issues in recovery. Our addictive and codependent lives have been fed by an overemphasis on genital sexuality, satisfaction, and performance. Sex is so limited by this emphasis that many men have become more unhappy while becoming sexual athletes.
We need to learn how to deepen our sexual experiences. We can allow ourselves the vulnerability of learning from our partners. We need to know how they relate to us, and how we can have both a spiritual and a physical connection. We can allow ourselves to be in loving relationships and enjoy the pleasure of touch. Consummation may not always be in orgasm, but in intimacy.
Today, I may experience my sexuality in many ways. My spiritual growth cannot be separated from how I learn to be sexual.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
The time of discipline began. Each of us the pupil of whichever one of us could best teach what each of us needed to learn.
--Maria Isabel Barreno
"When the pupil is ready, the teacher appears." Life's lessons often come unexpectedly. They come, nevertheless, and they come according to a time frame that is Divine. As we grow emotionally and spiritually, we are readied for further lessons for which teachers will appear. Perhaps the teacher will be a loving relationship, a difficult loss, or a truant child. The time of learning is seldom free from pain and questioning. But from these experiences and what they can teach us, we are ready to learn. As we are ready, they come.
We all enjoy the easy times when the sailing is smooth, when all is well, when we are feeling no pain. And these periods serve a purpose. They shore us up for the lessons which carry us to a stronger recovery, to a stronger sense of ourselves. To understand that all is well, throughout the learning process, is the basic lesson we need to learn. All is well. The teacher is the guide up the next rung of the ladder.
Let me be grateful for my lessons today and know that all is well.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Step One
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable. --Step One of Al-Alon
There are many different versions of the First Step for recovering codependents. Some of us admit powerlessness over alcohol or another's alcoholism. Some of us admit powerlessness over people; some over the impact of growing up in an alcoholic family.
One of the most significant words in the First Step is the word we. We come together because of a common problem, and, in the coming together, we find a common solution.
Through the fellowship of Twelve Step programs, many of us discover that although we may have felt alone in our pain, others have experienced a similar suffering. And now many are joining hands in a similar recovery.
We. A significant part of recovery. A shared experience. A shared strength, stronger for the sharing. A shared hopes - for better lives and relationships.
Today, I will be grateful for the many people across the world who call themselves "recovering codependents." Help me know that each time one of us takes a step forward, we pull the entire group forward.
As I go about my day I trust all my decisions to my positive inner guide. Nothing from the past will block me or hold me back. Today is mine to use for growth and recovery. I love myself today. --Ruth Fishel
*****************************************
Journey To The Heart
Cherish Your Favorite Spaces
Our world abounds with quiet, free sources of revitalization.
“I love going into fabric stores,” one woman told me recently. “I love touching, handling, fondling all the colorful bolts of material. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel happy.
“My favorite activity is spending an afternoon at the library,” one man told me. “If I could only do one thing in life, go one place, that’s what I’d choose. I lose myself in the pages of the books. They take me to faraway places, places I’ve never seen. And when I leave the library, I feel like I’ve been touched and changed.”
What are the places you like to visit in your town or city? Do you enjoy browsing through a bookstore? Is there a favorite shopping center in your neighborhood where the shopkeepers smile a little more and the window displays please your heart? Do you have a favorite restaurant where drinking a cup of tea changes your mood? Cherish old favorite spaces, and open yourself to discovering new places.
Healing doesn’t have to be extravagant, expensive, or traditional. Sometimes it just means going to the places that make us feel good.
*****************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
What do you want?
Imagine walking up to the counter at the local fast-food restaurant and asking if they had your order ready. “What order?” the counterperson would ask. “Did you phone one in?” “No, but I thought you might have something for me behind the counter anyway.”
It’s absurd, you might say. How could I expect them to have food ready for me when I hadn’t yet placed my order.
Exactly. And how can you expect the magic of the universe to start bringing you the things and experiences that you want for your life if you haven’t named them yet?
Have you placed an order yet? Maybe you thought about it at the beginning of the year, but put it off until you had more time to think about it. And every day you wake up and stand at the counter of life asking, “What do you have for me?”
If you haven’t asked for anything, you may have to settle for whatever life hands your way. Why not take the time to ask? You don’t have to be too specific, just ask for what you want. Want adventure? Put it on the list. Want love? Write it down. There is no guarantee that you’ll get everything you request. Life may have other plans for you. But you’ll never know whether you can get what you want unless you know what that is, and ask for it first.
God, help me have the courage to bring the desires of my heart to my conscious mind, and to you.
*****************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Even with a growing understanding of The Program and its Twelve Steps, we sometimes might find it difficult to believe that our new way of life leads to personal freedom. Suppose, for example, I feel imprisoned in an uncomfortable job or troublesome personal relationship. What am I doing about it? In the past, my reflex reaction was to try to manipulate the things and people around me into being more acceptable to me. Today, I realize that happiness can’t be won that way. Am I learning that freedom from despair and frustration can come only from changing, in myself, the attitudes that are perpetuating the conditions that cause me grief?
Today I Pray
May I be given clear eyes to see — and then to stop myself — when I am manipulating the lives of those around me, my daily associates, friends, family. May I always be aware that change must begin within myself.
Today I Will Remember
Change from the inside out.
*****************************************
One More Day
Self-Understanding rather than Self-Condemnation is the way to inner peace adn mature conscience.
– Joshua Loth Liebman
We can be committees of one, single-handedly striving to show others, by example, that having a chronic medical problem need not keep us out of the mainstream of life. Our health difficulties may heighten our awareness of the value of life, of other people, and of ourselves.
We can hold our heads up high and go out in public. In this way, we refuse to let our dimished health subdue us. By being comfortable with ourselves, smiling at passers-by, and not complaining, we can create an aura of strength and self-assurance. Doing this can challenge and inspire others, and – more importantly — it can do the same for us.
It’s difficult sometimes to leave the security of my home. The more I understand my fears, the easier it is to go out among other people.
************************************
Food For Thought
Sharpening Our Tools
What we do each day is not as important as how we do it. If we are abstaining, working the program, and staying in touch with the Higher Power, then whatever we do during the day will go as it should.
When we get careless and sloppy with abstinence, neglect to use the tools of OA recovery, forget the Twelve Steps, then we may expect trouble. When we are out of touch with our Higher Power and our OA friends, then nothing seems to go as it should.
If you feel yourself becoming careless, then make that neglected phone call, read and re-read the literature, go to a meeting today. Listen within yourself for the quiet voice God uses to give you enthusiasm and direction.
We may each become God's tool if we keep ourselves in good working order through this program.
Make me an effective tool to do Your will.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
~ MOVING ON ~
Dwell not on the past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind.
Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time.
Eileen Caddy
As a child, teen, and young adult, I was sexually, emotionally, mentally and physically abused. I was neglected as well. By the time I was a young woman, the "abuse" was history, and I was left dealing with a very sick family. But I could not let go of my abused past!
The abuse became the topic of every conversation I had. Anything I saw on TV or read in a book or newspaper brought to mind the past. I awoke in the middle of the night to relive my childhood nightmares for a few hours before crying myself back to sleep. I spent entire days staring at the television, eating to numb myself from my pain and anger.
Eventually, I wanted more from my life. I became disgusted with myself and what my life had become. I was led to a Twelve Step group. There I learned how to let go of the past, to work through it, to make amends for my part in things, and to forgive those who abused me.
Today, when I discuss the abuse I suffered, which is seldom, I can do so without the anger and pain bubbling up. I can help others with my story, and then I can let it go. It is my history, but it's no longer ruling my present.
Like Thomas Raddall said, "Don't brood on what's past, but never forget it either."
One Day at a Time . . .
I will make amends and forgive others, not for them, but for me. I pray to live in today, to make it the best day I can.
~ Rhonda ~
*****************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically. - Pg.64 - How It Works
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
'Live and Let Live' sounds like a simple phrase, but in fact it is imperative for us to practice. When we try to control the actions of others, it only leads to anger, resentment, fury, and finally to a slip.
Higher Power, increase my tolerance so I can 'Live and Let Live' so that I 'Don't Let Live and Die!
Inner Peace
There is peace within me that I can draw on each and every day. I will remind myself to take a few moments today, to center myself. I will breathe. I will sit. And when I go about my day I will carry that lovely feeling of inner peace around with me. There is nothing in my day that is more important than my serenity. Today, I will pay attention to the myriad of ways in which I am thrown off balance. When I feel myself losing my serenity, I'll take a moment to center myself, to breathe, to connect with that part of me that is eternal and unchanging. I'll remind myself that when I can calm my body, mind and spirit, I interact differently with the people, places and things of my day. I am here. My spirit is here. My serenity is at my fingertips. I am in charge of my deeper experience of living. I connect with my divine self and the diving energy that is ever present.
I give myself the gift of inner peace.
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Let go or be dragged.
I pray for the willingness to be willing to be willing to let go absolutely. (P 97, Meeting Wisdom)
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. Page 449. (From the Big Book, 4th edition-now Page 417 from the 5th edition)
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
As I go about my day I trust all my decisions to my positive inner guide. Nothing from the past will block me or hold me back. Today is mine to use for growth and recovery. I love myself today.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I can't get too thingyy around AA. I can be a peathingy one day and a feather duster the next. - Unknown origin.
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Post by caressa222 on Jan 25, 2018 19:20:43 GMT -5
January 26
Daily Reflections
RIGOROUS HONESTY
Who wishes to be rigorously honest and tolerant?
Who wants to confess his faults to another and make
restitution for harm done? Who cares anything about
a Higher Power, let alone meditation and prayer?
Who wants to sacrifice time and energy in trying to
carry A.A.'s message to the next sufferer? No, the
average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme,
doesn't care for this prospect - unless he has to
do these things in order to stay alive himself.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 24
I am an alcoholic. If I drink I will die. My, what
power, energy, and emotion this simple statement
generates in me! But it's really all I need to know
for today. Am I willing to stay alive today? Am I
willing to stay sober today? Am I willing to ask for
help and am I willing to be a help to another suffering
alcoholic today? Have I discovered the fatal nature of
my situation? What must I do, today, to stay sober?
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
As we became alcoholics, the bad effects of drinking
came more and more to outweigh the good effects. But
the strange part of it is that, no matter what drinking
did to us, loss of our health, our jobs, our money and
our homes, we still stuck to it and depended on it. Our
dependence on drinking became an obsession. In A.A., we
find a new outlook on life. We learn how to change from
alcoholic thinking to sober thinking. And we find out
that we can no longer depend on drinking for anything.
We depend on a Higher Power instead. Have I entirely
given up that dependence on drinking?
Meditation For The Day
I will try to keep my life calm and unruffled. This is
my great task, to find peace and acquire serenity. I must
not harbor disturbing thoughts. No matter what fears,
worries and resentments I may have, I must try to think
of constructive things, until calmness comes. Only when
I am calm can I act as a channel for God's spirit.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may build up instead of tearing down.
I pray that I may be constructive and not destructive.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
True Independence of the Spirit, p. 26
The more we become willing to depend upon a Higher Power, the
more independent we actually are. Therefore, dependence as A.A.
practices it is really a means of gaining true independence of the spirit.
At the level of everyday living, 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. By accepting with delight our dependence upon this marvel of
science, we find ourselves personally more independent, 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.
Though we readily accept this principle of healthy dependence in many
of our temporal affairs, we often fiercely resist the identical principle
when asked to apply it as a means of growth in the life of the spirit.
Clearly, we shall never know freedom under God until we try to seek
His will for us. The choice is ours.
12 & 12, p. 36
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Pray For Potatoes___Faith and Works
One of the sayings heard at AA meetings is "Pray for potatoes but grab a hoe." This says that both prayer and action are needed to get favorable results in our lives.
But recovering alcoholics do not really need to be told to "grab a hoe." One of our problems is that we often worked too hard for certain ends, only to lose out in the long run. What we really need to know is that our prayers work with our actions to bring about good results. The saying should be "Pray for potatoes and grab a hoe." Faith and actions are both needed.
In the strong belief that God is working through us, we can do our own work with confidence and gratitude. Our own efforts are strengthened when we know that we are not alone. We may even receive inspiration and new understanding as we continue on this path. Changes in our lives will turn out to be positive and beneficial if we remind ourselves that God is in charge of the process.
Under the right conditions, potatoes grow in a miraculous way. Other projects will also come to maturity in our lives under God's direction.
I will be grateful for the opportunity to work today. Moreover, I will know that a Higher Power is living and working in my life.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
The best way to find a helping hand is at the end of your arm.----Swedish proverb
During our illness, we hurt others. We hurt ourselves. We messed up a lot.
So, a lot of us come to recovery not trusting ourselves very much. The truth is, as addicts, we couldn't be trusted.
But in recovery, we can be trusted again. We can again live and love ourselves. We do this by finding our spiritual center. This is the place inside of us where our Higher Power lives. We turn our will and our lives over to this spiritual center. We do as our spiritual center tells us. And from our spiritual center, we'll find our values. We'll live better lives. We'll come to trust ourselves again.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for helping me believe in myself again. I'll treat myself with love and kindness. I know You want me to.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list four ways I couldn't be trusted during my addiction. I'll also list four ways I can now be trusted.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face,
And show the world all the love in your heart,
Then people gonna treat you better.
You're gonna find, yes, you will,
That you're beautiful as you feel.
--Carole King
"Act as if." There's magic in behaving the way we want to be, even though we don't yet feel it. The behavior seems to lead the way. The attitude, the mental state, follows.
Many days we may not get up with love in our hearts for our family, our friends, our co-workers. We may, in fact, want them to show their love for us first. But if we reach out, give love unconditionally; focus on another's needs, love will return tenfold. And the act of loving them will lift our own spirits. We will know love; we will feel love for ourselves and the many other persons close to us.
The attitude we cultivate, whether one of love or selfishness, inferiority or superiority, will determine how the events of our lives affect us. The principle is so simple. If we meet life with love, with a smile, we'll find love and something to smile about.
My attitude will make this day what it becomes. Meeting it head-on, with love, will assure me of a lovely day.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
That was great news to us, for we had assumed we could not make use of spiritual principles unless we accepted many things on faith which seemed difficult to believe. When people presented us with spiritual approaches, how frequently did we all say, “I wish I had what that man has. I’m sure it would work if I could only believe as he believes. But I cannot accept as surely true the many articles of faith which are so plain to him.” So it was comforting to learn that we could commence at a simpler level.
p. 47
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
About this time an incident took place in grade school that I have never forgotten because it made me realize that I was a physical coward. During recess we were playing basketball, and I had accidentally tripped a fellow just a little larger than I was. He took the basketball and smashed me in the face with it. That was enough provocation to fight but I didn't fight, and I realized after recess why I didn't. It was fear. That hurt and disturbed me a great deal.
p. 232
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
Let's here take note of our improved outlook upon the problems of personal importance, power, ambition, and leadership. These were reefs upon which many of us came to shipwreck during our drinking careers.
p. 122
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A.A. is not something you join, it's a way of life.
He who has fed a stranger may have fed an angel. --The Talmud
There's no elevator; you have to take the Steps.
Look for God's image in the people you meet. --Robert E. Lea
"It takes no more time to see the good side of life than it takes to see the bad." --Jimmy Buffet
"It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities." --Josiah Stamp
"One can easily understand a child's fear of the dark, but what is the greatest tragedy in life is the grown man who is afraid of the light." --Plato
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
FAITH
"The ablest men in all walks of
modern life are men of faith."
-- Bruce Barton
It is important for those of us who have been crushed by the disease
of addiction to have faith that life will get better. We stopped "using"
or being co-dependent because the behavior was destroying us. Our
lives were disintegrating in negative behavior and attitudes. Now we
have chosen a different way to live.
Today I seek to find God in my freedom of choice, my ability to
change. I have faith in the daily belief that my life will get better so
long as I avoid those things that hurt me. My faith enables me to
change.
O God, my faith in me reflects my belief in You.
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"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." Psalm 1:1-3
"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1
Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17
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Daily Inspiration
We can show God that we truly love Him by the way we speak and live. May I be inspiring, Lord, and may everyone that I meet find You.
Avoid negative thinking because this leads to unnecessary worry. Lord, I rely on You to guide and sustain me and I know that with You I can move easily around life's obstacles.
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NA Just For Today
Self-Centeredness
" The spiritual part of our disease is our total self-centeredness."
Basic Text p. 20
What is self-centeredness? It is our belief that the world revolves around us. Our wishes, our demands are the only ones worth consideration. Our self-centered minds believe they are capable of getting everything they want if only they would be left to their own devices. SeIf-centeredness assumes total self-sufficiency.
We say that self-centeredness is the spiritual part of our disease because the self-centered mind cannot conceive of anything greater or more important than itself. But there is a spiritual solution to our spiritual malady: the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous. The steps lead us away from self-centeredness and toward Godcenteredness.
We strip away our delusion of self-sufficiency by admitting our own powerlessness and seeking the aid of a Power greater than ourselves. We acknowledge the bankruptcy of our self-righteousness by admitting we've been wrong, making amends, and seeking knowledge of what's right from the God our understanding. And we deflate our overwhelming sense of self-importance by seeking to serve others, not only ourselves.
The self-centeredness afflicting our spirit can be treated with a spiritual solution: the Twelve Steps.
Just for today: My guidance and my strength comes from a Higher Power, not from my own self. I will practice the Twelve Steps to become more God-centered and less self-centered.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Nothing is more difficult than competing with a myth. --Francoise Giroud
Sometimes we think we need to try and be something we're not. Maybe we feel pressure from friends to behave or dress like someone else. All we need to do is remember when we were younger and dressed in our parents' clothes and shoes. We pretended to be grownups, and it was fun for a while. Then the huge shoes on our feet grew clumsy and uncomfortable and the mountain of rolled-up sleeves kept falling down and getting in the way. Soon we grew tired of the game and stopped pretending. Today when we start feeling the pressure to be someone else, let's remember how hard it is to play a role that doesn't fit us.
What can I do today that is most like me?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Within every man there is the reflection of a woman, and within every woman there is the reflection of a man. Within every man and woman there is also the reflection of an old man and an old woman, a little boy and a little girl. --Hyemeyohsts Storm
This Cheyenne teaching reminds us of our connections - inside ourselves and with other people. Reading this passage, we are seeing it partly with the eyes of that small child who first learned to read. And perhaps, looking in the mirror today, we can see the traces of the old men we are becoming. We have been close to our mothers or sisters or lovers and have found parts of ourselves in them. By gently welcoming the children we once were, the old men we will be, the part of us that has a woman's outlook, we become wiser, stronger, and more spiritual.
We don't need to be frightened or disrespectful of the parts of ourselves that don't feel 100 percent virile. We can have virility and many other sides too. Such awareness creates peace with ourselves.
I will notice the reflection of small children in old faces, old people in children's faces, and men and women in each other.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face,
And show the world all the love in your heart,
Then people gonna treat you better.
You're gonna find, yes, you will,
That you're beautiful as you feel.
--Carole King
"Act as if." There's magic in behaving the way we want to be, even though we don't yet feel it. The behavior seems to lead the way. The attitude, the mental state, follows.
Many days we may not get up with love in our hearts for our family, our friends, our co-workers. We may, in fact, want them to show their love for us first. But if we reach out, give love unconditionally; focus on another's needs, love will return tenfold. And the act of loving them will lift our own spirits. We will know love; we will feel love for ourselves and the many other persons close to us.
The attitude we cultivate, whether one of love or selfishness, inferiority or superiority, will determine how the events of our lives affect us. The principle is so simple. If we meet life with love, with a smile, we'll find love and something to smile about.
My attitude will make this day what it becomes. Meeting it head-on, with love, will assure me of a lovely day.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Off The Hook
We can learn not to get hooked into unhealthy, self-defeating behaviors in relationships - behaviors such as caretaking, controlling, discounting ourselves, and believing lies.
We can learn to watch for and identify hooks, and choose not to allow ourselves to be hooked.
Often, people do things consciously or without thinking that pulls us into a series of our self-defeating behaviors we call codependency. More often than not, these hooks can be almost deliberate, and the results predictable.
Someone may stand before us and hint or sigh about a problem, knowing or hoping that hint or sigh will hook us into taking care of him or her. That is manipulation.
When people stand around us and hint and sigh about something, then coyly say, "Oh, never mind, that's not for you to worry about," that's a game. We need to recognize it. We're about to get sucked in, if we allow that to happen.
We can learn to insist that people ask us directly for what they want and need.
What are the words, the signs, the looks, the hints, and the cues that hook us into a predictable and often self-defeating behavior?
What makes you feel sympathy? Guilt? Responsible for another?
Our strong point is that we care so much. Our weak point is that we often underestimate the people with whom we're dealing. They know what they're doing. It is time we give up our naive assumption that people don't follow agendas of their own in their best interest, and not necessarily in ours.
We also want to check ourselves out. Do we give out hooks, looks, hints, hoping to hook another? We need to insist that we behave in a direct and honest manner with others, instead of expecting them to rescue us.
If someone wants something from us, insist that the person ask us directly for it. Require the same from us. If someone baits the hook, we don't have to bite it.
Today, I will be aware of the hooks that snag me into the caretaking acts that leave me feeling victimized. I will ignore the hints, looks, and words that hook me, and wait for the directness and honesty others, and I deserve.
Nothing can stop me from growing today. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
See Life Through the Eyes of Your Soul
Once many, many years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night. Only I wasn’t in bed sleeping. I was on the ceiling looking down at my body lying on the bed. I studied myself, a little surprised at how unusual I looked from the outside. The next thing I knew, I was back in bed. My soul reconnected with my body. That experience was the beginning of a journey that led me to understand I was more than a body. I had a soul. I was about to embark on a path that would consciously connect me to that soul– experiences on the path to freeing my soul.
Throughout my life, I have had many conscious desires and expectations about my life. I wanted this, I wanted that. I wanted my life to be arranged just so. What I’ve understood over time is that the journey I’m taking is not one based on arranging my life in a particular way, then keeping it just so. The journey I’ve been on and what I’ve been seeking has been the journey of my soul.
Much in life can cause us distress and discomfort when we look with our conscious mind. But if we look beyond what we can see on the surface, we’ll begin to see with the eyes of the soul. The lessons run deep. Often they take time to learn. We learn about power. We learn about love. Courage. Faith. Saying good-bye. Embracing deep love for ourselves.
Learn to see life with the eyes of your soul. Experience all the emotions that are there. Discover your truths. Seek conscious peace as much as you can, and seek peace in your soul as well. Let your soul lead you through meadows and take you down deep into the valleys, for all your experiences are just that– experiences– on this mysterious journey of the soul.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Be a thermostat
There’s a thermometer on my back porch. It tells me when it’s hot enough to go for a swim.
Inside the house, there’s a thermostat. The thermostat not only tells us how hot or cold it is, but will actually do something about it as well. If the temperature gets too warm, the thermostat tells the air conditioner to cool off the house. If it gets too cool, the thermostat tells the heater to warm things up a bit.
Which are you? Are you a thermometer– only reflecting the attitudes of those around you? Or are you a thermostat– determining your own course of action and following through with it? Thermometer people often know where they are; they just don’t do anything about it. I’m stuck in this relationship. I’m really angry, resentful, and upset. Thermostat people are aware of where they are,too. They just choose to do something about it, as well. I’m in this relationship, and I will do everything that I can to improve it. But if necessary, I will walk away from it.
Being a thermostat means we take appropriate action to take care of ourselves.
God, help me learn to respond to whatever environment I’m in by taking appropriate actions to take care of myself.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Personal freedom is mine for the taking. No matter how close are the ties of love and concern that bind me to my family and friends, I must always remember that I am an individual, free to be myself and live my own life in serenity and joy. The key word is this realization is personal. For I can free myself from many involvements that seem necessary. Through The Program, I am learning to develop my own personality. Am I reinforcing my personal freedom by leaving others free to control their actions and destinies?
today I Pray
May I find personal freedom, by reevaluating associations, establishing new priorities, gaining respect for my own person hood. May I give others equal room to find their own kinds of personal freedoms.
Today I Will Remember
Take the liberty; it’s yours.
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One More Day
In human relationships, closeness and warmth only occur when we ask about one another . . . when we seek to know how we can help one another. Until we ask, we will never know. – Bernard S. Raskas
Who are our close friends? We should cherish friendships and protect them as vigorously as we would a newborn infant.
When a friend comes to us needing our help, we are forced into making a decision. One choice — abandonment — means we lose a friend. The other option means that the question, “What can I do to help you?” is no longer rhetorical, it is a commitment to helpfulness. We may even have to put ourselves at risk, especially emotionally, but we can bee a friend who stays around when a crisis occurs.
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One Day At A Time
~ HOPE ~
In the hour of adversity be not without hope,
For crystal rain falls from black clouds.
Persian poem
When I was a child, I lived in a fantasy world and dreamed of all the wonderful things that would happen to me when I grew up. I would have a wonderful husband, beautiful children, a fulfilling job and, of course, I would be thin. Unfortunately the fantasy never materialized, and even when I did lose weight my life wasn't the perfect life that I had envisioned. I would lose weight and then promptly regain it. Life in general seemed so empty and futile. No matter how hard I tried, nothing seemed to work. I hated myself and my life; it often seemed pointless to go on.
When I walked into the doors of the first meeting I ever attended, there was something on the faces of the people I met there. I didn't know what it was at the time, but I saw something that I wanted. It wasn't that they were all thin, because many of them were not. So what was it that these people had that I didn't? What they had was the hope of recovery. If they were willing to reach out to a Higher Power of their understanding, and if they would work the program one day at a time, then this would guarantee them recovery.
I didn't know what recovery meant then. Because all I wanted was to lose weight, and because I wanted what they had, I was prepared to do what they were doing. I realized then that it wasn't only about the weight, although that does play a part. These people were learning how to live their life sanely, and even when they struggled with life, as we do from time to time, there was always the hope that they could get through those difficult times by using the tools and reaching out to others in the fellowship.
One Day at a Time . . .
Even when I am going through difficult times and the future looks gloomy, I have hope that it will get better if I'm willing to work a simple program.
~ Sharon S. ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
He will presently try the old game again, for he isn't happy about his sobriety. He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end. - Pg. 152 - A Vision For You
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Sometimes we are confused about what to do. But we tell people, 'Do the next right thing.' We do know what is right and what is wrong from the age of seven. Often our mind tries to muddy our thinking by making excuses or rationalizing. You really do know the right thing to do.
Higher Power, of my understanding, please let me respond to the right and wrong of my Higher Self--for the basic knowledge that was once so clear.
Shifting My Feeling States
When I shift my own thinking and feeling states, I shift my body states as well, because emotions travel through me as body chemicals. In a way, I am what I think about all day. I can shift what I am feeling by consciously changing my thoughts and I can shift what I'm thinking, by consciously evening out my emotional states. I will place my attention on my heart and imagine myself in a calm and serene state. As my heart calms, so does my body. When I can consciously breathe in and out of my heart zone, and imagine that part of me entering a state of ease and serenity, I actually contribute to my emotional, psychological and physical health.
I calm my heart
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Egoism isn't necessarily thinking a lot of yourself--just thinking of yourself a lot.
I begin this day by thinking of another first. Who is distressed or frightened that I may offer words of comfort?
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Alcoholism is an incurable disease; loneliness is not.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Nothing can stop me from growing today.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I'm hardest to love when I need love the most. - Anon.
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Post by caressa222 on Jan 26, 2018 21:13:15 GMT -5
January 27
Daily Reflections
FREEDOM FROM GUILT
Where other people were concerned, we had to drop the word
"blame" from our speech and thought.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 47
When I become willing to accept my own powerlessness, I begin to
realize that blaming myself for all the trouble in my life can be an ego
trip back into hopelessness. Asking for help and listening deeply to
the messages inherent in the Steps and Traditions of the program
make it possible to change those attitudes which delay my recovery. Before
joining A.A., I had such a desire for approval from people in powerful
positions that I was willing to sacrifice myself, and others, to gain a
foothold in the world. I invariably came to grief. In the program I
find true friends who love, understand, and care to help me learn the truth
about myself. With the help of the Twelve Steps, I am able to build a
better life, free of guilt and the need for self-justification.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
An alcoholic carries an awful load around with them. What a load
lying puts on your shoulders! Drinking makes liars out of all of us
alcoholics. In order to get all the liquor we want, we have to lie all the
time. We have to lie about where we've been and what we've been
doing. When you are lying you are only half alive, because of the fear
of being found out. When you come into A.A., and get honest with
yourself and with other people, that terrible load of lying falls off
your shoulders. Have I got rid of that load of lying?
Meditation For The Day
I believe that in the spiritual world, as in the material world, there is
no empty space. As fears and worries and resentments depart out of
my life, the things of the spirit come in to take their places. Calm
comes after a storm. As soon as I am rid of fears and hates and
selfishness, God's love and peace and calm can come in.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may rid myself of all fears and resentments, so that
peace and serenity may take their place. I pray that I may sweep my
life clean of evil, so that good may come in.
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As Bill Sees It
Daily Reprieve, p. 27
We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve
contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.
<< << << >> >> >>
We of A.A. obey spiritual principles, at first because we must, then
because we ought to, and ultimately because we love the kind of life such
obedience brings. Great suffering and great love are A.A.'s
disciplinarians; we need no others.
1. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 85
2. 12 & 12, p. 174
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Walk In Dry Places
Live and let live____Tolerance
For countless reasons, people with drinking problems blunder into conflicts with others. It's not unusual to hear that a person has not spoken to a relative for y ears as a result of some foolish misunderstanding. Some of us, sad to say, cling to old grievances even after we come into AA.
The key to peace in our lives is the slogan "Live and Let Live." If we reflect on this slogan a bit, we want to live freely, and we ought to let others choose their lifestyles without interference from us. After all, if there was anything we alcoholics resented, it was the busybody who tried to shape our lives for us.
Nobody has the competence or understanding to tell us how we should live, nor should we try to control other people. We have a big job to do in overcoming our own problems. We have neither the time nor the wisdom to run other people's lives.
"Live and Let Live," if followed by every person and nation, would bring universal peace. We can use the slogan wisely to end conflicts in our lives and to terminate new ones before they develop into serious problems.
I'll remember today that nobody appointed me guardian of my neighbors' manners and morals. I have a full-time job keeping myself straight.
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Keep It Simple
They is no they, only us .--Bumper sticker
For most of us, addiction was full of doubt. We stopped believing in ourselves. Our thoughts had turned to "stinking thinking." We didn't believe in much of anything. We didn't take risk. We always looked for the easier, softer way. In recovery, we start to believe again. We believe in the program. We believe in a Higher Power. We believe in people. And, over time, we believe in ourselves again. We become better at taking risk. We are able to stay sober because we believe,
because we take risk. As we stay sober, we can face almost anything---with the help of others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I have learned to believe in You. Help me believe in myself. I have something to give to this world. Help me give it freely.
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Each Day a New Beginning
Surviving meant being born over and over. --Erica Jong
We have decided to live. And each day we make the decision anew. Each time we call a friend, work a Step, or go to a meeting, we are renewing our contract with life. We are being reborn. Before coming to this program we died, emotionally and spiritually, many times. Some of us nearly died physically. But here we are, starting a new day, looking for guidance from one another. We are the survivors. And survival is there for the taking.
We will have days when we struggle with our decision to live. We will want to throw in the towel. We will want to give in or give up. But we've learned from one another about choices. And the choice to survive, knowing we never have to do it alone, gets easier with time.
I am one of the survivors. Today is my day for celebration.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Besides a seeming inability to accept much on faith, we often found ourselves handicapped by obstinacy, sensitiveness, and unreasoning prejudice. Many of us have been so touchy that even casual reference to spiritual things make us bristle with antagonism. This sort of thinking had to be abandoned. Though some of us resisted, we found no great difficulty in casting aside such feelings. Faced with alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open minded on spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other questions. In this respect alcohol was a great persuader. It finally beat us into a state of reasonableness. Sometimes this was a tedious process; we hope no one else will prejudiced for as long as some of us were.
pp. 47-48
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
Mother was of the old school and figured that anyone I associated with should be of the proper type. Of course, in my day, times had changed; she just hadn't changed with the times. I don't know whether it was right or wrong, but at least I know that people weren't thinking the same. We weren't even permitted to play cards in our house, but Father would give us just a little toddy with whiskey and sugar and warm water now and then. We had no whiskey in the house, other than my father's private stock. I never saw him drunk in my life, although he'd take a shot in the morning and usually one in the evening, and so did I; but for the most part he kept his whisky in his office. The only time that I ever saw my mother take anything alcoholic was around Christmas time, when she would drink some eggnog or light wine.
p. 233
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
Practically every boy in the United States dreams of becoming our President. He wants to be his country's number one man. As he gets older and sees the impossibility of this, he can smile good-naturedly at his childhood dream. In later life he finds that real happiness is not to be found in just trying to be a number one man, or even a first-rater in the heartbreaking struggle for money, romance, or self-importance. He learns that he can be content as long as he plays well whatever cards life deals him. He's still ambitious, but not absurdly so, because he can now see and accept actual reality. He's willing to stay right size.
p. 122
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Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. --Ovid
It's not what you were, it's what you are today. --David Marion
Very little is needed to make a happy life. --Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something. --Wilson Mizne
Times of fellowship with God are the foundation for serving others. --Doris M. Orr
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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.
