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Rank: Advanced Member  Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "A Lifetime Process":
"I have more problems than alcohol . . . alcohol is only a symptom of a more pervasive disease. When I stopped drinking I began a lifetime process of recovery from unruly emotions, painful relationships, and unmanageable situations. This process is too much for most of us without help from a Higher Power and our friends in the Fellowship. . . . One day at a time, almost imperceptibly, I healed."
© 1990 AAWS, Inc.;
Daily Reflections, pg. 105
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Uncommon Sense
I was to test my thinking
by the new God-consciousness within.
Common sense would thus become uncommon sense.
I was to sit quietly when in doubt,
asking only for direction and strength
to meet my problems as He would have me.
Never was I to pray for myself,
except as my requests bore on my usefulness to others.
Then only might I expect to receive.
But that would be in great measure.
c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 13
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Service, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Prayers may seem unanswered, but never are.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A S A P = Always Say A Prayer.
Today's Meditation:
I will pray daily for faith, for it is God's gift. On faith alone depends
the answer to my prayers. God gives it to me in response to my prayers,
because it is a necessary weapon for me to possess for the overcoming of all
adverse conditions and the accomplishment of all good in my life.
Therefore, I will work at strengthening my faith.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may so think and live as to feed my faith in God. I pray that
my faith may grow because with faith God's power becomes available to me.
Today's Quotable:
We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we
created them.
A. Einstein
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "'First Things First:'"
"Here's an old saying that has special, strong meaning for us. Simply stated, it is this: Above all other concerns, we must remember that we cannot drink. Not drinking is the first order of business for us, anywhere, any time, under any circumstances. "This is strictly a matter of survival for us. We have learned that alcohol is a killer disease, leading to death in a large number of ways. We prefer not to activate that disease by risking a drink."
c. 1975, Living Sober, page 32
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Coercion
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 AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 134
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Our limitations keep us sane.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Absolute Abstinence.
Today's Meditation:
God finds, amid the crowd, a few people who follow Him, just to be near Him,
just to dwell in His presence. A longing in the Eternal Heart may be
satisfied by these few people. I will let God know that I seek just to dwell
in His presence, to be near Him, not so much for teaching or a message, as
just for Him. It may be that the longing of the human heart to be loved for
itself is something caught from the Great Divine Heart.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may have a listening ear, so that God may speak to me. I pray
that I may have a waiting heart, so that God may come to me.
Today's Quotable:
When we set exciting worthwhile goals for ourselves, they work in two ways:
We work on them, and they work on us.
Today's Tools:
Morning sober friends! I heard this read in a meeting last week and I just loved it. Page 311, BB, 3rd edition, “Keys to the Kingdom”
AA is not a plan for recovery that can be finished and done with. It is a way of life, and the challenge contained in its principles is great enough to keep any human being striving for as long as he lives. WE do not, cannot out-grow this plan. As arrested alcoholics, WE must have a program for living that allows for limitless expansion. Keeping one foot in front of the other is essential for maintaining our arrestment. There is no more “aloneness” with that awful ache, so deep in the heart of every alcoholic that nothing before, could ever reach it. That ache is gone and never to return again. Now there is a sense of belonging, of being wanted, needed and loved.
In return for a bottle and a hangover, we have been given the “keys to the kingdom”.
I was a lost soul before finding AA, I ached alright and I’m so grateful to the girl that 12th stepped me. I’m glad I made that decision to cash in the bottle for this life, a life beyond my imagination! I heard things like, “I never had to be alone anymore”, “don’t leave until the miracle happens” and all “you need is the willingness to open the door”. Thanks to the Higher Power whom I chose to call God and to Alcoholics Anonymous, for I found the Keys to the Kingdom.
Tool for the day: We are not finished, it’s not a race, it is a journey. Enjoy the Kingdom!
Michelle P.
Baton Rouge
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Win or Lose:"
"Joe C., my sponsor...gave me some good advice. 'Take the words SUCCESS and FAILURE out of your vocabulary. Replace them with HONESTY and EFFORT, he said.'
"One day, another old-timer...asked, 'Why are you so afraid of losing? Don't you trust God?' Heatedly, I point out that like him, I was in marketing and was paid to succeed.
"His response: 'Don't you know that success and failure share a common denominator?' He paused and then really let me have it. 'Both are temporary!'"
c. AA Grapevine, August 2001, page 25
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Anonymity
Moved by the spirit of anonymity,
we try to give up our natural desires for personal distinction
as AA members
both among fellow alcoholics and before the general public.
As we lay aside these very human aspirations,
we believe that each of us takes part
in the weaving of a protective mantle
which covers our whole Society
and under which we may grow and work in unity.
c. 1952 AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 187
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
^*^*^*^*^
Thought to Ponder . . .
AA is not something you join, it's a way of life.
* * *
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A N O N Y M O U S =
Actions, Not Our Names, Yield Maintenance Of Unity and Service.
Today's Meditation:
You are God's servant. Serve Him cheerfully and readily. Nobody likes a
servant who avoids extra work, who complains about being called from one
task to do one less enjoyable. A master would feel that he was being ill
served by such a servant. But is that not how you so often serve God? View
your day's work in this light. Try to do your day's work the way you
believe God wants you to do it, never shirking any responsibility and often
going out of your way to be of service.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may be a good servant. I pray that I may be willing to go out
of my way to be of service.
Today's Quotable:
Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve.. You only need a heart
full of grace. A soul generated by love. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today's Tool:
Not to long ago I heard a speaker and he asked the audience a question. "Do you think of you self as a Spiritual person?" I thought to my self, of course I do. I go to spiritual retreats a couple of times a year, I am of service in my home group, I help others, etc. Then he asked, "Do you colleagues, your family, other drivers on the highway see you as Spiritual person?"
Oh, no I'm so BUSTED!!!
