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Rank: Advanced Member  Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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Step Ten: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
"Although all inventories are alike in principle, the time factor does distinguish one from another. There's the spot-check inventory, taken at any time of the day, whenever we find ourselves getting tangled up. There's the one we take at day's end, when we review the happenings of the hours just past. Here we cast up a balance sheet, crediting ourselves with things well done, and chalking up debits where due. Then there are those occasions when alone, or in the company of our sponsor or spiritual adviser, we make a careful review of our progress since the last time."
© 1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005;
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pg. 89
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Honesty
I know the biggest word for me in AA is "honesty."
I don't believe this program would work for me
if I didn't get honest with myself about everything.
Honesty is the easiest word for me to understand
because it is the exact opposite of what I've been doing all my life.
Therefore, it will be the hardest to work on. . .
If I work on it every day, it will be easier to be honest with myself.
Then getting honest with other people will come automatically.
I know I will be grateful for a chance to make amends
to everybody I have hurt in the past.
c. 2003 AAWS, Experience, Strength and Hope, pp. 400-401
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Honesty isn't an event ... it's a process.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H O W = Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness.
Today's Meditation:
Calmness is constructive of good. Agitation is destructive of good. I should not rush into action. I should first "be still and know that He is God." Then I should act only as God directs me through my conscience. Only trust, perfect trust in God, can keep me calm when all around me are agitated. Calmness is trust in action. I should seek all things which can help me to cultivate calmness. To attain material things, the world learns to attain speed. To attain spiritual things, I have to learn to attain a state of calm.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may learn how to have inner peace. I pray that I may be calm, so that God can work through me.
Today's Quotable:
Four things to learn in life:
To think clearly without hurry or confusion;
To love everybody sincerely;
To act in everything with the highest motives;
To trust God unhesitatingly.
Helen Keller
Today's Tool:
As I begin my day I have taken time to spend with God. It was hard to slow down and stay in the moment. As soon as I woke up I began to think about all the stuff that I needed to do. I finally had to say to myself STOP! Breath in God and carry him with you.
Today’s tool is carry God with you throughout the day.
As I am going through life I find myself getting caught up in all the stuff like work, family, AA, friends, household duties, just life. I have to discipline myself to give time to God not just in the morning, but throughout the day.
Remember to breath in God.
God’s got this.
Tess Ventress
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "A Glacier Melts":
"A.A. provided for me a means by which I could overcome the compulsion to drink and, more important, a means by which I could achieve a personality change or spiritual awakening—a surrender to life. Though I have had problems and deep troubles since that summer ten years ago, my faith has not been shaken. I cannot say that I have found God as I understand Him, but rather that I have faith in Something which remains a mystery to me and which I continue to seek.
- Fresno, California, USA"
© 2001 AAWS, Inc.;
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 164
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Prayer
Real prayer is not telling God what we want.
It is putting ourselves at His disposal
so that He can tell us what He wants.
Prayer is not trying to get God to change His will.
It is trying to find out what His will is, to align ourselves
or realign ourselves with His purpose for the world and for us.
That's why it is so important for us to listen
as well as talk when we pray.
c. 1985 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 265
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Trying to pray is praying.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A S A P = Always Say A Prayer.
Today's Meditation:
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open
the door, I will come in to him and will remain with him and him with me."
The knocking of God's spirit, asking to come into your life, is due to no
merit of yours, though it is in response to the longing of your heart. Keep
a listening ear, an ear bent to catch the sound of the gentle knocking at
the door of your heart by the spirit of God. Then open the door of your
heart and let God's spirit come in.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may let God's spirit come into my heart. I pray that it may
fill me with an abiding peace.
Today's Quotable:
If I don't let go, I lose my grip.
Today's Tool:
I am most likely to pray for folks when they piss me off. I also now try to be proactive and pray for such people in anticipation of them pissing me off. Hence the term, "preventative praying."
My wonderful previous sponsor (you know who you are), suggested a more specific way of praying for folks. Referring to the story in the Big Book, Freedom from Bondage, she suggested that I go one step further than simply praying for them to have everything that I want in general; that I be specific and list those things and pray for specifics for these folks. Currently there are four people for whom I am praying. I pray that they have the following things because these are things I want for myself:
health
happiness
prosperity
a relationship with a higher power
a host of friends
comfortable in own skin
peace of mind
ability to consistently exercise
fulfilling career
solid intimate partnership
good family relationships
I know it's worked in the past so I 'm giving it another shot. Try it and let me know how it goes--just be patient as it is not an overnight matter (which you probably already know).
Happy Monday.
Ariana
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From “Desperation Drinking”:
"I’m fortunate because I live in an era when A.A. is available, and I’m able to take advantage of it.…My drinking pattern isn’t very different from the average you find in A.A. After I came in I found I wasn’t an exceptional drunk. I used to think I was. I also thought I was a brilliant drunk. I have my brilliant moments yet, but whenever the boys catch me at it they tell me so very plainly.”
© 2003, AAWS, Inc.;
Experience, Strength & Hope, pg. 394
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Security
It became clear that if we ever were to feel
emotionally secure among grown-up people,
we would have to put our lives
on a give-and-take basis;
we would have to develop the sense
of being in partnership or brotherhood
with all those around us.
We saw that we would need to give constantly of ourselves
without demands for repayment.
When we persistently did this
we gradually found that people were attracted to us
as never before.
c. 1952 AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 116
With permission, AA World Services, Inc.