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"Take good care to observe the commandment, and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul." Joshua 22:5
Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths. Psalm 25:4
"Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually." 1 Chronicles 16:11
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Daily Inspiration
There is no hurt that God cannot heal. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble and don't know where to go.
It is far wiser to ask God for what He thinks is good for us, than for what we think is good for us. Lord, Your Will not mine be done.
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NA Just For Today
Learning how to live again
" We learn new ways to live. We are no longer limited to our old ideas."
Basic Text p. 54
We may or may not have been taught right from wrong and other basics of life as children. No matter, by the time we found recovery, most of us had only the vaguest idea of how to live. Our isolation from the rest of society had caused us to ignore basic human responsibilities and develop bizarre survival skills to cope with the world we lived in.
Some of us didn't know how to tell the truth; others were so frank we wounded everyone we talked to. Some of us couldn't cope with the simplest of personal problems, while others attempted solving the problems of the whole world. Some of us never got angry, even when receiving unfair treatment; others busily lodged complaints against everyone and everything.
Whatever our problems, no matter how extreme, we all have a chance in Narcotics Anonymous to learn how to live anew. Perhaps we need to learn kindness and how to care about others. Perhaps we need to accept personal responsibilities. Or maybe we need to overcome fear and take some risks. We can be certain of one thing: Each day, simply by living life, we'll learn something new.
Just for today: I know more about how to live than I did yesterday, but not as much as I'll know tomorrow. Today, I'll learn something new.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
When men are rightfully occupied, then their amusement grows out of their work as the color petals out of a fruitful garden.
--John Ruskin
What do we need most in order to be happy? Certainly we all need to be loved. Yet we need even more than that. The spirit also wishes to be needed. When we are needed, no matter what age we are, we serve a purpose for others. When we are needed, we will be loved, as well as respected, imitated, and rewarded with gratitude. Our needs are not great empty pits to be filled any way we can. They are the couplings by which we connect to those we love. Our needs also tell us what others want, and how to enrich their lives--which also enriches ours. How do we become needed? We have only to look at our own needs and give what we need to others--love, respect, kindness, and generosity. When we realize we are needed, we realize we also need others.
What do I need that I can give to another person today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
When nobody around you seems to measure up, it's time to check your yardstick. --Bill Lemley
Being overcritical and irritable has been common to most of us. Some of us go around with controlled smiles while underneath we are grumbling. Others blast everyone around them. Some of us save our most critical reactions for those we love while staying sweet and friendly with the outside world. In any case, we are caught in a blinding trap. We may know we feel trapped but do not see that our problem is mainly with ourselves.
We need to look at our relationships. Have we been falling into a pattern where no one seems to measure up? Are we also being too critical or demanding of ourselves? Perhaps we don't need to lower our standards so much as to hold them less tightly. If we can be friends to ourselves and give ourselves a little more leeway, we can be more easygoing with others.
I cannot force myself to be less critical, but I can let go of my willfulness so my more easygoing side comes forward. I can be less judgmental of others and myself.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Surviving meant being born over and over. --Erica Jong
We have decided to live. And each day we make the decision anew. Each time we call a friend, work a Step, or go to a meeting, we are renewing our contract with life. We are being reborn. Before coming to this program we died, emotionally and spiritually, many times. Some of us nearly died physically. But here we are, starting a new day, looking for guidance from one another. We are the survivors. And survival is there for the taking.
We will have days when we struggle with our decision to live. We will want to throw in the towel. We will want to give in or give up. But we've learned from one another about choices. And the choice to survive, knowing we never have to do it alone, gets easier with time.
I am one of the survivors. Today is my day for celebration.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Needing People
We can find the balance between needing people too much and not letting ourselves need anyone at all.
Many of us have unmet dependency needs lingering from the past. While we want others to fulfill our desire to be loved unconditionally, we may have chosen people who cannot, or will not, be there for us. Some of us are so needy from not being loved that we drive people away by needing them too much.
Some of us go to the other extreme. We may have become used to people not being there for us, so we push them away. We fight off our feelings of neediness by becoming overly independent, not allowing ourselves to need anyone. Some of us won't let people be there for us.
Either way, we are living out unfinished business. We deserve better. When we change, our circumstances will change.
If we are too needy, we respond to that by accepting the needy part of us. We let ourselves heal from the pain of past needs going unmet. We stop telling ourselves we're unlovable because we haven't been loved the way we wanted and needed.
If we have shut off the part of us that needs people, we become willing to open up, be vulnerable, and let ourselves be loved. We let ourselves have needs.
We will get the love we need and desire when we begin to believe we're lovable, and when we allow that to happen.
Today, I will strive for the balance between being too needy and not allowing myself to need people. I will let myself receive the law that is there for me.
As I stop today and take the time to be still, I become in touch with my Higher Power. I feel myself filling with love and with peace as I relax and let go of the stress in my day. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Open Your Heart As Often As You Need
Opening our hearts is not something we do once or twice. It is a way of life. How quickly life does things that make us want to close off, wall off, shut down, go away. But our commitment to staying open has little to do with what life does to us. It has to do with how we decide we want to live. Open. Loving. Safe. We’re safe because we know our ability and our willingness to love comes from within us. It is the ultimate form of learning to embrace our power.
A long time ago when we were young, you may have told yourself it was risky to love, to trust, to feel. You told yourself that everyone you trusted would in the end betray your trust. Your belief has many times been proven true. But it’s time now to believe something else. It’s time to believe that the opposite is true. It’s time to believe that the opposite is true. It is risky to not love, not trust, not feel.
Your security doesn’t come from trusting others. Your security comes from trusting and cherishing your own heart. Don’t let life shut you down. Open your heart as often as you need.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Find the adventure in your life
He had quit his job eight weeks earlier, a prodigal son off to find his story in the world. He arrived back in town dirty, unshaven, tired, and smiling. He had $4.38 in his pocket, he said. Enough for a burger and fries, if someone would give him a ride– there wasn’t enough gas in his car to get him to the restaurant and back. We were just getting ready to go to dinner and one of the others asked if he wanted to come along. “My treat,” a friend said, “as long as you tell us some stories.”
He did.
And oh, what stories he told from his trip through the west– high mountains, deep canyons, altitude sickness, frigid nights. Story after story poured out as we listened over plates of tacos.
“But what will you do now?” I asked later. “You only have four dollars to your name.”
“It’s okay,” came the reply. “I’ll just go back to work for a while.”
“And then?”
“Take another trip. Next year I’m going to Europe to see what’s over there.”
Take a chance. We don’t have to settle in and live in the first safe, comfortable box that we find. We can live in the moment, pull all that we can from it, then stretch our wings and fly someplace else. I’m not saying to quit your job and go off on a backpacking adventure, unless that’s what you want to do. I’m just saying you might want to follow your heart. Learn to cook. Learn to paint, share what you know by teaching a class. Find the adventure in your life, calculate the risk, then take it.
God, put the adventure back in my life. If I’ve gotten too safe in my little world, help me take a risk. Help me learn to live big.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
I can attain real dignity, importance and individuality only by a dependence on a Power which is great and good, beyond anything I can imagine or understand. I will try my utmost to use this Power in making all my decisions. Even though my human mind cannot forecast what the outcome will be, I will try to be confident that whatever comes will be for my ultimate good. Just For Today, will I try to live this day only, and not tackle my whole life problem at once?
Today I Pray
May I make no decision, engineer no change in the course of my life stream, without calling upon my Higher Power May I have faith that God’s plan for me is better than any scheme I could devise for myself.
Today I Will Remember
God is the architect. I am the builder.
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One More Day
The ancient sage, who concocted the maxim, “Know Thyself” might have added, “Don’t tell anyone.!” – H. F. Heinriches
All too often people hide from their own feelings and from the reality of chronic illness. We may reason that if we ignore it long enough it will go away. Of course, this does not happen, and slowly we gain the knowledge of what our illness is and how we can best live with the changes it creates.
Perhaps we cannot change the course of a chronic illness or medical condition, but we can , and certainly should, change how we react. Bitterness only encourages the company of those who are also bitter. Acceptance, openness, and serenity will attract others who share our willingness to change and grow.
Today, I will be open and honest with myself as I move back into the path of life with an illness at my side.
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One Day At A Time
~ DECISIONS ~
We can try to avoid making choices by doing nothing ...
but even that is a decision.
Gary Collins, PhD.
Clinical psychologist and well-known author in the field of counseling
I can't recall if I ever learned that I had choices. I think it's something a person learns as they grow up, but in my home, it was pretty much Mom's way or the highway, and she had us all so scared of the highway that even THAT wasn't much of a choice!
Imagine my utter shock when I came into the Twelve Step rooms and heard I had choices! I was a married woman by that time, one who had gone along with what everyone else said about anything and everything, and the only choice I seemed to make was how much I'd binge that day, if I'd purge, or if I'd be anorexic. Even that choice wasn't in my hands, but in the hands of my disease.
In these recovery rooms I slowly learned about making choices and the responsibility that went with them. It's been a freedom. It's also allowed me to feel like an adult. As a young child I was put in the position of doing things only adults should be doing. So on one hand, I knew I had done things way before "my time." Yet I still felt immature and naive. Learning to make my own choices and decisions has helped me to feel more mature and confident.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will not fear making difficult decisions. I will remember I can use the principles of the program to help me make the proper choice.
~ Rhonda ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Whether the family goes on a spiritual basis or not, the alcoholic member has to if he would recover. - Pg. 135 - The Family Afterwards
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Whatever is on our mind at this time is probably something we can do nothing about just now. We're fighting a fatal disease here and our recovery is our TOP PRIORITY. Other considerations will simply have to wait.
Help me to prioritize my needs: clean time, sober time, recovery.
I Am Aware
Today, I see that my life is up to me. How I choose to live, what I will accomplish, how I conduct my intimate relationships, how I treat myself, all are in my own hands. They are gifts of awareness that I can give myself. I can process my most frustrating and difficult emotions and bring them into my conscious awareness so that I can put them into proportion. I can reframe and see things in a new and more helpful light. I can stop running from what clouds and confuses my inner being, what obscures my inner light. I am strong in the awareness that I can live as I choose to live. I am willing to walk a path of self discovery that, though difficult, builds a strength in me and a knowledge that I can survive my most difficult feelings. I do not need to be afraid of my life if I am not afraid of my inner world. I am comfortable in my own skin.
I am free to be who I am.
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Witness the miracle of recovery happening for others, and you come to believe that this miracle can happen for you as well. Look at the miracles around you, one month off drugs, three years, 20 years or more. You are surrounded by living miracles.
I do not believe in miracles, I rely on them.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
It's Anonymo-us, not Anonymo-me.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
As I stop today and take the time to be still, I become in touch with my Higher Power. I feel myself filling with love and with peace as I relax and let go of the stress in my day.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Tolerance: The ability to put up with those you'd like to put down. - Anon.
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Post by majestyjo on Jan 27, 2018 19:29:46 GMT -5
January 28
Daily Reflections
THE TREASURE OF THE PAST
Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes life
seem so worth while to us now. Cling to the thought that, in God's hands, the dark past is
the greatest possession you have -- the key to life and happiness for others. With it you
can avert death and misery for them.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 124
What a gift it is for me to realize that all those seemingly useless years were not wasted.
The most degrading and humiliating experiences turn out to be the most powerful tools in
helping others to recover. In knowing the depths of shame and despair, I can reach out
with a loving and compassionate hand, and know that the grace of God is available to me.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
What a load hangovers put on your shoulders! What terrible physical punishment we've
all been through. The pounding headaches and jumpy nerves, the shakes and the jitters,
the hot and cold sweats! When you come into A.A. and stop drinking, that terrible
load of hangovers falls off your shoulders. What a load remorse puts on your shoulders!
That terrible mental punishment we've all been through. Ashamed of the things
you've said and done. Afraid to face people because of what they might think of you.
Afraid of the consequences of what you did when you were drunk. What an awful beating
the mind takes! When you come into A.A., that terrible load of remorse falls off your
shoulders. Have I gotten rid of these loads of hangovers and remorse?
Meditation For The Day
When you seek to follow the way of the spirit, it frequently means a complete reversal of
the way of the world that you had previously followed. But it is a reversal that leads to
happiness and peace. Do the aims and ambitions that a person usually strives for bring
peace? Do the world's awards bring heart rest and happiness? Or do they turn to ashes in
the mouth?
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may not be weary, disillusioned, or disappointed. I pray that I may not put
my trust in the ways of the world, but in the way of the spirit.
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As Bill Sees It
Troublemakers Can Be Teachers, p. 28
Few of us are any longer afraid of what any newcomer can do to our
A.A. reputation or effectiveness. Those who slip, those who
panhandle. those who scandalize, those with mental twists, those who
rebel at the program, those who trade on the A.A. reputation--all such
persons seldom harm an A.A. group for long.
Some of these have become our most respected and best loved. Some
have remained to try our patience, sober nevertheless. Others have
drifted away. We have begun to regard the troublesome ones not as
menaces, but rather as our teachers. They oblige us to cultivate
patience, tolerance, and humility. We finally see that they are only
people sicker than the rest of us, that we who condemn them are
Pharisees whose false righteousness does our group the deeper
spiritual damage.
Grapevine, August 1946
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Walk In Dry Places
Easy does it_____ Avoiding tension
As people of excess, alcoholics tend to swing between periods of great activity and times of complete lassitude. There is a tendency to waste time at one point, and then overcompensate for it by working feverishly and frantically to catch up. Both ways are out of balance.
We need to approach life in a relaxed manner, letting the natural rhythm of events take over and do some of the work for us. Too much effort defeats itself. The overanxious person strives too hard and makes things worse, like the salesman who talks too long and kills the sale.
In the AA way of life, we expect and accept responsibilities. But we are not slavishly committed to success at any price. We make a full commitment to any project we undertake, and we do our best at all times. Then we let things unfold rather than trying to force them.
It is also common to hear people say, "EASY DOES IT, BUT DO IT!" This is a reminder that t he slogan is not a prescription for laziness and indifference. It is also a reminder to avoid high-pressure tactics and excessive pushing.
I'll let things work out today. I'll do whatever has to be done.
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Keep It Simple
We're part of the fellowship we call "the program." Let's also remember that we're part of a larger fellowship called " the human race." We all hurt the same. We all love the same. We all need understanding and care. Yet, in other ways, we are not all the same. Let's remember to understand differences among people. If not, we'll be afraid of anyone who's not like us. And this isn't God's way.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to love all people. Help me be open to others who are different from me. Help me love my neighbor.
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Each Day a New Beginning
I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion. --Billie Jean King
Champions are made. How lucky we are to have the Steps to guide us to become champions. The program promises us self-awareness, but we have to put forth the effort. And the process isn't always easy. We have liabilities, all of us, and it's generally easier to see them than our assets. Self-awareness is recognizing both. To become a champion, whether as an athlete, a homemaker, a teacher, a secretary, or an attorney, is to maximize the assets and minimize the liabilities, but to accept the existence of both. The program that we share offers us daily opportunities to know ourselves, to help other women know themselves, and to strengthen our assets along the way. We can feel our assets growing, and it feels good. We can see our liabilities diminish, and it feels good. The program offers us a championship.
I can strengthen I disagreeets, first by knowing them, and then by emphasizing them repeatedly. I'll focus on one today.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
The reader may still ask why he should believe in a Power greater than himself. We think there are good reasons. Let us have a look at some of them.
The practical individual of today is a stickler for facts and results. Nevertheless, the twentieth century readily accepts theories of all kinds, provided they are firmly grounded in fact. We have numerous theories, for example, about electricity. Everybody believes them without a murmur of doubt. Why this ready acceptance? Simply because it is impossible to explain what we see, feel, direct, and use, without a reasonable assumption as a starting point.
p. 48
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
In my first year in high school, mother suggested that I not join the cadet unit. She got a medical certificate so that I should not have to join. I don't know whether she was a pacifist or whether she just thought that in the event of another war it would have some bearing on my joining up.
p. 233
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
But not so with alcoholics. When A.A. was quite young, a number of eminent psychologists and doctors made an exhaustive study of a good-sized group of so-called problem drinkers. The doctors weren't trying to find how different we were from one another; they sought to find whatever personality traits, if any, this group of alcoholics had in common. They finally came up with a conclusion that shocked the A.A. members of that time. These distinguished men had the nerve to say that most of the alcoholics under investigation were still childish, emotionally sensitive, and grandiose.
pp. 122-123
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Listening feeds the spirit.
The two most dangerous words in a recovering alcoholic's vocabulary are, "I'm different."
Honesty gets us sober, tolerance keeps us sober.
Newcomers are the lifeblood of the program. But our old-timers are the arteries.
The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it.
Trust God. Clean house. Help others.
The peaks and valleys of my life have become gentle rolling hills.
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
WISDOM
"Education today, more than
ever before, must see clearly the
dual objectives: education for
living and education for making
a living."
-- James Mason Wood
The spiritual life is a productive life. Not only does it make for a prosperous
life in every sense of the word but it makes for a creative lifestyle. Nothing is
wasted on the spiritual man; he learns from his mistakes and doubts.
For too long I was stunted in my spiritual growth by negative and destructive
thinking. I became dependent upon a sick self and attracted equally sick
people. I used my education and knowledge to keep people out and
remained isolated. I needed to change. I wanted to change. But how? As
with everything else in life I needed to imitate those who were
successful. I needed to be shown how to live a different way. I
needed to discover the power of my spirituality. I found successful people. They
helped me. Today I am able to help myself.
I pray for the knowledge to imitate those who are successful in life.
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No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9
Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Galatians 5:16
Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." Genesis 1:26
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Daily Inspiration
How precious are the little joys throughout the day. Lord, You have such love for me. I find You everywhere I look.
Trials are part of life. How you respond to them determines the quality of your life. Lord, in Your justice, rescue and deliver me.
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NA Just For Today
An Every-Day Addict
" We can never fully recover, no matter how long we stay clean."
Basic Text p. 80
After getting a little time in the program, some of us begin to think we have been cured. We've learned everything NA has to teach us; we've grown bored with the meetings; and our sponsor keeps droning the same old refrain: " The steps-the steps-the steps!" We decide it is time to get on with our lives, cut way back on meetings, and try to make up for the years we have lost to active addiction. We do this, however, at the peril of our recovery.
Those of us who have relapsed after such an episode often try to go to as many meetings as we can-some of us go to a meeting every day for several years. It may take that long for us to understand that we will always be addicts. We may feel well some days and sick on other days, but we are addicts every day. At any time, we are subject to delusion, denial, rationalization, justification, insanity-all the hallmarks of the typical addict's way of thinking. If we want to continue living and enjoying life without the use of drugs, we must practice an active program of recovery each day.
Just for today: I am an addict every day, but today I have the choice to be a recovering addict. I will make that choice by practicing my program.
pg. 28
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
It is such a secret place, the land of tears. --Antoine de St. Exupery
Where do tears come from? Perhaps each of us has a private well where the tears rise from. Each of us has our own landscape of events that have hurt us or given us joy. And so we have our own private responses to the world around us. Something may hurt one of us that would not hurt another. Like the oceans and rivers, sometimes our well of tears is flowing. We do not always understand all the forces affecting the oceans, or our well of tears. The kind of bucket that draws water from a well is solid and durable, and it lowers itself deep enough to find water. Good friends and family members are like that. It is comforting to share our private well with such people.
Who will I invite to drink from my well today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
To perceive is to suffer. --Aristotle
As men in this program, we have given up our compulsive escapes from life. Our escapes may have been through dependent relationships with others, or with money, sex, food, drugs, work, or emotional binges. But now we are learning to live without them, and this has brought us in touch with our feelings. We feel more joy and more pain in recovery. Often the first feelings in recovery are painful or frightening.
We learn we can deal with life - all of it, a little at a time. We accept pain as part of life. Because of our escapes, our growing up was delayed. We didn't learn how to deal with our pain because we escaped into an anesthetic, a high, and a relief.
Our spiritual recovery program brings us together with other men and women who have pledged to set aside these escapes. Among the many rewards is a reawakening to all of life. No longer will we filter out the suffering because that, too, is part of being aware.
Today, I am thankful for all the life that I perceive and pray for the strength to meet the pain.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion. --Billie Jean King
Champions are made. How lucky we are to have the Steps to guide us to become champions. The program promises us self-awareness, but we have to put forth the effort. And the process isn't always easy. We have liabilities, all of us, and it's generally easier to see them than our assets. Self-awareness is recognizing both. To become a champion, whether as an athlete, a homemaker, a teacher, a secretary, or an attorney, is to maximize the assets and minimize the liabilities, but to accept the existence of both. The program that we share offers us daily opportunities to know ourselves, to help other women know themselves, and to strengthen our assets along the way. We can feel our assets growing, and it feels good. We can see our liabilities diminish, and it feels good. The program offers us a championship.
I can strengthen I disagreeets, first by knowing them, and then by emphasizing them repeatedly. I'll focus on one today.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Staying in the Present Moment
Often, one of our biggest questions is "What's going to happen?" We may ask this about our relationships, our career, our recovery, and our life. It is easy to tangle us up in worrisome thoughts.
Worrying about what's going to happen blocks us from functioning effectively today. It keeps us from doing our best now. It blocks us from learning and mastering today's lessons. Staying in the now, doing our best, and participating fully today are all we need to do to assure ourselves that what's going to happen tomorrow will be for the best.
Worrying about what's going to happen is a negative contribution to our future. Living in the here and now is ultimately the best thing we can do, not only for today, but also for tomorrow. It helps our relationships, our career, our recovery, and our life.
Things will work out, if we let them. If we must focus on the future other than to plan, all we need to do is affirm that it will be good.
I pray for faith that my future will be good if I live today well, and in peace. I will remember that staying in the present is the best thing I can do for my future. I will focus on what's happening now instead of what's going to happen tomorrow.
As I take the time to let my stress go today I will be filled with love and peace and joy. I will be aware of these feelings through my day and share them with others. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
What Interests You?
It’s easy to talk ourselves out of trying something new, then sit at home whining that we’re bored. It’s just as easy, and a lot more fun, to find something interesting to do.
Learn to make a basket out of pine needles. Try spelunking, or take a tap dancing class. Learn to fly an airplane or carve a walking stick. Take lessons on that musical instrument you’ve always wanted to play. You can learn to braid your hair, write a poem, or even act in a play.
Have you talked yourself out of doing activities you used to like to do? Is there something new you’d like to learn or explore, something you’ve always thought you might like to do?
Begin a journey of discovery. Find out what interests you. Don’t limit your interests to activities connected just to work or spiritual growth. Opening up to the world and all it has to offer expands your creativity. Discovering what your interests are, then letting yourself pursue them will become part of your spiritual path.
There are many magical things in the world, and people happy to teach you how to do them. See all there is to do. Get out of your house and out of your rut and discover what interests you.
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More Language Of Letting Go
There’s magic in our beliefs
There’s a church in the town of Chimayo, New Mexico. Rumor has it that the soil surrounding the church has special healing properties. Long before the church existed, there was a spring gushing up from the ground nearby. The Tewa Indians of the area believed that this spring held special magical properites and thought that by drinking the water, their infirnities could be healed. The water eventually stopped bubbling up, leaving only a muddy pool, and still the pilgrims came seeking healing. Finally, even the mud dried and turned to dust, and still the Tewa came. They ate the dust or mixed it with water and drank it. And many times it healed them.
Then the Spanish built a church in the area. When the stories of the magical healing dust persisted, the church decided to blend with the local beliefs instead of trying to eradicate superstition.
Today, people still come to the Santuario de Chimayo to be blessed or to take a little dirt from El Pocito, the little well in a back room. They still believe that the dust will heal them. And many times it does.
Is the dust magical? I don’t know. But there’s magic in what we believe.
Our beliefs tell our future better than any crystal ball or or psychic can. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he, one holy book says. Be mindful of your thoughts and beliefs. What you think and believe today, whether it’s I can’t or I can, is what you will manifest tomorrow.
Do you have any beliefs right now that are holding you down or back? What are your I can’s and what are your I cant’s? Take a moment. Look into your heart. Examine what you believe to be true. Is there an area of your life that could be benefited by thinking and believing something else?
If you’re going to use the power of your mind, use it to form a positive belief. Sometimes, the littlest bit of magic is all we need to change our lives.
God, help me come to believe what is right and true about myself, life, and others. Show me, and help me understand, the power and magic of what I believe.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Now that I am in The Program, I am no longer enslaved by alcohol and other drugs. Free, free at last from the other drugs. Free, free at last from the morning-after tremors, the dry heaves, the three-day beard, the misplaced eyelashes. Free, free at last from working out the alibis and hopng they won’t unravel; free from blackouts; free from watching the clock so that I can somehow get that desperately-needed “first one.” Do I treasure my freedom from chemical enslavement?
Today I Pray
Praise God that I am free of chemicals. This is my first freedom, from which other freedoms will develop — freedom to appraise my behavior sanely and constructively, freedom to grow as a person, freedom to maintain relationships with others on a sound basis. I will never cease to thank my Higher Power for leading me away from my enslavement.
Today I Will Remember
Praise God for my freedom.
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One More Day
Love received and love given comprise the best form of therapy. – Gordon W. Allport
Many of us with health problems are — by choice or by necessity — alone, and we may sometimes feel uneasy in a world geared for couples and families. Everywhere there seems to be yet another couple — on a park bench, strolling on the sidewalk, and on television. This is especially painful if we had, at one time in our lives, a happy, long-term relationship.
Now we are finding a more complete and less restrictive sense of companionship and still maintaining our independence. Romantic love is not the only basis for trust and friendship. A Friend we can trust may also become a confidante, a strong emotional supporter, and an all-around booster. We may be alone, but we realize that we need not be lonely.
I am lucky to have one close friend. I am blessed when I have several. I am no longer alone.
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One Day At A Time
~ SUCCESS ~
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
Winston Churchill
(1874 – 1965) a highly decorated British politician who served as Prime Minister of the U.K.
My life before program consisted of one failure after the next. I could never master success with my eating, much less with my life in general.
Once I came into these rooms and started working the Twelve Steps, with a God of my understanding and the knowledge that God is in control of all in my life, I began to realize that life is NOT a series of failures, only slow successes.
One Day at a Time . . .
I am a success if I keep on trying regardless of the outcome, because it is truly God's will for me.
~ Linda K. ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
We do talk about each other a great deal, but we almost invariably temper such talk by a spirit of love and tolerance.
Another principle we observe carefully is that we do not relate intimate experiences of another person unless we are sure he would approve. We find it better, when possible, to stick to our own stories. A man may criticize or laugh at himself and it will affect others favorably, but criticism or ridicule coming from another often produces the contray effect. - Pg. 125 - The Family Afterwards
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
The most important thing to know about Step Three, turning our will over to a Higher Power, is that all we can do is DECIDE to do it. There is no 'will' we can wrap and send. Once we make the decision to do this, our Higher Power will work for us through the rest of the Steps.
I decide to align my will with that of the Source of my Spirit.
A Birthday Wish
Today I will make a wish. I will make a wish and trust that it will find wings. I will see it flying through the air, blown from a loving hand toward eternity. Birthdays are for wishing; wishing with a child's excitement, with an innocent faith that what I wish for can come forth. I will see my wish as already fulfilled, I will experience it as if it is happening right now, as if it is real. I am making my wish right NOW.
My wishes have wings.
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Many meetings, many chances; few meetings, few chances; no meetings, no chances.
The trouble with staying home and isolating is I get a lot of bad advice.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Making amends is a good way to have the last word!
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
As I take the time to let my stress go today I will be filled with love and peace and joy. I will be aware of these feelings throughout my day and share them with others.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I get drunk - we stay sober. - Cubby S.
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Post by majestyjo on Jan 28, 2018 11:04:59 GMT -5
January 29
Daily Reflections
THE JOY OF SHARING
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. Frequent contact with
newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our
lives.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS , p. 89
To know that each newcomer with whom I share has the
opportunity to experience the relief that I have found
in this Fellowship fills me with joy and gratitude. I
feel that all the things described in A.A. will come to
pass for them, as they have for me, if they seize the
opportunity and embrace the program fully.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
What a load wasting money puts on your shoulders! They
say that members of A.A. have paid the highest initiation
fee of any club members in the world, because we've
wasted so much money on liquor. We'll never be able to
figure out how much it was. We not only waste our own
money, but also the money we should have spent on our
families. When you come into A.A., that terrible load
of wasted money falls off your shoulders. We alcoholics
were getting round-shouldered from carrying all those
loads that drinking put on our shoulders. But when we
come into A.A., we get a wonderful feeling of release
and freedom. Can I throw back my shoulders and look
the whole world in the face again?
Meditation For The Day
I believe that the future is in the hands of God. He
knows better than I what the future holds for me. I am
not at the mercy of fate or buffeted about by life. I
am being led in a very definite way, as I try to rebuild
my life. I am the builder, but God is the architect. It
is mine to build as best I can, under His guidance.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may depend on God, since He has planned my
life. I pray that I may live my life as I believe God
wants me to live it.< /span>
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Alone No More, p.252
Alcoholism was a lonely business, even though we were surrounded
by people who loved us. But when our self-will had driven
everybody away and our isolation became complete, we commenced
to play the big shot in cheap barrooms. Failing even in this, we
had to fare forth alone on the street to depend upon the charity of
passers-by.
We were trying to find emotional security either by dominating or by
being dependent upon others. Even when our fortunes had not totally
ebbed, we nevertheless found ourselves alone in the world. We still
vainly tried to be secure by some unhealthy sort of domination or
dependence.
For those of us who were like that, A.A. has a very special meaning. In
this Fellowship we begin to learn right relations with people who
understand us; we don't have to be alone any more.
12 & 12, pp. 116-117
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Willingness is the Key___Strong Desire.
Although willpower alone does not work in overcoming alcoholism, there is a place for the will, or willingness, in the search for a happy sobriety. Things can happen if we are willing to let them happen. More important, progress often depends on our willingness to give up what stands in our way. It also requires our willingness to take that actions necessary for success.
This same willingness, so vital to finding sobriety, is also applicable in other areas of our lives. The pioneers of AA suggested that getting sober required being willing to go to any lengths. This is the key to other achievements and to the overcoming of problems besides alcohol.
We often have to put up with unpleasant conditions simply because we do not want to change them badly enough. For example, we may dislike the unpleasant coughing and risks of smoking, but lack the willingness to quit. We may brood over lost opportunities, but be unwilling to take advantage of the opportunities we have now.
The key to constructive change in our lives is willingness… and that applies to other matters as well as to alcohol.
I'll try to be honest today about what I really want. I will remind myself that if I want something badly enough, willingness is they key to action and to success
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
An alcoholic spends his life committing suicide on the installment plan.--Laurence Peter
None of us woke up one morning and found we had suddenly turned into an addict. We got to be one by practice. And we practiced often. We ignored our families--we left work early--and went drinking and drugging. Daily, we chose chemicals over anything else. Likewise, getting sober is no accident. We work the program. At meetings, we're reminded to help others. We all get sober on the installment plan. A day at a time. We got sick one day at a time; we recover one day at a time.
Prayer for the Day: Today, with my Higher Power's help, I'll be happier, more honest, more sober. Sobriety is like a good savings account. Higher Power, help me to put in more than I take out.
Action for the Day: I'll go over my Step One to remind myself it's no accident I'm an addict.
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Each Day a New Beginning
"I can't help it" . . . that's what we all say when we don't want to exert ourselves. --Eva Lathbury
Irresponsible behavior is not unfamiliar to us. Passivity is equally familiar. In the past, excusing ourselves of all responsibility prevented us from being blamed. We have learned that it also prevented us from feeling worthy, from fulfilling our potential, from feeling the excitement that comes with achievement.
Our fear of failure helped us to be irresponsible. We may still fear failure, but the program offers us an antidote. We can't fail if we have turned our lives over to our higher power. We will be shown the way to proceed. Our fellow travelers have messages for us that will smooth our path.
