More Recovery Thoughts and Quotes - September

[yukonm]

September 1

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Having persevered with the rest of the program, they wondered why they fell. We think the reason is that they never completed their housecleaning. They took inventory all right, but hung on to some of the worst items in stock. They only THOUGHT they had lost their egoism and fear; they only THOUGHT they had humbled themselves. But they had not learned enough of humility, fearlessness and honesty, in the sense we find it necessary, until they told someone else ALL their life story. - Pg. 73 - Into Action

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

At this time many people will get on our nerves. This is normal during early recovery. How we see others is often a mirror of our feelings--thus we are not so much upset by the actions of others as we are upset with ourselves.

Help me see that my feelings are often displaced and projected into anothers behavior when it may really come from within me.

Prayer

I will pray today. I will not try to do anything without God 's help whether it's finding something in a cupboard, figuring out what to have for breakfast or curing my life. I will allow God into each and every intimate detail in my life trusting that God's love is all pervasive, all knowing and cannot be used up. I understand that God's reach extends as I allow it to imbue my life with a sense of being alive and in constant, constant contact. It is not about being deserving, God and I are meant to be one in the same. It is not about being good enough, God is with me always, It is I who stray from God, not God who strays from me. Today I will allow God's presence to fill me and guide and hold my life. There is no such thing as poverty or lack when I live in God's eternal love and presence.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Recovery is not an event; it is a process. The disease of addiction affects all three aspects of our physical, mental, and spiritual selves by changing our behavior (to self-destruction), thinking (to self-serving), and allegiance (to no purpose). It was a slow debilitating process. Recovery is the same slow process in reverse.

I am in the process of changing my behavior to self-construction, my thoughts to service, and my allegiance from 'no purpose' to a higher purpose.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

We don't care why you're here, it's why you stay.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

All my needs are being met easily and effortlessly today.
I simply turn them over to my Higher Power and do the footwork.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

This too shall pass...Like a gallstone. - Anon.

[yukonm]

September 2

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Having persevered with the rest of the program, they wondered why they fell. We think the reason is that they never completed their housecleaning. They took inventory all right, but hung on to some of the worst items in stock. They only THOUGHT they had lost their egoism and fear; they only THOUGHT they had humbled themselves. But they had not learned enough of humility, fearlessness and honesty, in the sense we find it necessary, until they told someone else ALL their life story. - Pg. 73 - Into Action

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

At this time many people will get on our nerves. This is normal during early recovery. How we see others is often a mirror of our feelings--thus we are not so much upset by the actions of others as we are upset with ourselves.

Help me see that my feelings are often displaced and projected into anothers behavior when it may really come from within me.

Prayer

I will pray today. I will not try to do anything without God 's help whether it's finding something in a cupboard, figuring out what to have for breakfast or curing my life. I will allow God into each and every intimate detail in my life trusting that God's love is all pervasive, all knowing and cannot be used up. I understand that God's reach extends as I allow it to imbue my life with a sense of being alive and in constant, constant contact. It is not about being deserving, God and I are meant to be one in the same. It is not about being good enough, God is with me always, It is I who stray from God, not God who strays from me. Today I will allow God's presence to fill me and guide and hold my life. There is no such thing as poverty or lack when I live in God's eternal love and presence.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Recovery is not an event; it is a process. The disease of addiction affects all three aspects of our physical, mental, and spiritual selves by changing our behavior (to self-destruction), thinking (to self-serving), and allegiance (to no purpose). It was a slow debilitating process. Recovery is the same slow process in reverse.

I am in the process of changing my behavior to self-construction, my thoughts to service, and my allegiance from 'no purpose' to a higher purpose.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

We don't care why you're here, it's why you stay.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

All my needs are being met easily and effortlessly today.
I simply turn them over to my Higher Power and do the footwork.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

This too shall pass...Like a gallstone. - Anon.

