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Post by majestyjo on Feb 6, 2018 23:06:14 GMT -5
February 7
Daily Reflections
A PATH TO FAITH
True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith, and every A.A. meeting is an
assurance that God will restore us to sanity if we rightly relate ourselves to Him.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 33
My last drunk had landed me in the hospital, totally broken. It was then that I was able
to see my past float in front of me. I realized that, through drinking, I had lived every
nightmare I had ever had. My own self-will and obsession to drink had driven me into a
dark pit of hallucinations, blackouts and despair. Finally beaten, I asked for God's help.
His presence told me to believe. My obsession for alcohol was taken away and my
paranoia has since been lifted. I am no longer afraid. I know my life is healthy and sane.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
A night club crowded with men and women all dressed up in evening clothes looks like a
very festive place. But you should see the rest rooms of that night club the next morning.
What a mess! People have been sick all over the place and does it smell! The glamour of
the night before is all gone and only the stink of the morning after is left. In A.A. we learn
to take a long view of drinking instead of a short view. We learn to think less about the
pleasure of the moment and more about the consequences. Has the night before become
less important to me and the morning after more important?
Meditation For The Day
Only a few more steps and then God's power shall be seen and known in my life. I am now
walking in darkness, surrounded by the limitations of space and time. But even in this
darkness, I can have faith and can be a light to guide feet that are afraid. I believe that
God's power will break through the darkness and my prayers will pierce even to the ears
of God Himself. But only a cry from the heart, a trusting cry, ever pierces that darkness
and reaches to the divine ear of God.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that the divine power of God will help my human weakness. I pray that my prayer
may reach through the darkness to the ear of God.
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As Bill Sees It
Let Go Absolutely, p.242
After failure on my part to dry up any drunks, Dr. Silkworth
reminded me of Professor William James's observation that truly
transforming spiritual experiences are nearly always founded on
calamity and collapse. "Stop preaching at them," Dr. Silkworth
said, "and give them the hard medical facts first. This may soften
them up at depth so that they will be willing to do anything to get
well. Then they may accept those spiritual ideas of yours, and
even a Higher Power."
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We beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some
of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas, and the result was
nil--until we let go absolutely.
1. A.A. Comes Of Age, p.13
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p.58
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Walk In Dry Places
Responsibility for our actions.
Maturity
The practice of scape-goating goes way back to biblical times. It's easier to blame others for our problems than to take personal responsibility for facing and solving these problems.
In the AA program, however, there's nothing that serves as a basis for blaming others. In every way, AA insists that alcoholics take personal responsibility… not only for finding and maintaining sobriety, but also for past wrongs and personal shortcomings. This is a difficult change for alcoholics who have believed that others caused many of their problems.
But being forced to take responsibility for our actions is a blessing in disguise. It fairly shouts the good news that we can take charge of our lives despite what others think and do. With God's help, we can change ourselves into the people we ought to be. We are fortunate that life is arranged to give us this personal responsibility.. where would we be if our recovery depended only on others?
We also learn that this responsibility is not limited to our drinking. We are responsible for everything we think and do, and we have the power to make improvements in our lives beginning today.
I will go through the day without blaming others for my problems.
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Keep It Simple
I thank God for my handicaps, for through them, I have found myself, my work and my God.---Helen Keller.
None of us ever wanted to be addicts. It's not what we would choose to be--- just as no one would choose to blind and deaf. Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf, told of how her problems became her biggest gift. Through them, she found true meaning in her life. We can accept our handicap---our addiction--- and learn from it. The truth is, we're all handicapped in some way. Recovery is about facing our addiction and learning to live with it. When we see we can't do things alone, we see the need for a Higher Power.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see myself as I really am. Give me the serenity that comes from accepting my handicaps.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list all the ways I am handicapped. I'll ask myself, "What gift does each of these hold for me?"
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Each Day a New Beginning
However confused the scene of our life appears, however torn we may be who now do face that scene, it can be faced, and we can go on to be whole. --Muriel Rukeyser
We can expect to feel fear, even dread at some points in our lives. We will always have situations that, for a time at least, seem more than we can bear. But the clouds will lift. We are never given more than we can handle, and with each passing day we become more at ease with ourselves and all that life gives us. We are learning that "this too shall pass." Our confidence grows as our spiritual program gains strength.
Our ties to one another and our ties to the program make us whole. When we reflect on who we were and how far we've come, we will see that problems we drank over in days gone by are handled today and often with ease. The joy we share is that no problem is too great to be faced any longer. And no situation will ever have to be faced alone, unless we reject God's help.
I will be grateful for my growth toward wholeness and the opportunities I face today. They are bringing me into harmony with the Divine plan for my life.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
We had to ask ourselves why we shouldn’t apply to our human problems this same readiness to change our point of view. We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn’t control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression, we couldn’t make a living, we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy, we couldn’t seem to be of real help to other people—was not a basic solution of these bedevilments more important than whether we should see newsreels of lunar flight? Of course it was.
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.
I had a long talk with a psychiatrist, but nothing came of that, and I had also, just about that time, talked with a minister for whom I had a great deal of respect. He went into the religious side and told me that I didn't attend church as regularly as I should and that he felt, more or less, that this was responsible for my trouble. I rebelled against this, because just about the time that I was getting ready to leave high school, a revelation came to me about God, and it made things very complicated for me. The thought came to me that if God, as my mother said, was a vengeful God, he couldn't be a loving God. I wasn't able to comprehend it. I rebelled, and from that time on, I don't think I attended church more than a dozen times.
p. 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."
Those who look closely soon have the key to this strange paradox. The A.A. member has to conform to the principles of recovery. His life actually depends upon obedience to spiritual principles. If he deviates too far, the penalty is sure and swift; he sickens and dies. At first he goes along because he must, but later he discovers a way of life he really wants to live. Moreover, he finds he cannot keep this priceless gift unless he gives it away. Neither he nor anybody else can survive unless he carries the A.A. message. The moment this Twelfth Step work forms a group, another discovery is made - that most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group. Realization dawns that he is but a small part of a great whole; that no personal sacrifice is too great for preservation of the Fellowship. He learns that the clamor of desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group. It becomes plain that the group must survive or the individual will not.
p. 130
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God, the Master Artist, sees the whole picture and desires to make something delightful of us. --Gene L. Lankford
The joy is in the journey.
Life didn't end when I got sober -- it started.
Situations I fear are rarely as bad as the fear itself.
If faith without works is dead, then willingness without action is fantasy.
Resentment is like acid, eating away at the vessel it is stored in.
Walk softly and carry a Big Book.
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
CHILDLIKE
"In every child who is born, under
no matter what circumstances,
and of no matter what parents, the
potentiality of the human race is
born again."
-- James Agee
Today I am able to believe and see the God-given dignity of the human race in
the faces and lifestyles of others. In the challenge and rebelliousness of youth is
the hope for tomorrow.
Today I can associate myself with the need to question, risk and "be
outrageous". Today I can play, laugh at myself and own my craziness. Today I do
not need to be perfect.
When I used drugs, I was so judgmental, serious and controlling. Everything had
to have a place, or an answer, or be acceptable to others. My moments of guilt
were caused by my inability to please others.
Today I can be childlike and identify with the radical message for tomorrow: "to
thine own self be true!"
I see a child looking at the stars and I smile; I am that child.
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O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods.
Psalm 96:1-4
I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Phillipians 4:10-13
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6
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Daily Inspiration
There is no moment like right now. Lord, help me start one thing today that I have been putting off.
Spend less time trying to change and more time making the best of who you are. Lord, help me daily to put Your words into action.
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NA Just For Today
This Is Not A Test
"We have found a loving, personal God to whom we can turn."
Basic Text p. 27
Some of us come into recovery with the impression that life's hardships are a series of cosmic tests designed to teach us something. This belief is readily apparent when something traumatic happens and we wail, "My Higher Power is testing me!" We're convinced that it's a test of our recovery when someone offers us drugs, or a test of our character when faced with a situation where we could do something unprincipled without getting caught. We may even think it's a test of our faith when we're in great pain over a tragedy in our lives.
But a loving Higher Power doesn't test our recovery, our character, or our faith. Life just happens, and sometimes it hurts. Many of us have lost love through no fault of our own. Some of us have lost all of our material wealth. A few of us have even grieved the loss of our own children. Life can be terribly painful at times, but the pain is not inflicted on us by our Higher Power. Rather, that Power is constantly by our sides, ready to carry us if we can't walk by ourselves. There is no harm that life can do us that the God of our understanding can't heal.
Just for today: I will have faith that my Higher Power's will for me is good, and that I am loved. I will seek my Higher Power's help in times of need.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
It is the weak who are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong. --Leo Rosten
When we think of strength, do we think of someone who shows no emotion and intimidates others with physical power? True strength is the freedom to show all kinds of feelings. Strong people aren't afraid of being vulnerable. A person who feels insecure may not feel free to show any kind of softness or be able to share gentle feelings. If we have true inner strength, we are not afraid to show what is a part of us, gentle feelings included.
It is wonderful to see a well-conditioned athlete cry tears of joy after a victory. In such an example we can see physical and emotional strength. In our lives together, we will be stronger if we do not try to hide our feelings out of fear. As our feelings flow, we will increase our self-understanding and build our true strength.
Am I strong enough to show how I really feel today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
We cannot merely pray to You, 0 God, to end war;
For we know that You have made the world in a way
That man must find his own path to peace
Within himself and with his neighbor.
--Jack Riemer
Our conscious contact with God can be called prayer. There are many forms of prayer for a man in this program. For some of us it may take the form of talking to God; for others it may be silent meditation, observing nature, listening to music, or writing in a journal.
We have experienced the healing effect of this relationship. It has allowed us to move out of our willfulness. But we need to take action where we can make a difference. We cannot blame God for every bad thing that happens - or simply wait for God to provide all the good we want. Do we see the power we do have to influence our lives? Can we give up our resentments against God for bad things that have happened?
I am grateful for what God has given me and more aware of what I can do.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Owning Our Power
We need to make a distinction between powerlessness and owning our power.
The first step in recovery is accepting powerlessness. There are some things we can't do, no matter how long or hard we try. These things include changing other people, solving their problems, and controlling their behavior. Sometimes, we feel powerless over ourselves - what we feel or believe, or the effects of a particular situation or person on us.
It's important to surrender to powerlessness, but it's equally important to own our power. We aren't trapped. We aren't helpless. Sometimes it may feel like we are, but we aren't. We each have the God given power, and the right, to take care of ourselves in any circumstance, and with any person. The middle ground of self-care lies between the two extremes of controlling others and allowing them to control us. We can walk that ground gently or assertively, but in confidence that it is our right and responsibility.
Let the power come to walk that path.
Today, I will remember that I can take care of my self. I have choices, and. I can exercise the options I choose without guilt.
I feel my entire body unwinding and relaxing as I give up my resistance and struggle. Today I accept life as it comes and learn to flow with it with peace. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Experience Love for Yourself
To find love, you must first find it in yourself. Then the whole universe will mirror it back. See how people smile at you? Feel their tenderness, their affection, their respect. See how the whole world responds lovingly to you when you love yourself.
The world around you reflects how you feel about yourself. The beliefs of many years have kept you trapped in the illusion of separateness, apartness. Your hesitancy to love yourself was mirrored in the eys of others. But you are not alone, you are not estranged. You are not a disconnected part. You are part of the whole, intricately connected to all of life.
Go out, and embrace your connection. Embrace life. Watch the sunrise. Smell the cypress trees, a field of garlic, the gentle scent of an apple orchard. Feel the breeze on your cheek, the rain on your hair, the earth beneath your feet.
Stay open. Keep loving yourself. Know you are a vital part of a living universe. Watch how much better, how much kinder life is, as you grow in peace and harmony with yourself. See how much more love is mirrored in the universe since you committed to loving yourself.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Replace dread by saying woohoo
Let go of dread.
Treat it like a feeling. Identify it. Accept and acknowledge it. Then release it. Do whatever you have to, to get it out of your system. Because dread is more than just a feeling– it’s really a curse.
We throw this dark gray blanket of dread over our lives for hours, sometimes days, months, and sometimes years. We convince ourselves that certain situations will be terrible. Then what we’ve predicted comes true.
Dread is not living in the present moment. It’s living the future before we get there, and living it without any joy. There’s a lot of good about the future that you don’t know. There’s your power to flow. There’s the creative power that exists in the void. There’s your abillity to intuitively handle what comes up. And there’s a lesson, a pulsing potential in the experience that you can’t see yet. There may be a delightful consequence or outcome from this experience on which you haven’t planned. Or it may simply be something you need to get through to experience growth.
If you’re feeling cursed because you’re living in dread, take the curse off yourself.
God, help me open my heart to the full potential of every moment in my life.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
What do I do what I do? Why did I say what I said? Why on earth did I put off an important responsibility? Questions like these, best asked of myself in a quiet time of meditation, demand honest answers. I may have to think deeply for those answers, going beyond the tempting rationalizations that lack the luster of truth. Have I accepted the fact that self-deception can only damage me, providing a clouded and unrealistic picture of the person I really am?
Today I Pray
May God allow me to push aside my curtain of fibs, alibis, rationalizations, justification, distortions and downright lies and let in the light on the real truths about myself. May I meet the person I really am and take comfort in the person I can become.
Today I Will Remember
Hello, Me. Meet the Real Me.
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One More Day
Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: It might have been.
– John Greenleaf Whittier
A story is told of a man leaning over his wife’s casket. “I waited too long,” he lamented to no one in particular. “Why didn’t I tell her how much I loved her, how much I cherished our life together? I waited too long.”
Like everyone else, we are guilty of procrastination. We tend to put off difficult decisions, such as ending a bad relationship or quitting a job or making aments with an old friend. Our Procrastinations seem to protect us.
Now we understand that time is important too. The more we put something off, the less time we have for other more positive areas of life. Life gets easier when we don’t procrastinate.
I can resolve many problems with direct actions. I need not procrastinate anymore.
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One Day At A Time
~ FELLOWSHIP ~
We may have all come on different ships,
but we're in the same boat now.
Martin Luther King Jr.
As a child I never had many friends and I was never one of the "in" crowd. I had many complexes and never thought I was good enough, or clever enough or thin enough. I didn't date much, nor did I often go to parties. Instead I lived in my perfect fantasy world, where I would one day be thin and beautiful and live happily ever after. As a result food became my best friend, and where friends would constantly disappoint me or leave me, food was always there to numb the pain of loneliness, rejection and loss. There was never anyone in whom I could confide the unbearable pain that I felt, and so I would bury myself in books and food, and thought that as long as I had enough food to soothe that great big hole in my soul, everything would be fine.
Finally, however, when the food was causing me more pain than the pain it was supposed to take away, in desperation I found the doors of this wonderful fellowship. The people in that first meeting were from all walks of life, and of all ages, with some being old enough to be my parents or young enough to be my children. Even though they initially appeared so different to me, I realized that in this motley group of people I had found the friends that I had always been looking for. The common bond we shared in our desire to stop eating compulsively and to heal our lives was the cement that keeps this wonderful fellowship going. These friends listened to me without judging me, they loved me even when I couldn't love myself, and they were there for me when I needed them. They have become my best friends and my family. It's a result of this fellowship with other compulsive overeaters, who share with me their experience, strength and hope, that I am constantly able to learn and grow.
One day at a time... One Day at a Time . . .
I will reach out in fellowship to my friends in the program, as they reach out to me, and in doing so I am empowered in ways that are truly miraculous.
~ Sharon S. ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
In 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. - Pg. 50 - We Agnostics
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
You will feel powerless at times, yet once you live through your withdrawal and early confusing recovery, your resiliency to endure, survive, and thrive will amaze you. You are in a unique position to learn from this, turn around, and offer help to others. You are, at this very moment, learning skills that will help other addicts and alcoholics in the future. This is a gift.
I thank my Divine Source for the ability to view the good in the journey I now take.
Giving of Myself
I will not give things instead of love. I will recognize that the people who need and depend on me for that sustaining kind of love and attention will be hurt and confused if I ignore their real need for me. I need to give those who are close to me real love. They have cast their fate with mine and I owe them this. They depend on me and I need to understand that and step up to the plate and do what's necessary and right. I will also be appropriately grateful, when those I need and depend upon give me the caring and concern that nourishes my heart.
I give of my time and attention
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Some recovering addicts take comfort in their complexity as if they are the exceptionally wounded. They worry their wounds and pick at their pain, giving themselves permission to be difficult, slow, and self-absorbed. Are you simply healing to your own internal rhythm or giving yourself excuses to be difficult?
I don't make the pity pot too comfortable.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Align your actions so they are in agreement with the picture you paint of yourself at meetings.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I feel my entire body unwinding and relaxing as I give up my resistance and struggle. Today I accept life as it comes and learn to flow with it with peace.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Alcohol gave me wings to fly, then took away my sky. - Anon.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 7, 2018 12:14:15 GMT -5
February 8
Daily Reflections
CONVINCING "MR. HYDE"
Even then, as we hew away, peace and joy will still elude us. That's
the place so many of us A.A. oldsters have come to. And it's a hell of a
spot, literally. How shall our unconscious--from which so many of our
fears, compulsions and phony aspirations still stream--be brought into
line with what we actually believe, know and want! How to convince
our dumb, raging and hidden "Mr. Hyde" becomes our main task.
THE BEST OF BILL, pp. 42-43
Regular attendance at meetings, service and helping others is the
recipe that many have tried and found to be successful. Whenever I
stray from these basic principles, my old habits resurface and my old
self also comes back with all its fears and defects. The ultimate goal of
each A.A. member is permanent sobriety, achieved One Day at a
Time.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When the morning sun comes up on a nice bright day and we jump out
of bed, we're thankful to God that we feel well and happy instead of
sick and disgusted. Serenity and happiness have become much more
important to us than the excitement of drinking, which lifts us up for a
short while, but lets us way down in the end. Of course, all of us
alcoholics had a lot of fun with drinking. We might as well admit it. We
can look back on a lot of good times, before we became alcoholics. But
the time comes for all of us alcoholics when drinking ceases to be fun
and becomes trouble. Have I learned that drinking can never again be
anything but trouble for me?
Meditation For The Day
I must rely on God. I must trust Him to the limit. I must depend on
the Divine Power in all human relationships. I will wait and trust and hope,
until God shows me the way. I will wait for guidance on each
important decision. I will meet the test of waiting until a thing seems right
before I do it. Every work for God must meet this test of time. The
guidance will come, if I wait for it.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may meet the test of waiting for God's guidance. I pray
that I will not go off on my own.
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As Bill Sees It
Pipeline to God, p. 38
"I am a firm believer in both guidance and prayer. But I am fully aware,
and humble enough, I hope, to see there may be nothing infallible about
my guidance.
"The minute I figure I have got a perfectly clear pipeline to God, I have
become egotistical enough to get into real trouble. Nobody can cause
more needless grief than a power-driver who thinks he has got it straight
from God."
Letter, 1950
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Walk In Dry Places
Right attitudes Toward Anonymity.
Traditions.
At both the practical and spiritual levels, anonymity is a great blessing for the AA fellowship. There is much wisdom behind Traditions Eleven and Twelve.
Yet it is possible to use anonymity as a cloak for pride and fear. This might be the case with alcoholics who insist on concealing their AA membership from fellow workers, neighbors, and friends. They defend this zealous protection of their anonymity by pointing to the traditions. However, this could reveal a lack of understanding and perhaps a lack of commitment to the program.
Why is it useful to let others know we belong to AA? Our best opportunities to help others may come from people who watched us in sobriety and were inspired by our example.
However, we must maintain anonymity at the public media level, and nobody has the right to violate another person's anonymity. Nor is it wise to be critical of the AA member who prefers anonymity at every level. We have no right to pass judgment on such decisions. Above all, we never have a right to break another's anonymity.
I'll try to set a good example for others who may be seeking sobriety. I can find guidance about anonymity.
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Keep It Simple
You must find the ideas that have some promise in them...it's not enough to just have ideas. --George E. Woodberry
Each day we're flooded with ideas. Everyone seems to have found the truth, and now they want to share it. We may feel loaded down with all these ideas. Who and what do we believe? We've fallen on a set of ideas that hold great promise: The Twelve Steps. The ideas of the program have much promise because they're simple. They ask nothing that isn't good for us. They have been proven to work. Now we're people with more than ideas that work. We're people with good ideas that work. When we find ourselves wondering how to live, all we need to do is look to the Steps.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to put my energy into working the Steps.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list what is right about the Steps for me. What promises do the Steps hold for me?
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Each Day a New Beginning
Reaction isn't action--that is, it isn't truly creative. --Elizabeth Janeway
We must learn how to act rather than react. Unfortunately, we've had lots of training at reacting. And we're all such good imitators. We are a society of reactors. We let the good or the bad behavior of another person determine our own behavior as a matter of course. But the opportunities are unlimited for us to responsibly choose our behavior, independent of all others in our life.
Change is ours, if we want it. A scowl from a spouse need not make us feel rejected. Criticism at work doesn't have to ruin our day. An inconsiderate bus driver might still be politely thanked. And when we decide for ourselves just how we want to act and follow through, self-esteem soars.
If we are put-down, it may momentarily create self-doubt; but when we quickly reassure ourselves that all is well and respond with respect, we grow. A sense of well-being rushes through our bodies.
Being in command of our own feelings and our own actions, prevents that free-floating anxiety from grasping us. We are who we choose to be. And new adventures await us.
The opportunities to react will be many today. But each time I can pause, determine the action I'd feel better about, and take it. My emotional health gets a booster shot each time I make a responsible choice.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - First Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did.
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.
After this incident in 1940, I sought some other means of livelihood. I had a very good friend who was in the government service, and I went to him about a job. He got me one. I worked for the government about a year and still maintained my evening office practice when the government agencies were decentralized. Then I went south, because they told me that the particular county I was going to in North Carolina was a dry county. I thought that this would be a big help to me. I would meet some new faces and be in a dry county.
pp. 238-239
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity."
So at the outset, how best to live and work together as groups became the prime question. In the world about us we saw personalities destroying whole peoples. The struggle for wealth, power, and prestige was tearing humanity apart as never before. If strong people were stalemated in the search for peace and harmony, what was to become of our erratic band of alcoholics? As we had once struggled and prayed for individual recovery, just so earnestly did we commence to quest for the principles through which A.A. itself might survive. on anvils of experience, the structure of our Society was hammered out.
pp. 130-131
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The past remembered is a good guide for the future. --Chinese Proverb
"One that would have the fruit must climb the tree." --Thomas Fuller
Inspire someone to happiness today by sharing your own blessings and good fortune with them.
Blues Ain't Nothing But A Good Soul Feeling Bad.
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. --Helen Keller
Even when we make a mess of our lives, God loves us and helps us. --Joanne Hillman
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
HOPE
"The hopeful man sees success
where others see failure,
sunshine where others see
shadows and storm."
-- O. S. Marden
Spirituality involves our attitudes and perceptions as well as our
prayers. Spirituality requires a realistic awareness of what we need
and what we have been given. Spirituality sees beyond the problems
into the solution.
Hope is a feeling that is based on a spiritual perception of life that
shuns apathy and negativity. Everything can be used for good if it is
perceived realistically; destructive experiences, painful moments and
failed relationships can all be used to create a new tomorrow.
The hope that stems from our ability to change requires a realistic
understanding of what has happened. No aspect of life should be
wasted because it can point to a glorious tomorrow.
Teach me to discover the secret of success in the problems of life.
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Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
The Lord says, "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you." Isaiah 66:13
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Daily Inspiration
Through the power of God within me, I am stronger than any of my circumstances. Lord, I seek, I knock and I ask and You are always there and ready to give me the miracles that I need.
It is important to remember that different can be better. Lord, as I resist change and cling to the familiar, help me to remember that Your plan is perfect and will truly make me happy.
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NA Just For Today
What Is A Sponsor?
"…an NA sponsor is a member of Narcotics Anonymous, living our program of
recovery, who is willing to build a special, supportive, one-on-one relationship
with us."
IP No. 11, "Sponsorship, Revised"
What is a sponsor? You know: That nice person with whom you had coffee after
your first meeting. That generous soul who keeps sharing recovery experience
free of charge. The one who keeps amazing you with stunning insight regarding
your character defects. The one who keeps reminding you to finish your Fourth
Step, who listens to your Fifth Step, and who doesn't tell anyone how weird you
are.
It's pretty easy to start taking all this stuff for granted once we're used to
someone being there for us. We may run wild for a while and tell ourselves,
"I'll call my sponsor later, but right now I have to clean the house, go
shopping, chase that attractive." And so we end up in trouble, wondering where
we went wrong.
Our sponsor can't read minds. It's up to us to reach out and ask for help.
Whether we need help with our steps, a reality check to help us straighten out
our screwy thinking, or just a friend, it's our job to make the request.
Sponsors are warm, wise, wonderful people, and their experience with recovery is
ours — all we have to do is ask.
Just for today: I'm grateful for the time, the love, and the experience my
sponsor has shared with me. Today, I will call my sponsor.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
When I look back on all these worries I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened. --Winston Churchill
A rolled-up ball of yarn does not take up much space--it sits, ready to be used when needed. It gets unrolled a little bit at a time--just as much as is needed and no more. But a ball of yarn that gets unraveled can be strewn across an entire room. It becomes a jumbled mass, entangled and confusing.
When we live our lives a day at a time, we are like that rolled-up ball of yarn. Our thoughts, feelings, and skills are ready to be used as they are needed. But when we worry, our spirit becomes a jumbled mass of yarn. We get ahead of and behind ourselves--our thoughts are scattered and often our feelings are confused. Worry adds clutter and confusion to life.
What is most helpful is to put the worry away--to roll up the ball of yarn and bring ourselves into the present moment. In this way, we stand ready for each new stitch--and we will never be given more than we are able to handle.
Do I have worries that are cluttering my life today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
If the best man's faults were written on Us forehead, it would make him pull his hat over his eyes. --Gaelic proverb
When we deal with our faults and imperfections, we are dealing with the basic issues of being a person. We can become bitter and cynical about the imperfections of others, or we can realize every person is incomplete but growing, just as we are. The way we look at the faults in others and the way we look at our own are closely tied together. In our spiritual journey, we must begin with the premise that no person ever achieves perfection.
Perfection apparently is not what this life is about at all, since perfection is nonexistent. We are lovable, and we can love in the process of living our lives. Since we are not perfect, we have to be accountable. We must have standards for our behavior and hold ourselves to those standards, admitting our mistakes and making repairs where we can.
I will try to acknowledge my mistakes and give up the idea of ever becoming perfect.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Letting Go of Guilt
Feeling good about ourselves is a choice. So is feeling guilty. When guilt is legitimate, it acts as a warning light, signaling that we're off course. Then its purpose is finished.
Wallowing in guilt allows others to control us. It makes us feel not good enough. It prevents us from setting boundaries and taking other healthy action to care for ourselves.
We may have learned to habitually feel guilty as an instinctive reaction to life. Now we know that we don't have to feel guilty. Even if we've done something that violates a value, extended guilt does not solve the problem; it prolongs the problem. So make an amend. Change a behavior. Then let guilt go.
Today, God, help me to become entirely ready to let go of guilt. Please take it from me, and replace it with self-love.
Today I am willing to let go of all my thoughts and opinions that are negative and destructive in my life. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Listen to Your Inner Voice
Our inner voice, that quiet guide within, will lead us along our path, will help us create our destiny, will keep us in harmony.
So much stress comes from not listening, not trusting our inner voice. So much confusion comes from trying to act before we have heard, before we are guided. So much pain comes when we deny what that voice is saying, when we try to run from it or make it go away. We wonder how we can trust ourselves. The better question is, How can we not trust ourselves?
Our rage, anger, and most bitter resentments occur when we trust others rather than ourselves. Yes, sometimes promptings come from outside ourselves. The universe is alive, magical, responsive, and will guide us on our way. But the answer must always resonate, must always ultimately come from that place within our heart, our soul, our inner voice. Sometimes, we need to listen to others until we become impassioned enough to hear and trust ourselves.
It takes practice, the quiet practice of listening, until we learn how to hear ourselves, then interpret what we hear. It is neither wasted time nor incidental to our lives to learn to hear ourselves, to learn to tune into our hearts and souls. That’s part of the reason we’re here– part of our destiny, our mission, our purpose.
Our best work, our finest moments, our joy happen when we’re centered, listening to and trusting ourselves, allowing our hearts and souls to guide us. They happen when we allow ourselves to fully, completely, and in love, be who we are.
****************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
Watch out for that woohoo
That’s not flying….It’s falling with style.
–Woody, Toy Story
There is a term in skydiving called relative work. That means you’re controlling your fall rate to match those of the other jumpers in the air– falling in formation with them.
“We are flying,” said a sky diver, flush with adrenaline after a jump, “relative to each other.”
“Sure you are,” I said. “But relative to the earth, you’re falling, and that’s all that counts.”
It’s easy to get caught up in the woohoo of the moment. But don’t forget about humility and reality,too. We can make the right moves, assert ourselves, realize our dreams– but our plans need to be brought down to earth.
Find a path with heart, and walk it. Do things. Enjoy your activities. But also be aware that while you may feel like you are flying, there is a big green planet rushing toward you at 120 miles per hour that begs to differ.
Say woohoo. Have confidence. Then remember that there’s always a power greater than you.
God, help me remember to be grounded and humble in all that I do.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
When we first stopped drinking, using, over-eating, or gambling, it was an enormous relief to find that the people we met in The Program seemed quite different than those apparently hostile masses know as “They.” We were met not with criticism and suspicion, but with understanding and concern. However, we still encounter people who get on our nerves, both within The Program and outside it. Obviously, we must begin to accept the fact that there are people who’ll sometimes say things with which we disagree, or do things we don’t like. Am I beginning to see that learning to live with differences is essential to my comfort and, in turn, to my continuing recovery?
Today I Pray
May I recognize that people’s differences make our world go around and tolerate people who “rub me the wrong way.” May I understand that I must give them room, that some of my hostile attitudes toward others may be leftovers from the unhealthy days when I tended to view others as mobilized against me.
Today I will Remember
Learn to live with Differences.
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One More Day
Tragedy is an initiation not of human beings but of action, life, happiness, and unhappiness.
– Aristotle
Our response to tragedy can be rage, sorrow, or even horror. Those responses, as real as they are, are not as accurate as our optimism, for it is optimism … the belief that life will go smoothly … that gives the label “tragedy” to an event. We are surprised, we are shocked when our optimism is leveled by the unexpected.
A tragedy is an event, a time, a moment, and nothing more. People’s lives are constantly see-sawing between emotions and events. No one is always happy, placid, or tragic. In experiencing life to the fullest, we expose ourselves to all the facets. And that simple act makes us all uniquely human.
I accept my life and the ups and downs of my human experience.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
DISCIPLINE AND FREEDOM
" Freedom to a dancer means discipline.
That is what technique is for ... liberation."
Martha Graham
I was thinking this morning that keeping in fit spiritual condition was like being a dancer. A dancer knows that without the discipline of frequent training and rehearsal, he or she will not be able to dance freely when called upon to do so. The dancer who is not in shape will look wrong, feel wrong and become injured trying to do something wild and free. The training may be dull, boring and repetitive at times, but when the performance is on, the dancer soars in the freedom of movement.
I try to look at my daily program tasks the way a dancer looks at training. I may not like every minute, but I have the continual blessing of freedom as I go about my day and the hope of great moments of breakthrough into new freedoms as I progress.
One day at a time ...
I will take each step of my recovery program with my great vision of freedom.
~ Q.
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person like to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. - Pg. 30 - More About Alcoholism
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
The pain and struggle of early recovery is a powerful wind that blows through your life. It blows open the doors to your deepest emotions and tests the very fiber of your being. Yet, after the storm abates, you rebuild on the foundation of love from the fellowship.
In the coming days when I can't be grateful, when I cannot see past the storm, I listen to the beating heart of the fellowship.
Lighting One Candle
Today I will light one candle. I know in my heart that the world has so many sincere and good people in it. People who want to contribute to the world, whose hearts are set in the right direction. I join with all of those good souls today in my deep wish to be part of a force that can heal the world. I say a quiet prayer for all who need it and I unite my soul energy with like minded people. I trust that my good wishes for this world will unite with the good wishes of others and form a silent force that will gather in power and attract more and more energy. My prayers will not go unanswered because they are the prayers of so many. There are so many good people from all walks of life, all corners of the world. We have something very profound in common, our love of life, our love of our world.
I do a small thing with a full heart
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Try to live your life without adding to your Eight Step list. You have enough wreckage to clear up from the past without creating wreckage in the now.
When I feel my worst, I try my best.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Better to go through life sober, thinking you're an alcoholic, than go through life drunk thinking you're not.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I am willing to let go of all my thoughts and opinions that are negative and destructive in my life.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I've got a mind that's trying to kill me. - Bob P.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 8, 2018 18:19:40 GMT -5
February 9
Daily Reflections
GETTING THE "SPIRITUAL ANGLE"
How often do we sit in AA meetings and hear the speaker declare,
"But I haven't yet got the spiritual angle." Prior to this statement, he
had described a miracle of transformation which had occurred in him --
not only his release from alcohol, but a complete change in his whole
attitude toward life and the living of it. It is apparent to nearly
everyone else present that he has received a great gift; " . . . except
that he doesn't seem to know it yet!" We well know that this
questioning individual will tell us six months or a year hence that he
has found faith in God.
LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 275
A spiritual experience can be the realization that a life which once
seemed empty and devoid of meaning is now joyous and full. In my life
today, daily prayer and meditation, coupled with living the Twelve
Steps, has brought about an inner peace and feeling of belonging which
was missing when I was drinking.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
In the past, we kept right on drinking in spite of all the trouble we got
into. We were foolish enough to believe that drinking could still be fun
in spite of everything that happened to us. When we came into A.A.,
we found a lot of people who, like ourselves, had had fun with drinking,
but who now admitted that liquor had become nothing but trouble for
them. And when we found that this thing had happened to a lot of other
people besides ourselves, we realized that perhaps we weren't such
odd ducks after all. Have I learned to admit that for me drinking has
ceased to be fun and has become nothing but trouble?
Meditation For The Day
The lifeline, the line of rescue, is the line from the soul to God. On one
end of the lifeline is our faith and on the other end is God's power. It
can be a strong line and no soul can be overwhelmed who is linked to
God by it. I will trust in this lifeline and never be afraid. God will save
me from doing wrong and from the cares and troubles of life. I will
look to God for help and trust Him for aid when I am emotionally
upset.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that no lack of trust or fearfulness will make me disloyal to
God. I pray that I may keep a strong hold on the lifeline of faith.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Dealing with Resentments, p. 39
Resentment is the Number One offender. It destroys more alcoholics
than anything else. From it stem all forms of spiritual disease, for we
have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have also been
spiritually ill. When our spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out
mentally and physically.
In dealing with our resentments, we set them on paper. We listed
people, institutions, or principles with whom we were angry. We asked
ourselves why we were angry. In most cases it was found that our
self-esteem, our pocketbooks, our ambitions, our personal relationships
(including sex) were hurt or threatened.
<< << << >> >> >>
"The most heated bit of letter-writing can be a wonderful safety
valve--providing the wastebasket is somewhere nearby."
1. Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 64-65
2. Letter, 1949
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Getting started Today____ Responsible activity
For the recovering person, every assignment or day's work can have a disagreeable moment. The problem is getting started____ overcoming our fear of taking the plunge.
The real problem is deeper than the wish to avoid mere unpleasantness. Some of our resistance to getting started may be fear of failure. It could also be a deep-seated desire to live in a problem free environment, where all of our needs can be met without effort on our part. It can even be a desire to return to the quest for constant excitement and stimulation.
We need to know that our answer is in guidance and acceptance. If we have truly committed our will and lives to the care and keeping of our Higher Power, we will find the right path for each day's work. We can also accept any work or challenge that occurs, knowing it is part of a higher order for our lives. Our current situation may be depressing or boring, but it can easily be a stepping stone to our long-term good.
I will meet today's challenges and responsibilities with gratitude and confidence, knowing that God is guiding and directing my life.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
H.A.L.T. -- AA Slogan
H.A.L.T. stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired. These feelings can be danger to us. They can lead us away from our program. We need to eat regular meals. When we get too hungry, we get cranky. Then we say and do things we regret. We need to turn anger over to our Higher Power, or else our anger turns into rage. We need friends to help us in recovery. If we get to lonely, we may turn our addictive way for friendship. We don't stay sober by ourselves. We need a clear mind to deal with life. If we get too tried, we tend to feel sorry for ourselves. Being tired get us into crazy thinking.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, remind me to H.A.L.T. Help me to not get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll review the four parts of H.A.L.T. In which areas do I practice good self-care? In which areas do I not? How can I improve?
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
We have seen too much defeatism, too much pessimism, too much of a negative approach. The answer is simple: if you want something very badly, you can achieve it. It may take patience, very hard work, a real struggle, and a long time; but it can be done . . . faith is a prerequisite of any undertaking. . . . --Margo Jones
How many dreams have we let die? How many projects did we start, only to leave them unfinished? How many times have we promised ourselves, "This time will be different," but then didn't work to make it so? Negativity breeds more negativity. Fortunately, its opposite does likewise. Our attitude will carry us a long way. And a positive attitude will make all things possible.
We are meant for good living. But we must seek it out and be open to its invitation, be willing to put forth the necessary effort. Our dreams are our invitations to move forward, to strive for a further goal. And having faith in our ability to achieve our dreams will make easier the necessary steps.
We have been blessed with dreams, all of us. They are gifts meant to stretch our capabilities.
I can trust my dreams and aspirations. They are mine, alone, and special to me. Achievement is possible; faith and a positive attitude will ease my efforts.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - First Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
The Wright brothers’ almost childish faith that they could build a machine which would fly was the mainspring of their accomplishment. Without that, nothing could have happened. We agnostics and atheists were sticking to the idea that self-sufficiency would solve our problems. When others showed us that “God-sufficiency" worked with them, we began to feel like those who had insisted the Wrights would never fly.
pp. 52-53
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Alcoholics Anonymous - First 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.
But I found that after I got to North Carolina, it wasn't any different. The state was different, but I wasn't . Nevertheless, I stayed sober there about six months, because I knew that Vi was to come later and bring the children. We had two girls and a boy at that time. Something happened. Vi had secured work in Washington. She was also in the government service. I started inquiring where I could get a drink, and, of course, I found that it wasn't hard. I think whiskey was cheaper there than it was in Washington. Matters got worse all the time until finally they got so bad that I was reinvestigated by the government. Being an alcoholic, slick, and having some good sense left, I survived the investigation. Then I had my first bad stomach hemorrhage. I was out of work for about four days. I got into a lot of financial difficulties too. I borrowed five hundred dollars from the bank and three hundred from the loan shop, and I drank that up pretty fast. Then I decided I'd go back to Washington.
p. 239
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity."
Countless times, in as many cities and hamlets, we reenacted the story of Eddie Rickenbacker and his courageous company when their plane crashed in the Pacific. Like us, they had suddenly found themselves saved from death, but still floating upon a perilous sea. How well they saw that their common welfare came first. None might become selfish of water or bread. Each needed to consider the others, and in abiding faith they knew they must find their real strength. And as they did find, in measure to transcend all the defects of their frail craft, every test of uncertainty, pain, fear, and despair, and even the death of one.
p. 131
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Decision is the spark that ignites action. Until a decision is made, nothing happens. --Wilfred A. Peterson
"You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was." --Irish Proverb
"Don't rent space to anyone in your head." --Anon.
I trust and believe God wants good things for me. --Shelley
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
--Melody Beattie
When we look around us with eyes of faith, we may see paradise. --Scott Sawyer
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
ENVIRONMENT
"Love your neighbor as thyself,
but choose your neighbor."
-- Louise Beal
Part of my recovery and sobriety involves change. It is not enough to
"put down the jug" to gain sobriety; I need to make substantial
changes in my life.
Where I live, with whom I live, the friends I keep and the relationships
I make are crucial to my sobriety. Human beings imitate. They imitate
clothes, hairstyles and mannerisms. Sobriety is also imitated.
As a recovering alcoholic, I can only be spiritually happy with those
who are joyous and free; I need to find them.
God, You are to be found in Your creation. Let me seek You in a noble
lifestyle.
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"For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down themiddle wall of separation." Ephesians 2:14
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.
Revelation 3:21
"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power." I Corinthians 2:4
"Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us." Psalm 62:8
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Daily Inspiration
When you feel down, look up. Lord, at all times and in the midst of all that is happening, You are there comforting, healing, and bringing peace to my life.
Know that you can do even if things are not always easy. Lord, in You I have the support of an unlimited power source and can accomplish great things because You strengthen me.
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NA Just For Today
Self-acceptance
"When we accept ourselves, we can accept others into our lives, unconditionally
probably for the first time."
IP No. 19, "Self-Acceptance"
From our earliest memories, many of us felt like we never belonged. No matter
how big the gathering, we always felt apart from the crowd. We had a hard time
"fitting in." Deep down, we believed that if we really let others get to know
us, they would reject us. Perhaps our addiction began to germinate in this
climate of self-centeredness.
Many of us hid the pain of our alienation with an attitude of defiance. In
effect, we told the world, "You don't need me? Well, I don't need any of you,
either. I've got my drugs and I can take care of myself!" The further our
addiction progressed, the higher the walls we built around ourselves.
Those walls begin to fall when we start finding acceptance from other recovering
addicts. With this acceptance from others, we begin to learn the important
principle of self-acceptance. And when we start to accept ourselves, we can
allow others to take part in our lives without fear of rejection.
Just for today: I am accepted in NA; I fit in. Today, it's safe to start letting
others into my life.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Leave yourself alone. --Jenny Janacek
Three women were talking. One blamed herself for an unkind remark someone had made to her. Another blamed herself for not getting work done. The other compared her looks to those of the movie stars and thought she was ugly.
The women each noticed how the other two had put themselves down without being aware of it, and they began to laugh. Then they vowed to be as kind to themselves as they were to each other. Each time they caught themselves being mean to themselves, they imagined they were their own best friend, and were as understanding to themselves as they were to one another.
When we are kind to ourselves, only then can we be truly kind to others, and make ourselves a gift to those around us.
How have I been kind to myself lately?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be either good or evil. --Hannah Arendt
How often have we found ourselves in a predicament and innocently saying, "How did I get into this?" When someone has been injured by our actions because we failed to think about them, do we take the responsibility? If a friend is unfairly treated on the job, do we take a stand for him? When we know people are starving, what do we do about it? When our loved ones say they are lonely and wish we would talk to them, how do we respond?
In this program we have chosen to live by our values. We cannot sit passively and fail to live up to those values. Each situation is different, so we must think about what is called for. When we do not think about our reactions, we are in danger of adding to the evil in the world. When we act upon our principles, we feel more hopeful and wholesome.
Today, I will be alert to the difference between good and evil in my actions. I pray for the strength to take a stand.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Letting Go in Love
When people with a compulsive disorder do whatever it is they are compelled to do, they are not saying they don't love you - they are saying they don't love themselves. --Codependent No More
Gentle people, gentle souls, go in love.
Yes, at times we need to be firm, assertive: those times when we change, when we acquire a new behavior, when we need to convince others and ourselves we have rights.
Those times are not permanent. We may need to get angry to make a decision or set a boundary, but we can't afford to stay resentful. It is difficult to have compassion for one who is victimizing us, but once we've removed ourselves as victims, we can find compassion.
Our path, our way, is a gentle one, walked in love - love for self, love for others. Set boundaries. Detach. Take care of ourselves. And as quickly as possible, do those things in love.
Today, and whenever possible. God let me be gentle with others and myself. Help me find the balance between assertive action taken in my own best interests, and love for others. Help me understand that at times those two ideas are one. Help me find the right path for me.
Today I have the courage to follow my own inner voice that I hear in prayer and meditation. Today I dare to be true to myself and my own needs, whether anyone agrees with me or not. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Keep Your Heart Open
Keep your heart open, even when you can’t have what you want.
It’s easy to keep our heart open to life’s magic and all its possibilities when we have what we want. It’s more of a challenge, and more necessary than ever, to keep our hearts open when we can’t have what we want.
Even on the best journey, things happen. Plans change. Things shift and move around. This shifting and moving causes doors to close, relationships to end, blocks and frustrations to appear on our path. For now, that is what we see. For now, what we know is disappointment. We can’t have what we want, and it hurts. When that happens, our tendency may be to shut down, close our hearts, forget all we’ve learned.
Keep your heart open anyway. Consciously choose to do that. Yes, you can go away, you can leave, you can shut down, but you don’t need to. Now is a turning point. If you choose to open your heart, even when you can’t have what you want, miracles will unfold.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Get to know yourself
I opened the curtains in the King David Hotel overlooking the walled city in Jerusalem. This entire trip had been an adventure, but not the exciting kind. Nothing had gone as I planned. Usually on my excursions, I met people, connected with them, learned lessons, broke bread, and had fun. This trip had been different. I had barely spoken to anyone.