I have chosen recovery. I have already said, "I can help it." I will celebrate that I am taking responsibility for my life today.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Everybody nowadays, believes in scores of assumptions for which there is good evidence, but no perfect visual proof. And does not science demonstrate that visual proof is the weakest proof? It is being constantly revealed, as mankind studies the material world, that outward appearances are not inward reality at all. To illustrate:
The prosaic steel girder is a mass of electrons whirling around each other at incredible speed. These tiny bodies are governed by precise laws, and these laws hold true throughout the material world, Science tells us so. We have no reason to doubt it. When, however, the perfectly logical assumption is suggested that underneath the material world and life as we see it, there is an All Powerful, Guiding, Creative Intelligence, right there our perverse streak comes to the surface and we laboriously set out to convince ourselves it isn’t so. We read wordy books and indulge in windy arguments, thinking we believe this universe needs no God to explain it. Were our contentions true, it would follow that life originated out of nothing, means nothing, and proceeds nowhere.
pp. 48-49
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
About then I realized that my point of view on the opposite sex wasn't entirely like that of most of the boys I knew. For that reason, I believe, I married at a much younger age than I would have, had it not been for my home training. My wife and I have been married for some thirty years now. Vi was the first girl that I ever took out. I had quite a heartache about her then because she wasn't the type of girl that my mother wanted me to marry. In the first place, she had been married before; I was her second husband. My mother resented it so much that the first Christmas after our marriage, she didn't even invite us to dinner. After our first child came, my parents both become allies. Then, in later days, after I became an alcoholic, they both turned against me.
pp. 233-234
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Seven - "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."
How we alcoholics did resent that verdict! We would not believe that our adult dreams were often truly childish. And considering the rough deal life had given us, we felt it perfectly natural that we were sensitive. As to our grandiose behavior, we insisted that we had been possessed of nothing but a high and legitimate ambition to win the battle of life.
p. 123
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The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.
"Let us open our natures, throw wide the doors of our hearts and let in the sunshine of good will and kindness." --O. S. Marden
Prayer of St. Theresa
May today there be peace within
May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are
meant to be....
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love
that has been given to you....
May you be content knowing you are a child of God....
Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the
freedom to sing, dance and to bask in the sun….
It is there for each and everyone of you….
--St. Teresa
When you love someone, don't let a single thing become bigger than that love. It can destroy you both. Ask yourself, "Will this matter in 20 years?"
The gift of Forgiveness is a gift you have given to yourself. The peaks and valleys of my life have become gentle rolling hills.
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
SUCCESS
"Success is a journey not a
destination."
-- Ben Sweetland
So long as I am sober I know that I am successful. But I also know
that my sobriety is more than keeping away from the first drink. My
sobriety requires that I be a creative and successful human being in
all areas of my life --- in my relationships, at work, with my family,
my business ventures and in my acts of charity. The road to success is
exactly that --it is a "road" that I am traveling along, and I will be on it until
the day I die. I suppose the danger is in thinking that I have arrived. Then
I get complacent and apathetic, I slow down and the energy for
recovery is diminished.
Today I know that I am successful so long as I keep moving along
with my spiritual program.
Let me always be confident as I walk in my journey of life.
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"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." Psalm 19:7-8
"Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all." 2 Thessalonians 3:16
Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. Psalm 25:5
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Daily Inspiration
Call on God when you need a friend to make it through the day. Lord, may we share Your love and beauty so that our lives may not be lonely.
Holding on to hurts causes us to live the pain over and over. Lord, may I forgive so that I may heal.
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NA Just For Today
The First Step - An Action Step
" Do we understand that we have no real control over drugs?"
Basic Text p. 18
At first, many of us may have thought the First Step required no action-we just surrender and go on to Step Two. But Step One does require action!
The action we take in the First Step will be evident in the way we live, even from our first day clean. If we truly believe that we are powerless over our addiction, we will not choose to be around drugs. To continue to live with or associate with practicing addicts may indicate a reservation in our program. An absolute belief that the First Step applies to us will insure that we clear our homes of all drugs and paraphernalia.
As time goes on, we'll not only continue with the basics but add new actions to our First Step repertoire. We'll learn to feel our feelings rather than trying to control them. We'll stop trying to be our own and only guides on our recovery journey; self-sponsorship will cease. We'll begin looking to a Power greater than ourselves more and more for spiritual satisfaction rather than trying to fill that void with something else.
Surrender is only the beginning. Once we surrender, we need to learn how to live in the peace we have found.
Just for today: I will take all the action necessary to practice the First Step. I truly believe it applies to me.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Think in terms of depletion, not depression . . .. You can understand how a body can replenish itself, whereas it may be difficult to understand the way out of depression. --Claire Weekes
Despair and depression may come over us suddenly, for no reason we can figure out. But if we stop and reflect, we may realize we are reacting to too much of something--too much work, too much excitement, too much fun. We may be having a letdown after holidays, after completing a project, or at the end of a school year. When we feel a letdown coming on, we must give ourselves time. We need to take some time off and do nothing, plan nothing. Then we can ask God to help us let go of the negative feelings that come along with a letdown. We can plan a small gift for ourselves--a walk by the lake, for instance. In our excitement with a rush of events, we often forget that we, like the infants we once were, need to take a rest and reenergize.
Do I need to do something just for myself today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
We grow in time to trust the future for our answers. --Ruth Benedict
When we first started in recovery, we approached it as we did our codependent and addictive behaviors, wanting to possess it all - quickly and totally - and to do it right. Some of us thought we could learn all we needed to know about recovery in a few weeks. In living with this program, we begin to see we are engaged in a lifelong process. We are in a maturing process and this program is our guide. We can't rush it or move on to the next stage too soon. An apple tree does not blossom in the fall, and we do not expect the newly forming apples to ripen before they've grown.
Our existence in this world is like walking through the woods on a rambling path. We can only see as far ahead as the next bend. We no longer seek some big moment when we finally get the outcome or a "cure" for life's experiences. The experience along the way is all we need.
Today, I will think about (he tasks and rewards of this day and trust the future for what is unanswered.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
"I can't help it" . . . that's what we all say when we don't want to exert ourselves. --Eva Lathbury
Irresponsible behavior is not unfamiliar to us. Passivity is equally familiar. In the past, excusing ourselves of all responsibility prevented us from being blamed. We have learned that it also prevented us from feeling worthy, from fulfilling our potential, from feeling the excitement that comes with achievement.
Our fear of failure helped us to be irresponsible. We may still fear failure, but the program offers us an antidote. We can't fail if we have turned our lives over to our higher power. We will be shown the way to proceed. Our fellow travelers have messages for us that will smooth our path.
I have chosen recovery. I have already said, "I can help it." I will celebrate that I am taking responsibility for my life today.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Going to Meetings
I am still amazed, after years of recovering, at how easily I can begin to talk myself out of attending meetings. I am also still amazed at how good I feel when I go. --Anonymous
We don't have to stay stuck in our misery and discomfort. An immediate option is available that will help us feel better: go to a meeting, a Twelve Step support group.
Why resist what can help us feel better? Why sit in our obsession or depression when attending a meeting - even if that means an extra meeting - would help us feel better?
Too busy?
There are 168 hours in each week. Taking 1 or 2 hours a week for a meeting can maximize the potential of the remaining 166 hours. If we get into our "codependent stuff," we can easily spend a majority of our waking hours obsessing, sitting and doing nothing, lying in bed and feeling depressed, or chasing after other people's needs. Not taking those 2 hours for a meeting can cause us to waste the remaining hours.
Too tired?
There is nothing as invigorating as getting back on track. Going to a meeting can accomplish that.
Today, I will remember that going to meetings helps.
Today I will treat myself to quiet time. Today I will be gentle with myself as I let myself do nothing but be who I am. Today I will value what I think. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Seek Peace
I drove down the winding road into King’s Canyon, California, not knowing what to expect. The road took me past lavender hills and ended alongside a rushing river spilling over with whitewater froth. “Beware of Turbulent Waters,” the sign warned. I parked the car and stepped outside, taking in the scenery. Soon, I knew– I felt– where this road had led.
It led to peace.
Cultivate peace. Commit to peace. Insist on it. Don’t setlle for peace based on outward circumstances or a particular arrangement in your life. Drive down the winding road and find the peace that prevails amidst the mountains, now purple in the setting sun. Find the peace that prevails even when the turbulent waters of the river roar through your life.
This is the peace the universe offers. Settle for nothing less.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Protect yourself from negative influences
After a long rainstorm in the desert, I watched little drops of runoff splashing off of a rock face into little indentations in the rock. Each drop fell in exactly the same place as the drop before, and over the years, the procession had dug a tiny hole into the stone. I looked around at the other rocks in the area and saw that they,too, were pockmarked by the slow but steady effects of erosion over the years.
Poor relationships can be like that rain. We start out on a course of learning and self-improvement with the best of intentions, but little by little our efforts are undermined by the associations that we choose. We do have an advantage over those rocks though.
We can move.
Maybe you have allowed your efforts to be sabotaged by wrong friends, wrong thoughts, or negative input of some sort and kind. You have a choice. You can choose to stand in the rain of negativity and slowly be worn down by it, or you can find shelter, a support group of like-minded people, a good book or program, a minister or mentor, a helpful and positive friend.
Be aware of the negative rain in your life. If even a stone can be worn down over time by constant falling rain, how much more must we be aware of the influences in our lives. Seek out that which is edifying, and find shelter from that which can erode your resolve.
God, protect me from negative influences, which erode my beliefs. Help me protect myself. Surround me with that which is positive, edifying, and uplifting.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
I used to imagine my life as a grotesque abstract painting; a montage of crises framed by end-upon-end catastrophes. My days all were grey and my thoughts greyer still. I was haunted by dread and nameless fears. I was filled with self-loathing. I had no idea who I was, what I was, or why I was. I miss none of those feelings. Today, step by step, I am discovering myself and learning that I can be free to be me. Am I grateful for my new life? Have I taken the time to thank God today for the fact that I am clean and sober — and alive?
Today I Pray
May calm come to me after the turmoil and nightmares of the past. As my fears and self-hatred dissipate, may the things of the spirit replace them. For in the spiritual world, as in the material world, there is no empty space. May I be filled with the spirit of my Higher Power.
Today I Will Remember
Morning scatters nightmares.
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One More Day
There is one thing a man cannot change — his parents.
– David Ben-Gurion
Sometimes we carry anger for too long and may blame others for our problems. It’s time to let go if we have been harboring anger toward our parents or other adults. In our memory, in our perception, they may have harmed us. Regardless of what happened, whether it was imagined or real, we need to let go.
Unknowingly, we may have developed an attachment to this anger toward our parents, and it may take a professional therapist or a support group to help us break the dependency. We can take responsibility for ourselves and our own behaviors. By no longer blaming our inappropriate actions on anyone else, we can free ourselves of one unhealthy aspect of our lives.
I am attempting to own my life and not see it as an extension of others. Today, I can take responsibility for myself and my actions.
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One Day At A Time
~ GRATITUDE ~
Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude.
Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness.
Thankfulness may consist merely of words.
Gratitude is shown in acts.
David O. McKay
All the good I have ever been given in life, both before recovery and in recovery, has come from God. Even the ability to learn lessons from the bad has been one of His many gifts to me. I make gratitude lists and offer prayers of thanksgiving, but that is only the beginning. I only express true gratitude by sharing with others. I share it as experience, strength and hope at meetings. I share it by reaching out my hand to the compulsive overeater behind me and sponsoring them or befriending them. I share it by living a life that shows evidence of the realization of all that God has given me. I can only truly express my gratitude through action.
One day at a time... I will show my true gratitude by giving away to others what God has so freely given to me.
~ Vicki B. ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
We alcoholics are sensitive people. It takes some of us a long time to outgrow that serious handicap. - Pg. 125 - The Family Afterwards
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Sometimes reality slaps us right in the face. We may be out of money, facing jail, losing a loved one, or hating our circumstances. However, right this hour we have only one true reality: SOBRIETY. Without sobriety all the above only gets worse!
I make contact with Divine Intelligence so that I am not preoccupied with things outside my control. I want to remember why I am here.
Learning from Life
There are no 'buts' today. I am what I am, others are what they are, life is what it is. I will not parenthesize my growth with a 'but,' or hold back my forward-moving spirit with second-guesses. For today, I am living with things as they are. As I give this gift to myself I feel relieved. I am exactly where I am meant to be, learning what I need to learn. All I need do is move through situations with willingness to learn and openness to feel. When feelings are brought up, I can accept them as what is happening within me-no need to resist and analyze them. I can witness, allow, observe, share and process rather than shut down and hide. I can tolerate the intensity of my own inner world. I trust that my life is unfolding in such a way that what I need to learn will be before me. I am willing to learn.
I see the 'table prepared.'
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
If something is right, it can be done. If it is wrong, it can be done without.
I can do that!
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
If you think handling everything is too much, try letting go.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I will treat myself to quiet time. Today I will be gentle with myself as I let myself do nothing but be who I am. Today I will value what I think.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I got sober and I didn't know if I was Arthur or Martha sexually.
Then a guy got up and said that when he came in he didn't know whether he liked men, women, or sheep. So I sort of thought I was doing all right - because sheep weren't on the agenda. - John.
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Post by majestyjo on Jan 29, 2018 11:30:22 GMT -5
January 30
Daily Reflections
FREEDOM FROM . . . FREEDOM TO
We are going to know a new freedom. . . .
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS , p. 83
Freedom for me is both freedom from and freedom to.
The first freedom I enjoy is freedom from the slavery
of alcohol. What a relief! Then I begin to experience
freedom from fear - fear of people, of economic
insecurity, of commitment, of failure, of rejection.
Then I begin to enjoy freedom to - freedom to choose
sobriety for today, freedom to be myself, freedom to
express my opinion, to experience peace of mind, to
love and be loved, and freedom to grow spiritually.
But how can I achieve these freedoms? The Big Book
clearly says that before I am halfway through making
amends, I will begin to know a "new" freedom; not the
old freedom of doing what I pleased, without regard
to others, but the new freedom that allows fulfillment
of the promises in my life. What a joy to be free!
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
A drinking life isn't a happy life. Drinking cuts you
off from other people and from God. One of the worst
things about drinking is the loneliness. And one of the
best things about A.A. is the fellowship. Drinking cuts
you off from other people, at least from the people who
really matter to you, your wife and children, your
family and real friends. No matter how much you love
them, you build up a wall between you and them by your
drinking. You're cut off from any real companionship
with them. As a result, you're terribly lonely. Have I got
rid of my loneliness?
Meditation For The Day
I will sometimes go into a quiet place of retreat with
God. In that place, I will find restoration and healing
and power. I will plan quiet times now and then, times
when I will commune with God and arise rested and
refreshed to carry on the work which God has given me
to do. I know that God will never give me a load greater
than I can bear. It is in serenity and peace that all
true success lies.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may strengthen my inner life, so that I
may find serenity. I pray that my soul may be restored
in quietness and peace.
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As Bill Sees It
Getting Off a "Dry Bender", p. 30
"Sometimes, we become depressed. I ought to know; I have been a
champion dry-bender case myself. While the surface causes were a
part of the picture--trigger-events that precipitated depression--the
underlying causes, I am satisfied, ran much deeper.
"Intellectually, I could accept my situation. Emotionally, I could not.
"To these problems, there are certainly no pat answers. But part of
the answer surely lies in the constant effort to practice all of A.A.'s
Twelve Steps."
Letter, 1954
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Walk In Dry Places
No Justified Resentments____Personal Inventory
One of the greatest hurdles in sobriety is the so-called justified resentment. We feel that we have a right to be angry at somebody who has hurt or offended us. This feeling might be correct if our anger could remedy the matter and bring it to a just conclusion, but this hardly ever happens. If we are angry, we usually want revenge more than we want justice. Uncontrolled anger will make us behave as unjustly as those who harmed us did. This means more trouble.
Whether revenge is sought or not, anger also poisons our own lives. Emmet Fox compared it to the insane practice of drinking prussic acid. People cannot take a drink of acid and then assign it to the person they detest. They will bear its effect in their own bodies. In the same way, our anger produces its own acids, which destroy our peace of mind and make us ineffective.
We can deal with "justified resentment" by reminding ourselves that there's no justification for the pain and sickness a festering resentment will cause in our lives. There is no justified resentment.
Today I may have to swim against the tide by not getting upset over matters that enrage others. I will not let myself be drawn into the angry currents around me.
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Keep It Simple
Go and wake up your luck---Perian proverb
We've been given recovery. For this, we're lucky. And we're grateful. Now it's up to us.
We must accept our choices. When we're afraid, do we choose to be alone? Or do we choose to
go to extra meeting? When we're not honest, do we keep it secret? Or do we admit it and try to be
more honest? No matter what we choose, we're responsible for that choice. Through choices, we
either make our program strong or weak. We can choose to be lucky. Or we can choose not to be.
The choice is ours. Our addiction robbed us of choice. It taught us to blame others. Now we see ourselves as responsible.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to choose wisely. Help me remember I'm responsible for my choices.
Action for the Day: Today I'll work at being responsible for my choices. I'll see myself as one of the lucky ones.
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Each Day a New Beginning
Fortunately [psycho]analysis is not the only way to resolve inner conflicts. Life itself still remains a very effective therapist.
--Karen Horney
The passage of time, coupled with an openness to the messages gleaned from our conversations with others, can provide answers we need for the way out of painful situations. Life is ebb and flow, peaks and valleys, struggles and sweet times. What we fail to realize, all too often, is that the struggles make possible the times that are sweet.
Our conflicts are our special lessons in life. We can learn to flow with them, move through them, trust their value to us as growing, changing women. How good it feels to have found security with one another and that power greater than ourselves who can, when we are willing, show us the path to resolution.
Life will never be free of conflict--nor should it be. Our lessons move us to higher planes of awareness. We can experience the joy hidden within the conflict. We can help one another remember that the sweetness of a moment is tied to the pain of a former, forgotten moment.
All events, all experiences, are connected. The path I travel, alone and with others, is bringing me brighter days. I will trust my path. It's right for me.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Instead of regarding ourselves as intelligent agents, spearheads of God’s ever advancing Creation, we agnostics and atheists chose to believe that our human intelligence was the last word, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and end of all. Rather vain of us, wasn’t it?
We, who have traveled this dubious path, beg you to lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion. We have learned that whatever the human frailties of various faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and direction to millions. People of faith have a logical idea of what life is all about. Actually, we used to have no reasonable conception whatever. We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and practices when we might have observed that many spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness which we should have sought ourselves.
p. 49
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
My father had come out of the South and had suffered a great deal down there. He wanted tog ive me the very best, and he thought that nothing but being a doctor would suffice. On the other hand, I believe that I've always been medically inclined, though I have never been able to see medicine quite as the average person sees it. I do surgery because that's something that you can see; it's more tangible. But I can remember in postgraduate days, and during internship, that very often I'd go to a patient's bed and start a process of elmination and then, very often, I'd wind up guessing. That wasn't the way it was with my father. I think with him it possibly was a gift---intuitive diagnosis. Father, through the years, had built up a very good mail-order business because, at that time, there wasn't too much money in medicine.
p. 234
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
In the years since, however, most of us have come to agree with those doctors. We have had a much keener look at ourselves and those about us. We have seen that we were prodded by unreasonable fears or anxieties into making a life business of winning fame, money, and what we thought was leadership. So false pride became the reverse side of that ruinous coin marked "Fear." We simply had to be number one people to cover up our deep-lying inferiorities. In fitful successes we boasted of greater feats to be done; in defeat we were bitter. If we didn't have much of any worldly success we became depressed and cowed. Then people said we were of the "inferior" type. But now we see ourselves as chips off the same old block. At heart we had all been abnormally fearful. It mattered little whether we had sat on the shore of life drinking ourselves into forgetfulness or had plunged in recklessly and willfully beyond our depth and ability. The result was the same--all of us had nearly perished in a sea of alcohol.
pp. 123-124
************************************************** *********
That light at the end of the tunnel may be you.
What other people think of you is none of your business!
Bricks and mortar make a house, but the laughter of children makes a home. --Irish Proverb
"If I can just love you because here we are, then you are free to grow as you need to grow, because none of it's going to change my feeling of love."
--Ram Dass
God beats in my heart. I share his light with the world. --Shelley
"What we must realize is that we cannot see everything. We do not know everything. More important, we must understand that it is impossible for us to control anything. The process of life is a spiritual one, governed by invisible, intangible spiritual laws and principles." --Iyanla Vanzant
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
POTENTIAL
"Treat people as if they were what
they ought to be, and you help
them to become what they are
capable of being."
-- Johann W. von Goethe
My program of recovery from alcoholism helps me have a
relationship with myself and helps me relate to and understand
others. The more I understand my strengths and weaknesses, the
more I am able to understand others.
Any understanding of spirituality involves other people. If spirituality
helps me become what God intends for me, then this is also true for
others. Today I choose to treat myself and other people as children of
God, remembering that we were created to reach for the skies!
Lord, our potential forever rests in You.
************************************************** *********
Encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 2 Timothy 2:22-24
But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction. "He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Job 36:15-16
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." 1 Peter 3:8-12
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Slow down and see the gracious blessings that God has for you. In my quient moments, Lord, I know that You are there.
When we have to justify our actions, it may be that our actions are not just. Lord, Your will is goodness. May I always have the strength and courage to choose Your way so that I can simplify my life and enjoy the peace of Your presence.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
Giving It Away
" We must give freely and gratefully that which has been freely and gratefully given to us."
Basic Text p. 47
In recovery, we receive many gifts. Perhaps one of the greatest of these gifts is the spiritual awakening that begins when we stop using, growing stronger each day we apply the steps in our lives. The new spark of life within is a direct result of our new relationship with a Higher Power, a relationship initiated and developed by living the Twelve Steps. Slowly, as we pursue our program, the radiance of recovery dispels the darkness of our disease.
One of the ways we express our gratitude for the gifts of recovery is to help others find what we've found. We can do this in any number of ways: by sharing in meetings, making Twelfth Step calls, accepting a commitment to sponsorship, or volunteering for H&I or phoneline duty. The spiritual life given to us in recovery asks for expression, for " we can only keep what we have by giving it away."
Just for today: The gift of recovery grows when I share it. I will find someone with whom to share it.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Everyone has his own fingerprints. The white light streams down to be broken up by those human prisms into all the colors of the rainbow. Take your own color in the pattern and be just that. --Charles R. Brown
We are often amazed at how different members of the same family seem to be. Contrasts are often great: one child might be loud and funny, one might be timid and quiet, and yet neither seems to take after the parents. A family is like a vegetable garden. The vegetables respond to outside influences. The one exposed to more sunlight will grow differently than the one growing in a damp, shady place. Vegetables growing in crowded areas of the garden may not be as developed as those around them, but they might be tastier. Although we may have common roots, outside experiences and friends mold us too, making each of us unique. We sometimes lose ourselves by comparisons and feel as if we don't belong, but the variety of our family garden is what makes the world so interesting.
How can I honor another person's uniqueness today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Man can live his truth, his deepest truth, but cannot speak it. --Archibald. MacLeish
For many men, being addicts meant living double lives. There were public selves whom others knew, and private selves whom no one met. It was a compulsive world, and both sides were false. Many of us grew up in addicted families and learned this double life early by hiding from outsiders what life was really like at home.
In this program we learn to live our truth before we can speak it. It is more in our actions than in what we say. We may never know the words for this truth because we do not consciously invent it. It comes to us quietly over time and slowly merges all our parts. Gradually we begin to feel whole again as we surrender our double lives for single, truthful ones.
Let me have the trust to give myself to the work of recovery and follow it where it takes me.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Fortunately [psycho]analysis is not the only way to resolve inner conflicts. Life itself still remains a very effective therapist.
--Karen Horney
The passage of time, coupled with an openness to the messages gleaned from our conversations with others, can provide answers we need for the way out of painful situations. Life is ebb and flow, peaks and valleys, struggles and sweet times. What we fail to realize, all too often, is that the struggles make possible the times that are sweet.
Our conflicts are our special lessons in life. We can learn to flow with them, move through them, trust their value to us as growing, changing women. How good it feels to have found security with one another and that power greater than ourselves who can, when we are willing, show us the path to resolution.
Life will never be free of conflict--nor should it be. Our lessons move us to higher planes of awareness. We can experience the joy hidden within the conflict. We can help one another remember that the sweetness of a moment is tied to the pain of a former, forgotten moment.
All events, all experiences, are connected. The path I travel, alone and with others, is bringing me brighter days. I will trust my path. It's right for me.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Religious Freedom
".. .a Power greater than ourselves...." "God as we understood Him." These words introduce spirituality in the Twelve Steps. They are the first two references to God, and they are worded that way for a reason.
We each have the freedom to define, and understand, our Higher Power - God - as we choose.
That means we do not bring our religious affiliation into our recovery groups. It means that we do not try to impose our religious beliefs, or our understanding of God, on anyone else. We do not use our groups or meetings as a soapbox to gain religious converts. We do not try to force the particulars of our religious beliefs on others.
We give each person, the right to a personal understanding of a Higher Power and ourselves.
Today, I will respect other people's understanding of God, as well as my own. I will not allow others' judgment of my beliefs to cause me anxiety and. distress. I will seek to grow spiritually in recovery, with or without the assistance of a particular religion or denomination.
Today I give myself permission to take the quiet time I need to meditate and to improve my conscious contact with God.
--Ruth Fishel
*****************************************
Journey To The Heart
Warm Up
Sit in the sun and warm up.
Sit in the sun. Soak up the love and warmth from the world around you. Take that warmth into your everyday life. Open your heart more to the people you see, the people you meet, the people you greet, and the people you love. Practice being warm, loving, and open. Do more than just think loving thoughts. Say it. Do more than just think of something nice you’d like to do for someone. Do it.
Fear is cold. Sometimes, we become so afraid of life, people, ourselves– so afraid– that we become cold. Cold toward people, toward life, toward God. We may not be aware of how cold we have become. We may have been cold for so long, we just don’t see it. Being cold and afraid has become our everyday posture. It’s the way we interact with the world around us. Now it’s time to put warmth back in our lives.
Don’t let your fears turn you cold. Sit in the sun and warm up. Then radiate that warmth to the people around you. Warm up to people. Warm up to life. Warm up to yourself.
*****************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
See the good in yourself,too
“Let me see your hands,” she said, gently holding my right hand up close to hers. “Look,” she said. “We have the same hands.”
My daughter was thrilled by the discovery that our fingers were the same size, curved the same way; even our wrists were the same shape. I was at her house visiting her, her child, and her husband that afternoon. We had snuck away for a few quiet moments together. Later that evening, when I returned home, she called me on the phone.
“You seem so excited and interested in our hands,” I said.
“I’ve always thought your hands were so beautiful. Then I started looking at my hands, and I though maybe they looked just like yours, but I wasn’t sure until we looked at them today. It’s just so cool,” she said, “that my hands look just like yours.”
It’s so easy to see and notice what we like in other people. Sometimes, it’s not easy to see the attributes and beauty in ourselves. It’s good to see the beauty in others. But sometimes, take a moment and get excited when you notice what’s beautiful in yourself,too.
We hear so much about people mirroring our negative qualities back to us. You know– what you don’t like in others is probably what you don’t like in yourself. And often that’s true. But people can also mirror our desires, our hopes, our attributes, and our strengths back to us. Chances are that what you see and admire in others is probably a mirror shining your good qualities back to you.
God, help me see the beauty and the good in life. Help me be aware of what I like in others, so that I can better define what I aspire to become.
Activity: Choose five people in your life whom you like and respect. Make a list of the qualities they have that you admire. Now, see how many of these qualities might correctly be used to describe yourself, as well. If you don’t believe you already possess these qualities, could you be selling yourself short? Or do these qualities describe who you aspire to be? If you define some new aspirations, transfer them to your goal list. See how easy it is to begin defining and clarifying our dreams?
*****************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Have I gained freedom simply because one day I was weak and the next day I became suddenly strong? Have I changed from the helpless and hopeless person I once seemed to be simply by resolving, “from now on, things will be different…”? Is the fact that I am more comfortable today than ever before the result of my own willpower? Can I take credit for pulling myself up by my own bootstraps? I know better, for I sought refuge in a Power greater than myself — a Power which is still beyond my ability to visualize. Do I consider the change in my life a miracle far beyond the workings of any human power?
Today I Pray
As the days of sobriety lengthen, and the moment of decision becomes farther behind me, may I never lose sight of the Power that changed my life. May I remember that my sobriety is an ongoing miracle, not just a once-in-a-lifetime transformation.
Today I Will Remember
Life is an ongoing miracle.
*****************************************
One More Day
If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone. – Maxwell Maltz
Sometimes, we frantically adopt other people’s problems to avoid confronting our own. Hiding from ourselves and our problems solved nothing. Yet some of us are so frightened by the challenge life has thrown before us that we are reluctant to confront it head-on.
Most important is being able to face ourselves, especially when we are alone. We can’t always hide in the hustle and bustle of a crowd. But we can find a comfort level within ourselves, regardless of what we face. Then, when our spirituality is deepened and we understand our own struggles — and only then — can we assist, support, and share with others.
My awareness of myself has been enhanced by my new life circumstances. The deeper I did, the more soul I find. The more and I find, the more I can share myself.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
~ NEW BEGINNINGS ~
...To dry my eyes and laugh at a fall, and baffled, get up and start again...
Robert Browning
(1812– 1889) British poet and playwright
When things didn't go my way, I would stamp my feet, lose my temper, and walk away. I was the world's greatest quitter!
The Twelve Step program of recovery teaches me that when I trip over something, I can pick myself up, dust myself off, and start over at any time. I can turn whatever I stumble over into an opportunity for growing and learning.
One Day at a Time . . .
When confronted by roadblocks to my recovery, I can humble myself and ask my Higher Power, "What do YOU want for me to learn from this?" I can turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones and move on in my recovery journey.
~ Linda K. ~
*****************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
We have no monopoly on God; we merely have an approach that worked with us. - Pg. 95 - Working With Others
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
One hour at a time leads to one day at a time in our recovery program. Each hour is one of 24 building blocks of each day of our sobriety and clean time. My current building block is to be kind and considerate for this hour.
Help me center my emotions and be kind and considerate for this hour.
Empowering My Own Day
There are no victims, only volunteers. If there is something I don't like in the way things are going for me, I will see what I can change. I can change the subject if someone goes on and on about things that I don't want to talk about. I can change my routines or change the way I get to where I am going, I can set boundaries with my time if I am feeling over scheduled. My time and what I do with it is precious to me, it is all I have to call my very own. I won't throw it away and then blame someone else gobbling it up. I have a right to protect the quiet and enjoyment of my day, to do more of those things that give me pleasure and fewer of those things that run me down. If I am living up to my responsibilities, that is enough.
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
They say both, 'My best thinking got me drunk' and 'Think a drink through.' Which is it? Are our thoughts friend or foe? Both, and the difference between 'stink'n think'n' and 'straight thinking' is simply self-honesty. We find a good place to start in Step Four.
I have to think everything I believe, but I don't have to believe everything I think.
I won't throw my time away with both hands
- Tian Dayton PhD
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
If you are right, you don't need to be angry; if you are wrong, you can't afford to be angry.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I give myself permission to take the quiet time I need to meditate and to improve my conscious contact with God.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
There a no passengers in AA, we're all crew. - Anon.
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Post by majestyjo on Jan 29, 2018 20:08:18 GMT -5
January 30
Daily Reflections
FREEDOM FROM . . . FREEDOM TO
We are going to know a new freedom. . . .
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS , p. 83
Freedom for me is both freedom from and freedom to.
The first freedom I enjoy is freedom from the slavery
of alcohol. What a relief! Then I begin to experience
freedom from fear - fear of people, of economic
insecurity, of commitment, of failure, of rejection.
Then I begin to enjoy freedom to - freedom to choose
sobriety for today, freedom to be myself, freedom to
express my opinion, to experience peace of mind, to
love and be loved, and freedom to grow spiritually.
But how can I achieve these freedoms? The Big Book
clearly says that before I am halfway through making
amends, I will begin to know a "new" freedom; not the
old freedom of doing what I pleased, without regard
to others, but the new freedom that allows fulfillment
of the promises in my life. What a joy to be free!