^*^*^*^*^
Thought to Ponder . . .
Blessed are those who can give without remembering
and receive without forgetting.
* * *
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
C H A N G E = Can Help Attract New Gifts and Energy.
Today's Meditation:
All that depresses you, all that you fear, is really powerless to harm you. These things are but phantoms. So arise from earth's bonds, from depression, distrust, fear, and all that hinders your new life. Arise to beauty, joy, peace, and work inspired by love. Rise from death to life. You do not even need to fear death. All past sins are forgiven if you live and love and work with God. Let nothing hinder your new life. Seek to know more and more of that new way of living.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may let God live in me as I work for Him. I pray that I may go out into the sunlight and work with God.
Today's Quotable:
The one thing you can't trade for your heart's desire is your heart. Lois McMaster Bujold
Today's Tool:
This too shall pass.
This tool occurred to me yesterday. I was in a lot of physical pain and had been for a couple of days. I don’t know about you but feeling bad physically also often leads to me feeling bad emotionally. So then everything sucks: I don’t have any friends, no one understands me, meetings are stupid, I’m doomed FOREVER.
I had some inkling my perception was perhaps skewed but nothing I did changed it (calling people, being of service, prayer, etc.). And it finally occurred to me that “This too shall pass.” And guess what? It did. Today I feel better physically (and mentally). And I didn’t have to drink while I was having the crazies. Yay! And, in fact, I don’t owe any amends.
Another tool is Do what’s in front of you. Or as they say here in Lawrence, “Do the next indicated thing.” When I am struggling sometimes the best thing I can do is what is right in front of me: Brush my teeth, show up a work, etc. It’s that simple; I keep putting one foot in front of another and I get through the day. That’s what you all taught me to do and it still works.
Happy Tuesday whatever you do with it. And remember “It works—it really does.”
Ariana
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Window of Opportunity":
"People suggested that I find a Higher Power. I was not fooled. I knew when they said Higher Power they meant God. And I knew that God waited for me to step out of line just once so that he could take his revenge. I wanted no part of God.
"With this resistance I plodded along for a few months. Whenever people asked me how I was going, I would say, 'Fine, just fine,' no matter how hard I was crying inside. … "When I had finished talking, he told me something simple: 'You don’t have to drink over it.' What an idea! I had thought that situations made me drink. If I was angry, I drank. If I was happy, I drank. Bored or excited, elated or depressed, I drank. Here was a man telling me that, in- dependent of my life situation, I did not have to drink. If I stuck with A.A., I could stay sober under any and all conditions. He gave me hope, and in many ways, he symbolized the door through which I finally walked into Alcoholics Anonymous."
© 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition;
Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 427-29
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Meditation
I get a sane and healthy idea of where I actually stand
on the Highway to Humility.
I see that my journey toward God has scarce begun.
As I thus get down to my right size and stature,
my self-concern and importance become amusing.
Then faith grows that I do have a place on this Highway;
that I can advance upon it with deepening peace and confidence.
Once more I know that God is good; that I need fear no evil.
This is a great gift, this knowledge that I do have a destiny.
- Bill W., June 1961
c.1988 The AA Grapevine, Inc., The Language of the Heart, p. 259
Thought to Ponder . . .
Meditation means trusting the silence around me for a while,
as if it were an answer I had long sought.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
F A I T H = Finding Answers In The Heart.
Today's Meditation:
God is all around us. His spirit pervades the universe. And yet we often do not let His spirit in. We try to get along without His help and we make a mess of our lives. We can do nothing of any value without God's help. All our human relationships depend on this. When we let God's spirit rule our lives, we learn how to get along with others and how to help them.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may let God run my life. I pray that I will never again make a mess of my life through trying to run it myself.
Today's Quotable:
It don't matter….don't drink. Jim Emanuel (my grandsponsor)
Today's Tool:
"Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems. I have since been brought into a way of living infinitely more satisfying and, I hope, more useful than the life I lived before." (BB p 43)
When I first came into the program, I was so afraid of the spiritual part of it. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to "get it" and therefore I would drink again. I still get afraid of that. My sponsor helped me take it a piece at at time. At first I was able to stay sober because I saw it working in all of you. She taught me that that was faith, real faith. I am starting to get it now. And now that I have been sober for a short bit, my goal has expanded. I now want to live a full and satisfying life. And I have faith that I can do that because I see you doing it.
All I really know for sure is that if I 'keep coming' I will learn something.
Donna.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "The Individual's Rights:"
"Though it is traditional that our Fellowship may not coerce anyone, let us not suppose even for an instant that we are not under constraint. Indeed, we are under enormous coercion -- the kind that comes in bottles. Our former tyrant, King Alcohol, always stands ready again to clutch us to him.
"Therefore, freedom from alcohol is the great 'must' that has to be achieved, else we go mad or die."
c. 1967, As Bill Sees It, page 134
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Truth
A world where truth does not shine
is a world filled with fog and cobwebs, a gray miasma
through which we run blind and lost and terrified,
tripping over roots we do not see,
dodging the threat of looming shapes, remaining separated
from our fellows in the dripping, fear-filled darkness.
The world of truth is the world of what is . . .
It is the room I sit in, the sleeping kitten . . .
It is here. It is now. It is what is.
It is my world, my truth, my reality. . .