This realization that the speaker lead me to has provided me with a wonderful growth opportunity that I have chosen to accept. I am now much more conscious of my nonspiritual actions and thoughts. I want to Be more spiritual so I need to Act more spiritual otherwise I am just one of those hypocrites that I choose to have power over me and let piss me off.
Practice what you preach and if you are not certain how, act as someone would who did.
I can identify with you today because today I realize that I also am just human, just like you.
I love you, each and everyone of you.
Yours in sobriety,
Klaus
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Into Action:" "When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology?...But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others. After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken. "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. 1976, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 86
AA Thought for the Day ^*^*^*^ Emotional Sobriety ^*^*^ "If we examine every disturbance we have, great or small, we will find at the root of it some unhealthy dependency and its consequent unhealthy demand. Let us, with God's help, continually surrender these hobbling demands. Then we can be set free to live and love; we may then be able to Twelfth-Step ourselves and others into emotional sobriety." Bill W., January 1958 ©1988 AAGrapevine, The Language of the Heart, p. 238 ^*^**^*^* Thought to Ponder ... I have been given a quiet place in bright sunshine. . . * * *
. * (\ ---- /) *
. ( \ (_)/ )
. * (_ / ›‹ \ _) *
. /____\ . . H E L P = Hope, Encouragement, Love, and Patience. .
Today's Meditation: God does not withhold His presence from you, He does not refuse to reveal more of His truth to you. He does not hold back His spirit from you. He does not withhold the strength that you need. His presence, His truth, His spirit, His strength are always immediately available to you, whenever you are fully willing to receive them. But they may be blocked off by selfishness, intellectual pride, fear, greed, and materialism. We must try to get rid of these blocks and let God's spirit come in. Today's Prayer: I pray that I may remove all blocks that are keeping me from God. I pray that I may let God come into my life with power. Today's Quotable: Don't smother each other. No one can grow in the shade. Leo Buscaglia.
Today's Tool: morning, today's tool is short and sweet. work on your spiritual life. Make amends where you need to and start living the good life. God grants me a daily reprieve and will provide the power I need for reconstruction. I have been working on daily meditation and it starts with breathing. Just breathing. So today I will just breathe, all day. have a good day. Barbara
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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"Today I have a lot to be thankful for. A.A. has taught me the way of life. It has given me back my respect. It has given back the love of everybody I know. It has taught me to show gratitude, which I never did before. It has taught me to be humble when I have to be humble."
c. 2003, Experience, Strength and Hope - Stories from the
First Three Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous, page 210
For a Friend of mine in Fort Bragg:
From "Statement on alcoholism:"
"The American Medical Association identifies alcoholism
as a complex disease with biological, psychological and
sociological components and recognizes medicine's
responsibility in behalf of affected persons. The Association
recognizes that there are multiple forms of alcoholism, and
that each patient should be evaluated and treated in an
individualized and comprehensive manner."
-- American Medical Association, 1971
c. Three Talks to Medical Societies by Bill W.,
co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
(A.A. Pamphlet P-6), page 22
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Motives
There are cases where our ancient enemy, rationalization,
has stepped in and has justified conduct which was really wrong.
The temptation here is to imagine that we had good motives and reasons
when we really didn't. . . .
We were depressed and complained we felt bad,
when in fact we were mainly asking for sympathy and attention.
This odd trait of mind and emotion, this perverse wish
to hide a bad motive underneath a good one,
permeates human affairs from top to bottom. . .
An honest regret for harms done, a genuine gratitude for blessings received,
and a willingness to try for better things tomorrow
will be the permanent assets we shall seek.
c. 1953 AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pp. 94-5
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
There is only one corner of the universe I can be certain of improving,
and that's my own self.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
G R A C E = Gently Releasing All Conscious Expectations.
Today's Meditation:
All is fundamentally well. That does not mean that all is well on the
surface of things. But it does mean that God’s in His heaven and that He has
a purpose for the world, which will eventually work out when enough human
beings are willing to follow His way. “Wearing the world as a loose garment”
means not being upset by the surface wrongness of things, but feeling deeply
secure in the fundamental goodness and purpose in the universe.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that God may be with me in my journey through the world. I pray that
I may know that God is planning that journey.
Today's Quotable:
My favorite quote is "Life is too short to be little," written by Disraeli…
Often we allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and
forget. We lose many irreplaceable hours brooding over grievances that, in a
year’s time, will be forgotten by us and by everybody. No, let us devote our
life to worthwhile actions and feelings, to great thoughts, real affections
and enduring undertakings. Andre Maurois
Today's Tools:
First, “We claim spiritual progress not spiritual perfection”. I can’t do AA wrong as long as I’m doing it (taking action). And there is always something new to learn or discover.
Second, in the BB chapter “How it Works”, it says “If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The GROUCH and the BRAINSTORM were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison”. This GROUCH and BRAINSTORM never quite made sense to me so one day I looked them up in the dictionary (this may have been suggested by someone else, can’t remember). This is what I found:
GROUCH – a fit of bad temper (this implies more than just being grumpy!).
BRAINSTORM – a violent transient fit of insanity (sounds like rage to me!).
And here’s a bonus: Pg 61 in BB on what alcoholics are like says “Is he not a victim of the DELUSION that he can wrest satisfaction and happiness out of this world if he only manages well?”
DELUSION – a persistent, false, psychotic belief regarding the self or persons or objects outside the self that is maintained despite indisputable evidence to the contrary. (oh how I can relate to this one!)
Thank you for the service opportunity this week. Have a good weekend!