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
A drinking life isn't a happy life. Drinking cuts you
off from other people and from God. One of the worst
things about drinking is the loneliness. And one of the
best things about A.A. is the fellowship. Drinking cuts
you off from other people, at least from the people who
really matter to you, your wife and children, your
family and real friends. No matter how much you love
them, you build up a wall between you and them by your
drinking. You're cut off from any real companionship
with them. As a result, you're terribly lonely. Have I got
rid of my loneliness?
Meditation For The Day
I will sometimes go into a quiet place of retreat with
God. In that place, I will find restoration and healing
and power. I will plan quiet times now and then, times
when I will commune with God and arise rested and
refreshed to carry on the work which God has given me
to do. I know that God will never give me a load greater
than I can bear. It is in serenity and peace that all
true success lies.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may strengthen my inner life, so that I
may find serenity. I pray that my soul may be restored
in quietness and peace.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Getting Off a "Dry Bender", p. 30
"Sometimes, we become depressed. I ought to know; I have been a
champion dry-bender case myself. While the surface causes were a
part of the picture--trigger-events that precipitated depression--the
underlying causes, I am satisfied, ran much deeper.
"Intellectually, I could accept my situation. Emotionally, I could not.
"To these problems, there are certainly no pat answers. But part of
the answer surely lies in the constant effort to practice all of A.A.'s
Twelve Steps."
Letter, 1954
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
No Justified Resentments____Personal Inventory
One of the greatest hurdles in sobriety is the so-called justified resentment. We feel that we have a right to be angry at somebody who has hurt or offended us. This feeling might be correct if our anger could remedy the matter and bring it to a just conclusion, but this hardly ever happens. If we are angry, we usually want revenge more than we want justice. Uncontrolled anger will make us behave as unjustly as those who harmed us did. This means more trouble.
Whether revenge is sought or not, anger also poisons our own lives. Emmet Fox compared it to the insane practice of drinking prussic acid. People cannot take a drink of acid and then assign it to the person they detest. They will bear its effect in their own bodies. In the same way, our anger produces its own acids, which destroy our peace of mind and make us ineffective.
We can deal with "justified resentment" by reminding ourselves that there's no justification for the pain and sickness a festering resentment will cause in our lives. There is no justified resentment.
Today I may have to swim against the tide by not getting upset over matters that enrage others. I will not let myself be drawn into the angry currents around me.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Go and wake up your luck---Perian proverb
We've been given recovery. For this, we're lucky. And we're grateful. Now it's up to us.
We must accept our choices. When we're afraid, do we choose to be alone? Or do we choose to
go to extra meeting? When we're not honest, do we keep it secret? Or do we admit it and try to be
more honest? No matter what we choose, we're responsible for that choice. Through choices, we
either make our program strong or weak. We can choose to be lucky. Or we can choose not to be.
The choice is ours. Our addiction robbed us of choice. It taught us to blame others. Now we see ourselves as responsible.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to choose wisely. Help me remember I'm responsible for my choices.
Action for the Day: Today I'll work at being responsible for my choices. I'll see myself as one of the lucky ones.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
Fortunately [psycho]analysis is not the only way to resolve inner conflicts. Life itself still remains a very effective therapist.
--Karen Horney
The passage of time, coupled with an openness to the messages gleaned from our conversations with others, can provide answers we need for the way out of painful situations. Life is ebb and flow, peaks and valleys, struggles and sweet times. What we fail to realize, all too often, is that the struggles make possible the times that are sweet.
Our conflicts are our special lessons in life. We can learn to flow with them, move through them, trust their value to us as growing, changing women. How good it feels to have found security with one another and that power greater than ourselves who can, when we are willing, show us the path to resolution.
Life will never be free of conflict--nor should it be. Our lessons move us to higher planes of awareness. We can experience the joy hidden within the conflict. We can help one another remember that the sweetness of a moment is tied to the pain of a former, forgotten moment.
All events, all experiences, are connected. The path I travel, alone and with others, is bringing me brighter days. I will trust my path. It's right for me.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Instead of regarding ourselves as intelligent agents, spearheads of God’s ever advancing Creation, we agnostics and atheists chose to believe that our human intelligence was the last word, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and end of all. Rather vain of us, wasn’t it?
We, who have traveled this dubious path, beg you to lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion. We have learned that whatever the human frailties of various faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and direction to millions. People of faith have a logical idea of what life is all about. Actually, we used to have no reasonable conception whatever. We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and practices when we might have observed that many spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness which we should have sought ourselves.
p. 49
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
My father had come out of the South and had suffered a great deal down there. He wanted tog ive me the very best, and he thought that nothing but being a doctor would suffice. On the other hand, I believe that I've always been medically inclined, though I have never been able to see medicine quite as the average person sees it. I do surgery because that's something that you can see; it's more tangible. But I can remember in postgraduate days, and during internship, that very often I'd go to a patient's bed and start a process of elmination and then, very often, I'd wind up guessing. That wasn't the way it was with my father. I think with him it possibly was a gift---intuitive diagnosis. Father, through the years, had built up a very good mail-order business because, at that time, there wasn't too much money in medicine.
p. 234
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
In the years since, however, most of us have come to agree with those doctors. We have had a much keener look at ourselves and those about us. We have seen that we were prodded by unreasonable fears or anxieties into making a life business of winning fame, money, and what we thought was leadership. So false pride became the reverse side of that ruinous coin marked "Fear." We simply had to be number one people to cover up our deep-lying inferiorities. In fitful successes we boasted of greater feats to be done; in defeat we were bitter. If we didn't have much of any worldly success we became depressed and cowed. Then people said we were of the "inferior" type. But now we see ourselves as chips off the same old block. At heart we had all been abnormally fearful. It mattered little whether we had sat on the shore of life drinking ourselves into forgetfulness or had plunged in recklessly and willfully beyond our depth and ability. The result was the same--all of us had nearly perished in a sea of alcohol.
pp. 123-124
************************************************** *********
That light at the end of the tunnel may be you.
What other people think of you is none of your business!
Bricks and mortar make a house, but the laughter of children makes a home. --Irish Proverb
"If I can just love you because here we are, then you are free to grow as you need to grow, because none of it's going to change my feeling of love."
--Ram Dass
God beats in my heart. I share his light with the world. --Shelley
"What we must realize is that we cannot see everything. We do not know everything. More important, we must understand that it is impossible for us to control anything. The process of life is a spiritual one, governed by invisible, intangible spiritual laws and principles." --Iyanla Vanzant
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
POTENTIAL
"Treat people as if they were what
they ought to be, and you help
them to become what they are
capable of being."
-- Johann W. von Goethe
My program of recovery from alcoholism helps me have a
relationship with myself and helps me relate to and understand
others. The more I understand my strengths and weaknesses, the
more I am able to understand others.
Any understanding of spirituality involves other people. If spirituality
helps me become what God intends for me, then this is also true for
others. Today I choose to treat myself and other people as children of
God, remembering that we were created to reach for the skies!
Lord, our potential forever rests in You.
************************************************** *********
Encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 2 Timothy 2:22-24
But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction. "He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Job 36:15-16
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." 1 Peter 3:8-12
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Slow down and see the gracious blessings that God has for you. In my quient moments, Lord, I know that You are there.
When we have to justify our actions, it may be that our actions are not just. Lord, Your will is goodness. May I always have the strength and courage to choose Your way so that I can simplify my life and enjoy the peace of Your presence.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
Giving It Away
" We must give freely and gratefully that which has been freely and gratefully given to us."
Basic Text p. 47
In recovery, we receive many gifts. Perhaps one of the greatest of these gifts is the spiritual awakening that begins when we stop using, growing stronger each day we apply the steps in our lives. The new spark of life within is a direct result of our new relationship with a Higher Power, a relationship initiated and developed by living the Twelve Steps. Slowly, as we pursue our program, the radiance of recovery dispels the darkness of our disease.
One of the ways we express our gratitude for the gifts of recovery is to help others find what we've found. We can do this in any number of ways: by sharing in meetings, making Twelfth Step calls, accepting a commitment to sponsorship, or volunteering for H&I or phoneline duty. The spiritual life given to us in recovery asks for expression, for " we can only keep what we have by giving it away."
Just for today: The gift of recovery grows when I share it. I will find someone with whom to share it.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Everyone has his own fingerprints. The white light streams down to be broken up by those human prisms into all the colors of the rainbow. Take your own color in the pattern and be just that. --Charles R. Brown
We are often amazed at how different members of the same family seem to be. Contrasts are often great: one child might be loud and funny, one might be timid and quiet, and yet neither seems to take after the parents. A family is like a vegetable garden. The vegetables respond to outside influences. The one exposed to more sunlight will grow differently than the one growing in a damp, shady place. Vegetables growing in crowded areas of the garden may not be as developed as those around them, but they might be tastier. Although we may have common roots, outside experiences and friends mold us too, making each of us unique. We sometimes lose ourselves by comparisons and feel as if we don't belong, but the variety of our family garden is what makes the world so interesting.
How can I honor another person's uniqueness today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Man can live his truth, his deepest truth, but cannot speak it. --Archibald. MacLeish
For many men, being addicts meant living double lives. There were public selves whom others knew, and private selves whom no one met. It was a compulsive world, and both sides were false. Many of us grew up in addicted families and learned this double life early by hiding from outsiders what life was really like at home.
In this program we learn to live our truth before we can speak it. It is more in our actions than in what we say. We may never know the words for this truth because we do not consciously invent it. It comes to us quietly over time and slowly merges all our parts. Gradually we begin to feel whole again as we surrender our double lives for single, truthful ones.
Let me have the trust to give myself to the work of recovery and follow it where it takes me.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Fortunately [psycho]analysis is not the only way to resolve inner conflicts. Life itself still remains a very effective therapist.
--Karen Horney
The passage of time, coupled with an openness to the messages gleaned from our conversations with others, can provide answers we need for the way out of painful situations. Life is ebb and flow, peaks and valleys, struggles and sweet times. What we fail to realize, all too often, is that the struggles make possible the times that are sweet.
Our conflicts are our special lessons in life. We can learn to flow with them, move through them, trust their value to us as growing, changing women. How good it feels to have found security with one another and that power greater than ourselves who can, when we are willing, show us the path to resolution.
Life will never be free of conflict--nor should it be. Our lessons move us to higher planes of awareness. We can experience the joy hidden within the conflict. We can help one another remember that the sweetness of a moment is tied to the pain of a former, forgotten moment.
All events, all experiences, are connected. The path I travel, alone and with others, is bringing me brighter days. I will trust my path. It's right for me.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Religious Freedom
".. .a Power greater than ourselves...." "God as we understood Him." These words introduce spirituality in the Twelve Steps. They are the first two references to God, and they are worded that way for a reason.
We each have the freedom to define, and understand, our Higher Power - God - as we choose.
That means we do not bring our religious affiliation into our recovery groups. It means that we do not try to impose our religious beliefs, or our understanding of God, on anyone else. We do not use our groups or meetings as a soapbox to gain religious converts. We do not try to force the particulars of our religious beliefs on others.
We give each person, the right to a personal understanding of a Higher Power and ourselves.
Today, I will respect other people's understanding of God, as well as my own. I will not allow others' judgment of my beliefs to cause me anxiety and. distress. I will seek to grow spiritually in recovery, with or without the assistance of a particular religion or denomination.
Today I give myself permission to take the quiet time I need to meditate and to improve my conscious contact with God.
--Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Warm Up
Sit in the sun and warm up.
Sit in the sun. Soak up the love and warmth from the world around you. Take that warmth into your everyday life. Open your heart more to the people you see, the people you meet, the people you greet, and the people you love. Practice being warm, loving, and open. Do more than just think loving thoughts. Say it. Do more than just think of something nice you’d like to do for someone. Do it.
Fear is cold. Sometimes, we become so afraid of life, people, ourselves– so afraid– that we become cold. Cold toward people, toward life, toward God. We may not be aware of how cold we have become. We may have been cold for so long, we just don’t see it. Being cold and afraid has become our everyday posture. It’s the way we interact with the world around us. Now it’s time to put warmth back in our lives.
Don’t let your fears turn you cold. Sit in the sun and warm up. Then radiate that warmth to the people around you. Warm up to people. Warm up to life. Warm up to yourself.
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More Language Of Letting Go
See the good in yourself,too
“Let me see your hands,” she said, gently holding my right hand up close to hers. “Look,” she said. “We have the same hands.”
My daughter was thrilled by the discovery that our fingers were the same size, curved the same way; even our wrists were the same shape. I was at her house visiting her, her child, and her husband that afternoon. We had snuck away for a few quiet moments together. Later that evening, when I returned home, she called me on the phone.
“You seem so excited and interested in our hands,” I said.
“I’ve always thought your hands were so beautiful. Then I started looking at my hands, and I though maybe they looked just like yours, but I wasn’t sure until we looked at them today. It’s just so cool,” she said, “that my hands look just like yours.”
It’s so easy to see and notice what we like in other people. Sometimes, it’s not easy to see the attributes and beauty in ourselves. It’s good to see the beauty in others. But sometimes, take a moment and get excited when you notice what’s beautiful in yourself,too.
We hear so much about people mirroring our negative qualities back to us. You know– what you don’t like in others is probably what you don’t like in yourself. And often that’s true. But people can also mirror our desires, our hopes, our attributes, and our strengths back to us. Chances are that what you see and admire in others is probably a mirror shining your good qualities back to you.
God, help me see the beauty and the good in life. Help me be aware of what I like in others, so that I can better define what I aspire to become.
Activity: Choose five people in your life whom you like and respect. Make a list of the qualities they have that you admire. Now, see how many of these qualities might correctly be used to describe yourself, as well. If you don’t believe you already possess these qualities, could you be selling yourself short? Or do these qualities describe who you aspire to be? If you define some new aspirations, transfer them to your goal list. See how easy it is to begin defining and clarifying our dreams?
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Have I gained freedom simply because one day I was weak and the next day I became suddenly strong? Have I changed from the helpless and hopeless person I once seemed to be simply by resolving, “from now on, things will be different…”? Is the fact that I am more comfortable today than ever before the result of my own willpower? Can I take credit for pulling myself up by my own bootstraps? I know better, for I sought refuge in a Power greater than myself — a Power which is still beyond my ability to visualize. Do I consider the change in my life a miracle far beyond the workings of any human power?
Today I Pray
As the days of sobriety lengthen, and the moment of decision becomes farther behind me, may I never lose sight of the Power that changed my life. May I remember that my sobriety is an ongoing miracle, not just a once-in-a-lifetime transformation.
Today I Will Remember
Life is an ongoing miracle.
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One More Day
If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone. – Maxwell Maltz
Sometimes, we frantically adopt other people’s problems to avoid confronting our own. Hiding from ourselves and our problems solved nothing. Yet some of us are so frightened by the challenge life has thrown before us that we are reluctant to confront it head-on.
Most important is being able to face ourselves, especially when we are alone. We can’t always hide in the hustle and bustle of a crowd. But we can find a comfort level within ourselves, regardless of what we face. Then, when our spirituality is deepened and we understand our own struggles — and only then — can we assist, support, and share with others.
My awareness of myself has been enhanced by my new life circumstances. The deeper I did, the more soul I find. The more and I find, the more I can share myself.
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One Day At A Time
~ NEW BEGINNINGS ~
...To dry my eyes and laugh at a fall, and baffled, get up and start again...
Robert Browning
(1812– 1889) British poet and playwright
When things didn't go my way, I would stamp my feet, lose my temper, and walk away. I was the world's greatest quitter!
The Twelve Step program of recovery teaches me that when I trip over something, I can pick myself up, dust myself off, and start over at any time. I can turn whatever I stumble over into an opportunity for growing and learning.
One Day at a Time . . .
When confronted by roadblocks to my recovery, I can humble myself and ask my Higher Power, "What do YOU want for me to learn from this?" I can turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones and move on in my recovery journey.
~ Linda K. ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
We have no monopoly on God; we merely have an approach that worked with us. - Pg. 95 - Working With Others
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
One hour at a time leads to one day at a time in our recovery program. Each hour is one of 24 building blocks of each day of our sobriety and clean time. My current building block is to be kind and considerate for this hour.
Help me center my emotions and be kind and considerate for this hour.
Empowering My Own Day
There are no victims, only volunteers. If there is something I don't like in the way things are going for me, I will see what I can change. I can change the subject if someone goes on and on about things that I don't want to talk about. I can change my routines or change the way I get to where I am going, I can set boundaries with my time if I am feeling over scheduled. My time and what I do with it is precious to me, it is all I have to call my very own. I won't throw it away and then blame someone else gobbling it up. I have a right to protect the quiet and enjoyment of my day, to do more of those things that give me pleasure and fewer of those things that run me down. If I am living up to my responsibilities, that is enough.
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
They say both, 'My best thinking got me drunk' and 'Think a drink through.' Which is it? Are our thoughts friend or foe? Both, and the difference between 'stink'n think'n' and 'straight thinking' is simply self-honesty. We find a good place to start in Step Four.
I have to think everything I believe, but I don't have to believe everything I think.
I won't throw my time away with both hands
- Tian Dayton PhD
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
If you are right, you don't need to be angry; if you are wrong, you can't afford to be angry.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I give myself permission to take the quiet time I need to meditate and to improve my conscious contact with God.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
There a no passengers in AA, we're all crew. - Anon.
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Post by majestyjo on Jan 30, 2018 14:59:02 GMT -5
January 31
Daily Reflections
OUR COMMON WELFARE COMES FIRST
The unity of Alcoholics Anonymous is the most cherished
quality our Society has. . . . We stay whole, or A.A.
dies.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 129
Our Traditions are key elements in the ego deflation
process necessary to achieve and maintain sobriety in
Alcoholics Anonymous. The First Tradition reminds me
not to take credit, or authority, for my recovery.
Placing our common welfare first reminds me not to
become a healer in this program; I am still one of
the patients. Self-effacing elders built the ward.
Without it, I doubt I would be alive. Without the
group, few alcoholics would recover. The active role
in renewed surrender of will enables me to step aside
from the need to dominate, the desire for recognition,
both of which played so great a part in my active
alcoholism. Deferring my personal desires for the
greater good of group growth contributes toward A.A.
unity that is central to all recovery. It helps me to
remember that the whole is greater than the sum of all
its parts.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Drinking cuts you off from God. No matter how you were
brought up, no matter what your religion is, no matter
if you say you believe in God, nevertheless you build
up a wall between you and God by your drinking. You know
you're not living the way God wants you to. As a result,
you have that terrible remorse. When you come into A.A.,
you begin to get right with other people and with God. A
sober life is a happy life, because by giving up drinking
we've got rid of our loneliness and remorse. Do I have real
fellowship with other people and with God?
Meditation For The Day
I believe that all sacrifice and all suffering is of value
to me. When I am in pain, I am being tested. Can I trust
God, no matter how I feel? Can I say Thy will be done, no
matter how much I am defeated? If I can, my faith is real
and practical. It works in bad times as well as in good
times. The Divine Will is working in a way that is beyond
my finite mind to understand, but I can still trust in it.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may take my suffering in my stride. I pray
that I may accept pain and defeat as part of God's plan
for my spiritual growth.
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As Bill Sees It
In God's Economy, p. 31
"In God's economy, nothing is wasted. through failure, we learn a
lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is."
<< << << >> >> >>
We did not always come closer to wisdom by reason of our virtues; our
better understanding is often rooted in the pains of our former follies.
Because this has been the essence of our individual experience, it is
also the essence of our experience as a fellowship.
1. Letter, 1942
2. Grapevine, November 1961
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Walk In Dry Places
Open-mindedness Means Growth___Facing Change
While open-mindedness is supposedly virtuous, many of us have difficulty with it. In our drinking, we continued to suffer because we were unwilling to believe that anything could relieve us of our condition. We also feared that change would diminish us.
Our great liberation came in opening up our minds to new ideas. This same process might be needed to sober living. We may have an investment in old attitudes and ideas that are keeping us from constructive growth. Without giving up our attitudes immediately, we can at least give new ideas hones consideration and study.
True open-mindedness does not mean empty-mindedness. We still can have strong convictions, consistent values, and definite opinions. But in the spirit of open-mindedness, we should continuously reexamine our views and adopt new ideas for improvement and growth.
Open-mindedness helped bring us to sobriety. It can also open the doors to other blessings that will bring enrichment and happiness.
I will be open-minded and curious today. New ideas can bring wonderful benefits to me if I am willing to consider them.
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Keep It Simple
Do not cut down the tree that gives you shade.---Arabian proverb
We need to remember what got us well. The Twelve Steps heal us. The meetings we attend heal us.
Reading and listening to program tapes heals us. Talking with our sponsors heals us. The time we spend with program friends heals us. Sometimes we're pressed for time. As a result, we have to make choices about how to use our time. We may think we know enough about the program. We
may feel like cutting down on meetings. These are danger signs. We only know how to stay sober One Day at a Time: by working the Steps. Let's not forget them as we grow in this program. It may seem like we've been recovering a long time, but we're all beginners.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I've found You in the program. Help me find ways to stay a "beginner" in the program.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll take time to read the Twelve Steps. I'll meditate on how much these Steps have given me.
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Each Day a New Beginning
Woman must not accept; she must challenge. She must not be awed by that which has been built up around her; she must reverence that woman in her which struggles for expression. --Margaret Sanger
Our desire to grow, to make a place for ourselves in the world of our friends, to know that we have counted in the lives of others, is healthy and necessary to our existence as whole women. The inner urging to move ahead, to try a new approach to an old problem, to go after a new job, to learn a new skill, is evidence of God's eternal Spirit within.
Our meaning in this life is found through following the guidance that beckons us toward these new horizons, perhaps new friends, even new locations. We can trust the urge. We can reverence the urge. It will not lead us astray, provided we do not try to lead it. We each have a special gift to express in this life among those to whom we've been led.
For years, many of us quelled the inner urge out of fear; but, fortunately, it didn't desert us. To be human is to have a constant desire to be more than we are. The fears still come, but as we move through them, with the support of other women, other friends, the program gives us the thrill of achievement. We know there is meaning in our existence.
The need to grow, to change, to affect the world around us is part of God's plan for each of us. I will trust the urge; I will let it guide my steps.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Instead, we looked at the human defects of these people, and sometimes used their shortcomings as a basis of wholesale condemnation. We talked of intolerance, while we were intolerant ourselves. We missed the reality and the beauty of the forest because we were diverted by the ugliness of some its trees. We never gave the spiritual side of life a fair hearing.
p. 50
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
I don't think I suffered too much as far as the racial situation was concerned because I was born into it and knew nothing other than that. A man wasn't actually mistreated, though if he was, he could only resent it. He could do nothing about it. On the other hand, I got quite a different picture farther south. Economin conditions had a great deal to do with it, because I've often heard my father say that his mother would take one of the old-time flour sacks and cut a hole through the bottom and two corners of it and there you'd have a gown. Of course, when Father finally came to Virginia to work his was through school, he resented the southern "cracker," as he often called them, so much that he didn't even go back to his mother's funeral. He said he never wanted to set foot in the Deep South again, and he didn't.
pp. 234-235
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
But today, in well-matured A.A.'s, these distorted drives have been restored to something like their true purpose and direction. We no longer strive to dominate or rule those about us in order to gain self-importance. We no longer seek fame and honor in order to be praised. When by devoted service to family, friends, business, or community we attract widespread affection and are sometimes singled out for posts of greater responsibility and trust, we try to be humbly grateful and exert ourselves the more in a spirit of love and service. True leadership, we find, depends upon able example and not upon vain displays of power or glory.
p. 124
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Half the worry in the world is caused by people trying to make decisions before they have sufficient knowledge on which to base a decision.
--Dean Hawkes
Joy isn't the absence of pain - it's the presence of God.
Life is a mirror: If you frown at it, it frowns back; If you smile it returns the greeting. --Thackeray
Today I get to try to be a good example of a good example. In the past all I could be was a good example of a bad example. --unknown
The most important person in the room is sitting in my chair. The second most important person in the room is sitting in your chair. --unknown
Right actions for the future are the best apologies for wrong ones in the past.
Maintaining my spiritual condition is like building a spiritual bank account, upon which I can draw. The problem is, I never get a statement from the bank, so I have to be careful to keep putting in, or some dark day I'll find myself overdrawn. --unknown
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
WAR
"We have the power to make this
the best generation of mankind
in the history of the world --- or
to make it the last."
-- John F. Kennedy
War is tragic because it always destroys; it kills creation itself.
People, buildings, relationships, trust, hope, culture, history, youth ---
they all disappear behind a puff of smoke. The immensity of war is
such that it cannot be fully comprehended. Only isolated aspects can
be understood: a child is maimed, a treaty is broken, a race is blamed,
bullets are heard and a history that existed within a human life is
ended in silence.
Addiction is a kind of war --- a silent war that exists within an
individual and family. People, trust, buildings, hope, culture, history
and youth disappear behind a glass or a pill. Creation is attacked
from the inside; God is forgotten in an act of destructive selfishness.
Teach me to make peace in my life.
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"God is my strength and my power, and He makes my way perfect." 2 Samuel 22:33
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6
Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to God. Matthews 5:16
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Daily Inspiration
Today can be your best day. This power is yours alone. Thank you, Lord, for this glorious day.
Greet all with gentleness and kindness so that all will know that you know Your God and will want to know Him too. Lord, may I be an instrument of Your peace.
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NA Just For Today
Trust
" Just for today I will have faith in someone in NA who believes in me and wants to help me in my recovery."
Basic Text p. 90
Learning to trust is a risky proposition. Our past experience as using addicts has taught us that our companions could not be trusted. Most of all, we couldn't trust ourselves.
Now that we're in recovery, trust is essential. We need something to hang onto, believe in, and give us hope in our recovery. For some of us, the first thing we can trust is the words of other members sharing in meetings; we feel the truth in their words.
Finding someone we can trust makes it easier to ask for help. And as we grow to trust in their recovery, we learn to trust our own.
Just for today: I will decide to trust someone. I will act on that trust.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Thou shalt not should thyself. --Anonymous
When someone tells us we should do something, do we want to do it, or do we feel mad that someone else is telling us what we want to do? Sometimes we forget that these messages are not our own, but are the desires of others. It's important to listen to what we tell ourselves, to be aware of which messages we're giving ourselves and which come from others. We can make a list of all our shoulds and identify where they came from: parent, boss, friend, self. Then we can decide which shoulds are want to's, and throw out the rest. Doing what we want to is very different from doing what we should, and we can usually do a better job of it.
Have I freed myself of shoulds today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
The body is the soul's house. Shouldn't we therefore take care of our house so that it doesn't fall into ruin? --Philo Judaeus
Some men think it is a mark of a strong man to abuse his body and pay no heed to his health. Have we done this through drug use or abuse of food? Have we misused our bodies by our sexual behavior? Have we neglected our physical condition or health because of addictions or obsessions with other people?
To end abusive cycles, we need to act in self-respecting ways - sometimes before we feel self respecting. Recovery and spiritual awakening involve the body, mind, and spirit. We need nutrition, exercise, sleep, and health care. Treating ourselves as worthwhile men helps us feel worthwhile. Tuning in to how we feel physically may give us some direction. As we sense how we feel, do we get some physical messages to guide our recovery?
I will yield to the messages I get from myself so I can enjoy the physical pleasures of recovery and give my soul a better home.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Woman must not accept; she must challenge. She must not be awed by that which has been built up around her; she must reverence that woman in her which struggles for expression. --Margaret Sanger
Our desire to grow, to make a place for ourselves in the world of our friends, to know that we have counted in the lives of others, is healthy and necessary to our existence as whole women. The inner urging to move ahead, to try a new approach to an old problem, to go after a new job, to learn a new skill, is evidence of God's eternal Spirit within.
Our meaning in this life is found through following the guidance that beckons us toward these new horizons, perhaps new friends, even new locations. We can trust the urge. We can reverence the urge. It will not lead us astray, provided we do not try to lead it. We each have a special gift to express in this life among those to whom we've been led.
For years, many of us quelled the inner urge out of fear; but, fortunately, it didn't desert us. To be human is to have a constant desire to be more than we are. The fears still come, but as we move through them, with the support of other women, other friends, the program gives us the thrill of achievement. We know there is meaning in our existence.
The need to grow, to change, to affect the world around us is part of God's plan for each of us. I will trust the urge; I will let it guide my steps.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Asking for What We Need
One evening, I was alone, weary, and exhausted. I was in the midst of extensive traveling, disconnected from friends and family. I had flown home for the evening, but it seemed like nobody noticed. People were used to me being gone.
It was late at night, and I began arguing with God.
'I'm out there working hard. I'm lonely. I need to know someone cares. You've told me to tell you what I need, and tonight. God, I particularly need the presence of male energy. I need a friend, someone I can trust to care about me in a nonsexual, nonexploitive way. I need to be held. Now, where are you?"
I lay down on the couch and closed my eyes. I was too tired to do anything but let go.
The telephone rang minutes later. It was a former colleague who had since become my friend. "Hey, kid," he said. "You sound really tired and needy. Stay right where you are. I'm going to drive out and give you a foot rub. It sounds exactly like what you need."
Half an hour later, he knocked on my door. He brought a small bottle of oil with him, and gently massaged my feet, gave me a hug, told me how much he cared about me, then left.
I smiled. I had received exactly what I asked for.
It is safe to trust God.
Today, I will remember God cares about what I need, especially if I do.
I will take the time I need for me today to be quiet and listen to my Higher Power as I gently make new discoveries and gain new wisdom. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Value Your Connection to Truth
Trust what you know. Not what you think you know, but what you know in your heart.
We often know the truth long before we let ourselves see and believe it, long before we’re ready to acknowledge it. For many reasons– fear, timing, and a myriad of issues too long to list– we ignore and discount what we know in our heart. But the truth doesn’t go away. What’s true, what we know to be true, will nag us and haunt us. And even if we try to run from that truth, our experiences will ultimately lead us back to it.
Life may bring us many issues we want to run from, issues that are a challenge. But the real challenge we face is learning to trust ourselves and trust what we know to be true. Maybe someone once told us we couldn’t be trusted. That’s too bad. But what’s worse is that we began to believe it and started to tell ourselves that,too.
Your heart can be trusted. Don’t doubt it. It will inevitably connect you to what’s true. Love yourself enough to trust what you know. Then stay connected to truth.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Speak the language of letting go
Sometimes in our lives, we can let go in an instant. We recognize that we’re dwelling on or obsessing about a particular situation, and we just let go. We drop it. Or we run into someone who has a problem, and we instinctively adapt a hands-off posture, knowing that it’s not our responsibility to take care of other people. We say what we need to say, and we almost automatically let go and focus on taking care of ourselves.
Other times, it’s not so easy. We may be entangled in a situation that feels utterly impossible to let go of. We get enmeshed with a problem, or a person, that seems to compel us to hang on more tightly when letting go is the key.
We know we shoudn’t be obsessing, but we can’t seem to stop.
One day, many years ago, back in Stillwater, Minnesota, my son was hugging me tightly. He didn’t want to let go. I started tipping over. I lost my balance.
“Shane,” Nichole scolded, “there comes a time to let go.”
Sometimes letting go happens in stages. Sometimes it means becoming more aware. Sometimes it involves going deeply into the feelings hidden underneath our behavior. Learning to let go may involve gaining more confidence and self-esteem. Sometimes it means simply practicing gratitude for the way things are.
Be gentle with yourself and others as you learn to practice the language of letting go.
Sometimes, no matter how much we know, letting go takes time.
God, help me remember that letting go is a powerful behavior, one that can change my life and impact the lives of others. Help me be patient with others and myself as letting go becomes a way of life.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
One of the most constructive things I can do is to learn to listen to myself and get in touch with my true feelings. For years, I tuned myself out, going along, instead, with what others felt and said. Even today, it sometimes seem that they have it all together, while I’m still stumbling about. Thankfully, I’m beginning to understand that people-leasing takes many forms. Slowly but steadily, I’ve also begun to realize that it’s possible for me to change my old patterns. Will I encourage myself to tune in to the real me? Will I listen carefully to my own inner voice with the expectation that I’ll hear some wonderful things?
Today I Pray
I pray that I may respect myself enough to listen to my real feelings, those emotions which for so long I refused to hear or name or own, which festered in me like a poison. May I know that I need to stop often, look at my feelings, listen to the inner me.
Today I Will Remember
I will own my feelings.
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One More Day
I recommend you to take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves.
– Lord Chesterfield
When a lifelong job is over, when a health problem occurs or mobility becomes impaired, when family moves away, the days may become long and lonely. Then, more than ever, it’s important that we take care of our own needs. Some needs may be immediate, for we have far more time than we know how to fill. We may look toward the future, afraid of all the time that must be filled.