One night in the hotel restaurant, a woman motioned for me to join her for dinner. She spoke Hebrew. I spoke English. We sat and ate in silence. I had been to Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula. Now here. And that’s the closest I came to human contact on the entire trip.
The past week, I had traveled through Safad, a town in the Holy Land. It was the home of the kabbalah, the mystical sect of Judiasm, and one of the places where the purest, most intense form of meditation had been born. Although I had just wandered lightly through that land, something peculiar had happened to me, ever since I’d been there. I could hear my every thought. I was acutely aware of each emotion I felt.
It was as though my life had become a walking meditation.
But I was feeling lonely, and feeling bored.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Why haven’t I connected with anyone on this trip?”
“Yes, you have,” was the gentle answer I heard. “You’ve connected with yourself.”
Rays of light were streaming in through the window, in those first few colorful moments when the sun fills the sky. Music from a flute floated up from the courtyard below. Maybe even when we’re bored and lonely, all is well in the world.
Take some time on a regular basis to write in a journal, to meditate, or to do both. You’ll meet an interesting, exciting person. You’ll get to know yourself.
God, help me welcome those quiet spaces in my life as opportunities to connect with myself.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
The slogan “Live and Let Live” can be extremely helpful when we are having trouble tolerating other people’s behavior. We know for certain that nobody’s behavior — no matter how offensive, distasteful or vicious — is worth the price of a relapse. Our own recovery is primary, and while we must be unafraid of walking away from people or situations that cause us discomfort, we must also make a special effort to try to understand other people — especially those who rub us the wrong way. Can I accept the fat, in my recovery, that it is more important to understand than to be understood?
Today I Pray
When I run headlong into someone’s unpleasant behavior, may I first try my best to understand. Then, if my own sobriety seems threatened, may I have the courage to remove myself from the situation.
Today I Will Remember
Live and Let Live
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One More Day
A chronic illness invades life.
– Kathleen Lewis
Chronic illness means permanently changing our mindset to realize we can move only forward from this point in our life. Chronic illness means pushing back the “front tears” in our mind so we can expand the frontiers of our days. Being ill means sometimes laughing with tears trapped in our hearts, so we won’t have to be singled out as different from others. Chronic illness is becoming used to how we look today, right now, and not wasting more time longing for lost yesterdays.
If we haven’t realized it yet, we will need more emotional support than perhaps at any other time in our experience. Regardless of how strong and independent we may be, we need comfort and support from those who love us.
Longing for the “old days” and “old ways” won’t bring them back. I am learning to accept changes. They are not imposing upon my life — they are my life.
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One Day At A Time
~ BLESSINGS ~
There are no mistakes, no coincidences.
All events are blessings given to us to learn from.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
I certainly never had a charmed life as a child, and when I was told to count my blessings, I never thought that I had that much to shout about. I was a shy and lonely child, always self-conscious about my shape and size, and everyone else seemed to be far better off than I was. When life started to deal out blows that were far more than I thought I could handle, I wondered why bad things always seemed to happen to me. I would hardly recover from one traumatic event when another one was upon me. I felt life was definitely unfair. Using food seemed to be the only way that I knew to cope.
I was looking for a solution, for some way to make my life a happier one. Fortunately, I was finally brought to my knees by the pain of my compulsive overeating. In working the Steps of this wonderful program, I have come to some amazing realizations. All the time I had railed against my misfortunes, I was being brought to some new understanding.
With the growing openness I now have, I can more clearly see why certain things in my life had to happen, and even why I became a compulsive overeater. Unlike the past, when I used to hate this disease, I now see it as a blessing, from which I can learn and grow. If it were not for this disease, I would not have needed to look at my life, nor would I have had to work at trying to make myself into a better person. I most certainly would not have needed to find a God of my understanding, nor would I have met so many wonderful new friends, who always love and support me.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will remember that the events in my life are not dealt out to me as a form of punishment, but rather as motivating factors in my life, that spur me on to grow and change as a person.
~ Sharon S. ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
We have learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. - Pg. 30 - More About Alcoholism
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Service to another addict/alcoholic or to our group can help calm us when the jitters get rough. Think of one other fellow recoverer who also seemed jittery at the last meeting or maybe didn't show up. You can get in touch with them today and ask if you can help.
God, as I understand You, give me the right words to comfort or to encourage a fellow alcoholic / addict.
Living Truly
Today I will live the life I wish to have. If I want not be manipulative or deceitful in my relationships, I will be an honest person. If I want goodness and decency surrounding me, I will be good and decent. If I want to feel love coming towards me, I will love others. Today I won't ask life to be something I'm not willing to be. Today, I accept that what I put out, comes back to me.
I live the life I want to have
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
When you work with others, you allow Divine Intelligence to speak and smile through you. You allow the Divine to reach out and hug the drunk, the junkie, and the dope head.
All people smile in the same language.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Nobody 'gives' you a bad day without your permission.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I have the courage to follow my own inner voice that I hear in prayer and meditation. Today I dare to be true to myself and my own needs, whether anyone agrees with me or not.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
It says in Chapter Five; 'If you have decided you want what we have..' Decision. '..and are willing to go to any lengths to get it.' Action. As far as I can tell, that summarizes everything in life: Decision, Action, Result. - Cubby S.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 10, 2018 7:41:20 GMT -5
February 10
Daily Reflections
I DON'T RUN THE SHOW
When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed
crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to
fearlessly face the proposition that either God is
everything or else He is nothing. God either is, or
He isn't. What was our choice to be?
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.53
Today my choice is God. He is everything. For this I
am truly grateful. When I think I am running the show
I am blocking God from my life. I pray I can remember
this when I allow myself to get caught up into self.
The most important thing is that today I am willing
to grow along spiritual lines, and that God is
everything. When I was trying to quit drinking on my
own, it never worked; with God and A.A., it is
working. This seems to be a simple thought for a
complicated alcoholic.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Since I realize that I had become an alcoholic and
could never have any more fun with liquor and since
I knew that from then on liquor would always get me
into trouble, common sense told me that the only
thing left for me was a life of sobriety. But I
learned another thing in A.A., the most important
thing anyone can ever learn, that I could
call on a Higher Power to help me keep away from
liquor, that I could work with that Divine Principle
in the universe and that God would help me to live
a sober, useful, happy life. So now I no longer care
about the fact that I can never have any more fun
with drinking. Have I learned that I am much happier
without it?
Meditation For The Day
Like a tree, I must be pruned of a lot of dead
branches, before I will be ready to bear good fruit.
Think of changed people as trees which have been
stripped of their old branches, pruned, cut and bare,
but through the dark, seemingly dead branches flows
silently, secretly, the new sap, until with the sun
of spring, comes new life. There are new leaves, buds,
blossoms and fruit, many times better because of the
pruning. Remember, I am in the hands of a Master
Gardener, who makes no mistakes in His pruning.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may cut away the dead branches of my
life. I pray that I may not mind the pruning, since
it helps me to bear good fruit later.
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As Bill Sees It
Membership Rules?, p. 41
Around 1943 or 1944, the Central Office asked the groups to list their
membership rules and send them in. After they arrived we set them all
down. A little reflection upon these many rules brought us to an
astonishing conclusion.
If all of these edicts had been in force everywhere at once it would have
been practically impossible for any alcoholic to have ever joined A.A.
About nine-tenths of our oldest and best members could have never
gotten by!
<< << << >> >> >>
At last experience taught us that to take away any alcoholic's full chance
for sobriety in A.A. was sometimes to pronounce his death sentence, and
often to condemn him to endless misery. Who dared to be judge, jury,
and executioner of his own sick brother?
1. Grapevine, August 1946
2. 12 & 12, p. 141
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Walk In Dry Places
What is rightfully mine___Personal Gains
One of the hard lessons of life is that we can't always "win" in the worldly game for prestige, power, and property. It is especially galling to see rewards going to others that don't seem to have earned them. Much of the world's conflict, in fact, grows out of disputes over what rightfully belongs to whom.
In sobriety, we need a higher perspective than what we're likely to find in the brawling world around us. Rather than demanding rights to anything, we should know that everything is part of a spiritual world. The real meaning of the last line of The Lord's Prayer is that all power, prestige, and property belong to our Higher Power. Whatever we have or will acquire is only temporary, at best, and can easily be lost through wrong thinking and bad actions.
Emmet Fox, whose writings guided the early A members, taught that we possess things only through "rights of consciousness." In perfectly legitimate ways, we will always possess whatever is necessary for our real work in this life. If one door closes, another will always open. We do not have to envy anything that others possess, nor should we attempt to wrestle it from them. God will always lead us to whatever we need for our highest good.
I will not fret this day about any lost property or opportunities. My needs will be met in a satisfactory manner as I continue to seek the highest and best in every situation.
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Keep It Simple
Life didn't promise to be wonderful. ---Teddy Pendergrass
Life doesn't promise us anything, except a chance. We have a chance to live any way we like. No matter how we choose to live, we'll have pain and we'll have joy. And we can learn from both.
Because of our recovery program, we can have life's biggest wonder---love. We share it in a smile, a touch, a phone call, or a note. We share it with our friends, our partners, our family. Life didn't promise to be wonderful, but it sure is full of little wonders! And we only have to open up and see them, feel them, and let them happen.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see the wonders of life today, in nature, in people's faces, in my own heart.
Action for the Day: I can help make a wonderful things happen for others, with a smile, a greeting, a helping hand. What "little" things will I do for somebody today?
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Each Day a New Beginning
God knows no distance. --Charleszetta Waddles
As close as our breath is the strength we need to carry us through any troubled time. But our memory often fails us. We try, alone, to solve our problems, to determine the proper course of action. And we stumble. In time we will turn, automatically, to that power available. And whatever our need, it will be met.
Relying on God, however we understand God's presence, is foreign to many of us. We were encouraged from early childhood to be self-reliant. Even when we desperately needed another's help, we feared asking for it. When confidence wavered, as it so often did, we hid the fear--sometimes with alcohol, sometimes with pills. Sometimes we simply hid at home. Our fears never fully abated.
Finding out, as we all have found, that we have never needed to fear anything, that God was never distant, takes time to sink in. Slowly and with practice it will become natural to turn within, to be God-reliant rather than self-reliant.
Whatever our needs today, God is the answer.
There is nothing to fear. At last, I have come to know God. All roads will be made smooth.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - First Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Logic is great stuff. We like it. We still like it. It is not by chance we were given the power to reason, to examine the evidence of our sense, and to draw conclusions. That is one of man’s magnificent attributes. We agnostically inclined would not feel satisfied with a proposal which does not lend itself to reasonable approach and interpretation. Hence we are at pains to tell why we think our present faith is reasonable, why we think it more sane and logical to believe than not to believe, why we say our former thinking was soft and mushy when we threw up our hands in doubt and said, “We don’t know.”
p. 53
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Alcoholics Anonymous - First 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 wife received me graciously, although she was living in a one-room-with-kitchen affair. She'd been reduced to that. I promised that I was going to do the right thing. We were now both working in the same agency. I continued to drink. I got drunk one night in October, went to sleep in the rain, and woke with pneumonia. We continued together, and I continued to drink, but I guess, deep down within our hearts, we both knew I couldn't stop drinking. Vi thought I didn't want to stop. We had several fights, and on one or tow occasions I struck her with my fist. She decided that she didn't want any more of that. So she went to court and talked it over with the judge. They cooked up a plan whereby she didn't have to be molested by me if she didn't want to be.
pp. 239-240
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity."
Thus has it been with A.A. By faith and by works we have been able to build upon the lessons of an incredible experience. They live today in the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, which - God willing - shall sustain us in unity for so long as He may need us.
p. 131
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"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind." --Henry James
"You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime." --Dale Carnegie
"You will regret many things in life but you will never regret being too kind or too fair." -–Brian Tracy
In the process of growing to spiritual maturity, we all go through many adolescent stages. --Miki L. Bowen
Love is not an exchange of favors. Love is something you give away.
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
INSIGHT
"Nothing is more terrible than
activity without insight."
-- Thomas Carlyle
I believe that recovery can only begin when we "see" or start to get a
glimpse of who we are and what we are dealing with . . . insight; an
insight into self.
However, the moment we begin to see must be followed by a
determined effort to discover more; digging through the denial, pain
and manipulation to the disease. Then after discovering the disease in
our lives, we must be prepared to risk talking about it --- on a daily
basis.
Recovery requires a daily desire to see, discover and talk about our
addiction --- with this insight comes recovery.
You are the light of the world; shine through my honesty.
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"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!" Psalms 150:6
"Remember to welcome strangers, because some who have done this have welcomed angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2
"Love your neighbor as you love yourself." Galatians 5:14
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Daily Inspiration
Each morning gives us one more chance to pray, one more chance to help another and one more chance to make this a better world. Lord, thank you for working in and through everything.
Not one day passes without receiving wonderful blessings from our loving and generous God. Lord, may I forget the irritations that distract me from Your happiness.
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NA Just For Today
Fun!
"In recovery our ideas of fun change"
Basic Text, p. 102
In retrospect, many of us realize that when we used, our ideas of fun were rather bizarre. Some of us would get dressed up and head for the local club. We would dance, drink and do other drugs until the sun rose. On more than one occasion, gun battles broke out. What we then called fun, we now call insanity.
Today, our notion of fun has changed. Fun to us today is a walk along the ocean, watching the dolphins frolic as the sun sets behind them. Fun is going to an NA picnic, or attending the comedy show at an NA convention. Fun is getting dressed up to go to the banquet and not worrying about any gun battles breaking out over who did what to whom.
Through the grace of a Higher Power and the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous, our ideas of fun have changed radically. Today when we are up to see the sun rise, it's usually because we went to bed early the night before, not because we left a club at six in the morning, eyes bleary from a night of drug use. And if that's all we have received from Narcotics Anonymous, that would be enough.
Just for today: I will have fun in my recovery!
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
A bird does not sing because he has an answer. He sings because he has a song. --Joan Walsh Anglund
Each of us has a song to sing, just as birds do. Part of knowing who we are is appreciating our own songs. Are our songs gentle like the robins, or are we brilliant leaders like the bluejay? Are we easy to be around like the sparrow, or do we radiate joy and laughter like the loon?
Each of these birds has something special to offer. So do we, with our own unique personalities and talents. What a waste it would be if the loon never dashed across the lake because he wanted to be a robin instead. It is important to learn who we are and to believe we are special in our own way. We give joy to the world around us when we sing our own songs.
Have I listened to my own song lately?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few. --Shunryu Suzuki
As we travel the path of recovery, we are sometimes overwhelmed by a feeling of how much we lack. It rises within us as a feeling of inadequacy, emptiness, or loneliness. We are in pain because we feel like such beginners. Now we need to discard our competitive thinking, our drive to be on top, and accept another, wiser, way of seeing. The big difference is in being on the path of recovery rather than lost on some diversion, as we have been in the past. It is not important how far along we are or who is ahead of whom. The important thing is that we are on the path and experiencing the process.
In recovery, wisdom comes with staying a beginner. Then we remain open to further learning. In some sense this program and our mutual powerlessness are the great levelers. Once on the path, we are all equals.
Today, I will appreciate my vulnerability. It keeps me spiritually alive and growing.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Letting Go of Sadness
A block to joy and love can be unresolved sadness from the past.
In the past, we told ourselves many things to deny the pain: It doesn't hurt that much.... Maybe if I just wait, things will change.... It's no big deal. I can get through this.... Maybe if I try to change the other person, I won't have to change myself.
We denied that it hurt because we didn't want to feel the pain.
Unfinished business doesn't go away. It keeps repeating itself, until it gets our attention, until we feel it, deal with it, and heal. That's one lesson we are learning in recovery from codependency and adult children issues.
Many of us didn't have the tools, support, or safety we needed to acknowledge and accept pain in our past. It's okay. We're safe now. Slowly, carefully, we can begin to open ourselves up to our feelings. We can begin the process of feeling what we have denied so long - not to blame, not to shame, but to heal ourselves in preparation for a better life.
It's okay to cry when we need to cry and feel the sadness many of us have stored within for so long. We can feel and release these feelings.
Grief is a cleansing process. It's an acceptance process. It moves us from our past, into today, and into a better future - a future free of sabotaging behaviors, a future that holds more options than our past.
God, as I move through this day, let me be open to my feelings Today, help me know that I don't have to either force or repress the healing available to me in recovery. Help me trust that if I am open and available, the healing will happen naturally, in a manageable way.
Today I look inside for my answers. Today I will trust my instincts and my connecting to my Higher Power. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Free Yourself from Manipulation
Learn to recognize passive-aggressive hits. Learn to recognize when other people have hidden agendas, when they’re trying to control or manipulate you. When we’re being controlled, we may feel guilty, obligated, indebted. In our muddled state, we agree to another’s wishes but we’re not sure why. Then we wander around feeling uncertain, unbalanced, confused.
The lesson still isn’t about them. The lesson is about how we respond. If their behavior, their energy, is affecting us that strongly, it’s because something in us needs to be healed. A part of us isn’t clear, is still mucked up by something old and outworn, such as guilt or fear. Once we heal ourselves, we will know how to deal with their energy, how to handle their passive-aggressive behavior and their attempts to control us. Then we can thank them for helping trigger our healing process, for helping us grow.
Everything that happens along the way is part of the journey. Everything can be incorporated into our healing process. All roads lead to growth.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Say woohoo even if you don’t like where you are
“Once you get into the desert there’s no going back,” said the camel driver.” And when you can’t get back, you have to worry only about the best way of moving forward.”
–Paulo Coello, The Alchemist
Sometimes we get into situations and we can easily get out. We date someone, it’s not right for us, and we stop seeing that person. We experiment with drinking or drugs, decide that this isn’t for us, and we stop experimenting. We accept a job, it’s not what we want or hoped it would be, so we leave and find another.We may even marry someone who’s not right for us, and we get out. No children. No excessive property or financial entanglements. It’s a mistake. We’re sorry. There may be a few emotions involved, but correction is relatively painless and easy.
There are other times when it’s not easy. We don’t just date the person. We get married, have one or more children, and then realize we’ve made a mistake. We begin using alcohol or drugs, and wake up one day to find that our life is out of control. What we need to do is stop drinking, and it’s the very thing we can’t do, at least not without help. Or we accept the job or sign a contract, one with serious legal entanglements and consequences.
These are the situations that bring us to our knees. It is in these situations that we work out our destiny. If we’ve hit a point of no return with some situation in our lives, the only way out is through.
Surrender to the experience. You may not have bargained for this, may not have consciously desired it. Learn to say woohoo anyway. You’re meeting your destiny head-on. A spiritual adventure has just begun.
God, help me be gentle with others and myself as we each work out our destinies, karma, and fate. Give me the courage, help, insight, resilience, and grace to learn all the lessons I came here to face.
Activity: Write your memoirs. This is an extensive activity. If you take the time to do it, you will learn much about yourself. Break down your life into stories. Don’t worry about writing a literary masterpiece. Just break your life down into sections and write about what you learned. Write about what you went through– how you thought it would be, what it actually turned into, how you struggled against this, and how you finally saw the light and learned the lesson at hand. We all have ways of keeping a timeline of our lives, for instance, graduation, marriage, divorce, getting that big job, our sobriety date. This is a journal you may want to keep and add to for the rest of your life. It is your book of life. An interesting twist on this activity is to give your memoirs to your children, or ask your parents to do this activity as a gift. Reading your parents’ memoirs can be an enlightening and healing event.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Until now, we may have equated the idea of beginning again with a previous record of failure. This isn’t necessarily so. Like students who finish grade school and begin again in high school, or workers who find new ways to use their abilities, our beginnings must not be tinged with a sense of failure. In a sense, every day is a time of beginning again. We need never look back with regret. Life is not necessarily like a blackboard that must be erased because we didn’t solve problems correctly, but rather a blackboard that must be cleaned to make way for the new. Am I grateful for all that has prepared me for this moment of beginning?
Today I Pray
May I understand that past failures need not hamper my new courage or give a murky cast to my new beginnings. May I know, from the examples of others in The Program, that former failings, once faced and rectified, can be a more solid foundation for a new life than easy-come successes.
Today I Will Remember
Failings can be footings for recovery.
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One More Day
The best thinking has been done in solitude. The worst has been done in turmoil.
– Thomas Edison
When the rush of a busy world becomes overwhelming, we can restore ourselves to peace and tranquility. When we feel battered by the stress of the day, it’s time to take a few moments for relaxation. We need to steady ourselves; in fact, we owe it to ourselves.
Solitude, meditation, serenity — these can be ourse if we settle in for a few moments of private time. Alne. Taking this time is not self-indulgent; it’s self-care and simple to do. We can tune the radio to some beautiful, soft music and sit back with a cup of herbal tea. Taking slow breaths, we can allow our bodies to relax with the warmth of the tea, the beauty of the music and the solitude of the moment.
I relish the gift of privacy and relaxation each day.
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Food For Thought
Write Before You Eat
When you are tempted to grab an extra bite, stop and make contact with another OA member. If you cannot bring yourself to make the call, or if you make it and still want to eat, then try writing.
Before you take the bite, write down exactly how you are feeling, what you think the extra food will do for you, what the likely result will be, and how you will feel an hour later. It is a good idea to keep a pad of paper handy in the kitchen; you can grab a pencil instead of food.
Often the process of writing down exactly how you are feeling will reveal the hidden emotions which are masquerading as hunger and a desire to eat. You may discover that you are angry, or fearful, or lonely. Write the feelings and write the consequences of eating because of them.
Grant me insight, Lord, and self-understanding.
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One Day At A Time
~ ATTITUDE ~
The last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitude.
Viktor Frankl
I have always found someone like Viktor Frankl to be an inspiration. His attitude to life totally amazes me, especially after suffering and losing all his family in the Nazi concentration camps. How could anyone come away from an experience like that and still find meaning in life, much less meaning in suffering? I certainly could never find any meaning in all the years of suffering through compulsive eating which caused me so much pain. Life didn't seem meaningful at the time, and I wondered if it ever could. But one of the things I have learned in the program is that I can allow myself to wallow in self pity, which I did many times, or I can take the lessons from my life's experiences and use them as opportunities for growth. That has not been an easy one for me in my journey, and there have been many times when life just seemed to be too hard. I wondered whether I had the same strength and positive attitude that Viktor Frankl did. Intellectually I know that attitude is a choice I make. There have been times when I've been depressed and full of self pity and I allowed myself to sink into that abyss of despair. But now, knowing that I have a choice, that I can pick myself up and "act as if," I can have a positive attitude. When I make the positive choice, miraculous things happen, and life somehow seems a lot easier.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will make a choice to think positive thoughts, and try to emulate people like Viktor Frankl and others who have battled enormous difficulties and yet kept a positive attitude. When I do that, I know my life will become infinitely better.
~ Sharon ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
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 simple way of living and thinking. - Pg.50 - We Agnostics
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
In the beginning there probably isn't much time that goes by when you don't think about using. This is normal, after all, you've just lost your constant companion. Only time will remove your constant thoughts of your old buddies, drugs and alcohol, but it does pass.
Every time I think getting high would feel good, let me remember the pain in my gut and fear in my heart just a short time ago.
Getting Even Today
I will push myself through to letting go of some recent insult, knowing that if I don't I bind myself to that energy. Revenge only keeps me stuck at the place of wrong doing. Better to let go the hurt or insult than the act of kindness. If I want to continue to grow my blessings in life, I will look up not down. Today I will look toward someone who has been good to me and I will think of a way to repay their kindness, knowing that when I do that, my own life feels better, too.
I connect myself to the energy of goodness.
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Do not ask what your Higher Power can do for you, but rather what you can do for your Higher Power. This gets us out of self.
Dear God, what can I do for you today?
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Formula for failure: try to please everyone.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I look inside for my answers. Today I will trust my instincts and my connecting to my Higher Power.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
An alcoholic is anyone I don't like who drinks more than me. - Dylan Thomas.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 11, 2018 4:45:50 GMT -5
February 11
Daily Reflections
THE LIMITS OF SELF-RELIANCE
We asked ourselves why we had them [fears]. Wasn't it
because self-reliance failed us?
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.68
All of my character defects separate me from God's will.
When I ignore I disagreeociation with Him I face the world
and my alcoholism alone and must depend on self-reliance.
I have never found security and happiness through
self-will and the only result is a life of fear and
discontent. God provides the path back to Him and to
His gift of security and comfort. First, however, I
must be willing to acknowledge my fears and understand
their source and power over me. I frequently ask God to
help me understand how I separate myself from Him.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
If we're going to stay sober, we've got to learn to want
something else more than we want to drink. When we first
came into A.A., we couldn't imagine wanting anything else
so much or more than drinking. So we had to stop drinking
on faith, on faith that someday we really would want
something else more than drinking. But after we've been
in A.A. for a while, we learn that a sober life can
really be enjoyed. We learn how nice it is to get along
well with our family at home, how nice it is to do our
work well at the office, how nice it is to try to help
others. Have I found that when I keep sober, everything
goes well for me?
Meditation For The Day
There is almost no work in life so hard as waiting. And
yet God wants me to wait. All motion is more easy than
calm waiting, and yet I must wait until God shows me His
will. So many people have marred their work and hindered
the growth of their spiritual lives by too much activity.
If I wait patiently, preparing myself always, I will be
some day at the place where I would be. And much toil
and activity could not have accomplished the journey so
soon.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may wait patiently. I pray that I may trust
God and keep preparing myself for a better life.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Self-Confidence and Will Power, p. 42
When first challenged to admit defeat, most of us revolted. We had
approached A.A. expecting to be taught self-confidence. Then we had
been told that so far as alcohol was concerned, self-confidence was no
good whatever; in fact, it was a total liability. There was no such thing
as personal conquest of the alcoholic compulsion by the unaided will.
<< << << >> >> >>
It is when we try to make our will conform with God's that we begin to
use it rightly. To all of us, this was a most wonderful revelation. Our
whole trouble had been the misuse of willpower. We had tried to
bombard our problems with it instead of attempting to bring it into
agreement with God's intention for us. To make this increasingly
possible is the purpose of A.A.'s Twelve Steps.
12 & 12
1. p. 22
2. p. 40
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Practice makes patience.
Acquiring Maturity
Extreme impatience is part of most alcoholic stories: "I want what I want when I want it." When it continues in sobriety, impatience leads to mistakes and accidents. How can we bring impatience under control without losing all drive and initiative?
One route may be to acquire patience through practice. We can devote some time each day to a task that must be done, even if it is tedious and boring. We can make a real effort to be more patient with somebody who is slow or difficult. We can face the fear and anxiety that sometimes make us overwork or turn us into people-pleasers.
These exercises won't eliminate impatience overnight. But they'll produce the satisfaction of knowing that we're getting control of our lives. They will also make us more effective in our dealings with others.
Reminding ourselves that all outcomes aqre in God's hands can help us acquire patience. Willful pushing does not bring the serenity and well being we really seek. We labor in vain if we are seeking goals that are not in line with God's will for us.
I will do my work today with the knowledge that God really is in charge of my life… I do not have to let anything or anyone rob me of my serenity and self-control. I will practice patience in situations where it is needed.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Sanity is madness put to good use.---George Santayana
In Step Two we come to believe a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. In a way, as we work Step Two, we're praying that our madness can be put to good use. This is just what happens. Addiction was wrecking our life. But it's also our addiction that forced us into a new way of life.
As long as we remember what our madness was like, we can put it to good use. When we feel like giving up, let's remember our madness. It will help us go on. When we see someone suffering from the illness of addiction, let's remember our days of madness. It will help us be there for that person. It's also good to remember that our madness is only a pill or a drink away.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I believe You can put my madness to good use. I give up my madness; do with it what You want.
Action for the Day: I'll list a couple ways my Higher Power and I have changed my madness into sanity.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
It's odd that you can get so anesthetized by your own pain or your own problem that you don't quite fully share the hell of someone close to you. --Lady Bird Johnson
Preoccupation with self can be the bane of our existence. It prevents all but the narrowest perspective on any problem. It cuts off any guidance from our higher power that may be offered through a friend. It blocks whatever truths are trying to gain our attention. The paradox is that whatever our pain, it is lessened by turning our attention elsewhere, to another's pain or her joy.
When we open our minds to fresh input from others, insights emerge. We need the messages others are trying to give us. Nothing that is said in a loving spirit is empty of meaning for our lives.
We might consider that every conversation we have is a conversation with our Creator. What we need to know, for our own growth, is guaranteed to be revealed in our many conversations with others. But we can't hear another's thoughts until we let go of our own.
Full attention to the persons sent to me will offer me exactly what I need, today. My inner guide has beckoned them. I can be alert, expect solutions, and celebrate the wonder of it all.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - First Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed crises we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is or He isn’t. What was our choice to be?
Arrived at this point, we were squarely confronted with the question of faith. We couldn’t duck the issue. Some of us had already walked far over the Bridge of Reason toward the desired shore of faith. The outlines and the promise of the New Land had brought lustre to tired eyes and fresh courage to flagging spirits. Friendly hands had stretched out in welcome. We were grateful that Reason had brought us so far. But somehow, we couldn’t quite step ashore. Perhaps we had been leaning too heavily on reason that last mile and we did not like to lose our support.
p. 53
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - First 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 back to my mother's for a few days until things cooled off, because the district attorney had put out a summons for me to come to see him in his office. A policeman came to the door and asked for James S., but there wasn't any James S. There. He came back several times. Within ten days I got locked up for being drunk, and this same policeman was in the station house as I was being booked. I had to put up a three-hundred-dollar bond because he was carrying the same summons in his pocket for me. So I went down to talk to the district attorney, and the arrangement was made that I would go home to stay with my mother, and that meant Vi and I was separated. I continued to work and continued to go to lunch with Vi, and none of our acquaintances on the job knew that we had separated. Very often we rode to and from work together, but being separated really galled me deep down.
p. 240
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
Where does A.A. get its direction? Who runs it? This, too, is a puzzler for every friend and newcomer. When told that our Society has no president having authority to govern it, no treasurer who can compel the payment of any dues, no board of directors who can cast an erring member into outer darkness, when indeed no A.A. can give another a directive and enforce obedience, our friends gasp and exclaim, "This simply can't be. There must be an angle somewhere." These practical folk then read Tradition Two, and learn that the sole authority in A.A. is a loving God as He may express Himself in the group conscience. They dubiously ask an experienced A.A. member if this really works. The member, sane to all appearances, immediately answers, "Yes! It definitely does." The friends mutter that this looks vague, nebulous, pretty naive to them. Then they commence to watch us with speculative eyes, pick up a fragment of A.A. history, and soon have the solid facts.
p. 132
************************************************** *********
Serenity isn't freedom from the storm, it is peace within the storm.
When we release the bitterness, judgment and blame of the past, whether of ourselves or others, the past becomes a stepping stone to spiritual growth, to increased compassion, understanding and love. Today, repeat several times, "I bless my past and see it as a stepping stone to greater good." --Mary Manin Morrissey
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. --William Arthur Ward
Great Spirit, grant that I may not criticize my neighbor until I have walked a mile in his moccasins. --Native American Proverb
Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots. --Frank A. Clark
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PITY
"When a man has pity on all
living creatures, then only is he
noble."
-- Buddha
We all need each other. More than this, we need to help and sustain
each other. And this concept extends beyond human beings --- the
world is full of other creatures that God has made and which make our
lives so fascinating and entertaining. Animals and plants make up our
ecological history and yet so often we rob and hurt our environment.
Recovery from alcoholism means more than putting down "the drink".
Today I am picking up a responsible attitude that makes me care, on a
spiritual level, for my world.
Lord, as I look around my world I cannot help but worship You.
************************************************** *********
If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. 1 John 5:14-15
"I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Look to him, and be radiant. Psalm 34:4-5
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
God will answer our prayers if we believe, but first we must ask. Lord, I need the strength that only You can give.
God will give you strength because He will give of Himself. Lord, thank You for the many gifts of which You always bless me.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
A Curse Into A Blessing
"We have become very grateful in the course of our recovery.... We have a disease, but we do recover" Basic Text, p. 8
Active addiction was no picnic; many of us barely came out of it alive. But ranting against the disease, lamenting what it has done to us, pitying ourselves for the condition it has left us in—these things can only keep us locked in the spirit of bitterness and resentment. The path to freedom and spiritual growth begins where bitterness ends, with acceptance.
There is no denying the suffering brought by addiction. Yet it was this disease that brought us to Narcotics Anonymous; without it, we would neither have sought nor found the blessing of recovery. In isolating us, it forced us to seek fellowship. In causing us to suffer, it gave us the experience needed to help others, help no one else was so uniquely suited to offer. In forcing us to our knees, addiction gave us the opportunity to surrender to the care of a loving Higher Power.
We would not wish the disease of addiction on anyone. But the fact remains that we addicts already have this disease— and further, that without this disease we may never have embarked on our spiritual journey. Thousands of people search their whole lives for what we have found in Narcotics Anonymous: fellowship, a sense of purpose, and conscious contact with a Higher Power. Today, we are grateful for everything that has brought us this blessing.
Just for today: I will accept the fact of my disease, and pursue the blessing of my recovery.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Life deals more rigorously with some than others. --Lewis F. Presnall
How often we think about a friend, He sure is lucky! And probably just as often we say to ourselves, Why did that happen to me? It's not fair! The truth is, life isn't always fair. We don't all get the same experiences, the same lessons. But we each learn what we need to learn in order to fulfill our destiny.
We have to learn to trust. Maybe a bike gets stolen or a friend moves away. It's not easy to accept such things as these, but we must all learn to understand and accept losses in our lives.
Perhaps we fail a test. The lesson we learn from this may be to study harder or to consider a different course of study in school. There are always reasons for why things happen, but we don't have to know them.
Can I trust in the lessons of my failures today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Too much agreement kills a chat. --Eldridge Cleaver
Many of us haven't learned there is room for disagreement in a relationship. Some men who grew up in addicted families saw a lot of pain, anger, and quarreling. Many learned to be always pleasing and agreeable, no matter how they felt. Others took it as a personal insult when someone disagreed with them.
We choke the vitality and excitement in our love relationships if we are too intent on avoiding conflict. Nothing can be resolved if we smooth everything over. Differences between people don't just go away. If we don't bring them out, they fester and create silent tension or boredom. If we willingly express our thoughts and feelings, we can learn how to resolve our disagreements and to appreciate each other for our differences as well as our similarities. If two people in a relationship were exactly alike, one of them would be unnecessary.
Today, I will try to be more open about my differences with people, not as a way of fighting, but as a way of letting them know me better.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Divinely Led
Send me the right thought, word, or action. Shaw me what my next step should be. In times of doubt and indecision please send your inspiration and guidance.
--Alcoholics Anonymous
The good news of surrendering ourselves and our life to a Power greater than ourselves is that we come into harmony with a Grand Plan, one greater than we can imagine.
We are promised Divine Guidance if we ask for it if we work the Twelve Steps. What greater gift could we receive than knowing our thoughts, words, and actions are being directed?
We aren't a mistake. And we don't have to control or repress others or ourselves for life to work out. Even the strange, the unplanned, the painful, and those things we call errors can evolve into harmony.
We will be guided into understanding what we need to do to take care of ourselves. We will begin to trust our instincts, our feelings, and our thoughts. We will know when to go, to stop, and to wait. We will learn a great truth: the plan will happen in spite of us not because of us.
I pray today and each day that my thoughts, words, and actions may be Divinely led. I pray that I can move forward in confidence, knowing my steps are guided.
Even in moments of doubting, I know that my Higher Power has been guiding me on my path today. --Ruth Fishel
*****
Journey to the Heart
The Universe Is Abundant
Watch out for greed-- greed for money, for resources, for love. Greed can slowly corrupt the heart. Greed can slowly take over our lives. Greed and fear can block our connection with the universe, and with universal love.
Let go of the fears of deprivation, of doing without, that haunt you from the past. Having more and more won't solve your problem if what you need is to heal your fears. Look around with love at your life and the people in it. If you open your heart and look without fear, you may see that you have enough now.
Go back to your heart. Let love, not fear and greed, lead the way. Be led by your desire to joyfully serve, by the desire to bring your gifts, your healing, your comforts and talents to others. Go back to your heart as often as you need. And remember what is honorable and true. Say to those you love. This is what I shall give. And I'll give it because my heart leads me to do so.
The universe is abundant. Take your part, take your place, in universal love. Go back to your heart. Give from the heart. And the universe will respond in kind.
*****
more language of letting go
Grief
No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing. ... Not that I am (I think) in much danger of ceasing to believe in God. The real danger is of coming to believe such dreadful things about Him. The conclusion I dread is not "So there's no God after all," but " So this is what God's really like. Deceive yourself no longer."
--C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
There's no way to prepare for deep grief, for the pain that shatters a heart and a life when a beloved leaves.
No one can coach us on it. Those who could, who knew exactly how it felt; who could describe it in detail, wouldn't do it, would not presume to encroach on this most intimate part of our relationship with a loved one. Those who casually say, "Aren't you over that yet?" don't understand.
This much I will tell you about grief. If there was ever a second, or a moment, when you suspected or knew you had been betrayed at the deepest level by someone you adored, and a splintering pain began to shred your heart, turn your world grimly unbearable to the point where you would consciously choose denial and ignorance about the betrayal rather than feel this way, that is one-millionth of what it feels like to grieve.
Grief is not an abnormal condition, nor is it something to be treated with words. It is a universe, a world, unto itself. If you are called to enter this world, there is no turning back. We are not allowed to refuse that call. Grief is like nothing else, with the possible exception of the pounding waves of the ocean. To the untrained, casual eye, each wave looks the same. It is not. No two are the same. And each one washes away the old, and washes in the new.
Gradually, almost imperceptibly, whether we believe it or not, we are being transformed.
God, take care of me those moments and hours when I cannot find the will or power to take care of myself. Transform me, if not in the twinkling of an eye, then over the slow movement of the years, into who I will become.
*****
A Day at a Time
Reflection for the Day
I can always take strength and comfort from knowing I belong to a worldwide fellowship. Hundreds and hundreds of thousands, just like myself, are working together for the same purpose. None of us needs to ever be alone again, because each of us in our own way works for the good of others. We are bound together by a common problem that can be solved by love and understanding and mutual service. The Program – like the little wheel in the old hymn – runs by the grace of God.
Have I thanked God today for helping me to find The Program, which is showing me the way to a new life?
Today I Pray
May my thanks be lifted to God each day for dispelling my self-inflicted loneliness, for warming my stoicism, for leading me to the boundless fund of friendship in The Program.
Today I Will Remember
I have a world of friends.
****************************************
One More Day
“You are responsible for your own life and have a job to perform in your healthcare.”
– Neil A. Fiore
It’s a real shock to find out that we have an ongoing medical problem. Lots of us may get quite angry and blame the doctor for the diagnosis. Or we may want to turn it all over to the professionals. But soon we begin to see that we are the primary ones responsible for ourselves. Eventually, we begin to give full cooperation to our doctors and therapist. We become equal members of our healthcare team.
Adjustments are difficult in the best of circumstance, but with the help of those who love us, with the assistance of our doctors, and with our participation, we adjust to chronic illness. Then we can see our problems in their proper perspective and begin again to enjoy our lives.
In accepting changes in my life, I find balance once again.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
FREEDOM
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself,
instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”
Judy Garland
As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be like -- or act like -- someone else. I never allowed myself the freedom to be me. I was my parents' child, my husband's wife, and my children's mother. It wasn't until I came into program wearing all of my identities on my body -- 150 pounds’ worth -- that I was able to see how unhappy I really was.
I began my journey to recovery by slowly discovering the real me underneath all that extra weight. Working the Twelve Steps of recovery helped me to peel away the layers of fear that kept me stuck.
One Day at a Time . . .
I am free to be me ~
And I am enough.
~ Eileen
*****************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
But what about the real alcoholic? He may start off as a moderate drinker; he may or may not become a continuous hard drinker; but at some stage of his drinking career he begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink. - Pg. 21 - There Is A Solution
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Even when we consciously don't think we want to get high, our disease of addiction works through our subconscious and calls, 'what do they know; just one won't hurt; well, if they're going to be like that!' Our subconscious pops silly excuses for using into our minds. We must learn to recognize and neutralize these thoughts.
May my subconscious 'arguments' that subtly tell me to use, have no power to influence my true goal of staying clean and clear.
I Can Lift My Own Spirits
I will lift my own spirits today. I will look for that place in me that is still and serene, that isn't just constantly in response mode. Somewhere there is a constant, meditative place where the little and even the even big concerns of the day slip away and become less important. A place where life is just life and I can breathe in and out of a place of inner calm. Life doesn't have to prove itself to me today for me to treasure it. It is enough that I am here, that I have my freedom of thought and movement. I will appreciate the life I have.
I am connected with the divine
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
People who seek a sponsor without faults, will be without a sponsor.
I know that my sponsor is willing to make mistakes, if I am willing to learn from them.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Focus on the program, not the problem.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Even in moments of doubting I know that my Higher Power has been guiding me on my path today.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I wanted to be Clint Eastwood but I was more like Woody Allen. - Trip S.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 12, 2018 9:06:52 GMT -5
February 12
Daily Reflections
"THE ROOT OF OUR TROUBLES"
Selfishness--self-centeredness! That, we think, is the
root of all our troubles.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 62
How amazing the revelation that the world, and everyone
in it, can get along just fine with or without me. What
a relief to know that people, places and things will be
perfectly okay without my control and direction. And
how wordlessly wonderful to come to believe that a power
greater than me exists separate and apart from myself.
I believe that the feeling of separation I experience
between me and God will one day vanish. In the meantime,
faith must serve as the pathway to the center of my
life.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
As we look back on all those troubles we used to have
when we were drinking, the hospitals, the jails, we
wonder how we could have wanted that kind of life. As we
look back on it now, we see our drinking life as it
really was and we're glad we're out of it. So after a few
months in A.A., we find that we can honestly say that we
want something else more than drinking. We've learned by
experience that a sober life is really enjoyable and we
wouldn't go back to the old drunken way of living for
anything in the world. Do I want to keep sober a lot more
than I want to get drunk?
Meditation For The Day
My spiritual life depends on an inner consciousness of
God. I must be led in all things by my consciousness of
God and I must trust Him in all things. My consciousness
of God will always bring peace to me. I will have no fear,
because a good future lies before me as long as I keep my
consciousness of God. If in every single happening, event
and plan I am conscious of God, then no matter what
happens, I will be safe in God's hands.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may have this ever-consciousness of God.
I pray for a new and better life through this God
consciousness.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
How Much Anonymity?, p. 43
As a rule, the average newcomer wanted his family to know
immediately what he was trying to do. He also wanted to tell others
who had tried to help him--his doctor, his minister, and close friends.
As he gained confidence, he felt it right to explain his new way of life
to his employer and business associates. When opportunities to be
helpful came along, he found he could talk easily about A.A. to almost
anyone.
These quiet disclosures helped him to lose his fear of the alcoholic
stigma, and spread the news of A.A.'s existence in his community.
Many a man and woman came to A.A. because of such conversations.
Since it is only at the top public level that anonymity is expected, such
communications were well within its spirit.
12 & 12, pp. 185-186
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Do it sober___ Practicing Principles
There may be a hidden meaning in that bumper sticker that reminds us to "Do it Sober," but we can also read it to mean that real sobriety should guide everything we do today.
Real sobriety is emotional sobriety. We have it when our principles protect us from overpowering feelings growing out of greed, fear, and resentment. Even without the bottle, an attack of fear or resentment can distort personal judgment and lead to foolish mistakes. Whatever we do, whether it's sweeping a factory floor or leading a corporate board meeting, we should do with confidence and calm self-control.
When we work in this way, we help others. We only harm them if we bring bitterness and resentment into their space. True emotional sobriety helps us set a better example and assures others that AA really works in people's lives. One AA member was pleasantly surprised when he was complimented for remaining calm in confrontations with angry people. HE realized that his AA principles had been at work in his workplace, helping him to maintain a calm dignity that made him assertive and effective. Whatever we do sober, we always do better.
Today I'll remind myself to stay emotionally as well as physically sober. So-called Dry Drunks are not slips, but they destroy my effectiveness and should have no place in my life.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
We are always the same age inside.---Gertrude Stein
Deep inside, we each have a child's spirit. We still have many of the feelings we had when we were young. Some of us have a hurting child inside. There's sadness, fear, or anger that hasn't gone away. We're still lonely, no matter how many people care about us. Our inner child needs special help to heal. We can be good parents to our inner child. We do this by being gentle and caring with ourselves. In time, this child can be a happy center in our hearts.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, please heal the child inside of me a little more each day. Help my inner child be alive, free, and full of joy.