[yukonm]

September 3

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

The old pleasures were gone. They were but memories. Never could we recapture the great moments of the past. There was an insistent yearning to enjoy life as we once did and a heartbreaking obsession that some new miracle of control would enable us to do it. There was always one more attempt -- and one more failure. - Pg. 151 - A Vision For You

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

The worst form of blindness is emotional blindness. We say 'love is blind' but we must recognize that 'hate is blind', 'fear is blind', and 'anger is blind' as well. Intense emotions obscure our sight and in this first month, our emotions run amuck. We must accept this and use our program, treatment center, counselor, sponsor, and meetings as our 'seeing eye dog.'

My Spiritual Source helps me recognize that my emotions are more intense now then usual. I may not be seeing life as clearly as I will in the future.

Embracing the Void

There is emptiness as well as fullness to life. Today I will embrace them both. I will see the emptiness as a spiritual void that is actually full in a completely different sort of way. A God shaped hole. When I allow myself to embrace my own inner emptiness rather than run from it, a paradox happens. What was unknown becomes known, what was frightening becomes tolerable and what was empty becomes full. The void I feel inside of me is really a spiritual wilderness. When I enter it barren trees flower and bear fruit. It is alive and vibrating. It sooths and sustains me and I feel tingly inside.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Although we must be of service to our fellow drunk and junkie, although we want the hand of recovery to be there when they reach out, although we must give back what was so freely given to us, we cannot do for them what they must do for themselves.

I carry the message, I don't carry the drunk; however, if necessary, I carry the drunk to the message.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Be yourself today. You are perfect for the part.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I will experience each moment to the fullest.

I will do all I have to do to let go of everything that is blocking me from being fully alive in this moment. Each moment is unique, within itself and the less I carry with me from the previous moment, the freer I am to experience the joy of the now.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

AA bumper stickers belong on the dashboard, not on the back bumper. - Anon.

[yukonm]

September 4

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

The less people tolerated us, the more we withdrew from society, from life itself. As we became subjects of King Alcohol, shivering denizens of his mad realm, the chilling vapor that is loneliness settled down. It thickened, ever becoming blacker. Some of us sought out sordid places, hoping to find understanding companionship and approval. Momentarily we did - then would come oblivion and the awful awakening to face the hideous Four Horsemen - Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, Despair. Unhappy drinkers who read this page will understand! - Pg. 151 - A Vision For You

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

We mustn't make a decision about staying sober with insufficient data. To collect data on what staying sober is like, we have to stay that way 12 months or more. Therefore, we should not make a final decision about this new life until we have a year of clean time.

May I know that experience and contact with sober people is the only way to collect data on sobriety.

Changing My Mood

I will consciously lift my own mood today. I have much more choice about what I feel that I realize. If I'm feeling stressed out, I will even out my breath and relax. If I'm obsessing about something, I will ask myself how important this thing will be in five years, I will remind myself that stressing only makes things worse. It clouds my judgment and makes everything bigger than it needs to be. If I set my mind toward being in a good mood, I will find a way to get there. My day will feel more pleasant. The events of my day will run more smoothly. I will be more available to myself and the people I encounter. I will change my thoughts today. If I see my thoughts veering toward the negative, I will consciously elevate them. I will gently steer myself in a more positive direction. What am I but the thoughts I think all day? The thoughts that go through my mind influence and define how I experience my life. I don't need to let myself be tossed all over the place by the events of my day. I can act on my day as well as letting my day act on me.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Road rage and recovery rage are closely associated. People, places, and things get in our way and we freak. When the rage begins, quickly ask yourself, 'What would my guardian angel do now?'

My DUI's are no longer under the influence of alcohol. Today, I Drive Under the Influence of Angels.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

If there is someone weaker than you, be kind to them. If there is someone stronger than you, be kind to yourself.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

I have all the strength that I need today to accept the realities of my life.

I am guided on a path of learning and growth and healing.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

If it smells like a duck, looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... Chances are it's a duck. Unknown origin.

[yukonm]

September 5

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

In our personal stories you will find a wide variation in the way each teller approaches and conceives of the Power which is greater than himself. Whether we agree with a particular approach or conception seems to make little difference. Experience has taught us that these are matters about which, for our purpose, we need not be worried. They are questions for each individual to settle for himself. - Pg. 50 - We Agnostics

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

'Let Go and Let Go' is a simple phrase that helps us realize that we are not in charge of the world. Our need to control and manage all things in our life will soon be replaced as we allow our Spiritual Source to operate.