This is a perfect time to reach out into the community, to begin volunteer work. There are always people who need us, and by offering our help we will be helping ourselves as well. Each day is new and has new possibilities.
I refuse to worry about the future or the past. Instead, I’ll try to make a difference today.
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One Day At A Time
~ TOMORROW ~
Do not be anxious for tomorrow;
for tomorrow will care for itself.
The Bible, book of Matthew
I've spent too much of my life worrying about the future. This was especially true with every diet I was ever on. I was always concerned about how much weight I was going to be able to lose in a certain amount of time. I always thought about tomorrow and what tomorrow would bring instead of staying in the present.
Today, my Higher Power is teaching me to keep my eyes on Him instead of on the calendar. I am more successful and more at peace when I remain in the present and follow my Higher Power's will.
One day at a time . . .
I will keep my thoughts in the present, for my Higher Power will take care of tomorrow.
Gina
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest. - Pg. 58 - How It Works
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
When intense cravings for our drug of choice overwhelm us, we immediately talk to another person in recovery, even if it is 4 AM. Call your contact number, we must be here for each other!
Give me the strength to contact another clean and sober person BEFORE I think of satisfying that craving.
Beyond What I See
I want to know in my heart that life has meaning and purpose beyond what I see. I want to train my eye for seeing what is beautiful in life the way that a musician trains his ear. I want to know that each day is a gift, that I can't just expect it, that life is precious.
I say thank you for the gift of this day
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Anger is one letter away from danger.
If I am right, I don't need to be angry. If I am wrong, I can't afford to be angry.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
When we remove me from 'blame' all that's left is bla. bla, bla....
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I will take the time I need for me today to be quiet and listen to my Higher Power as I gently make new discoveries and gain new wisdom.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
God doesn't care who carries the message. He just wants it carried. - Anne P.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 1, 2018 7:28:40 GMT -5
February 1
Daily Reflections
GOAL: SANITY
"...Step Two gently and very gradually began to
infiltrate my life. I can't say upon what occasion or
on what day I came to believe in a power greater than
myself, but I certainly have that belief now."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 27
"Came to believe!" I gave lip service to my belief when
I felt like it or when I thought it would look good. I
didn't really trust God. I didn't believe He cared for
me. I kept trying to change things I couldn't change.
Gradually, in disgust, I began to turn it all over,
saying: "You're so omnipotent, you take care of it." He
did. I began to receive answers to my deepest problems,
sometimes at the most unusual times: driving to work,
eating lunch, or when I was sound asleep. I realized
that I hadn't thought of those solutions--a Power greater
than myself had given them to me. I came to believe.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When we think about having a drink, we're thinking of
the kick we get out of drinking, the pleasure, the escape
from boredom, the feeling of self-importance and the
companionship of other drinkers. What we don't think of
is the letdown, the hangover, the remorse, the waste of
money, and the facing of another day. In other words,
when we think about that first drink, we're thinking of
all the assets of drinking and none of the liabilities.
What has drinking really got that we haven't got
in A.A.? Do I believe that the liabilities of drinking outweigh
the assets?
Meditation For The Day
I will start a new life each day. I will put the old
mistakes away and start anew each day. God always offers
me a fresh start. I will not be burdened or anxious. If
God's forgiveness were only for the righteous and those
who had not sinned, where would be its need? I believe
that God forgives us all our sins, if we are honestly
trying to live today the way He wants us to live. God
forgives us much and we should be very grateful.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that my life may not be spoiled by worry and fear
and selfishness. I pray that I may have a glad, thankful
and humble heart.
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As Bill Sees It
Moral Responsibility, p. 32
"Some strongly object to the A.A. position that alcoholism is an
illness. This concept, they feel, removes moral responsibility from
alcoholics. As any A.A. knows, this is far from true. We do not use
the concept of sickness to absolve our members from responsibility.
On the contrary, we use the fact of fatal illness to clamp the heaviest
kind of moral obligation onto the sufferer, the obligation to use A.A.'s
Twelve Steps to get well.
"In the early days of his drinking, the alcoholic is often guilty of
irresponsibility. But once the time of compulsive drinking has arrived,
he can't very well be held fully accountable for his conduct. He then
has an obsession that condemns him to drink. and a bodily sensitivity to
alcohol that guarantees his final madness and death.
"But when he is made aware of this condition, he is under pressure to
accept A.A.'s program of moral regeneration."
Talk, 1960
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Walk In Dry Places
Garbage in, Garbage Out
Releasing the Past
One thing we don't need in our lives is garbage from the past. Yet many of us say that old thoughts and bitter memories often sneak devilishly back to spoil what should have been a pleasant day. Why do we let garbage from the past befoul our lives a second time?
Computer programmers use a certain expression when their systems turn up errors: "GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT." If you feed erroneous, useless information into a computer, that's what you get back.
We seem to have built-in computers that work the same way. If we waste time and energy talking about past injustices or old mistakes, we are unwittingly calling them back into our lives. We are bringing back garbage that should have been discarded permanently to make room for better things.
There is no benefit in bringing back old garbage. We can't change the past. We can't change our mistakes by brooding about them, and we can't obtain justice by remembering how badly we were treated or by plotting revenge. When we bring back garbage, we allow it to occupy space that should be devoted to constructive and positive things.
If we don't want garbage in our lives, let's not put it there by bringing up matters that should have been released, forgiven, and forgotten.
I will keep my mind on the present, knowing that a positive attitude will help me make the best of the opportunities that come to me.
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Keep It Simple
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.---Step Two
The Second Step directs us to believe there is hope for us. It may take time to believe this. Many of us had given up hope. But look around. Hope fills our meeting rooms. We are surrounded by miracles. This Power greater than ourselves has healed many. Listen as others tell their stories. They speak of how powerful this Power is. At times, we will not believe. This is normal But in recovery ,"coming to believe" means opening ourselves up to healing power found in the program.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, allow me to believe Help me to stay open to recovery.
Action for the Day: I will list three examples of my past insanity. I will share these examples with my group, sponsor, a program friend, or with my Higher Power. I will remember that I'm a miracle.
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Each Day a New Beginning
You were there when I needed you. You stood above all of the others with your strength and you guided me. To each of you I offer my being, my love and all that I am. --Deidra Sarault
Each of us is guided while we act as guides to one another, throughout the day, throughout our lives. We are interdependent. Everywhere we look, someone is learning from us and we from her. We often know not what we give, when we give it. And we seldom realize the value of what we're receiving at the time we accept it.
Resistance to what another person is offering us may be our natural response. But the passage of time highlights the value of the experience. We can look for the comforters in our lives. They are there offering us strength and hope enough to see us through any difficulty.
We need both the rough times and the soft shoulders of a friend. They contribute equally to the designs our lives are weaving. The rough times press us to pray, to reach out to others for solace. And our pain gives others the chance to heal our wounds. We are all healers offering strength. And we all need healing.
One of the greatest gifts of my recovery is giving and receiving strength.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
In our personal stories you will find a wide variation in the way each teller approaches and conceives of the Power which is greater than himself. Whether we agree with a particular approach or conception seems to make little difference. Experience has taught us that these are matters about which, for our purpose, we need not be worried. They are questions for each individual to settle for himself.
p. 50
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
I went to elementary and high school in Washington, D.C., and then to Howard University. My internship was in Washington. I never had too much trouble in school. I was wable to get my work out. All my troubles arose when I was thrown socially among groups of people. As far as school was concerned, I made fair good grades throughout.
p. 235
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
Still more wonderful is the feeling that we do not have to be specially distinguished among our fellows in order to be useful and profoundly happy. Not many of us can be leaders of prominence, nor do we wish to be. 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. True ambition is not what we thought it was. True ambition is the deep desire to live usefully and walk humbly under the grace of God.
pp. 124-125
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"He who cannot rest, cannot work; He who cannot let go, cannot hold on; He who cannot find footing, cannot go forward." --Harry Emerson Fosdick
If you find you've reached a dead end, it might be because you're sitting on it.
"You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it." --Charles Buxton
I asked my sponsor, "What do you do when you finish working the Steps?" Without batting an eye, he replied, "You lie really still, because you're dead!" --unknown
"Maintaining sobriety is like feeding a parking meter. It's all about change." --unknown
"Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one." --Hans Selye
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
RELIGION
"We have just enough religion
to make us hate, but not enough
to make us love one another."
-- Jonathan Swift
Religion is a powerful influence in the world, but so often the "power"
is negative. It has been used to judge, divide, separate and control
people; rob them of their freedom and creativity; chain them to creeds
and teachings that are not comprehensible. Unfortunately, religion has
become dull and lifeless for many people and God's love is missed.
But the power of creative spirituality is alive in God's world. It unites
and frees the people so that they can be discovered in their
individuality. Difference is accepted, choice is respected and healing is
perceived in our ability to love.
Let me ever bring the gift of God's spirituality to those who have
misplaced it.
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"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need." Hebrews 4:16
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. Luke 6:36-37
Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:22
Cast all your anxieties on God because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
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Daily Inspiration
We have every reason to be at peace because God will either protect us from suffering or give us immense strength to see us through it. Lord, I set aside my anxieties because You care for me every day in every way.
If you exercise your mind, your spirit will never get old. Lord, give me the ability to rise above my worldly burdens and ability to always make things a little better.
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NA Just For Today
Hardships
" We felt different... Only after surrender are we able to overcome the alienation of addiction."
Basic Text p. 22
" But you don't understand!" we spluttered, trying to cover up. "I'm different! I've really got it rough!" We used these lines over and over in our active addiction, either trying to escape the consequences of our actions or avoid following the rules that applied to everyone else. We may have cried them at our first meeting. Perhaps we've even caught ourselves whining them recently.
So many of us feel different or unique. As addicts, we can use almost anything to alienate ourselves. But there's no excuse for missing out on recovery, nothing that can make us ineligible for the program—not a life-threatening illness, not poverty, not anything. There are thousands of addicts who have found recovery despite the real hardships they've faced. Through working the program, their spiritual awareness has grown, in spite of—or perhaps in response to—those hardships.
Our individual circumstances and differences are irrelevant when it comes to recovery. By letting go of our uniqueness and surrendering to this simple way of life, we're bound to find that we feel a part of something. And feeling a part of something gives us the strength to walk through life, hardships and all.
Just for today: I will let go of my uniqueness and embrace the principles of recovery I have in common with so many others. My hardships do not exclude me from recovery; rather, they draw me into it.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
It's not enough to talk to plants, you also have to listen. --David Bergman
Plants grow best when we pay attention to them. That means watering, touching them, putting them in places where they will receive good light. They need people around them to notice if they are drooping at the edges or looking particularly happy in the sunlight. The more attention a plant receives, the better it will grow.
We need to be noticed in the same way. If we notice a family member or friend is drooping, perhaps we can pay some special attention to him or her. All of us need someone to care about how we are and to truly listen to us. We can share and double someone's happiness by noticing and talking about it also. We help the people around us to grow by listening to their droopy edges as well as their bright days. People need this as much as plants need light and water.
How can I help someone grow today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Who of us is mature enough for offspring before the offspring themselves arrive? The value of marriage is not that adults produce children but that children produce adults. --Peter De Vries
Many of us, in entering recovery, are confronted with guilt about our roles as fathers. We can see so clearly with hindsight that we could have been better parents. Others of us recall the unfairness of our own parents and find it hard to forgive them.
This mixture of guilt and resentment is part of the package of recovery. If we remained the same and never learned anything new, we wouldn't have to feel guilty about the past or face our need to let go of resentments. Our spiritual renewal requires that we forgive ourselves and accept the forgiveness of those around us. Even today our children are not helped by our guilt, but they will be helped - at any age - by our amended lives. And all generations are enriched when we are able to repair broken connections with our parents.
I can accept the increased consciousness that recovery brings without punishing myself for what I didn't know.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Step Two
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. --Step Two of Al-Anon
We come to believe in a better life through the powerful gift of other people - hearing them, seeing them, and watching the gift of recovery at work in their lives.
There is a Power greater than us. There is real hope now that things can and will be different and better for our life and us.
We are not in a "do it ourselves" program. We do not have to exert willpower to change. We do not have to force our recovery to happen. We do not have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps just so we believe that there is a Power greater than ourselves - one who will get the job done in our life. This Power will do for us what your greatest and most diligent efforts could not accomplish.
Our Higher Power will restore us to a sane and beneficial life. All we do is believe.
Look. Watch. See the people around you. See the healing they have found. Then discover your own faith, your own belief, your own healing.
Today, regardless of my circumstances, I will believe to the best of my ability that a Power greater than myself can and will restore me to a peaceful, sane way of living. Then I will relax and let Him do that.
I know that one step at a time I am making progress today. I am grateful for all my growth, even though it is not always very obvious. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Transcend Your Limitations
You’re free now, free to take the journey of a lifetime. Free to experience life, in its newness, its freshness, its magic– in a way you never have before.
The only limitations on you are the ones you’ve placed on yourself. Your prison has been of your own making. Don’t blame or chastise yourself. Life has created certain challenges for you. The purpose has been to set you free, to provide you with lessons, experiences, circumstances that would trigger growth and healing. Life has been provoking, promoting, urging you to grow, stretch, learn, heal. Life has been trying to break you out of your prison.
Set yourself free. Let yourself go on a journey of love. Take notes. Be present. Experience. Learn. Love and laugh, and cry when you need to. Rest when you’re tired. Take a flashlight to help you see in the dark. But most of all, take yourself and go.
Go on your journey of joy.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Say woohoo
I put on my skydiving gear and headed for the airplane. Here I was again, ready to go. My hands were already sweating; I could feel the quiver in my lip. Why did I keep doing this to myself?
Once I boarded the airplane, I started what had become a routine for me. I don’t have to do this, I told myself.I’m volunteering to skydive. It’s not mandatory. Not wanting to overly embarrass myself in front of the other, more experienced sky divers, I coped with my anxiety by fidgeting. I fidgeted with the altimeter on my hand. I fidgeted with the strap on my helmet.
I wanted to tell my jump master I couldn’t jump because I was having a heart attack, but I knew he wouldn’t believe me. It was just anxiety, fear building up to an unmanageable, uncontrollable level.
A friend was sitting across from me, watching. “How are you doing Mel?” he asked.
“Scared,” I said.
“Do you say woohoo?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” I said.
“When you get to the door and jump, say woohoo,” he said. “You can’t have a bad time if you do.”
I walked to the door of the plane, hoisted myself out, and waited for the nod from my jump master, signaling that he was ready for the count.
“Ready,” I said. “Set.” Then with all my might I yelled, “WOOHOO,” so loud the sky divers in the back of the plane heard me.
My jump master followed me out of the plane and then positioned himself in front of me. I looked at him and grinned. Then I grinned some more. So this is why I’m doing this, I thought. Because it’s so much fun.
It was the best jump I’d had yet.
We’re jumping into the unknown, when we have a baby or a new job.
Sometimes, however, we don’t choose our experience. I can recall sitting on the edge of the bed in the hospital room after Shane’s death, knowing that the journey I was about to embark upon would not be an exhilarating one. God, I don’t want to go through this, I thought. It’s not going to be over in three months or a year. This one I’ll live with the rest of my life. I can remember standing in the parking lot outside the courthouse after my divorce from the children’s father. I took one deep breath, feeling exhilarated and free. The next one was filled with terror and dread. My God, I was now a dirt-poor single parent with two children to raise.
Sometimes we jump out that door voluntarily. Sometimes we’re pushed.
Feel your fear, then let it go. Dread is just a prejudice against the future. After having examined all the probabilaties and possibilities, we decide ahead of time that we’re going to have the worse experience possible. So let go of dread,too.
Fidget if you must. Ask yourself what you’re doing here. Then walk to the door and give the count. See how much fun it can be when you jump into the unknown and feel the rush of being fully alive.
God, help me take a deep breath and holler woohoo.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
The longer I’m in The Program, the more clearly I see why it’s important for me to understand why I do what I do, and say what I say. In the process, I’m coming to realize what kind of person I really am. I see now, for example, that it’s far easier to be honest with other people that with myself. I’m learning, also, that we’re all hampered by our need to justify our actions and words. Have I taken an inventory of myself as suggested in the Twelve Steps? Have I admitted my faults to myself, to god, and to another human being?
Today I Pray
May I not be stalled in my recovery process by the enormity of The Program’s fourth Step, taking a moral inventory of myself, or by admitting these shortcomings to myself, to God and to another human being. May I know that honesty to myself about myself is all-important.
Today I Will Remember
I cannot mend if I bend the truth.
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One More Day
Snow endures but for a season, and joy comes with the morning.
– Marcus Aurelius
We are a nation which sometimes sells out for short-term goals and short-term gratification. We may overuse credit cards. At times we live on impulse and buy on impulse. Gone is the long-term planning our parents tired to teach us as children. Gone is learning to wait.
Now we have no choice. Life’s circumstances, especially illness, force us to wait whether or not we want to. True, we live with pain and annoyance, but once again, quite accidentally, we begin to know the joy that comes from the waiting and from savoring any small victory.
Patience is a virtue I am once again cultivating. Life’s circumstances have taught me the importance of finding the joy in each day.
This books author is Sefra Kobrin Pitzele
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Food For Thought
Learning
In this program, we never stop learning. It takes time to absorb the OA way of life. Some of us start with great enthusiasm, expecting perfection all at once. When we do not achieve it, we are sometimes tempted to give up and go back to the old, self-destructive way of eating the wrong kinds of food in the wrong amounts.
One of the most important things we learn in OA is patience with ourselves. We seek progress, not perfection. We work for it one step at a time, one day at a time. Our Higher Power accepts us and loves us as we are right now, today. By turning our lives over to Him and humbly asking for guidance, we become receptive to His teaching.
As we grow - slowly -we learn from our mistakes even more than from our successes. We are willing to be again as little children, and we are willing to accept suggestions and help from those who have had more experience and time in the program. We do not have to continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. We can learn the new way of life if we will walk into it patiently and slowly.
Open my body, mind, and heart to Your teaching, Lord.
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One Day At A Time
~ Strategy ~
"Better shun the bait than struggle in the snare. "
John Dryden
Perhaps the most important strategy for beating temptation is to avoid it altogether. Temptation pits me head-on with my disease and all of its cunning and baffling ways. It's so much easier to stay out of its claws and devices than to try to free myself once caught in its web.
What ways do I bring temptation right into my house or provide access to temptation when I go out? Do I keep forbidden foods in my house? Have I ever asked other family members to go without those things because they are dangerous to me or my recovery? Do I go places or engage in activities that increase my desire to eat compulsively? Have I considered that, for now, I just can't go certain places because of the risk to my recovery? Have I considered that I might have to give up socializing with certain groups of people because they lead me into temptation? Does watching TV trigger compulsive eating? Does putting myself in the company of a certain individuals lead to self- defeating behavior of any kind? Do I continually expose myself to stressful situations or people that tempt me to eat compulsively? Do I continue doing the things that tempt me to eat to ease the feelings or emotions that come up over it?
Perhaps I am in an unwholesome relationship, or I overspend, or have another addiction or compulsion. What am I willing to do to recover? What am I willing to change to keep myself out of harm's way?
It is easy to pray for God to keep me from temptation, but I must do my part also.
One day at a time ...
I must remember to avoid the people, places and things that tempt me to eat compulsively and provide a way for the disease to touch me again.
~ Diane ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Did not these feelings, after all, determine the course of our existence? It was impossible to say we had no capacity for faith, or love, or worship. In one form or another we had been living by faith and little else. - Pg. 54 - We Agnostics
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
"That great cloud rains down on all, whether their nature is superior or inferior. The light of the sun and the moon illuminates the whole world, both him who does well and him who does ill, both him who stands high and him who stands low." Buddha from Sadharmapundarika Sutra 5 "Your father in heaven makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous." Jesus from Matthew 5.45
I seek comfort and wisdom from all Universal Sources as I journey toward recovery.
I thank you God
For most this amazing day, for the leafy, greenly spirits of trees, and everything which is infinite, which is beautiful, which is yes. I who have died am alive again today and this is the sun's birthday.
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Nothing happens by accident. There are no coincidences, they say, only God-incidences.
I believe that God can do for me what I can't do for myself. I believe in God-incidences.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Sponsorship-the art of helping an alcoholic grow up without putting them down.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I know that one step at a time I am making progress today. I am grateful for all my growth,, even though it is not always very obvious.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I didn't become an alcoholic because I drank too much. I drank too much because I'm an alcoholic. - Unknown origin.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 2, 2018 12:19:50 GMT -5
February 2
Daily Reflections
RESCUED BY SURRENDERING
Characteristic of the so-called typical alcoholic is a narcissistic
egocentric core, dominated by feelings of omnipotence, intent
on maintaining at all costs its inner integrity.... Inwardly the alcoholic
brooks no control from man or God. He, the alcoholic, is and must be
the master of his destiny. He will fight to the end to preserve that
position.
A.A. COMES OF AGE, p.311
The great mystery is: "Why do some of us die alcoholic deaths,
fighting to preserve the 'independence' of our ego, while others seem
to sober up effortlessly in A.A.?" Help from a Higher Power, the gift of
sobriety, came to me when an otherwise unexplained desire to stop
drinking coincided with my willingness to accept the suggestions of
the men and women of A.A. I had to surrender, for only by reaching
out to God and my fellows could I be rescued.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
We got a kick out of the first few drinks, before we got stupefied by
alcohol. For a while, the world seemed to look brighter. But how
about the letdown, the terrible depression that comes the morning
after? In A.A., we get a real kick, not a false feeling of exhilaration,
but a real feeling of satisfaction with ourselves and self-respect. And
a feeling of friendliness toward the world. We got a sort of pleasure
from drinking. For a while we thought we were happy. But it's only an
illusion. The hangover the next day is the opposite of pleasure. In
A.A., am I getting real pleasure and serenity and peace?
Meditation For The Day
I will practice love, because lack of love will block the way. I will try
to see good in all people, those I like and also those who fret me and
go against the grain. They are all children of God. I will try to give
love, otherwise how can I dwell in God's spirit, whence nothing
unloving can come? I will try to get along with all people, because the
more love I give away, the more I will have.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may do all I can to love others, in spite of
their many faults. I pray that as I love, so will I be loved.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Foundation For Life, p. 33
We discover that we receive guidance for our lives to just about the
extent that we stop making demands upon God to give it to us on
order and on our terms.
<< << << >> >> >>
In praying, we ask simply that throughout the day God place in us the
best understanding of His will that we can have for that day, and that
we be given the grace by which we may carry it out.
<< << << >> >> >>
There is a direct linkage among self-examination, meditation, and
prayer. Taken separately, these practices can bring much relief and
benefit. But when they are logically related and interwoven, the result
is an unshakable foundation for life.
12 & 12
1. p. 104
2. p. 102
3. p. 98
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Why do you need those meetings?
Staying active.
Friends and relatives are often grateful when they witness an alcoholic's dramatic recovery after years of horror and pain. However, they sometimes fail to understand the importance of meetings after the alcoholic has been sober for months or years. "Do you have to go to another meeting this week?" a spouse might say, "You're sober now. Why do you need THOSE people?"
Some AA members probably do use the meetings simply as a social outlet and attend more than they need. But no other person can really determine what you or I need to maintain sobriety. Moreover, even in sobriety, we are always dealing with alcohol, which can come back into our lives with stunning force if we ever become careless or foolish. It is much better to go to more meetings than we need than to attend too few or none at all.
There is another side as well. The meetings need us. By attending meetings, we are carrying the AA message and providing a haven for desperate newcomers who need our help.
However, we should be tolerant and understanding when others are critical of our zealous attendance of meetings. It is not necessary that they understand our need. It is only necessary that we understand!
I will remember today that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. I don't want to change anything----including meeting attendance----, which is necessary for my continued sobriety.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
We must believe the things we teach our children.-------Woodrow Wilson
It may be easy to say the words and phrases we've heard without really meaning them. Someone says something at a meeting that sounds good. Our counselor has a favorite saying. We may say these words,
but are we taking the time to ask the question. Do I believe what I'm saying?
Step Two speaks of, "Came to believe..." By really believing in the Twelve Steps, we let them become part of us. The more we believe in the Steps the more we turn our lives over to them. Hopefully, over time, the Twelve Steps will guide us more and more. We'll speak to our family with respect we've found in the Twelve Steps. Our spirit must truly believe. Then we can work the Steps.
Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, believing is something that lasts a lifetime. Give me the power to believe even when doubt creeps in.
Action for the Day: My beliefs are changing. Today, in my inventory, I'll ask: Do I believe what I said today?
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
What most of us want is to be heard, to communicate. --Dory Previn
Our personhood is denied; the self we are presenting to the word is negated each time we speak, yet go unheard. "The greatest gift we can give one another is rapt attention." If we want attention, we must also give it. That means letting go of all extraneous thoughts when we're in conversation with someone. We cannot expect to get from others what we are unable or unwilling to give.
Being heard and hearing another person is more than just listening. It's letting ourselves be touched, in an intimate way, by the other's words. We don't want judgment, or shame, or to be discounted when we share who we are with another. We want to know that we have been intimately heard. And when we have a chance to hear another, we listen intently for the words meant for us, words that will stretch our womanhood and bring us closer to our inner selves as well.
The beauty of hearing each other is that it helps us to hear ourselves. We know better who we are when we listen to one another. Every conversation offers us a chance to be real, to help another person be real.
Rapt attention is my greatest gift. If I want to receive it, I must give it.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
On one proposition, however, these men and women are strikingly agreed. Every one of them has gained access to, and believe in, a Power greater than himself. This Power has in each case accomplished the miraculous, the humanly impossible. As a celebrated American statesman put it, “Let’s look at the record.”
p. 50
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
This was around 1935, and it was about this time that I actually started drinking. During the years 1930 to 1935, due to the Depression and its aftermath, business went from bad to worse. I then had my own medical practice in Washington, but the practice slackened and the mail-order business started to fall off. Dad, due to having spent most of his time in a small Virginia town, didn't have too much money, and the money he had saved and the property he had acquired were in Washington. He was in his late fifties, and all that he had undertaken fell upon my shoulders at this death in 1928. For the first couple of years it wasn't too bad because the momentum kept things going. But when things became crucial, everything started going haywire and I started going haywire with them. At this point I believe I had only been intoxicated on maybe three or four occasions, and certainly whiskey was no problem to me.
pp. 235-236
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
These little studies of A.A. Twelve Steps now come to a close. We have been considering so many problems that it may appear that A.A. consists mainly of racking dilemmas and troubleshooting. To a certain extent, that is true. We have been talking about problems because we are problem people who have found a way up and out, and who wish to share our knowledge of that way with all who can use it. For it is only by accepting and solving our problems that we can begin to get right with ourselves and with the world about us, and with Him who presides over us all. Understanding is the key to right principles and attitudes, and right action is the key to good living; therefore the joy of good living is the theme of A.A.'s Twelfth Step.
p. 125
************************************************** *********
While it isn't always easy, if I keep it simple, it works.
I hold firm to faith, so that nothing will weaken my commitment to live in God's light. --Shelley
Regardless of what has happened or whether we understand, we can open ourselves to God's protection and grace. --John Morton
It is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. --Mother Teresa
He who knows the precepts by heart, but fails to practice them, Is like unto one who lights a lamp and then shuts his eyes. --Nagarjuna
Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf. --American Indian Proverb
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
The heart is wiser than the intellect. --Josiah Holland (1819-1881)
Most of us are just about as happy as we make up our minds to be. --Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
WORK
"We work to become, not to
acquire."
-- Elbert Hubbard
I believe it is easier to get well than it is to stay sick --- but we must
be prepared to work for our sobriety. We need to confront the
disease and discover the "person " that God created. The road to
recovery is rewarding because we cast aside those aspects of our
character that have been destroying us and discover our strengths,
virtues and God-given spirituality.
For years I worked for money or for security or for acclaim --- today
I am working on myself for myself. I work at discovering God in His
world, and I am also finding God in my life. I realize that my creative
work coincides with God's will for the world.
Thank You for the gift of work that enables me to discover more of me.
************************************************** *********
"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." James 4:10
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1 John 2:1-6
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Enjoy God. Lord, I hand over all of my cares to You so that for this moment I am peacefully free.
God sends us His message, but we must be willing to receive it and then live it. Lord, when I yield to You, I become free and full of the richness of life.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
Goodwill
" Goodwill is best exemplified in service; proper service is doing the right thing for the right reason."
Basic Text p. ix
The spiritual core of our disease is self-centeredness. In dealing with others, the only motive our addiction taught us was selfishness — we wanted what we wanted when we wanted it. Obsession with self was rooted in the very ground of our lives. In recovery, how do we root self-obsession out?
We reverse the effects of our disease by applying a few very simple spiritual principles. To counteract the self-centeredness of our addiction, we learn to apply the principle of goodwill. Rather than seeking to serve only ourselves, we begin serving others. Rather than thinking only about what we can get out of a situation, we learn to think first of the welfare of others. When faced with a moral choice, we learn to stop, recall spiritual principles, and act appropriately.
As we begin "doing the right thing for the right reason;" we can detect a change in ourselves. Where once we were ruled by self-will, now we are guided by our goodwill for others. The chronic self-centeredness of addiction is losing its hold on us. We are learning to "practice these principles in all our affairs"; we are living in our recovery, not in our disease.
Just for today: Wherever I am, whatever I do, I will seek to serve others, not just myself. When faced with a dilemma, I will try to do the right thing for the right reason.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Fear is the absence of faith. --Paul Tillich
We all experience fear. Sometimes we fear small things that only seem large at the time, like a test in school, or meeting a new boss, or going to the dentist. Sometimes we fear big things like serious illness or death, or that someone we love will come to harm. Fear is healthy, and we all feel it. It keeps us from doing foolish things sometimes, but too much fear can also keep us from doing what we need for our growth.
If we have faith in God and in ourselves, we can turn and face whatever frightens us, believing we can, with help, do what seems impossible. And we will, and the fear will vanish. The important first step in dealing with fear is to take action--either by tackling what we fear ourselves, or by asking for help. Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.
What am I most afraid of?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
To be alive is power,
Existing in itself,
Without a further function,
Omnipotence enough.
--Emily Dickinson
Being a person, a man, in this world is an amazing gift. A spiritual awakening promised by this program is open to us. But today, not all of us feel powerful and alive. We may feel weak, inadequate to our task, perplexed, or stymied. Is this a day in which we are filled with exuberance for the gift of life? Or is this a day when we're feeling subdued by life's burdens?
Perhaps we need to evaluate our perspective. Are we trying to control something or someone? Are we acting as if the world should be as we want rather than as it is? Have our individual wills exceeded their natural bounds and spoiled the simple joy of being "without a further function"?
May I find the pleasure and exuberance today that come with being alive. The simple power to be a person is "omnipotence enough."
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Trusting Our Higher Power
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood him. --Step Three of Al-Anon
So much talk about a Higher Power, God, as we understand God. So much joy as we come to understand Him. Spirituality and spiritual growth are the foundations of change. Recovery from codependency is not a do it yourself task.
Is God a relentless taskmaster? A hardhearted, shaming wizard with tricks up the sleeve? Is God deaf? Uncaring? Haphazard? Unforgiving?
No.
A loving God, a caring God. That is the God of our recovery No more pain than is necessary for usefulness, healing, and cleansing. As much goodness and joy as our heart can hold, as soon as our heart is healed, open, and ready to receive God: approving, accepting, instantly forgiving.
God has planned little gifts along the way to brighten our day/and sometimes big, delightful surprises perfectly timed, perfect for us.
A Master Artist, God will weave together all our joy, sadness and experience to create a portrait of our life with depth, beauty, sensitivity, color, humor, and feeling.
God as we understand Him: A loving God. The God of our recovery.
Today, I will open myself to the care of a loving God. Then, I will let God show me love.
As I gently pull back each layer that has been blocking me from being the best of who I am, I dare look a bit further and then a bit further yet. I know that I am not alone on this path and God is guiding me every inch of the way. --Ruth Fishel
****************************************
Journey To The Heart
Cherish Today’s Lessons
“I’m brokenhearted about my divorce,” the man said. “I’ve spent four years searching for a new wife, trying to recreate my family, trying to jam the pieces of the picture back in place. All I’ve gotten from my desperate search is more pain and anguish. It’s hurt other people. It’s hurt me. I’m tired of trying to manipulate other people to meet my own needs, to postpone my own grief.