Action for the Day: Right now, I'll close my eyes for a minute. I'll think kind thoughts about myself. Than I'll say out loud, "Inner child, I love you. I'll take good care of you." I'll do this two more times today.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
There are no new truths, but only truths that have not been recognized by those who have perceived them without noticing. --Mary McCarthy
We understand today ideas we couldn't grasp yesterday. We are conscious this year of details of our past that we may have glossed over at the time. Our blinders are slowly giving way, readying us for the truths we couldn't absorb before.
"When the student is ready, the teacher appears." And the teacher comes bearing truths that we need to assimilate into our growing bank of knowledge. The truths we may be given today, or any day, won't always make us happy immediately. We may learn that a job is no longer right for us. Or that a relationship has reached an end. And the impending changes create unrest. But in the grand scheme of our lives, the changes wrought by these truths are good and will contribute in time to our happiness.
Let's celebrate the truths as they come and trust the outcome to God. We are traveling a very special road. The way is rocky. The bends limit our vision, but we will be given all the direction we need.
The truths I receive today will guide my steps. I shall move in peace.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - First Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
That was natural, but let us think a little more closely. Without knowing it, had we not been brought to where we stood by a certain kind of faith? For did we not believe in our own reasoning? did we not have confidence in our ability to think? What was that but a sort of faith? Yes, we had been faithful, abjectly faithful to the God of Reason. So, in one way or another, we discovered that faith had been involved all the time!
pp. 53-54
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - First 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.
The November following, I took a few days off after pay day to celebrate my birthday on the twenty-fifth of the month. As usual I got drunk and lost the money. Someone had taken it from me. That was the usual pattern. I sometimes gave it to my mother, and the I'd go back and hound her for it. I was just about broke. I guess I had five or ten dollars in my pocket. Anyhow, on the twenty-fourth, after drinking all day on the twenty-third, I must have decided I wanted to see my wife and have some kind of reconciliation or at least talk with her. I don't remember whether I went by streetcar, whether I walked or went in a taxicab. The one thing I can remember now was that Vi was on the corner of 8th and L, and I remember talking to her, but what happened after that I don't know. What actually happened was that I had taken a penknife and stabbed Vi three times with it. Then I left and went home to bed. Around eight or nine o'clock there came two big detectives and a policeman to arrest me for assault; and I was the most amazed person in the world when they said I had assaulted my wife. I was taken to the station house and locked up.
pp. 240-241
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
What are these facts of A.A. life which brought us to this apparently impractical principle?
John Doe, a good A.A. moves - let us say - to Middletown, U.S.A. Alone now, he reflects that he may not be able to stay sober, or even alive, unless he passes on to other alcoholics what was so freely given him. He feels a spiritual and ethical compulsion, because hundreds may be suffering within reach of his help. Then, too, he misses his home group. He needs other alcoholics as much as they need him. He visits preachers, doctors, editors, policemen , and bartenders ... with the result that Middletown now has a group, and he is the founder.
pp. 132-133
************************************************** *********
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
May I be an example to those whose lives touch mine. --Shelley
The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones. --Chinese Proverb
Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another. --Walter Elliott
There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience. --French Proverb
You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. --Ralph Waldo Emerson
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
FREEDOM
"Freedom comes from human
beings, rather than from laws and
institutions."
-- Clarence Darrow
The disease of alcoholism does not live in bottles or books. It lives in
people. Drug problems are people problems. Sobriety exists in the
man, not the theory.
In this sense recovery must be experienced, rather than simply talked
about. The Program is essentially not written in books or taught in
lecture rooms but is lived in the lives of people; the program stems
from the heart of man.
I believe the program is that spark of divinity that God has bestowed
upon all of us --- and we must discover it within.
Teach me to remember that to think a smile without revealing a smile
is to be grumpy.
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May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalms 19:14
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Ephesians 6:10
But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. Psalm 3:3
Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD. Psalm 150
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Daily Inspiration
Closeness with family makes us one in heart and mind. Lord, help me to fill our home with love and make it our safe haven from the troubles of the world.
Forget what you have done for others and remember what they have done for you. Lord, a gift is given freely with no expectation. May I become a truly giving person.
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NA Just For Today
Living In The Moment
"We regretted the past, dreaded the future, and weren't too thrilled about the present." Basic Text, p. 7
Until we experience the healing that happens when we work the Twelve Steps, it is doubtful that we can find a statement more true than the quote above. Most of us come to NA hanging our heads in shame, thinking about the past and wishing we could go back and change it. Our fantasies and expectations about the future may be so extreme that, on our first date with someone, we find ourselves wondering which lawyer we'll use for the divorce. Almost every experience causes us to remember something from the past or begin projecting into the future.
At first, it's difficult to stay in the moment. It seems as though our minds won't stop. We have a hard time just enjoying ourselves. Each time we realize that our thoughts are not focused on what's happening right now, we can pray and ask a loving God to help us get out of ourselves. If we regret the past, we make amends by living differently today; if we dread the future, we work on living responsibly today.
When we work the steps and pray each time we discover we're not living in the present, we'll notice that those times aren't occurring as often as they used to. Our faith will help us live just for today. We'll have hours, even days, when our full attention is focused on the current moment in time, not the regrettable past or fearful future.
Just for today: When I live fully in each moment, I open myself to joys that might otherwise escape me. If I am having trouble, I will ask a loving God for help.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce, Or a trouble is what you make it, And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts, But only how you take it. --Edmund Vance Cooke
Once, a woman decided to throw a problem-exchange party. As guests arrived, they shed all their personal problems and tossed them onto a pile with everyone else's. After all had discussed their own problem for others to hear, the party ended with guests selecting from the problem pile those they wished to carry away. Each person left with the same troubles he or she had brought to the party.
We who worry a great deal about our problems are always sure no one else has troubles as bad as ours. Too often, we complain, "If you had my problems, you'd really hurt." Our problems are tailored to us, and geared to help us learn by solving them. No one else's would be quite right.
When we cope with problems, rather than wailing about them, we discover that our own are minor irritations compared to those we see in others.
What problems am I lucky to have?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light I have.
--Abraham Lincoln
With too much focus on control, we men have been preoccupied by our overemphasis on outcomes. We say winning is everything, and the way we play the game doesn't matter. We give honor to a man who has accumulated great wealth, regardless of how he has lived. We develop sexual problems because we focus on performance and achieving orgasm rather than on the joy of loving.
As our integrity grows, our emphasis changes. It is not crucial that we always be right, only that we be honest. We do not have to be winners or high achievers so much as we have to be real human beings. Conquest is not as important as connection. We do not always have to compare ourselves and be better than the next guy. We can exchange and appreciate the communication.
Today, I will grow in my relationships with others by being more true to myself and less driven toward a particular outcome.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Letting Go of Those Not in Recovery
We can go forward with our life and recoveries, even though someone we love is not yet recovering.
Picture a bridge. On one side of the bridge it is cold and dark. We stood there with others in the cold and darkness, doubled over in pain. Some of us developed an eating disorder to cope with the pain. Some drank; some used other drugs. Some of us lost control of our sexual behavior. Some of us obsessively focused on addicted people's pain to distract us from our own pain. Many of us did both: we developed an addictive behavior, and distracted ourselves by focusing on other addicted people. We did not know there was a bridge. We thought we were trapped on a cliff.
Then, some of us got lucky. Our eyes opened, by the Grace of God, because it was time. We saw the bridge. People told us what was on the other side: warmth, light, and healing from our pain. We could barely glimpse or imagine this, but we decided to start the trek across the bridge anyway.
We tried to convince the people around us on the cliff that there was a bridge to a better place, but they wouldn't listen. They couldn't see it; they couldn't believe. They were not ready for the journey. We decided to go alone, because we believed, and because people on the other side were cheering us onward. The closer we got to the other side, the more we could see, and feel, that what we had been promised was real. There was light, warmth, healing, and love. The other side was a better place.
But now, there is a bridge between those on the other side and us. Sometimes, we may be tempted to go back and drag them over with us, but it cannot be done. No one can be dragged or forced across this bridge. Each person must go at his or her own choice, when the time is right. Some will come; some will stay on the other side. The choice is not ours.
We can love them. We can wave to them. We can holler back and forth. We can cheer them on, as others have cheered and encouraged us. But we cannot make them come over with us.
If our time has come to cross the bridge, or if we have already crossed and are standing in the light and warmth, we do not have to feel guilty. It is where we are meant to be. We do not have to go back to the dark cliff because another's time has not yet come.
The best thing we can do is stay in the light, because it reassures others that there is a better place. And if others ever do decide to cross the bridge, we will be there to cheer them on.
Today, I will move forward with my life, despite what others are doing or not doing. I will know it is my right to cross the bridge to a better life, even if I must leave others behind to do that. I will not feel guilty. I will not feel ashamed. I know that where I am now is a better place and where I'm meant to be.
As I let go of all the negative tapes that block my truth, I trust and follow the energy that leads me to peace and joy. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Fill Your World with Color and Beauty
Fill your life and your world with the colors, textures, scents, and objects that are beautiful to you, that have meaning to you. Remember that we are connected to our environment. The objects and the colors in our world have energy and meaning. They have an impact on us.
The more we see how connected we are, the more carefully and thoughtfully we may want to choose the items we place in our home, or our space at work, if we have a special area, because these objects and colors can reflect how we feel about ourselves and what is important to us.
Objects have energy. They have energy already in them when we obtain them, and they have the energy and meaning we attribute to them. Choose carefully the possessions you want around you, for they tell a story all day long.
Fill your world, your life, with objects that are beautiful and have special meaning to you. What articles and hues have you surrounded yourself with at home, at work? Is there a special article you want close to you, on your desk, in your locker, in your pocket? What story do these things tell about you, about what you’re going through, about your place in your journey?
Choose objects and colors that make your heart smile.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Starting over
How many times do we have to start over?
Many changes in our lives signal a major ending or beginning: death, birth, graduation, marriage, divorce, moving to a new home, getting sober, losing a job, or beginning a new career. We look around and think, Here we go. I’m starting over again.
Sometimes we don’t catch on at first. Sometimes it just feels like day after day of the same old thing as the old fades away and the new begins. Sometimes it feels like our lives have just stopped. Whether we believe it or not, when one cycle ends, a new one begins.
If life as you have known it is disappearing, it may be time to let go. Even if you can’t see it now– and you probably can’t– a new life will begin fading in to take its place. You and your life are being transformed.
How many times do we have to start over? As many times as life as we know it ends.
Say woohoo. You’re being born again.
God, help me trust that a new life awaits me if life as I’ve known it is fading away. Give me the patience and trust to sink joyfully into the void.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
I am grateful for my friends in The Program. Right now I am aware of the blessings of friendship — the blessings of meeting, of sharing, of smiling, of listening, and of being available when needed. right now I know that if I want a friend, I must be a friend. Will i vow, this day, to be a better friend to more people? Will I strive, this day — in my thoughts, words and actions — to disclose the kind of friend I am?
Today I Pray
May I restore in kind to the fellowship of The Program the friendship I have so hungrily taken from it. After years of glossing my lonely existence with superficial acquaintanceship, may I learn again the reciprocal joys of caring and sharing.
Today I Will Remember
Be A Friend.
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One More Day
I am where I am because I believe in life’s possibilities.
– Oprah Winfrey
During the years of our youth we were continually reminded, “You can do it. Just set a goal and then reach a little beyond it.” Many of us were better at this as youngsters than we are as adults. We each have fought our own battles — to become educated or perhaps to achieve a promotion or new job. We tend to get a little short-sighted when a new variable enters the picture — a changing health pattern.
Too many of us back away, fearful the we’ll have all we can do to just orchestrate our own health care. It’s imperative that we continue to believe in ourselves as human beings with great potential — it matters less that we reach each goal. It matters most that we try.
I am setting new goals that offer challenge and the chance for success.
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Food For Thought
Acceptance
When we have given our lives back to our Higher Power, we gradually learn to accept what happens to us as part of His plan. Most of us made a mess of trying to run our own lives. We are amazed at how much better things go when we acknowledge that the Power greater than ourselves is in control.
Every experience, the bad one as well as the good one, becomes an opportunity to learn and to serve. We may not like what it is that we are given to do or to feel on a particular day, but we learn to accept it as necessary for our growth. We can look back and see that we have learned even more from our failures than from our successes.
When we accept our lives and ourselves as part of God's creation, we are open to the work of His spirit and His love. Then positive change and growth become possible.
Teach me to accept Your will.
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One Day At A Time
~ POSITIVE THINKING ~
"We could accomplish many more things
if we did not think of them as impossible"
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
from his "Lettres à M. de Malesherbes
I have spent a lifetime dieting. My life can be easily separated into two sections: the dieting periods and the non-dieting, or bingeing, periods. When I first start losing weight, I am positive about it, to the point where, if I go clothes shopping, I even buy things in smaller sizes because soon I won't be as big as I am. This works fine while I'm losing weight, but when I reach a plateau and remain at the same weight level for a while, or even worse, gain a bit, I start to think that I'll never lose the weight I need to lose, that my sticking to a "diet" for the rest of my life is nigh to impossible.
Well, with stinking thinking like this, I'm defeated before I've even started. Through this program, I've learned that anything is possible. First of all, it's true that sticking to a diet for the rest of my life would be an impossible feat, but in program we don't "go on diets." We follow a sensible eating plan, and this plan should be flexible enough that it IS something we can follow indefinitely. Secondly, I have to correct my time spans. Instead of thinking of it as "the rest of my life," I have the option to think of it as "One Day at a Time," and we can do anything for just one day, can't we?
One day at a time ...
I remember that's all it takes...one day at a time.
Marjee
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
In any meeting, anywhere, A.A.'s share experience, strength, and hope with each other, in order to stay sober and help other alcoholics. Modem-to-modem or face-to-face, A.A.'s speak the language of the heart in all its power and simplicity. - Pg. xxiv - Foreword To Fourth Edition
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Slogans seem silly but they are important tools: first things first; one day at a time; kiss. We say them frequently because we need to burn them into our thoughts. Slogans are not 'fillers' for reluctant speakers. They embody important principles necessary to our path of recovery.
With the next slogan I hear, let me really HEAR it, know its importance, and practice it.
Treasures
If I am alive then I need to look around me and feel thankful for the gifts that are mine. There is so much to be grateful for if I am willing to consider the blessings I already have. There is a wisdom in 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 worthy enough to appreciate what has been so generously given to me.
I know enough to say thank you
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
You are either progressing or regressing. There is no such thing as standing still; there is no such thing as simply 'gressing.'
I can only coast one way, and that's downhill.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Sobriety is never an accident.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
As I let go of all the negative tapes that block my truth, I trust and follow the energy that leads me to peace and joy.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Willpower tells me I must. Willingness tells me I can. - Anon.
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Post by caressa222 on Feb 12, 2018 22:23:38 GMT -5
February 13
Daily Reflections
WE CAN'T THINK OUR WAY SOBER
To the intellectually self-sufficient man or woman,
many A.A.'s can say, "Yes, we were like you--far too
smart for our own good.... Secretly, we felt we could
float above the rest of the folks on our brain power
alone."
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 60
Even the most brilliant mind is no defense against the
disease of alcoholism. I can't think my way sober. I
try to remember that intelligence is a God-given
attribute that I may use, a joy--like having a talent
for dancing or drawing or carpentry. It does not make
me better than anyone else, and it is not a particularly
reliable tool for recovery, for it is a power greater
than myself who will restore me to sanity--not a high
IQ or a college degree.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Sometimes we can't help thinking: Why can't we ever drink
again? We know it's because we're alcoholics, but why did
we have to get that way? The answer is that at some point
in our drinking careers, we passed what is called our
"tolerance point." When we passed this point, we passed
from a condition in which we could tolerate alcohol to a
condition in which we could not tolerate it at all. After
that, if we took one drink we would sooner or later end
up drunk. When I think of liquor now, do I think of it as
something that I can never tolerate again?
Meditation For The Day
In a race, it is when a goal is in sight that heart and
nerves and muscles and courage are strained almost to the
breaking point. So with us. The goal of the spiritual life
is in sight. All we need is the final effort. The saddest
records made by people are those who ran well, with brave
stout hearts, until the sight of the goal and then some
weakness or self-indulgence held them back. They never
knew how near the goal they were or how near they were to
victory.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may press on until the goal is reached.
I pray that I may not give up in the final stretch.
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As Bill Sees It
Daily Acceptance, p. 44
"Too much of my life has been spent in dwelling upon the faults of
others. This is a most subtle and perverse form of self-satisfaction,
which permits us to remain comfortably unaware of our own defects.
Too often we are heard to say, 'If it weren't for him (or her), how
happy I'd be!"
<< << << >> >> >>
Our very first problem is to accept our present circumstances as they
are, ourselves as we are, and the people about us as they are. This is
to adopt a realistic humility without which no genuine advance can
even begin. Again and again, we shall need to return to that
unflattering point of departure. This is an exercise in acceptance that
we can profitably practice every day of our lives.
Provided we strenuously avoid turning these realistic surveys of the
facts of life into unrealistic alibis for apathy or defeatism, they can be
the sure foundation upon which increased emotional heath and
therefore spiritual progress can be built.
1. Letter, 1966
2. Grapevine, March 1962
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Walk In Dry Places
When Others Don't perform____Personal Responsibility
There will be times when other people will disappoint us.. either intentionally or because of indifference or incompetence. If we have been counting on them, their nonperformance can cause us real anger and frustration.
Our growth, however, should teach us that such failures are part of life. While never losing trust in others, we must accept them as fallible people. Their mistakes and lapses come from the human shortcomings all of us have.
Our best course is to live without expecting too much from others. They are not here to please or satisfy us. It's possible, too, that we've been unrealistic in some of our expectations and have set ourselves up for disappointments.
Our personal responsibility is to do our best even when others fall short of our expectations. At the same time, we can grow by becoming more reliable and dependable ourselves.
We cannot use another's failure as an excuse for negligence on our part.
Today I'll expect the best, but I will know that I also have the spiritual resources to deal with the worst that can happen.
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Keep It Simple
Tomorrow doesn't matter, for I have lived today. --Horace
Life is found in the present. One of the first things we hear when we enter the program is, One Day at a Time. We break life into short time periods. This give us the power to change. We're not sure we can stay sober for a lifetime. But we know that with God, and our program, we can stay sober for today.
This holds true for many other things in out lives. We're not sure we can go a lifetime without feeling self-pity, but we can give it up for a day. By living One Day at a Time, we become more sure of our strength. We have the power to change things only in the present. The present holds much for us, if we get a hold on it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You are found in the moment. You are here. I will stay with You minute by minute.
Action for the Day: I will ground myself in the present. Today, I'll not worry about the past or the future.
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Each Day a New Beginning
I have sacrificed everything in my life that I consider precious in order to advance the political career of my husband. --Pat Nixon
Putting another person's needs first is what most of us were trained to do when growing up. We were seldom encouraged to embark on an individual course, and years of taking a back seat taught us that our hopes mattered little.
Now, for some of us, the future looks like a blank wall. It is time to carve out a plan for ourselves, yet how do we decide where we want to go? And how do we get there? The program says, "Live one day at a time." Our friends say, "Take one step at a time."
We have chosen to do something about the circumstances we found ourselves in, or we wouldn't be reading these words. We can stop for a moment and reflect on the many changes thus far. We are already on our way. We have taken a number of necessary steps. What an exciting adventure we have embarked upon! And we will be helped all along the way.
We can trust our inner yearnings, the ones we may have stifled in times past. We can realize our hearts' pure desires, if we seek guidance.
My time has come. I can mold my future. I will take each day, each experience, and let it draw me to the next important step.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - First Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
We found, too, that we had been worshippers. What a state of mental goose-flesh that used to bring on! Had we not variously worshipped 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? How much did these feelings, these loves, these worships, have to do with pure reason? Little or nothing, we saw at last. Were not these 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.
p. 54
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Alcoholics Anonymous - First 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.
The next morning I went up for arraignment. Vi was very kind and explained to the jury that I was basically a fine fellow and a good husband but that I drank too much and that she thought I had lost my mind and should be committed to an asylum. The judge said that if she felt that way, he would confine me for thirty days' examination and observation. There was no observation. There might have been some investigation. The closest I came to a psychiatrist during that time was an intern who came to take blood tests. After the trial, I got big-hearted again and felt that I should do something in payment for Vi's kindness to me; so I left Washington and went to Seattle to work. I was there about three weeks, and then I got restless and started to tramp across the country, here and there, until I finally wound up in Pennsylvania, in a steel mill.
p. 241
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
Being the founder, he is at first the boss. Who else could be? Very soon, though, his assumed authority to run everything begins to be shared with the first alcoholics he has helped. At this moment, the benign dictator becomes the chairman of a committee composed of his friends. These are the growing group's hierarchy of service - self-appointed, of course, because there is no other way. In a matter of months, A.A. booms in Middletown.
p. 133
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"Letting go of the past and not worrying about the future seems a small price to pay for all the happiness to be found in the present."
The richest man, whatever his lot, is he who is content with what he has got. --Dutch Proverb
If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. --Booker T. Washington
God help me relax and let my answer about what to do next come naturally from you. --Melody Beattie
We are loved completely by a God who knows us completely. --Pedro A. Sandin-Fremaint
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
REALITY
"It is the chiefest point of
happiness that man is willing to
be what he is."
-- Desiderious Erasmus
I am an alcoholic. Today I am able to love myself because I am able
to accept myself.
More than this: because I am able to accept myself, I am able to be
myself. The acceptance of my disease around alcohol has taught me
that I am not perfect, and I do not live in a perfect world --- this leads
to an acceptance of others. My pain around alcohol has given me an
insight into the sufferings of others --- and this has produced spiritual
growth.
I am happy not because I am an alcoholic but because I know that I
am an alcoholic. Today I can be what I was meant to be, rather than
the "fake" that I was becoming.
In the spiritual journey is the happiness.
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"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
'Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' Matthew 11:28
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Daily Inspiration
Leave behind your faults and know that your past is forgiven. Lord, You have freed me to live today and allowed me to know that my future is secure in You.
Live a God-filled life and it will be only natural that you will express enthusiasm for life, joy, laughter and happiness. Lord, may the way I live always express my love for You.
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NA Just For Today
The Ties That Bind
"As long as the ties that bind us together are stronger than those that would tear us apart, all will be well."
Basic Text, p. 57
Many of us feel that without NA we would surely have died from our disease. Hence, its existence is our very lifeline. However, disunity is an occasional fact of life in Narcotics Anonymous; we must learn to respond in a constructive way to the destructive influences that sometimes arise in our fellowship. If we decide to be part of the solution instead of the problem, we are headed in the right direction.
Our personal recovery and the growth of NA is contingent upon maintaining an atmosphere of recovery in our meetings. Are we willing to help our group deal constructively with conflict? As group members, do we strive to work out difficulties openly, honestly, and fairly? Do we seek to promote the common welfare of all our members rather than our own agenda? And, as trusted servants, do we take into consideration the effect our actions might have on newcomers?
Service can bring out both the best and the worst in us. But it is often through service that we begin to get in touch with some of our more pressing defects of character Do we shrink from service commitments rather than face what we might find out about ourselves? If we bear in mind the strength of the ties that bind us together—our recovery from active addiction—all will be well.
Just for today: I will strive to be of service to our fellowship. I will be unafraid to discover who I am.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce, Or a trouble is what you make it, And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts, But only how you take it. --Edmund Vance Cooke
Once, a woman decided to throw a problem-exchange party. As guests arrived, they shed all their personal problems and tossed them onto a pile with everyone else's. After all had discussed their own problem for others to hear, the party ended with guests selecting from the problem pile those they wished to carry away. Each person left with the same troubles he or she had brought to the party.
We who worry a great deal about our problems are always sure no one else has troubles as bad as ours. Too often, we complain, "If you had my problems, you'd really hurt." Our problems are tailored to us, and geared to help us learn by solving them. No one else's would be quite right.
When we cope with problems, rather than wailing about them, we discover that our own are minor irritations compared to those we see in others.
What problems am I lucky to have?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light I have.
--Abraham Lincoln
With too much focus on control, we men have been preoccupied by our overemphasis on outcomes. We say winning is everything, and the way we play the game doesn't matter. We give honor to a man who has accumulated great wealth, regardless of how he has lived. We develop sexual problems because we focus on performance and achieving orgasm rather than on the joy of loving.
As our integrity grows, our emphasis changes. It is not crucial that we always be right, only that we be honest. We do not have to be winners or high achievers so much as we have to be real human beings. Conquest is not as important as connection. We do not always have to compare ourselves and be better than the next guy. We can exchange and appreciate the communication.
Today, I will grow in my relationships with others by being more true to myself and less driven toward a particular outcome.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Letting Go of Those Not in Recovery
We can go forward with our life and recoveries, even though someone we love is not yet recovering.
Picture a bridge. On one side of the bridge it is cold and dark. We stood there with others in the cold and darkness, doubled over in pain. Some of us developed an eating disorder to cope with the pain. Some drank; some used other drugs. Some of us lost control of our sexual behavior. Some of us obsessively focused on addicted people's pain to distract us from our own pain. Many of us did both: we developed an addictive behavior, and distracted ourselves by focusing on other addicted people. We did not know there was a bridge. We thought we were trapped on a cliff.
Then, some of us got lucky. Our eyes opened, by the Grace of God, because it was time. We saw the bridge. People told us what was on the other side: warmth, light, and healing from our pain. We could barely glimpse or imagine this, but we decided to start the trek across the bridge anyway.
We tried to convince the people around us on the cliff that there was a bridge to a better place, but they wouldn't listen. They couldn't see it; they couldn't believe. They were not ready for the journey. We decided to go alone, because we believed, and because people on the other side were cheering us onward. The closer we got to the other side, the more we could see, and feel, that what we had been promised was real. There was light, warmth, healing, and love. The other side was a better place.
But now, there is a bridge between those on the other side and us. Sometimes, we may be tempted to go back and drag them over with us, but it cannot be done. No one can be dragged or forced across this bridge. Each person must go at his or her own choice, when the time is right. Some will come; some will stay on the other side. The choice is not ours.
We can love them. We can wave to them. We can holler back and forth. We can cheer them on, as others have cheered and encouraged us. But we cannot make them come over with us.
If our time has come to cross the bridge, or if we have already crossed and are standing in the light and warmth, we do not have to feel guilty. It is where we are meant to be. We do not have to go back to the dark cliff because another's time has not yet come.
The best thing we can do is stay in the light, because it reassures others that there is a better place. And if others ever do decide to cross the bridge, we will be there to cheer them on.
Today, I will move forward with my life, despite what others are doing or not doing. I will know it is my right to cross the bridge to a better life, even if I must leave others behind to do that. I will not feel guilty. I will not feel ashamed. I know that where I am now is a better place and where I'm meant to be.
As I let go of all the negative tapes that block my truth, I trust and follow the energy that leads me to peace and joy. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey To The Heart
Don’t Let People Put Thoughts in Your Head
Respect the power of words and thoughts, both your own and others’.
Our ideas and inspirations sometimes come from other people, come from outside us. But if we’re not careful, it’s easy for others to put their ideas and intentions into our minds, to cast their spells on us. You aren’t very creative. Your heart isn’t open. You’re really not that healthy. You need me to succeed. You don’t deserve success. In fact, you don’t deserve… How easy it is to be unaware of the process, to walk around with other people’s words in your head, taking them as truth, taking them as our own, letting their ideas about us control our lives and our beliefs.
We don’t have to let others put their spells on us. We don’t have to believe what they say.
What are the words others have spoken to you, the spells they’ve cast on you and your life? What phrases are echoing in your mind, and who do they belong to? Listen to what you hear, and if they are not yours, get them out.
Words are powerful. Don’t let other people put them in your head. And choose carefully the words you speak to them.
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More Language Of Letting Go
You’re not alone
I felt a searing pain in my heart. It was physical– I swear it was– when that nurse asked me if I had someone I could call. Over the next few days at the hospital, I was surrounded by people, but at no previous time in my life had I ever felt this isolated and alone. I knew that the path I was about to walk, I had to walk alone.
Larer, another nurse walked over to me. She looked straight into my eyes. “It’s going to be difficult, harder than you can imagine,” she said. “And it’ll take about eight years. But you can do it. You’ll come through. I know. I lost a child,too. My daughter was nine when she died.”
There are places in our lives that we’re called to go alone. People can surround us, call us, and offer support. But the journey we’re about to take is solely and uniquely ours. People can watch us, reach out to us, and even say they know how it feels. But the world we’re entering is ours, and ours alone.
Slowly, as we walk this path that life has thrust on us, we begin to see the outline of a few faces– way out in the distance, waving to us, cheering us on. As we continue along the path, the faces and forms fill in. Before long, we see that we’re in the midst of a large, large group. Where did all these people come from? we wonder. I thought I was alone.
No matter what path you’re on, others have walked it before you, and some will follow you there. Each step you take is uniquely yours, but you are never, never alone.
While many experiences are isolated and uniquely ours, we’re simultaneously part of a collecive force. What we go through and what we do matters– sometimes much more than we know.
God, help me know how much you care. No matter what I’m going through, help me see the other faces along the way.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
We sometimes hear someone say, “He is standing in his own light,” A mental picture then clearly reveals that many of us tend to shadow our own happiness by mistaken thinking. Let us learn to stand aside so the light can shine on us and all we do. For only then can we see ourselves and our circumstances with true clarity With The Program and the Twelves Steps, we no longer need to stand in our own light and try alone to solve our problems in dearness. When I am faced with a seemingly insoluble problem, will I ask myself if I am standing in my own light?
Today I Pray
May I not get in my own way, obscure my own clarity of thought, stumble over my own feet, block my own doorway to recovery. If I find that I am standing in my own light, may I ask my Higher Power and my friends in the group to show me a new vantage point.
Today I Will Remember
If all I an see is my shadow, I’m in my own light.
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One More Day
Joy waits for no man.
–Tanhuma
Joyfulness is one of God’s greatest gifts. Joy transcends all time and place. Joy causes unmeasurable and often indescribable feelings which we might only have for a fleeting moment. Joy is like opening a special present. It is a state of mind, a frame of reference for future memories.
While we may quite easily recognize the joy of watching an exquisite sunset, we forget too often that it is natural that its beauty changes, dims, and then disappears within moments. And this is true of many of our joy-filled experiences — they change, they dim, and often they disappear. Joy does not always stay with us, so we need to make the most of it when it is upon us — in a sunset, child’s hug, or a friend’s offered hand.
To live life to the fullest, I am open to those special moments of joy, even if they don’t last forever.
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One Day At A Time
ADMITTING MISTAKES
"A man should never be ashamed
to own he has been in the wrong,
which is but saying, in other words,
that he is wiser today than he was yesterday."
Alexander Pope
Most of my life I had spent in blaming others for all the bad things that happened in my life, and I never learned to take responsibilty for my part in anything. I thought that life had treated me unfairly, but mostly it was because someone else had wronged me. I wallowed in self pity and justifiable anger, and not surprisingly, I found comfort in food so I could get through the pain of being treated so badly by others.
When I came into the program and began working the steps, I was horrified to learn that I was expected to do a searching and fearless inventory of my wrongdoings, for after all wasn't it others who had harmed me and not the other way around? Slowly I realised that I had a part to play in all the events in my life, and that only by clearing up the wreckage of my past and keeping my side of the street clean, did I have any hope of recovery. I had to swallow my pride and admit when I was wrong, and when I did that, miracles began to happen. Instead of feeling hard done by and bad about myself as I had thought I would, the exact opposite happened, and I started on a journey of growth and increasing self esteem that never ceases to surprise me. When I am able to admit that I'm wrong and apologise for my part in any conflict or misunderstanding, without expectation of anything back from the other person, I strengthen my recovery in this program.
One day at a time ...
I will admit my mistakes whether I believe that the fault is mine or not, because that is the way that I grow in my recovery.
Sharon
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
This is the how and why of it. First of all, we had to quit playing God. It didn't work. - Pg. 62 - How It Works
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Life is not fair. You see it in the headlines; you see it in people racked with chronic pain; you see it in senseless street violence and children starving in third world countries. It will be a challenge for you in the coming weeks to understand it is not an unfair thing that has just happened, addiction and then recovery, but the greatest fight you shall ever receive.
Creator, I do not know why good people suffer addiction. For if it is the very act of not understanding and still trusting in the good of the universe, that comprises the very essence of faith.
Silver Linings
I search for silver linings, for the deeper meaning of events in my life. I will look for the lesson. When life offers up its inevitable challenges, I will try to understand what I am meant to see that I am not seeing, what I am meant to hear that I am not hearing. There is always a silver lining if I look for it. Even if I don't see it readily, I trust that it is there and that it will reveal itself to me over time. Life isn't simple. One of the ways that I can have a better experience is to see what is positive, about a given situation, to look for the silver lining. I can grow in joy and in pain. It doesn't need to be one or the other because pain can transform into joy. It can be the fire that clears the the field for new and tender growth.
There is always a silver lining
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
As a general rule, questions that ask 'why' go in the wrong direction, seeking explanations that blame and shame. Questions that begin with 'How' and 'What' as in 'How do I start my Fourth?' and 'What can I learn from this?' lead to solutions, where the light bulb goes on in your head.
I ask questions that lead to exclamations not explanations.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Acceptance: Life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you take it
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today my faith and confidence grow as I learn to accept all that I discover without judgment. I feel energy and life flow through me with this new freedom.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Alcohol is a great remover. It removes stains, inhibitions, worries, jobs, families, freedom, choices, dignity, livers, - and lives. - Anon.
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Post by caressa222 on Feb 13, 2018 22:34:31 GMT -5
February 14
Daily Reflections
EXPECTATIONS vs. DEMANDS
Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that
he can get well regardless of anyone. The only condition
is that he trust in God and clean house.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 98
Dealing with expectations is a frequent topic at
meetings. It isn't wrong to expect progress of myself,
good things from life, or decent treatment from others.
Where I get into trouble is when my expectations become
demands. I will fall short of what I wish to be and
situations will go in ways I do not like, because
people will let me down sometimes. The only question
is: "What am I going to about it?" Wallow in self-pity
or anger; retaliate and make a bad situation worse; or
will I trust in God's power to bring blessings on the
messes in which I find myself? Will I ask Him what I
should be learning; do I keep on doing the right things
I know how to do, no matter what; do I take the time to
share my faith and blessings with others?
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
After that first drink, we had a single track mind. It
was like a railroad train. The first drink started it
off and it kept going on the single track until it got
to the end of the line, drunkenness. We knew this would
happen when we sat down at a bar to have the first drink,
but still we couldn't keep away from liquor. Our will-power
was gone. We had become helpless and hopeless before the
power of alcohol. It's not the second drink or the tenth
drink that does the damage. It's the first drink. Will I ever
take that first drink again?
Meditation For The Day
I must keep a time apart with God every day. Gradually I
will be transformed mentally and spiritually. It is not the
praying so much as just being in God's presence. The
strengthening and curative powers of this I cannot
understand, but I can experience them. The poor, sick
world would be cured if every day each soul waited before
God for the inspiration to live aright. My greatest
spiritual growth occurs in this time apart with God.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may faithfully keep a quiet time apart with
God. I pray that I may grow spiritually each day.
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As Bill Sees It
Our Companions, p. 45
Today, the vast majority of us welcome any new light that can be
thrown on the alcoholic's mysterious and baffling malady. We
welcome new and valuable knowledge whether it is issues from a test
tube, from a psychiatrist's couch, or from revealing social studies. We
are glad of any kind of education that accurately informs the public
and changes its age-old attitude toward the drunk.
More and more we regard all who labor in the total field of alcoholism
as our companions on a march from darkness into light. We see that
we can accomplish together what we could never accomplish in
separation and in rivalry.
Grapevine, March 1958
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Walk In Dry Places
Releasing the Past_____ Living in the Present.
Some of us waste time brooding over past failures and lost opportunities. Since the past is beyond our reach, we can't change anything that happened. We do, however, have the power to change the way we view the present. We can begin by realizing that our past troubles really may have been valuable lessons.
We can also get a better perspective by releasing the idea that anything from the past controls our future. The real meaning of the saying "with God, all things are possible" is that our Higher Power can transform anything that happened in our past. AA has had its share of miraculous changes that came to people who seemingly had lost all hope. These changes have included miraculous restorations in health, finances, and relationships.
A new saying is that something or some person who bothered us in the past is history, as far as we're concerned. Let's put history where it belongs__ on the shelves and away from our daily thinking and activities.
I can be a new person today and every day. The past cannot control or limit me, but I do benefit from its lessons.
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Keep It Simple
Some things have to be believed to be seen. --Ralph Hodgson
In recovery, we learn to trust. We trust that our Higher Power is on our side. Maybe we can't see our Higher Power , but once we start trusting things change. Step Two says, "Came to believe. . . " Once we come to believe, we start to see our Higher Power working in many ways. We make new program friends. We find new peace. Our family and friends trust us again. Life won't always be fair. We won't get all we want. But we'll find the love and care we need. If we're open to believing in love, the easy times will be easier and the harder times a bit softer. Do I believe in love?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me believe, especially when times are hard. Help me not blame You for the hard times.
Action for the Day: I will write what I believe the program and my Higher Power want for me.
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Each Day a New Beginning
Friendship of a kind that cannot easily be reversed tomorrow must have its roots in common interests and shared beliefs. --Barbara W. Tuchman
The gift of friendship has been extended to each of us sharing this program. Our interest is common: we want to stay abstinent. And we share the belief that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. We trust our commitment to one another here. We are learning to live the program's principles in all our affairs.
In years gone by, friendships were often missing from our lives. We had a friend, here and there, certainly, but could she really be trusted - with our secrets, with our spouse? An overriding fear and one not without reason. It's likely that we, too, failed to be good friends. Friendship, anytime, means risking vulnerability. It means making a decision to be trustworthy. And it means not backing away from either, anytime.
Friendships so enrich our lives; they complete us. The experiences shared among friends give us all an edge on living. It is no accident that we have been drawn here together. What we have will help another.
I must be willing to give away my intimate self to my sisters in trust. My strength as a woman recovering will increase as my ties of friendship increase.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Imagine life without faith! Were nothing left but pure reason, it wouldn’t be life. But we believed in life—of course we did. We could not prove life in the sense that you can prove a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, yet, there it was. Could we still say the whole thing was nothing but a mass of electrons, created out of nothing, meaning nothing, whirling on to a destiny of nothingness? Or course we couldn’t. The electrons themselves seemed more intelligent than that. At least, so the chemist said.
p. 54
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Alcoholics Anonymous - First 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 worked in the steel mill for possibly two months, and then I became disgusted with myself and decided to go back home. I think the thing that galled me was that just after Easter I had drawn my salary for two weeks' work and had decided that I was going to send some money to Vi; and above all else was going to send my baby daughter an Easter outfit. But there happened to be a liquor store between the post office and the mill, and i stopped to ge that one drink. Of course, the kid never got the Easter outfit. I got very little out of the two hundred that I drew on that payday.
pp. 241-242
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
Growing pains now beset the group. Panhandlers panhandle. Lonely hearts pine. Problems descend like an avalanche. Still more important, murmurs are heard in the body politic, which swell into a loud cry: "Do these oldtimers think they can run this group forever? Let's have an election!" The founder and his friends are hurt and depressed. They rush from crisis to crisis and from member to member, pleading; but it's no use, the revolution is on. The group conscience is about to take over.
pp. 133-134
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If you keep falling in the same hole, go down a different road.
It is not easy to straighten in the oak the crook that grew in the sapling. --American Proverb
"Silence is one of the hardest things to refute." --Josh Billings
Little deeds of kindness, little words of love, help to make earth happy like the heaven above. --Julia A. Fletcher Carney
Faith is not only a belief and a feeling, it is an action. Action, really does speak louder than words. --Shelley
Let us dedicate ourselves to peace within ourselves, that wherever we go, we bring peace and we learn to find peace in all things. --John Morton
God treasures each of us as a rare and lovely flower. --Patricia Bellah
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LOVE
"Let there be spaces in your
togetherness."
-- Kahlil Gibran
As an alcoholic I demanded love and was possessive of others. I had a
selfish love that treated people as "things" --- for my own
satisfaction and survival. I was claustrophobic in my affection and
smothered any creative love; my fear of being alone made me
blackmail people with my needs and emotions.
Today I can love people while still allowing them to breathe. An
important part of my program is detachment; I take responsibility for
me and I allow others to take responsibility for themselves. I give the
people I love space.
Sometimes I need to love a person enough to let them go. Spiritually I
am beginning to understand that in order to be free, I must give
freedom to others.
God, in the "spaces" of my love is the growth experienced.
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Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the mighty heavens. Psalm 150:1
"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles." Isaiah 40:31
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. 1 John 3:1
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Daily Inspiration
Don't ever grow too old for your birthdays or give up on your dreams. Lord, help me to know where You are leading me today and face this adventure with excitement.
Never let what you can't do get in the way of what you can do. Lord, help me to recognize my abilities and focus only on my strengths so that each day I will get nearer to my goals.
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NA Just For Today
Honesty And Spirituality
"The right to a God of your understanding is total and without any catches. Because we have this right, it is necessary to be honest about our belief if we are to grow spiritually"
Basic Text, p. 25
In meetings, over refreshments, in talks with our sponsor, we hear our NA friends talking about the way they understand their Higher Power. It would be easy to "go with the flow;" adopting someone else's beliefs. But just as no one else can recover for us, so no one else's spirituality can substitute for our own. We must honestly search for an understanding of God that truly works for us.
Many of us begin that search with prayer and meditation, and continue with our experiences in recovery. Have there been instances where we have been given power beyond our own to face life's challenges? When we have quietly sought direction in times of trouble, have we found it? What kind of Power do we believe has guided and strengthened us? What kind of Power do we seek? With the answers to these questions, we will understand our Higher Power well enough to feel safe and confident about asking it to care for our will and lives.
A borrowed understanding of God may do on a short haul. But in the long run, we must come to our own understanding of a Higher Power, for it is that Power which will carry us through our recovery.
Just for today: I seek a Power greater than myself that can help me grow spiritually. Today, I will examine my beliefs honestly and come to my own understanding of God.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Love cures people--both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. --Karl Menninger
Receiving a loving hug from a parent or perhaps a smile from a friend or even a stranger gives us a special feeling inside. We know we are important to others when they show us their love through attention. And we sometimes forget that we matter to others. Family members and friends feel good in the same way when we show them our love. Everyone needs to be loved.
How can we show our love? Must it be through a hug? Doing a favor for someone is loving. Helping around the house or the yard is loving, particularly when we've volunteered our help. Giving an unexpected gift to a friend is a way of showing love. Showing others we care, even when they are angry, is perhaps the nicest of all expressions of love.
What new way can I show someone I care today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
The less able I am to believe in our epoch and the more arid and depraved mankind seems in my eyes, the less I look to revolution as the remedy and the more I believe in the magic of love. --Hermann Hesse
Men have been more likely to look outward than inward for solutions to problems. Yet this program is changing us from within. As we come to terms with ourselves, as we learn to be in relationships with friends and family, the same picture that looked so dismal in past years may look full of possibilities and even rich in the present. The love we feel toward others and the love we receive change our perceptions.
We need not expect all relationships to be alike. One friend may be wonderful as a recreational buddy, but perhaps we wouldn't talk about everything in our life with him. Another friend is comfortable and we can be ourselves with him, although he may not challenge us to grow or change. No friendship, no spouse, no one person can be enough in our life. But as a group they sustain and enrich us. We need the love and contact with them all.
I am thankful for love, which gives meaning and hope to life.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Valentine's Day
For children, Valentine's Day means candy hearts, silly cards, and excitement in the air.
How different Valentine's Day can be for us as adults. The Love Day can be a symbol that we have not yet gotten love to work for us as we would like.
Or it can be a symbol of something different, something better. We are in recovery now. We have begun the healing process. Our most painful relationships, we have learned, have assisted us on the journey to healing, even if they did little more than point out our own issues or show us what we don't want in our life.
We have started the journey of learning to love ourselves. We have started the process of opening our heart to love, real love that flows from us, to others, and back again. Do something loving for yourself. Do something loving and fun for your friends, for your children, or for anyone you choose.
It is the Love Day. Wherever we are in our healing process, we can have as much fun with it as we choose. Whatever our circumstances, we can be grateful that our heart is opening to love.
I will open myself to the love available to me from people, the Universe, and my Higher Power today. I will allow myself to give and receive the love I want today. I am grateful that my heart is healing, that I am learning to love.