Let this phrase gently lead me to practice Step three each time I hear it in a meeting or see it written on the walls of our meetings.

I Thank You God

I will say 'thank you God' today each time something happens that feels nice. If I enjoy my cup of tea in the morning, I will say 'thank you God.' If I see a quarter on the sidewalk I will pick it up and thank God. If someone smiles at me in a way that feels good, if the sun feels warm on my back, if my car starts, my dinner is there or someone in my life is with me for another day, I will say 'thank you', recognizing that these are all blessings. By the end of the day, I will have thanked God for a lot of things. I will have remembered what makes my life worth living. I will have increased my conscious contact with the source of all good.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

'There are no deals being offered here. You cannot trade the courage needed to live every moment for immunity from life's sorrows.' ~Oriah Mountain Dreamer, The Invitation.

To gain that worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Things work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

I am a terrific human being.

I deserve wonderful things to happen to me . . . and they are.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

If it smells like a duck, looks like a duck, walks like a duck and talks like a duck... It's probably an alcoholic. - Unknown origin ( Probably Duck. )

[yukonm]

September 6

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.
We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend. Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us. - Pg. 55 - We Agnostics

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Your Divine Source will always answer your prayers. Sometimes the answer is 'no' but we say, 'My Creator didn't give me what I wanted so my Creator doesn't listen to me.''The Divine listens, maybe you don't.

As I learn more about Divine will, help me not to interpret internal conflict as a God who doesn't care.

Home

I will value my home today. I will take time for those I love. I know that my time is the most valuable thing I have to give. Our world runs at a fast pace, we are all on a track to get somewhere but, at the end of the day, where are we all going in such a rush? What am I looking for so hard in the future that makes it worth running right by my present?

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Anger can be a source of personal power for people. When you get angry at God or others, even yourself, you feel the energy and you feel strong, not the helplessness of tears. Anger is a form of emotional denial.

Anger 'may be the dubious luxury of normal men' but it is not for me. (P 66, AA Big Book)

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

A sponsor's prayer: Whether I call them 'Baby' or 'Pigeon' or 'Squirrel' please don't let them become parrots.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I am listening to my self-talk with a gentle non-judgemental ear.

It is okay to make mistakes today. I am giving myself positive messages with permission to accept both my victories and defeats.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

Being a little bit alcoholic is like being a little bit pregnant. ( And the longer you go, the more it shows. ) - Unknown origin.

[yukonm]

September 7

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

In our belief any scheme of combating alcoholism which proposes to shield the sick man from temptation is doomed to failure. If the alcoholic tries to shield himself he may succeed for a time, but he usually winds up with a bigger explosion than ever. We have tried these methods. These attempts to do the impossible have always failed. - Pg. 101 - Working With Others

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Whether serious and conservative or eager and flighty, newcomers often feel no necessity for embracing recovery. REMEMBER, millions have gone before you. You don't have to embrace the 12 steps but embrace something that works for recovery.

I embrace a program of recovery, not my self will, but a program I trust with clean and people that I can see!

Remembering to Take Care of Myself

Today is a day to be reborn into the life I already have. To see and value it differently. To cherish it knowing that it is mine only for a while. I am God's gift to me. God has lovingly placed my life into my own hands to care for. God means for me to cherish and care for my own life in each and every way. I am responsible for what I do with me and what I do with my life. In caring for me, I am loving God's world. I am showing love and respect for what God has put into my hands until I rest once again in God's arms for all of eternity.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Even though you are a unique human being, you are not so unique that your recovery is any different then thousands before you. If you think we don't understand something about your situation, then your disease is playing tricks on you.

I am unique, just like everyone else.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

When you work with a drunk, the drunk you're working with is you.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I am getting all the guidance I need to take care of myself.

I need not keep pushing beyond my limitations. I am learning to listen to my body and my mind, and rest when I get the message.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I want my way. That's 90% of my Fifth Step. - Doug D.