Today -- now -- is truth.
c. 1985 The AA Grapevine, Inc., The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 1], pp. 134-5
Thought to Ponder . . .
Truth is to inner space what sunshine is to a garden.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
S I T = Stay In Today.
Today's Meditation:
I will start a new life each day. I will put the old mistakes away and start
anew each day. God always offers me a fresh start. I will not be burdened or
anxious. If God's forgiveness were only for the righteous and those who had
not sinned, where would be its need? I believe that God forgives us all of
our sins; if we are honestly trying to live today the way He wants us to
live. God forgives us much and we should be very grateful.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that my life may not be spoiled by worry and fear and selfishness. I
pray that I may have a glad, thankful, and humble heart.
Today's Quotable:
A morning glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of
books. Walt Whitman
Today's Quotable:
Early in recovery I heard the following definition for insanity
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different result.
This describes how I drank. I was obsessed with the idea that I could find a way to control my drinking so that I would enjoy myself and not get into trouble. But over and over I would get drunk, sick, into trouble. The insanity here is the insanity of the 1st drink. Luckily for me, alcohol beat me into a state ready to accept help. Going to meetings, working the steps and developing a relationship with God, I managed to get sober and stay sober. I was restored to sanity by a power greater than myself
Besides the insanity of the first drink, I have many other forms of insanity which come out as bad behavior. Again, insanity is doing the same thing over expecting different result. For example, raising my voice, cutting people off trying to win an argument thinking I’ll get my way. Invariably, this leads to soured relationships which make my life more complicated, more frustrating. Again, I need my higher power to restore me to sanity, to learn new behaviors
today’s tool: ask your higher power for help to not take the first drink and act sanely with others
‘till tomorrow,
David
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Rank: Advanced Member  Joined: 9/9/2008 Posts: 2,849
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Yo, BrBruce! I really love reading the "Todays Quotables". I
definitely can identify with these folks. Keep on keepin' on!
Sarge 
~ Insults Should Be Written In Sand ~ Compliments Should Be Carved In Stone ~
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Action and Patience":
"I heard that we can’t keep what we have unless we give it away. And so I found a woman—someone a little newer than I was—and I shared with her what you had shared with me. Looking back on it, I doubt that I helped this woman very much, but I helped myself beyond measure. I stayed sober, day by day, through sharing my experience, strength, and hope with her, through putting action into the A.A. program —while, at the same time, waiting for her, not forcing my action on her. This was patience supporting the action, though I didn’t call it patience at the time; the word was not a part of my emotional vocabulary."
© 1973 AAWS, Inc.;
Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg. 42
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Smile
The most oft-quoted phrase in my home group
was "Gratitude is an action word."
"Into action" meant I accepted responsibility
to give back what I had freely received. . .
Whether it was pouring coffee in my home group,
or going on a Twelfth-Step call,
I entered a new pattern of thinking.
I thought not only about myself,
but also about others. . .
The smile from my face traveled to my heart. . .
I learned to be grateful for the day.
AA Grapevine, September 2006, pp. 26-7
Thought to Ponder . . .
Smile, it's a free facelift.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
T L C = Tears, Laughter, Caring.
Today's Meditation:
God is all around us. His spirit pervades the universe. And yet we often do not let His spirit in. We try to get along without His help and we make a mess of our lives. We can do nothing of any value without God's help. All our human relationships depend on this. When we let God's spirit rule our lives, we learn how to get along with others and how to help them.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may let God run my life. I pray that I will never again make a mess of my life through trying to run it myself.
Today's Quotable:
It don't matter….don't drink. Jim E.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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Serenity Group
Vision/ Values/ Traditions
Serenity Group is a Christ centered recovery group,
1. We see Jesus Christ as our higher power.
2. Serenity is here for the believer that struggles with addiction of any kind.
3. Serenity extends the same grace and love to the unbeliever in addiction that Jesus Christ extended to us.
4.We see AA and NA and all other recovery programs under one God be it sponsored by a church or community outreach, we are on the journey to knowing our loving God even if we are not sure where we are headed.
5. We understand that each person's journey may look different but that Jesus is calling us all to the same goal.
6. We understand that many new to recovery may have hard feelings toward the church, and religion generally.
7. We love the difficult to love addict or alcoholic during the growth process, believing that Gods love shown through us can overcome the addict's animosity towards the church and Christianity in general.
8. We trust God to lead individuals to the truth even when it appears that this will never happen.
9. Serenity is open to the gospel being preached everywhere in demonstrationas well as with words or when words won't work.
10. Serenity actively participates in the "Recovery Community" of Oroville.
11. Serenity provides a safe place for 12 Step work with sponsors and in small groups.
12. Serenity sees individual anonymity as the glue that holds us together making it safe for the honesty and openness required for complete healing from our addictive diseases.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "A Teen-Ager's Decision:"
"My sponsor used to say to me, 'If I could only paint you a picture of how beautiful life can be without booze....' Well, now I'm living it and trying to paint it for others. A.A. has become a way of life and living for me. It has brought about a revelation of self, the discovery of an inner being, an awareness of God.
"And the only one who can take it away from me is me -- by taking that first drink."
c. 2003, Experience, Strength and Hope -
Stories from the First Three Editions
of Alcoholics Anonymous, page 315
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Uniqueness
The rewards of sobriety are bountiful
and as progressive as the disease they counteract.