I am beginning to actually feel the energy of love that I have inside. My entire being is in the process of being transformed with love. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey to the Heart
Send Love Letters
Sending love letters to people we care about is a rewarding experience, both for us and for them. Making the time to take pen in hand and express our thoughts is valuable. But there’s another way to send love letters,too. This way takes as much time and attention as writing a loving note does, but it doesn’t require a pen and paper. It requires concentrated thought.
There’s an invisible thread of energy winding through the universe, one that connects us all. Have you ever noticed that sometimes you can tell if someone’s angry or upset with you, even if you haven’t talked to or seen this person? You can feel his or her anger, even if you haven’t been physically present to experience it. Thoughts have power, particularly those charged with intense emotional energy. When we think mean, bitter thoughts, it can be like sending hate mail along our connecting wires. It can almost be a sensory attack.
Why not send loving thoughts charged with positive emotional energy? We can consciously choose to use our connections to others to send love. Send positive thoughts. Blessings. Peace. Assistance in time of crisis. We can send our thoughts in the form of a prayer, or we can simply think a blessing or positive thought, charge it with energy, and send it along the wires with love.
When someone you know or love comes to mind, or even someone you don’t– perhaps someone in another part of the country or the world, perhaps someone going through a particular crisis– and you’re not certain what to do, send a love letter. Your loving thoughts will touch them and your blessings will all come back to you.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Say woohoo because there’s hope
The doorbell rang one day. I was slumping about in the big house I had just purchased in Minnesota. It was going to be the dream home for the children and me. The problem was, Shane had been killed the day after I closed the deal. Now Nichole and I were rambling around wondering what to do.
I answered the door. The FedEx man asked me to sign for a delivery. I did. And he handed me a large cardboard box. I brought it into the living room and put it down without opening it up. I didn’t get excited about much of anything back then. I was sad and angry. People, my readers, said they liked my writing because it gave them hope. The problem was, I didn’t have any of that hope for myself. I couldn’t see how life could or would ever make any kind of sense again. The one thing I wanted– my son alive and well, and my family intact– would not ever come to pass.
One day I got around to opening that big cardboard box. I took a knife, sliced it down the center, and looked at what was inside. It was filled with stuffed animals. A big green parrot with a fuzzy beak was sitting on top. There were monkeys, bears, and assorted things. They didn’t look brand new, but they were happy, cheerful little things. I took out the card and read the note inside. This is what it said.
“I make my living out of taking all the stuffed animals that people throw away. Then I take them home and clean them up. I guess I like doing it just to prove a point,” the woman wrote. “Sometimes, we start thinking something’s no good anymore, so we throw it in the trash. Sometimes we throw things away too quickly, but all they really need is a little tender, loving care to bring them back to life. I heard about your son’s death. I thought maybe getting a box of my reborn animals might help.”
Many years have passed since then. I’ve gotten rid of a lot of my possessions, especially when I moved from Minnesota to California in 1994. But one of the things I’ve held on to– in fact he’s still sitting in this room with me next to my desk– is that happy green parrot with the big fuzzy beak.
He’s a gentle reminder that even something as broken and scaggly as I was can be brought back to life again. Some things in life are true, whether we believe them or not.
Hope is one of those things.
Even if you have to say it in disbelief, say woohoo.
God, help me believe in me as much as you do. Thanks for getting me through those tough spots when I lose my faith.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Today I will take the time to list the positive aspects of my new life and the blessings that accompany the miracle of my recovery. I will be grateful for the seemingly simple ability to eat normally, to fall asleep with a feeling of contentment, to awaken with a gladness to be alive. I will be grateful for the ability to face life on life’s terms — with peace of mind, self-respect, and full possession of all my faculties. On a daily basis, do I count my blessings? Do I seek through prayer and meditation to improve my conscious contact with God as I understand Him?
Today I Pray
On this day of love-giving,may I count all the good things in my life and give thanks for them. May I take no blessing for granted, including the beating of my own heart and the fresh feel of new air as I breathe.
Today I Will Remember
To count — and consider — my blessings.
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One More Day
We don’t love qualities, we love persons..
.–Jacques Maritain
No matter what happens to us in our lifetime, regardless of whether we are rich or poor,m strong or weak, ill or well, we always have room for love. Unqualified love and caring cost nothing. Despite our financial position, allowing ourselves to love, allowing ourselves to be loved strengthens and lends greater value to our lives.
In loving others and in being loved, we’re reminded that people, not events or even characteristics, are th important elements of our lives. We don’t look for perfection in our loved ones, and we’re freed of the notion that we must earn another’s love. Love balances our lives; it helps us keep sight of our values and priorities.
I will remember today that I love people for themselves, not for their potential. The love I receive is given just as freely.
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One Day At A Time
OZ
"Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man
That he didn't, didn't already have."
Tin Man
Written by Dewey Bunnell, ©1974
These are simple words, and at first glance look like a song from the 'Wizard of Oz.’ However, to me they are complex and have deep meaning.
I have a body, a mind and a spirit; yet for the better part of my growing-up years I thought I had a flaw. I never felt complete and kept searching for whatever-it-was that would make me whole and fix me. I had no idea I was looking in the wrong places; but the real problem was I didn't know what I was looking for.
I never knew how to just 'be' without expecting some kind of negative feedback or teasing or criticism or uncertainty in return. Because I never felt good enough, I learned to 'not be' and to make myself invisible emotionally while eating, and in later years eating and purging.
Coming to OA was like surfacing for air after staying under water too long. People who didn’t know me understood and supported me. I slowly opened up and shared at meetings and did service and stopped hiding, and the void created with food and loneliness began to fill with hugs and support and recovery.
Today I have a Program with wonderful friends who reinforce I am OK as I am. God gave me and continues to give me what I need - physically (help with my food plan), emotionally and spiritually. The miracles in my life keep coming when I least expect them and only when I turn them over to God. Each new miracle and blessing nourishes me.
I began writing professionally again; writing is my passion, and my disease stole it from me. My spirit is happy, and I am grateful to my loving friend who had confidence and faith in me.
One day at a time ...
I am discovering my emerging identity was inside me all the time.
Janie
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience and entire psychic change there is little hope of his recovery. - Pg. XXIX - 4th. Edition - The Doctor's Opinion
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Under stress men are more likely to do the 'fight or flight' thing and counter stress with anger or desertion. Women are more likely to adopt the 'tend and befriend' mode where they begin to nurture others and make alliances. You will be adopting a number of strategies in your growing recovery. Try to make as many of them proactive as you can. The more you respond ( with thought and deliberation ) then react ( instinctively ), the better you will weather the journey.
I seek solutions and guidelines for my behaviors and the coming decisions I must make. I do not 'react' but 'respond' to the situations in my life.
The Power is in the Now
I recognize that the present is alive and vibrant and creative. All of the creative power of this alive and radiant universe is in the present, in the here and now. If I align myself with the present, if I allow myself to fully experience this moment, I will find all I need in it. There is magic in this moment, there is beauty and vibrancy in it that resonates throughout my life. What I experience now, creates my future.
There is nothing like the present
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Sometimes you are the wind; sometimes you are the bug; sometimes you are the windshield.
Experience is what I get when I don't get what I want.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
When we use, addiction makes all our decisions.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I am beginning to actually feel the energy of love that I have inside. My entire being is in the process of being transformed with love.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Don't point the finger, reach out the hand. - Anon.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 15, 2018 1:36:58 GMT -5
February 15
Daily Reflections
TAKING ACTION
Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are
being fulfilled among us--sometimes quickly, sometimes
slowly. They will always materialize if we work for
them.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84
One of the most important things A.A. has given me, in
addition to freedom from booze, is the ability to take
"right action." It says the promises will ALWAYS
materialize if I WORK for them. Fantasizing about them,
debating them, preaching about them and faking them
just won't work. I'll remain a miserable, rationalizing
dry drunk. By taking action and working the Twelve Steps
in all my affairs, I'll have a life beyond my wildest
dreams.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
If alcoholism were just a physical allergy, like asthma
or hay fever, it would be easy for us, by taking a skin
test with alcohol, to find out whether or not we're
alcoholics. But alcoholism is not just a physical allergy.
It's also a mental allergy or obsession. After we've
become alcoholics, we can still tolerate alcohol physically
for quite a while, although we suffer a little more after
each binge and each time it takes a little longer to get
over our hangovers. Do I realize that since I have become
an alcoholic, I cannot tolerate alcohol mentally at all?
Meditation For The Day
The world does not need super-men or women, but super-natural
people. People who will persistently turn the self out of their lives
and let Divine Power work through them. Let inspiration
take the place of aspiration. Seek to grow spiritually,
rather than to acquire fame and riches. Our chief ambition
should be to be used by God. The Divine Force is sufficient
for all the spiritual work in the world. God only needs the
instruments for His use. His instruments can remake
the world.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be an instrument of the Divine Power.
I pray that I may do my share in remaking the world.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
True Ambition--and False, p. 46
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.
<< << << >> >> >>
True ambition is not what we thought it was. True ambition is the
profound desire to live usefully and walk humbly under the grace of
God.
12 & 12
1. p. 123
2. pp. 124-125
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
AA is an Automatic Sprinkler System
Emotional Emergencies
Wise managers install automatic sprinkler systems to protect their businesses. The system's great value is that it goers into action during the first few minutes of a fire, before it gets out of control. This gives the fire department precious time to arrive and put the fire out.
Our AA program gives us something like a sprinkler system. We never know when the flames of resentment might leap up, seemingly out of nowhere. If we've been working our program, something takes over automatically to begin dealing with resentment.
This gives us time to bring more of our valuable spiritual tools into use. Knowing that resentment is burning away, we can try one thing and then another until it is brought to rest. Perhaps we will try prayer. We might also discuss our problem with a close friend or sponsor. Maybe we'll attend a meeting and lay the mater out for the group attention. We may help somebody, even in a small way. An amazing healing of resentment can come from any helpful action. Even a simple action like helping a person in a stalled automobile can work wonders in deflecting the pain of ongoing resentment.
I need not fear the sudden appearance of resentment if I have been following my program.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Easy Does It.---Twelve Steps slogan
We are people who push ourselves to hard. We try to be perfect. Well, we need to lighten up. Easy Does It.
We need to slow down our pace. Why? Because our program teaches us to give up trying to be perfect.
We begin to love ourselves for who we are. We are enough. Over and over we hear this as we live the Steps. It's the message of God's love. Our Higher Power want us to live at a pace that's not fast and hard, so we always know we're loved. Remember, we've turned our life over to the care of God. And our life is a wonderful gift. As recovering people, we may know better than others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me to live at Your pace, not mine. Help me keep in mind that life isn't a race. It's a spiritual journey. Walk with me.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll take two hours just to relax and do loving things for myself. I'll take time to count my blessings.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
Fortuitous circumstances constitute the moulds that shape the majority of human lives. --Augusta Evans
Being in the right place at the right time is how we generally explain our good fortune or the good fortune of a friend. But it's to our advantage to understand how we managed to be in the right place at just the right moment.
We have probably heard many times at meetings that God's timetable is not necessarily the same as our timetable. That events will happen as scheduled to fit a picture bigger than the picture encompassed by our egos. And frequently our patience wears thin because we aren't privy to God's timetable. But we can trust, today and always, that doors open on time. Opportunities are offered when we are ready for them. Nary a moment passes that doesn't invite us to both give and receive a special message--a particular lesson. We are always in God's care, and every circumstance of our lives is helping to mold the women we are meant to be.
I will take a long look at where I am today and be grateful for my place. It's right for me, now, and is preparing me for the adventure ahead.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Hence, we saw that reason isn’t everything. Neither is reason, as most of us use it, entirely dependable, thought it emanate from our best minds. What about people who proved that man could never fly?
Yet we had been seeing another kind of flight, a spiritual liberation from this world, people who rose above their problems. They said God made these things possible, and we only smiled. We had seen spiritual release, but liked to tell ourselves it wasn’t true.
pp. 54-55
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Alcoholics Anonymous - First Edition Stories
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 knew I wasn't capable of keeping the bulk of the money myself, so I gave it to a white fellow who owned the bar I frequented. He kept the money for me, but I worried him to death for it. Finally, I broke the last one hundred dollar bill the Saturday before I left. I got out of that bill one pair of shoes, and the rest of that money was blown. I took the last of it to buy my railroad ticket.
p. 242
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
Now comes the election. If the founder and his friends have served well, they may - to their surprise - be reinstated for a time. If, however, they have heavily resisted the rising tide of democracy, they may be summarily beached. In either case, the group now has a so-called rotating committee, very sharply limited in its authority. In no sense whatever can its members govern or direct the group. They are servants. Theirs is the sometimes thankless privilege of doing the group's chores. Headed by the chairman, they look after public relations and arrange meetings. Their treasurer, strictly accountable, takes money from the hat that is passed, banks it, pays the rent and other bills, and makes a regular report at business meetings. The secretary sees that literature is on the table, looks after the phone-answering service, answers the mail, and sends out notices of meetings. Such are the simple services that enable the group to function. the committee gives no spiritual advice, judges no one's conduct, issues no orders. Every one of them may be promptly eliminated at the next election if they try this. And so they make the belated discovery that they are really servants, not senators. These are universal experiences. Thus throughout A.A. does the group conscience decree the terms upon which its leaders shall serve.
p. 134
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We are responsible for the effort, not the outcome.
Better the foot slip than the tongue. --French Proverb
"The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness also keep out the joy." --Jim Rohn
"You must look into people, as well as at them." --Lord Chesterfield
God, help me recognize that I am a part of your creation and don't need to fight it. Help me live in peace and celebration of life. --Melody Beattie
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
HUMILITY
"I am a man; nothing human is
alien to me."
-- Terence
Humility is not so much about trying to be "good" as accepting that I
am imperfect. For too long I thought that humility was "keeping the
peace", appearing to be "perfect", bottling up my anger and
resentments --- living a life of "people-pleasing".
Today I understand that humility is being real. It is accepting my
humanity and being honest in my relationships. Humility is respecting
the lives of others but also respecting my own. Humility is seeking to
reveal that divinity that God has given to my life. Humility is knowing
that in the lives of my fellow man --- the good and the bad --- is me.
Master, let me have the humility to be real.
************************************************** *********
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." John 14:1
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:6-5
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Daily Inspiration
Hide your troubles and disappointments and you will find that they grow much smaller from neglect. Lord, help me to direct my focus so that I can make a difference today with a smile and a kind word.
Prayer may not always change a situation, but it will always change us. Lord, I accept Your answers to my prayers because I know that they will always be right and, in Your wisdom, best for me.
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NA Just For Today
An Awakening Of The Spirit
"The last thing we expected was an awakening of the spirit"
Basic Text, p. 48
Few of us came to our first Narcotics Anonymous meeting aching to take a personal inventory or believing that a spiritual void existed in our souls. We had no inkling that we were about to embark on a journey which would awaken our sleeping spirits.
Like a loud alarm clock, the First Step brings us to semiconsciousness—although at this point, we may not be sure whether we want to climb out of bed or maybe sleep for just five more minutes. The gentle hand shaking our shoulders as we apply the Second and Third Steps causes us to stand up, stretch, and yawn. We need to wipe the sleep from our eyes to write the Fourth Step and share our Fifth. But as we work the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Steps, we begin noticing a spring in our step and the start of a smile on our lips. Our spirits sing in the shower as we take the Tenth and Eleventh Steps. And then we practice the Twelfth, leaving the house in search of others to awaken.
We don't have to spend the rest of our lives in a spiritual coma. We may not like to get up in the morning but, once out of bed, we're almost always glad we did.
Just for today: To awaken my sleepy spirit, I will use the Twelve Steps.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
It is always a mistake not to close one's eyes, whether to forgive or to look better into oneself. --Maurice Maeterlinck
It is easy to look outward and find faults with the world and people around us. We criticize family members or complain about our friends. We always notice disease in the trees around us.
But if we take time to be quiet, to sit alone in a tree or by a lake, we become more aware of how connected we are to the life around us. We are part of the beauty and the imperfection. When we notice our own tree is not perfect, it becomes easier to forgive the blights of those around us. It is also important to forgive ourselves our faults. Though all the trees are beautiful, they each have their scars. Being human means we are, like all humanity, both beautiful and imperfect.
Will I see through the flaws to anther's beauty today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
If I truly showed my feelings, the other guys would eat me alive. It's too dog eat dog out there to be honest about the things that really count to you. You can't leave yourself wide open like that. --Michael E. McGill
As we deepen our commitment to strong and mature manhood, we see a conflict between this program and much of what we learned as young men. When we drop our defenses and are honest, we take the chance of getting hurt. Many of us learned long ago that when we became vulnerable, others became abusive. It is difficult to abandon everything we learned about being nobody's fool and staying safe.
In fact, we don't have to leave ourselves wide open. We can be selective about how open we will be and whom we will trust. But for our spiritual growth to continue, we must be an open book to ourselves, to our Higher Power, and to a few friends. We must face the fear of being open to others in this program. Developing true friends is part of the change, which the program brings.
I pray for the courage to be honest with myself and to stand up for who I truly am with my friends.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Fortuitous circumstances constitute the moulds that shape the majority of human lives. --Augusta Evans
Being in the right place at the right time is how we generally explain our good fortune or the good fortune of a friend. But it's to our advantage to understand how we managed to be in the right place at just the right moment.
We have probably heard many times at meetings that God's timetable is not necessarily the same as our timetable. That events will happen as scheduled to fit a picture bigger than the picture encompassed by our egos. And frequently our patience wears thin because we aren't privy to God's timetable. But we can trust, today and always, that doors open on time. Opportunities are offered when we are ready for them. Nary a moment passes that doesn't invite us to both give and receive a special message--a particular lesson. We are always in God's care, and every circumstance of our lives is helping to mold the women we are meant to be.
I will take a long look at where I am today and be grateful for my place. It's right for me, now, and is preparing me for the adventure ahead.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Control
Sometimes, the gray days scare us. Those are the days when the old feelings come rushing back. We may feel needy, scared, ashamed, and unable to care for ourselves.
When this happens, it's hard to trust ourselves, others, the goodness of life, and the good intentions of our Higher Power. Problems seem overwhelming. The past seems senseless; the future, bleak. We feel certain the things we want in life will never happen.
In those moments, we may become convinced that things and people outside of ourselves hold the key to our happiness. That's when we may try to control people and situations to mask our pain. When these "codependent crazies" strike, others often begin to react negatively to our controlling.
When we're in a frenzied state, searching for happiness outside ourselves and looking to others to provide our peace and stability, remember this: Even if we could control things and people, even if we got what we wanted, we would still be ourselves. Our emotional state would still be in turmoil.
People and things don't stop our pain or heal us. In recovery, we learn that this is our job, and we can do it by using our resources: our Higher Power, our support systems, our recovery program, and ourselves.
Often, after we've become peaceful, trusting, and accepting, what we want comes to us - with ease and naturalness.
The sun begins to shine again. Isn't it funny, and isn't it true, how all change really does begin with us?
I can let go of things and people and my need to control today. I can deal with my feelings. I can get peaceful. I can get calm. I can get back on track and find the true key to happiness - myself. I mil remember that a gray day is just that - one gray day.
Today I will "act as if" I am worth loving. I am beginning to tell myself that I am worthy of loving myself. I will acknowledge all the good and lovable things about me. I will "act as if" until I know that it is true. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey to the Heart
Ask the Universe for Help
You have come so far. You have learned to ask for help from people when you need it. You have learned to ask God. God as you understand God, for help,too. Now you’re entering into a relationship with the universe, an active, vital, living relationship. Now you can learn to ask the universe for help as well.
Talk to the universe. Talk aloud if you can. Say: Show me, guide me, lead me, help me. This is what I want, this is what I need. Say: Show me which road to follow, where to go, and what to do. Yes, talk to people. Talk to God. They are part of the universe and world we live in. But talk aloud to the universe,too.
Then listen to your inner voice. hear what it says and trust what you hear. Answers come in many ways, from many sources, many places. But if the answer is right for you, your heart will know, and it will feel true.
Talk to the universe. Ask it for help. Then listen to your heart. Because that quiet voice, the one in your heart, is how the universe talks to you.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Let a friend be there for you
I was at a carnival somewhere, sitting on a bench, eating blue cotton candy and experiencing the noise and color and the big carousel. Garishly colored horses bounced up and down, round and round, lights flashed; people whirred past. The little girl was on the verge of tears as her mother brought her up to the gate. She stalled, trying desperately to convince her mom, that no, she really didn’t want to go on the merry-go-round after all. Mom was reassuring but firm, and finally a deal was reached. Daughter would go on the big ride if her Mom would go,too.
They gave the man their tickets and walked around, the little one in awe of the multihued beasts that surrounded her. Finally, she settled on a white one with a gold mane and tail, and directed her mom to sit on the blue one next to her. Mom smiled, a little embarrassed, but complied with her daughter’s request.
Then the music started. And suddenly, they were both five years old, shrieking and laughing as their horses bounded away. I laughed,too, watching from my bench. They raced around an imaginary track through valleys, over rivers, across plains. The music screamed, the lights flashed, and for a few minutes, they could fly.
They were still laughing when the ride ended. “Again Mommy. Let’s go again!” laughed the girl excitedly. So they turned and got back in line. In letting go of her fear, that little girl was able to feel the wonder and excitement of a new experience, and in helping her daughter to overcome fear, the mother was able to recapture some of that thrill, as well. In our everyday lives, there are times when we are frightened, times when we need a friend to give us courage, and times when we can be a friend giving courage to someone else. Be grateful for those who have helped you find strength. Be grateful for the times when you have helped your friends find courage of their own.
Both sides of the coin are winners, and sometimes, experience is sweetest when shared.
God, help me reach out my hand in friendship and strength to those I meet along the way. And when I’m scared, help me give up my pride and ask a friend to stand by my side.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
When I become angry, can I admit to it and state it as a fact without allowing it to build up and burst out in inappropriate ways? Pent-up anger, I’ve finally begun to learn, quickly shatters the peace of mind that’s so critical to my on-going recovery. When I become enraged and lose control, I unwittingly handover control to the person, place, or thing with which I am enraged. When I’m angry will I tr to remember that I am endangering myself? Will I “count to ten” by calling a friend in The Program and say the Serenity Prayer aloud?
Today I Pray
May I recognize angry feelings and let them out a little a time, stating my anger as a fat, instead of allowing it to fester into rage and explode uncontrollable.
Today I Will Remember
Anger is. Rage need not be.
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One More Day
Reality is a staircase going neither up nor down, we don’t move, today is today, always is today.
–Octavio Paz
Reality is a harsh word and can invade our everyday lives. When we are struggling to cope with the physical changes which occur with long-term medical problems, reality becomes our constant companion. No longer can we deny anxiety or discomfort.
Our self-imposed rules might be the framework of our lives, but we can build a new structure which accepts illness as part of the reality of our lives. This new structure can have much more depth and greater dimension than the original, for we are older and wiser. Part of the framework which gives our days meaning is our love for friends and family, and recognition of our spiritual capacity. These, too, become our new reality.
I no longer expect perfect health, but I can minimize my complaining and maximize my efforts to live a meaningful life.
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One Day At A Time
SETTING EXAMPLES
"Don't worry that children never listen to you;
worry that they are always watching you.
Robert Fulgham
How many overweight people blame their size on genes? My whole family had weight problems. Everywhere I turn I see obese families. In my house we were taught that it is a sin to waste food. After all, there are starving people in the world. As if my cleaning my plate would really help a starving child. How many times was I rewarded with a sweet treat instead of a hug and a "Gee you did good - I'm really proud of you." A scraped knee always felt better if you put a candy on it. I could eat the treat after the pain was gone, so of course eating made you feel better fast. My parents didn't actually teach me that food would give me instant gratification in so many words, but I learned those lessons from observation. Food helped me get through some very difficult years. I never realized that there were tools that could help through them. Unfortunately, I only found OA after my children were grown up and had watched their coe mother make the same mistakes that her parents taught her. I am trying to set a better example now. I no longer have a pantry full of junk food and when I give my grandchildren treats, it's books, stickers, hairclips, toys, anything non-edible.
God, I realize that my parents unintentionally taught me bad eating habits and I forgive them. Please let my children forgive me for making the same mistakes. Help me to set a better example for the next generation. Please be with me when I buy groceries and let me bring only healthy food into my house. Help me to be satisfied with my abstinent meals so that I won't be tempted to binge and graze with little eyes upon me. I am so grateful for Your presence in my life, because I can't do this alone.
One day at a time . . .
Please remind me that there are tools I can use instead of slipping into my old eating habits and let me be an example of the miracles that come with abstinence.
Jeanette
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Faith has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish. - Pg. 16 - Bill's Story
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Family and fellowship, sponsors and counselors are our source of strength and good feelings today, not Jim Beam and Mary Jane.
May I try not to control the people who help long enough to listen to their words of guidance.
Appreciating Life
I have the gift of life. I am here. I am alive, with all of my senses and able to experience the magic of this incredible world. Whatever this day has in store for me, I am open to receive. I will act on my day and allow my day to act on me. I am open. I will take steps that I know will make my day feel good, productive and pleasurable, and then I will let the rest happen. Each day presents me with gifts and surprises, if I know how to unwrap the present, if I remember how to be astonished or pleased.
Life itself is the gift.
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Often the difference between a bad attitude and a good one is simply what you call it. You can be lonely or enjoy blessed solitude. You can be burdened or building strength. People can use you or you can be of use to others.
Whether it is AA for 'Altered Attitude,' NA for 'New Attitude,' or CDA for 'Change'D Attitude,' my attitude today is a direct reflection of my personal growth.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Misery is an option. But acceptance and gratitude did not come as standard equipment either.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I will 'act as if' I am worth loving. I am beginning to tell myself that I am worthy of loving myself. I will acknowledge all the good and lovable things about me. I will 'act as if' until I know that it is true.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I'd called AA and they sent this fella Kevin around. He came into my office, put his hand out and asked how I was. I said my standard 'Great'. And he kept hold of my hand pulled me up close, eye-balled me and said; 'Bull s...' - He was my sponsor from that day. - Dave B.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 16, 2018 6:34:21 GMT -5
February 16
Daily Reflections
COMMITMENT
Understanding is the key to right principles and attitudes, and right
action is the key to good living.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 125
There came a time in my program of recovery when the third stanza
of the Serenity Prayer -- "The wisdom to know the difference" --
became indelibly imprinted in my mind. From that time on, I had to
face the ever-present knowledge that my every action, word and
thought was within, or outside, the principles of the program. I could no
longer hide behind self-rationalization, nor behind the insanity of my
disease. The only course open to me, if I was to attain a joyous life
for myself (and subsequently for those I love), was one in which I
imposed on myself an effort of commitment, discipline, and
responsibility.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
One drink started a train of thought that became an obsession, and
from then on, we couldn't stop drinking. We developed a mental
compulsion to keep drinking until we got good and drunk. People
generally make two mistakes about alcoholism. One mistake is that
it can be cured by physical treatment only. The other mistake is that
it can be cured by willpower only. Most alcoholics have tried both of
these and have found that they don't work. But we members of A.A.
have found a way to arrest alcoholism. Have I got over my obsession
by following the A.A. program?
Meditation For The Day
I will try to be unruffled, no matter what happens. I will keep my
emotions in check, although others about me are letting theirs go. I
will keep calm in the face of disturbance, keep that deep, inner calm
through all the experiences of the day. In the rush of work and
worry, the deep, inner silence is necessary to keep me on an even
keel. I must learn to take the calm with me into the most hurried
days.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be still and commune with God.
I pray that I may learn patience, humility, and peace.
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As Bill Sees It
Seeing Is Believing, p. 47
The Wright Brothers' almost childish faith that they could build a
machine which would fly was the mainspring of their accomplishment.
Without that, nothing could have happened.
We agnostics and atheists were sticking to the idea that
self-sufficiency would solve our problems. When others showed us
that God-sufficiency worked with them, we began to feel like those
who had insisted the Wrights would never fly. We were seeing
another kind of flight, a spiritual liberation from this world, people who
rose above their problems.
Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 52-53
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Walk In Dry Places
Mental Arguments are bad Thinking____Serenity
Again and again we hear that bad thinking and drinking are linked together. Bad thinking is any line of thought that tends to be destructive. Mental arguments are in that class because they destroy peace of mind and self-control. We can avoid them by learning acceptance and maintaining serenity at all costs.
Sometimes we engage in mental arguments with those who seem to have defeated us or put us down. This only gives more life to the hurt we have been feeling: in effect, we cooperate in hurting ourselves repeatedly. Even the satisfaction of letting ourselves "win" the mental argument doesn't really settle the matter.
We can maintain our serenity in all situations by accepting people as they are. We are not responsible for changing their opinions. We must also accept and dismiss past mistakes and failures, no matter who was at fault. We owe it to ourselves not to destroy another moment's happiness with futile mental arguments that serve no good purpose in our lives.
Once we dismiss mental arguments, we can give our time and attention to things that really matter.
I will not waste a single second on any kid of mental argument. Anything another person said or did is forgiven and forgotten, and it has no power to hurt me a second time.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Friendships, like marriages, are dependent on avoiding the unforgivable.---John D. MacDonald
We need to remember that relationships are made up of people---people who are strong, but also fragile.
We don't break easily, but we do break. We need to be aware of how fragile relationships are. Don't say something that will hurt others even if it's honest. It's mean to be honest with someone, without showing that you care for the person's feelings. We can learn to be honest without being cruel. The backbone of any relationship is this: we need to honor the rules and agreements we make. If we promise to be faithful to someone, we follow this rule. And we need to trust the other person to do the same. When we see that our agreements don't work, we need to go to that person and talk about them.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me become a person who honors rules and agreements in my relationships.
Actions for the Day: I'll make no promises today that I will not keep.
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Each Day a New Beginning
Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities. --Sue Atchley Ebaugh
Our dreams beckon us to new heights. All that we may need is the courage to move toward them, taking the necessary steps to realize those dreams. Trusting that we will be shown the steps, one at a time, patiently waiting for the right step and right time is all we need to do, today.
Our dreams, when they are for the good of ourselves and others, are invitations from God to spread our wings, to attempt new heights. Those dreams are part of the destiny designed for us. They are not happenstance. Our gifts are unique. Our contributions are ours alone. Our dreams reflect the contributions we are called on to make in this life.
Our opportunities for fulfillment are varied and not always recognized as for our good. Again and again we need to turn to God, be patient, and trust that we are being called to offer something very special to those around us. No one of us has escaped a special plan. And everyone of us is inspired in particular ways, with particular talents. Our recovery is clearing the way for us to burst forth with our talents.
I will be grateful for all that I am, for all that I have. And I will remember, what I give today to friends around me is mine only to give.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
Actually we were fooling ourselves, 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. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.
p. 55
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Alcoholics Anonymous - First 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'd been home about a week or ten days when one of my friends asked if I could repair one of his electrical outlets. Thinking only of two or three dollars to buy some whiskey, I did the job and that's how I met Ella G., who was responsible for my coming into A.A. I went to this friend's shop to repair his electrical outlet, and I noticed this lady. She continued to watch me, although she didn't say anything. Finally she said, "Isn't your name Jim S?" I said, "Yes." Then she told me who she was. She was Ella G. When I had known her years before, she was rather slender, but at this time she weighed as much as she does now, which is up around in the two hundreds or very close to it. I had not recognized her, but as soon as she said who she was, I remembered her right away. She didn't say anything about A.A. or getting me a sponsor at that time, but she did ask about Vi, and I told her Vi was working and how she could locate her. It was around noon, a day or two later, when the telephone rang and it was Ella. She asked me if I would let someone come up and talk to me concerning a business deal. She never mentioned anything about my whiskey drinking because if she had I would have told her no right then. I asked her just what this deal was, but she wouldn't say. She said, "He has something of interest, if you will see him." I told her that I would. She asked me one other thing. She asked if I would try to be sober if I possibly could. So I put forth some effort that day to try to stay sober if I could, though my sobriety was just a daze.
p. 242-243
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
This brings us straight to the question "Does A.A. have a real leadership?" Most emphatically the answer is "Yes, notwithstanding the apparent lack of it." Let's turn again to the deposed founder and his friends. What becomes of them? As their grief and anxiety wear away, a subtle change begins. Ultimately, they divide into two classes known in A.A. slang as "elder statesmen" and "bleeding deacons." The elder statesman is the one who sees the wisdom of the group's decision, who holds no resentment over his reduced status, whose judgment, fortified by considerable experience, is sound, and who is willing to sit quietly on the sidelines patiently awaiting developments. The bleeding deacon is one who is just as surely convinced that the group cannot get along without him, who constantly connives for reelection to office, and who continues to be consumed with self-pity. A few hemorrhage so badly that - drained of all A.A. spirit and principal - they get drunk. At times the A.A. landscape seems to be littered with bleeding forms. Nearly every oldtimer in our Society has gone through this process in some degree. Happily, most of them survive and live to become elder statesmen. They become the real and permanent leadership of A.A. Theirs is the quiet opinion, the sure knowledge and humble example that resolve a crisis. When sorely perplexed, the group inevitably turns to them for advice. They become the voice of the group conscience; in fact, these are the true voice of Alcoholics Anonymous. They do not drive by mandate; they lead by example. This is the experience which has led us to the conclusion that our group conscience, well-advised by its elders, will be in the long run wiser than any single leader.
pp. 134-135
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What you are is God's Gift to you. What you become is your gift to God.
Take time for solitude. How else can you contemplate the blessings of recovery. --Abby Warman
In my pain I seek the comfort and guidance of my Higher Power. Grace and gratitude are the gifts I receive. --Rose Casey
God does not require that we be successful, only that we be faithful. --Mother Teresa
Spiritual experience is personal and individual. --Veronica Ray
Like a loving parent, God prepares good things for us. --Einar Ingvi Magnusson
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
ENEMIES
"The Bible tells us to love our
neighbors and also to love our
enemies; probably because they
are generally the same people."
-- G. K. Chesterton
The spiritual program that I embrace makes me look to where I am,
rather than where I want to be. I must live in the now, rather than the
never-never-land of tomorrow.
To love my world I need to seek to understand those people who live
in my world. To love my world involves an acceptance of those who
are different from me. I must seek to build bridges, rather than
barriers. It is so easy for me to talk about loving and being concerned
for the starving millions and forgetting to love and relate to the typist
in my office or the neighbor down the street.
I have some experience of people who can be difficult because I lived
with the addicted me for many years; I am the key to my enemies.
Teach me to accept in love those who, for today, I do not like.
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If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 1: 1-13
Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:4-5
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Daily Inspiration
No troubles that we face are new to this world. Guide and protect me, Lord, and strengthen my faith and trust in You so that I will not falter.
God gives us power, love and self-discipline, not fear and timidness. Lord, I will not be afraid to proclaim that You are my God. All will see it in my actions.
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NA Just For Today
Faithful Feelings
"When we refuse to accept the reality of today we are denying faith in our Higher Power This can only bring more suffering."
IP No. 8, "Just for Today"
Some days just aren't the way we wish they would be. Our problems may be as simple as a broken shoelace or having to stand in line at the supermarket. Or we may experience something far more serious, such as the loss of a job, a home, or a loved one. Either way, we often end up looking for a way to avoid our feelings instead of simply acknowledging that those feelings are painful.
No one promises us that everything will go our way when we stop using. In fact, we can be sure that life will go on whether we're using or not. We will face good days and bad days, comfortable feelings and painful feelings. But we don't have to run from any of them any longer.
We can experience pain, grief, sadness, anger, frustration- all those feelings we once avoided with drugs. We find that we can get through those emotions clean. We won't die and the world won't come to an end just because we have uncomfortable feelings. We learn to trust that we can survive what each day brings.
Just for today: I will demonstrate my trust in God by experiencing this day just as it is.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Shame-filled people feel that something is wrong at their very core. It is a sense of being bad . . .. --Susan Kwiecien
Nobody is rotten to the core. Whenever we start to believe we are bad all the way through, we can picture good things we have done, days when someone else was happy to be with us, and see for ourselves that we have many good points that outweigh the bad.
If we have done something wrong, we must apologize and make amends. Making a mistake is not the same as being worthless. Mistakes are a natural part of living, not something to be ashamed of. Our freedom to make mistakes is one of our greatest assets, for this is the way we learn humility, persistence, courage to take risks, and better ways of doing things. All of us are valuable and lovable. How could we be otherwise? Since mistakes are natural aspects of growth, we can salute them in others and ourselves as signs of life and celebrate our ability to learn and to forgive.
What mistakes have helped me grow?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Hatred is never anything but fear - if you feared no one, you would hate no one. --Hugh Downs
On those occasions when we find the bigger man within, we are more generous in spirit toward others. But sometimes we think too much about what is wrong with others and how they ought to change. That is a form of hate. If we are searching for what we have power to change in our families, in our friendships, in the world, we can learn to be big enough to set aside our fears.
Do we bear ill will toward someone today? When we are honest with ourselves, do we feel a sense of fear in relation to this person? What are we really afraid of? Perhaps the same person fears us. When we can do something about our fear, the hatred melts with no further effort. Then we are in touch with the bigger man within.
I have the inner, strength to face my fears today. I will not send them outward as hatred.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Detachment
The concept of letting go can be confusing to many of us. When are we doing too much or trying too hard to control people and outcomes? When are we doing too little? When is what we're doing an appropriate part of taking care of ourselves? What is our responsibility, and what isn't?
These issues can challenge us whether we've been in recovery ten days or ten years. Sometimes, we may let go so much that we neglect responsibility to others or ourselves. Other times, we may cross the line from taking care of ourselves to controlling others and outcomes.
There is no rulebook. But we don't have to make ourselves crazy; we don't have to be so afraid. We don't have to do recovery perfectly. If it feels like we need to do a particular action, we can do it. If no action feels timely or inspired, don't act on it.
Having and setting healthy limits - healthy boundaries - isn't a tidy process. We can give ourselves permission to experiment, to make mistakes, to learn, to grow.
We can talk to people, ask questions, and question ourselves. If there's something we need to do or learn, it will become apparent. Lessons don't go away. If we're not taking
care of ourselves enough, well see that. If we are being too controlling, we'll grow to understand that too. Things will work out. The way will become dear.
Today, I will take actions that appear appropriate. I will let go of the rest. I will strive for the balance between self-responsibility, responsibility to others, and letting go.
Peace and relaxation flow through me with every breath that I take. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey to the Heart
The Answer May Be Right in Front of You
It was late at night. I had just pulled into Chimayo, New Mexico. The streets were poorly lit, addresses and signs were difficult to see. I had been driving around for what seemed like hours, looking for an address. Finally, in desperation. I stopped the car, got out, and flagged someone down. A man stopped, but said he couldn’t help me. I was at my wits end. I turned around, staring frantically at the mailbox in front of me. To my surprise, I was right where I wanted to go.
How often we wave our hands in panic and despair, certain the answer, the insight, the piece of information we need will never come. Yet often the answer we’re seeking is right in front of us.
There’s a part of us, our heart, that knows where we’re going, knows what we need, knows what the next step is. Our heart will lead us on. Our soul will move us forward. Our instincts will take us home like a radar signal beaming us to safety.
Feel your panic. Feel your frustration. But keep your eyes and your heart open. The answer may be closer than you think– maybe it’s right in front of you.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Joy is your destiny
Adam fell that man might be, and men are that they might have joy.
–Book of Mormon
In the garden, original man was perfect, unchanging, never knowing sickness or the sorrow of separation. It was only after the fall that we could learn the contrast between joy and sorrow and truly learn what joy is. More than the absence of sorrow, it is the embrace of life in all its turmoil. To live joyously means living with full awareness of how impermanent each life on earth is– how precious each moment, each conversation, each sunrise is.
Each day is the beginning of another new adventure, another opportunity to take a chance and live life to its fullest.
Look around you. Find the joy in your world.
After all, that’s why you’re here.
God, help me find and create true joy and peace in my world.
****************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
What about “justifiable anger?” If somebody cheats us or acts toward us in an outrageous manner, don’t we have the right to be furious? The hard-learned experiences of countless others in The Program tell us that adventures in rage are usually extremely dangerous. So, while we must recognize anger enough to say “I am angry,” we must not allow the build-up of rage, however justifiable. Can I accept the fact that if I am to live, I have to be free of anger?
Today I Pray
Even though I go out of the way to skirt them, may I be aware that there always will be certain situations or certain people who will make me angry. When my anger doesn’t seem justifiable — with arguable reason behind it — I may deny it, even to myself. May I recognize my anger, whether it is reasonable or not, before I bury it alive.
Today I Will Remember
It is alright to feel anger.
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One More Day
Every Soul is a melody which needs renewing.
– Stephne Mellarme
It may be difficult to admit how discordant our lives become at times — and even more difficult to restore a sense of peace. We may plunge into self-improvement programs with the idea that we, and we alone, can fix ourselves and ease our emotional pain. In doing this, we ignore the spiritual resources outside ourselves.
We better understand and accept our human flaws now and find it easier to ask God for help. Occasionally we may feel inadequate or angry or frightened. We question and doubt ourselves; we get lost in the maze of our own emotions. But we know these feelings are only temporary and that the calming spiritual tempo of our lives is briefly being drowned out by the emotions of the moment. It is comforting to know the melody is always there.
Today, I trust God to keep me in tune with the peace within.
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Food For Thought
Meetings
We have proved that we cannot control our eating alone. Through OA, we have found a way that works, provided we work the program. If we become careless about attending meetings, we are thrown back on our own weakness.
It is the OA meeting which gives us the hope and enthusiasm we need to continue in the program. The sharing and fellowship of the group provides strength and encouragement. In times of difficulty, most of us find that the more meetings we attend, the better able we are to cope.
When we don't feel like going to a meeting, it may be because our old overeating habit is trying to surface. We are never cured of our disease and we never outgrow our need for the strength, fellowship, and love we receive from OA meetings.
I give thanks for OA.
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One Day At A Time
A TEENAGER'S PRAYER
"I felt as if angels were pushing."
Adolf Galland - on his first flight in a jet aircraft
A letter from a TRG Teenager . . . . .
Sometimes I feel I really can't take anymore, I really can't do it. I feel so alone. I feel no one cares. I just want to hide away and eat and eat until I am so sick I can't eat anymore.
A minute at a time I got through my day, and it was so hard. Didn't anyone understand how hard it is to get through school with the teachers giving me a hard time. The other kids laughing at me in a corner, I know they are, I can feel them. They don't know what it's like to be me. And when I get home, I get even more of a hard time.
But sometimes I feel so bad and I come here on my computer and share or I go to an online meeting, and I know I'm not alone after all. Someone cares, they really do.
I feel heaps better and I suddenly realize that angels had pushed me through the day. And even though the day had been hard, I HAD got through it! I had a whole day of abstinence!
Suddenly I feel so much better about myself, about you and about the world in general.
One day at a time ...
I will remember tonight. An angel walked with me today, and if I close my eyes and sleep, maybe, just maybe an angel will walk with me in my dreams.
Anonymous
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Faith without works was dead, he said. And how appallingly true for the alcoholic! For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead. - Pg. 14-15 - Bill's Story
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
There is no one with a 'better' program than another if they are clean and sober for we know that we are only one drink away from a drunk--each and everyone of us!
May I realize that I am no better or worse than another, or them from me. We are equal in our recovery.
Looking Toward What is Good
I am a creative being. I have the power of reason, the ability to think, hope and dream. I can envision my life not only as it is, but as I might wish it to be. I can then think through the steps I might need to become more of who I wish to be. I have the power to think my way into a happy point of view, to see the glass as half full rather than half empty. My mind can be my greatest enemy or my greatest ally. It depends on how I choose to use it.
I hold a beautiful vision of life
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
'Rather than put a label on yourself as Christian, Jew, Moslem, Buddhist, or whatever, instead make a commitment to be Christ-like, God-like, Buddha-like and Mohammed-like.' -Dr. Wayne Dryer
I make a commitment to be 'Twelve Step-like' today.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Real change requires real change.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Peace and relaxation flow through me with every breath that I take.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
An alcoholic is a fellow who is trying to get his religion out of a bottle, when what he really wants is unity within himself. Unity with God. - Bill W.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 16, 2018 23:55:01 GMT -5
February 17
Daily Reflections
THE LOVE IN THEIR EYES
Some of us won't believe in God, others can't, and
still others who do not believe that God exists have
no faith whatever He will perform this miracle.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 25
It was the changes I saw in the new people who came
into the Fellowship that helped me lose my fear, and
change my negative attitude to a positive one. I could
see the love in their eyes and I was impressed by how
much their "One Day at a Time" sobriety meant to them.