Rita
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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Step Four: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. "These desires – for the sex relation, for material and emotional security, and for companionship – are perfectly necessary and right, and surely God-given. Yet these instincts, so necessary for our existence, often far exceed their proper functions. Powerfully, blindly, many times subtly, they drive us, dominate us, and insist upon ruling our lives. … When thus out of joint, man's natural desires cause him great trouble, practically all the trouble there is. No human being, however good, is exempt from these troubles. Nearly every serious emotional problem can be seen as a case of misdirected instinct. … "Step Four is our vigorous and painstaking effort to discover what these liabilities in each of us have been, and are." © 1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005; Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
AA Thought for the Day ^*^*^*^ Inventory ^*^*^ "A business which takes no regular inventory usually goes broke. Taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding and a fact-facing process. If the owner of the business is to be successful, he cannot fool himself about values. We did exactly the same thing with our lives. We took stock honestly. Being convinced that self, manifested in various ways, was what had defeated us, we considered its common manifestations." Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 64 ^*^**^*^* Thought to Ponder ... In order to recover we have to uncover. . . * * *
. * (\ ---- /) *
. ( \ (_)/ )
. * (_ / ›‹ \ _) *
. /_____\ . . H O W = Honest, Open, and Willing. .
Today's Meditation: There must be a design for the world in the mind of God. We believe His design for the world is a universal fellowship of men and women under the fatherhood of God. The plan for your life must also be in the mind of God. In times of quiet meditation you can seek for God's guidance, for the revealing of God's plan for your day. Then you can live this day according to that guidance. Many people are not making of their lives what God meant them to be, and so they are unhappy. They have missed the design for their lives. Today's Prayer: I pray that I may try to follow God's design for today. I pray that I may have the sense of Divine Intent in what I do today. Today's Quotable: You never get your teeth so white that you never have to brush them again.
Today's Tool: Today's tool is to turn it over (to the care of God as we understood him). A comment that I hear frequently from my sponsor is "are you working the (our) program, or are you working your program?" Invariably this is in reference to my exercising my will, rather than turning it over to the care of God. In a discussion with a sponsee on Sun. night I found myself asking this question to him, and the next thing I knew was that we had moved from discussing the problem to discussing the solution. Pretty amazing how this works. I can be pretty willful, and self-centered at times, and of course clueless about it (but I'm getting better) and pretty soon I'm trying to do it all. This is especially true at this time of year. Of course, it all never gets done, and then I get frustrated, and then it's either someone else's fault, or it just confirms that I'm not good enough, etc. You get the picture. Thank God for sponsees (and sponsors)! I occasionally used to ask my sponsor exactly how do I turn it over? He'd say "prayer, but you've also got to be willing." The third Step prayer usually works for me: God, I offer myself to Thee-to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do thy will always!" (BB,p.63). If it gets a little wacky today, maybe step back a moment and turn it over. A thought that helps me is "maybe this moment isn't about me, but is about the others", and then a quick prayer for God's wisdom and guidance. In sobriety, George Griffin
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Into Action:" "The alcoholic is like a tornado roaring his way through the lives of others. Hearts are broken. Sweet relationships are dead. Affections have been uprooted. Selfish and inconsiderate habits have kept the home in turmoil. We feel a man is unthinking when he says that sobriety is enough. "Yes, there is a long period of reconstruction ahead. We must take the lead." c. 1976, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 82  3
AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AAOnline.net) Integrity Just how and when we tell the truth -- or keep silent -- can often reveal the difference between genuine integrity and none at all. Step Nine emphatically cautions us against misusing the truth when it states: "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others." Because it points up the fact that the truth can be used to injure as well as to heal, this valuable principle certainly has a wide-ranging application to the problem of developing integrity. Bill W., August 1961 c. 1988 The AA Grapevine, Inc., The Language Of The Heart, p. 261 Thought to Ponder . . . I cannot mend if I bend the truth. AA-related 'Alconym' . . . H O P E = Honesty, Open-mindedness, Patience, Effort.
Today's Meditation: "Behold I make all things new." When you change to a new way of life, you leave many things behind you. It is only the earth-bound spirit that cannot soar. Loosen somewhat the strands that tie you to the earth. It is only the earthly desires that bind you. Your new freedom will depend on your ability to rise above earthly things. Clipped wings can grow again. Broken wings can regain a strength and beauty unknown before. If you will, you can be released and free. Today's Prayer: I pray that I may be freed from things that hold me down. I pray that my spirit may soar in freedom. Today's Quotable: People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross
Today's Tools: So I have 2 tools for the day. Both are in response to my reflections from last night and this morning. The first is...when in doubt- pause. Actually, I have been trying to use this in many areas of my life since I tend to be a tad impulsive. But yesterday, someone made reference to my "favorite" child. I have several children, and of 3 boys the oldest is not adopted and the other two are. Guess which one this guy thought was my "favorite" child? Now, my teenage son is pretty great most of the time, but he has his moments. I don't think I have a favorite child although I do have one that drives me nuts (that changes from year to year). Rather than punch this guy, I just paused and decided not to fight a battle that he did not need to learn from me. The other one is WHY NOT ME. So when things happen which are not what I would like, I tend to think "why me". But this young woman who is going through her second transplant said recently, why not me, should I wish it on someone else. One of my friends or a stranger maybe. It's okay that's it is me. I guess I am as ready as the next person. So now, when I think about all the little inconveniences in my life, I just think "why not me". Barbara
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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Step Four: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
"These desires – for the sex relation, for material and emotional security, and for companionship – are perfectly necessary and right, and surely God-given. "Yet these instincts, so necessary for our existence, often far exceed their proper functions. Powerfully, blindly, many times subtly, they drive us, dominate us, and insist upon ruling our lives. … When thus out of joint, man's natural desires cause him great trouble, practically all the trouble there is. No human being, however good, is exempt from these troubles. Nearly every serious emotional problem can be seen as a case of misdirected instinct. …
"Step Four is our vigorous and painstaking effort to discover what these liabilities in each of us have been, and are."
© 1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005;
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pg. 42
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Jekyll and Hyde
Here is a fellow who has been puzzling you,
especially in his lack of control.
He does absurd, incredible, tragic things while drinking.
He is a real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
He is seldom mildly intoxicated.
He is always more or less insanely drunk.
His disposition while drinking
resembles his normal nature but little.
He may be one of the finest fellows in the world.
Yet let him drink for a day,
and he frequently becomes disgustingly,
and even dangerously anti-social. . .