Certainly among these rewards for me
are release from the prison of uniqueness,
and the realization that participation in the AA way of life is a blessing
and a privilege beyond estimate
-- a blessing to live a life free from the pain and degradation of drinking
and filled with the joy of useful, sober living,
and a privilege to grow to sobriety one day at a time
and bring the message of hope as it was brought to me.
c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 451
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
I am unique, just like everyone else.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Y A N A = You Are Not Alone.
Today's Meditation:
"One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching
forth unto those things that are before, I press onward toward the goal."
We should forget those things which are behind us and press onward toward
something better. We can believe that God has forgiven us for all our past
sins, provided we are honestly trying to live today the way we believe He
wants us to live. We can wipe clean the slate and go forward with
confidence toward the goal that has been set before us.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may drop off the load of the past. I pray that I may start
today with a light heart and a new confidence.
Today's Quotable:
Make failure your teacher, not your undertaker.
Today's Tool:
Today I have some challenges I will be facing in my work day that have been occupying my mind off and on since I got up. When my thoughts move in to the day like that I become anxious and will begin to worry. Then I begin to write my own movie script about how everything is going to go. This is a bad habit of mine that I have to continually watch for, set aside and give to God. If I don't I will walk into my office expecting the worse and get angry before the day has even started.
This morning I recognized it and asked for direction for this situation in my morning meditation. I repeated these words while I was breathing in and out. "We relax and take it easy."
p.86 Alcoholics Anonymous
"In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while."
The application of the steps into my daily life continues to amaze me how it works time after time. The secret for me is to use them. I must commit myself each and every day and it starts with a quiet time in the morning of prayer and meditation.
My tool for today is "Relax and take it easy".
Have a great day!
Shari Volgenau ---
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From “Having Fun Yet”:
"When my own house is in order, I find the different parts of my life are more manageable. Stripped from the guilt and remorse that cloaked my drinking years, I am free to assume my proper role in the universe, but this condition requires maintenance. I should stop and ask myself, Am I having fun yet? If I find answering that question difficult or painful, perhaps I’m taking myself too seriously—and finding it difficult to admit that I’ve strayed from my practice of working the program to keep my house in order.”
© 1990 AAWS, Inc.;
Daily Reflections, pg. 31
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Concern
If we have the opportunity to help in some practical way
when our loved ones or other people we are concerned about
are in trouble -- let's do so.
If there is no such opportunity,
let's pray for them and believe that, in doing so,
we are helping to connect their minds to God's influence.
But let's not expect same-day service.
The important part is not to cancel our prayers by later worrying.
(There is a vast difference between being concerned and worrying.)
Long-distance, unconditional faith is the best kind.
c. 1973 AAWS, Came To Believe . . ., p. 26
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
The Three "C's" -- Concern, Compassion, Consideration.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H E L P = Hope, Encouragement, Love, Patience.
Today's Meditation:
Disillusionment and doubt spoil life. The doubting ones are the
disillusioned ones. When you are in doubt, you are on the fence. You are not
going anywhere. Doubt poisons all action. "Well, I don't know" --so you
don't do anything. You should meet life with a "Yes," an affirmative
attitude. There is good in the world and we can follow that good. There is
power available to help us to do the right thing; therefore we will accept
that power. There are miracles of change in people's lives; therefore we
will accept those miracles as evidence of God's power.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I will not be paralyzed by doubt. I pray that I go along on the
venture of faith.
Today's Quotable:
"Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint
which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark."
Today's Tool:
I have been feeling self-pity and fear a lot over the last week. It started
with some health issues with my mother. I feared the worst for her and then
I started worrying about other family members (addiction & mental health issues).
Then I started thinking about how this is affecting me, my relationships, my career...
until reaching a true state of nuttiness.
OK. So what do I do with all these fears. I learned in the program to ask questions
about my fears:
1. Is the fear based on anything real? or is it based on things I'm imagining and projecting
2. If there is a real component to it, Can I do something about it? If the answer is
yes, then take action if the answer is no, turn it over to God
Another way of looking at fear is: False Evidence Appearing Real
As far as my family is concerned, I'm mostly fearing situations that I'm projecting. My sponsor
keeps reminding me that my success rate at projecting is NOT too good. So I'm trying to
stay focused on the Now and not go into worry/projecting mode.
I'm also asking God for help here.
The following passage helps from the bb helps me:
"We asked ourselves why we had them [fears]. Wasn't it because self-reliance failed us? ...
Perhaps there is a better way - we think so. For we are now on a different basis; the basis of
trusting and relying upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. We are working
to play the role He assigns. Just to the extent that we do as we think He would have us,
and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity." (bb p68)
Thanks for the opportunity to share. See you tomorrow,
David
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Into Action":
"When ready, we say something like this: 'My Creator; I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.'”
© 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition;
Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 76
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Serenity
That word "serenity" looked like an impossible goal
when we first saw the prayer.
In fact, if serenity meant apathy, bitter resignation,
or stolid endurance, then we didn't even want to aim at it.
But we found that serenity meant no such thing.
When it comes to us now, it is more as plain recognition --
a clear-eyed, realistic way of seeing the world,
accompanied by inner peace and strength.
Serenity is like a gyroscope that lets us keep our balance
no matter what turbulence swirls around us.
And that is a state of mind worth aiming for.
c. 1998 AAWS, Living Sober, p. 19
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Serenity isn't freedom from the storm;
it is peace within the storm.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
K I S S = Keep It Serenely Simple.