They had looked squarely at Step Two and came to believe
that a power greater than themselves was restoring them
to sanity. That gave me faith in the Fellowship, and
hope that it could work for me too. I found that God
was a loving God, not that punishing God I feared before
coming to A.A. I also found that He had been with me
during all those times I had been in trouble before I
came to A.A. I know today that He was the one who led
me to A.A. and that I am a miracle.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Alcohol is poison to the alcoholic. Poison is not too
strong a word, because alcoholism leads eventually to the
death of the alcoholic. It may be a quick death or a slow
death. When we go by package stores and see various kinds
of liquor all dressed up in fancy packages to make it
look attractive, we should always make it a point to say
to ourselves, so that we'll never forget it: That stuff's
poison to me. And it is. Alcohol poisoned our lives for
a long time. Do I know that since I am an alcoholic all
liquor is poison to me?
Meditation For The Day
I must somehow find the means of coming nearer to God.
That is what really matters. I must somehow seek the true
bread of life, which is communion with Him. I must grasp
at the truth at the center of all worship. This central
truth is all that matters. All forms of worship have this
communion with God as their purpose and goal.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may meet God in quiet communion.
I pray that I may partake of the soul-food which God has
provided for me.
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As Bill Sees It
Live Serenely, p. 48
When a drunk has a terrific hangover because he drank heavily
yesterday, he cannot live well today. But there is another kind of
hangover which we all experience whether we are drinking or not. That
is the emotional hangover, the direct result of yesterday's and sometimes
today's excesses of negative emotion--anger, fear, jealousy, and the like.
If we would live serenely today and tomorrow, we certainly need to
eliminate these hangovers. This doesn't mean we need to wander
morbidly around in the past. It requires an admission and correction of
errors--now.
12 & 12, pp. 88-89
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Walk In Dry Places
Be Careful What you Pray for____Choosing the right goals.
"Be careful what you pray for," the Old-Timers said, for you are likely to get it. While this sounds exciting, it's really an important warning. Prayers are currents of thought directed toward a goal. The goal must be something few want to live with once it is achieved. What often happens, unfortunately, is that we seek things that turn out to be shallow and even harmful after we get them. Such disillusionment has been the stuff of countless morality tales.
Our bitter experiences with alcohol can also furnish lessons about the kinds of goals we should strive for in sobriety. Let's take an inventory if we find ourselves thinking that our happiness depends on certain people, places, or things. Our true happiness comes from our Higher Power and the right combination of love and service. With the right attitude, we can actually be happy under many kinds of conditions and with all sorts of people.
What, then, should we pray for? "Knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out," is a prayer that puts things in proper order. Seek to do God's will, and you might be utterly amazed at the results. After all, it is God's pleasure to give you good things.
I'll pray for knowledge of God's will today, while exercising prudence in all my affairs.
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Keep It Simple
. . . no one who learns to know himself remains just what he was before---Thomas Mann
Deep inside, we all know that we're changing. It started when we took Step One. We learned and accepted something new about ourselves. That changed us, just a little. We no longer wanted to live as addicts. That meant we had to change and to learn to live sober. It's been nonstop ever since: learn about ourselves, change a little, learn about ourselves, change a little more, and so on. All we know is that each step of learning and changing makes life better. How long can it keep getting better? As long as we keep learning to know ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me about myself today. Teach me gently.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll think about what I've learned about myself by working the program. I'll list five things.
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Each Day a New Beginning
One can never pay in gratitude; one can only pay "in kind" somewhere else in life. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Life is a series of payments. The common expression, "What goes around, comes around," is a truth that governs each of our lives. As women and as members of the human family, we have received untold "payments" from others. On occasion, the payment may not have been one we'd have chosen for ourselves. It takes the distance of time to realize that our payments are meant for our good. And we can share the goodness; in fact, we need to share the goodness with one another. If we give to another the joy given to us, if we give to another the understanding given to us, if we give to another the friendship given to us, we will be ready to receive more in kind.
You and I meet today to make payments. I will receive yours gladly.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend. Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us.
p. 55
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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 seven that evening my sponsor walked in; Charlie G. He didn't seem too much at ease in the beginning. I guess I felt, and he sensed it, that I wanted him to hurry up and say what he had to say and get out. Anyhow, he started talking about himself. He started telling me how much trouble he had, and I said to myself, I wonder why this guy is telling me all his troubles. I have troubles of my own. Finally, he brought in the angle of whiskey. He continued to talk and I to listen. After he'd talked half an hour, I still wanted him to hurry up and get out so I could go and get some whiskey before the liquor store closed. But as he continued to talk, I realized that this was the first time i had met a person who had the same problems I did and who, I sincerely believe, understood me as an individual. I knew my wife didn't, because I had been sincere in all my problems to her as well as to my mother and to my close friends, but the urge to take that drink was more powerful than anything else.
pp. 243-244
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
When A.A. was only three years old, an event occurred demonstrating this principle. One of the first members of A.A., entirely contrary to his own desires, was obliged to conform to group opinion.
Here is the story in his words. "One day I was doing a Twelfth Step job at a hospital in New York. The proprietor, Charlie, summoned me to his office. `Bill,' he said, `I think it's a shame that you are financially so hard up. All around you these drunks are getting well and making money. But you're giving this work full time, and you're broke. It isn't fair.' Charlie fished in his desk and came up with and old financial statement. Handing it to me, he continued, `This shows the kind of money the hospital used to make back in the 1920's. Thousands of dollars a month. It should be doing just as well now, and it would - if only you'd help me. so why don't you move your work in here? I'll give you and office, a decent drawing account, and a very healthy slice of the profits. Three years ago, when my head doctor, Silkworth, began to tell me of the idea of helping drunks by spirituality, I thought it was crackpot stuff, but I've changed my mind. some day this bunch of ex-drunks of yours will fill Madison Square Garden, and I don't see why you should starve meanwhile. What I propose is perfectly ethical. You can become a lay therapist, and more successful than anybody in the business.'
pp. 135-136
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If you want to feel rich, just count the things money can't buy. --Cited in BITS & PIECES
The alcoholic is in no greater peril than when he takes sobriety for granted.
There is no place where God is not. --Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., Fire In The Soul
A positive attitude can overcome most daily troubles. So wake up and set your mind to it, first thing every day.
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. --e. e. cummings
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. --Lao Tzu
Whom do I need to forgive? --Suzannah Willingham
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
BELONGING
"But one day when I was sitting
quiet and feeling like a
motherless child, which I was, it
came to me that feeling of being
part of everything, not separate
at all. I knew that if I cut a tree,
my arm would bleed."
-- Alice Walker
Today I am aware of the truth that I belong. I am an essential part of
God's world. I share divinity because God made me. Today I choose
to seek that spiritual center in me that is forever positive and
creative. Today I am the center of my universe.
Past hurts and wrongs cannot take away the uniqueness in my life.
Past abuses and painful put-downs, my years of alternating between
the lost child and the scapegoat in my family need not make me a
victim today. Today I am free to choose recovery and an acceptance
of self. Today I choose to associate with the winners of this world.
Today I participate in creation by being a creative person for me.
Yesterday's pain need not have any power in my life today.
When I kneel before the stream, mountains and stars, I feel me.
************************************************** *********
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. James 1:12
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
There is a purpose for our trials and burdens just as there is a purpose for the joys and wonders in our lives. Lord, grant me Your peace as Your plan for me unfolds.
Thoughts are powerful, so pay close attention to what you think about. Lord, help me to think thoughts of love, peace and abundance so that this becomes my experience.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
Carrying The Message, Not The Addict
"They can be analyzed, counseled, reasoned with, prayed over, threatened, beaten, or locked up, but they will not stop
until they want to stop."
Basic Text, p. 62
Perhaps one of the most difficult truths we must face in our recovery is that we are as powerless over another's
addiction as we are over our own. We may think that because we've had a spiritual awakening in our own lives we
should be able to persuade another addict to find recovery. But there are limits to what we can do to help another
addict.
We cannot force them to stop using. We cannot give them the results of the steps or grow for them. We cannot take
away their loneliness or their pain. There is nothing we can say to convince a scared addict to surrender the familiar
misery of addiction for the frightening uncertainty of recovery. We cannot jump inside other peoples' skins, shift their
goals, or decide for them what is best for them.
However, if we refuse to try to exert this power over another's addiction, we may help them. They may grow if we
allow them to face reality, painful though it may be. They may become more productive, by their own definition, as long
as we don't try and do it for them. They can become the authority on their own lives, provided we are only authorities
on our own. If we can accept all this, we can become what we were meant to be - carriers of the message, not the
addict.
Just for today: I will accept that I am powerless not only over my own addiction but also over everyone else's. I will
carry the message, not the addict.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
There is glory In a great mistake. --Nathalia Crane
Once there was a big girl who liked to play with little kids and their toys. One day she rode one of their small bikes and
her foot slipped off the little pedal and her leg got caught and dragged along the sidewalk.
She went home, limping and howling. Her mother put ice on the terrible scrape. The next day, the girl's mother told her
she was too big for the little kids' toys. The girl looked up defiantly and said, "I can TOO ride that baby bike."
The girl's mother didn't say anything else. She knew people must be free to make mistakes. We cannot protect
another person from the experiences of the world. It would be harmful to both of us to try.
What mistakes have I made more than once before I learned my lesson?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate
them, more "manhood" to abide by thought out principles rather than blind reflex. Toughness is in the soul and spirit,
not in muscles and an immature mind. --Alex Karras
In our culture, being a man often means being tough, having sexual prowess, and not showing feelings. We realize in
this life of recovery that those are silly and immature myths, even though we see them repeatedly on TV, on billboards,
and in newspapers.
When we are told these things repeatedly, it makes an impact on us. So we need to hear from each other that this is
not the way we wish to live. We don't admire these attitudes, and we don't believe the stories. Truly courageous men
know themselves. They have been around enough to have depth to their souls, to let themselves love, and to feel the
pain of life.
Today, I am grateful to know and share my feelings and to have genuine relationships with those I love.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Acceptance
Our basic recovery concept that never loses its power to work miracles is the concept called acceptance.
We do not achieve acceptance in a moment. We often have to work through a mirage of feelings - sometimes anger,
outrage, shame, self-pity, or sadness. But if acceptance is our goal, we will achieve it.
What is more freeing than to laugh at our weaknesses and to be grateful for our strengths? To know the entire
package called "us" - with all our feelings, thoughts, tendencies, and history - is worthy of acceptance and brings
healing feelings.
To accept our circumstances is another miraculous cure. For anything to change or anyone to change, we must first
accept others, the circumstance, and ourselves exactly as they are. Then, we need to take it one step further. We
need to become grateful for our circumstances or ourselves. We add a touch of faith by saying, "I know this is exactly
the way it's supposed to be for the moment."
No matter how complicated we get, the basics never lose their power to restore us to sanity.
Today, God, help me practice the concept of acceptance in my life. Help me accept others, my circumstances, and
myself. Take me one step further, and help me feel grateful.
Even in moments of doubt I know that my Higher Power is guiding me on my path today. --Ruth Fishel
****************************************
Journey to the Heart
Who Empowers You?
Most of us need people around us who empower and help us feel able, on track, in balance, hopeful. We need people
who tell us we can. Even if they don’t use words, they believe in us and that belief comes shining through. We look at
them and what we see reflected back is our own power.
But sometimes we run into those who, instead, try to convince us of their power, convince us that they have our
answers, that we need them to be able to see clearly, that without them, we won’t be able to find the way. They don’t
believe in us, they only believe in themselves. That’s not empowerment. That’s an approach destined to create
dependency, often unhealthy dependency.
Cultivate relationships with people who make you feel like you can, who help you know that you’re on track, right where
you need to be. Spend time with people who help you know that you can trust yourself.
Seek out people who empower you. Learn to empower those you love. And during those times when no one’s around,
know that you can empower yourself.
****************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
Lighten up
“Mom, can I sleep over at Johnny’s house again tonight? Please?” Shane begged.
“Why?” I asked.
“For fun,” he said.
“You just slept over last night,” I said.
“Who said you can’t have fun two days in a row?” he asked.
While ideas such as discipline and focus are undeniably important, so is the idea of having fun.
With a small amount of effort, we can extract all the fun and joy out of most parts of our lives– our relationships, our
work, even our leisure time. We can put so many restrictions and should’s on everything we do that our very lives
become dull, overly ponderous and routine. Before long, we find ourselves living up to a set of rules– and we’re not
certain where the rules came from or whose they are.
I relented, and let Shane have the sleepover he asked for. He had fun. He had a lot of fun that entire year. So did I.
Let yourself go. Have a little fun with life. Or, have a lot of fun with life. If you’ve spent years being extremely disciplined,
reliable, and somber, maybe part of achieving balance is having a decade of fun.
Dig out your goal list, the one you placed at the back of this book. Add another value to your list, have as much fun and
joy as possible in the days, months, and years to come.
It’s time to lighten up.
God, please show me how to put ideas like fun and joy back into my life. Show me how to have more fun in work, in
love, and in play.
****************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
If I become angry today, I’ll pause and think before I say anything, remembering that my anger can turn back upon me
and worsen my difficulties,. I’ll try to remember, too, that well-timed silence can give me command of a stressful
situation as angry reproaches never can. In such moments of stress, I’ll remember that my power over others ins
nonexistent, and that only God is all-powerful. Have I learned that I alone can destroy my own peace of mind?
Today I Pray
May I learn that I can choose how to handle my anger — in silence or a tantrum, a rage, a fist fight , a pillow fight, a
tirade, and elaborate plan to “get back at” whoever caused it, an icy glare, a cool pronouncement of hate — or a
simple statement of fact, “I am angry at you because ______” (in 25 words or less). Or may I , if need be, turn my
anger into energy and shovel the walk, bowl or play a game of tennis, or clean the house. I pray that God will show me
appropriate ways to deal with my anger.
Today I Will Remember
“I am angry because..”
****************************************
One More Day
Grace is the absence of everything that indicates pain or difficulty, hesitation or incongruity. – William Hazlitt
It seems that, when we think of our lives are back on course, another obstacle appears and we stumble. In the case of
physical illness, symptoms or pain may worsen or new problems may crop up. Other circumstances can make our
stress level rise as well, until it feels as though we just can’t carry the burden anymore.
Adjustments can be very difficult. With new symptoms we may feel that illness is chipping away, one tiny piece at a
time, at our independence. It’s difficult to be gracious with so many complications going on. Yet this is the time to be
gracious — to ourselves and to those around us.
If I have ever needed to reach into my innermost being to find peace and contentment, it is now. I dislike what has
happened to my body, but I can continue to be a gracious person.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
~ CHANGES ~
They always say time changes things,
but you actually have to change them yourself.
Andy Warhol
Time changes things – but what things? Can I wait for time to change those ways of coping that don’t serve me
anymore? Can I wait for time to make me abstinent?
Yes, time will change things, but chances are that these will be the changes: my coping mechanisms will become
even more entrenched and my eating even more destructive. I don’t really want to wait for that kind of change. When I
joined OA, I started a new trend. I asked for the wisdom to understand which things I can change and then, armed with
the tools of the program, I set about following my new trend of eating healthy and living a life where I don’t sit around
waiting.
I will not wait idly for things to get better. I will ask my Higher Power to guide me to make necessary changes.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will not wait idly for things to get better. I will ask my Higher Power to guide me to make necessary changes.
~ Isabella M. ~
*****************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
That the man who is making the approach has had the same difficulty, that he obviously knows what he is talking
about, that his whole deportment shouts at the new prospect that he is a man with a real answer, that he has no
attitude of Holier Than Thou, nothing whatsoever except the sincere desire to be helpful; that there are no fees to pay,
no axes to grind, no people to please, no lectures to be endured -- these are the conditions we have found most
effective. After such an approach many take up their beds and walk again. - Pg. 18-19 - There Is A Solution
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Our 12 steps are dedicated primarily to the cultivation of principle in the befuddled addict's mind. Spiritual soundness
leads to mental soundness. Even though we don't understand the process of our program to stop our cravings, we
must trust that IT WORKS.
I look at those around me, at their success and know that this process WORKS even if it isn't clear how.
Seeing Perfection in What Is
I see life as it is today. I do not ask that the world conform to my idea of perfection in order to love it. I see beauty and
perfection in things as they are, not as I wish them to be. I forgive life for being imperfect. I forgive people for being
imperfect. I forgive myself for being imperfect.I let life, people and me be what we are.
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Recovery is a Process Not an Event. There will never be a graduation day for your new way of life. The more you learn
and grow the more you will see that you have more to learn and grow. That is what Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve are
all about.
I learn to grow and grow to learn. My day of graduation is when I die.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
For our suggestions you have two choices: Take it or leave it.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Even in moments of doubt I know that my Higher Power is guiding me on my path today.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
The road to recovery is always under construction. - Anon.
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Post by caressa222 on Feb 17, 2018 20:05:48 GMT -5
February 18
Daily Reflections
OUR PATHS ARE OUR OWN
... there was nothing left for us but to pick up the
simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 25
My first attempt at the Steps was one of obligation
and necessity, which resulted in a deep feeling of
discouragement in the face of all those adverbs:
courageously; completely; humbly; directly; and only.
I considered Bill W. fortunate to have gone through
such a major, even sensational, spiritual experience.
I had to discover, as time went on, that my path was
my own. After a few twenty-four hours in the A.A.
Fellowship, thanks especially to the sharing of
members in meetings, I understood that everyone
gradually finds his or her own pace in moving through
the Steps. Through progressive means, I try to live
according to these suggested principles. As a result
of these Steps, I can say today that my attitude
towards life, people, and towards anything having to
do with God, has been transformed and improved.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
After I became an alcoholic, alcohol poisoned my love
for my family and friends, it poisoned my ambition,
it poisoned my self-respect. It poisoned my whole life,
until I met A.A. My life is happier now than it has been
for a long time. I don't want to commit suicide. So with
the help of God and A.A., I'm not going to take any
more of that alcoholic poison into my system. And I'm
going to keep training my mind never even to think of
liquor again in any way except as a poison. Do I believe
that liquor will poison my life if I ever touch it again?
Meditation For The Day
I will link up my frail nature with the limitless Divine
Power. I will link my life with the Divine Force for Good
in the world. It is not the passionate appeal that gains
the Divine attention as much as the quiet placing of the
difficulty and worry in the Divine Hands. So I will trust
God like a child who places its tangled skein of wool in
the hands of a loving mother to unravel. We please God
more by our unquestioning confidence than by imploring
Him for help.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may put all my difficulties in God's hands
and leave them there. I pray that I may fully trust God
to take care of them.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Out Of Defect. . . Strength, p. 49
If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of
any kind, nor any lurking notion that some day we will be immune to
alcohol.
<< << << >> >> >>
Such is the paradox of A.A. regeneration: strength arising out of
complete defeat and weakness, the loss of one's old life as a condition
for finding a new one.
1. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 33
2. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 46
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Shining shoes for Subordinates
Growing in Humility
Did you ever hear of a man named Samuel Logan Brengle? He was a Salvation Army office whose spiritual consciousness was legendary. But he didn't start that way. A gifted ministerial student of the nineteenth century, he joined the Salvation Army only to find himself sent to a cellar to clean the shoes of other cadets___ most of them far below him in learning and intelligence.
Brengle used that humbling experience to conquer his pride and resentment. He later recalled the utter joy he felt as he cleaned the shoes and prayed for each person. Later on, Brengle became an inspiration to thousands.
It's not likely any of us will have to clean shoes for subordinates today. What's more likely is that we'll encounter situations that would our pride or churn up resentment. We can turn any such experience into an opportunity for growth by praying to see God's hand in the matter and refusing to fight about it. The peace and serenity we feel is our reward, and, like Brengle, we'll become better people who can be of real service to others.
Somebody may come to me today with something that makes my blood boil. I won't be a doormat, but I will remember that I always have the choice of making anything a positive experience.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you. Spanish proverb
Gossip can kill the trust in a Twelve Step program. We all need to feel safe when we share our personal lives with others. We need to know our private business won't spread around.
We can do two things to help keep the trust in our groups, and in the rest of our lives too. First, don't gossip. Second, don't listen to gossip about others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me mind my own business today. Help me honor the trust of my friends by not gossiping.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll think of two ways to stop someone from telling me gossip. Then, I'll put those ways to use.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
To keep your character intact you cannot stoop to filthy acts. It makes it easier to stoop the next time. --Katharine Hepburn
Behaving the way we believe God wants us to behave sounds so easy on the surface. We don't willingly hurt others, do we? Or do we? . . . When did we last secretly burn with jealousy over another's good fortune or good looks? Has there been a time, recently, when we sulked for lack of attention . . . or perhaps picked a fight?
We can simplify life from this moment forth. There is only one path to walk, one decision to make, in every instance, and all our burdens will be lifted, all our anxiety released. We can decide to act in good faith. We can be silent a moment with ourselves and let our inner guide direct our behavior, our words, our thoughts.
Each of us knows, when we dare to let our spiritual nature reign, the right act in every case. Letting God choose our acts will ease our lives. No more obsessive confusion. No more regrets. No more immobility due to fear of wrong moves.
Freedom is guaranteed when I depend on God to direct my behavior. Life's burdens are lifted. I will go forth today, doing God's will, and my Spirit will be light.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
We can only clear the ground a bit. If our testimony helps sweep away prejudice, enables you to think honestly, encourages you to search diligently within yourself, then, if you wish, you can join us on the Broad Highway. With this attitude you cannot fail. the consciousness of your belief is sure to come to you.
p. 55
************************************************** *********
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.
After Charlie had talked a while, I knew that this man had something. In that short period he built within me something that I had long since lost, which was hope. When he left, I walked with him to the streetcar line, which was just about a half a block, but there were two liquor stores, one on each corner from my home. I put Charlie on the car, and when I left him, I passed both of those liquor stores without even thinking about them.
p. 244
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
"I was bowled over. There were a few twinges of conscience until I saw how really ethical Charlie's proposal was. There was nothing wrong whatever with becoming a lay therapist. I thought of Lois coming home exhausted from the department store each day, only to cook supper for a houseful of drunks who weren't paying board. I thought of the large sum of money still owing my Wall Street creditors. I thought of a few of my alcoholic friends, who were making as much money as ever. Why shouldn't I do as well as they?
pp. 136-137
************************************************** *********
"The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money." --Anonymous
When we practice loving kindness towards others, we run out of willingness and generosity quickly if we think it all has to come from us. When we understand that love comes through us, there is an endless Source. --Mary Manin Morrissey
"Don't worry that children never listen to you. Worry that they are always watching you." --Robert Fulghum, 20th-century American author
When we walk in God's light, we are transformed. --Eleanor Park Kammer
As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way. --Ralph Waldo Emerson
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LAW
"The life of the law has not been
logic; it has been experience."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Today I respect the law. In this way I respect the society in which I
live. I am not "an island unto myself". I live in a community and have
a responsibility to myself and that community --- such is sobriety.
For years I did what I wanted and tried not to be "found out". I was
manipulative, dishonest and unhappy; to stay sick is depressing and
exhausting.
Then I decided to remove the pain. I accepted the disease and began
to "change" my life. I discovered the "spiritual law" of freedom with
responsibility. Law is the collective experience of the many who
choose to live a certain way, and today I choose to live amongst them.
My understanding of spirituality involves respecting the laws that
give me the dignity of citizenship.
O Lord, help me to see that in the laws of civilization is the gift of
freedom.
************************************************** *********
"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all thy wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High." Psalm 9:1-2
"O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you." Psalm 63:1
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Ephesians 5:8-10
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Never be too busy to pray. Lord, without Your presence in my life, today would be barren.
We don't choose how or when we will die, but we do decide how we will live. Lord, forgive my frequent drifting and help me to see clearly the best path for me.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
The Recovery Partnership
"As long as I take it easy and make a commitment with my Higher Power to do the best I can, I know I will be taken
care of today"
Basic Text, p. 120
Many of us feel that our fundamental commitment in recovery is to our Higher Power. Knowing that we lack the power
to stay clean and find recovery on our own, we enter into a partnership with a Power greater than we are. We make a
commitment to live in the care of our Higher Power and, in return, our Higher Power guides us.
This partnership is vital to staying clean. Making it through the early days of recovery often feels like the hardest thing
we've ever done. But the strength of our commitment to recovery and the power of God's care is sufficient to carry us
through, just for today.
Our part in this partnership is to do the very best we can each day, showing up for life and doing what's put in front of
us, applying the principles of recovery to the best of our ability. We promise to do the best we can&151not to fake it,
not to pretend to be superhuman, but simply to do the footwork of recovery. In fulfilling our part of the recovery
partnership, we experience the care our Higher Power has provided us.
Just for today: I will honor my commitment to a partnership with my Higher Power.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
United souls are not satisfied with embraces, but desire to be truly each other. --Sir Thomas Browne
If hugs could melt, if kisses were made of nothing but pure air, if talkers always agreed, and if hearts all beat to the
same drum, would we desire any longer to be truly each other? No two leaves on a tree turn the same way in the
wind; no two fish in a school tread the same water; and no two people can live the same life. Therefore, when we hug
let's leave some space; when we kiss let's allow each other to breathe; when we talk let's permit each other to
disagree; when we love let's honor each other's rhythm and way.
Is it our similarities or differences that make us want to know each other better?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Love can be its own reward. --Arnold Label
The feeling of attachment, of being related, of caring about someone, is what life is all about. Before recovery, we may
have feared we could not love anyone. When we feel love, we may also feel cheated because our affections aren't
returned, as we want them to be. Or we may think relationships are just too complicated and painful. It's true that
relationships are difficult at times. The only thing more difficult is having none.
In this quiet moment, let's reflect on our relationships. Close attachments to both men and women are essential to our
progress. Without them, we would not be in recovery. We don't need to say to our friends, "What have you done for
me?" We can feel an inner fullness and satisfaction, knowing we have relationships we truly care about and we are
accepted as we are. That alone is a remarkable reward.
I appreciate the joys my relationships bring.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Being Right
Recovery is not about being right; it's about allowing ourselves to be who we are and accepting others as they are.
That concept can be difficult for many of us if we have lived in systems that functioned on the "right wrong" justice
scale. The person who was right was okay; the person who was wrong was shamed. All value and worth may have
depended on being right; to be wrong meant annihilation of self and self-esteem.
In recovery, we are learning how to strive for love in our relationships, not superiority. Yes, we may need to make
decisions about people's behavior from time to time. If someone is hurting us, we need to stand up for ourselves. We
have a responsibility to set boundaries and take care of ourselves. But we do not need to justify taking care of
ourselves by condemning someone else. We can avoid the trap of focusing on others instead of ourselves.
In recovery, we are learning that what we do needs to be right only for us. What others do is their business and needs
to be right only for them. It's tempting to rest in the superiority of being right and in analyzing other people's motives
and actions, but it's more rewarding to look deeper.
Today, I will remember that I don't have to hide behind being right. I don't have to justify what I want and need with
saying something is "right" or "wrong." I can let myself be who I am.
Today I am establishing rapport with myself. --Ruth Fishel
******************************************
Journey to the Heart
Your Body,Mind, and Soul Are One
The body, mind, spirit, and emotions are more than just connected. They are one. To nurture the body is to nurture the
mind, spirit, and emotions.To nurture the spirit is to nurture the body, mind, and emotions. And so it goes, a
continuous connection. A continuing whole.
Do you feel fragmented? Have you disowned a part of yourself? Invite it back. Maybe you’ve focused too heavily on
one part and neglected others. You can be a world-class athlete and still not be in touch with your soul. You can be
skilled at dealing with any emotion that comes along, and yet not see the delicate connection between that emotion
and your conscious thoughts and beliefs. Or you may be so focused on tending to the needs of your spirit and mind
that you neglect your body– resent it and think of it as a limitation.
Tend to each aspect of the whole. Do things that nurture your spirit, perhaps spend time in prayer and meditation or
time with nature. Work on what you believe; clarify the thoughts that run through your head. Nurture yourself
emotionally. Let yourself heal from the feelings of the past, and do what you need to stay current and clear. Listen to
your body and give it what it needs– it’s not separate and apart, it’s not a nuisance. It’s the form your spirit created to
experience the gift of life.
Find that place of balance in nurturing all parts of you. Then life will begin to be magical and you’ll see what you
believe. Your feelings won’t be a bother. They’ll fuel your life; they’ll be the passion that adds color and zest to your life.
Your body will lead you instinctively into what you want and away from what you dislike. And the longer you travel the
journey to the heart, the more you’ll discover and trust your soul.
Start by becoming connected. If you love yourself and keep walking your path, soon you’ll see how connected you are.
******************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
Remember how to play
We don’t stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing.
–Herbert Spencer
I was sitting in my back porch watching a group of children playing in the surf. As the waves came surging in, they
would turn to face the shore on their body boards and paddle like heck to try to catch the wave. I watched the surf
crash down on top of them, one by one. There would be nothing for a few moments but the torrent of water, and then
a little while later a green foam board would pop up and a little while later, a laughing head and body. They’d shriek and
laugh, then one by one turn around, go back out, and do it again.
Later toward sunset, I saw two gray-haired men in ocean kayaks paddling near the shore. They would wait for the
perfect wave and then paddle as hard as they could, trying to catch it and ride it into shore. Again I watched as the
waves reared up and crashed down on the little boats. A kayak would get pushed up on the beach, followed a few
moments later by a laughing gray-haired man, who would then paddle back out and do it again.
I have a friend in his thirties who is determined to make it. He doesn’t know where he’s going; he just knows that he is
going somewhere. And no, he doesn’t have time to go to a basketball game or Magic Mountain. He’s busy and doesn’t
have time to play.
I have a friend in his fifties. He’s in excellent health. He sits in his house, feeds the dog, and complains about the pain
and the shortness of life. He doesn’t play because his poor body just isn’t what it used to be.
We can play or we can not play. It doesn’t make any difference one way or another, except that at the end, you will
have had a much more enjoyable time if you did.
God, help me start having some fun.
******************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
We learn in The Program that we cannot punish anyone without punishing ourselves. The release of my tensions,
even justified, in a punishing way leaves behind the dregs of bitterness and pain. This was the monotonous story of
my life before I came to The Program. So in my new life,k I’d do well to consider the long-range benefits of simply
owning my emotions, naming them and thus releasing them. Does the voice of God have a chance to be heard over
my reproachful shouting.?
Today I Pray
May I avoid name-calling, ego-crushing exchanges. If I am angry, may I try to assign my anger to what someone did
instead of what someone is. May I refrain from downgrading, lashing out at character flaws of mindless abuse. May I
count on my Higher Power to show me the way.
Today I Will Remember
Tod deal with anger appropriately.
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One More Day
Self pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world. – Helen Keller
Pity, either from ourselves or others, harms us. yet, sometimes, we allow it to happen.
What we really need from others is empathy — for them to feel as if they were in our shoes. Pity can be a deep pit to
fall into, and the climb back out is difficult. We can’t begin to make the ascent until we are fully aware of why we have
allowed pity and self-pity to prevail. Maybe feeling sorry for ourselves has been easier than encountering the frustration
that may come when we make an effort.
The actions I take today will be based on growth for myself and will help me avoid self-pity.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
SERENITY
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.
The Serenity Prayer
My life before abstinence was a fight in the dark to stabilize my world and protect myself from more pain. Too much
suffering was endured by this child. She never understood that she could ever come back into the Light. But, the fog is
lifting now ... there are days of clarity and joy. How could she have known? She was too little.
Circumstances change ... memories fade away ... I can be safe again ... I can allow myself to be me. I will work my
program to secure the Light again in my world.
One day at a time . . .
I pray to understand that the stream of life keeps moving ... I will live in darkness no longer.
Margaret ~
*****************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
An illness of this sort -- and we have come to believe it an illness -- involves those about us in a way no other human sickness can. - Pg. 18 - There Is A Solution
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
It often happens that you won't know the role addiction played in your life until you stop using. You have replace roles now. Learning new skills, and this is done at meetings and with your sponsor, is a necessary step in adjusting to your new circumstances.
Rather than see additional burdens in new tasks, I choose to see them as a breath of new life.
Courage
I will develop the courage necessary to meet life. I cannot possibly meet the challenges of my life without courage. Today I understand that courage is something I develop. Each time I go through an experience that stretches me, each time I hold my own feet to the fire, each time I discipline myself and hold myself to a slightly higher standard than before, I grow inside, I get a little bit stronger, I strengthen my own courage to meet the next challenge.
I will I will grow in courage
- Tian Dayton PhD
Courage
I will develop the courage necessary to meet life. I cannot possibly meet the challenges of my life without courage. Today I understand that courage is something I develop. Each time I go through an experience that stretches me, each time I hold my own feet to the fire, each time I discipline myself and hold myself to a slightly higher standard than before, I grow inside, I get a little bit stronger, I strengthen my own courage to meet the next challenge.
I will I will grow in courage
- Tian Dayton PhD
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
'Choice, not chance, determines destiny.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
'Today I am establishing rapport with myself' - Peter Vegso
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Early in recovery. I heard Aldous Huxley give a lecture. Afterwards I went up to him, I had an AA pin on my lapel and he spotted it and he was ebullient and said;'I'm a friend of Bill W!' I didn't know Bill W, so I said: Mr. Huxley, what is God? and with this grin, he said; 'God is the inner experience of principles applied.' I said: ' Yeah...maybe you, didn't understand the question.' He said; 'You have a program, if you will apply those Steps, one day at a time, in your life, you will eventually have inner experiences that can't come about any other way. Then you won't have to ask that question because you will have the experience.' - Eddie C.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 19, 2018 10:23:43 GMT -5
February 19
Daily Reflections
I'M NOT DIFFERENT
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; . . . The
Skid-Rower said he was different . . . 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. . . .
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.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 24
I cannot consider myself "different" in A.A.; if I do I isolate myself
from others and from contact with my Higher Power. If I feel
isolated in A.A., it is not something for which others are responsible.
It is something I've created by feeling I'm "different" in some way.
Today I practice being just another alcoholic in the worldwide Fellowship of
Alcoholics Anonymous.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Many things we do in A.A. are in preparation for that crucial moment
when, walking down the street on a nice sunshiny day, we see a nice
cool thingytail lounge and the idea of having a drink pops into our
minds. If we've trained our minds so that we're well prepared for that
crucial moment, we won't take that first drink. In other words, if
we've done our A.A. homework well, we won't slip when temptation
comes. In preparation for that crucial moment when I'll be tempted,
will I keep in mind the fact that liquor is my enemy?
Meditation For The Day
How many of the world's prayers have gone unanswered because
those who prayed did not endure to the end? They thought it was too
late, that they must act for themselves, that God was not going to
guide them. "He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved."
Can I endure to the very end? If so, I shall be saved. I will try to
endure with courage. If I endure, God will unlock those secret
spiritual treasures that are hidden from those who do not endure to
the end.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may follow God's guidance, so that spiritual success shall
be mine. I pray that I may never doubt the power of God and so take
things into my own hands.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
A.A.: Benign Anarchy and Democracy, p. 50
When we come into A.A. we find a greater personal freedom than any
other society knows. We cannot be compelled to do anything. In that
sense our Society is a benign anarchy. The word "anarchy" has a bad
meaning to most of us. But I think that the idealist who first advocated
the concept felt that if only men were granted absolute liberty, and were
compelled to obey no one, they would then voluntarily associate
themselves in the common interest. A.A. is an association of the benign
sort he envisioned.
But when we had to go into action--to function as groups--we discovered
that we also had to become a democracy. As our oldtimers retired, we
therefore began to elect our trusted servants by majority vote. Each
group in this sense became a town meeting. All plans for group action
had to be approved by the majority. This meant that no single individual
could appoint himself to act for his group or for A.A. as a whole.
Neither dictatorship nor paternalism was for us.
A.A. Comes Of Age, pp. 224-225
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Sticking with the winners____Prudence
"Stick with the winners," newcomers are told at Twelve Step meetings. The real message of this statement is to share the attitudes and actions of people who are successful in living sober.
No recovering person can have a successful day while dwelling on ideas that can be harmful. We'll meet people in the course of the day whose attitudes may appall us. We may work with people who are critical, gossipy, or resentful. It's not our duty to correct them or argue with them. We're wise, however, not to accept what we recognize as wrong thinking.
Winners, in AA terms, are people who seek sobriety first and live up to the principles of the program. Seem them out for help in doing likewise.
I'll try to associate with people who exemplify the highest and best in good attitudes.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Changing brings questions, and questions bring change. ---Anonymous
What am I becoming? How do I know if what I'm doing is right? Is it best for me? We are full of questions. Often, times of question a are times of change. We are becoming something new, and there is always a little fear of change. Luckily, we don't need to know what we are becoming to find peace. What we need to know is what we believe in. And we'll become what we believe in. If we believe in sobriety, we'll be sober. If we believe in honestly, we'll struggle to be more honest. We must give ourselves the freedom of becoming. Becoming means we're on a trip, a journey. Over time, becoming takes on a comfort of its own.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, what am I becoming? I give up having to know the answer. All I need to believe is that You love me and will do what is best for me.
Action for the Day: I'll ask lots of questions. Often, the question is more important than the answer.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
No trumpets sound when the important decisions of our life are made. Destiny is made known silently. --Agnes DeMille
The day ahead offers us choices of many kinds--some big ones, many that will affect other persons close to us, a few that will have profound effects on our destiny. But no choice, no decision we make, will be wrong. A particular decision may lead us slightly astray. Down a dead-end path perhaps--but we can always turn back and choose again.
We are seldom aware of the gravity of a particular choice at the time of making it. Only hindsight reveals the wisdom of an important choice. Nevertheless, no choice is without importance in the overall picture of our lives. And at the same time, no choice is all-powerful regarding our destiny. We are offered chances again and again for making the right choices, the ones that will most contribute to the bigger plan for our lives.
I need not worry about today's opportunities for decision-making. I will listen to those around me. I will seek guidance in the messages coming to me. I will make the choices I need to, today.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
In this book you will read the experience of a man who thought he was an atheist. His story is so interesting that some of it should be told now. His change of heart was dramatic, convincing, and moving.
Our friend was a minister’s son. He attended church school, where he became rebellious at what he thought an overdose of religious education. For years thereafter he was dogged by trouble and frustration. Business failure, insanity, fatal illness, suicide—these calamities in his immediate family embittered and depressed him. Post-war disillusionment, ever more serious alcoholism, impending mental and physical collapse, brought him to the point to self-destruction.
pp. 55-56
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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.
The following Sunday we met at Ella G.'s. It was Charlie and three or four others. That was the first meeting of a colored group in A.A., so far as I know. We held some two or three meetings at Ella's home, and from there we held some two or three meetings at her mother's home. Then Charlie or someone in the group suggested that we try to get a place in a church or hall to hold meetings. I approached several ministers and all of them thought it was a very good idea, but they never relinquished any space. So, finally, I went to the YMCA, and they graciously permitted us to use a room at two dollars a night. At that time we had our meetings on Friday nights. Of course, it wasn't very much of a meeting in the beginning, most of the time it was just Vi and myself. But, finally, we got one or two to come in and stick, and from there, of course, we started to grow.
p. 244
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
"Although I asked Charlie for a little time to consider it, my own mind was about made up. Racing back to Brooklyn on the subway, I had a seeming flash of divine guidance. It was only a single sentence, but most convincing. In fact, it came right out of the Bible - a voice kept saying to me, `The laborer is worthy of his hire.' Arriving home, I found Lois cooking as usual, while three drunks looked hungrily on from the kitchen door. I drew her aside and told the glorious news. She looked interested, but not as excited as I thought she should be.
p. 137
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"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen nor touched... but are felt in the heart. --Hellen Keller
"It is awfully important to know what is and what is not your business." --Gertrude Stein
We need to let the old go, so the new can emerge. --Peggy Bassett
The more I force things, the tougher my life gets. --Helen Neujahr
My daily choice is to rise and shine or rise and whine. --Anonymous
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PREJUDICE
"The chief cause of human errors
is to be found in the prejudices
picked up in childhood."
-- Rene Descartes
During the past few years I have begun to recognize how many of my
prejudices were planted in childhood. Family, teachers, priests and
"the neighborhood" passed on to me prejudices: " The Jews are bad
because they killed Jesus." "Blacks are inferior to white people ---
but you should be kind to them." "Women should obey the man of the
house." "Gays are child molesters." "People who do not accept Jesus will not
go to Heaven." "Sex is for having babies and you should not enjoy
it."
Today I live with the problem of knowing that these statements are
untrue but a part of me is still affected by them.
Today my spiritual program demands that I expose prejudice for the
"hate-mail" that it is, and try to pass on to the next generation the
joy that comes from love, acceptance and freedom.
Let the children grow in freedom.
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"For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord. 'Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek for me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him.
Lamentations 3:24-25
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Daily Inspiration
Joy is left if you rid your heart of all that pulls you down. Lord, help me to heal my spirit and grow from today's experiences.
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.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
Reservations
"Relapse is never an accident. Relapse is a sign that we have a reservation in our program."
Basic Text, p. 76
A reservation is something we set aside for future use. In our case, a reservation is the expectation that, if such-and-
such happens, we will surely relapse. What event do we expect will be too painful to bear? Maybe we think that if a
spouse or lover leaves us, we will have to get high. If we lose our job, surely, we think, we will use. Or maybe it's the
death of a loved one that we expect to be unbearable. In any case, the reservations we harbor give us permission to
use when they come true-as they often do.
We can prepare ourselves for success instead of relapse by examining our expectations and altering them where we
can. Most of us carry within us a catalog of anticipated misery closely related to our fears. We can learn how to
survive pain by watching other members live through similar pain. We can apply their lessons to our own
expectations. Instead of telling ourselves we will have to get high if this happens, we can quietly reassure ourselves
that we, too, can stay clean through whatever life brings us today.
Just for today: I will check for any reservations that may endanger my recovery and share them with another addict.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
I have often thought morality may perhaps consist solely in the courage of making a choice. --Leon Blum
Sometimes, trying to do the right thing isn't easy because it isn't what we want to do. For instance, we may want to
sneak a cookie to take to bed with us, or we may want to stay out late. But is that the right thing to do?
One way to tell is to think how we'll feel after we've done it. Will we be happy, or will we feel guilty because we know in
our hearts it is wrong? On the other hand, how would we feel if we resisted the temptation? Perhaps we'd feel great
because we'd know in our hearts we'd done the right thing. And don't we deserve to feel good about ourselves? Of
course we do!
How wonderful it is that our feelings can help us do the right thing when we're in doubt.
Will I have the courage to follow my true feelings today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how. --Friedrich Nietzsche
Our sense of purpose in life is not fixed in concrete. It changes from youth through all the stages of life. Often in the
transitions to a new growth stage we are most confused. In the chaotic life created by our own addictive or
codependent thinking, all meaning collapses around us. At these times we wonder, "What is the point?" "Does
anything really matter?"
We receive a why for our existence by participating in the whole of this world. We are sons, or fathers, or husbands,
or brothers, or friends to very specific people - and to the rest of our community, extending to all of creation. Our
sense of purpose may change when life circumstances change. We get married, for instance, and then say, "Now
what?" Or a child is born, or a parent dies, or we become disabled. Each time we may be confronted again with the
questions. Being open to contact with our world, keeping our barriers down so we stay in touch, restores our
awareness of purpose.
May I continue to respond to the changing phases in life - and be open to the renewal of purpose, which is here for me.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Our Path
I just spent several hours with someone from my group, and I feel like I'm losing my mind. This woman insisted that
the only way I would make progress in my program was to go to her church and succumb to her religious rules. She
pushed and insisted, and insisted and pushed. She's been in the program so much longer than I have. I kept thinking
that she must know what she's talking about. But it didn't feel right. And now I feel crazy, afraid, guilty, and ashamed. -
-Anonymous
The spiritual path and growth promised to us by the Twelve Steps does not depend on any religious belief. They are
not contingent upon any denomination or sect. They are not, as the traditions of Twelve Step programs state, affiliated
with any religious denomination or organization.
We do not have to allow anyone to badger us about religion in recovery. We do not have to allow people to make us
feel ashamed, afraid, or less than because we do not subscribe to their beliefs about religion.
We do not have to let them do it to us in the name of God, love, or recovery.
The spiritual experience we will find as a result of recovery and the Twelve Steps will be our own spiritual experience.
It will be a relationship with God, a Higher Power, as we understand God.
Each of us must find our own spiritual path. Each of us must build our own relationship with God, as we understand
God. Each of us needs a Power greater than ourselves. These concepts are critical to recovery.
So is the freedom to choose how to do that.
Higher Power, help me know that I don't have to allow anyone to shame or badger me into religious beliefs. If they
confuse that with the spirituality available in recovery, help me give their issue back to them. Help me discover and
develop my own spirituality, a path that works for me. Guide me, with Divine Wisdom, as I grow spiritually.
Today I will be aware not to judge myself when I feel less than perfect. I am beginning to love myself just as I am and
that feels so nice. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey to the Heart
Be Gentle with Your Heart
On this road, this journey to the heart, you will see more, feel more, and be more than you’ve ever been before.