[yukonm]

September 8

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it - this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish. - Pg. 34 - More About Alcoholism

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

We can't always choose where or what we are in life, but we can choose how to view it. Adversity can be seen as an opportunity to work our spiritual program of life. And always when one door is closed to us, another one opens.

Give me the courage to face every adversity with the spiritual tools I am given in this program.

Necessary Losses

Over the holidays I sometimes feel melancholy for people who are no longer around. Life is full of gains and losses, they are inevitable but I feel their loss more keenly during these days when family and friends gather. I recall what the holidays felt like when they were here. I will say a quiet prayer of appreciation for all that they have been to me and I will ask for the strength to go on without them in my daily life. And I will recognize that remembering them is honoring their spirit and what they meant to me. No one is ever really lost if I hold them in my heart. When I hold them with love, I feel full rather than empty. I feel blessed by their presence in my heart rather than punished by their absence. Or maybe a little of both, but holding them with appreciation lets the memory of them feel alive and nourishing.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Daily meditation for about 20 minutes is recommended for all in recovery, unless of course, you're very busy-then you should meditate for an hour.

May I be blessed with a slow recovery.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

If you want to stay sober, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

I am exactly where I am supposed to be today.

Everything about this day, this place, this moment is perfect.

Everything about me is perfect in this moment.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I always had that long line of destruction right there in my face every time I got sober. So I couldn't stand sobriety. - Allen F.

[yukonm]

September 9

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

'Once an alcoholic, always and alcoholic.' Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever. - Pg. 33 - More About Alcoholism

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Do you have a phone list of clean and sober people in the program? If yes, call one person right now and share a clean and sober morning greeting. If not, take this book and begin a sober list in the back. Collect names and numbers at the meeting you go to today.

People say, 'Call me anytime.' Let me know that as long as I am clean and sober, they mean it!

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Do you have a phone list of clean and sober people in the program? If yes, call one person right now and share a clean and sober morning greeting. If not, take this book and begin a sober list in the back. Collect names and numbers at the meeting you go to today.

People say, 'Call me anytime.' Let me know that as long as I am clean and sober, they mean it!

Forgiveness

Today I recognize forgiveness as the quickest road to freedom and serenity. When I forgive my past, I release myself from the grip that it has on my present. I no longer carry that heavy baggage around with me. It is difficult to live in peace today if I am psychically engaged in yesterday's battles. But I cannot forgive and release what I do not first feel and come to terms with. The type of forgiveness that bypasses this stage only pays lip service to letting go. I will do what I need to do today to process fully the issues in my life that remain unresolved so that I can let them go.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Take a breath and hold it. Take another and hold, hold, hold. You can see that you can't live on the inhale alone. The inhale is the breath of the program bringing you life. The exhale is you working with others.

I inhale healing for my soul and exhale hope for others.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Your situation is your situation, not your problem.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

It feels so comforting when I trust my own truth.

It is both powerful and peaceful to know that we are all at choice. Each and every one of us is being led on a path of peace and love.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

Alcoholics Anonymous is an utter simplicity which encases a complete mystery. - Bill W.

[yukonm]

September 10

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Faced with alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open minded on spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other questions. In this respect alcohol was a great persuader. It finally beat us into a state of reasonableness. - Pg. 48 - We Agnostics

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Another part of learning good hourly habits is to take time for physical exercise. This is part of the balance of our new lives. We need activity for the well-being of the body and for self-discipline. We can walk, swim, jog, take up sports, aerobics, dance, or even yoga--just as long as we are consistent and somehow active.

Give me the self-discipline to maintain some type of physical activity in my clean and sober life-style.

Managing Added Stress

Stress affects my body and my mind. When I am under stress, I tend to do the same thing more intensely, but less efficiently. Stress undermines my state of health and makes me feel stuck in non productive, compulsive routines. I lose my spontaneity. Stress chemicals do everything from lock in the storage of fat cells to making my hair and nails brittle. Stress adds nothing to my day and it takes away a lot. Today when I feel stressed I will use my stress busters. I will take a walk or exercise, use my breathing to calm and quiet my nervous system, listen to music, take a warm bath or sit quietly by myself and meditate. I know what works best for me to get back into a relaxed space. Sometimes it's just collapsing in front of my favorite show. But the key is, I will notice when I am stressed and do something to counter it before it spins out of control. Today, I will take responsibility for my own state of calm.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

In the words of Father Joe Martin, 'You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. But you sure as hell can make them thirsty!'.