This is by no means a comprehensive picture
of the true alcoholic,
as our behavior patterns vary.
c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 21-2
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
^*^*^*^*^
Thought to Ponder . . .
If you think you are an alcoholic, chances are you are.
* * *
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H E L P = Hope, Encouragement, Love, Patience.
* * *
A Member Shares:
Hi everyone! I am Chuck and I am an alcoholic. I had a war going on in my mind all my life. I was sure I was meant to do great things, but at the same time, I also knew that I was pretty much worthless. I kept asking myself what I should be doing, but mostly doing nothing ... except dreaming. A large part of the process that helped me were the Steps and professional therapy. I began getting a picture of myself to match my reality. I learned that I was neither as bad as I thought I had been, nor as good as I thought I should have been. I wasn't as stupid as I kept thinking I was, and I wasn't as smart, either. In fact, I was a pretty ordinary guy. I'm reasonably intelligent, a little homely, sometimes charming, and sometimes socially inept. But all put together, I'm just a regular person. It was wonderful to discover that! I am okay ... just okay ... and that is enough for today. God Bless you all.
Today's Meditation:
Always seek to set aside the valuations of the world which seem wrong and
try to judge only by those valuations which seem right to you. Do not seek
the praise and notice of the world. Be one of those who, though sometimes
scoffed at, have a serenity and peace of mind which scoffers never know. Be
one of that band who feel the Divine Principle in the universe, though He be
often rejected because he cannot be seen.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may not heed too much the judgment of the world. I pray that I
may test things by what seems right to me.
Today's Quotable:
Practice makes progress. Heard in a meeting.
Today's Tool:
Don't let the gift AA has given you take you away from AA
The above is very important in my life. I have a life today that I could not
possibly have imagined when I came to a few 24 hours ago. It is also a busy
life. But, the biggest gift I have is peace of mind and an understanding of
what serenity is. In order to keep this, and most importantly, my sobriety, I
need to keep AA front and center in my life. There is always something I could
be doing besides going to a meeting, and some of these things are important.
However, I must be grounded in AA. For me, this means starting my days off with
meditation, regular contact with sponsor / sponcees / AA friends, being
responsible to a home group (even if my work schedule sometimes leaves me unable
to attend) and having a pre-determined number of meetings I go to every week and
doing my absolute best to get to at least that many. The last 3 1/2 years of my
life have been my busiest, but the above tools have kept my feet planted in AA,
and kept me mostly sane and always sober. This gift is more important than all
the rest.
Have a great day
Kevin
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "We Agnostics":
"We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and practices when we might have observed that many spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness which we should have sought ourselves".
"Instead, we looked at the human defects of these people, and sometimes used their shortcomings as a basis of wholesale condemnation. We talked of intolerance, while we were intolerant ourselves. We missed the reality and the beauty of the forest because we were diverted by the ugliness of some of its trees. We never gave the spiritual side of life a fair hearing."
© 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition;
Alcoholics Anonymous, pgs. 49-50
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Spirituality
Spirituality is an awakening --
or is it all the loose ends woven together into a mellow fabric? . . .
It's patience in the face of stupidity.
It's feeling that you want to knock somebody's head off --
and walking away instead. . .
It's wearing dungarees that feel like a tuxedo.
It's wanting to go home, yet being there. . .
It's the awareness that survival is a savage fight between you and yourself.
It's a magnetic pull toward those who are down and out.
It's knowing that even the bad times are good. . .
The singular thing that is spirituality cannot be given to a fellowman
by word of mouth.
If every man is to have it, then every man must earn it,
in his own way, by his own hand, stamped by the seal of himself,
in his own individual right.
c. 1973 AAWS, Came To Believe . . ., pp. 5-6
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Spirituality is the essence of being. It can shape reality.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
K I S S = Keeping It Simple, Spiritually.
Today's Meditation:
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen." Faith is not seeing, but believing. Down through the ages, there
have always been those who obeyed the heavenly vision, not seeing but
believing in God. And their faith was rewarded. So shall it be to you.
Good things will happen to you. You cannot see God, but you can see the
results of faith in human lives, changing them from defeat to victory. God's
grace is available to all who have faith, life can be victorious and happy.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may have faith enough to believe without seeing. I pray that I
may be content with the results of my faith.
Today's Quotable:
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is
invisible to the eye.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Today's Tools:
The second step says "Came to believe in a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity".
It took me a while to read this as it is. What I saw was "I have to have a concrete faith in God." But the second step says I CAME to believe. And in our literature it explains that I don't even have to believe, just be willing to believe. Faith comes from experience. I got the faith from doing the work in the steps. Again, let me try to quote a speaker I heard on a tape regarding the second step. He gave this example: "You are my friend and you recommend your car mechanic to me. I BELIEVE what you say, that he is a good car mechanic. It is not until I have my own experience with having my car fixed right the first time, without being ripped off, that I have FAITH that he is a good car mechanic." My experience = faith. Now that I could understand!!
So the tool for today is take whatever willingness you have to believe in a higher power and go through the rest of the steps. Your experience will grow as you work the steps, and one day you will look back and say "NOW I have faith!"
Have a wonderful day,
Kathy
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "This Spirit Touch":
"I believe completeness is waiting for anyone who will take the time to make the effort, through quiet thinking, honest prayer, chosen reading, and exercise. Those are the ingredients. It is an adventure so worthwhile that all else fades in comparison, yet it makes all else worthwhile. – Richmond, Virginia, USA"
© 1973 AAWS, Inc.;
Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg. 66
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Inner Security
Some thoughts about anonymity. It is leading me to a fully human life.
The long form of the Twelfth Tradition describes
the end to which the Steps are leading me.
They put me in my place by setting forth a genuine humility
-- not a self-groveling, but rather an honest and loving relationship
with a God who loves me.