Your heart is open, your spirit is alive. You’re open to all that the universe, life, and God hold for you. Because you’re
that open, you are more sensitive than ever to people, energies, places, things. You are more sensitive to any
unresolved issues in yourself and in those around you. You are open, more open that you’ve ever been.
Comfort yourself. Wrap yourself up in a blanket of love and hope. Know that you will be feeling, seeing, and taking in a
great deal. Know that you will be healing at a deeper level than ever before. Most of the time, this will bring joy. But an
open heart is not one-dimensional, joy is not the only emotion it will embrace. Make room in your heart, room in your
life, and time in your days to feel other feelings,too– anger, grief, fear, exuberance, tenderness, betrayal, and
exhilaration– all the emotions an open heart feels.
You’re more open than you’ve ever been. Take gentle, loving care of yourself. Be tender with your heart.
******************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
Make your own fun
My house renovation project was way behind schedule. Spring was right around the corner. Stress was a pounding
ache in the back of my head.
Then we went to the toy store. “Oh, these will be great,” he said, grabbing two Nerf guns off the shelf. “And how about
a bow-and-arrow set,too?”
When we got home, we took some markers and drew a big target on the wall in the living room. We started shooting
at it, but soon grew tired of that game and started shooting at each other instead.
A friend walked in the front door.
We shot him. Two in the belly and one to the forehead.
He threw me into the hot tub.
And I forgot that the ceiling wasn’t done, and that the walls weren’t painted, and that the carpet would have to be
delayed. That night we had a barbecue, and our friends took out the markers and drew pictures of themselves, their
experiences, and their hopes on the unpainted walls of the house that was behind schedule. And we laughed, and no
one cared that the house was unlivable.
We can’t always control the timing of our plans, but we can have fun along the way. Friends don’t care if the project is
finished; they just want to be a part of the magic of life.
Look at things from a new perspective. Laugh. Be grateful you’re where you are at this moment. Don’t worry about
trying to hurry the future along. Look for the joy in life now.
Maybe a visit to the toy store would help you,too.
God, if I can’t see the joy in life, help me look again.
Activity: Go to the toy store today. But something that appeals to you, or buy something ridiculous– a twirl-o-paint, an
Erector set, a game of Operation, a bead-o-matic. Break out of your mold; look at life from a new perspective. Learn
how to play, again.
******************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
When a person says something rash or ugly, we sometimes say they are “forgetting themselves,” meaning they’re
forgetting heir best selves in a sudden outburst of uncontrolled fury. If I remember the kind of person I want to be,m
hopefully I won’t “forget myself” and yield to a fit of temper. I’ll believe that the positive always defeats the negative:
courage over comes fear; patience overcomes anger and irritability; love overcomes hatred. Am I always striving for
improvement?
Today I Pray
Today I ask that God, to Whom all things are possible, help me turn negatives into positives — anger into super-
energy, fear into a chance to be courageous, hatred into love. May I take time out of remember examples of such
positive-groom-negative transformations from the whole of my lifetime. Uppermost is God’s miracle; my freedom from
the slavery of addiction.
Today I Will Remember
Turn negatives into positives.
******************************************
One More Day
Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another. – John Dewey
Accepting change is our lives is the basis of growth. To often, we’ve seen marks are razed, friends move away or die,
we become ill.
Eventually, we come to see change in a different light. For good or bad, or weather we approve or don’t approve,
change will happen. The only thing we can control is our reaction to it. Change that is progress or growth, such as old
landmarks disappearing and new ones being built or friends becoming involved in self-help groups, can be welcomed.
Other changes which can’t be greeted with enthusiasm — losing friends or becoming ill — can at least be seen as
random, not personal, consequences of human life. With this frame of mind, we are able to accept the challenges
demanded of us.
Changes in my life can encourage growth.
************************************
Food For Thought
Responsibility for Whom?
Before we came to OA, some of us felt responsible for seeing that others did what we thought they should do. By the time we took the Fourth Step, and often long before, we began to realize how manipulative we had tried to be. We may not have thought we could run the whole world, but we sometimes felt that we should maintain control over our little corner, at least.
Through this program, we are learning that we can only be responsible for ourselves. We cannot change anyone else. We can only work on ourselves. No matter how good our advice is, it is useful to someone else only if that person desires and requests it.
Learning that we are responsible to our Higher Power for ourselves alone lifts a heavy weight from our weak shoulders. We stop trying to decide what others should do and how they will react to what we do. We do the best we can, seeking guidance and direction from God, and then we leave the results to Him.
Show me my area of responsibility, Lord.
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One Day At A Time
~ SELF KNOWLEDGE ~
We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes
and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.
Tom Robbins
I always tried to do my best in everything I did. Studies, school, and managing my own family are some good
examples. Being in control made it seem as though I always did as I was told, but I had a very difficult time Being on
my own and thinking for myself. The talent I was born with gave me a good start at being an artist, but I couldn't seem
to make a successful career out of it. I was scared and shy and didn't dare be on the forefront of making this talent
into what I wanted it to be.
When I started on my path to Recovery, I found that I was being too much of a perfectionist. I was always told to do
things perfectly and I tried and tried but never seemed to satisfy my parents or the god of my childhood. So when I
grew up I was so hard on myself that I lost the creativity I was born with. Creativity can't thrive in a hostile environment.
One day while reading an author I liked, I read that I had to "get out of my own way". I was a dragon trying to do
something creative and it didn't work. I have to learn to "rescue myself from myself" so I can do my art with the talents
that are God-given.
One day at a time ... I realize that if I want to see myself as I really am,I cannot stand in my own shadow.
~ Myrlene ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
The alcoholic may find it hard to re-establish friendly relations with his children. Their young minds were
impressionable while he was drinking. Without saying so, they may cordially hate him for what he has done to them
and to their mother. The children are sometimes dominated by a pathetic hardness and cynicism. - Pg. 134 - The
Family Afterward
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
It is easier for us to blame others (parents, spouses, friends) for our addiction then it is to look at self. We must never
forget that we drank that drink, snorted that coke, toked that joint, and took that fix. US. 'They' didn't do it.
May I never forget that I used too many mind affecting chemicals because I have the disease of addiction! Other
reasons are not causes. Everyone has problems yet not everyone suffers from addiction.
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 and trade un-nourishing ones for nourishing ones, I can set boundaries with my time. My time
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. I have a right
to protect the quiet and pleasure in my day, to do more of those things that give me pleasure and fewer of things that
run me down. If I am living up to my responsibilities, that is enough.
I won't throw my time away with both hands
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Half measures do not avail us half, they avail us nothing.
Am I willing to go to any length?
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I know that I am doing the best that I can and I will be gentle with myself. I will watch what comes without
struggle and will accept what is and adjust myself to it, rather than wanting it to be different than it is.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
The difference between God and me is that God doesn't think he's me. - Anon.
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Post by caressa222 on Feb 20, 2018 2:28:50 GMT -5
February 20
Daily Reflections
THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER
At this juncture, his A.A. sponsor usually laughs.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 26
Before my recovery from alcoholism began, laughter was
one of the most painful sounds I knew. I never laughed
and I felt that anyone else's laughter was directed at
me! My self-pity and anger denied me the simplest of
pleasures or lightness of heart. By the end of my
drinking not even alcohol could provoke a drunken
giggle in me. When my A.A. sponsor began to laugh and
point out my self-pity and ego-feeding deceptions, I was
annoyed and hurt, but it taught me to lighten up and focus
on my recovery. I soon learned to laugh at myself and
eventually I taught those I sponsor to laugh also.
Every day I ask God to help me stop taking myself
too seriously.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Liquor used to be my friend. I used to have a lot of fun
drinking. Practically all the fun I had was connected
with drinking. But the time came when liquor became my
enemy. I don't know just when liquor turned against me
and became my enemy, but I know it happened, because I
began to get into trouble. And since I realize that liquor
is now my enemy, my main business now is keeping sober.
Making a living or keeping a house is no longer my main
business. It's secondary to the business of keeping sober.
Do I realize that my main business is keeping sober?
Meditation For The Day
I can depend on God to supply me with all the power I need
to face any situation, provided that I will sincerely
believe in that power and honestly ask for it, at the same
time making all my life conform to what I believe God wants
me to be. I can come to God as a business manager would
come to the owner of the business, knowing that to lay the
matter before Him means immediate cooperation, provided the
matter has merit.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may believe that God is ready and willing to
supply me with all that I need. I pray that I may ask only
for faith and strength to meet any situation.
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As Bill Sees It
The Coming Of Faith, p. 51
In my own case, the foundation stone of freedom from fear is that of
faith: a faith that, despite all worldly appearances to the contrary,
causes me to believe that I live in a universe that makes sense.
To me, this means a belief in a Creator who is all power, justice, and
love; a God who intends for me a purpose, a meaning, and a destiny to
grow, however little and haltingly, toward His own likeness and image.
Before the coming of faith I had lived as an alien in a cosmos that too
often seemed both hostile and cruel. In it there could be no inner
security for me.
<< << << >> >> >>
"When I was driven to my knees by alcohol, I was made ready to ask
for the gift of faith. And all was changed. Never again, my pains and
problems notwithstanding, would I experience my former desolation. I
saw the universe to be lighted by God's love; I was alone no more."
1. Grapevine, January 1962
2. Letter, 1966
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Walk In Dry Places
A day of Acceptance
Releasing the Past
"We will not regret the past nor fear the future," goes one of the promises in Twelve Step programs. Neither the past nor the future should control what we're thinking and doing today. After all, if our higher power is everything, no person or action can be outside of this supreme control.
Today, I will rise above anything that was said or done in the past. I will also hold the idea that the future is bright with promise, and that this promise will be fulfilled. Nobody's opinion or criticism can be unsettling to me if my beliefs and self-worth are anchored in my Higher Power.
It's true that there might have been lots of wreckage in the past…. Even more recently when we have been living sober. It doesn't matter. I amazing ways, our higher power sometimes turns negative conditions into future benefits. This was actually what happened when our compulsive condition led directly to a new way of life.
I will accept life today and will look for unexpected blessings. No person or group can keep me from good as I accept God's direction in my life.
"In all your ways acknowledge [God who] shall direct your paths." I'll remember this frequently as I go about the day.
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Keep It Simple
Let Go and Let God.---Twelve Step slogan
Some days we might ask ourselves, Is it worth it? We feel alone. No one seems to care.
Life seems hard. Recovery seems hard. This is when we need to slow down and take a look at what's going on. We're feeling this way because we're off our recovery path. We may be back
into wanting people to see things our way. We want control. Remember, all problems are not our problems. All work is not our work. We can't have everything the way we want it. But we can do our part and let go of the rest. Than we can feel better.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me remember my only work today is to do Your will for me. It is not my job to be You.
Action for the Day: I'll talk with my sponsor or a program friend today. I'll talk about how to deal with things that seems to pull me down.
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Each Day a New Beginning
No trumpets sound when the important decisions of our life are made. Destiny is made known silently. --Agnes DeMille
The day ahead offers us choices of many kinds--some big ones, many that will affect other persons close to us, a few that will have profound effects on our destiny. But no choice, no decision we make, will be wrong. A particular decision may lead us slightly astray. Down a dead-end path perhaps--but we can always turn back and choose again.
We are seldom aware of the gravity of a particular choice at the time of making it. Only hindsight reveals the wisdom of an important choice. Nevertheless, no choice is without importance in the overall picture of our lives. And at the same time, no choice is all-powerful regarding our destiny. We are offered chances again and again for making the right choices, the ones that will most contribute to the bigger plan for our lives.
I need not worry about today's opportunities for decision-making. I will listen to those around me. I will seek guidance in the messages coming to me. I will make the choices I need to, today.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
One night, when confined in a hospital, he was approached by an alcoholic who had known a spiritual experience. Our friend’s gorge rose as he bitterly cried out: “If there is a God, He certainly hasn’t done anything for me!” But later, alone in his room, he asked himself this question: “Is it possible that all the religious people I have known are wrong?” While pondering the answer he felt as though he lived in hell. Then, like a thunderbolt, a great thought came. It crowded out all else:
“Who are you to say there is no God?”
This man recounts that he tumbled out of bed to his knees. In a few seconds he was overwhelmed by a conviction of the Presence of God. It poured over and through him with the certainty and majesty of a great tide at flood. The barriers he had built through the years were swept away. He stood in the Presence of Infinite Power and Love. He had stepped from bridge to shore. For the first time, he lived in conscious companionship with his Creator.
Thus was our friend’s cornerstone fixed in place. No later vicissitude has shaken it. His alcoholic problem was taken away. That very night, years ago, it disappeared. Save for a few brief moments of temptation the though of drink has never returned; and at such times a great revulsion has risen up in him. Seemingly he could not drink even if he would. God had restored his sanity.
pp. 56-57
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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 haven't mentioned it, but Charlie, my sponsor, was white, and when we got our group started, we got help from other white groups in Washington. They came, many of them, and stuck by us and told us how to hold meetings. They taught us a great deal about Twelfth Step work too. Indeed, without their aid we couldn't possibly have gone on. They saved us endless time and lost motion. And, not only that, but they gave us financial help. Even when we were paying that two dollars a night, they often paid it for us because our collection was so small.
p. 244 - 245
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
"It was meeting night. Although none of the alcoholics we boarded seemed to get sober, some others had. With their wives they crowded into our downstairs parlor. At once I burst into the story of my opportunity. Never shall I forget their impassive faces, and the steady gaze they focused upon me. With waning enthusiasm, my tale trailed off to the end. There was a long silence.
p. 137
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God, please 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. --Melody Beattie
"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile." --Mother Theresa
"Life has a way of creating roadblocks that end up as building blocks in our lives." --Doug Firebaugh
"Turn your troubles into treasures. Learn from them and grow from them." --Mark Victor Hansen
Teaching is the best way to learn.
Leading by example is the best way to teach.
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
CHRISTIANITY
"Going to Church doesn't make
you a Christian any more than
going to the garage makes you a
car."
-- Laurence J. Peter
I cannot help but believe that the truth of Christianity is about
bringing the world and mankind together, rather than creating
divisions and resentments. It must be much bigger than what we do or
say in any building. Christ's truth seeks to discover God in the
splendor of His varied world. In this sense, Christianity is an aspect of
the world's spirituality!
My addiction made me a small man with a small god. Constantly
focusing on the differences in the world stopped me from seeing the
glaring similarities; my exclusiveness kept me a lonely man. The
world of black and white, rather than shades of creative color, is a
sick and dangerous world to live in. Jesus Christ reveals for me the
"man for others"; the bridge by which reconciliation and harmony
can be achieved. His message for me is not so much a series of
dogmas as a revealed journey into Truth.
In the created stranger, help me to discover the friend.
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But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
"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
"A cheerful heart is good medicine..." Proverb 17:22a
"Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge." Psalm 16:1
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Daily Inspiration
Prayer helps us see that God is not the cause of unpleasant happenings, but the healing of them. Lord, I trust in You for the right outcomes in all situations.
Each day is new! Each day is an opportunity to start again and be our best selves. Lord, silence my old ways of thinking, my old habits, and my old tapes inside my head.
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NA Just For Today
Powerlessness, Personal Responsibility
"Through our inability to accept personal responsibilities, we were actually creating our own problems."
Basic Text, p. 13
When we refuse to take responsibility for our lives, we give away all of our personal power. We need to remember that
we are powerless over our addiction, not our personal behavior.
Many of us have misused the concept of powerlessness to avoid making decisions or to hold onto things we had
outgrown. We have claimed powerlessness over our own actions. We have blamed others for our circumstances
rather than taking positive action to change those circumstances. If we continue to avoid responsibility by claiming that
we are "powerless;" we set ourselves up for the same despair and misery we experienced in our active addiction. The
potential for spending our recovery years feeling like victims is very real.
Instead of living our lives by default, we can learn how to make responsible choices and take risks. We may make
mistakes, but we can learn from these mistakes. A heightened awareness of ourselves and an increased willingness
to accept personal responsibility gives us the freedom to change, to make choices, and to grow.
Just for today: My feelings, actions, and choices are mine. I will accept responsibility for them.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Say what you like: say I'm ill,
Say I broke my leg on the stairs,
Say we've had a fire
--T. S. Eliot
Think of the trouble of excuses and lies. They force us to make ourselves sick, live with a whole broken leg, start some sort of slow burn. When we tell someone we're not at home, we have to hide in that place. When we invent a long line of lies, we have to memorize each one. It's easiest just to come clean, use plain and simple words, and speak true. When accusers spear us with their stares, we can disarm them by looking them right in the eye.
Not only do lies deceive others, they keep us hidden from ourselves, and make our real reasons for the choices we've made seem unworthy, if we feel we can't express them. Better that we be truthful, even if a little pain results. Truth keeps communication lines open. Then, when someone really wants to know what's on our minds, we can simply open our hearts.
Is anything too terrible to tell to a friend?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
That's what happens when you're angry at people. You make them part of your life. --Garrison Keillor
Our problems with anger and our problems in relationships go hand in hand. Some of us have held back our anger, which led to resentment of our loved ones. Some of us have indulged our anger and become abusive. Some of us have been so frightened of anger that we closed off the dialogue in our relationships when angry feelings came out.
Some of us have wasted our energy by focusing anger on people who weren't really important to us. Do we truly want them to become so important? Yet, perhaps the important relationships got frozen because we weren't open and respectful with our anger. It isn't possible to be close to someone without being angry at times. We let our loved ones be part of our lives by feeling our anger when it is there and expressing it openly, directly, and respectfully to them - or by hearing them when they are angry. Then, with dialogue, we can let it go.
I will be aware of those people I am making important in my life and will grow in dealing with my anger.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
You must do the thing you think you cannot do. --Eleanor Roosevelt
How can we ever do that which seems impossible? Taking a class, quitting a job, leaving a destructive relationship behind, asking for help; none of these can we do alone or with ease. All of these we can handle when we rely on the help offered by the program, the help of one another, the help promised by our higher power. Tackling with God's help that which seems impossible, reduces it to manageable size. It also deflates the power our fears have given it.
That which we fear grows in proportion to our obsession with it. The more we fear a thing, the bigger it becomes, which in turn increases our fear. How lucky we are that God awaits our call for the strength, the companionship that is guaranteed us! We are in partnership, all the way, every day, if we'd only recognize it. We can move toward and through anything. And the added benefit is that we come to trust our partnership. We soon know that all situations can be met. All experiences can be survived. Avoidance is no longer our technique for survival.
A deep breath invites the inner strength to move through me. I will feel the exhilaration of God's power. And I will know the excitement of growth and peace.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Setting Our Own Course
We are powerless over other people's expectations of us. We cannot control what others want, what they expect, or what they want us to do and be.
We can control how we respond to other people's expectations.
During the course of any day, people may make demands on our time, talents, energy, money, and emotions. We do not have to say yes to every request. We do not have to feel guilty if we say no. And we do not have to allow the barrage of demands to control the course of our life.
We do not have to spend our life reacting to others and to the course they would prefer we took with our life.
We can set boundaries, firm limits on how far we shall go with others. We can trust and listen to ourselves. We can set goals and direction for our life. We can place value on ourselves.
We can own our power with people.
Buy some time. Think about what you want. Consider how responding to another's needs will affect the course of your life. We live or own life by not letting other people, their expectations, and their demands control the course of our life. We can let them have their demands and expectations; we can allow them to have their feelings. We can own our power to choose the path that is right for us.
Today, God, help me own my power by detaching, and peacefully choosing the course of action that is right for me. Help me know I can detach from the expectations and wants of others. Help me stop pleasing other people and start pleasing myself.
I know that I am being led along a path of healing today. As I become more and more open to spirituality and recovery, My path becomes brighter and clearer every day. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey to the Heart
Spread Your Wings and Fly
I sat on the ground on a dirt road that wandered off a main highway in Idaho. I leaned against a tree and watched a
mother eagle and her babies in a nest overhead. She fussed as she protected them, watching me closely, responding
with her call to any noise she heard. She was very protective now, but someday it would be time to push them out of
the nest. It would be time to teach them to fly.
Many of us have been pushed out of the nest. Something unexpected happened, and our world changed. We may
have fought valiantly to get back in the nest, to return to the safety of life as we knew it. But life had pushed us out. We
had no choice but to flap our wings and learn to fly the best we could.
See how magical this time has been? See how much you’ve learned? With all our fears and resistance, it has still
been a grand and powerful time. You flailed around a bit, wondering who to trust. You tried to trust others, then found
that didn’t work. Finally you understood. The very lesson you were learning was that of trusting yourself.
You were learning to listen to and trust your inner voice. You were learning to open your heart. Despite all your fears,
you have done a grand job. Look how much you’ve changed.
See all the powers you’ve gained? You’ve opened up to your healing powers, your creative powers,too. You know and
sense things in a way that used to seem beyond reach and now seems both magical and commonplace. Your
instincts and intuition are finely tuned. Your inner voice is clear. And despite all your fears about being abandoned, you
now see how much you are loved.
When life pokes and prods you, it’s not punishment or abuse. You’re being pushed out of the nest. Spread your wings
and take flight. See how well you can fly.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Take a side road
Adventures don’t begin until you get into the forest. That first step in an act of faith.
–Micky Hart
We were driving along highway 166 in central California on another road trip. The trip had been a long one, started on
the spur of the moment, as they usually are, and now we were anxious to get back home. Then we– Andy, Chip, and
I– all saw it: a small road leading up into the mountains behind an open gate. It wasn’t on the atlas. The road turned to
dirt. Cows lounged on the path and we had to wait for them to move out of the way. The GPS (Global Positioning
System) got lost. The path degraded. We hit a patch of black mud and the truck struggled for a moment. Chipster
gunned the motor and we leapt ahead.
“Think we should turn around?” he asked.
“No, this road must go somewhere,” said Andy.
“Aaaah,” I said.
We came to a small lake in the middle of the path.
“You can make it,” said Andy, rolling up his window.
“Aaaah,” I said.
Chip switched into four-wheel drive and gunned the motor. Muddy water poured in through the open sunroof.
Much later– after we moved rocks out of the way, splashed through more puddles, saw stunning views from a high
ridgeline, and drove far too close to the edge of the cliff– we came across an old man pushing a bicycle up the road.
We asked, “How much further is it to get out of here?”
“Well,” he replied, “how far in have you come?”
“We didn’t come in this way.”
A puzzled look crossed his face. “How did you get here then?”
“We drove over the ridge.”
He shook his head in disbelief and walked on.
Ten miles later we came to another gate. The cell phone started to work again.
The GPS decided that we were still on the planet after all.
Sometimes, we find the biggest adventures when we deviate from the map and drive through the gate into new
territory just to see where it goes.
God, help me remember that I don’t have to follow the map all the time. Give me the spirit of adventure. Bring a little
woohoo into my life.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
We are often told in The Program that “more will be revealed.” As we are restored to health and become increasingly
able to lve comfortably in the real world without using chemicals, we begin to see many things in a new light. Many of
us have come to realize, for example, that our arch enemy, anger, comes disguised in many shapes and colors:
intolerance, contempt, snobbishness, rigidity, tension, sarcasm, distrust, anxiety, envy, hatred, cynicism, discontent,
self-pity, malice, suspicion, jealousy. Do I let my feelings get the best of me?
Today I Pray
May I recognize that my anger, like dancer at a masquerade, wears many forms of many faces. May I strip off it’s
several masks and know it for what it is.
Today I Will Remember
Anger wears a thousand masks.
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One More Day
This is a delicious evening, when the whole body is one sense and imbibes delight through every pore.
– Henry David Thoreau
We carry the memory of a soft spring rain within us even in a dry season. We remember the pungent fragrance of
new mow grass, the chirping of crickets, the singing of birds.
Such memories are important to us, but we’re increasingly determined to also create new ones. It takes some
planning on our part to get out, but we know the experience is worth the effort. Our mobility maybe limited, or we might
not be living in a place where we can commune with nature as easily as we did when we were younger. But we’re
creative and find the joy of outdoors, on the stoop of our building or on a park bench. Zoos, nature preserves, and
public parks give us a areas for today’s enjoyment and tomorrow’s memories.
My illness imposes real limitations upon me; I will not impose artificial ones upon myself.
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One Day At A Time
Secrets
There were deep secrets hidden in my heart,
never said for fear others would scoff or sneer.
At last I can reveal my sufferings,
for the strength I once felt in silence has lost all its power.
Deidra Sarault
I've heard it said in program that we are only a sick as the secrets we keep. If that is the case, then I was very sick
when desperation forced me through the doors of ths wonderful fellowship.
Not one of my friends or family knew what I was doing around food, as most of it was done in secret, and I was always
careful to remove all the evidence. I couldn't believe that anyone would love me if they knew what I was doing around
food, and felt that I was either really bad or totally crazy, or both. But for the first time ever, I was able to come clean
about what I was doing around food, and I wasn't judged or frowned upon. The love and acceptance I have received
here has been totally overwhelming, but in addition I found out that others had done the same or similar things to what
I had done, and so for the first time ever, I felt that I wasn't alone. Not only have I been able to talk freely about my food
and what I had been doing, as well as what it was doing to me, but in the fourth and fifth step, I was finally able to
share with another person my darkest deepest secrets, that for years I'd thought had made me this terrible person. It
was in fact in sharing all the things that I'd thought of as so bad, that I came to realise that it was only my magnifying
mind that had made them appear so, and that in fact they really weren't bad at all. I would never have found that out,
had I not been in this program, and I'm so grateful for the relief that sharing all these things has given me.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will learn to get honest and share with my sponsor and others in this program, all the things that are bothering me,
whether it be food or other issues, so I can be relieved of the pain that all my secrets are causing me.
~ Sharon
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Although financial recovery is on the way for many of us, we found we could not place money first. For us, material
well-being always followed spiritual progress; it never preceded. - pg. 127 - The Family Afterward
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
The professionals and counselors in our new life may appraise our situation better than us. They did not carry on a
love affair with our drug of choice. Therefore, their evaluation of what the heck we are doing may be more nearly
correct.
May I have the ability to listen to those trying to help me; they honestly may be more objective than myself.
Sincerity
I will be sincere. I will pray with a true heart. I will greet life and the gifts it gives me with an appreciative heart. Today I
will not ask life to be something I am not willing to be. I won't ask the world to shower blessings onto me that I am not
willing to deserve by my own right action.
I will be the goodness I wish to have
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
We may have the right to be wrong, but our steps teach us that we don't have the right to do wrong.
When my only reason for doing something is 'because I have the right!' it usually turns out wrong.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
There are no chemical solutions to spiritual problems.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I know that I am being led along a path of healing today. As I become more and more open to spirituality and recovery,
My path becomes brighter and clearer every day.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I wanted to be a writer. So I bought a pipe, a sports jacket with leather on the sleeves and a book on French. And I sat
in the bar. I never wrote a line. - Anon.
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Post by caressa222 on Feb 20, 2018 21:40:46 GMT -5
February 21
Daily Reflections
I'M PART OF THE WHOLE
At once, I became a part--if only a tiny part--of
a cosmos....
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 225
When I first came to A.A., I decided that "they" were
very nice people--perhaps a little naive, a little too
friendly, but basically decent, earnest people (with
whom I had nothing in common). I saw "them" at meetings
--after all, that was where "they" existed. I shook
hands with "them" and, when I went out the door, I
forgot about "them." Then one day my Higher Power,
whom I did not then believe in, arranged to create a
community project outside of A.A., but one which
happened to involve many A.A. members. We worked
together, I got to know "them" as people. I came to
admire "them," even to like "them" and, in spite of
myself, to enjoy "them." "Their" practice of the
program in their daily lives--not just talk at meetings
--attracted me and I wanted what they had. Suddenly the
"they" became "we." I have not had a drink since.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
I go to the A.A. meetings because it helps me in my
business of keeping sober. And I try to help other
alcoholics when I can, because that's my part of my
business of keeping sober. I also have a partner in
this business and that's God. I pray to Him every
day to help me keep sober. As long as I keep in mind
that liquor can never be my friend again, but is now
my deadly enemy, and as long as I remember that my
main business is keeping sober and that it's the most
important thing in my life, I believe that I'll be
prepared for that crucial moment when the idea of
having a drink pops into my mind. When that idea
comes, will I be able to resist it and not take that drink?
Meditation For The Day
I will be more afraid of spirit-unrest, of soul-
disturbance, of any ruffling of the mind, than of
earthquake or fire. When I feel the calm of my spirit
has been broken by emotional upset, then I must steal
away alone with God, until my heart sings and all is
strong and calm again. Uncalm times are the only times
when evil can find an entrance. I will beware of
unguarded spots of unrest. I will try to keep calm, no
matter what turmoil surrounds me.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that no emotional upset will hinder God's power
in my life. I pray that I may keep a calm spirit and a
steady heart.
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As Bill Sees It
To Guard Against A Slip, p. 52
Suppose we fall short of our chosen ideals and stumble? Does this
mean we are going to get drunk? Some people tell us so. But this is
only a half-truth.
It depends on us and on our motives. If we are sorry for what we have
done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things,
we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson. If we
are not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others, we are quite
sure to drink. These are facts out of our experience.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 70
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Walk In Dry Places
Unexpected Disappointments____Acceptance.
As life unfolds, we sometimes get unexpected disappointments that seem undeserved -- the car breaks down, a business deal goes sour, or a close friend betrays us. As alcoholics, most of us don't handle such things too well. "Why me, Lord?" we often respond.
Our best approach is simply to view life as a mixture of bitter and sweet, knowing that we've been given real mastery over conditions. We cannot always be sure that a disappointment really is as bad as it seems to be, and sometimes it can become a step toward our good. As one alcoholic phrased it, "some of the worst things that have happened turned out to be the best."
It's good to face the day with optimism, with confidence, and even with some excitement about the opportunities ahead. If we're maintaining sober thinking, everything that happens today will be transformed into gains for tomorrow -- all our tomorrows. We're on a spiritual journey that goes far beyond anything we're doing here and now.
I won't expect to be disappointed today, but I'll know that nothing can really upset or disturb me without my permission.
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Keep It Simple
It easier to speak of love, than to practice it. --Anonymous
Do we help our neighbor who is in need? We must help when we see the need, not just when it fits our schedule. In the program, this becomes our goal. We work at helping out. For example, when someone is needed to run the meeting, we offer. We see that the needs of the group are also our needs. We are the group. Over time, the idea of service spreads to the rest of our lives. Maybe we help a family down the street. We start to see that we have something to offer the world; ourselves. We start to see that the needs of the world are also our needs. We are an important part of the world.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, make me quick to act when I see a need. Please don't let my fear stop me..
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list what I have to offer the world. I will think of two ways I can use these gifts my Higher Power has given me.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
We can never go back again, that much is certain. --Daphne DuMaurier
Yesterday is gone, but its experiences will be reflected in those of today. We learned from both the good and the bad situations of yesterday. Where we travel today, likewise, will influence our direction tomorrow. We can't do over what has gone before, but we can positively incorporate all that life is offering us from this moment forth.
We are moving toward greater understanding of life's mysteries with each experience. As today unfolds, we can be moved by the adventures. What we experience is ours alone and will contribute to the unfolding of our special destiny. We move forward, only forward. The doors behind us are closed forever.
Facing what comes to us, with strength, is a gift from this program we share. Letting go of the yesterdays and the last years is another gift offered by this program. And trust that what we face along with what we let go will weave the pattern of our rightful unfolding--that is the ultimate gift given to us by this program.
I need never go back again. I am spared that. My destiny lies in the future. And I can be certain it will bring me all that I desire, and more.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
What is this but a miracle of healing? Yet its elements are simple. Circumstances made him willing to believe. He humbly offered himself to his Maker—then he knew.
Even so has God restored us all to our right minds. To this man, the revelation was sudden. Some of us grow into it more slowly. But He has come to all who have honestly sought Him.
When we drew near to Him He disclosed Himself to us!
p. 57
************************************************** *********
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.
At this time I wasn't working. Vi was taking care of me, and I was devoting all my time to the building of that group. I worked at that alone for six months. I just gathered up this and that alcoholic, because, in the back of my mind, I wanted to save all the world. I had found this new "something," and I wanted to give it to everyone who had a problem. We didn't save the world, but we did manage to help some individuals.
That's my story of what A.A. has done for me.
p. 245
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
"Almost timidly, one of my friends began to speak. `We know how hard up you are, Bill. It bothers us a lot. We've often wondered what we might do about it. But I think I speak for everyone here when I say that what you now propose bothers us an awful lot more.' The speaker's voice grew more confident. `Don't you realize,' he went on, `that you can never become a professional? As generous as Charlie has been to us, don't you see that we can't tie this thing up with his hospital or any other? You tell us that Charlie's proposal is ethical. Sure, it's ethical, but what we've got won't run on ethics only; it has to be better. Sure, Charlie's idea is good, but it isn't good enough. This is a matter of life and death, Bill, and nothing but the very best will do!' Challengingly, my friends looked at me as their spokesman continued. `Bill, haven't you often said right here in this meeting that sometimes the good is the enemy of the best? Well, this is a plain case of it. You can't do this thing to us!'
pp. 137-138
************************************************** *********
Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind. --Cited in Even More of...The Best of BITS & PIECES
I was led around by emotions rather than facts.
Honesty is the absence of the intent to deceive.
Every man must take time daily for quiet and meditation. In daily meditation lies the secret of power. No one can grow in either spiritual knowledge or power without it. --H. Emilie Cady
No matter what is happening in your life, know that God Is Waiting for you with open Arms.
Sometimes Love is just Love and can't be something you can analyze or even understand.
"It doesn't matter if your on the right track, if you don't move, you'll get run over" --Will Rogers
Today I know that I am doing the best I can and will be gentle with myself. I will watch what comes without struggle and will accept what is and adjust myself to it, rather than wanting it to be different than it is. --Ruth Fishel
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
ART
"Only work which is the product
of inner compulsion can have
spiritual meaning."
-- Walter Gropius
I have developed, in my recovery, an awareness of the beauty of this
world and an appreciation of what man can produce. Sobriety has
made art accessible. Today I can see beauty in paintings, sculpture,
music, literature and the natural "art" of nature.
Spirituality is always creative and it is at the center of all that is
good, noble and inspiring. Although I am not an artist, I can
appreciate and have a feeling of "belonging" to the beauty of this
world --- in a sense it all happens and takes shape through me. The
rediscovery of spirituality has brought the world and the universe into
my life.
Help me to have the desire to recreate Your splendors through my
experiences.
************************************************** *********
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13
"I can do all things in Him who strengthens me." Phillipians 4:13
"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." 1 Peter 3:8-9
"And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying.... Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well." Luke 12:29,31
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
All the good things in life don't mean much if we fail to enjoy them. Lord, may I pause to notice my blessings and be joyful.
Your last chance to do anything about today is right now. Lord, help me keep my thoughts on making this day better so that I build a good foundation for tomorrow.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
Self-Pity Or Recovery - It's Our Choice
"Self-pity is one of the most destructive of defects; it will drain us of all positive energy."
Basic Text, p. 77
In active addiction, many of us used self-pity as a survival mechanism. We didn't believe there was an alternative to
living in our disease&151or perhaps we didn't want to believe. As long as we could feel sorry for ourselves and blame
someone else for our troubles, we didn't have to accept the consequences of our actions; believing ourselves
powerless to change, we didn't have to accept the need for change. Using this "survival mechanism" kept us from
entering recovery and led us closer, day by day, to self-destruction. Self-pity is a tool of our disease; we need to stop
using it and learn instead to use the new tools we find in the NA program.
We have come to believe that effective help is available for us; when we seek that help, finding it in the NA program,
self-pity is displaced by gratitude. Many tools are at our disposal: the Twelve Steps, the support of our sponsor, the
fellowship of other recovering addicts, and the care of our Higher Power. The availability of all these tools is more than
enough reason to be grateful. We no longer live in isolation, without hope; we have certain help at hand for anything we
may face. The surest way to become grateful is to take advantage of the help available to us in the NA program and to
experience the improvement the program will bring in our lives.
Just for today: I will be grateful for the hope NA has given me. I will cultivate my recovery and stop cultivating self-pity.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
We cannot do all things. --Virgil
We are each limited in terms of time and energy. If we try to do too much, we do everything half-rate. How much better it is to clearly sort out what is really important to us, and then give ourselves to those things or people wholeheartedly.
Famous writers have written about the difficulty of having more than one or two really good friends. That number seems so unimpressive if we equate popularity with the number of friends we have. If we want quality, we must accept our limitations. In this way we avoid wasting energy on unimportant tasks, on friends who aren't true or close, on goals which aren't what we really want. We can only commit ourselves wholeheartedly to a limited number of tasks and a limited number of people.
Who are my truly good friends?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
The readiness is all. --William Shakespeare
Our concept of control was flawed. This program leads us into a New World. Here we meet the fact that we are powerless to change some aspects of ourselves. But we can become ready to be changed. That makes all the difference. When we accept this truth, we are already changed and we are more in line with nature and the universe.
We can't make ourselves less perfectionistic, but we can become ready to let go of our demand for perfection. We can't force family harmony into our lives, but we can become more ready to be harmonious. We can't make a lasting love appear for us on command - we can become ready for such a relationship when the opportunities appear. Do we yearn for some change? How might we ready ourselves to receive it?
Today, I will try to become ready for the help and change I most need in my life.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Living in the Present
The present moment is all we have. Yes, we have plans and goals, a vision for tomorrow. But now is the only time we possess. And it is enough.
We can dear our mind of the residue of yesterday. We can clear our mind of fears of tomorrow. We can be present, now. We can make ourselves available to this moment, this day. It is by being fully present now that we reach the fullness of tomorrow.
Have no fear, child, a voice whispers. Have no regrets. Relinquish your resentments. Let Me take your pain. All you have is the present moment. Be still. Be here. Trust. All you have is now. It is enough.
Today, I will affirm that all is well around me, when all is well within.
It is exciting to know that I have all the strength I need today to do what is good and right in my life. --Ruth Fishel
******************************************
Journey to the Heart
Let Love Be
You can’t control love. It’s impossible. It’s like screaming and screeching and begging a rose to unfold faster, better, or differently.
Love is an energy– an active, living force that runs its threads through all of life, through all of the universe. But we can’t control love. It is not its nature to be controlled. It’s futile to stand with our hands in our pockets and heels dug into the ground saying, I shall control the course of love, or I shall allow another to control me because I’m afraid love will go away.
We can open our hearts and let love run through us. We can open our hearts and receive love. We can open our eyes and see universal love all around us, in places we never saw it before. We can awaken our souls and see that all these experiences have been lessons of love. Learning courage, faith, patience. Learning to love ourselves, when it looked and felt as if no one else did. Learning to express our creativity, express our emotions, and experience joy. Each one has been a lesson of love.
We have learned to let love be and be open to what that is and the new direction it may lead us in. Love is a powerful living force that permeates the universe and funnels through us. We don’t lead it, it leads and guides us.
Honor the guidance of your heart, and you will be honoring the guidance of love.
******************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
Say woohoo wherever you are
I walked into the beach house after a day of work to find my friendly tormentors, Chip and Andy, standing by the window that drops down to the beach. Actually, Chip was standing next to the window; Andy was outside, hanging by a climbing harness. The rope led into the house and was tied off around one of the support beams.
I didn’t ask what they were doing. I just grabbed the climbing harness that was lying on the floor at Chip’s feet and asked if I could try,too.
Rappelling from the house down to the beach is not my ordinary activity. But sometimes, even the smallest, most ridiculous things can be a chance for a mini-woohoo. That night, I learned to rappel in the moonlight on the beach from the living room of my house.
Be open to new experience in your life. If it isn’t life-threatening, maybe it’s okay, even if it is a little odd. Don’t be afraid to be ridiculous, look a little uncool, and even let out an aaah now and then.
Have you had a woohoo lately? Have you got one on your list? Or maybe in your garage? Put on some Rollerblades, buy a surfboard, get out your sled. Order something new off the menu. Take a different road. Find the woohoo; then carry it with you into your ordinary world and let it lighten your spirit.
Woohoos are the moments we’ll remember all our lives.
God, help me lighten my spirit by putting a little woohoo into my daily life.
******************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Do I waste my time and energy wrestling with situations that aren’t actually worth a second thought? Like Don Quixote, the bemused hero of Spanish literature, do I imagine windmills as menacing giants, battling them until I am ready to drop from exhaustion? Today, I’ll not allow my imagination to build small troubles into big ones. I’ll try to see each situation clearly, giving it only the value and attention it deserves. Have I come to believe, as the seecond of the Twelve Steps suggest, that a Power greater than myself can restore me to sanity?
Today I Pray
God, keep my perspective sane. Help me to avoid aggrandizing petty problems, trying to much significance to casual conversations,making a Vesuvius out of an anthill. Keep my fears from swelling out of scale, like shadows on a wall. Restore my values, which became distorted during thee days of my chemical invollvement.
Today I Will Remember
Sanity is perspective.
******************************************
One More Day
I will not keep myself from taking positive action. – K. O’Brien
The inability to get going can sometimes plague us. Muscles that don’t work properly or joints that won’t bend can keep us from beginning the day as we once did, even if we have excellent intentions.
Excellent intentions only, however, get us nowhere unless we act upon them. What we need is that extra measure of strength, drawn from some inner resource that we hold in store only for days such as these. Often those sources spring from our intense belief that we will make it through these difficult times. Gradually we recognize that our actions and reactions are becoming more positive.
I try to reach a little bit further for the strength I need to fulfill my good intentions.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
~ PROGRESS ~
" ... I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy."
Marie Curie
I have always been the queen of quick fix, so if I wanted something to happen, it had to happen today if not yesterday. So coming into the program was very hard for me, in that for the first time I have had to realise that recovery is not an overnight thing. For a perfectionist like me, that has been a very hard lesson to learn, in that I don't have to have perfect recovery. My journey in this program has been an up and down one, with many slips along the way, and everytime I have slipped, I have had to remember that I may think I'm a failure, but I'm only a failure if I fail to pick myself up. In the past if I made a mistake, I was a total and utter failure, but I know now that all I have to do each time is to pick myself up, dust myself off and start over.
The other thing I've learned in the program is that I also always need to remember where I came from, and when I look back, I can see the progress I have made. My self esteem is growing, and even though I still seem to slip back into the old character defects from time to time, they are nowhere near as bad as in the past. I am able to forgive people whom I thought I would never be able to forgive, and I make amends whenever the need arises, and as a result my relationships with people have improved dramatically.
One Day at a Time . . .
May I remember that in this program, it is always progress and not perfection that counts.
~ Sharon ~
*****************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
If a repetition is to be prevented, place the problem, along with everything else, in God's hands. - Pg. 120 - To Wives
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
One of the games our mind plays with us during withdrawal is to suggest that if we were addicted to one chemical, that was our problem and maybe we could use another type of chemical to help us. But switching chemicals will insure that we never get well, because the disease is not a chemical--it is a dysfunction to any mind-affecting chemical.
If I learn nothing else this hour, help me understand that the disease is not a drug but a reaction to drugs.
Gifts
Today I will be thankful for the many gifts that are mine. Life is a gift. Health is a gift. Love is a gift. Friends and family are gifts. If I take the time to say thank you, I have so many things to be thankful for. When I learn to say thank you, to give praise and gratitude, my life immediately feels more full.
I embrace the gifts that surround me
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
We often hear 'turn it over.' This means turn over problems not under our control right now--whether they are with family, friends, work, or the law--we offer the things we cannot change to a Higher Power and LET GO.
If I turn it over and don't let go, I'll be upside down!
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Put one foot in front of the other.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
It is exciting to know that I have all the strength I need today to do what is good and right in my life.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. - Judy Garland.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 22, 2018 19:13:41 GMT -5
February 21
Daily Reflections
I'M PART OF THE WHOLE
At once, I became a part--if only a tiny part--of
a cosmos....
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 225
When I first came to A.A., I decided that "they" were
very nice people--perhaps a little naive, a little too
friendly, but basically decent, earnest people (with
whom I had nothing in common). I saw "them" at meetings
--after all, that was where "they" existed. I shook
hands with "them" and, when I went out the door, I
forgot about "them." Then one day my Higher Power,
whom I did not then believe in, arranged to create a
community project outside of A.A., but one which
happened to involve many A.A. members. We worked
together, I got to know "them" as people. I came to
admire "them," even to like "them" and, in spite of
myself, to enjoy "them." "Their" practice of the
program in their daily lives--not just talk at meetings
--attracted me and I wanted what they had. Suddenly the
"they" became "we." I have not had a drink since.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
I go to the A.A. meetings because it helps me in my
business of keeping sober. And I try to help other
alcoholics when I can, because that's my part of my
business of keeping sober. I also have a partner in
this business and that's God. I pray to Him every
day to help me keep sober. As long as I keep in mind
that liquor can never be my friend again, but is now
my deadly enemy, and as long as I remember that my
main business is keeping sober and that it's the most
important thing in my life, I believe that I'll be
prepared for that crucial moment when the idea of
having a drink pops into my mind. When that idea
comes, will I be able to resist it and not take that drink?