Just living my new, free life is often enough to make others 'thirsty' for recovery. I don't always have to carry the message; I am the message.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Replace 'What ifs' with 'What is'

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Peace is flowing through me everywhere today, pouring all over my mind and my body . . . releasing all my tensions and anxiety . . . emptying me of all my negativity and fear . . . .

I am being filled with peace and love and serenity.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I think God's job is to keep the planets from hitting each other, He's busy enough with that. I don't think He takes a lot of time wondering if I'm going to have a parking space at the meeting. - John L.

[yukonm]

September 11

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

He will presently try the old game again, for he isn't happy about his sobriety. He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end. - Pg. 152 - A Vision For You

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Many times we go to meetings to listen to what happens to people who don't go to meetings. When they ask for a topic at today's meeting, suggest 'What Happens to People Who Don't go to Meetings.'

One meeting a day can not possibly take as much time as my former bars, parties, connections, and the energy I put into using and drinking, so help me see that any complaints about the 'frequency' is unfounded.

Meditation

Today I draw strength and nourishment from within. I will meditate. There is a medicine chest inside of me if I tap into it. I have body chemicals that are meant to smooth me out, to nourish me and let me feel good inside. I can get those going through quiet and meditation. I can feel them coursing through my system, elevating my mood. In my own inner quiet, I will look for nothing. I will simply be. I will bear witness to the inner workings of my mind but I will not tell my mind to do or be anything. I will just let it flow and float in and out of consciousness. I will just be.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

We are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I cannot feel my way into better behavior, I must behave my way into better feelings.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Give your smile to the next person you meet.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

I am letting go of all that is holding me back from spiritual progress today.

My path is becoming easier as I open myself up to faith and trust.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

Step One is pretty straight forward; I can't drink - and I have trouble not drinking. - Clancy I.

[yukonm]

September 12

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

The terms 'spiritual experience' and 'spiritual awakening' are used many times in this book which, upon careful reading, shows that the personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism has manifested itself among us in many different forms. - Pg. 567 - 4th. Edition - Appendices II - Spiritual Experience

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Complete involvement in this new way of life will keep you from falling through the cracks. If you stay in the middle of us, you won't fall off the edge.

As I follow those before me, newcomers will follow behind me and I will always be in the middle of the path of progress.

The Experience of Pleasure

I will build my capacity for experiencing joy and serenity. What good is earning a living if I don't enjoy my life, what good is recovery if I don't become grateful for the life I am saving, namely mine. Today I recognize that it is the simple pleasures that bring me the greatest joy. Waking up and feeling good. Enjoying the weather, a friend, a cup of tea. When I allow myself to live my life rather than chase after what I think my life should be or reject the good that is around me a mysterious thing happens. Life is enough. The space around me just sort of fills up with something, an energy, a sensation of being alive, a presence that fills in what previously felt empty. I look around and know it is enough.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Friends and loved ones don't always behave as we expect them to. But this is a good thing. If friends and loved ones were absolutely predictable, that would mean they are not changing and if they are not changing, they are not growing.

I don't have to change friends if I understand that friends change.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Keep the focus on yourself, but once the picture is taken, move on.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Each step I take today makes me feel better and better.

Today I know that I have all that I need to do exactly what must be done and go exactly where I need to go.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

If a newcomer calls at 2 am, I say: 'Your answer's on page 63 of the Big Book.' - I don't know what's on page 63, but this guy will start reading and if his answer's not there, he'll think; 'Well he must have given me the wrong page.' and keep reading until he finds his answer. - Serenity Sam.