Today's Meditation:
The inward peace that comes from trust in God truly passes all understanding. That peace no one can take from you. No person has the power to disturb that inner peace. But you must be careful not to let in the world's worries and distractions. You must try not to give entrance to fears and despondency. You must refuse to open the door to the distractions that disturb your inward peace. Make it a point to allow nothing today to disturb your inner peace, your heart-calm.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may not allow those about me to spoil my peace of mind. I pray that I may keep a deep inner calm throughout the day.
Today's Quotable:
You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you. - Brian Tracy
Today's Tool:
Good Morning, and Welcome to the Day,
It is early, and the household has yet to awake. The day promises to be one filled with wonder, and discovery, and magic, and adventure. Both in the physical, and spiritual world.
I am as not able to get to as many meetings as I need, for all AA members have a different requirement. But, for me, I need at least 3 or 4 meetings a week. At least! Some members can go once a week, once a month, or only once a year for a chip.
I use to judge all those others that do it differently then I. Not because I like to tear people down, but because it finally dawned on me that I personally could not do it their way. I can to see, after beating myself up as judgmental, that it was not so much as judging them, as it was an inner realization of what I could, and could not do, for my maintaining sobriety.
The journey today will reveal many things about myself. That is what I have come to love about the steps, traditions, and concepts of AA. For they will work you. And reveal what you are doing right, and what you are not doing right. What is right? Well, we could pontificate on that all day, but I do have an answer. Like any good alcoholic, I may be wrong, but I am never in doubt!
In the Big Book, contained within the 11th step portion, it states, was I loving and kind toward all. Bill, threw in all, I know, to plug the loop hole.
For me, I have come to accept that love, and service are the key, and the benchmark. I have also come to realize that action is the key. Words are truly cheap, when it comes down to it. The actions are the proof of my 3rd step commitment.
Well, I must run and enter the day. There is a letter to a fellow AA that I have been neglecting.
Go gently, have a great day, Love Always,
Joe
Carpi Deim
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Remembering Your Last Drunk:"
"That's not a typographical error. The word is 'drunk,' not 'drink,' as you'll see.
"One A.A. member puts it this way: 'I know that stopping in for a drink will never again be -- for me -- simply killing a few minutes and leaving a buck on the bar. In exchange for that drink, what I would plunk down now is my bank account, my family, our home, our car, my job, my sanity, and probably my life. It's too big a price, too big a risk.'
"He remembers his last drunk, not his first drink."
c. 1998, Living Sober - page 51-52
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
The Tyrant
In the life of each AA member, there still lurks a tyrant.
His name is alcohol. He is cunning, ruthless.
And his weapons are misery, insanity, and death.
No matter how long we may be sober,
he always stands at each man's elbow,
ever watchful of an opportunity
to resume his destruction.
Like an agent of the Gestapo, he ever threatens
each AA citizen with torture or extinction.
Unless, of course, the AA citizen is willing to live unselfishly,
often placing the welfare of AA as a whole
ahead of his own personal plans and ambitions.
Bill W., July 1946
c. 1988 AA Grapevine, The Language Of The Heart, p. 34
With permission, The AA Grapevine, Inc.
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Thought to Ponder . . .
I am not just one drink away from a drunk.
I am one drink away from never being sober again
in this lifetime.
* * *
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
D E A D = Drinking Ends All Dreams.
Today's Meditation:
Nobody entirely escapes temptation. You must expect it and be ready for it
when it comes. None of us is entirely safe. You must try to keep your
defenses up by daily thought and prayer. That is why we have these daily
meditations. You must be able to recognize temptation when it comes. The
first step toward conquering temptation always is to see it clearly as
temptation and not to harbor it in your mind. Dissociate yourself from it,
put it out of your mind as soon as it appears. Do not think of excuses for
yielding to it. Turn at once to the Higher Power for help.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may be prepared for whatever temptation my come to me. I pray
that I may see it clearly and avoid it with the help of God.
Today's Quotable:
One, who makes no mistakes, never makes anything.
Today's Tool:
A friend of mine is about 90 days sober. She keeps emailing me and telling
me that if one more person tells her to "take it easy" that she is going to
scream! She said that there is life outside of AA. She wants her old life
back, just without the drugs and alcohol.
I tried once to keep my old lifestyle and sobriety - I got drunk. Even this
time, I was at a place where I did not want to drink, but I wasn't sure I
wanted this AA thing, either. I was at that jumping off place the BB talks
about. One of those (monotonous) sayings that kept me coming back was
"don't quit before the miracle happens". Of course, I thought it was
getting the perfect boyfriend or job, etc..., only to find out that it is so
much more.
Today's tool: Don't quit before the miracle happens.
Peace out (I just heard that and think it sounds so cool!),
Charlotte
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "The Opening to the Spiritual World":
"Yes, I began with blind faith, but the proof of truth is that it works. I believed those who said they had suffered from alcoholism, but, through A.A., were now enjoying sobriety. So the truth was there for me to see. But shortly I knew the truth from my own experience. I was not only released from the compulsion to drink; I was guided toward a compulsion to live!" – El Cerrito, California
© 1973 AAWS, Inc.;
Came to Believe, pg. 3
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
New World
We no longer live in a completely hostile world.
We are no longer lost and frightened and purposeless.