Meditation For The Day
I will be more afraid of spirit-unrest, of soul-
disturbance, of any ruffling of the mind, than of
earthquake or fire. When I feel the calm of my spirit
has been broken by emotional upset, then I must steal
away alone with God, until my heart sings and all is
strong and calm again. Uncalm times are the only times
when evil can find an entrance. I will beware of
unguarded spots of unrest. I will try to keep calm, no
matter what turmoil surrounds me.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that no emotional upset will hinder God's power
in my life. I pray that I may keep a calm spirit and a
steady heart.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
To Guard Against A Slip, p. 52
Suppose we fall short of our chosen ideals and stumble? Does this
mean we are going to get drunk? Some people tell us so. But this is
only a half-truth.
It depends on us and on our motives. If we are sorry for what we have
done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things,
we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson. If we
are not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others, we are quite
sure to drink. These are facts out of our experience.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 70
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Unexpected Disappointments____Acceptance.
As life unfolds, we sometimes get unexpected disappointments that seem undeserved -- the car breaks down, a business deal goes sour, or a close friend betrays us. As alcoholics, most of us don't handle such things too well. "Why me, Lord?" we often respond.
Our best approach is simply to view life as a mixture of bitter and sweet, knowing that we've been given real mastery over conditions. We cannot always be sure that a disappointment really is as bad as it seems to be, and sometimes it can become a step toward our good. As one alcoholic phrased it, "some of the worst things that have happened turned out to be the best."
It's good to face the day with optimism, with confidence, and even with some excitement about the opportunities ahead. If we're maintaining sober thinking, everything that happens today will be transformed into gains for tomorrow -- all our tomorrows. We're on a spiritual journey that goes far beyond anything we're doing here and now.
I won't expect to be disappointed today, but I'll know that nothing can really upset or disturb me without my permission.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
It easier to speak of love, than to practice it. --Anonymous
Do we help our neighbor who is in need? We must help when we see the need, not just when it fits our schedule. In the program, this becomes our goal. We work at helping out. For example, when someone is needed to run the meeting, we offer. We see that the needs of the group are also our needs. We are the group. Over time, the idea of service spreads to the rest of our lives. Maybe we help a family down the street. We start to see that we have something to offer the world; ourselves. We start to see that the needs of the world are also our needs. We are an important part of the world.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, make me quick to act when I see a need. Please don't let my fear stop me..
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list what I have to offer the world. I will think of two ways I can use these gifts my Higher Power has given me.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
We can never go back again, that much is certain. --Daphne DuMaurier
Yesterday is gone, but its experiences will be reflected in those of today. We learned from both the good and the bad situations of yesterday. Where we travel today, likewise, will influence our direction tomorrow. We can't do over what has gone before, but we can positively incorporate all that life is offering us from this moment forth.
We are moving toward greater understanding of life's mysteries with each experience. As today unfolds, we can be moved by the adventures. What we experience is ours alone and will contribute to the unfolding of our special destiny. We move forward, only forward. The doors behind us are closed forever.
Facing what comes to us, with strength, is a gift from this program we share. Letting go of the yesterdays and the last years is another gift offered by this program. And trust that what we face along with what we let go will weave the pattern of our rightful unfolding--that is the ultimate gift given to us by this program.
I need never go back again. I am spared that. My destiny lies in the future. And I can be certain it will bring me all that I desire, and more.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WE AGNOSTICS
What is this but a miracle of healing? Yet its elements are simple. Circumstances made him willing to believe. He humbly offered himself to his Maker—then he knew.
Even so has God restored us all to our right minds. To this man, the revelation was sudden. Some of us grow into it more slowly. But He has come to all who have honestly sought Him.
When we drew near to Him He disclosed Himself to us!
p. 57
************************************************** *********
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.
At this time I wasn't working. Vi was taking care of me, and I was devoting all my time to the building of that group. I worked at that alone for six months. I just gathered up this and that alcoholic, because, in the back of my mind, I wanted to save all the world. I had found this new "something," and I wanted to give it to everyone who had a problem. We didn't save the world, but we did manage to help some individuals.
That's my story of what A.A. has done for me.
p. 245
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
"Almost timidly, one of my friends began to speak. `We know how hard up you are, Bill. It bothers us a lot. We've often wondered what we might do about it. But I think I speak for everyone here when I say that what you now propose bothers us an awful lot more.' The speaker's voice grew more confident. `Don't you realize,' he went on, `that you can never become a professional? As generous as Charlie has been to us, don't you see that we can't tie this thing up with his hospital or any other? You tell us that Charlie's proposal is ethical. Sure, it's ethical, but what we've got won't run on ethics only; it has to be better. Sure, Charlie's idea is good, but it isn't good enough. This is a matter of life and death, Bill, and nothing but the very best will do!' Challengingly, my friends looked at me as their spokesman continued. `Bill, haven't you often said right here in this meeting that sometimes the good is the enemy of the best? Well, this is a plain case of it. You can't do this thing to us!'
pp. 137-138
************************************************** *********
Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind. --Cited in Even More of...The Best of BITS & PIECES
I was led around by emotions rather than facts.
Honesty is the absence of the intent to deceive.
Every man must take time daily for quiet and meditation. In daily meditation lies the secret of power. No one can grow in either spiritual knowledge or power without it. --H. Emilie Cady
No matter what is happening in your life, know that God Is Waiting for you with open Arms.
Sometimes Love is just Love and can't be something you can analyze or even understand.
"It doesn't matter if your on the right track, if you don't move, you'll get run over" --Will Rogers
Today I know that I am doing the best I can and will be gentle with myself. I will watch what comes without struggle and will accept what is and adjust myself to it, rather than wanting it to be different than it is. --Ruth Fishel
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
ART
"Only work which is the product
of inner compulsion can have
spiritual meaning."
-- Walter Gropius
I have developed, in my recovery, an awareness of the beauty of this
world and an appreciation of what man can produce. Sobriety has
made art accessible. Today I can see beauty in paintings, sculpture,
music, literature and the natural "art" of nature.
Spirituality is always creative and it is at the center of all that is
good, noble and inspiring. Although I am not an artist, I can
appreciate and have a feeling of "belonging" to the beauty of this
world --- in a sense it all happens and takes shape through me. The
rediscovery of spirituality has brought the world and the universe into
my life.
Help me to have the desire to recreate Your splendors through my
experiences.
************************************************** *********
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13
"I can do all things in Him who strengthens me." Phillipians 4:13
"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." 1 Peter 3:8-9
"And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying.... Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well." Luke 12:29,31
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
All the good things in life don't mean much if we fail to enjoy them. Lord, may I pause to notice my blessings and be joyful.
Your last chance to do anything about today is right now. Lord, help me keep my thoughts on making this day better so that I build a good foundation for tomorrow.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
Self-Pity Or Recovery - It's Our Choice
"Self-pity is one of the most destructive of defects; it will drain us of all positive energy."
Basic Text, p. 77
In active addiction, many of us used self-pity as a survival mechanism. We didn't believe there was an alternative to
living in our disease&151or perhaps we didn't want to believe. As long as we could feel sorry for ourselves and blame
someone else for our troubles, we didn't have to accept the consequences of our actions; believing ourselves
powerless to change, we didn't have to accept the need for change. Using this "survival mechanism" kept us from
entering recovery and led us closer, day by day, to self-destruction. Self-pity is a tool of our disease; we need to stop
using it and learn instead to use the new tools we find in the NA program.
We have come to believe that effective help is available for us; when we seek that help, finding it in the NA program,
self-pity is displaced by gratitude. Many tools are at our disposal: the Twelve Steps, the support of our sponsor, the
fellowship of other recovering addicts, and the care of our Higher Power. The availability of all these tools is more than
enough reason to be grateful. We no longer live in isolation, without hope; we have certain help at hand for anything we
may face. The surest way to become grateful is to take advantage of the help available to us in the NA program and to
experience the improvement the program will bring in our lives.
Just for today: I will be grateful for the hope NA has given me. I will cultivate my recovery and stop cultivating self-pity.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
We cannot do all things. --Virgil
We are each limited in terms of time and energy. If we try to do too much, we do everything half-rate. How much better it is to clearly sort out what is really important to us, and then give ourselves to those things or people wholeheartedly.
Famous writers have written about the difficulty of having more than one or two really good friends. That number seems so unimpressive if we equate popularity with the number of friends we have. If we want quality, we must accept our limitations. In this way we avoid wasting energy on unimportant tasks, on friends who aren't true or close, on goals which aren't what we really want. We can only commit ourselves wholeheartedly to a limited number of tasks and a limited number of people.
Who are my truly good friends?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
The readiness is all. --William Shakespeare
Our concept of control was flawed. This program leads us into a New World. Here we meet the fact that we are powerless to change some aspects of ourselves. But we can become ready to be changed. That makes all the difference. When we accept this truth, we are already changed and we are more in line with nature and the universe.
We can't make ourselves less perfectionistic, but we can become ready to let go of our demand for perfection. We can't force family harmony into our lives, but we can become more ready to be harmonious. We can't make a lasting love appear for us on command - we can become ready for such a relationship when the opportunities appear. Do we yearn for some change? How might we ready ourselves to receive it?
Today, I will try to become ready for the help and change I most need in my life.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Living in the Present
The present moment is all we have. Yes, we have plans and goals, a vision for tomorrow. But now is the only time we possess. And it is enough.
We can dear our mind of the residue of yesterday. We can clear our mind of fears of tomorrow. We can be present, now. We can make ourselves available to this moment, this day. It is by being fully present now that we reach the fullness of tomorrow.
Have no fear, child, a voice whispers. Have no regrets. Relinquish your resentments. Let Me take your pain. All you have is the present moment. Be still. Be here. Trust. All you have is now. It is enough.
Today, I will affirm that all is well around me, when all is well within.
It is exciting to know that I have all the strength I need today to do what is good and right in my life. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey to the Heart
Let Love Be
You can’t control love. It’s impossible. It’s like screaming and screeching and begging a rose to unfold faster, better, or differently.
Love is an energy– an active, living force that runs its threads through all of life, through all of the universe. But we can’t control love. It is not its nature to be controlled. It’s futile to stand with our hands in our pockets and heels dug into the ground saying, I shall control the course of love, or I shall allow another to control me because I’m afraid love will go away.
We can open our hearts and let love run through us. We can open our hearts and receive love. We can open our eyes and see universal love all around us, in places we never saw it before. We can awaken our souls and see that all these experiences have been lessons of love. Learning courage, faith, patience. Learning to love ourselves, when it looked and felt as if no one else did. Learning to express our creativity, express our emotions, and experience joy. Each one has been a lesson of love.
We have learned to let love be and be open to what that is and the new direction it may lead us in. Love is a powerful living force that permeates the universe and funnels through us. We don’t lead it, it leads and guides us.
Honor the guidance of your heart, and you will be honoring the guidance of love.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Say woohoo wherever you are
I walked into the beach house after a day of work to find my friendly tormentors, Chip and Andy, standing by the window that drops down to the beach. Actually, Chip was standing next to the window; Andy was outside, hanging by a climbing harness. The rope led into the house and was tied off around one of the support beams.
I didn’t ask what they were doing. I just grabbed the climbing harness that was lying on the floor at Chip’s feet and asked if I could try,too.
Rappelling from the house down to the beach is not my ordinary activity. But sometimes, even the smallest, most ridiculous things can be a chance for a mini-woohoo. That night, I learned to rappel in the moonlight on the beach from the living room of my house.
Be open to new experience in your life. If it isn’t life-threatening, maybe it’s okay, even if it is a little odd. Don’t be afraid to be ridiculous, look a little uncool, and even let out an aaah now and then.
Have you had a woohoo lately? Have you got one on your list? Or maybe in your garage? Put on some Rollerblades, buy a surfboard, get out your sled. Order something new off the menu. Take a different road. Find the woohoo; then carry it with you into your ordinary world and let it lighten your spirit.
Woohoos are the moments we’ll remember all our lives.
God, help me lighten my spirit by putting a little woohoo into my daily life.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Do I waste my time and energy wrestling with situations that aren’t actually worth a second thought? Like Don Quixote, the bemused hero of Spanish literature, do I imagine windmills as menacing giants, battling them until I am ready to drop from exhaustion? Today, I’ll not allow my imagination to build small troubles into big ones. I’ll try to see each situation clearly, giving it only the value and attention it deserves. Have I come to believe, as the seecond of the Twelve Steps suggest, that a Power greater than myself can restore me to sanity?
Today I Pray
God, keep my perspective sane. Help me to avoid aggrandizing petty problems, trying to much significance to casual conversations,making a Vesuvius out of an anthill. Keep my fears from swelling out of scale, like shadows on a wall. Restore my values, which became distorted during thee days of my chemical invollvement.
Today I Will Remember
Sanity is perspective.
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One More Day
I will not keep myself from taking positive action. – K. O’Brien
The inability to get going can sometimes plague us. Muscles that don’t work properly or joints that won’t bend can keep us from beginning the day as we once did, even if we have excellent intentions.
Excellent intentions only, however, get us nowhere unless we act upon them. What we need is that extra measure of strength, drawn from some inner resource that we hold in store only for days such as these. Often those sources spring from our intense belief that we will make it through these difficult times. Gradually we recognize that our actions and reactions are becoming more positive.
I try to reach a little bit further for the strength I need to fulfill my good intentions.
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Food For Thought
Serenity
Serenity comes when we are tuned in to our Higher Power. Serenity enables us to take external circumstances in stride, even the most difficult ones. Serenity is a gift, which we are each free to receive daily.
Turning our will and our lives over to God, as we understand Him encourages serenity. Staying in contact with our Higher Power as we go about our daily activities produces serenity. Practicing abstinence from compulsive overeating maintains serenity.
In meeting after meeting, we hear people testify to the change that has come over them since they began the OA program. Circumstances which once would have sent them into a tailspin and into the refrigerator are now manageable. By the grace of God, they have been granted the serenity to accept the things they cannot change.
May I grow in serenity.
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One Day At A Time
~ PROGRESS ~
" ... I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy."
Marie Curie
I have always been the queen of quick fix, so if I wanted something to happen, it had to happen today if not yesterday. So coming into the program was very hard for me, in that for the first time I have had to realise that recovery is not an overnight thing. For a perfectionist like me, that has been a very hard lesson to learn, in that I don't have to have perfect recovery. My journey in this program has been an up and down one, with many slips along the way, and everytime I have slipped, I have had to remember that I may think I'm a failure, but I'm only a failure if I fail to pick myself up. In the past if I made a mistake, I was a total and utter failure, but I know now that all I have to do each time is to pick myself up, dust myself off and start over.
The other thing I've learned in the program is that I also always need to remember where I came from, and when I look back, I can see the progress I have made. My self esteem is growing, and even though I still seem to slip back into the old character defects from time to time, they are nowhere near as bad as in the past. I am able to forgive people whom I thought I would never be able to forgive, and I make amends whenever the need arises, and as a result my relationships with people have improved dramatically.
One Day at a Time . . .
May I remember that in this program, it is always progress and not perfection that counts.
~ Sharon ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
If a repetition is to be prevented, place the problem, along with everything else, in God's hands. - Pg. 120 - To Wives
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
One of the games our mind plays with us during withdrawal is to suggest that if we were addicted to one chemical, that was our problem and maybe we could use another type of chemical to help us. But switching chemicals will insure that we never get well, because the disease is not a chemical--it is a dysfunction to any mind-affecting chemical.
If I learn nothing else this hour, help me understand that the disease is not a drug but a reaction to drugs.
Gifts
Today I will be thankful for the many gifts that are mine. Life is a gift. Health is a gift. Love is a gift. Friends and family are gifts. If I take the time to say thank you, I have so many things to be thankful for. When I learn to say thank you, to give praise and gratitude, my life immediately feels more full.
I embrace the gifts that surround me
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
We often hear 'turn it over.' This means turn over problems not under our control right now--whether they are with family, friends, work, or the law--we offer the things we cannot change to a Higher Power and LET GO.
If I turn it over and don't let go, I'll be upside down!
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Put one foot in front of the other.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
It is exciting to know that I have all the strength I need today to do what is good and right in my life.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. - Judy Garland.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 22, 2018 19:14:39 GMT -5
February 22
Daily Reflections
GUIDANCE
... this means a belief in a Creator who is all power,
justice, and love; a God who intends for me a purpose,
a meaning, and a destiny to grow, however... haltingly,
toward His own likeness and image.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 51
As I began to understand my own powerlessness and my
dependence on God, as I understand Him, I began to see
that there was a life which, if I could have it, I
would have chosen for myself from the beginning. It is
through the continuous work of the Steps and the life
in the Fellowship that I've learned to see that there
is truly a better way into which I am being guided.
As I come to know more about God, I am able to trust
His ways and His plans for the development of His
character in me. Quickly or not so quickly, I grow
toward His image and likeness.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Now we can take an inventory of the good things that have
come to us through A.A. To begin with, we're sober today.
That's the biggest asset on any alcoholic's books.
Sobriety to us is like good-will in business. Everything
else depends on that. Most of us have jobs, which we owe
to our sobriety. We know we couldn't hold these jobs if
we were drinking, so our jobs depend on our sobriety.
Most of us have families, wives and children, which either
we had lost or might have lost, if we hadn't stopped
drinking. We have friends in A.A., real friends who are
always ready to help us. Do I realize that my job, my family
and my real friends are dependent upon my sobriety?
Meditation For The Day
I must trust God to the best of my ability. This lesson
has to be learned. My doubts and fears continually drive
me back into the wilderness. Doubts lead me astray, because
I am not trusting God. I must trust God's love. It will
never fail me, but I must learn not to fail it by my doubts
and fears. We all have much to learn in turning out fear by
faith. All our doubts arrest God's work through us. I must
not doubt. I must believe in God and continually work at
strengthening my faith.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may live the way God wants me to live. I pray
that I may get into that stream of goodness in the world.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
"Loners"--but Not Alone, p. 53
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 out these satisfactions.
Surrounded by so many A.A. friends, the 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. 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.
12 & 12, p. 120
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Walk In Dry Places
Staying on course___Power in purpose
When riding in an airplane on automatic pilot, I marvel at the way the aircraft stays on course even while bouncing and shaking through pockets of turbulence. Even more significant is the pilot's calm indifference to these minor movements as he checks occasionally to make sure the plane continues on the right course.
Many things that happen to us each day are no more important than the routine turbulence and aircraft encounters. But as sick, compulsive people, we sometimes view every disturbance as a terrible storm and become panicky or enraged over things that are of little consequence in the long run. "I could accept a major calamity, but a broken fingernail ruined my day," one speaker said at an AA meeting.
We can set our lives on "automatic pilot" by choosing continuing recovery as our major goal and letting all things fall in line with that. The turbulence of ordinary living cannot deflect us from our true course if we calmly accept it as natural, unavoidable, and non-threatening. Even if a real storm blows up and gives us anxious moments, we can stay on the recovery course we have chosen.
Disappointments and annoyances are part of the human condition. I will be cheerful and optimistic today even if I am bounced around a bit. There is within me an automatic pilot, through which my Higher Power leads me to continued recovery and true fulfillment as a person.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
To thine own self be true.--AA medallions
Sometimes we hear that we have a "selfish program." Being "selfish" means that we ask for help when we need it. We only go to places that are safe for us, no matter what others are doing. Being selfish comes to mean safety for us.
Being selfish doesn't mean we act like brats. We must act in ways that show respect and love---for ourselves and for others. being selfish means we do what is good for us. What is good for us? First, we have to save our lives by stopping our drinking and drugging. Next, we start working the Steps. We come to know a loving Higher Power. This is how we come to know our true self.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be true to myself and my values. Help me be "selfish" about spending time to talk with You each day.
Action for the Day: I'll list ten ways I need to be "selfish" in recovery. If I get stuck, I'll be "selfish" and ask for help.
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Each Day a New Beginning
Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind. --Helen Keller
Facing conditions we would like to change, letting go of people we wish were different, takes growth, patience, tolerance. We're so easily enticed into thinking we'd be happier, "If only he'd change," or "If I had a better job," or "If the kids would settle down." Yet we carry the seed of happiness within us every moment. Learning tolerance for all conditions will nurture that seed.
Intolerance, impatience, depression, in fact, any negative attitude is habit-forming. Many of us in this recovery program continue to struggle with the habits we've formed. Bad habits must be replaced with new, good habits. We can develop a new behavior, one that pleases us, like smiling at every stranger in a checkout line. We can repeat it in every line. It becomes a habit and a good one.
Toleration of others opens many doors, for them and for us. It nurtures the soul, ours and theirs. It breeds happiness. Those of us sharing these Steps are truly blessed. We're learning about love, how to give it and how to receive it.
There are so many eyes I'll look into today that don't know love. I will give some away with unconditional tolerance. It's a gift--to myself and others.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS
RARELY HAVE we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. 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.
p. 58
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
The Man Who Mastered Fear
He spent eighteen years in running away, and then found he didn't have to run. So he started A.A. in Detroit.
For eighteen years, from the time I was twenty-one, fear governed my life. By the time I was thirty, I had found that alcohol dissolved fear---for a little while. In the end I had tow problems instead of one: fear and alcohol.
p. 246
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
"So spoke the group conscience. The group was right and I was wrong; the voice on the subway was not the voice of God. Here was the true voice, welling up out of my friends. I listened, and - thank God - I obeyed."
p. 138
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If you find a flaw in someone else it means that you first found the flaw in yourself, otherwise you would not have recognized it.
Forgiveness is the way to true health and happiness. By not judging, we release the past and let go of our fears of the future. In so doing, we come to see that everyone is our teacher and that every circumstance is an opportunity for growth in happiness, peace and love. --Gerald G. Jampolsky
Whoever makes no mistakes is doing nothing. --Dutch Proverb
Today, I will take time to smell the flowers.
Joy isn't the absence of pain - it's the presence of God.
Worry is like a rocking chair--it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere. --Dorothy Galyean
Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey! --Barbara Hoffman
God is making something wondrous of my life. --Anita J. McIntosh
God calls us in the small choices of each day. --John Covington
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PATRIOTISM
"For us, patriotism is the same
as the love of humanity."
-- Mohandas Gandhi
Today I am on the side of mankind. I am convinced that my welfare is
generated by the peace and stability of the world. The love and joy
that produces spiritual growth stems from my relationships in the
world: we cannot exist alone.
Today I strive to bring the world and people together; we must not
seek to be the same but rather rejoice in the richness of difference.
Drugs always divide, separate and isolate; spirituality unites. Today I
am an optimist for mankind because of what has happened in my own
life.
Thank You for a humanity that can be shared.
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Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance. Proverbs 1 : 5
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him." Psalm 62:5
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait on the Lord. Psalm 31:24
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Daily Inspiration
When you need to feel better about yourself, do something nice for someone else. Lord, help that I may make someone's day a little happier.
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.
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NA Just For Today
God's Will, Or Mine?
"We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
Step Ten
In Narcotics Anonymous, we've found that the more we live in harmony with our Higher Power's will for us, the greater
the harmony in our lives. We use the Tenth Step to help us maintain that harmony. On a daily basis, we take time to
look at our behavior. Some of us measure each action with a very simple question: "God's will, or mine?"
In many cases, we find that our actions have been in tune with our Higher Power's will for us, and we in turn have
been in tune with the world around us. In some cases, however, we will discover inconsistencies between our
behavior and our values. We've been acting on our own will, not God's, and the result has been dissonance in our
lives.
When we discover such inconsistencies, we admit we've been wrong and take corrective action. With greater
awareness of what we believe God's will for us to be in such situations, we are less likely to repeat those actions. And
we are more likely to live in greater concord with our Higher Power's will for us and with the world around us.
Just for today: I wish to live in harmony with my world. Today, I will examine my actions, asking, "God's will, or mine?"
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. --Anne Frank
In the face of being hunted for extermination, Anne Frank could write this from her hiding place in an attic. Was she
naive? No. She deeply believed in the goodness of creation and the goodness of all creatures, including those who
persecuted and murdered her people.
Somehow, young as she was, Anne Frank knew a truth we sometimes lose: that it is not what people do that makes
them good or evil. It is who they are. And for Anne Frank, all people are made in the image of God--and therefore, deep
down at their core, must be good. She was able to see through the brutality and hatred to that true creation of God.
We are left in awe at such faith and love. But we can draw from it too, and when our brother or sister or parent or child
does something to hurt us, we can remember Anne Frank's ability to see what is good. We can look beneath the
hurtful actions and forgive.
Can I forgive someone who has hurt me today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. --Seneca
When we reach a stressful time in our lives, our vision gets narrow. We fail to see the options and possibilities we
have. If we give ourselves over to our worries and fears, our sight closes down even further. Finally, we reach the
point of blindness to reality and to all the support around us. In our fearful blindness we say with conviction, "This is too
difficult! There is nothing I can do."
The spiritual man strives to keep one eye on the horizon, even in a worrisome situation. He breaths deeply so he does
not tighten up or closes off his exchange with the world. He returns to the relationship he has with his Higher Power,
trusting the process to carry him through, and he opens his eyes to quietly take in the possibilities before him.
Close to my Higher Power, I have a place of calm in the midst of difficulty and see the possibilities and dare to act
upon them.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Solving Problems
I ask that You might help me work through all my problems, to Your Glory and Honor.' --Alcoholics Anonymous
Many of us lived in situations where it wasn't okay to identify, have, or talk about problems. Denial became a way of life
our way of dealing with problems
In recovery, many of us still fear problems. We may spend more time reacting to a problem than we do to solving it.
We miss the point; we miss the lesson; we miss the gift Problems are a part of life. So are solutions
A problem doesn't mean life is negative or horrible. Having a problem doesn't mean a person is deficient. All people
have problems to work through.
In recovery, we learn to focus on solving our problems. First, we make certain the problem is our problem. If it isn't,
our problem is establishing boundaries. Then we seek the best solution. This may mean setting a goal, asking for
help, gathering more information, taking an action, or letting go.
Recovery does not mean immunity or exemption from problems; recovery means learning to face and solve
problems, knowing they will appear regularly. We can trust our ability to solve problems, and know we're not doing it
alone. Having problems does not mean our Higher Power is picking on us. Some problems are part of life; others are
ours to solve, and we'll grow in necessary ways in the process.
Face and solve today's problems. Don't worry needlessly about tomorrow's problems, because when they appeal,
well have the resources necessary to solve them.
Facing and solving problems working through problems with help from a Higher Power means we're living and
growing and reaping benefits.
God, help me face and solve my problems today. Help me do my part and let the rest go. I can learn to be a problem
solver.
God is guiding me on my path to self-sufficiency and independence today. As I become willing to let go of my feelings
of inferiority and weakness, my Higher Power gives me all the strength that I need for all that comes up for me today.
--Ruth Fishel
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Journey to the Heart
Magic Is in the Air
I left Washington’s Hob Rain Forest, pausing near the moss-covered trees. My walk through Moses Park had indeed
been a trip to an enchanted forest.
Centuries-old trees, trees covered with mossy hair, shared their stories with me. Felled trees lying on their backs
beckoned me to touch, to sit, to rest a while. Sunlight glistened through the entangled underbrush. The air smelled of
nature’s sawdust. The ground was warm, moist. Nature sprites danced and played along the path. The birds
serenaded me with calls, whistles, and songs, like sounds emanating from a flute. Magic was in the air.
We can visit places that are magical to us, enchanted forests that remind us of life’s wonders. We can visit them
knowing that when we leave, we take their magic with us.
We’ll see more and more of life’s wonders in ourselves, in others, in the world we live in. People will appear in our
lives at just the right time, saying the very words we need to hear. A book will speak to us. A new way to earn money
will be revealed. A loved one may leave to follow his or her own path, and a new love will come into our lives. Old
issues will be resolved. Healers will show up on our path. Ideas will come to us, seemingly out of the blue. They’re
gifts from the universe. We can have them whenever we want and wherever we go.
Come with me to the enchanted forest. Trust the magic in the air; it is real. Take it with you wherever you go, for the
magic you feel and want is yours if you simply believe.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Stop throwing that blame around
“There are two kinds of people in the world,” a friend explained to me one day. “There are the ones who blame other
people for everything that happens. And there are the ones who blame themselves.”
Have you ever watched a movie where one of the actors used a flamethrower? In a movie I watched one day, they
called this instead a “blame thrower.” It’s a lit torch of fiery rage that we throw at either others or ourselves when
situations don’t work out the way we planned.
Blaming can be a healthy stage of grieving or letting go. But staying too long in this stage can be unproductive. It can
keep us from taking constructive action. Blaming ourselves too long can turn into self-contempt; blaming others can
keep us heavy and dark with resentments, and fuel the victim within.
If you’re going through a loss, or if life has twisted on you, pick up your blame thrower– in the privacy of your own
journal. Give yourself ten or twenty minutes to blame without censorship. Get it out. Write out everything you want to
say, whether you’re throwing blame at someone else or at yourself.
It may take longer if the loss is larger, but the point is to give yourself a limited amount of time for a blame-throwing
session, then cease fire. Stop. Move on to the next stage in living, which is letting go, accepting, and taking
responsibility for yourself.
God, help me search myself to see if I’m holding on to blame for myself or someone else. If I am, help me get it out in
the open, then help me let it go.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
When I came to The Program, I found people who knew exactly what I meant when I spoke finally of my fears. They
had been where I had been; they understood. I’ve since learned that many of my fears have to do with projection. It’s
normal, for example, to have a tiny “back-burner” fear that the person I love will leave me. But when the fear takes
precedence over my present and very real relationship with the person I’m afraid of losing, then I’m in trouble. My
responsibility to myself includes this: I must not fear things which do not exist. Am I changing from a fearful person into
a fearless person?
Today I Pray
I ask God’s help in waving away my fears — those figments, fantasies, monstrous thoughts, projections of disaster
which have no bearing on the present. May I narrow the focus of my imagination and concentrate on the here-and-
now, for I tend to see the future through a magnifying glass.
Today I Will Remember
Projected fears, like shadows, are larger than life.
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One More Day
The soul would have no rainbow
Had the eyes no tears.
– John Vance Cheney
That familiar tightening in the throat, the welling of tears behind the eyes, and deep emotional pain are all signs of an
intense need to cry. Why do we try so hard to be “brave little soldiers” and not cry when our bodies are screaming for
release?
If we hide behind false smiles and continue to keep the well of emotion untapped, eventually that well will go dry.
Deprived of this natural outlet, our minds and bodies exhaust themselves as they battle tension and stress. We lose
our ability to express ourselves emotionally. There may be no more opportunity for tears. Tears cleanse and allow
other emotions to move in and take over until we need to cry again.
Crying releases me and gives me the freedom to experience my full range of feelings.
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Food For Thought
Spirituality
Ours is a program for living spiritually as well as physically. We have found that without daily spiritual nourishment we feel an emptiness, which no amount of material things can fill. We have also found that when we were overeating and were physically glutted, we were less receptive to spiritual food.
In Step Eleven, we seek to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understand Him. We do this through daily prayer and meditation. Our contact with our Higher Power is most effective and satisfying when we are carrying out the physical part of the program by maintaining abstinence.
When we came into OA, most of us wanted to eat less in order to lose weight. As we grow through the Twelve Steps, we gradually learn that eating less physical food enables us to make more spiritual progress. The rewards of working the OA program are far greater than we had imagined! The spiritual food, which we receive from our Higher Power, begins to satisfy the emptiness which we had foolishly tried to fill with excess calories. Not only do we maintain abstinence in order to control our weight, but we also maintain it in order to grow in spirituality.
May I remember to seek spiritual food.
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One Day At A Time
~ CHILDLIKE ~
Anxiety is the rust of life,
destroying its brightness and weakening its power.
A childlike and abiding trust in Providence
is its best preventive and remedy.
Tyron Edwards
Like so many of us in OA, I grew up as a little adult. My parents didn't know better - treating me like an adult seemed a good way to them of both showing love to me and making their difficult post-war life easier. Providence was something that intervened once in a while, and in ways that were weighty and important. God was there - but God had to attend to serious matters.
There was little room in God's and my parents' life for the seemingly unimportant details of a child's world. I had no trouble internalizing that message. I learned very soon that no-one was going to take care of my "little" problems and anxieties, that I had to shove them out of the way, and that I could do that very well by daydreaming, by making sure I was the little adult my parents were so proud of - and by eating.
The trouble was that there were times when these coping mechanisms didn't work seamlessly and those anxieties would break through. Panic attacks were the result, and dogged attempts to do more of the insanity: more retreating from the world, more "adult" behaviour, more eating.
One of the things I'm learning in recovery is that paradoxically, in order to really grow up, I need to risk the vulnerability of being more childlike. I need to learn that my Higher Power is not too busy worrying about world peace to listen and deeply care about my little booboos. I need to, I WANT to develop an abiding trust that I am safe with and cared for by my Higher Power, like a baby in a mother's arms.
One day at a time ... I let go of the rust of anxiety so that like a child, I may marvel at and participate in the brightness and wonder of God's world.
~ Isabella ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Your job now is to be at the place where you may be of maximum helpfulness to others, so never hesitate to go anywhere if you can be helpful. - Pg. 102 - Working With Others
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
It has been said that there are only two times you have to diligently work this program, the first 30 days and every day after that! Actually if you think about it, that only means one day, today.
Help me work this program to the best of my ability today.
Opening to the New
Today I will be open to what life offers to me. The world comes to greet me like an old friend each morning. My daily habits comfort and ground me. The thought of moving into my day pleases me. Life unfolds one second at a time and today I will be present to witness it. How much of my life do I let pass by unnoticed? How many of my feelings go unfelt? Today I will recognize that my time on Earth is limited. I choose to value my life a day at a time and embrace it while I have it.
I am open to life
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
'You should not be esteemed by others if you have no real inner virtue.' -Dogen, The Pocket Zen Reader You get esteem by doing something esteeming.
I never have to worry about low self-esteem when I do esteeming things.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Character is how we act when we think no one is watching.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
God is guiding me on my path to self-sufficiency and independence today. As I become willing to let go of my feelings of inferiority and weakness, my Higher Power gives me all the strength that I need for all that comes up for me today.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
Wondering why I was an alcoholic was like being a man standing on a bridge, looking down at a gently flowing stream beneath. But my pants are on fire. And I'm saying: 'I wonder how these pants got on fire, was it hereditary or environmental?' Who cares. You jump in the water. - Doug D.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 22, 2018 23:04:37 GMT -5
February 23
Daily Reflections
MYSTERIOUS PARADOXES
Such is the paradox of A.A. regeneration: strength
arising out of complete defeat and weakness, the loss
of one's old life as a condition for finding a new one.
A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 46
What glorious mysteries paradoxes are! They do not
compute, yet when recognized and accepted, they reaffirm
something in the universe beyond human logic. When I
face a fear, I am given courage; when I support a
brother or sister, my capacity to love myself is
increased; when I accept a pain as part of the growing
experience of life, I realize a greater happiness; when
I look at my dark side, I am brought into new light;
when I accept my vulnerabilities and surrender to a
Higher Power, I am graced with unforeseen strength.
I stumbled through the doors of A.A. in disgrace,
expecting nothing from life, and I have been given
hope and dignity. Miraculously, the only way to keep
the gifts of the program is to pass them on.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Besides our jobs, our families, our friends and our
sobriety, we have something else which many of us found
through A.A. That's faith in a Power greater than
ourselves, to which we can turn for help: faith in that
Divine Principle in the universe which we call God and
which is on our side as long as we do the right thing.
There have been many days in the past when, if we
had taken an inventory, we'd have found ourselves very
much in the red, without sobriety and therefore without
jobs, families, friends or faith in God. We now have
these things because we're sober. Do I make one
resolution every day of my life--to stay sober?
Meditation For The Day
Love the busy life. It is a joy-filled life. Take your
fill of joy in the Spring. Live outdoors whenever
possible. Sun and air are nature's great healing forces.
That inward joy changes poisoned blood into pure,
healthy, life-giving flow. But never forget that the
real healing of the spirit comes from within, from the
close, loving contact of your spirit with God's spirit.
Keep in close communion with God's spirit day by day.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may learn to live the abundant life.
I pray that I may enjoy a close contact with God this
day and be glad in it.
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As Bill Sees It
To Deepen Our Insight, p. 54
It is necessary that we extricate from an examination of our personal
relations every bit of information about ourselves and our
fundamental difficulties that we can. Since defective relations with
other human beings have nearly always been the immediate cause of
our woes, including our alcoholism, no field of investigation could
yield more satisfying and valuable rewards than this one.
Calm, thoughtful reflection upon personal relations can deepen our
insight. We can go far beyond those things which were superficially
wrong with us, to see those flaws which were basic, flaws which
sometimes were responsible for the whole pattern of our lives.
Thoroughness, we have found, will pay--and pay handsomely.
12 & 12, p. 80
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Walk In Dry Places
We always have choices
Decision Making
Self-pity is often rooted in the strong feeling that people or conditions have victimized us. "I never had a chance" and "You deceived me!" are common complaints that reveal self-pity.
It is astonishing and humbling to learn that we always have choices, even when other people or bad conditions are grinding us down. One of the great discoveries of the Twelve Step movement is that alcoholics could begin to recover no matter how helpless they had become, no matter how far they had slid into defeat and despair. Once a decision was made to seek sobriety as a primary goal, other choices and decisions became possible.
We choose our attitudes and responses. We have neither the power nor the right to control others, but we can choose to soften our attitudes toward them, and we can forgive and release people we don't like.
We can always choose how we want to think and feel. It may take effort to break the habit of feeling victimized and sorry for ourselves, but our higher power will show us the way if we decide that is what we really want.
Nobody can ruffle my feathers today or make me feel oppressed and victimized. I can always make choices that will enhance my sobriety and place me on a better footing for the days ahead.
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Keep It Simple
Hitch your wagon to a star.---Ralph Waldo Emerson
Millions of people are sober and have peace of mind through the Twelve Steps. Like the stars, the Steps are always there. At times, clouds block our view of the stars, but we know they are still there. Let's view the Twelve Steps the same way.
It is said that the stars are the gate to heaven, that we pass through their beauty to get ready to enter heaven. The Twelve Steps are the gate to spirituality here on earth. We travel through their beauty on our way to a spiritual awakening. Hitch your wagon to the Steps, and get ready for the ride of a lifetime.
Prayer for the Day: I pray to remember that the Steps keep me sober. I pray that I will follow where the Steps take me.
Action For the Day: I'll look at the stars tonight. I'll think of them as symbols of my life touched by the Twelve Steps.
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Each Day a New Beginning
I want to dance always, to be good and not evil, and when it is all over not to have the feeling that I might have done better.
--Ruth St. Denis
Our wants in life may be simple, or they may be complex. They may yet be confused in our minds, but the clarity will come if we're patient. God has a way of giving us an "inner tug" when a certain direction beckons. Our responsibility is to follow that tug and trust it, fully. Too often we look back on our lives with regret. What is done, is done. We learned lessons from those mistakes. Every day is a new beginning. And we can close every day with no regrets when we have followed our consciences, that "inner tug" that beckons.
The opportunities will come today. Opportunities to be good or evil. Opportunities for making choices over which we will feel good or full of regret at the day's close. Many of our choices will bring us closer to the satisfaction, the contentment with life, that we all search for as women, as human beings. We need not fear coming to life's close, wishing we had done more or better. Living each day in good conscience, waiting for the tug and following it, will ensure a life well lived.
My ego can block out the tug, if I let it. Or I can trust.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS
Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it--then you are ready to take certain steps.
At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.
p. 58
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
The Man Who Mastered Fear
He spent eighteen years in running away, and then found he didn't have to run. So he started A.A. in Detroit.
I came from a good family. I believe the sociologists would call it upper middle class. By the time I was twenty-one, I had had six years of life in foreign countries, spoke three languages fluently, and had attended college for two years. A low ebb in the family fortunes necessitated my going to work when I was twenty. I entered the business world with every confidence that success lay ahead of me. I had been brought up to believe this, and I had shown during my teens considerable enterprise and imagination about earning money. To the best of my recollection, I was completely free from my abnormal fears. Vacations from school and from work spelled "travel" to me---and I traveled with gusto. During my first year out of college, I had endless dates and went to countless dances, balls, and dinner parties.
p. 246
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
This Tradition is packed with meaning. For A.A. is really saying to every serious drinker, "You are an A.A. member if you say so. You can declare yourself in; nobody can keep you out. No matter who you are, no matter how low you've gone, no matter how grave your emotional complications - even your crimes - we still can't deny you A.A. We don't want to keep you out. We aren't a bit afraid you'll harm us, never mind how twisted or violent you may be. We just want to be sure that you get the same great chance for sobriety that we've had. So you're an A.A. member the minute you declare yourself."
p. 139
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The Seven "T's" ...
Take Time To Think The Thing Through.
In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. --Anne Frank
So, don't take for granted just what you see. Look under the mask, that's where the real person will be. --author unknown
God is present in all things, even those events and circumstances that seem terrible. Within any circumstance is the seed that can bear the fruit of the greater good, if we are willing to ask God to lead us in bringing forth that good. --Mary Manin Morrissey
Laughter is the sound of recovery.
"It doesn't matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off! You cannot make progress without making decisions." --Jim Rohn
"You can accomplish virtually anything if you want it badly enough and if you are willing to work long enough and hard enough." --Brian Tracy
"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination." --Tommy Lasorda
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
THOUGHT
"I was a free-thinker before I
knew how to think."
-- George Bernard Shaw
All of us are influenced by somebody. Not to be influenced is to
remain an ignorant person. Most of us hinder our thinking,
particularly around spiritual things, because of pride. We don't like
change. We find it hard to accept attitudes and opinions that differ
from our own. Pride keeps us deaf and often stupid. However, the
daily program of a lived spirituality encourages a variety of opinions
and attitudes. We can learn from different customs, lifestyles and
religions. We can be helped in our understanding of life by the
stranger.
I know that I do not have all the answers. Perhaps you carry my
answers. Today I am prepared to listen to you.
God, the sustainer of all religions and philosophies, help us to
discover You in our differences.
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It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30
"But he said, 'What is impossible with men is possible with God.'" Luke 18:27
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2
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Daily Inspiration
There is no better time than right now to do what we have been putting off. Lord, grant me motivation and focus that I may live so as to have no regrets about what I should have done.
If you feel the need to get even, try getting even with those that have helped you. Lord, free me from any thoughts of revenge because this only shuts the door to my own happiness.
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NA Just For Today
Messages And Messengers
"Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."
Tradition Twelve
The Twelfth Tradition reminds us of the importance of putting "principles before personalities." In recovery meetings,
this might be paraphrased, "don't shoot the messenger!" We often get the message confused with the messenger,
and negate what someone shares at a meeting because we have personality conflicts with the person speaking.
If we are having problems with what certain people have to share at meetings, we might want to seek the guidance of
our sponsor. Our sponsor can help us concentrate on what's being said rather than who's saying it. Our sponsor can
also help us address the resentments that may be keeping us from acknowledging the value of some particular
person's recovery experience. It is surprising how much more we can get out of meetings when we allow ourselves to
do as our Twelfth Tradition suggests, focusing on recovery principles rather than personalities.
Just for today: I will practice the principle of anonymity in today's NA meeting. I will focus on the message of recovery,
not the personality of the messenger.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
A person's best ally is someone who takes care of herself. --Susan Clarke
Once there was a little girl who was learning to walk. The trouble was, her mother wouldn't let her fall down. Every
time she was about to fall, her mother would rush over and catch her.
It was hard to learn how to walk if she couldn't fall down, but the girl was too little to be able to tell her mother. Her
mother thought she was taking care of her when in fact she was keeping her from learning to take care of herself.
Letting her fall would have shown trust in the child, trust that she could get up. It would have taught her that she wasn't
so fragile that she couldn't recover if she hurt herself.
We are all like this mother once in a while, protecting one another from important lessons in life. This doesn't mean
we have to let someone get seriously hurt, but that we allow each other the freedom to learn and grow in individual
ways.
What will I be able to learn from my little stumbles today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
A man who studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green. --Francis Bacon
Where do we direct our energy? Are we spending time and thought on how we have been wronged? On the
unfairness of life? Those who consume their resources in this way have few left for growth and development. Their
wounds stay open for years, and they block the healing.
What will we need to set aside our resentments and hateful attitudes? Perhaps we have been passively waiting for the
other guy to make amends. That only puts our enemies in charge of us. It would be better if we could say; "I am going
to move on. The change that is needed for me to heal will come from within me. I will not put my happiness in
another's hands." More than revenge, we want a life worth living - for ourselves and the ones we love. We can give our
energies to that.