Some of us may be desperately trying to recreate the life we once had. But fear, pain, and the desperation won’t attract the answer we’re seeking. Desperation attracts desperation. Pain attracts pain. And so the downward spiral goes. Yes, loss hurts. Sometimes life hurts,too. But loss can’t be negotiated. Becoming obsessed with putting the pieces back in place is an understandable reaction, but it won’t work. Yesterday cannot be superimposed on today. We need to go one step further.
Feel the obsession, and let it go. Feel the desperation, then release that. Come back to the lessons of today. They’re different from the lessons of yesterday, but just as valuable.
We face many losses along the way. People we love disappear from our lives, we may lose a career, money, or something else we valued. We can lose our dreams,too. But looking for quick replacements as a way to avoid feeling pain about the loss won’t work. And we’ll miss the lessons. Before we can go on, we must feel our sadness about what we lost. Losses demand acceptance.
Eventually life will send you new people and new dreams. Cherish this time to grow and learn. Cherish what the universe is teaching you now.
****************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
Let go of unreasonable fears
We had planned on this day for a month. Now it had finally arrived. Mr friend and I were going kayaking in the ocean– it was going to be a first for us both.
We had the kayak and the life preservers. He showed up at the house, ready to go. The sun was shining, and the surf was pounding gently enough to be safe. He had gotten himself all ready for his event. He was wearing a hat, a Hawaiian shirt, and big floppy sandals on his feet.
We put on our life jackets. The man showed up at the door to train us in the proper way to kayak. First it was my turn. I was scared, but not too scared. I knew if we turned over, I’d just float.
I jumped in. The instructor pushed us out before the big wave came. He jumped in. We paddled like heck. When the big wave came, I yelled “ahh” and raised my oar high over my head, like the man said, to be safe. We went through three more of these waves. They looked big. I was scared each time. But soon we passed the surf, and we came to a quiet, clear place. We paddled around for a while. Then it was time to go back to shore and train my friend. I was excited. A little more training, and my friend and I would be ready to go out on the boat together.
I got out of the kayak. My instructor held the boat. My friend began to climb in, so they could push out. Just then a wave came. My friend got nervous and shaky. He screamed. The boat turned over. He fell out.
He lay there in the surf. The boat slipped over close to his head. He started screaming some more.
“It’s just a piece of plastic,” I said quietly. “All you have to do is move it away.”
“I’m drowning,” he said, gasping mouthfuls of water.
“No, your not,” I said. “You’re still on the shore. You’ve got water in your mouth from screaming. All you really need to do is sit up.”
My friend sat up. The instructor politely said the waves were getting a little high, and he didn’t think he’d be able to train my friend that day, and then he left. My friend and I quietly put the kayak away.
Sometimes, saying woohoo means working through our fears. Fear can be a good thing. It can signal danger and protect us. Sometimes our fears are bigger than life and bigger than they need be.
Many of us have panic and anxiety attacks. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. But sometimes we can calm ourselves down by reinforcing a little reality. Maybe we’re not really drowning after all. Maybe all we have to do to save our lives is just sit up.
Explain to yourself that your fears are unrealistic and you don’t need to be that afraid. Instead of screaming for help and upsetting yourself, learn to calm yourself down.
God, help me let go of my unreasonable fears, the ones that are preventing me from living my life.
****************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Looking back, I realize just how much of my life has been spent in dwelling upon the faults of others. It provided much self-satisfaction, to be sure, but I see now just how subtle and actually perverse the process became. After all was said and done, the net effect of dwelling on the so-called faults of others was self-granted permission to remain comfortably unaware of my own defects. Do I still point my finger at others and thus self-deceptively overlook my own shortcomings?
Today I Pray
May I see that my preoccupation with the faults of others is really a smokescreen to keep me from taking a hard look at my own, as well as a way to bolster my own failing ego. May I check out the “why’s” of my blaming.
Today I Will Remember
Blame-saying
Is game-playing
****************************************
One More Day
Every calamity is a spur and valuable hint. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Events which felt like calamities when we were young have little importance as we get older. Experiences we have labeled “disastrous” — not having a date for the prom or failing a math test — now are unimportant or possible even amusing.
Understanding that many events have only brief importance can help us view current problems more realistically. Not having enough money at the end of the month, family disagreements, and even a flare-up or worsening of a chronic illness are all very important, and they require our attention or adjustment. But we deal with these problems better because we’re learned that few, if any, problems are really “disastrous” They’re inconvenient or even painful, but our lives can accommodate them. We go on.
I won’t see calamities in today’s problems and inconveniences.
************************************
Food For Thought
Giving Thanks
I am a grateful compulsive overeater, abstaining just for today. I am thankful for my life, for the chance to grow and solve problems and love and enjoy what is beautiful. I give thanks for the insights, which have come out of struggle and despair.
I am thankful for OA. Without it, I would still be isolated in a hopeless attempt to control overeating my way, by myself. I give thanks for the serenity and joy which increase daily as I follow the OA program. I give thanks for the love and support, which come to me from fellow members.
Especially, I am thankful for abstinence. By choosing and accepting this gift, I enter a new world of freedom. No longer am I driven by compulsion. I give thanks for the work and play and love which abstinence makes possible.
Accept my thanks.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
~ Love ~
The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved.
Victor Hugo
All of my life I felt unloved. Deep in my soul I was also convinced that I was unworthy of love. Nonetheless I craved love deeply.
In a desperate attempt to feel OK, I forsook the God of my childhood and declared that there was no God. I spiralled further and further into the depths of despair, unable to feel or give love. In my downward spiral, I turned to food to block feelings of unworthiness.
I entered Program dying of addiction as well as the deep sorrow of the loveless. I thought I was different from everyone else, that no one could possibly understand me. I had no peers, no real friends.
However, once in Program I found others just like me! I started to belong and to develop true friendships. In my desire to belong, I worked the Twelve Steps as others did and found a God of My Understanding. GOMU is a loving God. This God supports and guides me while as helping me learn to give and receive love. Love has brought me back to life.
One day at a time ...
Hand-in-hand with my Higher Power, I love and am loved.
~ Michel ~
*****************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Stress the spiritual feature freely. If the man be agnostic or atheist, make it emphatic that HE DOES NOT HAVE TO AGREE WITH YOUR CONCEPTION OF GOD. He can choose any conception he likes, provided it makes sense to him. THE MAIN THING IS THAT HE BE WILLING TO BELIEVE IN A POWER GREATER THAN HIMSELF AND THAT HE LIVE BY SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES. - Pg. 93 - Working With Others
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
One choice you can make in the coming days is to simply allow the loss of your addiction to be true. You will be an emotional orphan for only a short time, because you have a new and loving family in the fellowship.
I reach out to my Spiritual Source for a new understanding, as I adjust to new emotional alliances.
Little Dreams
Today I will do some small thing to make my day more beautiful and positive. I only need to do a little better. I don't need to reach for the moon or become the perfect anything. Achieving little dreams will enhance my sense of self and move me a bit forward. They will add up. They give me something positive to imagine. Little dreams are manageable, they don't overwhelm me and make me feel like I am constantly failing or running in place. They let me feel like I've achieved something real and purposeful. They give my day a positive focus. I will dream a little dream today. I will do something positive that gets me closer to a goal or makes a contribution to my world. Rather than complain about what isn't here that I want, I will take baby steps to create something.
I will take one small step
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
When do you begin helping a newcomer? When you see a newcomer. Don't sweat it; just do it.
When I work with a drunk, the drunk I'm working on is me.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Don't force solutions.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
As I gently pull back each layer that has been blocking me from being the best of who I am, I dare look a bit further and then a bit further yet. I know that I am not alone on this path and God is guiding me every inch of the way.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I looked for God all over. And that's where I found him; All over. - Phil P.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 2, 2018 12:21:29 GMT -5
February 3
Daily Reflections
FILLING THE VOID
We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. "Do I now
believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater
than myself?" As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is
willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his
way.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 47
I was always fascinated with the study of scientific principles. I was
emotionally and physically distant from people while I pursued
Absolute Knowledge. God and spirituality were meaningless
academic exercises. I was a modern man of science, knowledge was
my Higher Power. Given the right set of equations, life was merely
another problem to solve. Yet my inner self was dying from my outer
man's solution to life's problems and the solution was alcohol. In
spite of my intelligence, alcohol became my Higher Power. It was
through the unconditional love which emanated from A.A. people and
meetings that I was able to discard alcohol as my Higher Power. The
great void was filled. I was no longer lonely and apart from life. I
had found a true power greater than myself, I had found God's love.
There is only one equation which really matters to me now: God is in
A.A.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
By drinking, we escaped from boredom for a while. We almost forgot
our troubles. But when we sobered up, our troubles were twice as
bad. Drinking had only made them worse. In A.A., we really escape
boredom. Nobody's bored at an A.A. meeting. We stick around after
it's over and we hate to leave. Drinking gave us a temporary feeling
of importance. When we're drinking, we kid ourselves into thinking
we are somebody. We tell tall stories to build ourselves up. In A.A.,
we don't want that kind of self-importance. We have real
self-respect and honesty and humility. Have I found something much
better and more satisfactory than drinking?
Meditation For The Day
I believe that my faith and God's power can accomplish anything in
human relationships. There is no limit to what these two things can
do in this field. Only believe, and anything can happen. Saint Paul
said; "I can do all things through Him who strengtheneth me." All
walls that divide you from other human beings can fall by your faith
and God's power. These are the two essentials. Everyone can be
moved by these.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to strengthen my faith day by day. I pray that I
may rely more and more on God's power.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
"Not Allied With Any Sect . . .", p. 34
"While A.A. has restored thousands of poor Christians to their
churches, and has made believers out of atheists and agnostics, it has
also made good A.A.'s out of those belonging to the Buddhist, Islamic,
and Jewish faiths. For example, we question very much whether our
Buddhist members in Japan would ever have joined this Society had
A.A. officially stamped itself a strictly Christian movement.
"You can easily convince yourself of this by imagining that A.A. started
among the Buddhists and that they then told you you couldn't join them
unless you became a Buddhist, too. If you were a Christian alcoholic
under these circumstances, you might well turn your face to the wall and
die."
Letter, 1954
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
No Coincidences_____Guidance
The early history of AA still sparkles with fortunate coincidences that
moved the fellowship forward. It was miraculous, for example, that Bill W's
telephone call in 1935 was to a woman who "just happened" to know Dr. Bob, a
suffering alcoholic.
When we are in tune with AA's spiritual program, we know with absolute
certainty that there really are no coincidences. Our Higher Power is in charge
and all things really are working together for good, even though this is not
always apparent at first.
If we let this Higher Power guide and direct our lives, we will be
thrilled and delighted by a number of wonder coincidences. We may happen to pick up
the magazine or book that gives us information and meet a person whose advice
changes our lives. Or we follow a hunch and make an unusual decision that
leads to a number of opportunities we never dreamed of.
We cannot force these fortunate "coincidences" to happen or direct their
course, except by following the program every day. But we never need fret
about the future if we have placed our lives in God's hands. There are no
coincidences…. Only the hand of God ceaselessly at work.
I will work this day as if everything depended on me, but at the same
time I will know that everything really depends on God.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.---Erma Bombeck
We often hear, "Stick with the winners." Not everyone in Twelve Step meetings is there for recovery.. But many members follow a Twelve Step way of living. We need to find those people. This is really true when it comes to finding a sponsor. Look for a sponsor who gets good things from his or her program. Why pick a sponsor who isn't happy in the program? Recovery is hard work. You deserve the best. Find the best sponsor you can. Remember, ours is a selfish program. we're fighting for our lives.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me find the best in my program. Help me find a good sponsor, so we can get as much from each other and this program as we can.
Today's Action: Today I'll think about what it means to have a good sponsor.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
When we begin to take our failures non-seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves. --Katherine Mansfield
Perfectionism and its control over our lives stands seriously in the way of our growth and well-being, emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. Life's lessons come through failures probably more than successes. Through our failures we learn humility. We learn to look to others for help and guidance. We learn how to let others fail, too. We fail because we are human.
When we no longer fear failure, we are free to attempt greater feats. We dare to learn more, and life is fuller for it--not just our own lives, but the lives that we touch.
Laughter over our mistakes eases the risk of trying again. Laughter keeps us young, and the lighthearted find more pleasure in each day.
I will fail at something I try today. I can laugh about it, though. My laughter will open the way to another try.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Here are thousands of men and women, worldly indeed. They flatly declare that since they have come to believe in a Power greater than themselves, to take a certain attitude toward that Power, and to do certain simple things. There has been a revolutionary change in their way of living and thinking. In the face of collapse and despair, in the face of the total failure of their human resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction flowed into them. This happened soon after they wholeheartedly met a few simple requirements. Once confused and baffled by the seeming futility of existence, they show the underlying reasons why they were making heavy going of life. Leaving aside the drink question, they tell why living was so unsatisfactory. They show how the change came over them. When many hundreds of people are able to say that the consciousness of the Presence of God is today the most important fact of their lives, they present a powerful reason why one should have faith.
pp. 50-51
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
My father had purchased a restaurant, which he felt would take up some of my spare time, and that's how I met Vi. She came in for her dinner. I'd known her five or six months. To get rid of me one evening, she decided to go to the movies. She and another friend. A very good friend of mine who owned a drugstore across the street from us came by only about two hours later and said he had seen Vi downtown. I said that she told me she was going to the movies, and I became foolishly disturbed about it, and as things snowballed, I decided to go out and drink. That's the first time I was ever really drunk in my life. The fear of the loss of Vi and the feeling that, though she had the right to do as she pleased, she should have told me the truth about it, upset me. That was my trouble. I thought all women should be perfect.
p. 236
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
With each passing day of our lives, may every one of us sense more deeply the inner meaning of A.A. simple prayer: God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, Courage to change the things we can, And wisdom to know the difference.
p. 125
************************************************** *********
Decide to be happy, knowing it's an attitude, a habit gained from daily practice, and not a result or payoff. --Denis Waitley
I depend on God, as God has a plan for my life. --Shelley
If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be fulfilled. If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. --Lao Tzu
Only if we follow can God lead the way. --Sandra Roberts Still
To live with the least amount of frustration, you must remind yourself that everything always works out for the best.
Make the most of every situation, especially those you dread.
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
STATISTICS
"There are three kinds of lies,
lies, d**ned lies and statistics."
-- Benjamin Disraeli
I used to be able to hide behind anything --- even statistics. Figures,
and the quoting of figures, can expand the ego and keep you sick.
They can confuse the issues by making everything complicated.
In the field of alcoholism statistics are important for comparison and
research but they can never be a substitute for a "rigorous honesty"
that is based upon personal experience. I do not think that statistics
alone stopped a person from drinking, but the sharing of a personal
suffering and victory can produce an identification that leads to
change.
As a recovering alcoholic I need to know the statistics concerning my
disease but I also need to know that today's recovery is based upon
yesterday's honest sharing.
Let me always see the faces behind the numbers.
************************************************** *********
"He will cover you with his feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." Psalms 91:4
I sought the Lord and He answered me. Psalm 34:4
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?' or ‘What will we drink?' or ‘What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:25-34
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
As God's children we have inherited all of His promises. Faith in You, Lord, refreshes my soul as nothing else can.
To have courage, think courageous, act courageous, and pray to God for courage. Lord, You are full of love for all who come to You.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
We Need Each Other
"Anyone may join us, regardless of age, race, sexual identity creed, religion, or lack of religion."
Basic Text p. 9
Addiction closed our minds to anything new or different. We didn't need anyone or anything, we thought. There was nothing of value to be found in anyone from a different neighborhood, a different racial or ethnic background, or a different social or economic class. We may have thought that if it was different, it was bad.
In recovery, we can't afford such attitudes. We came to NA because our very best thinking had gotten us nowhere. We must open our minds to experience that works, no matter where it comes from, if we hope to grow in our recovery.
Regardless of our personal backgrounds, we all have two things in common with one another in NA that we share with no one else: our disease, and our recovery. We depend on one another for our shared experience—and the broader that experience, the better. We need every bit of experience, every different angle on our program we can find to meet the many challenges of living clean.
Recovery often isn't easy. The strength we need to recover, we draw from our fellow NA members. Today, we are grateful for the diversity of our group's membership, for in that diversity we find our strength.
Just for today: I know that the more diverse my groups experience is, the better able my group will be to offer me support in the different circumstances I find myself facing. Today, I welcome addicts from all backgrounds to my home group.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole . . . nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it . . .. It was a hobbithole, and that means comfort. --J. R. R. Talking
Home is a place of comfort. When we go away and have to adjust to a different bed and someone else's cooking, we quickly discover how comfortable our own home is. Comfort in a home is more than just a familiar bed and favorite food; it is something we can give to each other. We can make home a place where we can relax and be ourselves without fear of rejection.
Each of us needs a special little place where we can come and seek refuge from the world, our own little "fort." Children are often busy making "forts," but all of us in the family need to work at making the place where we live together a fort where we can all gather for rest.
What can I add to our comfort today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Compassion is ... a spirituality and a way of living and walking through life. It is the way we treat all there is in life ourselves, our bodies, our imaginations and dreams, our neighbors, our enemies.... Compassion is a spirituality as if creation mattered. It is treating all creation as holy and as divine..., which is what it is. --Matthew Fox
In our search for growth, serenity, and contentment, we can start at a very practical level. Simply treat ourselves, inside and out, and everything around us in a respectful and caring way. Many men have not learned how to do that. Some of us have learned to accept abuse and pain, or to be tough and abusive.
We can learn about being in a healthy relationship, about befriending ourselves and others and all of creation. With practice, we will learn more and more about having compassion. As we do, our self-centeredness and our self-pity will fall away.
Today, I will be compassionate toward each of the details of creation, and practice acceptance both within and. outside myself.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Rejecting Shame
Shame can be a powerful force in our life. It is the trademark of dysfunctional families.
Authentic, legitimate guilt is the feeling or thought that what we did is not okay. It indicates that our behavior needs to be corrected or altered, or an amend needs to be made.
Shame is an overwhelming negative sense that who we are isn't okay. Shame is a no win situation. We can change our behaviors, but we can't change who we are. Shame can propel us deeper into self-defeating and sometimes self-destructive behaviors.
What are the things that can cause us to feel shame? We may feel ashamed when we have a problem or someone we love has a problem. We may feel ashamed for making mistakes or for succeeding. We may feel ashamed about certain feelings or thoughts. We may feel ashamed when we have fun, feel good, or are vulnerable enough to show ourselves to others. Some of us feel ashamed just for being.
Shame is a spell others put on us to control us, to keep us playing our part in dysfunctional systems. It is a spell many of us have learned to put on ourselves.
Learning to reject shame can change the quality of our life. It's okay to be who we are. We are good enough. Our feelings are okay. Our past is okay. It's okay to have problems, make mistakes, and struggle to find our path. It's okay to be human and cherish our humanness.
Accepting ourselves is the first step toward recovery. Letting go of shame about who we are is the next important step.
Today, I will watch for signs that I have fallen into shame's trap. If I get hooked into shame, I will get myself out by accepting myself and affirming that it's okay to be who I am.
I am no longer a victim of my past. I am free to move in new directions today. I am at choice in my life. --Ruth Fishel
****************************************
Journey To The Heart
Break Through Your Resistance
We sometimes resist new lessons. And what we resist the most is likely to be what we most need to learn.
Our lessons usually come with inner conflict. The action we should be taking, the idea we should be learning is sometimes hidden behind a wall of resistance. There’s a border, a barrier we need to cross to get into the heart of the lesson. Most times, that barrier is within us. Lessons require us to let go of old feelings, old beliefs. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be lessons. We’d already know them. Sometimes, the very thing we feel guiltiest about doing, the place we’re most resistant to visiting, the person we’re most convinced we shouldn’t contact, or the behavior we’re tormenting ourselves most about is exactly what we need to be doing.
And more often than not, the lesson we’re learning is not what we think it is. We need to embrace the surprise element of life– embrace the mystery of life as it unfolds, as the lessons appear, as we grow and change.
Do what you need to do to break through your resistance. Often that means simply seeing your resistance for what it is. Remember that the point of greatest resistance is often the place of greatest learning.
****************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
Deal with panic and anxiety
I can still remember the day. It was shortly after my divorce. I was a single parent with no money, and two young children. It came upon me suddenly, out of the blue. I couldn’t breathe. My chest hurt. My heart hurt. I couldn’t stop it. I panicked. The more I panicked, the worst it got.
I called 911. The ambulance came. They gave me some oxygen, then politely told me not to worry; it was just a panic attack. I had experienced another one of those attacks, a long time ago. Right after I first married the children’s father, I had shut myself down from anxiety. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak from the fear I felt.
Many people experience panic and anxiety attacks. Maybe it’s happened to you. Maybe you’ve had only one or two incidents of it; maybe panic and anxiety make regular appearances in your life. Most people I’ve met have experienced fear.
These are a few little clues I’ve learned that have helped me to deal with my own attacks.
. Breathe. Whenever you panic, our breath comes in shallow, awkward spurts. Be deliberately breathing slowly and calmly, we can slow our panc down. We feed it by breathing fast. We put our bodies on hyperalert. If we breath as though we’re relaxed, our bodies will start slowing down.
. Don’t respond to your panic with more fear. Sometimes we double what we’re going through by having an emotional reaction to our initial reaction. We’re afraid, because we’re feeling fear. Let yourself go through the original feeling without reacting to yourself.
. Instead of focusing on your fear, let yourself be aware that you’re feeling it, but deliberately do something that calms you down. You won’t want to do this. Your panic will want you to do something else, something that feeds panic and makes it grow. Do something calming and quiet, even though that activity doesn’t feel right to you. It could be reading a meditation, listening to some quiet music, taking a shower, or saying a prayer. We all have things that help calm us down. Find something that works for you.
If panic and anxiety are a continual problem, seek professional help. But if they are only isolated incidents in your life, you may be able to help yourself.
One tool that has never let me down when it comes to anxiety and fear is working Step One of the Twelve Step program. I admit that I’m powerless over my panic and fear, and my life has become unamangeable. Then I ask God what I need to do next.
Don’t let your fears run your life. Make it a goal to get through them. Ask them what they’re trying to tell you. You may be on a path that’s new, and your body is just reacting to that. There may be a hidden emotion underneath all this fear, something you’d rather not see. Or maybe you and your life are just changing so fast that everything in your world is brand new. Be gentle and loving with yourself and others.
God, help me welcome all the new experiences in my life. Give me the courage to calmly walk my path today, knowing I’m right where I need to be.
****************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
The Program enables us to discover two roadblocks that keep us from seeing the value and comfort of the spiritual approach: self-justification and self-righteousness. The first grimly assures me that I’m always right. The second mistakenly comforts me with the delusion that I’m better than other people — “holier than thou.” Just for Today, will I pause abruptly while rationalizing and ask myself, “Why am I doing this? Is this self-justification really honest?”
Today I Pray
May I overcome the need to be “always right” and know the cleansing feeling of release that comes with admitting, openly, a mistake. May I be wary of setting myself up as an example of self-control and fortitude, and give credit where it is due — to a Higher Power.
Today I Will Remember
To err is human, but I need to admit it.
****************************************
One More Day
Every new adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem…. – Eric Hoffer
Wouldn’t it be nice if our self-esteem could be as firmly rooted as our personalities seem to have been by the time we started school? Unfortunately that’s not often the case. Self-esteem is very delicate and remains subject to the whims of all external circumstances including how people act toward us and how we react, in turn, to them.
An illness that changes how we look or how we think of ourselves can be continually demanding. Fighting the battle to maintain a good self-image requires adjustments of our time and goals. Making these adjustments turns our disappointments into chances for success.
I must continue to work on being a whole person and try to develop all my facets — spiritual, emotional, and physical.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
~ Being Joyful ~
As I stumble through this life, help me to create more laughter than tears.
Never let me become so indifferent that I will fail to see the wonder in the eyes of a child.
Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people, make them forget,
at least momentarily, the unpleasantness in their lives.
And in my final moment, may I hear You whisper:
"When you made My people smile, you made Me smile."
A Clown's Prayer (Author Unknown)
I have made so many people angry with me, so many people cry, so many people worry and despair of me. So many people have been resentful of me. My disease dictated how I lived my life, if you could call it living.
Then I came to this program and I found a new way to live, and I found joy such as I have never found before, anywhere. The program taught me not to take life so seriously. The Big Book of AA tells me on page 132, "But we are not a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn't want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life." I need to remember that. I need to work my steps, stay in conscious contact with my Higher Power, but boy oh boy, do I ever need to remember that I need to learn that I am not a bad person getting good, just a sick person getting well. Even sick people have fun. I'm a sick person recovering on a daily basis from a terminal disease that was killing me, but recovery snatched me from the brink of death. Now I can't help but see the beauty of this crazy, wonderful world we live in.
One day at a time ...
I am warmed and my heart sings at the thought that today I have made someone smile. Please, dear God, let me continue to do so.
~ Marlene ~
*****************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Perhaps your husband has been living in that strange world of alcoholism where everything is distorted and exaggerated. You can see that he really does love you with his better self. Of course, there is such a thing as incompatibility, but in nearly every instance the alcoholic only seems to be unloving and inconsiderate; it is usually because he is warped and sickened that he says and does these appalling things. Today most of our men are better husbands and fathers than ever before. - Pg. 108 - To Wives
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
In this moment you may feel the most human and most powerless time of your entire life. In the coming weeks and months, many changes will sweep over your life and your person. Try not to hide from the profound changes, but to understand them.
Keep me steady that I may understand my world as it changes from day to day and even from moment to moment.
Giving
Today I give with both hands. Giving for its own sake is the spiritual way and actually releases the gift. When I give with one hand and take with the other, I give only half of what I have and receive only half of what might be given to me. I limit myself in two ways. Somehow the universe responds to clear intention. When I fully release a gift, it goes to where it is supposed to go and what returns to me comes when and how it is right.
I am able to give with both hands
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Life on earth is one of polarity. We feel the comfort of love because we know the pain of rejection; we know the satisfaction of a full belly because we know the emptiness of hunger. Without darkness we can't appreciate the light; without cold we can't cherish the warmth. We know the joy of recovery because we came from the depths of despair.
I am not what I am in spite of my disease; I am what I am because of it.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Alcoholics and addicts - fast talkers, slow thinkers.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I am no longer a victim of my past. I am free to move in new directions today. I am at choice in my life.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
We're all rebels who want to be hugged. - Charlie C.
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Post by caressa222 on Feb 2, 2018 23:10:21 GMT -5
February 3
Daily Reflections
FILLING THE VOID
We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. "Do I now
believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater
than myself?" As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is
willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his
way.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 47
I was always fascinated with the study of scientific principles. I was
emotionally and physically distant from people while I pursued
Absolute Knowledge. God and spirituality were meaningless
academic exercises. I was a modern man of science, knowledge was
my Higher Power. Given the right set of equations, life was merely
another problem to solve. Yet my inner self was dying from my outer
man's solution to life's problems and the solution was alcohol. In
spite of my intelligence, alcohol became my Higher Power. It was
through the unconditional love which emanated from A.A. people and
meetings that I was able to discard alcohol as my Higher Power. The
great void was filled. I was no longer lonely and apart from life. I
had found a true power greater than myself, I had found God's love.
There is only one equation which really matters to me now: God is in
A.A.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
By drinking, we escaped from boredom for a while. We almost forgot
our troubles. But when we sobered up, our troubles were twice as
bad. Drinking had only made them worse. In A.A., we really escape
boredom. Nobody's bored at an A.A. meeting. We stick around after
it's over and we hate to leave. Drinking gave us a temporary feeling
of importance. When we're drinking, we kid ourselves into thinking
we are somebody. We tell tall stories to build ourselves up. In A.A.,
we don't want that kind of self-importance. We have real
self-respect and honesty and humility. Have I found something much
better and more satisfactory than drinking?
Meditation For The Day
I believe that my faith and God's power can accomplish anything in
human relationships. There is no limit to what these two things can
do in this field. Only believe, and anything can happen. Saint Paul
said; "I can do all things through Him who strengtheneth me." All
walls that divide you from other human beings can fall by your faith
and God's power. These are the two essentials. Everyone can be
moved by these.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to strengthen my faith day by day. I pray that I
may rely more and more on God's power.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
"Not Allied With Any Sect . . .", p. 34
"While A.A. has restored thousands of poor Christians to their
churches, and has made believers out of atheists and agnostics, it has
also made good A.A.'s out of those belonging to the Buddhist, Islamic,
and Jewish faiths. For example, we question very much whether our
Buddhist members in Japan would ever have joined this Society had
A.A. officially stamped itself a strictly Christian movement.
"You can easily convince yourself of this by imagining that A.A. started
among the Buddhists and that they then told you you couldn't join them
unless you became a Buddhist, too. If you were a Christian alcoholic
under these circumstances, you might well turn your face to the wall and
die."
Letter, 1954
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
No Coincidences_____Guidance
The early history of AA still sparkles with fortunate coincidences that
moved the fellowship forward. It was miraculous, for example, that Bill W's
telephone call in 1935 was to a woman who "just happened" to know Dr. Bob, a
suffering alcoholic.
When we are in tune with AA's spiritual program, we know with absolute
certainty that there really are no coincidences. Our Higher Power is in charge
and all things really are working together for good, even though this is not
always apparent at first.
If we let this Higher Power guide and direct our lives, we will be
thrilled and delighted by a number of wonder coincidences. We may happen to pick up
the magazine or book that gives us information and meet a person whose advice
changes our lives. Or we follow a hunch and make an unusual decision that
leads to a number of opportunities we never dreamed of.
We cannot force these fortunate "coincidences" to happen or direct their
course, except by following the program every day. But we never need fret
about the future if we have placed our lives in God's hands. There are no
coincidences…. Only the hand of God ceaselessly at work.
I will work this day as if everything depended on me, but at the same
time I will know that everything really depends on God.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.---Erma Bombeck
We often hear, "Stick with the winners." Not everyone in Twelve Step meetings is there for recovery.. But many members follow a Twelve Step way of living. We need to find those people. This is really true when it comes to finding a sponsor. Look for a sponsor who gets good things from his or her program. Why pick a sponsor who isn't happy in the program? Recovery is hard work. You deserve the best. Find the best sponsor you can. Remember, ours is a selfish program. we're fighting for our lives.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me find the best in my program. Help me find a good sponsor, so we can get as much from each other and this program as we can.
Today's Action: Today I'll think about what it means to have a good sponsor.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
When we begin to take our failures non-seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves. --Katherine Mansfield
Perfectionism and its control over our lives stands seriously in the way of our growth and well-being, emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. Life's lessons come through failures probably more than successes. Through our failures we learn humility. We learn to look to others for help and guidance. We learn how to let others fail, too. We fail because we are human.
When we no longer fear failure, we are free to attempt greater feats. We dare to learn more, and life is fuller for it--not just our own lives, but the lives that we touch.
Laughter over our mistakes eases the risk of trying again. Laughter keeps us young, and the lighthearted find more pleasure in each day.
I will fail at something I try today. I can laugh about it, though. My laughter will open the way to another try.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Here are thousands of men and women, worldly indeed. They flatly declare that since they have come to believe in a Power greater than themselves, to take a certain attitude toward that Power, and to do certain simple things. There has been a revolutionary change in their way of living and thinking. In the face of collapse and despair, in the face of the total failure of their human resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction flowed into them. This happened soon after they wholeheartedly met a few simple requirements. Once confused and baffled by the seeming futility of existence, they show the underlying reasons why they were making heavy going of life. Leaving aside the drink question, they tell why living was so unsatisfactory. They show how the change came over them. When many hundreds of people are able to say that the consciousness of the Presence of God is today the most important fact of their lives, they present a powerful reason why one should have faith.
pp. 50-51
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
My father had purchased a restaurant, which he felt would take up some of my spare time, and that's how I met Vi. She came in for her dinner. I'd known her five or six months. To get rid of me one evening, she decided to go to the movies. She and another friend. A very good friend of mine who owned a drugstore across the street from us came by only about two hours later and said he had seen Vi downtown. I said that she told me she was going to the movies, and I became foolishly disturbed about it, and as things snowballed, I decided to go out and drink. That's the first time I was ever really drunk in my life. The fear of the loss of Vi and the feeling that, though she had the right to do as she pleased, she should have told me the truth about it, upset me. That was my trouble. I thought all women should be perfect.
p. 236
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
With each passing day of our lives, may every one of us sense more deeply the inner meaning of A.A. simple prayer: God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, Courage to change the things we can, And wisdom to know the difference.
p. 125
************************************************** *********
Decide to be happy, knowing it's an attitude, a habit gained from daily practice, and not a result or payoff. --Denis Waitley
I depend on God, as God has a plan for my life. --Shelley
If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be fulfilled. If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. --Lao Tzu
Only if we follow can God lead the way. --Sandra Roberts Still
To live with the least amount of frustration, you must remind yourself that everything always works out for the best.