The moment we catch even a glimpse of God's will,
the moment we begin to see truth, justice and love
as the real and eternal things in life,
we are no longer deeply disturbed
by all the seeming evidence to the contrary
that surrounds us in purely human affairs.
We know that God lovingly watches over us..
c. 1952 AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 105
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
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Thought to Ponder . . .
God's world is perfect.
* * *
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
G I F T = God Is Forever There.
* * *
Today's Meditation:
Today can be lived in the consciousness of God's contact, upholding you in
all good thoughts, words, and deeds. If sometimes there seems to be a shadow
on your life and you feel out of sorts, remember that this is not the
withdrawal of God's presence, but only your own temporary unwillingness to
realize it. The quiet gray days are the days for doing what you must do, but
know that the consciousness of God's nearness will return and be with you
again, when the gray days are past.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may face the dull days with courage. I pray that I may have
faith that the bright days will return.
Today's Quotable:
Don't try to test your will power--give an alcoholic one shovel and one pail
and in an hour he or she will need 100 wheelbarrows.
A Member Shares:
I am an alcoholic and my name is Grace. When I came to the program of AA and I saw the word God, I thought it was time to leave. Although God's strength has carried me all my life, for many years I was not a good steward of that unconditional love and strength. I got sober and clean and found out the pure simplicity of my God. All He asks is that we reach out. I love having God's strength in my life, after thinking all these years that the bottle was my God. How sad, but now how awesome to know that God is with me at all times. Today I try one day at a time to be God-reliant and not self-reliant. For anyone who has yet to find their Higher Power, you can borrow mine. He is huge, and wouldn't mind. My God loves each of you, and so do I.
- Grace
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Drowning":
"I knew that I was dying. . . . For the first time in my life, I uttered a sincere prayer: 'God, please help me.' I didn't bargain with Him, nor did I suggest how or when He should help.
"Immediately, I became calm and relaxed. . . . I went to sleep and slept all night. . . .
"A spiritual experience, I think, is what God does for a man when the man is completely helpless to do it for himself. A spiritual awakening is what a man does through his willingness to have his life transformed by following a proven program of spiritual growth, and this is a never-ending venture." – Raleigh, North Carolina
© 1973 AAWS, Inc.;
Came to Believe, pg. 17
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
A Suggestion
My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea.
He said,
"Why don't you choose your own conception of God?"
That statement hit me hard.
It melted the icy intellectual mountain
in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years.
I stood in the sunlight at last.
It was only a matter of being willing to believe
in a Power greater than myself.
Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning.
I saw that growth could start from that point.
Upon a foundation of complete willingness I might build
what I saw in my friend.
Would I have it? Of course I would!
c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 12
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
A new world came into view.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H O W = Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness.
Today's Meditation:
Our need is God's opportunity. First we must recognize our need. Often this means helplessness before some weakness or sickness and an admission of our need for help. Next comes faith in the power of God's spirit, available to us to meet that need. Before any need can be met, our faith must find expression. That expression of faith is all God needs to manifest His power in our lives. Faith is the key that unlocks the storehouse of God's resources.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may first admit my needs. I pray that then I may have faith that God will meet those needs, in the way which is best for me.
Today's Quotable:
Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor… Let no one ever come to you without leaving better or happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile; kindness in your warm greeting. Mother Teresa
My name is Julia and I'm a alcoholic
Perhaps my story will help someone to get sober and turn a seemingly
hopeless life around to one of inner peace and joy.
I was on that inevitable slide toward incarceration, a mental
institution, or oblivion, so caught up in the iron grip of Mr. Alcohol
that I was actually hoping for oblivion. Then one night my car went
under the back end of a pickup truck. Just before it hit, I came to with
the words flashing through my head, "this is the end of your drinking."
It was certainly not something I thought of myself, having been in a
blackout. It was my moment of truth.
The next day, filled with shame and remorse, and frightened beyond words
that if I ever picked up another drink I would end up killing someone
with my automobile, I went to my first AA meeting.
The signs posted on the walls of the room seemed so infantile at the
time, like "think, think, think," "one day at a time," "easy does it,"
"plan your work, and work your plan," "let go and let God," "easy does
it." These were thoughts that, as time went by, became the guideposts on
my rough road to sobriety. Without the alcohol to smother feelings of
anger, frustration, and hopelessness, I was an emotional wreck the first
few months, but managed to get to at least six meetings a week. Little
by little, I learned to turn my will and my life over to a Higher Power.
The words "I can't, He can" became my mantra, bringing me closer and
closer to that balance we all seek in sobriety.
After thirty years of trying to give away what this program has given
me, my life is still getting better and better. All I have to do is get
in touch with my Higher Power each morning, and keep Him close to me all
day. It is all about Him and about others, not about me anymore, except
to dress up and show up.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Working with Others:"
"Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends -- this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives."
c. 2001, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 89
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Unloved
I spent most of my life worrying about myself,
thinking that I was unwanted, that I was unloved.
I've learned since being in AA
that the more I worry about me loving you,
and the less I worry about you loving me,
the happier I'll be. . .
I have learned that the more I give,
the more I will have; the more I learn to give,
the more I learn to live.
c. 2003 AAWS, Experience, Strength and Hope, p. 218
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
We're not living just to be sober;
we are living to learn, to serve, and to love.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H E L P = Hope, Encouragement, Love, Patience.