[yukonm]

September 13

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

If you are as seriously alcoholic as we were, we believe there is no middle-of-the-road solution. We were in a position where life was becoming impossible, and if we had passed into the region from which there is no return through human aid, we had but two alternatives: One was to go on to the bitter end, blotting out the consciousness of our intolerable situation as best we could; and the other, to accept spiritual help. This we did because we honestly wanted to, and were willing to make the effort. - Pg. 25-26 - There Is A Solution

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

There is the law of this physical earth which always leads to death and decay. It can be no other way in a material world. There is also the law of Spirit which leads to life and grace. Our addiction obeys the law of this earth plane, our recovery obeys the law of the Spirit.

Please, Divine Source, as I understand You, guide me to the law of Spirit and recovery.

Creating My Own Rituals

Rituals ground me in my own day. My morning tea, my walk through the park, dinner with my family. These are the daily rituals that give my life a sense of continuity and solidity. They hold me, they bond me with those I love. Recovery is full of rituals. Meetings, daily reading, sharing with friends and quiet moments of self reflection. Rituals that deepen my sense of life and remind me of what's really important. They are part of what gives my life its symmetry. I need these rituals to help me remember what to value. And they join me with with life, with the feeling of what we're all really made of under the skin. Rituals speak in their own voice and today, I am listening.
- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

'If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are.'~ Zen Proverb

I don't have to understand how the Steps work, just that they do.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Pick them up, as long as they don't pick up.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I'm taking all the steps that I can for my recovery.

My Higher Power is giving me all the guidance I need, and I am full of joy and gratitude that I am growing and healing today.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I wouldn't put myself in situations where I can only have two drinks and then can't get anymore. Not because I'm an alcoholic. It's just sort of an intuitive thing with me. - Bob D.

[yukonm]

September 14

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

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. - Pg. xxix - 4th. Edition - The Doctor's Opinion

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Letting go of the past and the present is to admit powerlessness. This means that the outcome is not in your hands.

All I can do is the best I can do. I know that the results are in the hands of my Higher Power.

Staying Calm

Peace begins with me. I need to remember that emotions run high during recovery. My joys are higher and my longings are stronger. The world is more intense than it usually is. When I forget this, I start to feel out of step if I'm not where I think I should be, I compare my insides with everybody else's outsides and use that to make myself wrong. I want to push away my inner world and I get a little afraid of what I'm experiencing if it doesn't fit my image what I'm supposed to be feeling. Then I engage in a cover up, only the person I am covering up is me. When I do that, I am only half there. Today I will let myself have my full range of feelings, knowing that they may, at times, be a bit of a roller coaster, but knowing also, that I will land comfortably at the end of the ride.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

They say that you need only one meeting a week but it might be a good idea to go to one every night so you don't miss the one you need!

Seven days without a meeting makes one weak.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

The people you hang with are the people you hang with.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

I am most grateful for the guidance I am receiving in my recovery.

The more I open myself up to admitting I can't do it alone, the more I realize help is always there.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I'm not the type who came out of blackouts screaming: Cover me I'm going in! I came out at the dry cleaners with the assistant saying; 'Boxed...or wrapped?' With an expression which said that he'd been asking this for some time and hadn't had any response - What do you say? 'Could you repeat that? I just got here myself.' - Charlie C.

[yukonm]

September 15

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities. 'How can I best serve Thee - Thy will ( not mine ) be done.' These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will. - Pg. 85 - Into Action

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Our disease is NOT the drug, it is a system malfunction in the person. This malfunction is in the brain (neurochemistry), in the mind (irrationality), and in the spirit (immorality). Only by healing all three do we have any hopes of recovering.

May I understand that I am not fighting the chemicals that made me sick, I am fighting the malfunctions that make me want to use them.

Giving Back

Today I give something to the community of people in which I find myself. I look around me and wonder what I might add to the world, to someone else's day and I do it. I recognize that giving and receiving are one channel, that when I open my heart to give, I simultaneously open it to receive as well.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Egotism is that certain something that enables a man in a rut to think he's in a groove.

I am never in a rut when I can answer this question, 'What Step am I working now?'

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

United We Stand- Divided We Stagger.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I'm willing to take responsibility for my own life.

I am willing to grow up and let go of my parents. I am filled with the sense of my own power and I choose not to give it away.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

There are not too many people too stupid to get this program but there have been a lot too clever. - Unknown origin.