Make the most of every situation, especially those you dread.
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
STATISTICS
"There are three kinds of lies,
lies, d**ned lies and statistics."
-- Benjamin Disraeli
I used to be able to hide behind anything --- even statistics. Figures,
and the quoting of figures, can expand the ego and keep you sick.
They can confuse the issues by making everything complicated.
In the field of alcoholism statistics are important for comparison and
research but they can never be a substitute for a "rigorous honesty"
that is based upon personal experience. I do not think that statistics
alone stopped a person from drinking, but the sharing of a personal
suffering and victory can produce an identification that leads to
change.
As a recovering alcoholic I need to know the statistics concerning my
disease but I also need to know that today's recovery is based upon
yesterday's honest sharing.
Let me always see the faces behind the numbers.
************************************************** *********
"He will cover you with his feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." Psalms 91:4
I sought the Lord and He answered me. Psalm 34:4
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?' or ‘What will we drink?' or ‘What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:25-34
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
As God's children we have inherited all of His promises. Faith in You, Lord, refreshes my soul as nothing else can.
To have courage, think courageous, act courageous, and pray to God for courage. Lord, You are full of love for all who come to You.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
We Need Each Other
"Anyone may join us, regardless of age, race, sexual identity creed, religion, or lack of religion."
Basic Text p. 9
Addiction closed our minds to anything new or different. We didn't need anyone or anything, we thought. There was nothing of value to be found in anyone from a different neighborhood, a different racial or ethnic background, or a different social or economic class. We may have thought that if it was different, it was bad.
In recovery, we can't afford such attitudes. We came to NA because our very best thinking had gotten us nowhere. We must open our minds to experience that works, no matter where it comes from, if we hope to grow in our recovery.
Regardless of our personal backgrounds, we all have two things in common with one another in NA that we share with no one else: our disease, and our recovery. We depend on one another for our shared experience—and the broader that experience, the better. We need every bit of experience, every different angle on our program we can find to meet the many challenges of living clean.
Recovery often isn't easy. The strength we need to recover, we draw from our fellow NA members. Today, we are grateful for the diversity of our group's membership, for in that diversity we find our strength.
Just for today: I know that the more diverse my groups experience is, the better able my group will be to offer me support in the different circumstances I find myself facing. Today, I welcome addicts from all backgrounds to my home group.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole . . . nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it . . .. It was a hobbithole, and that means comfort. --J. R. R. Talking
Home is a place of comfort. When we go away and have to adjust to a different bed and someone else's cooking, we quickly discover how comfortable our own home is. Comfort in a home is more than just a familiar bed and favorite food; it is something we can give to each other. We can make home a place where we can relax and be ourselves without fear of rejection.
Each of us needs a special little place where we can come and seek refuge from the world, our own little "fort." Children are often busy making "forts," but all of us in the family need to work at making the place where we live together a fort where we can all gather for rest.
What can I add to our comfort today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Compassion is ... a spirituality and a way of living and walking through life. It is the way we treat all there is in life ourselves, our bodies, our imaginations and dreams, our neighbors, our enemies.... Compassion is a spirituality as if creation mattered. It is treating all creation as holy and as divine..., which is what it is. --Matthew Fox
In our search for growth, serenity, and contentment, we can start at a very practical level. Simply treat ourselves, inside and out, and everything around us in a respectful and caring way. Many men have not learned how to do that. Some of us have learned to accept abuse and pain, or to be tough and abusive.
We can learn about being in a healthy relationship, about befriending ourselves and others and all of creation. With practice, we will learn more and more about having compassion. As we do, our self-centeredness and our self-pity will fall away.
Today, I will be compassionate toward each of the details of creation, and practice acceptance both within and. outside myself.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Rejecting Shame
Shame can be a powerful force in our life. It is the trademark of dysfunctional families.
Authentic, legitimate guilt is the feeling or thought that what we did is not okay. It indicates that our behavior needs to be corrected or altered, or an amend needs to be made.
Shame is an overwhelming negative sense that who we are isn't okay. Shame is a no win situation. We can change our behaviors, but we can't change who we are. Shame can propel us deeper into self-defeating and sometimes self-destructive behaviors.
What are the things that can cause us to feel shame? We may feel ashamed when we have a problem or someone we love has a problem. We may feel ashamed for making mistakes or for succeeding. We may feel ashamed about certain feelings or thoughts. We may feel ashamed when we have fun, feel good, or are vulnerable enough to show ourselves to others. Some of us feel ashamed just for being.
Shame is a spell others put on us to control us, to keep us playing our part in dysfunctional systems. It is a spell many of us have learned to put on ourselves.
Learning to reject shame can change the quality of our life. It's okay to be who we are. We are good enough. Our feelings are okay. Our past is okay. It's okay to have problems, make mistakes, and struggle to find our path. It's okay to be human and cherish our humanness.
Accepting ourselves is the first step toward recovery. Letting go of shame about who we are is the next important step.
Today, I will watch for signs that I have fallen into shame's trap. If I get hooked into shame, I will get myself out by accepting myself and affirming that it's okay to be who I am.
I am no longer a victim of my past. I am free to move in new directions today. I am at choice in my life. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Break Through Your Resistance
We sometimes resist new lessons. And what we resist the most is likely to be what we most need to learn.
Our lessons usually come with inner conflict. The action we should be taking, the idea we should be learning is sometimes hidden behind a wall of resistance. There’s a border, a barrier we need to cross to get into the heart of the lesson. Most times, that barrier is within us. Lessons require us to let go of old feelings, old beliefs. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be lessons. We’d already know them. Sometimes, the very thing we feel guiltiest about doing, the place we’re most resistant to visiting, the person we’re most convinced we shouldn’t contact, or the behavior we’re tormenting ourselves most about is exactly what we need to be doing.
And more often than not, the lesson we’re learning is not what we think it is. We need to embrace the surprise element of life– embrace the mystery of life as it unfolds, as the lessons appear, as we grow and change.
Do what you need to do to break through your resistance. Often that means simply seeing your resistance for what it is. Remember that the point of greatest resistance is often the place of greatest learning.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Deal with panic and anxiety
I can still remember the day. It was shortly after my divorce. I was a single parent with no money, and two young children. It came upon me suddenly, out of the blue. I couldn’t breathe. My chest hurt. My heart hurt. I couldn’t stop it. I panicked. The more I panicked, the worst it got.
I called 911. The ambulance came. They gave me some oxygen, then politely told me not to worry; it was just a panic attack. I had experienced another one of those attacks, a long time ago. Right after I first married the children’s father, I had shut myself down from anxiety. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak from the fear I felt.
Many people experience panic and anxiety attacks. Maybe it’s happened to you. Maybe you’ve had only one or two incidents of it; maybe panic and anxiety make regular appearances in your life. Most people I’ve met have experienced fear.
These are a few little clues I’ve learned that have helped me to deal with my own attacks.
. Breathe. Whenever you panic, our breath comes in shallow, awkward spurts. Be deliberately breathing slowly and calmly, we can slow our panc down. We feed it by breathing fast. We put our bodies on hyperalert. If we breath as though we’re relaxed, our bodies will start slowing down.
. Don’t respond to your panic with more fear. Sometimes we double what we’re going through by having an emotional reaction to our initial reaction. We’re afraid, because we’re feeling fear. Let yourself go through the original feeling without reacting to yourself.
. Instead of focusing on your fear, let yourself be aware that you’re feeling it, but deliberately do something that calms you down. You won’t want to do this. Your panic will want you to do something else, something that feeds panic and makes it grow. Do something calming and quiet, even though that activity doesn’t feel right to you. It could be reading a meditation, listening to some quiet music, taking a shower, or saying a prayer. We all have things that help calm us down. Find something that works for you.
If panic and anxiety are a continual problem, seek professional help. But if they are only isolated incidents in your life, you may be able to help yourself.
One tool that has never let me down when it comes to anxiety and fear is working Step One of the Twelve Step program. I admit that I’m powerless over my panic and fear, and my life has become unamangeable. Then I ask God what I need to do next.
Don’t let your fears run your life. Make it a goal to get through them. Ask them what they’re trying to tell you. You may be on a path that’s new, and your body is just reacting to that. There may be a hidden emotion underneath all this fear, something you’d rather not see. Or maybe you and your life are just changing so fast that everything in your world is brand new. Be gentle and loving with yourself and others.
God, help me welcome all the new experiences in my life. Give me the courage to calmly walk my path today, knowing I’m right where I need to be.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
The Program enables us to discover two roadblocks that keep us from seeing the value and comfort of the spiritual approach: self-justification and self-righteousness. The first grimly assures me that I’m always right. The second mistakenly comforts me with the delusion that I’m better than other people — “holier than thou.” Just for Today, will I pause abruptly while rationalizing and ask myself, “Why am I doing this? Is this self-justification really honest?”
Today I Pray
May I overcome the need to be “always right” and know the cleansing feeling of release that comes with admitting, openly, a mistake. May I be wary of setting myself up as an example of self-control and fortitude, and give credit where it is due — to a Higher Power.
Today I Will Remember
To err is human, but I need to admit it.
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One More Day
Every new adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem…. – Eric Hoffer
Wouldn’t it be nice if our self-esteem could be as firmly rooted as our personalities seem to have been by the time we started school? Unfortunately that’s not often the case. Self-esteem is very delicate and remains subject to the whims of all external circumstances including how people act toward us and how we react, in turn, to them.
An illness that changes how we look or how we think of ourselves can be continually demanding. Fighting the battle to maintain a good self-image requires adjustments of our time and goals. Making these adjustments turns our disappointments into chances for success.
I must continue to work on being a whole person and try to develop all my facets — spiritual, emotional, and physical.
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One Day At A Time
~ Being Joyful ~
As I stumble through this life, help me to create more laughter than tears.
Never let me become so indifferent that I will fail to see the wonder in the eyes of a child.
Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people, make them forget,
at least momentarily, the unpleasantness in their lives.
And in my final moment, may I hear You whisper:
"When you made My people smile, you made Me smile."
A Clown's Prayer (Author Unknown)
I have made so many people angry with me, so many people cry, so many people worry and despair of me. So many people have been resentful of me. My disease dictated how I lived my life, if you could call it living.
Then I came to this program and I found a new way to live, and I found joy such as I have never found before, anywhere. The program taught me not to take life so seriously. The Big Book of AA tells me on page 132, "But we are not a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn't want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life." I need to remember that. I need to work my steps, stay in conscious contact with my Higher Power, but boy oh boy, do I ever need to remember that I need to learn that I am not a bad person getting good, just a sick person getting well. Even sick people have fun. I'm a sick person recovering on a daily basis from a terminal disease that was killing me, but recovery snatched me from the brink of death. Now I can't help but see the beauty of this crazy, wonderful world we live in.
One day at a time ...
I am warmed and my heart sings at the thought that today I have made someone smile. Please, dear God, let me continue to do so.
~ Marlene ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Perhaps your husband has been living in that strange world of alcoholism where everything is distorted and exaggerated. You can see that he really does love you with his better self. Of course, there is such a thing as incompatibility, but in nearly every instance the alcoholic only seems to be unloving and inconsiderate; it is usually because he is warped and sickened that he says and does these appalling things. Today most of our men are better husbands and fathers than ever before. - Pg. 108 - To Wives
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
In this moment you may feel the most human and most powerless time of your entire life. In the coming weeks and months, many changes will sweep over your life and your person. Try not to hide from the profound changes, but to understand them.
Keep me steady that I may understand my world as it changes from day to day and even from moment to moment.
Giving
Today I give with both hands. Giving for its own sake is the spiritual way and actually releases the gift. When I give with one hand and take with the other, I give only half of what I have and receive only half of what might be given to me. I limit myself in two ways. Somehow the universe responds to clear intention. When I fully release a gift, it goes to where it is supposed to go and what returns to me comes when and how it is right.
I am able to give with both hands
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Life on earth is one of polarity. We feel the comfort of love because we know the pain of rejection; we know the satisfaction of a full belly because we know the emptiness of hunger. Without darkness we can't appreciate the light; without cold we can't cherish the warmth. We know the joy of recovery because we came from the depths of despair.
I am not what I am in spite of my disease; I am what I am because of it.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Alcoholics and addicts - fast talkers, slow thinkers.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I am no longer a victim of my past. I am free to move in new directions today. I am at choice in my life.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
We're all rebels who want to be hugged. - Charlie C.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 3, 2018 18:46:23 GMT -5
February 4
Daily Reflections
WHEN FAITH IS MISSING
Sometimes A.A. comes harder to those who have lost or
rejected faith than to those who never had any faith
at all, for they think they have faith and found it
wanting. They have tried the way of faith and the way
of no faith.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 28
I was so sure God had failed me that I became ultimately
defiant, though I knew better, and plunged into a final
drinking binge. My faith turned bitter and that was no
coincidence. Those who once had great faith hit bottom
harder. It took time to rekindle my faith, though I
came to A.A. I was grateful intellectually to have
survived such a great fall, but my heart felt callous.
Still, I stuck with the A.A. program; the alternatives
were too bleak! I kept coming back and gradually my
faith was resurrected.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Treating others to drinks gave us a kind of satisfaction.
We liked to say, "Have a drink on me." But we were not
really doing the other people a favor. We were only
helping them to get drunk, especially if they happened to
be an alcoholic. In A.A., we really try to help other
alcoholics. We build them up instead of tearing them
down. Drinking created a sort of fellowship. But it
really was a false fellowship, because it was based
on selfishness. We used our drinking companions for
our own pleasure. In A.A., we have real fellowship,
based on unselfishness and a desire to help each other.
And we make real friends, not fair weather friends. With
sobriety, have I got everything that drinking's got, without
the headaches?
Meditation For The Day
I know that God cannot teach anyone who is trusting in a
crutch. I will throw away the crutch of alcohol and walk
in God's power and spirit. God's power will so
invigorate me that I shall indeed walk on to victory.
There is never any limit to God's power. I will go step
by step, one day at a time. God's will shall be revealed
to me as I go forward.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may have more and more dependence on God.
I pray that I may throw away my alcohol crutch and let
God's power take its place.
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As Bill Sees It
Suffering Transmuted, p. 35
"A.A. is no success story in the ordinary sense of the word. It is a story
of suffering transmuted, under grace, into spiritual progress."
<< << << >> >> >>
For Dr. Bob, the insatiable craving for alcohol was evidently a physical
phenomenon which bedeviled several of his first years in A.A., a time
when only days and nights of carrying the message to other alcoholics
could cause him to forget about drinking. Although his craving was
hard to withstand, it doubtless did account for some part of the intense
incentive that went into forming Akron's Group Number One.
Bob's spiritual release did not come easily; it was to be painfully slow. It
always entailed the hardest kind of work and the sharpest vigilance.
1. Letter, 1959
2. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 69
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
The Rewards of Honesty
Honesty
Sometimes we think that honesty is simply too painful and demanding---- all sacrifice with no gain. If we are completely honest with ourselves, however, the results can only be positive.
What are the advantages of being entirely honest about our motives and feelings? One benefit is that we never will have to face the disillusionment and humiliation that come from self-deception. Surely we had enough of that while drinking.
Honesty also speaks for itself. People know intuitively when a person is completely honest, and they are drawn to that person because of it. An honest AA member-one who has truly faced personal faults---- also becomes an example to others.
The honest person has self-respect and a clear conscious. In real honesty, there is no inner struggle to keep up appearances or to pretend we are anybody except ourselves.
Honesty makes us comfortable rather than pained, relaxed rather than anxious, and decisive rather than confused. These are rich rewards for people who once lived in the false world of alcoholism.
I'll try to be honest in all things today. In any case, I will at least be honest with my self about my true motives and feelings.
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Keep It Simple
We do not remember days, we remember moments.----Cesare Pavese
It's the moment that's important. Each moment holds choice. Our spirits grow through working our program moment to moment. Moments lead to days, days to years, and years to a life of honest recovery.
It will be the moments of choice that we remember. The moment we call a friend instead of being alone.
The moment we decide to go for a walk instead of arguing with our partner. The moment we decide to go to an extra meeting instead of drinking or using other drugs. The moments lead us to our Higher Power.
These moments teach us that we're human, that we need others. At these moments, we know others care about us--our joys, and our struggles.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me remember that my recovery is made up of many moments of choice.
Today’s Action: I'll look back over the last twenty-four hours. What moments come to mind? Why were they important to me.
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Each Day a New Beginning
Genius is the talent for seeing things straight. It is seeing things in a straight line without any bend or break or aberration of sight, seeing them as they are, without any warping of vision. --Maude Adams
We are learning, each day of our abstinence, to see more clearly what lies before us. Less and less are we hampered by our own selfish needs, distorting that which we face. We all have within us the talent for seeing things as they really are. But it is a process that takes practice, a process of turning within to the untapped talent which is one of the gifts of a spiritual life.
We are spiritual entities, one and all. And the genius to see as God sees is ours for the asking. This program is paving our way. Each day it becomes easier to live an honest life. Each day we trust more the people we encounter. And each day we take greater risks being our true selves.
The need to distort that which we see ahead lessens, as we begin reaping the benefits of the honest, caring, spirit-filled life. Our unhealthy egos stood in our way in the past. And they can get in the way even now, if we forget to look ahead with the eyes of our inner genius.
My path today is straight, clean, and love-filled, if I choose to follow my genius.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
This world of ours has made more material progress in the last century than in all the millenniums which went before. Almost everyone knows the reason. Students of ancient history tell us that the intellect of men in those days was equal to the best of today. Yet in ancient times, material progress was painfully slow. The spirit of modern scientific inquiry, research and invention was almost unknown. In the realm of the material, men’s minds were fettered by superstition, tradition, and all sort of fixed ideas. Some of the contemporaries of Columbus thought a round earth preposterous. Others came near putting Galileo to death for his astronomical heresies.
p. 51
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
I don't think I actually started to drink pathologically until approximately 1935. About that time I had lost practically all my property except the place we were living in. Things had just gone from bad to worse. It meant that I had to give up a lot of the things that I had been accustomed to, and that wasn't the easiest thing in the world for me. I think that was basically the thing that started me drinking in 1935. I started drinking alone then. I'd go into my home with a bottle, and I remember clearly how I would look around to see if Vi was watching. Something should have told me then that things were haywire. I can remember watching her. There came a time when she spoke to me about it, and I would say that I had a bad cold or that I wasn't feeling well. That went on for maybe two months, and then she got after me again about drinking. At that time the repeal whiskeys were back, and I'd go to the store and buy my whiskey and take it to my office and put it under the desk, first in one place and then in another, and there soon was an accumulation of empty bottles. My brother-in-law was living with us at that time, and I said to Vi, "Maybe the bottles are Brother's. I don't know. Ask him about it. I don't know anything about the bottles." I actually wanted a drink, besides feeling that I had to have a drink. From that point on, it's just the average drinker's story.
pp. 236-237
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity."
The unity of Alcoholics Anonymous it the most cherished quality our Society has. Our lives, the lives of all to come, depend squarely upon it. We stay whole, or A.A. dies. Without unity, the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; our world arteries would no longer carry the life-giving grace of God; His gift to us would be spent aimlessly. Back again in their caves, alcoholics would reproach us and say, "What a great thing A.A. might have been!"
p. 129
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If we had no Winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; If we did not sometimes taste the adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
--Anne Bradstreet
"Change is what happens when the pain of holding on becomes greater than the fear of letting go!" --Anonymous
Some flowers grow best in the sun; others do well in the shade. God plants us where we grow best. --Unknown
To go fast, row slowly. --Norman Vincent Peale
"Storms make trees take deeper roots." --Claude McDonald
God's love and grace are bigger than all our worries. --Denise DeKemper
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
INTELLIGENCE
"The brighter you are, the more
you have to learn."
-- Don Herold
The one thing I know in sobriety is how much I do not know! I thought
I knew every thing about God because I was a priest, only to discover
that I had made Him a prisoner of the Church. Once I was willing to
free Him from my prison, I discovered a freedom and awareness that
daily fascinates and astounds me.
Today I see that the glory of God shines within my pain, within my
loneliness, within my confusion, and the acceptance of my disease is the
key to recovery. Today the suffering enables me to discover a realistic
spirituality --- and it is okay to be confused!
With each new day, Lord, let me learn something --- even if it is that I
have not learned anything that day!
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"Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." 2 Peter 3:13
You were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light. Ephesians 5:8
"I will instruct you and teach you." Psalm 32:8
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Daily Inspiration
One of life's greatest rewards is not what we get, but what we become. Lord, teach me as I am able to learn and give me the courage to be all that I can.
When we have to justify our actions, it may be that our actions are not just. Lord, Your will is goodness. May I always have the strength and courage to choose Your way so that I can simplify my life and enjoy the peace of Your presence.
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NA Just For Today
Feeling Good Isn't The Point
"For us, recovery is more than just pleasure."
Basic Text p. 42
In our active addiction, most of us knew exactly how we were going to feel from one day to the next. All we had to do was read the label on the bottle or know what was in the bag. We planned our feelings, and our goal for each day was to feel good.
In recovery, we're liable to feel anything from one day to the next, even from one minute to the next. We may feel energetic and happy in the morning, then strangely let down and sad in the afternoon. Because we no longer plan our feelings for the day each morning, we could end up having feelings that are somewhat inconvenient, like feeling tired in the morning and wide-awake at bedtime.
Of course, there's always the possibility we could feel good, but that isn't the point. Today, our main concern is not feeling good but learning to understand and deal with our feelings, no matter what they are. We do this by working the steps and sharing our feelings with others.
Just for today: I will accept my feelings, whatever they may be, just as they are. I will practice the program and learn to live with my feelings.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
The shy man usually finds that he has been shy without cause, and that, in practice, no one takes the slightest notice of him. --Robert Lynd
We sometimes feel self-conscious in front of others. It may be that we've just gotten braces or a new haircut and we're afraid everyone will stare at us. We stop smiling and talk with our heads bowed. Many people have worn braces and many more will. We need not be ashamed just because we feel different. By beginning to smile again we will see how many people really didn't notice our braces, or our haircuts, or anything but what they see inside us.
All we need to do is lift our heads and smile. We will be amazed to find how little even our best friends notice about the externals, the things that don't really matter. Who we are is far more noticeable and far more important than what we look like. A smile at shy times helps us accept ourselves as others do.
What makes me shy?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Self-importance is our greatest enemy. Think about it - what weakens us is feeling offended by the deeds and misdeeds of our fellowmen. Our self-importance requires that we spend most of our lives offended by someone. --Carlos Castaneda
Were we offended by someone today? Do we harbor resentment for remarks, oversights, or unpleasant mannerisms? Do we feel tense or uneasy about how someone else has treated us? We can probably make a good case to justify our reactions. Perhaps we are in the right and they are in the wrong.
Yet, even if we are justified, it doesn't matter. We may be puffing ourselves up and wasting energy. When we are oversensitive, we take a self-righteous position, which leads us far from our path of spiritual awakening. Our strength is diminished.
How much better it is to let go of the lightness, let go of our grandiosity, and accept the imperfections in others. We need to accept our own imperfections too. When we do, we are better men, and our strength and energy can be focused on richer goals.
I will accept others' imperfections; I do not need to be right.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Enjoying Recovery
What a journey!
This process of growth and change takes us along an ever-changing road. Sometimes the way is hard and craggy. Sometimes we climb mountains. Sometimes we slide down the other side on a toboggan.
Sometimes we rest.
Sometimes we grope through the darkness. Sometimes we're blinded by sunlight.
At times many may walk with us on the road; sometimes we feel nearly alone.
Ever changing, always interesting, always leading someplace better, someplace good.
What a journey!
Today, God, help me relax and enjoy the scenery. Help me know I'm right where I need to be on my journey.
Today I look within to see what is keeping me stuck. I know I cannot change unless I know what there is to change. I feel energized and empowered to move forward. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
See How Powerful You Are
People who believe they’re victims get to be right. Each experience they have convinces them of that. They don’t open themselves to the lessons, the growth, and the beauty of each situation they encounter. All they can see is their victimization.
Many of us have done the hard work to shift our belief system about being a victim. As we did that, we noticed that the scenery in our lives changed. When we believe something different, we get to see something different.
People who believe they have powers get to be right,too. Although we know there is much in life we can’t control, we also know we have the power to think, to feel, to choose, and to take responsibility for ourselves and our lives. We’re discovering our creative powers, and our powers to love, including our power to love ourselves. We’ve embraced our powers to grow, to change, to move forward. We know we have the power to claim our lives and take responsibility for ourselves in any situation life brings. Although life may deal us certain hard blows, we’ve learned to see beyond that. We see life’s beauty, gifts, and lessons, and its mysterious and sometimes magical nature.
On the road to freedom we may have made a stopover. We believed we were victims and we got to be right. Now, our journey has led us someplace else. We know we have powers, we know we have choices. And we no longer need to be right. Just free.
See how powerful you are!
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More Language Of Letting Go
Don’t let fear throw you off balance
Lay a two-by-four on the ground and walk its length without falling off. Easy, isn’t it? Now place a couple of bricks under the two-by-four, raising it off the ground by a few inches. Walk it again. A little harder this time? Now imagine that same two-by-four suspended at the height of your house with no safety net under it. Would you care to try again?
The higher the stakes, the harder it is to maintain our balance. That’s what fear does in our lives.
When we’re faced with simple situations in life, it’s easy to do the right thing. But as the stakes get higher and higher, it becomes increasingly difficult to focus on the task. We imagine “what is” and what might happen if we fail.
Look at the two-by-fours that you have to cross every day in your life. Are you allowing fear of a worst-case scenario to upset your balance? Put the situation back on the ground. Rarely will failure result in permanent damage. Remove the fear that your mind has created around the possibility of failure and just walk along the plank.
God, help me do the tasks that I have to without the balance-upsetting confusion brought by fear. Help me do what is right simply and easily each day.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Rare is the recovering alcoholic who will now dispute the fact that denial is a primary symptom of the illness. The Program teaches us that alcoholism is the only illness which actually tells the afflicted person that he or she really isn’t sick at all. Not surprisingly, then, our lives as practicing alcoholics were characterized by endless rationalization, countless alibis and in short, a steadfast unwillingness to accept the fact that we were, without question, bodily and mentally different from our fellows. Have I conceded to my innermost self that I am truly powerless over alcohol?
Today I Pray
May The Program’s First Step be not half-hearted for me, but a total admission of powerlessness over my addiction. May I rid myself of that first symptom — denial — which refuses to recognize any other symptom of my disease.
Today I Will Remember
Deny denial.
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One More Day
A simple grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer.
– Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Can we picture ourselves as small children, bouncing back out of bed to add just one more, “and also bless my teddy bear, and my . . . “? Most of us prayed because that’s what we were taught to do. We didn’t understand many of the reasons, but it felt good and made us feel safe too.
We form new habits as grown-ups. Perhaps prayer isn’t part of our day anymore. We may start to pray only when we need to ask for something. It is within our reach to develop the habit of prayer once again. There may be comfort in the habit of giving thanks every day … for what good health we do enjoy … for the beauty of nature … for our family and friends.
I will use prayer as one of the ways I can express myself and live a fulfilling life.
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One Day At A Time
~ Laughter ~
Laughter can be more satisfying than honor;
more precious than money;
more heart-cleansing than prayer.
Harriet Rochlin
For as long as I can remember I've always been a serious person. I can't remember ever doing something just for fun or to have a laugh. There always had to be a purpose for what I did in my life, or else it was of no value. As for being able to laugh at myself, that wasn't even in my frame of reference. I was so super-sensitive that I'd get upset if someone made fun of me, as it would always make me feel "less than" or stupid.
So when I came into the doors of my first Twelve Step meeting, I was amazed that, even though all the people I met had problems around food, they were still able to look at their mistakes and realize that that didn't make them a bad person. But even more heartwarming was the fact that I heard laughter in those rooms. Before, I'd always thought that when someone laughed at what I said, they were laughing at me, and that would reinforce my feelings of inadequacy.
The lessons I'm learning here are not easy ones and there are still times when my old behaviors of being overly sensitive creep in, but I know that recovery is a process, and as I grow in the program, it will get better.
One day at a time ...
As I practice the program and work the steps, I am becoming more able to laugh at myself and not always look at the dark side of life. What a gift it has been to start enjoying life!
~ Sharon ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
AFTER ALL, OUR PROBLEMS WERE OF OUR OWN MAKING. BOTTLES WERE ONLY A SYMBOL. BESIDES, WE HAVE STOPPED FIGHTING ANYBODY OR ANYTHING. WE HAVE TO! - Pg. 103 - Working With Others
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Your whole life has turned upside down and it's time for a good cry. Have a good cry, wash out your heart. If you keep it inside it'll tear you apart.' - Dr. Hook
I follow my own inner path for serenity. When it's time to cry, my spirit lets me know and I allow tears.
It's the Little Things
It's the little things that count, that add up to make a life, that weave themselves into the fabric of my day and make it feel whole. My morning routines, the activities of my day the people I encounter and share my time with. Little things like a pleasant walk, exercise, my daily errands and even eating my favorite foods all come together to make my day. As I move through my day today, I will take time to notice and be grateful for whatever gives me pleasure. I will say a quiet thank you for all that life is handing me.
I have an Attitude of Gratitude
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
We find that the difference between adventure and disaster usually boils down to attitude. It's like the glass half full or half empty. Is it a problem or an opportunity; an obstruction or a challenge for growth? The way you choose to see it makes all the difference.
I don't see thing as they are, I see things as I am.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
You have to ask yourself, What would an adult do in this situation?
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I look within to see what is keeping me stuck. I know I cannot change unless I know what there is to change. I feel energized and empowered to move forward.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
You hear people say; 'I do Steps 1,2,and 3 everyday.' And that sounds so good the newcomer hears that and dies. Because all they've told you is they're getting ready to begin. It's like they make a decision to be pilots and them spend the rest of their lives in ground school. - Ted H.
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Post by caressa222 on Feb 4, 2018 19:40:54 GMT -5
February 5
Daily Reflections
A GLORIOUS RELEASE
"The minute I stopped arguing, I could begin to see
and feel. Right there, Step Two gently and very
gradually began to infiltrate my life. I can't say
upon what occasion or upon what day I came to believe
in a Power greater than myself, but I certainly have
that belief now. To acquire it, I had to stop fighting
and practice the rest of A.A.'s program as
enthusiastically as I could."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.27
After years of indulging in a "self-will run riot,"
Step Two became for me a glorious release from being
all alone. Nothing is so painful or insurmountable
in my journey now. Someone is always there to share
life's burdens with me. Step Two became a reinforcement
with God, and I now realize that my insanity and ego
were curiously linked. To rid myself of the former, I
must give up the latter to One with far broader
shoulders than my own.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
One thing we learn in A.A. is to take a long view of
drinking instead of a short view. When we were drinking
we thought more about the pleasure or release that a
drink would give us, than we did about the consequences
which would result from our taking that drink. Liquor
looks good from the short view. When we look in a package
store window, we see liquor dressed up in its best
wrappings, with fancy labels and decorations. They look
swell. But have I learned that what's inside those
beautiful bottles is just plain poison to me?
Meditation For The Day
I believe that life is a school in which I must learn
spiritual things. I must trust in God and He will teach
me. I must listen to God and He will speak through my
mind. I must commune with Him in spite of all opposition
and every obstacle. There will be days when I will hear no
voice in my mind and when there will come no intimate
heart to heart communion. But if I persist, and make a life
habit of schooling myself in spiritual things, God will reveal
Himself to me in many ways.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may regularly go to school in things of the
spirit. I pray that I may grow spiritually by making a
practice of these things.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Humility First, p. 36
We found many in A.A. who once thought, as we did, that humility was
another name for weakness. They helped us to get down to right size.
By their example they showed us that humility and intellect could be
compatible, provided we placed humility first. When we began to do
that, we received the gift of faith, a faith which works. This faith is
for you, too.
<< << << >> >> >>
Where humility formerly stood for a forced feeding on humble pie, it
now begins to mean the nourishing ingredient that can give us serenity.
12 & 12
1. p. 30
2. p. 74
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Is it really honesty?
Honesty
No matter how cruel the results, the need to criticize others can be a compulsion. Such criticism is sometimes justified by the defense "Well, I had to be honest" or "it was only the truth."
But is it really honesty to gratuitously bring our a hurtful truth? Not when the critic's real motives are to wound and humiliate someone, not to foster self-improvement and better behavior. Under those circumstances, the critic is really the dishonest person…. For not having detected the ugly personal motives that triggered the criticism.