Today's Meditation:
There is no limit to what you can accomplish in helping others. Keep that thought always. Never relinquish any work or give up the thought of any accomplishment because it seems beyond your power. God will help you in all good work. Only give it up if you feel that it's not God's will for you. In helping others, think of the tiny seed under the dark, hard ground. There is no certainty that, when it has forced its way up to the surface, sunlight and warmth will greet it. Often a task seems beyond your power, but there is no limit to what you can accomplish with God's help.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may never become discouraged in helping others. I pray that I may always rely on the power of God to help me.
Today's Quotable:
A person starts to live when he can live outside himself. Einstein
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Action and Patience":
"I heard that we can’t keep what we have unless we give it away. And so I found a woman—someone a little newer than I was—and I shared with her what you had shared with me. Looking back on it, I doubt that I helped this woman very much, but I helped myself beyond measure. I stayed sober, day by day, through sharing my experience, strength, and hope with her, through putting action into the A.A. program —while, at the same time, waiting for her, not forcing my action on her. This was patience supporting the action, though I didn’t call it patience at the time; the word was not a part of my emotional vocabulary."
© 1973 AAWS, Inc.;
Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg. 42
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Sponsors
No satisfaction has been deeper and no joy greater
than in a Twelfth Step job well done.
To watch the eyes of men and women open with wonder
as they move from darkness into light,
to see their eyes quickly fill with new purpose and meaning,
and above all to watch them awaken
to the presence of a loving God in their lives --
these things are the substance of what we receive
as we carry AA's message.
c. 1967 AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 29
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
My sponsor offers me self-forgetfulness
and kinship with another human being
of my own kind.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
C A R E = Comforting And Reassuring Each other.
Today's Meditation:
Shed peace, not discord, wherever you go. Try to be part of the cure of
every situation, not part of the problem. Try to ignore evil, rather than
to actively combat it. Always try to build up, never to tear down. Show
others by your example that happiness comes from living the right way. The
power of your example is greater than the power of what you say.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may try to bring something good into every situation today. I
pray that I may be constructive in the way I think and speak and act today.
Today's Quotable:
The last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitudes. Victor Frankl
A MEMBER SHARES:
My name is Diana, and I'm an alcoholic. When I reminded my sponsor that the Steps were "just suggestions," she was not subtle. She responded that they're MUSTS if we want to stay sober. I took her seriously because I wanted to do the least amount of work possible to stay sober. So had she told me that I could stay sober whether or not I worked the Steps, of course I would have opted not to do them at all. My sponsor doesn't sugarcoat things. She is very direct and to the point. But she is just what I need. My sponsor tells me what I need to hear not what I want to hear. Sometimes she makes me angry, but when I sit and think about it, it is almost always because she is telling me some truth that I don't want to hear. She has never told me anything that would ever hurt me, or lead me to a drink. I was told at the beginning that sobriety could be as hard or as easy as I choose to make it. If I follow the suggestions, life usually goes pretty well, and if I don't, well, let's just say when the pain gets great enough, I finally listen to the suggestions. Life is great today, and it's all because of this program. Next month I will be celebrating four years of continuous sobriety. If a hardhead like me can do it, anyone can! Thanks so much for letting me share.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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JUST FOR TODAY!
Giving
from: "I Must Learn"
"I think God gave each of us a unique personality, so that we in turn might give it to others. Now I CAN give it, with joy in life, warm, friendly, happy, sober!...
"I am convinced that there is some one thing I can do better than anyone else in this world. God thinks so. And he wants me to do it! Through the Twelve Steps, a good many A.A. members have found out what THEIR assigned chores on earth are. And they are doing them."
© 1973, Came to Believe..., page 101
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Sacrifice
The spiritual substance of anonymity is sacrifice.
Because AA's Twelve Traditions repeatedly ask us
to give up personal desires for the common good,
we realize that the sacrificial spirit
-- well symbolized by anonymity --
is the foundation of them all.
It is AA's proved willingness to make these sacrifices
that gives people their high confidence in our future.
c. 1953 AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 184
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
The Twelve Steps tell us how it works;
the Twelve Traditions tell us why it works.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
T R U S T = Try Relying Upon Steps and Traditions.
Today's Meditation:
The world wonders when it sees a person who can unexpectedly draw large and unsuspected sums from the bank for some emergency. But what the world has not seen are the countless small sums paid into that bank, earned by faithful work over a long time. And so is the bank of the spirit. The world sees the person of faith make a demand on God's stores of power and the demand is met. The world does not see what that person has been putting in, in thanks and praise, in prayer and communion, in small good deeds done faithfully, steadily over the years
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may keep making deposits in God's bank. I pray that in my hour of need, I may call upon these.
Today's Quotable:
Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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Just For Today!
From "Because I'm an Alcoholic:"
"I found that now I could do many things without a drink -- write, answer the telephone, eat out, go to parties, make love, get through the day and the evenings. Sleep at night and get up the next morning ready to begin another day. I was amazed and proud to have gone a week without a drink, then a month.
Then I lived an entire year sober, through my birthday, Christmas, problems, successes, the mixture that makes up life."
c. 2001, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 345
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Laughter
AA has filled my days with friends, laughter, growth,
and the feeling of worth that is rooted in constructive activity.
My faith in, and contact with, my Higher Power
shines more brightly than I dreamed it could. . .
I am free to laugh all my laughter,
free to trust and be trusted, free to both give and receive help.
I am free from shame and regret, free to grow and work.
I have left that lonely, frightening, painful express train through hell.