Once this is established, I am free to relate to other people
out of the love and inner security that renders
my overinflated ego superfluous.
c. 2003 The AA Grapevine, Inc, Thank You For Sharing, p. 112
Thought to Ponder . . .
Self-esteem doesn't need an audience.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
G I F T S = Getting It From The Steps.
Today's Meditation:
"Lord we thank Thee for the great gift of peace, that peace which passeth all
understanding, that peace which the world can neither give nor take away."
That is the peace which only God can give in the midst of a restless world
and surrounded by trouble and difficulty. To know that peace is to have
received the stamp of the kingdom of God. When you have earned that peace,
you are fit to judge between true and false values, between the values of the
kingdom of God and the values of all that the world has to offer.
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:
Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
Today's Tool:
Yesterday I was at a meeting and there was a little girl about 4
years old there who kept chattering away. Someone mentioned it to me
after the meeting and hoped the little girl was not too disruptive.
I responded that my youngest is language delayed and I hoped that one
day I would be distracted by her chattering. It's a small thing but
huge in our lives, trying to meet all the needs of one small child
whose global language needs impact every aspect of her life.
So the tool for today is: There is always another perspective. My
way of looking at things is not the only way.
Have a good day. Thanks for letting me share.
Barbara
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "How It Works":
"We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick. Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended we said to ourselves, 'This is a sick man. How can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. Thy will be done.'"
© 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition;
Alcoholics Anonymous, pgs. 66-67
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Resentments
If you have a resentment you want to be free of,
if you will pray for the person or the thing you resent, you will be free.
If you will ask in prayer for everything you want for yourself
to be given to them, you will be free.
Ask for their health, their prosperity, their happiness, and you will be free.
Even when you don't really want it for them,
and your prayers are only words and you don't mean it,
go ahead and do it anyway.
Do it every day for two weeks and you will find you have come to mean it
and to want it for them, and you will realize
that where you used to feel bitterness and resentment and hatred,
you now feel compassionate understanding and love.
c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 552
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Trying to pray is praying.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
P U S H = Pray Until Something Happens.
Today's Meditation:
You were born with a spark of the Divine within you. It had been all but smothered by the life you were living. That celestial fire has to be tended and fed so that it will grow eventually into a real desire to live the right way. By trying to do the will of God, you grow more and more in the new way of life. By thinking of God, praying to Him, and having communion with Him, you gradually grow more like Him. The way of your transformation from the material to the spiritual is the way of the Divine Companionship.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may tend the spark of the Divine within me so that it will grow. I pray that I may be gradually transformed from the old life to the new life.
Today's Quotable:
Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
Today's Tool:
Good Morning,
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we carried the message to other alcoholics and practice these principles in all of affairs.
I'm here to say the spiritual awakening has happen to me!!!
I have been physically, mentally, and spiritually re-arranged. And lovin' it!
This program works, it really does.
I have to CONTINUE to work it. Always a new level of letting go, or something else put in my life bringing me to rely on God, the program, and the fellowship.
My transformation was not rapid. For me its been like water on rock, smoothing the rough edges. When I compare myself to others (which is dangerous....), I get frustrated at how long it took me to learn different lessons. But, the upside is, I am still getting better. This program is always working.
Feeling great this morning! Just think of where I could be.
Grateful for the physical, mental, and spiritual re-arrangement!!
Have a great day!
Jeannette
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "The Doctor's Opinion:"
"Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one. They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks -- drinks which they see others taking with impunity...Unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his recovery."
c. 1976, Alcoholics Anonymous, pages xxvi-xxvii
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
There Is A Solution
Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride,
the confession of shortcomings
which the process required for its successful consummation.
But we saw that it really worked in others,
and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life
as we had been living it.
When, therefore, we were approached by those
in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left
but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet.
We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed
into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed.
c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 25
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
While it isn't always easy, if I keep it simple, it works.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
K I S S = Keep It Simple; Surrender.
Today's Meditation:
We know God by spiritual vision. We feel that He is beside us. We feel His presence. Contact with God is not made by the senses. Spirit-consciousness replaces sight. Since we cannot see God, we have to perceive Him by spiritual perception. God has to span the physical and the spiritual vision. Many persons, though they cannot see God, have had a clear spiritual consciousness of Him. We are inside a box of space and time, but we know there must be something outside of that box, limitless space, eternity of time, and God.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may have a consciousness of God's presence. I pray that God will give me spiritual vision.
Today's Quotable:
Man can never be happy if he does not nourish his soul as he does his body. The Rebbe
Today's Tool:
In thinking about insuring our sobriety, nothing is so effective as working with another drunk, carrying the message to the still sick and suffering alcoholic. The first 6 months of Bill Wilson's sobriety was characterized by his willingness to carry the message of AA even though AA had not officially started yet and he had no "success" other than his own sobriety to show for his solitary work from November 1934 until he fatefully met Dr. Bob in May 1935 and ultimately the founding of AA with Doctor Bob's last drink on June 10, 1935.
There was Bill, alone in The Mayflower Hotel in Akron, Ohio, tantalized by the sounds of the hotel bar. Bill, a man unable to leave the 1st drink alone, but now under the influence of the principles found within the 12 steps, turned his attention to seeking somebody who might benefit from his experience with this new way of life. Dr. Bob came away from their meeting impressed that Bill "spoke my language", and certainly Bill's message, had some "depth and weight".
The point and the tool: Work the 12 steps of AA so that your message will have some depth and weight!!!
Brian Suvick
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "The Keys of the Kingdom:"
"A complete change takes place in our approach to life. Where we used to run from responsibility, we find ourselves accepting it with gratitude that we can successfully shoulder it. Instead of wanting to escape some perplexing problem, we experience a thrill of challenge in the opportunity it affords for another application of A.A. techniques, and we find ourselves tackling it with surprising vigor."
c. 1976, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 311-312
c. 2001, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 275-276
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Thankfulness
I try hard to hold fast to the truth
that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits.