Honesty is closely related to humility, and the truly honest person is usually humbly aware of person shortcomings in his or her own life. This alone makes the honest person reluctant to criticize and always careful to do it in ways that avoid inflicting pain or hurt.
Real honesty is rare, especially in people who hurt others under the guise of honesty.
With God's help, I'll look carefully at my motives today.
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Keep It Simple
Don't bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.------Thomas Jefferson
Pleasure is important in recovery. But at times we think pleasure is the answer to life's pains. Alcohol and other drugs were what we liked best. We need to watch out so we don't switch to another addiction--such as gambling, food, sex, or work. The real answer to life's pains is in having a strong spiritual center. It is also our best way to avoid another addiction. Recovery lets us turn our pain over to the care of our Higher Power. Our Higher Power can handle any problem we may have. Our program can help us with our problems too. Recovery is a three-way deal. Higher Power, program, and us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me avoid another addiction. When I have problems, have me come to You and to my program before anything else.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll set aside time and ask the question, "Am I headed for another addiction/" I'll also ask my sponsor what he or she thinks.
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Each Day a New Beginning
Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got. --Janis Joplin
When we don't know who we are, it's easy to compromise ourselves. When we don't know where we stand on an issue, it's easy to be swayed by a forceful voice. Values may be cloudy in our minds, or we may not be aware of them at all. It's then that we are vulnerable to the persuasion of another. In this Twelve Step program, we are offered the way to know ourselves. We are supported in our efforts, and we realize we have friends who don't want us to compromise ourselves--who value our struggle to know and to be true to ourselves.
One of recovery's greatest gifts is discovering we can make decisions that represent us, our inner selves, and those decisions please us. We all are familiar with the tiny tug of shame that locates itself in our solar plexus. When we "go along," when we "give in" on a personally important issue, we pay a consequence. We lose a bit of ourselves. Over the years we've lost many bits. We have a choice, however.
I will have a chance, soon, to act according to my wishes. I will take it.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
We asked ourselves this: Are not some of us just as biased and unreasonable about the realm of the spirit as were the ancients about the realm of the material? Even in the present century, American newspapers were afraid to print an account of the Wright brothers’ first successful flight at Kitty Hawk. Had not all efforts at flight failed before? Did not Professor Langley’s flying machine go to the bottom of the Potomac River? Was it not true that the best mathematical minds had proved man could never fly? Had not people said God had reserved this privilege to the
birds? Only thirty years later the conquest of the air was almost an old story and airplane travel was in full swing.
pp. 51-52
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
I got to the place where I'd look forward to the weekend's drinking and pacify myself by saying that the weekends were mine, that it didn't interfere with my family or my business if I drank on the weekends. But the weekends stretched on into Mondays, and the time soon came when I drank every day. My practice at that juncture was just barely getting us a living.
p. 237
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity."
"Does this mean," some will anxiously ask, "that in A.A. the individual doesn't count for much? Is he to be dominated by his group and swallowed up in it?"
We may certainly answer this question with a loud "No!" We believe there isn't a fellowship on earth which lavishes more devoted care upon its individual members; surely there is none which more jealously guards the individual's right to think, talk, and act as he wishes. No A.A. can compel another to do anything; nobody can be punished or expelled. Our Twelve Steps to recovery are suggestions; the Twelve Traditions which guarantee A.A.'s unity contain not a single "Don't." They repeatedly say "We ought . . ." but never "You must!"
p. 129
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I just sit down for a few minutes, do a little thinking, and God writes the songs for me. --Hank Williams (1923 - 1953)
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. --Confucius
The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.
"You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." --Max Ehrmann
"Settle for nothing less than what you truly desire, and do not be afraid to ask for what you feel will bring you joy and fulfillment." --Emmanuel
"Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him." --Aldous Huxley
"Our own rough edges become smooth as we help a friend smooth her edges." --Sue Atchley Ebaugh
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
MONEY
"Capital, as such, is not evil; it
is its wrong use that is evil."
-- Mohandas K. Gandhi
Today I am not afraid to say that I am concerned for my prosperity
--- not just in terms of health, friendship and employment but also
concerning money. For years I was concerned to have the best, buy
the best, own the best and not "shortchange" myself --- yet I felt
guilty in having such feelings. Today in my sobriety I truly believe
that I deserve the best. In this way I am loving myself. Money, prosperity
and capital are not "bad" in themselves; it is how we use them.
Today, as promised in my recovery, things are certainly getting
better and I am able to invest and buy wisely. Some years ago I would
squander money on my addiction. Today I am able to appreciate and
share my monetary benefits. Family, friends and the "needy" can
genuinely share my prosperity: the more I give away today, the more
I get.
Thank You for all the many benefits You have showered upon me in
my recovery, not least capital. May I always use it responsibly.
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"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Galatians 5:16
"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a good hope and a good future.'"
Jeremiah 29:11
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Daily Inspiration
Today do what you can and expect no more of yourself. Lord, I will feel joy in my accomplishments today and gratitude for the things I have to do tomorrow.
Do not act as though you are watching a parade because we are each one of the marchers. Lord, things change so quickly. Help me to celebrate the constant newness of my life.
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NA Just For Today
Keep Coming Back!
"We are grateful that we were made so welcome at meetings that we felt comfortable."
Basic Text p. 80
Remember how scared we were when we walked into our first NA meeting? Even if we walked in with a friend, most of us recall how difficult it was to attend that first meeting. What was it that kept us coming back? Most of us have grateful memories of the welcome we were given and how comfortable that made us feel. When we raised our hand as a newcomer, we opened the door for other members to approach us and welcome us.
Sometimes the difference between those addicts who walk back out the door of their first meeting, never to return to NA, and the addicts who stay to seek recovery is the simple hug of an NA member. When we have been clean awhile, it's easy to step back from the procession of newcomers—after all, we've seen so many people come and go. But members with some clean time can make the difference between the addict who doesn't return and the addict who keeps coming back. By offering our phone numbers, a hug, or just a warm welcome, we extend the hand of Narcotics Anonymous to the addict who still suffers.
Just for today: I remember the welcome I was given when I first came to NA. Today, I will express my gratitude by offering a hug to a newcomer.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Let there be spaces in your togetherness. --Kahlil Gibran
Sometimes it is just as important to know when to leave others alone as it is to know when to talk with them. We all need to be alone at times--to think, to work out a problem, or just to be quiet with ourselves. This is especially true in families, where we're often surrounded by others. If we tune in to our other family members, we can develop sensors that will let us know when they need some time alone. Part of good communication is knowing when not to talk, too.
Can I be sensitive to my family's needs for privacy today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
The human animal needs a freedom seldom mentioned: freedom from intrusion. He needs a little privacy quite as much as he wants understanding or vitamins or exercise or praise. --Phyllis McGinley
The boundaries between us in our families and our friendships often need to be reshaped in recovery. We need to know our feelings are private. We reveal them at our choosing, with whom we choose. We give up on mind reading or probing because it intrudes upon another's privacy. We actively engage in our relationships by sharing ourselves and listening to each other.
A secret that makes a relationship dishonest is destructive and ought to be told. But we cannot force another person to be honest, or pry the truth from a loved one. We can only be honest ourselves and guard our own right to privacy. Intimacy is the bridge, which is built between two separate people. Only when we let others have their privacy and we take ours can our relationships be more intimate.
I will maintain the boundaries of my privacy today and respect the right of others to do the same.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Financial Responsibility
We are responsible for ourselves financially.
What a frightening, grown up thought that is for many of us - taking responsibility for money and our financial affairs. For many of us, handing over responsibility for our financial affairs has been part of a codependent trade off in our relationships.
Some of our emotional dependency on others, on this tight tie that binds us to others, not in love, but in need and desperation, is directly related to financial dependency. Our fears and reluctance to take responsibility for our financial affairs can be a barrier to the freedom we're seeking in recovery.
Financial responsibility is an attitude. Money goes out to pay for necessities and luxuries. Money must come in, in order to go out. How much needs to come in to equal that which is going out?
Taxes... savings plans...appropriate spending habits that demonstrate an attitude of financial responsibility.... Part of being alive means learning to handle money. Even if we have a healthy contract with someone that allows us to depend on him or her for money, we still need to understand how money works. We still need to adopt an attitude of financial responsibility for ourselves. Even if we have a contract with someone else to provide for our financial needs, we need to understand the workings of the money earned and spent in our life.
Self-esteem will increase when we increase our sense of being financially responsible for ourselves. We can start where we are, with what we have today.
God, help me become willing to let go of my fears and reluctance to face the necessary parts of handling money responsibly in my life. Shaw me the lessons I need to learn about money.
It feels terrific letting go of perfection as my goal. As I let go of my judgments, all parts of me come together and I feel complete. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Learn to Live with Unfinished Projects
Whether your project is sewing a dress, reading a book, writing a book, building a home, or learning a lesson on your journey, learn to live comfortably with unfinished work. Whatever you’re working on, whatever you’re in the midst of doesn’t need to be finished, in perfect order, with all the loose ends in place for you to be happy.
For too many years, we worried and fretted, denying ourselves happiness until we could see the whole picture, learn the entire lesson, cross every t and dot each i. That meant we spend a lot of stressful time waiting for that one moment when the project was complete.
Enjoy all the stages of the process you’re in. The first moments when the germ of the idea finds you. The time before you begin, when the seed lies dormant in the ground, getting ready to grow. The beginning, and all the days throughout the middle. Those bleak days, when it looks like you’re stuck and won’t break through. Those exciting days when the project, the lesson, the life you’re building takes shape and form.
Be happy now. Enjoy the creative process– the process of creating your life, yourself, and the project you’re working on–today. Don’t wait for those finishing moments to take pleasure in your work and your life. Find joy all along the way.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Stare in the face of your fears
Examine your fears.
Sometimes we’re afraid of specific things. Sometimes we fear the unknown. And sometimes we’re just afraid, because that’s the way we usually feel.
Are you nervous, anxious,upset? What’s scaring you right now?
Have a little talk with yourself. Take a look at what you fear. Are you starting a new relationship or job? What are the risks? What’s the worse that could possibly happen? Sometimes it helps to go through our fears, one by one. We don’t need to dwell on the negative, but we need to be certain that we’re willing to take responsibility for the risks involved.
Then look in the other direction, and see the entire positive potential there. What can you gain by taking that risk? Does the thrill of victory outweigh the potential loss?
We may emerge from the list saying, No, I choose not to risk that. Or, we may look at the risks and say, Yes, I’ve been through worse. I can handle this,too.
Someone once told me many years ago that fear was a good thing. “If you’re not feeling afraid, it means you’re not doing anything differently. You’re just repeating the same old thing.” If fear is haunting you, stare it in the face. See what’s making you feel afraid. Then either back off, or stare that fear down.
God, help me sort through my fears,one by one. Then guide me in deciding which risks I want to take. Help me not be foolhardy. But help me let go of timidity,too.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
If I am troubled, worried, exasperated or frustrated, do I tend to rationalize the situation and lay the blame on someone else? When I am in such a state, is my conversation punctuated with, :Hey did..,” “She said..,” “They did..”? Or can I honestly admit that perhaps I’m at fault. My peace of mind depends on overcoming toward rationalization. Will I try, day by day, to be rigorously honest with myself?
Today I Pray
May I catch myself as I talk in the third person, “He did…” or “They promised…” or “She said shoe would…” and listen for the blaming that has become such a pattern for me and preserves delusion. May I do a turnabout and face myself instead.
Today I Will Remember
Honesty is the only policy.
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One More Day
We have seen better days.
– Shakespeare
It is quit difficult to define some of the components that help create what we interpret as a good day. A general sense of well-being prevails, and we have a tendency to look at the world through rose-colored glasses. Everything seems to go just right.
It is not the least bit hard, however, to define a bad day. Nothing happens according to plan. We feel out of sorts, not particularly well. With the advent of health changes, we can inadvertently allow many days to become bad ones.
The only way we can stop having negative experiences is to change our expectations of what constitutes a good day. We don’t have to lower our expectations, just make them more realistic for the situation at hand. We will then find that most of our days can be good ones.
My life is and will always be a mixture of good and bad days. I can influence my interactions and thereby influence the color of my days.
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One Day At A Time
~ SELF WORTH ~
Your worth is not established by teaching or learning.
Your worth is established by God.
Nothing you do or think or wish or make
is necessary to establish your worth.
Helen Schucman, scribe of "A Course in Miracles"
I have spent the last 30 years of my life wanting more, thinking that in proving myself I would be worthy of the love and affection I deserved and this would determine my value. I was always seeking the best path to take to show everyone what I could do and that I was worthy of more of their love and praises.
Turning my life and my will over to God has allowed me to see that, no matter what I may think, in God's eyes I am worth plenty, and this has given me so much peace. I now know that what others say or think about me is not going to make me worthy or worthless. Allowing God to run the show and doing the next right thing is all I need to do. I don't have to concern myself if I am of value to anyone; I am of value to God, and that is all that counts.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will continue to turn to God for my strength, knowing that I need not carry the burden of proof of what I'm worth.
~ Maureen ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
We must lose our fear of creditors no matter how far we have to go, for we are liable to drink if we are afraid to face them. - Pg. 78 - Into Action
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
We sometimes say things to ourselves like 'I should have done this, I should have done that.' We can 'should' ourselves into deep and scaring guilt over what we did in addiction. Regardless of the playlets running in our heads, we are not in a position to take over our Higher Power's position of overseeing life.
No matter how long I have been on earth or how intelligent and experienced I am, I will never rise above the level of human being.
The Creative Power of My Thoughts
Today, I recognize that I tend to produce in my life what I feel is true for myself. Thoughts have a creative power of their own. If I look closely, I can see my thoughts come to life. I create the possibility of what I would like by first experiencing it in my mind. I will visualize what I would like to have in my life in my mind's eye. I will accept what I see in my inner eye as being available for me, and I will fully participate in my vision as if it were already mine. I will be specific about what I see in my mind's creative eye and I will accept my inner vision as fully possible. I will see it, sense, taste it and see it as already happening. What I believe can be true for me, can be true for me. I block things form happening with my own doubt and disbelief. Today, I will imagine that I can live the life I am able to hold as a steady vision. If I can see it, I can move toward it, I can accept it, I can crate it.
All good things are possible for me
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Practicing the principles can never be done from a pedestal of self-righteousness. The very act of judging, complaining or criticizing, demonstrates that we are spiritually out of whack--not the ones we judge. Oh, they may be out of whack too, but that's not our side of the street, is it?
My program does not work in principle. It only works in practice.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Addiction is not a sentence; it is only a word.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I dare to walk on a new path where comfort and security are not my goals. I dare to reach out to my fellow human beings and become part of society whose aim is peace and love and joy and recovery.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Most alcoholics would rather die than get sober.
And they do. - Anon.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 5, 2018 20:24:56 GMT -5
February 6
Daily Reflections
A RALLYING POINT
Therefore, Step Two is the rallying point for all of us. "Whether agnostic, atheist, or
former believer, we can stand together on this Step.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 33
I feel that A.A. is a God-inspired program and that God is at every A.A. meeting. I see,
believe, and have come to know that A.A. works, because I have stayed sober today. I
am turning my life over to A.A. and to God by going to an A.A. meeting. If God is in my
heart and He speaks to me through other people, then I must be a channel of God to
other people. I should seek to do His will by living spiritual principles and my reward will
be sanity and emotional sobriety.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
On a dark night, the bright lights of the corner tavern look mighty inviting. Inside, there
seems to be warmth and good cheer. But we don't stop to think that if we go in there we'll
probably end up drunk, with our money spent and an awful hangover. A long
mahogany bar in the tropical moonlight looks like a very gay place. But you should see
the place the next morning. The chairs are piled on the tables and the place stinks of stale
beer and cigarette stubs. And often we are there too, trying to cure the shakes by gulping
down straight whiskey. Can I look straight through the night before and see the morning
after?
Meditation For The Day
God finds, amid the crowd, a few people who follow Him, just to be near Him, just to dwell
in His presence. A longing in the Eternal Heart may be satisfied by these few people. I
will let God know that I seek just to dwell in His presence, to be near Him, not so much
for teaching or a message, as just for Him. It may be that the longing of the human
heart to be loved for itself is something caught from the Great Divine Heart.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may have a listening ear, so that God may speak to me. I pray that I may
have a waiting heart, so that God may come to me.
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As Bill Sees It
A Full and Thankful Heart, p. 37
One exercise that I practice is to try for a full inventory of my blessings
and then for a right acceptance of the many gifts that are mine--both
temporal and spiritual. Here I try to achieve a state of joyful gratitude.
When such a brand of gratitude is repeatedly affirmed and pondered, it
can finally displace the natural tendency to congratulate myself on
whatever progress I may have been enabled to make in some areas of
living.
I try hard to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart cannot
entertain great conceits. When brimming with gratitude, one's
heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love, the finest emotion that we
can never know.
Grapevine, March 1962
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Walk In Dry Places
Competing with Others
A new View of Competition.
We live in a world torn by endless strife and competition. Although competitiveness can be a good quality, we've seen it become very ugly and destructive. A few alcoholics like the excitement of competition, but many of us withdraw from it. We hate anything that includes the risk of defeat or might make us appear second best. Sometimes we even feel guilty in winning.
We don't need the kind of competition that causes us to gloat arrogantly in victory or to wallow in self-pity in defeat. We don't really need to compete with others in anything if we are truly seeking guidance from our Higher power. If God is in charge of our lives, we do not have to struggle with others for the good we seek in life. It is God's pleasure to give us the good things of the kingdom.
There is a kind of competition that does pay off in sobriety…… competition with ourselves. We can try to be better people than we might have been yesterday, or a week ago, or a month ago. This kind of competition requires skill and stamina, and it also requires exercise and training. But anybody who sincerely seeks a spiritual life and true self-improvement can find it in AA.
This day, I won't try to reform or change anybody but myself. I'll remember that God is in charge of things and concentrate on competing with the person I once was by letting the program work in my life.
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Keep It Simple
We will not know unless we begin.-------Howard Zinn
Let us begin! Whether it be working on our First Step, Finding a sponsor, or talking to someone we hurt---Let us begin. Doubt will set in if we wait too long. Fear will follow. So, let us begin. We learn by doing. Recovery is for doers. Sobriety doesn't just happen. We create it. We create it by working the Steps and learning from them. We'll never totally understand the Steps unless we work them. In the same way, we'll never learn how to have friends unless we try. So, call your friends, instead of waiting to be called. Begin and begin again. Each day is a new beginning.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, today I'll begin. I begin by asking for Your help and love. Be with me as I go through my day. Help me work for progress, not perfection.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll not sit on the sidelines. I'll be a doer. I'll decide what to do to move closer to friends, family, Higher Power, and myself.
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Each Day a New Beginning
I believe that a sign of maturity is accepting deferred gratification. --Peggy Cahn
It's okay to want to feel good all the time. Happiness is something we all deserve. However, there are often preparatory steps we need to take, a number of which will not bring joy, before we arrive at a place of sustained happiness.
The level of our pain at any particular moment has prompted us to seek short-term highs. And with each attempt at a quick "fix," we will be reminded that, just as with our many former attempts, the high is very short-term.
Long-term happiness is not the byproduct of short-term gratification. We don't have to earn happiness, exactly, but we do have to discover where it's found. How fortunate we are to have the program guiding our search. We will find happiness when we learn to get quiet and listen to our inner selves. We will find happiness when we focus less on our personal problems and more on the needs of others.
Many of us will need to redefine what happiness is. Understanding our value and necessity to our circle of acquaintances will bring us happiness, a happiness that will sustain us, and so will gratitude for our friends, our growing health, our abstinence also sustain us. Sincerely touching the soul of someone else can tap the well of happiness within each of us.
I will find happiness. Searching within myself, I will patiently, trustingly share myself with others.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
But in most fields our generation has witnessed complete liberation in thinking. Show any longshoreman a Sunday supplement describing a proposal to explore the moon by means of a rocket and he will say, “I bet they do it—maybe not so long either.” Is not our age characterized by the ease with which we discard old ideas for new, by the complete readiness with which we throw away the theory or gadget which does not work for something new which does?
p. 52
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
Jim's Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
A peculiar thing happened in 1940. That year, on a Friday night, a man whom I had known for years come to my office. My father had treated him many years prior to this. This man's wife had been suffering for a couple of months, and when he came in he owed me a little bill. I filled a prescription for him. The following day, Saturday, he came back and said, "Jim, I owe you for the prescription last night. I didn't pay you." I thought, "I know you didn't pay me, because you didn't get a prescription." He said, "Yes. You know the prescription that you gave me for my wife last night." Fear gripped me then, because I could remember nothing about it. It was the first blackout I had to recognize as a blackout. The next morning I carried another prescription to this man's house and exchanged it for the bottle his wife had. Then I said to my wife, "Something has to be done." I took that bottle of medicine and gave it to a very good friend of mine who was a pharmacist and had it analyzed, and the bottle was perfectly all right. But I knew at that point that I couldn't stop, and I knew that I was a danger to myself and to others.
pp. 237-238
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity."
To many minds all this liberty for the individual spells sheer anarchy. Every newcomer, every friend who looks at A.A. for the first time is greatly puzzled. They see liberty verging on license, yet they recognize at once that A.A. has an irresistible strength of purpose and action. "How," they ask, "can such a crowd of anarchists function at all? How can they possible place their common welfare first? What in Heaven's name holds them together?"
pp. 129-130
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We can teach the faith by the way we face what each day brings. --Damaris Hernandez
"Courage is fear that has said its prayers." --One Day at a Time in Al-Anon
"I said to a man who stood at the gate of the year: Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown." And he replied, "Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way." --Minnie L. Haskins
The greatest gift you receive from loving someone is Loving Someone.
If you judge people, you have no time to love them. --Mother Teresa
The solution is simple. The solution is spiritual.
S T E P S = Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety.
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LIES
"Christ cannot possibly have been
a Jew. I don't have to prove that
scientifically. It is a fact!"
-- Joseph Goebbels
Today I know that if a lie is said loudly enough, often enough, with ceremony and ritual,
people will believe it. I can identify with the above statement: I said I was not alcoholic
because I did not drink every day, in the mornings, all day and I was too young! People
believed me. Some people still choose to believe this lie.
Spirituality requires that I not only confront the lies in other people but also in myself.
Usually if I am angry at the remarks of others, it is because they remind me of myself.
Today I seek not simply to condemn but to understand.
May I continue to learn from the criticism I make of others.
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One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:4-5
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15:5-8
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Daily Inspiration
It is better to try and fail than to fail because you are afraid to try. Lord, grant me the courage to live my life to the fullest.
Learn to be peaceful in all situations and trust that through all stages of our lives, God has a plan. Lord, may I have the wisdom to be able to turn my stumbling blocks into building blocks.
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NA Just For Today
I Can't - We Can
"We had convinced ourselves that we could make it alone and proceeded to live life on that basis. The results were disastrous and, in the end, each of us had to admit that self-sufficiency was a lie"
Basic Text p. 59
"I can't, but we can." This simple but profound truth applies initially to our first need as NA members: Together, we can stay clean, but when we isolate ourselves, we're in bad company. To recover, we need the support of other addicts.
Self-sufficiency impedes more than just our ability to stay clean. With or without drugs, living on self-will inevitably leads to disaster. We depend on other people for everything from goods and services to love and companionship, yet self-will puts us in constant conflict with those very people. To live a fulfilling life, we need harmony with others.
Other addicts and others in our communities are not the only ones we depend on. Power is not a human attribute, yet we need power to live. We find it in a Power greater than ourselves which provides the guidance and strength we lack on our own. When we pretend to be self-sufficient, we isolate ourselves from the one source of power sufficient to effectively guide us through life: our Higher Power.
Self-sufficiency doesn't work. We need other addicts; we need other people; and, to live fully, we need a Power greater than our own.
Just for today: I will seek the support of other recovering addicts, harmony with others in my community, and the care of my Higher Power. I can't, but we can.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Pride works from within; it is the direct appreciation of oneself.
--Arthur Schopenhauer
Pride, like all emotions, has two faces: one healthy and one sick. It is our challenge to use the healthy side well. Sick pride fills us with ourselves, looks down on others, and has no room for generosity. Healthy pride is heavy with humility. If we can feel joyful when we succeed, and tell others about it honestly, we are not being boastful.
Sick pride often keeps us from doing things because we are too proud to ask for help when we need it, or too proud to risk failure, or too proud to do anything that might not turn out perfect.
Healthy pride about our greatest victories always comes with the awareness that we did not do it all by ourselves. We had the aid, advice, and encouragement of loved ones. In all things that really count, we never walk alone. Even those who claim pride is not a virtue admit that it is the parent of many virtues.
What makes me proud of myself today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Behind an able man there are always other able men. --Chinese proverb
Most of us have had a strong desire in our lives to "do it ourselves." We have had the idea that strength and independence meant we should not rely on or receive help from others. Now, in recovery, we are learning a far more mature and time-honored principle. We find strength to develop to our fullest as members of a community. Maybe we never learned how to ask for help. Perhaps we haven't learned yet how to accept it. It may still be difficult to express our gratitude for the help that brought us where we are today.
In recovery, we get many lessons about these things. If we are actively growing, we will get help from others and give it too. The rewards of recovery give us ample reasons and opportunities to express our gratitude. We are no longer loners. Now we have a network of friends who truly enjoy and enhance each other's strength.
Today, I pray for help in learning how to share my strength and to appreciate the strength of others.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Stopping Victimization
Before recovery, many of us lacked a frame of reference with which to name the victimization and abuse in our life. We may have thought it was normal that people mistreated us. We may have believed we deserved mistreatment; we may have been attracted to people who mistreated us.
We need to let go, on a deep level, of our need to be victimized and to be victims. We need to let go of our need to be in dysfunctional relationships and systems at work, in love, in family relationships, in friendships. We deserve better. We deserve much better. It is our right. When we believe in our right to happiness, we will have happiness.
We will fight for that right, and the fight will emerge from our souls. Break free from oppression and victimization.
Today, I will liberate myself by letting go of my need to be a victim, and I'll explore my freedom to take care of myself. That liberation will not take me further away from people I love. It will bring me closer to people and. more in harmony with God's plan for my life.
I am slowly finding new strength within me as I begin to trust my inner voice. I dare listen and take new risks as I follow my inner path. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Look at What’s Right
Take time to notice what’s right in ourselves, in others, and in the world around us. We may become so concerned with correcting ourselves we become habituated to seeing what’s wrong. Not just seeing it– constantly looking for it. The question itself– What’s wrong? — is enough to keep us on edge.
There are times to take stock, do an inventory. Times to learn and grow. But spirituality and joy do not stem from trudging around in the muck of what’s wrong with others, ourselves, and life. We do not have to seek out mistakes and errors, poking and picking at ourselves to continue our growth. Poking and picking hurts. Our lessons will be revealed to us, and they will present themselves naturally. Growth will occur.
Give yourself a break. Ask yourself what’s right, what’s good, what’s true, what’s beautiful. Sometimes the lesson isn’t in discovering what’s wrong. Sometimes the lesson is discovering that the world is all right– and so are you.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Revel in the void
In the original Language of Letting Go, I talked about the in between places in our lives. Those are the uncomfortable places along the journey where you’re not where you were but you’re not where you’re going yet,either. I talked about accepting that place, no matter how difficult it might be.
Let’s look at this place again. Only now, we’ll call it the void. Take another look at that moment when one door has closed behind you and you’re standing in that dark hallway, but no door opens up. Or you let go of whatever you’ve been grasping so tightly and stand there with an empty hand. Don’t say woohoo just when you begin something new. Feel the woohoo of this moment,too! Embrace the void. This wonderful in-between place holds the keys to all creation. In the biblical story of creation, God began with a clean slate like the one you may face now. It was the magic and mystery of the void that allowed all of this wonderful creation to be.
If you’re at an in-between place, don’t just accept it. Revel in it, embrace it, rejoice at your opportunity to sit in the birth-place of all that will come along your path. Relax into the void and allow creation to flow.
God, help me embrace the void and allow it to bring forth what it will, rather than trying to force something that really doesn’t fit.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
I used to be an expert at unrealistic self-appraisal. At certain times, I would look only at that part of my life which seemed good. Then I would magnify whatever real or imagined virtues I had attained. Next, I would pat myself on the back for the fantastic job I was doing in The Program. Naturally, this generated a craving for still more “accomplishments” and still greater approval. Wasn’t that the pattern of my days during active addiction? The difference now, though, is that I can use the best alibi known — the spiritual alibi. Do I sometimes rationalize willful actions and nonsensical behavior in the name of “spiritual objectives?”
Today I Pray
God help me to know if I still crave attention and approval to the point of inflating my own virtues and magnifying my accomplishments in The Program or anywhere. May I keep a realistic perspective ab out my good points, even as I learn to respect myself.
Today I Will Remember
Learn to control inflation.
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One More Day
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be.
– Robert Browning
We all have been to beautiful weddings. A young couple’s love is so obvious. They have so much to look forward to, so much living is still ahead.
We understand more and more that now is the best time of our lives. Whether we are having a cup of coffee with a friend or fishing on a quiet lake, these are the best times.
As we age and reach the later decades of our lives, we become aware, even more sharply, that surely these are the best times of our lives. We feel comfortable with ourselves and what we have, and with what we are still accomplishing. We don’t set unreasonable goals anymore. And we are lucky, too, for we can blend all our previous years of experience into our daily lives.
I am comforted by knowing that every stage of my life presents me with new opportunities.
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One Day At A Time
~ ERRORS AND ASSETS ~
We grow by our willingness to face and rectify errors
and convert them into assets.
The Big Book
I have had a paradigm shift in my life. This means that I have begun to see some of my most basic ideas about food and nourishment from a different angle. I never really thought these things through before this program nudged me to have a look at my life with rigorous honesty. Oh, I wanted to be thin, but I barely related that to my feelings about food.
I was on autopilot for years and now realize that my concept of food was reasoned out when I was still a child. I put that childish set of ideas in place and then just stopped thinking about it. That little child wanted the most she could get of everything there was. She wanted the most attention, the most love, the most toys . . . and the most food. And at that time it was exactly the right way to look at the world. When I was a child setting up the system that constantly demands more to calm or soothe or comfort or love, I turned to food because it is simple and I did not possess the skills to get my needs met in other ways. It was a victory really, because I coped, made it through to now. But, to stick with a plan set up by a little child reflects a lack of willingness to face a basic error in engaging the world and change my behavior.
Now I know that eating mass quantities of food isn't about love, or fun, or comfort. Now my adult mind knows that food is a fuel that, if chosen judiciously, helps my body to work efficiently and clears my mind for the task of being a responsible adult in a busy, troubled world. By shifting from "How much food do I get for me?" to "What must I eat today to be healthy?" I change my whole basis for choosing. I take an area of my life that has been a constant error and change it into an asset, one that nourishes me and helps me to do that next right thing.
One Day at a Time . . .
I am willing to face my flawed thinking about food and change the way I make food choices, meal by meal, so that food is an asset to me and not a liability.
~ Carol B. ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid this selfishness. We must, or it kills us! God makes that possible. And there often seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without His aid. - Pg. 62 - How It Works
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Sanskrit saying: 'God sleeps in the minerals, awakens in the plants, walks in the animals, and thinks in you.' There is no place or time that the Power you believe in is not existing. Your thoughts are the culmination of this Power and your recovery HP's manifestation.
Working the steps and practicing the principles is the same as manifesting God on earth.
I Say Thanks
Today I will say thank you. If someone does something for me, I will say thank you. If I feel good when I wake up I will say thank you. When I have food that gives me pleasure and nourishment, I will appreciate its flavor. If the world provides me with another day of what I need to keep going, I will say thank you for being alive, for my health, my family and my friends. As I show appreciation a curious thing happens, I get more of what I am saying thank you for. People want to be appreciated; saying thank you allows them to give with pleasure. Life wants to be appreciated; saying thank you allows life to give with pleasure.
I do not take things for granted
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. The truth is that your Spiritual Source doesn't deal with time, clocks, and calendars. Your Source put you in today because your Source is in today.
Because God (Allah, Krishna, Kahuna, Creator, Divine Intelligence) is in the NOW, then 'Just for Today' I stay here too.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Stay put and act in your own best interest.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I am slowly finding new strength within me as I begin to trust my inner voice. I dare listen and take new risks as I follow my inner path.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Rockbottom: When things got worse faster than I could lower my standards. - Anon.
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. I will be back looking for Lin and others.