Lift from me the desire for revenge. Replace it with the fullness of a healed life.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Strength
We don't always have to be strong to be strong. Sometimes, our strength is expressed in being vulnerable.
Sometimes, we need to fall apart to regroup and stay on track.
We all have days when we cannot push any harder, cannot hold back self doubt, cannot stop focusing on fear, cannot
be strong.
There are days when we cannot focus on being responsible. Occasionally we don't want to get out of our pajamas.
Sometimes, we cry in front of people. We expose our tiredness, irritability, or anger.
Those days are okay. They are just okay.
Part of taking care of ourselves means we give ourselves permission to "fall apart" when we need to. We do not have
to be perpetual towers of strength. We are strong. We have proven that. Our strength will continue if we allow
ourselves the courage to feel scared, weak, and vulnerable when we need to experience those feelings.
Today, God, help me to know that it is okay to allow myself to be human. Help me not to feel guilty or punish myself
when I need to "fall apart."
Today I have the courage to own my own unhappiness, daring to look within to discover its source. Today I treat
myself as a friend, with gentleness and acceptance. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey to the Heart
Let Power Come Gently
Let your powers emerge gradually, gently.
Go gently on your path and look around. See what you have learned to define as power. See with the eyes of your
heart.
You used to think you were powerful when you resisted your emotions, when you held back and didn’t express
yourself. You thought power came from being who you thought you should be, instead of who you are. Now you have
learned that only when you are who you really are, can true power emerge.
The powers you’ve discovered are many. Your power to be decent, loving, and kind. Your power to heal, to be gentle,
to comfort others. Your power to see and know the truth, and at times to see more than you can see with your eyes.
Your power to take your place in the dance of universal love, and let the universe dance for you.
These powers have been gifts. You’ve seen them. You understand them. You know they’re real. The choice to
embrace and use them is yours.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Learn to fly
Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.
–Erica Jong
There is always someone else to take the fall if our plans don’t work out: “I would have been more successful, but the
economy was slow this year.” “Well, that sounds nice, but my therapist says that I should avoid too much stress.” “I
wanted to do that, but my husband didn’t like the idea.”
What a frightening prospect it is to take your life into your own hands, to decide whether or not you will accept full
responsibility for all of your actions and choices.
What an amazing– and sometimes terrifying– freedom complete responsibility for your actions brings! Sometimes we
make mistakes. Sometimes we stumble and fall. But oh, the feeling when you finally get it right, when you decide to
take that step and it works! That’s when you discover that those fragile butterfly wings on your back are not there just
for ornamentation. You can fly!
Take charge of your life. Take responsibility for your actions. Ultimately no one chooses what you will do but you,
anyway. Enjoy the freedom. You’ve had it all along.
God, help me take complete responsibility for my own actions. Give me the guidance and power, to steer my own
course according to the dictates of my heart and my conscience.
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
The Twelve Steps teach us that as faith grows, so does security. The terrifying fear of nothingness begins to subside.
As we work The Program, we find that the basic antidote for fear is a spiritual awakening. We lose the fear of making
decisions, for we realize that if our choice proves wrong, we can learn from the experience. and should our decision
be the right one, we can thank God for giving us the courage and the grace that caused us so to act. Am I grateful for
the courage and grace I receive from my Higher Power?
Today I Pray
I ask that I be given the power to act knowing that I have at least a half-chance to make the right decision and that I can
learn from a wrong one. for so long, decision-making seemed beyond my capabilities. Now, I can find joy in being able
to make choices. Thank you, God, for courage.
Today I Will Remember
Freedom is choosing.
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One More Day
Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations?
– Kahil Gibran
We may, at times, represent ourselves in an untrue fashion. This may happen when we are trying to impress
someone who doesn’t know us well. We may unconsciously try to imitate another person. Yet in doing so we are not
being faithful to the gift of our own uniqueness.
Our need to “prove ourselves” diminished only when self-esteem and self-awareness blossom. As we become more
secure, we begin to honestly express ourselves and our faith. We no longer need heroes to worship; we can instead
honor the gift of life.
I find comfort in the honest expression of my beliefs and feelings.
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One Day At A Time
HUMILITY
To the humble man, and to the humble man alone,
the sun is really a sun;
to the humble man, and to the humble man alone,
the sea is really a sea.
G.K. Chesterton
Before I started recovery, lack of clarity was all around me and within me. There was too much fear. I was unable to acknowledge: This is who I am, and this is what's going on, no more, and no less. I was afraid to name my husband's abusive behaviour. I was afraid to name my complicity in it. I was afraid to name who I was and what I wanted and needed, and I was afraid to name the behaviour of those around me who wanted me to fit into their mould. My husband was scared silly that one day the world would find out that we weren't the perfect family.
So I was not humble. I kept nurturing the fog that covered what was really going on. And boy, was I good at it. I kind of had an inkling that something wasn't right, so, semi-consciously, I made sure that my denial was watertight. I knew that if we pretended that we were a 100% perfect family, there might be suspicions. So I made sure I'd slip in a little problem here and there.
At one point, luckily, I allowed the bubble to burst. I started naming things, loud and clear. I named them to the police, I named them to my friends and family, I named them in my poetry. I started playing with another 12-step program.
But it took me another twelve years to name that I was an overeater. In those years I gained another 70 pounds (with some yoyo dieting thrown in, of course). Humbly admitting that, yes, really, I was an overeater, was the best thing I've done since ridding my family of my abusive spouse. I humbly admitted that I had been abusing myself with my eating behaviours. Now I can see clearly. (I can also see more clearly how wounded my ex spouse is, making it easier for me to work on forgiving him).
One day at a time ... I accept the gift of humility. I am not afraid anymore to look reality in the eye - and what I see is as right as the sun and the sea.
~ I.M.
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Both you and the new man must walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress. If you persist, remarkable things will happen. - Pg. 100 - Working With Others
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Self will and 'running the show' can be like the monkey who sticks his hand into the trap for food. He grasps the food tightly creating a fist that won't fit out the trap door. The monkey struggles but won't release the food and he is trapped. Simply letting go would free him. Holding tight to your will and your way can be the fist that traps you. Let Go and Let God.
I let go of my tight grip by not insisting everything be my way. I say, 'Let Go and Let God' often to remind myself I don't want to be trapped. What a relief.
The Healing Universe
Everywhere I look life is in a process of healing from something. A plant that has been stepped on fights to come back to life. A tree that has lost branches sprouts new growth. An animal that has lost a leg learns to run on three. Life is always reaching for life. It's an unbroken circle. Like a lover reaching for their beloved , or a child holding onto his mother until the pain passes. Life is programmed to heal itself and it will strive towards that with all its will. I will allow this powerful force that's build into my DNA to work its magic on me. I won't resist my own healing. I will allow it in.
I am built to heal
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
The safest banks fail, corporations fold, loved ones die, all things change. Your life now changes like the tides or the seasons. You are not alone in this change. Seek out others who have experienced relief from your problem of choice and let them guide you through it.
I can change my clothes and change my address but until I change myself, I cannot grow.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
If you want to feel better, clean house. If you want to get better, find God.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I have the courage to own my own unhappiness, daring to look within to discover its source. Today I treat myself as a friend, with gentleness and acceptance.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
An alcoholic who stops drinking, is like the guy who jumps into the water only to find that he can't swim. And AA isn't the water you jump into when your pants are on fire, AA is a bunch of idiots in a life boat with charred britches who come along and give swimming lessons. - Doug D.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 24, 2018 0:07:01 GMT -5
February 24
Daily Reflections
A THANKFUL HEART
I try 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 ever know.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 37
My sponsor told me that I should be a grateful alcoholic
and always have "an attitude of gratitude"--that
gratitude was the basic ingredient of humility, that
humility was the basic ingredient of anonymity, and that
"anonymity was the spiritual foundation of all our
Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before
personalities." As a result of his guidance, I start
every morning on my knees, thanking God for three things:
I'm alive, I'm sober, and I'm a member of Alcoholics
Anonymous. Then I try to live an "attitude of gratitude"
and thoroughly enjoy another twenty-four hours of the
A.A. way of life. A.A. is not something I joined; it's
something I live.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When we came to our first A.A. meeting, we looked up at
the wall at the end of the room and saw the sign: " But
for the Grace of God." We knew right then and there that
we would have to call on the grace of God in order to get
sober and get over our soul-sickness. We heard speakers
tell how they had come to depend on a Power greater than
themselves. That made sense to us and we made up our minds
to try it. Am I depending on the grace of God to help keep me
sober?
Meditation For The Day
Share your love, your joy, your happiness, your time, your
food, your money gladly with all. Give out all the love you
can with a glad, free heart and hand. Do all you can for
others and back will come countless stores of blessings.
Sharing draws others to you. Take all who come as sent by
God and give them a royal welcome. You may never see the
results of your sharing. Today they may not need you, but
tomorrow may bring results from the sharing you did today.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may make each visitor desire to return. I pray
that I may never make anyone feel repulsed or unwanted.
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As Bill Sees It
Seeking Guidance, p. 55
"Man is supposed to think, and act. He wasn't made in God's image
to be an automation.
"My own formula along this line runs as follows: First, think through
every situation pro and con, praying meanwhile that I be not
influenced by ego considerations. Affirm that I would like to do
God's will.
"Then, having turned the problem over in this fashion and getting no
conclusive or compelling answer, I wait for further guidance, which
may come into mind directly or through other people or through
circumstances.
"If I feel I can't wait, and still get no definite indication, I repeat the
first measure several times, try to pick out the best course, and then
proceed to act. I know if I am wrong, the heavens won't fall. A
lesson will be learned, in any case."
Letter, 1950
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Selfishness____Self-improvement
We're told again and again that we have to be selfish about our own recovery, but this seems to be in conflict with the fact that selfishness is the root of our problem. How can selfishness be both good and bad?
The selfishness we need for recovery is a devotion to self-improvement, rather than the selfish indulgence that made us sick. One is a giving of ourselves, the other is frantic taking that leads to destruction. The person who seeks self-improvement is competing only against his or her former self. The sick brand of selfishness, on the other hand, is usually involved in unhealthy competition with others.
There is no easy way to test whether our selfishness is the right kind. If our conduct leads to long-term happiness and higher self-esteem, it is probably right. If it harms us or others, something is wrong. We can correct this by getting back to the basics of the program and pursing self-improvement rather than self-indulgence.
Just for today, I will take part in that which will obviously benefit everyone.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Failure is impossible. ---Susan B. Anthony
Failure is an attitude. Having an attitude of failure can't help us. It can only hurt us. If we're not careful, it can grow into a way of life. So, when we feel like failures, we better look at our attitudes.
An attitude of failure often comes from making mistakes. But we can learn to see our mistakes as lessons. This turns mistakes into gains, not failures. Sometimes, we try to do things that just can't be done.
When we act like we know everything, we're going to fail. if we try to act like God, we're going to fail.
We can't control others. We can't know everything. We're not God. We're human. If we act human, we've already won.
Prayer for the Day: Higher power, help me to learn from my attitudes. Whatever the outcome, help me learn.
Action for the Day: Facing our past "failures" is the first step to learning from them. I'll talk to my sponsor about a past "failure" and the good that came from it.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
The beauty of the world has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder. --Virginia Woolf
Anguish is undoubtedly more familiar to us than is the beauty of laughter. We feel anguish over our failings; we feel anguish over our losses; we feel anguish over the attempts to succeed that beckon to us.
Anguish comes of fear. And we so hope to avoid it. However, it seasons us as women; it enriches us even while it momentarily diminishes us. It is a major contributor to the sum and substance of our lives. The anguish we experience prepares us to help others experience their own particular anguish.
Our laughter, too, must be savored and shared. And laughter builds more laughter. Laughter lends a perspective on our anguish. Life is made richer, fuller, by the ebb and flow, the laughter and the anguish in concert.
If only we could remember, when the anguish is present, that it is making our Spirits whole. That it, along with laughter, is a healer of the soul. That it lifts our load at the same time that it burdens us. That it prepares us to better receive life's other gifts.
I can help another face anguish. It brings us together. It softens me. And it makes way for the laughter soon to come.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS
Remember that we deal with alcohol--cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power--that One is God. May you find Him now!
pp. 58-59
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
The Man Who Mastered Fear
He spent eighteen years in running away, and then found he didn't have to run. So he started A.A. in Detroit.
Suddenly all this changed. I underwent a shattering nervous breakdown. Three months in bed. Three more months of being up and around the house for brief periods and in bed the rest of the time. Visits from friends that lasted over fifteen minutes exhausted me. A complete checkup at one of the best hospitals revealed nothing. I heard for the first time an expression that I was to grow to loathe: "There is nothing organically wrong." Psychiatry might have helped, but psychiatrists had not penetrated the Middle West.
p. 246 - 247
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
To establish this principle of membership took years of harrowing experience. In our early time, nothing seemed so fragile, so easily breakable as an A.A. group. Hardly an alcoholic we approached paid any attention; most of those who did join us were like flickering candles in a windstorm. Time after time, their uncertain flames blew out and couldn't be relighted. Our unspoken, constant thought was "Which of us may be the next?"
p. 139
************************************************** *********
If I linger with half truths, alibis, excuses, I will reap the
consequences.
Hold your head high. Rise above the situation.
A new day is dawning. Look forward to a better time.
You have done your best. Forget the rest.
This is growth. We struggle, we learn, we overcome.
--Author Unknown
Words you speak can be your best attribute or your worst weapon.
It's up to you on how you decide to use them. Remember though,
it only takes once to say the wrong thing forever.
A smile is a gift you give to someone else.
We all have a "bad" day every once in a while. Your strength is determined by whether
or not you let that "bad" day ruin your day.
Being thoughtful only takes a moment of your time.
Being thoughtless will require more in explanations and apologies.
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
SELF
"Wherever two people meet,
there are really six people
present. There is each man as he
sees himself, each man as the
other person sees him, and each
man as he really is."
-- William James
Part of my spiritual journey involves the discovery of "self". For
years I pretended to be what I was not; for years I pretended to be
what I imagined myself to be; for years I pretended to be what you
wanted me to be --- always my real "self" eluded me.
Today I am beginning to know myself. I know my needs. I understand
my strengths. I accept my weaknesses and I live with my confusions.
>From the time I decided to put down the glass of alcohol, it
progressively got better --- but there is still a great deal I do not
understand. Man's inhumanity to man, the daily violence and
suffering, my own personal greed, cowardice and arrogance --- where
does it come from? I don't know and today that is okay. However, I
still search; my suspicion is that the answer lies within my own
insecurities.
In Your time, Master, may I grow in my understanding of self.
************************************************** *********
"Truly, I say to you, whoever says to the mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,'
and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be
done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have
received it and it will be yours."
Mark 11:23-24
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful;
he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,
he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
I Corinthians 10:13
"See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and
that is what we are.... Beloved, we are God's children now."
1 John 3:1-2
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
When you follow God's way, your life will flourish according to His great plan for you. Lord, guide me and make me aware of the ways You are working in my life.
Use the power of positive images in your mind to bring about good experiences. Lord, I will let my faith in You nourish my thoughts so that I can develop a healthy and joyful reality.
************************************************** *********
NA Just For Today
A New Influence
"Personality change was what we really needed. Change from self-destructive patterns of life became necessary."
Basic Text, p. 15
In early life, most of us were capable of joy and wonder, of giving and receiving unconditional love. When we started
using, we introduced an influence into our lives that slowly drove us away from those things. The further we were
pushed down the path of addiction, the further we withdrew from joy, wonder, and love.
That journey was not taken overnight. But however long it took, we arrived at the doors of NA with more than just a
drug problem. The influence of addiction had warped our whole pattern of living beyond recognition.
The Twelve Steps work miracles, its true, but not many of them are worked overnight. Our disease slowly influenced
our spiritual development for the worse. Recovery introduces a new influence to our lives, a source of fellowship and
spiritual strength slowly impelling us into new, healthy patterns of living.
This change, of course, doesn't "just happen." But if we cooperate with the new influence NA has brought to our lives,
over time we will experience the personality change we call recovery. The Twelve Steps provide us with a program for
the kind of cooperation required to restore joy, wonder, and love to our lives.
Just for today: I will cooperate with the new influence of fellowship and spiritual strength NA has introduced to my life, I
will work the next step in my program.
************************************************** *********
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Thoughts--just mere thoughts--are as powerful as electric batteries--as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one
as poison. --Frances Hodgson Burnett
The truck was in mud to its axles. Three lumberjacks sat in stony silence in the cab. There they were, stuck in the
woods on their way to the cutting site. The first man slammed the steering wheel, cursed, and stormed out of the
truck. The second thought the early morning woods inviting, and said he'd just crawl under a pine to nap until
someone came along to pull them out. The third man, left alone, grabbed an axe and a saw and set about cutting
wood to slide under the wheels. Within an hour he managed to pull the truck out of its muddy bath and they got on
their way.
We can choose how we respond to an obstacle. As with the three men, our response may be to curse and give up, to
sit back and wait for someone else to help us, or to set to work fearlessly to try to overcome it ourselves. The event
itself isn't important; how we think about it is.
Is there an obstacle in my way today
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
It doesn't happen all at once.... You become. It takes a long time. --Margery Williams
Our spiritual awakening is partly a process of becoming real. We're moving from the external controls of image and
others' opinions to the internal controls of honesty, listening to our inner voice, and having true relationships. We are
shedding the games that maintained our old style of life - "macho" or "hero" or "poor me."
In place of the old phony surface, we are developing a real relationship with ourselves. We are becoming more aware
- of emotions, of need for rest, of violations of our values. Sometimes change comes in a flash of insight or a moment
of sudden, piercing awareness, but more often it comes a little bit at a time. As we work the Steps, as we are true to
our inner voice, as we keep returning to conscious contact with our Higher Power, as we get closer to our friends, we
become more real to ourselves.
As I grow, I see that I was always real. I was just looking at the outside.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Recognizing Feelings
Experiencing feelings can be a challenge if we've had no previous experience or permission to do that. Learning to
identify what we're feeling is a challenge we can meet, but we will not become experts overnight. Nor do we have to
deal with our feelings perfectly.
Here are some ideas that might be helpful as you learn to recognize and deal with feelings.
Take out a sheet of paper. On the top of it write, "If it was okay to feel whatever I'm feeling, and I wouldn't be judged as
bad or wrong, what would I be feeling?" Then write whatever comes to mind. You can also use the favorite standby of
many people in discovering their feelings: writing or journaling. You can keep a diary, write letters you don't intend to
send, or just scribble thoughts onto a note pad.
Watch and listen to yourself as an objective third person might. Listen to your tone of voice and the words you use.
What do you hear? Sadness, fear, anger, happiness?
What is your body telling you? Is it tense and rigid with anger? Running with fear? Heavy with sadness and grief?
Dancing with joy?
Talking to people in recovery helps too. Going to meetings helps. Once we feel safe, many of us find that we open up
naturally and with ease to our feelings.
We are on a continual treasure hunt in recovery. One of the treasures we're seeking is the emotional part of
ourselves. We don't have to do it perfectly. We need only be honest, open, and willing to try. Our emotions are there,
waiting to share themselves with us.
Today, I will watch myself and listen to myself as I go through my day. I will not fudge myself for what I'm feeling; I will
accept myself.
I am growing in my ability to trust what feels good and right. Today I can look with and wait until I know with my heart. -
-Ruth Fishel
****************************************
Journey to the Heart
There Is Power in Stillness
Our miracles and life’s magic don’t appear when we’re restless and frantic. The miracles and magic happen when
we’re still, quiet, calm, and trusting.
Each of us has favorite items and places that help to calm and quiet us. What stills our mind? A walk in the park, a
special place in the city, a quiet room? An old chenille robe? A rock, a cross, a picture, a lit candle?
Use these places and things to find that place of stillness in yourself. Find the power in stillness. It’s a power that
comes gently, like the morning sunrise or the evening stars.
Take time each day to seek out stillness, to find that sacred spot. Let your mind and soul be at ease. Don’t grasp and
grab for the magic and miracles. When you reside in that place of stillness, the joy, miracles, and magic you’re
seeking will find you.
****************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
Seek the adventure in your life
...adventure is not made up of distant lands and mountaintops, rather it lies in one's readiness to exchange the
domestic hearth for an uncertain resting place.
--Reinhold Messner, Free Spirit
It isn't necessary for us to travel the world in search of the next high mountain or wild, desolate place to find an
adventure. Adventure lies in our perspective and in our attitude. It is our approach to life, rather than the actual
circumstances of it, that determines how much adventure we have. Adventure for one person may mean seeking out
a dream that has been long neglected. Perhaps adventure for another means losing weight, changing an outgrown
image, getting sober, learning to be in a love relationship, or simply experiencing joy.
It's good to make ourselves comfortable, but don't get so comfortable in front of that hearth that you never want to
grow or change. Water that never moves become stagnant and poisoned; so it is with the human spirit. We are given
life to live.
Look at your life and see if there is some area where you,too, can seek out an uncertain resting place. Maybe work,
love, or an area of spiritual growth? Some new or long forgotten lesson is waiting to be discovered or rediscovered by
you.
Say woohoo. Be uncomfortable for a while. It's never too late to learn and experience something new.
God, instill in me a spirit of adventure as I pursue my life.
****************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
I can banish fear by realizing the truth. Am I afraid to be alone? This fear can be banished by the realization that I am
never alone, that god is always with me wherever I am and whatever I do. Am I afraid that I won’t have enough money
to meet my needs? this fear can be banished by the realization that god is my inexhaustible, unfailing resource, now
and always. Today I have the power to change fear into faith. Can I say with confidence, “I will trust, and will not be
afraid..”?
Today I Pray
That I may fear no evil, for God is with me. that I may learn to turn to my Higher Power when I am afraid. I pray
diligently that my faith in god and trust in what He has in store for me is strong enough to banish the fears that
undermine my courage.
Today I Will Remember
Turn fear into Faith.
****************************************
One More Day
The future is like heaven — everyone exalts it but no one wants to go there now.
– James Baldwin
There are people called futurist who specialize in studying trends and attitudes and who then form theories as to what
the future will hold. Having a reasoned opinion about future needs is important for business, education, and industry.
It’s probably not so important for us. We work harder to understand today and to discover what this day can hold for
us.
We aren’t scientist or researchers; we are more like explorers who face uncharted territory. Each morning we’re
unaware of all teh events and surprises that lie ahead, but we are the only ones who can choose the direction this day
will take. We don’t want to and we don’t need to worry about the future because right now we have this gift of time to
use for ourselves and for those who are close to us.
I will glory in this day and fill it with living.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
~ ANIMAL TEACHERS ~
For perhaps if the truth were known, we’re all a little blind,
a little deaf, a little handicapped, a little lonely, a little less than perfect.
And if we can learn to appreciate and utilize the dog’s full potential,
we will, together, make it in this life on earth.
Charlotte Schwartz
So many times it feels that what we are being asked is too great. We can barely care for ourselves so how can we possibly reach out our hand to another? How many times have we cried out for someone else to please “handle it” because we just weren't able?
There are so many lessons that come by working with animals. They know nothing of dishonesty. They can't lie. They force us to be honest with ourselves. They depend on us completely, even when we feel we have nothing to give. And our reward? Unconditional love. There is something extra special about a rescued animal. It is as though they know that their life was in darkest peril and they have been saved. The gratitude shows in their eyes, their kisses of devotion, their entire being. Any kindness shown is rewarded. I think this is no different than a member of OA, especially the new members. Any kindness, and the gratitude flows. These newbies know they too have been saved. So perhaps the next time you feel you have nothing to offer, and that what you have been asked is too great, take a moment to reflect on the moment you were ‘saved’. How did you feel the first time someone reached out to you?
One day at a time...
I can use the memory of my first encounters with OA to find the strength to reach out one more time. I know the rewards will be infinite.
~ Mary W. ~
*****************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
We do not want to be the arbiter of anyone's sex conduct. We all have sex problems. We'd hardly be human if we didn't. - Pg. 69 - How It Works
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
For awhile, you will have to adjust to every new day without your beloved and betrayed drug of choice. You will sometimes wonder, 'Will I ever get used to this?'
Each dawn heralds a new day and I must reinvest with new people and new principles. It is not easy but I emerge from the dark through the dawn of the 12 steps.
Inner Cleansing
I am in a process of healing. I am taking the time to allow my body to become clean and whole and as I do that, my mind seems to heal, too. Thoughts arise, thoughts I have blocked out during normal waking hours. They scare me, sometimes. Where are they coming from. Me? But as I allow them to come forward a curious thing happens. They become less threatening. They are, after all, just thoughts. They only really have power when I fear them and push them away. If I welcome them into the sun lit rooms of my mind, they sort of spread out and relax. They are just fears. Anxieties. Parts of me I don't want to know about. But today I understand that I cannot really keep secrets from me. Today I let these thoughts have room to breathe and as they do, a curious thing happens. They dissipate.
I awaken to my inner life
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Our disease had so much control over our lives, that it not only made us do things we did not want to do, but would not let us do things that we wanted to.
My disease used to make my choices. Now I do.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
If you fail to change the person you were when you came in, that person will take you out!
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I am growing in my ability to trust what feels good and right. Today I can look with and wait until I know with my heart.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
If I'd known I was going to live this long I'd have taken better care of myself.' - Unknown origin.
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Post by majestyjo on Feb 25, 2018 4:55:54 GMT -5
February 25
Daily Reflections
THE CHALLENGE OF FAILURE
In God's economy, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we learn a
lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 31
How thankful I am today, to know that all my past failures were
necessary for me to be where I am now. Through much pain came
experience and, in suffering, I became obedient. When I sought God,
as I understand Him, He shared His treasured gifts. Through
experience and obedience, growth started, followed by gratitude. Yes, then
came peace of mind -- living in and sharing sobriety.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Some people find it hard to believe in a Power greater than themselves.
But not to believe in such a Power forces us to atheism. It has been said
that atheism is blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe
originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes nowhere. That's practically
impossible to believe. I think we all can agree that alcohol is a power
greater than ourselves. It certainly was in my case. I was helpless
before the power of alcohol. Do I remember the things that happened to
me because of the power of alcohol?
Meditation For The Day
The spiritual and moral will eventually overcome the material and
unmoral. That is the purpose and destiny of the human race. Gradually
the spiritual is overcoming the material in our minds. Gradually the
moral is overcoming the unmoral. Faith, fellowship, and service are
cures for most of the ills of the world. There is nothing in the field of
personal relationships that they cannot do.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may do my share in making a better world. I pray that I
may be part of the cure for the ills of the world.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Facing Criticism, p. 56
Sometimes, we register surprise, shock, and anger when people find
fault with A.A. We are apt to be disturbed to such an extent that we
cannot benefit by constructive criticism.
This sort of resentment makes no friends and achieves no
constructive purpose. Certainly, this is an area in which we can
improve.
<< << << >> >> >>
It is evident that the harmony, security, and future effectiveness of
A.A. will depend largely upon our maintenance of a thoroughly
nonaggressive and pacific attitude in all our public relations. This is
an exciting assignment, because in our drinking days we were prone
to anger, hostility, rebellion, and aggression. And, even though we
are now sober, the old patterns of behavior are to a degree still with
us, always threatening to explode on any good excuse.
But we now know this, and therefore I feel confident that in the
conduct of our public affairs we shall always find the grace to exert
restraint.
1. Grapevine, July 1965
2. Twelve Concepts, p. 68
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Malicious Gossip____Honest Motives
"Without really knowing what was happening, I said something bad today about a person I secretly resented. When it occurred to me that my remark could come back to hurt me, I had a moment of panic," an AA member said. "With little reflection, however, I realized that the more serious problem was the dishonesty that caused me to belittle somebody behind hie back!"
We are growing up when we come to see that gossip feeds on our own insecurity and self-deception. When we are unwilling to part company with gossip, we devise subtle ways to keep it in our lives. We can gossip by steering the conversation to a topic that is likely to bring revealing comments. We also gossip by reveling in lurid accounts of others' sins and failings. We should even ask ourselves if we are gossiping when we "discuss" another member who is not living up to our ideas of true Twelve Step standards. This is often prefaced by the remark, "I don't want to take Joe's inventory, but….."
We cannot live freely and happily if we practice gossip in any form. The practice may be hidden, but it leaves us with guilt, fear, and shame. We cannot gossip and be completely trustworthy and reliable.
I will truly mind my own business today. Forgiving myself for past excursions into gossip, I will say nothing about others behind their backs. If somebody has gossip to share, I will politely move to another topic.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.---Willaim James
Step Two speaks of believing. For many years, we had given up believing in ourselves, in a Higher Power, and in others. We believed in getting high. Now our program tells us to believe in love. We are lovable, and we can love others without hurting them. Of course, believing is an important part of recovery.
To believe means to put aside our doubts. To believe means to have hope. Believing makes the road a little smoother. So, believing lets the healing happen a little faster. All of this is how we get ready to let in the care of our Higher Power.
Prayer for the Day: I pray for the courage to believe. I'll not let doubt into my heart. I can recover. I can give myself totally to this simple program.
Action for the Day: I'll list four times doubt got in my way. And I'll think of what I can do to not let that happen again.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
You need only claim the events of your life to make yourself yours. --Florida Scott-Maxwell
The search is on. Everyone, everywhere, asks the question at some time, "Who am I?" Women like ourselves are fortunate to have this program. It shows us the way to self-discovery. It directs our steps to the celebration of self that is a gift of recovery. The events of our past may plague us. But they did contribute to the fullness we feel today. And for them, for their involvement in who we've become, we can be grateful.
Claiming ourselves, the good and the bad, is healing. It's taking responsibility--for where we were and where we're going. Claiming ourselves makes us the active participants in our lives. The choices are many and varied. Not actively participating in life is also a choice. Passivity may have been our dominant choice in years gone by. But now, today, we are choosing recovery. We are choosing action that is healing, and wholeness is the result.
Making myself mine, will exhilarate me. It will give me hope. It will prepare me for anything to come. I will know a new joy.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS
Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. we asked His protection and care with complete abandon.
Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol- that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than our-selves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. 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.
pp. 59-60
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
The Man Who Mastered Fear
He spent eighteen years in running away, and then found he didn't have to run. So he started A.A. in Detroit.
Spring came. I went for first walk. Half a block from the house. I tried to turn the corner. Fear froze me in my tracks, but the instant I turned back toward home, this paralyzing fear left me. This was the beginning of an unending series of such experiences. I told our family doctor---an understanding man who gave hours of his time trying to help me---about this experience. He told me that it was imperative that I walk around the entire block, cost me what it might in mental agony. I carried out his instructions. When I reached a point directly back of our house, where I could have cut through a friend's garden, I was almost over powered by the desire to get home, but I made the whole journey. Probably only a few readers of this story will be able, from personal experiences of their own, to understand the exhilaration and sense of accomplishment I felt after finishing this seemingly assignment.
p. 247
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
A member gives us a vivid glimpse of those days. "At one time," he says, "every A.A. group had many membership rules. Everybody was scared witless that something or somebody would capsize the boat and dump us all back into the drink. Our Foundation office* asked each group to send in its list of `protective' regulations. The total list was a mile long. If all those rules had been in effect everywhere, nobody could have possibly joined A.A. at all, so great was the sum of our anxiety and fear.
pp. 139-140
*In 1954, The name of the Alcoholic Foundation, Inc. was changed to the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, Inc. and the Foundation office is now the General Service Office.
************************************************** *********
God, protect me from negative influences, which erode my beliefs.
Help me protect myself. Surround me with that which is positive,
edifying, and uplifting.
--Melody Beattie
It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man
can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much
as we speak.
--Epictetus
Have compassion for yourself and others.
Everyone is doing the best they can based on their life experiences.
Everyone is learning and growing, and so are you.
--HeartMath Discovery Program, Doc Childre and Sara Paddison
A great reform would take place in the world if we tried to live truth
instead of preaching it.
"I have been given a quiet place in bright sunshine."
--Bill W.
I am God's Melody of Life and He Sings His Song through me.
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
AMBITION
"The child without ambition is
like a watch with a broken
spring."
-- R. W. Stockman
It is not wrong to have ambition. It is not wrong to want to be
"somebody". The tragedy is that this has to be said!
For too long we have played the tapes in our head that discouraged
ambition and creative pride. We confused humility with timidity and
self-abuse. We waited for things to happen, rather than made them
happen.
Today I know that I am a creature of God --- created to create. God is
at work in my life. I am part of His miracle for the world.
O God, may I always have ambition for those things that are good and
true.
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"Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in
me, and the God of peace will be with you."
Philippians 4:9
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand,
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations,
knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and
character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured
out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Rom. 5:1-5
"So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God."
Mark 11:22
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Daily Inspiration
To receive the wonderful healing power of love, wish others well even when things aren't going so well for you. Lord, I rejoice in You always because You are blessing me daily no matter what my circumstances may be.
We are judged by our actions, not by our intentions. Lord, may I show my love for You through charity and goodness toward others.
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NA Just For Today
Sick As Our Secrets
"It would be tragic to write [out an inventory only to] shove it in a drawer These defects grow in the dark and die in the light of exposure."
Basic Text, p. 31
How many times have we heard it said that we are only as sick as our secrets? While many members choose not to use meetings to share the intimate details of their lives, it is important that we each discover what works best for us. What about those behaviors we have carried into our recovery that, if discovered, would cause us shame? How much are we comfortable disclosing, and to whom? If we are uncomfortable sharing some details of our lives in meetings, to whom do we turn?
We have found the answer to these questions in sponsorship. Although a relationship with a sponsor takes time to build, it is important that we come to trust our sponsor enough to be completely honest. Our defects only have power as long as they stay hidden. If we want to be free of those defects, we must uncover them. Secrets are only secrets until we share them with another human being.
Just for today: I will uncover my secrets. I will practice being honest with my sponsor.
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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
The most useless day of all is that in which we have not laughed. --Sebastian R. N. Champort
We are told that laughter is sunshine filling a room. And where there is laughter, there also is life. They say that people who laugh a lot live longer than do the sour-faced. When we laugh together, gratitude comes more easily, companionship thrives, and all praise is sincere. Laughter brings us joy that cannot be bought. Such joy is with us throughout each day. To hoard joy, to hide it away deep within us away from others, will make us lonely misers. We cannot buy or trade for joy, but we can give or receive it as a gift.
Laughter's joy celebrates the moment we are living right now. It is a gift we must share, or it will wither and die. Shared, it grows and thrives, and always returns to us when we need it most.
What can I find to laugh about right now?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Every time I dose the door on Reality, it comes in through the window. --Ashleigh Brilliant
In the past many of us closed the door on the reality of our abuse of others or ourselves. We gave explanations, but our words more often hid the truth than revealed it. The chaos in our lives was reality coming in the window. Many men have come into this program priding themselves on their honesty, but not aware of how dishonest they were with themselves.
Honesty is a pillar of spiritual awakening. There is no growth without it, and it begins with ourselves. We do not define the truth, we accept it, we surrender to it. The truth may not feel good; it can even be painful. This is the pain of birth - the rebirth of a real man. And the promise of this day is the reward of having our integrity and the peace of self-acceptance.
Today, I will surrender to the truth. I will accept the reality, which presses for attention in my life.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Accepting Imperfection
"Why do I do this to myself?" asked a woman who wanted to lose weight. "I went to my support group feeling so guilty and ashamed because I ate half a cookie that wasn't on the diet. I found out that everyone cheats a little, and some people cheat a lot. I felt so ashamed before I came to the group, as though I were the only one not doing my diet perfectly. Now I know that I'm dieting as well as most, and better than some."
Why do we do this to ourselves? I'm not talking strictly about dieting; I'm talking about life. Why do we punish ourselves by thinking that we're inferior while believing that others are perfect - whether in relationships, recovery, or a specific task?
Whether we're judging others, or ourselves it's two sides of the same coin: perfection. Neither expectation is valid.
It is far more accurate and beneficial to tell ourselves that who we are is okay and what we are doing is good enough. That doesn't mean we won't make mistakes that need correcting; doesn't mean we won't get off track from time to time; doesn't mean we can't improve. It means with all our mistakes and wandering, we're basically on course. Encouraging and approving of ourselves is how we help ourselves stay on track.
Today, I will love and encourage myself. I will tell myself that what I'm doing is good enough, and I'll let myself enjoy that feeling.
I will give myself the gift of time today and be quiet and hear with my heart. I will go to my special place inside where I really live in love and in joy and carry those feelings with me throughout the day. --Ruth Fishel
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Journey to the Heart
Learn to Help Heal Yourself
I feel a heaviness in my lungs, almost a pain; the next day, I find myself crying, discharging old grief and sadness. On another occasion, I feel sharp pangs in my stomach; within days, denied rage begins to surface and the pain subsides. My head aches, pounds, throbs; hours later, I feel the fear I’ve been running from. I feel the energy in my body shifting, moving, taking new shape; over the next months, I’m led into a new cycle, a new season in my life.
Some of the pains and illnesses we suffer from are indications of acute physical problems. They’re signs that our body has broken down and we need medical attention. But many of the aches and pains we experience are symptoms of a deeper process– a process of healing and cleansing our heart and soul.
As we go through our daily experiences, circumstances will trigger this healing. Someone says something that makes us feel angry or afraid, which triggers a feeling similar to one we repressed years ago. Or a conversation causes us to remember something that hurt us long ago, and our body begins to release the pain of that old emotion. Sometimes, our aches and pains are signals that some emotion is ready to surface. We need to acknowledge the feeling, feel the energy. Let it pass through us, then watch for the lesson to appear and the pain to dissipate.
If we are committed to a path of spiritual growth, our bodies will soon begin to use everything that happens as a vehicle for healing. Trust yourself and listen, and you’ll know what to do. You’ll find healers and help that will support you as you continue to discover and trust your soul.
Remember to trust the simple everyday wisdom of your body. It’s a barometer for you soul.
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More Language Of Letting Go
Let God and your intuition lead the way
I define synchronicity as an external event which triggers an internal knowing. It has to do with events that are significant coincidences, such as when you are trying to solve a problem and someone “just happens” to call. During the conversation the caller “just happens” to give a clue or answer to the difficulty.
–Nancy Rosanoff, Intuition Workout
I was talking to my friend Kyle one day. I was in the final stages of writing Playing It By Heart, but I didn’t know what the ending was. The book was an in-depth life review. I was astounded by the number of experiences I’ve had.
“I’ve been a pauper, a drug addict, a codepepndent, a mid-western housewife, a married woman, a single parent on welfare, a secretary, a journalist, a chemical dependency counselor, a book author, a bereaved parent, and a Californian. I’ve traveled to the Middle East, across the United States, ran a bookstore, and now, although I’ve taken the long hard road to get there, I live at the beach,” I said. “There’s nothing left for me to do.”
“I know one thing you want to do that you haven’t done yet,” Kyle said.
“What?” I asked. There was a long silence. I thought maybe he hung up.
“I know,” he said. “You’ve never jumped out of a plane.”
I forgot about the conversation. Within a few day, the phone rang. A man who had worked on my house about nine months before was on the line. He reintroduced himself. Then he explained why he called. He said he was a sky diver, and he asked if I’d like to go to the drop zone with him sometime, and maybe make a tandem jump.
A few months later, I went with him to Skydive Elsinore. I learned that day that jumping out of airplanes was something I very much wanted to do. And the skydiving experience was exactly the ending I needed for my book.
Trust your inner guidance. Our Higher Power works in mysterious ways. Listen to people, and watch for signs that trigger your inner knowing.
God, help me be open to all the ways you speak to me to help guide me along my path.
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Hard Learned Lessons
Bad Days
We all have days from time to time when it feels like the world is against us or that the chaos we are experiencing will never end. One negative circumstance seems to lead to another. You may wonder, on a bad day, whether anything in your life will ever go right again. But a bad day, like any other day, can be a gift. Having a bad day can show you that it is time to slow down, change course, or lighten up. A bad day can help you glean wisdom you might otherwise have overlooked or discounted. Bad days can certainly cause you to experience uncomfortable feelings you would prefer to avoid, yet a bad day may also give you a potent means to learn about yourself.
You may consider a bad day to be one where you’ve missing an important meeting because your car stalled, the dryer broke, and you received a piece of very bad news earlier in the morning. Multiple misfortunes that take place one after the other can leave us feeling vulnerable and intensely cognizant of our fragility. But bad days can only have a long-term negative effect on us if we let them. It is better to ask yourself what you can learn from these kinds of days. The state of your bad day may be an indicator that you need to stay in and hibernate or let go of your growing negativity.
Bad days contribute to the people we become. Though we may feel discouraged and distressed on our bad days, a bad day can teach us patience and perseverance. It is important to remember that your attitude drives your destiny and that one negative experience does not have to be the beginning of an ongoing stroke of bad luck. A bad day is memorable because it is one day among many good days – otherwise, we wouldn’t even bother to acknowledge it as a bad day. Know too, that everybody has bad days, you are not alone, the world is not against you. Tomorrow is guaranteed to be a brighter day. Published with permission from Daily OM
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A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Before we came to The Program, fear ruled our lives. Tyrannized by our addictions and obsessions, we feared everything and everybody. We feared ourselves and, perhaps most of all, feared fear itself. these days, when I am able to accept the help of my Higher Power, it makes me feel capable of doing anything I am called to do. I am overcoming my fears and acquiring a comfortable new confidence. Can I believe that “courage is fear that has said its prayers…”?
Today I Pray
God grant that through faith in Him I may overcome my obsessive fears. I have been running scared for so long it has become a habit. God help me to see that I may be purposely clinging to my fears to avoid making decisions, perhaps even to shirk the responsibility of success.
Today I Will Remember
Fear keeps me safe from risk-taking.
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One More Day
He who attempts to resist the wave is swept away, but he who bends before it abides.
– Leviticus
Just as water transforms the definition of the shoreline, so can our changing health patterns alter the boundaries of our days. What looked and felt normal before may be entirely alien now.
In various stages of life, we’ve repeatedly demonstrated our ability to adapt to new situations. Marriage, children, new jobs all call for personal change. Add to these everyday occurrences a chronic medical condition (physical or emotional) and we may feel we are drowning. Perhaps at these times, we can disengage ourselves from the moment, reassess the past, and recall how well we’ve handled the changes life has demanded. We have been adaptable, and we can continue to be.
Creating a new pattern of living is definitely within my reach.
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One Day At A Time
~ STARTING OVER ~
Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist,
but in the ability to start over.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Before coming into this program I was, and probably still am to a certain extent, a perfectionist, so one of the things I really struggled with is being able make mistakes without feeling bad about myself. So when I came into the program, I decided that I was going to do this program perfectly, and proceeded to do just that. I followed a meal plan, lost weight and worked the steps, and I really thought I had it made. But I hadn't counted on the fact that this is a disease, and it is both cunning, baffling and powerful. So when I had my first slip, I was devastated and felt a real failure.
Fortunately for me, with the help of many loving sponsors over the years, I have realized that I am not a failure if I slip, but I am only one if I fail to get up. This program has enabled me to learn that when I make a mistake, I am not that mistake, and that all I need to do is to pick myself up and start over. In the old days if I failed at a diet, I would never have been able to pick myself up so soon, and it would always be an excuse to carry on eating and start the diet again on Monday. Now I know that my abstinence can even start at the end of the day, rather than waiting till tomorrow, next week or even next month. I am slowly starting to let go of the guilt I feel when I slip, and am also learning to love myself even when I do flounder, because with the love and support I am given in this program, I know I can always start over.
One day at a time...
I will remember that I can start afresh any time I like, and don't need to feel as if I have failed.
~ Sharon ~
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AA 'Big Book' - Quote
We avoid retaliation or argument. - Pg. 67 - How It Works
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
I only have one character defect left and it's just that I think about myself **** near all the time.
Seeing Deeply
Every day I experience another piece of myself. Yes I am laid low, but at the same time worlds are opening up to me on the inside. My body is struggling to heal and so is the rest of me. I am watching myself deepen inside and become more aware. It is forced upon me by illness, but I cannot help but being a little bit grateful for the time to slow down and go within. I am seeing the subtleties of life, I am watching myself watch the world around me. I have a witness inside that is constantly with me but I seldom take time to be with it. As I witness my own thoughts, I learn about who I am inside, what makes me tick. As I watch myself interact with others, I see how I act in relationships. As I notice the little things, life seems to matter more.
I am renewing my relationship with life
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
The spiritual journey is one of continually falling on your face, getting up, brushing yourself off, looking sheepishly at God, and taking another step.
If I'm faced in the right direction, and fall on my face, I've still made progress.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Actions speak louder than bumper stickers.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I will give myself the gift of time today and be quiet and hear with my heart. I will go to my special place inside where I really live in love and in joy and carry those feelings with me throughout the day.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I never let go of anything that didn't have my claw marks on it. - Tony B.
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. I will be back looking for Lin and others.