When brimming with gratitude,
one's heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love,
the finest emotion that we can ever know.
c. 1967 AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 37
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
I am grateful for this minute. My eternity may be in it.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
G R A C E = Gently Releasing All Conscious Expectations.
Today's Meditation:
We should have life and have it more abundantly-spiritual, mental, physical,
abundant life-joyous, powerful life. These we can have if we follow the
right way. Not all people will accept from God the gift of an abundant
life, a gift held out free to all. Not all people care to stretch out a
hand and take it. God's gift, the richest He has to offer, is the precious
gift of abundant life. People often turn away from it, reject it, and will
have none of it. Do not let this be true of you.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may hasten to accept the gift of abundant spiritual life. I
pray that I may live the good life to the best of my ability.
Today's Quotable:
Our real blessings often appear to us in the shapes of pains, losses and
disappointments; but let us have patience, and we soon shall see them in
their proper figures. Joseph Addison
Today's Tool: Seek God
simple, yet...
when i was first getting sober my sponsor told me, and continues to remind me, that the steps use the word seek. On page 57 of the BB it says:
"...God has restored us all to our right minds...some of us grow into it...slowly. But He has come to all who have honestly sought him."
It doesn't say who have honestly found him.
Just like other things in my life, i sometimes feel as if my relationship with God has to look a certain way in order for it to be 'right.' What i have been blessed to learn in sobriety is that, just like all of my other relationships, my relationship with God is a growing, changing thing. Sometimes we sit and are quiet together, sometimes i get petulant and angry and yell, sometimes i cry with him, often times i laugh and am thankful sometimes i feel closer than others. But one thing i have learned is that God gives me the ultimate freedom: to be the person that i am, and the person i am not, with him, whenever i need to be (or not). if he can give me that freedom to be, then why cant i give it to myself?
And all of this came to me simply because i was willing to seek God.
Here is what has worked for me: try. practice. give up the idea that there is a right way to do it (and certainly give up the idea that if there is a right way, you aren't doing it that way, whatever way that is). open your heart with love for yourself and those around you, and just look for God.
Have a splendiferous today,
Maggie
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Into Action:" "We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day 'Thy will be done.' We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves. "It works -- it really does." c. 1976 & 2001, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 87 8
AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AAOnline.net) Cease Fighting Love and tolerance of others is our code. And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone -- even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. . . We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality -- safe and protected. c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 84-5 With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Thought to Ponder . . . It's not easy to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head. AA-related 'Alconym' . . . D E A D = Don't Ever Admit Defeat.
Today's Meditation: Love and fear cannot dwell together. By their very natures, they cannot exist side by side. Fear is a very strong force. And therefore a weak and vacillating love can soon be routed by fear. But a strong love, a love that trusts in God, is sure eventually to conquer fear. The only sure way to dispel fear is to have the love of God more and more in your heart and soul. Today's Prayer: I pray that love will drive out the fear in my life. I pray that my fear will flee before the power of the love of God. Today's Quotable: You can't think your way into a new way of living...you have to live your way into a new way of thinking!
Today's Tools: Expressing Gratitude Gratitude is more than just being thankful. The principle of gratitude is a moral responsibility. If we are truly grateful we will help others achieve what we have achieved. Next is the priority of gratitude. As soon as we know that God has changed our lives, we must let nothing interfere with what we know is right. The propriety of gratitude shows us that God is not a respecter of persons, and we deserve His grace as do all people. Then the purpose of our gratitude is not for the one blessed, but to shed light on the ONE who blessed us. Do my actions reflect my gratitude? Lord, give me a grateful heart for what I have been blessed with, and let me fully understand the magnitude of gratitude. From "Day By Day" Paul W. Delta, Co.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "When A.A. Came of Age":
"Another famous early itinerant was Irwin M., a Cleveland A.A. who had become a champion salesman of Venetian [sic] blinds to department stores in the deep South. He used to range a territory bounded by Atlanta and Jacksonville on one side and Indianapolis, Birmingham, and New Orleans on the other. Irwin weighed 250 pounds and was full of energy and gusto. The prospect of Irwin, as a missionary, scared us [H.Q.] rather badly. . . . Irwin had long since broken all the rules of caution and discreet approach to newcomers, so it was with reluctance that we gave him the list [of prospects]. Then we waited -- but not for long. Irwin ran them down, every single one, with his home-crashing tornado technique. Day and night, besides, he wrote letters to his prospects and got them to writing each other. "Stunned but happy Southerners began to send their thanks to Headquarters. As Irwin himself reported, many a first family of the South had been an easy pushover. He had cracked the territory wide open and had started or stimulated many an original group."
© 2001 AAWS, Inc.;
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 25
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Communication
From the beginning, communication in AA
has been no ordinary transmission
of helpful ideas and attitudes.
It has been unusual and sometimes unique.
Because of our kinship in suffering,
and because our common means of delivery
are effective for ourselves only when constantly
carried to others, our channels of contact
have always been charged with the language of the heart.
c. 1988, The AA Grapevine, Inc., The Language of the Heart, p. 243
Thought to Ponder . . .
We need to share our problems to find our solutions.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H E A R T = Healing, Enjoying, And Recovering, Together.
Today's Meditation:
"Walk humbly with thy Lord." Walking with God means practicing the presence
of God in your daily affairs. It means asking God for strength to face each
new day. It means turning to Him often during the day in prayer for
yourself and for other people. It means thanking Him at night for the
blessings you have received during the day. Nothing can seriously upset you
if you are "walking with God." You can believe that He is beside you in
spirit, to help you and to guide you on your way.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may try to walk humbly with God. I pray that I may turn to
Him often as to a close friend.
Today's Quotable:
The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta be willing to put up
with the rain. Dolly Parton
Today's Tools:
Get connected -- (more specific suggestions: go to meetings, talk to people in the fellowship, pray)
Last week I was talking before a meeting with someone whose program I respect a lot, and when I asked her how she was doing she said "I feel like the world is ending". I had one of those moments that I tend to have in meetings where someone had just articulated what I was feeling but couldn't quite articulate myself. And so we got to talk a little about what was going on with each of us, and I left the meeting feeling not jubilant but certainly less filled with that vague, nameless fear that I used to try to drown with alcohol.