I have accepted the gift of a safer, happier journey through life.
c.2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 543
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Take time to laugh -- it is the music of the soul.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H J F = Happy, Joyous, Free.
Today's Meditation:
God is your healer and your strength. You do not have to ask Him to come to you. He is always with you in spirit. At your moment of need He is there to help you. Could you know God's love and His desire to help you, you would know that He needs no pleading for help. Your need is God's opportunity. You must learn to rely on God's strength whenever you need it. Whenever you feel inadequate to any situation, you should realize that the feeling of inadequacy is disloyalty to God. Just say to yourself: I know that God is with me and will help me to think and say and do the right thing.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may never feel inadequate to any situation. I pray that I may be buoyed up by the feeling that God is with me.
Today's Quotable:
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. Helen Keller
Today's Tool:
Do something fun.
This is from the Big Book (and As Bill Sees It, p. 218):
"For most normal folks, drinking means release from care, boredom, and worry. It means joyous intimacy with friends and a feeling that life is good.
"But not so with us in those last days of heavy drinking. The old pleasures were gone. There was an insistent yearning to enjoy life as we once did and a heartbreaking delusion that some new miracle of control would enable us to do it. There was always one more attempt -- and one more failure." (p. 151)
"We are sure God would like to see us happy, joyous, and free. Hence, we cannot subscribe to the belief that this life necessarily has to be a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. But it became clear that most of the time we had made our own misery." (p. 133)
I have this deep-seated idea that having fun takes points off my "Virtue scorecard". My experience has shown me, however, that I have more energy and am actually MORE capable of being of service to other people and the world in general when I am doing what I need to to take care of myself and ensure that for the most part I am finding life to be an overall POSITIVE experience.
Thanks very, very much for your responses this week -- have a good week!
Michele
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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JUST FOR TODAY!
Giving
from: "I Must Learn"
"I think God gave each of us a unique personality, so that we in turn might give it to others. Now I CAN give it, with joy in life, warm, friendly, happy, sober!...
"I am convinced that there is some one thing I can do better than anyone else in this world. God thinks so. And he wants me to do it! Through the Twelve Steps, a good many A.A. members have found out what THEIR assigned chores on earth are. And they are doing them."
© 1973, Came to Believe..., page 101
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Sacrifice
The spiritual substance of anonymity is sacrifice.
Because AA's Twelve Traditions repeatedly ask us
to give up personal desires for the common good,
we realize that the sacrificial spirit
-- well symbolized by anonymity --
is the foundation of them all.
It is AA's proved willingness to make these sacrifices
that gives people their high confidence in our future.
c. 1953 AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 184
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
The Twelve Steps tell us how it works;
the Twelve Traditions tell us why it works.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
T R U S T = Try Relying Upon Steps and Traditions.
Today's Meditation:
The world wonders when it sees a person who can unexpectedly draw large and unsuspected sums from the bank for some emergency. But what the world has not seen are the countless small sums paid into that bank, earned by faithful work over a long time. And so is the bank of the spirit. The world sees the person of faith make a demand on God's stores of power and the demand is met. The world does not see what that person has been putting in, in thanks and praise, in prayer and communion, in small good deeds done faithfully, steadily over the years
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may keep making deposits in God's bank. I pray that in my hour of need, I may call upon these.
Today's Quotable:
Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,498 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Moral Responsibility:"
"Some strongly object to the A.A. position that alcoholism is an illness. This concept, they feel, removes moral responsibility from alcoholics. As any A.A. knows, this is far from true. We do not use the concept of sickness to absolve our members from responsibility. On the contrary, we use the fact of fatal illness to clamp the heaviest kind of moral obligation onto the sufferer, the obligation to use A.A.'s Twelve Steps to get well."
c. 1967, As Bill Sees It, page 32
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Motives
On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead.
We consider our plans for the day.
Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking,
especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity,
dishonest or self-seeking motives.
Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties
with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use.
Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane
when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives.
c.2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 86
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
May the road always lead where you need to be.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H O P E = Hang On; Pray Every day.
Today's Meditation:
No work is of value without preparation. Every spiritual work must have
behind it much spiritual preparation. Cut short times of prayer and times
of spiritual preparation and many hours of work may be profitless. From the
point of view of God, one poor tool working all the time, but doing bad work
because of lack of preparation, is of small value compared with the sharp,
keen, perfect instrument working for only a short time, but which turns our
perfect work because of long hours of spiritual preparation.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may spend more time alone with God. I pray that I may get
more strength and joy from such times, so that they will add much to my
work.
Today's Quotable:
You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.
Charles Buxton
Today's Tool:
I've been thinking about the Serenity Prayer this weekend,
specifically, "accept the things I cannot change." I'm feeling really
reluctant to accept that I'm not going to get my way.
I've had a good spell of acceptance, loving my life and grateful for most
things in it. Something changed and now I've changed. There's a situation
in which I'm not getting what I want, which makes me want it more and
sooner.
This weekend a 5 year-old explained to me about being a "sore loser", and
how everybody at some point in their lives is a sore loser. I think my
unwillingness to accept this situation means I'm a sore loser. But still,
I'm completely unwilling to believe that the way I want it isn't the way
it's supposed to be.
So I guess I'll give myself a break. Pray for the willingness to be willing
to be willing to accept. Do what's in front of me and not be too hard on
myself and others.
Hope y'all have a great day.
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