I just wanted to send a quick follow-up to say I really do know that the world is not ending. But I was only able to identify that fear and then process it appropriately cuz I went to a meeting and got connected!!
Michele
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "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 God has 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." c. 2001, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 57
AA Thought for the Day ^*^*^*^ Change ^*^*^ "... Strange as this may seem to those who do not understand - once a psychic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to follow a few simple rules." ©1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. xxvii ^*^**^*^* Thought to Ponder ... Without change I am just a non-drinking drunk. . . . * ( \ ---- / ) *
( \ (_)/ )
* (_ /›‹ \ _) *
/ ___ \ . . C H A N G E = Choosing Honesty Allows New Growth Everyday. .
Today's Meditation: 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. Un-calm 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. Today's Prayer: I pray that no emotional upsets will hinder God’s power in my life. I pray that I may keep a calm spirit and a steady heart. Today's Quotable: Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand. Emily Kimbrough
Today's Tool: “Practical experience shows that nothing so much ensures immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics.” As a result of the gifts of the program, I have a very full life today. I need to make sure that my life does not keep me from participating in sobriety. In theory, I never doubt this. However, learning how to put it into practice is not always as straight forward for me. So a couple things I do are: Get to AA meeting regularly, sponsor people, be sponsored, look for service opportunity, start my days out with spiritual grounding, etc. For me, these things take continual re-dedication, or they will slip “in all my busyness.” It reminds me of the famous story of a spiritual master who stated he meditated for 1 hour every day except when he got real busy; at those times he meditated for 2 hours. Am I keeping up with my program activities? Thanks Kevin
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Back to the Fundamentals":
"The answer I was looking for was on page 12, in Ebby’s words to Bill: '"Why don’t you choose your own conception of God?"'
“'I’ve tried everything else,' I thought, 'and I’ve got no place else to go. I might just as well.' I sat down at my desk, got a pad of paper and a pencil, and asked myself, 'If you could pick the kind of God that you could believe in, what would He be like?' I bore in mind the facts that I was an alcoholic and that I had been a perfectionist all my life. The world was never perfect enough for me. Everything that I ever believed in, every ideal that I ever followed turned out to have feet of clay. Here was my chance. For the first time in my life, I could create something perfect. All right!
"I wrote across the page, 'God is the perfection I’ve been searching for all my life. He is too perfect to have human characteristics and faults.' That was the start.
"Then I wrote, 'God is the ultimate perfection. He is the perfect love, the perfect truth, the perfect goodness, the perfect understanding, tolerance, mercy, forgiveness. God is so perfect that no matter how evil, how unclean we may be, He’ll forgive us if we ask, and grant us strength to overcome our shortcomings.'"
© 1973 AAWS, Inc.;
Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pgs. 63-64
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Lucky
I was one of those "lucky" ones
who glided through life without major disasters.
For the last twenty years of my drinking career,
I was drunk almost every night;
I often went to bed unconscious and woke up sick. . .
Over that twenty years,
I managed to strip all sense of worth from myself,
and to damage my relationships with the people I loved. . .
Finally, the world started closing in around me.
I hated myself.
I was ashamed of the things I was doing,
in pain every day. . .
My marriage was hurting,
my employers were taking a close look at me;
I was risking arrest almost every time I drove. . .
At this point, somehow through the grace of God,
I found the courage to ask for help.
At my first AA meeting, I knew I was in the right place.
AA Grapevine, November 2002, pp. 18-19
With permission, The AA Grapevine, Inc.
^*^*^*^*^
Thought to Ponder . . .
Break out of your shell and join us!
* * *
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Y A N A = You Are Not Alone.
Today's Meditation:
I should try to practice the presence of God. I can feel that He is with me
and near me, protecting and strengthening me always. In spite of every
difficulty, every trial, every failure, the presence of God suffices. Just
to believe He is near me brings strength and peace. I should try to live as
though God were beside me. I cannot see Him because I was not made with the
ability to see Him else there were no room for faith. But I can feel His
spirit with me.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may try to practice the presence of God. I pray that by doing
so I may never feel alone or helpless again.
Today's Quotable:
Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes even I have trouble doing it.
Today's Tool:
If Bill Wilson's business deal had gone well in Akron, OH he would have been
rich and I would be dead.
Somebody said that at one of my meetings last week and it really hit me. The
topic of the meeting was doing the footwork and leaving the outcome to my
higher power. There are times when my plans don't go exactly the way I want
them to. And I complain and think life doesn't treat me right; sometimes
I'll even try to manipulate the world so that I get what I think I want.
Chaos generally ensues and I make myself and those around me miserable. Then
I get sad and if I carried on with this behavior, I'd most likely get drunk in
short order.
My sponsor reminds me to just do what's in front of me and leave the results
up to my higher power. I've found that things go much more smoothly when I
just do the footwork and the get out of the way. The outcome varies and isn't
always what I want or expect, but my higher power hasn't let me down yet!
Have a great Monday.
Peace,
Dan
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "Good Housekeeping" article, 1954:
"When you stand outside a room where a group of Alcoholics Anonymous is meeting, the most frequent sound you hear is laughter. Mellow laughter, which can come only from people who have looked destruction and catastrophe in the face, not once but continuously over long years, and now are free and unafraid. The laughter, in short, of people who hold God's hand and feel safe."
c. Letter to a Woman Alcoholic (A.A. Pamphlet P-14) - page 13
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Listen
Trying to get into communication with and to help other people
is a recovery measure for us,
because it helps take us out of ourselves.
Trying to heal ourselves by helping others works,
even when it is an insincere gesture. Try it some time.
If you really listen to (not just hear) what is being said,
you may find the person talking has quietly slipped inside your head
and seems to be describing the landscape there.
c. 1998 AAWS, Living Sober, p. 85
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Learn to listen; listen to learn.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
T L C = Tears, Laughter, Caring.
Today's Meditation:
If your heart is right, your world will be right. The beginning of all
reform must be in yourself. It's not what happens to you, it's how you take
it. However restricted your circumstances, however little you may be able
to remedy financial affairs, you can always turn to your inward self and,
seeing something not in order there, seek to right it. And as all reform is
from within outward, you will always find that the outward is improved as
the inward is improved. As you improve yourself, your outward circumstances
will change for the better. The power released from within yourself will
change your outward life.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that the hidden power within me may be released. I pray that I may
not imprison the spirit that is within me.
Today's Quotable:
Never part without loving words to think of during your absence. It may be
that you will not meet again in this life. Jean Paul Richter
Today's Tool:
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. I think the pain I experience is one way my Higher Power has to get
my attention, coaxing me to take stock of my performance. The slight time
and effort it takes to work the program-- a spot-check inventory, for
example, or the making of amends, whatever is appropriate-- are well worth
the effort.
Have a great day.
Gwen
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "The Language of the Heart:"
"The Traditions are neither rules, regulations, nor laws. No sanctions or punishments can be invoked for their infraction. Perhaps in no other area of society would these principles succeed. Yet in this Fellowship of alcoholics, the unenforceable Traditions carry a power greater than that of the law...Perhaps the secret of their power lies in the fact that these life-giving communications spring out of living experience and are rooted in sacrificial love."
c. 1988, The Language of the Heart,
page 248-249
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Tradition Two
We are coming to realize that each group,
as well as each individual, is a special entity,
not quite like any other.
Though AA groups are basically the same,
each group does have its own special atmosphere,
its own peculiar state of development.
We believe that every AA group has a conscience.
It is the collective conscience of its own membership. . .
The group begins to recognize its own defects of character
and, one by one, these are removed or lessened.
As this process continues, the group becomes better able
to receive right direction for its own affairs.
Bill W., AA Grapevine, January 1948
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 =
Teaching Recovery Using Steps and Traditions.
Today's Meditation:
I fail not so much when tragedy happens as I did before the happening, by all the little things I might have done, but did not do. I must prepare for the future by doing the right thing at the right time now. If a thing should be done, I should deal with that thing today and get it righted with God before I allow myself to undertake any new duty. I should look upon myself as performing God's errands and then coming back to Him to tell Him in quiet communion that the message has been delivered or the task done.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may seek no credit for the results of what I do. I pray that I may leave the outcome of my actions to God.
Today's Quotable:
Our lives improve only when we take chances - and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves. Walter Anderson
Today's Tool:
Good Morning,
Today's tool is: "Courage is fear that's said it's prayers" ( and taken an action)
I am a person that prefers the comfort zone. Anything that makes me feel the least bit uncomfortable I don't want to do because I am scared I won't be good enough at it (EGO...easing God out). What I have learned in AA is that I don't have to be the best at anything......I don't have to do something that makes me fearful/uncomfortable/unsure......BUT if I want to grow I need to step outside of the safety zone and give it a shot. I could not have done a lot of the things I have done without the support of a sponsor and friends in the program. I read in a meditation book this morning "Sometimes I have to feel the feelings and then act anyway".
So....say a prayer....talk to your sponsor or a friend that won't co-sign your BS and face that fear. It will be ok as long as we don't drink!!! If your not scared of anything today write a gratitude list.
have a great day!
Laure
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 10/7/2008 Posts: 2,854 Location: Caldwell Tex
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From "A Vision for You":
"He [Bill W.] now returned home, leaving behind his first acquaintance [Dr. Bob], the lawyer and the devil-may-care chap. These men had found something brand new in life. Though they knew they must help other alcoholics if they would remain sober, that motive became secondary. It was transcended by the happiness they found in giving themselves for others."
© 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition;
Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 159
AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)
Love
The idea that we can be possessively loving of a few,
can ignore many,
and continue to fear or hate anybody,
has to be abandoned, if only a little at a time.
We can try to stop making unreasonable demands
upon those we love.
We can show kindness where we had shown none.
With those we dislike we can begin to practice
justice and courtesy,
perhaps going out of our way
to understand and help them. . .
Courtesy, kindness, justice, and love are the keynotes
by which we can come into harmony
with practically anybody.
Bill W.
c. 1952 AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pp. 92-3
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
^*^*^*^*^
Thought to Ponder . . .
. . . outgoing love,
the finest emotion that we can ever know.
Bill W., March 1962
* * *
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
L O V E = Living Our Valuable Experiences.
Today's Meditation:
Be calm, be true, be quiet. Do not get emotionally upset by anything that
happens around you. Feel a deep, inner security in the goodness and purpose
in the universe. Be true to your highest ideals. Do not let yourself slip
back into the old ways of reacting. Stick to your spiritual guns. Be calm
always. Do not talk back or defend yourself too much against accusation,
whether false or true. Accept abuse as well as you accept praise. Only God
can judge the real you.
Today's Prayer:
I pray that I may not be upset by the judgment of others. I pray that I may
let God be the judge of the real me.
Today's Quotable:
Be careful what you show - and what you don't show. Marlene Dietrich
Today's Tool:
Happy Tuesday!
We absolutely insist upon enjoying life (or some such thing, this AM I can’t find the actual quote.)
AA has given me a full life. Sometimes, I am so busy living it that I forget to enjoy it. It is a beautiful morning here in Chapel Hill , and it is important that I stop for even just a couple minutes and enjoy that. Taking time to enjoy the gifts that have been showered upon me is a crucial part of my sobriety. It obviously can lead to gratitude, a very affective antidote to self pity and the desire to drink. Plus, what kind of attraction to our program am I if I just run around hectic all the time?
So, today I will challenge myself to make sure I am enjoying (and grateful for) the gifts of the program.
Kevin
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