A Prayer & Some Thoughts - January

[bluidkiti]

January 16

Prayer for Releasing the Past

Lord, my past is trying to consume my present. I am constantly reminded of it. It replays in my mind daily, like a broken record.

All the hurt, all the pain and all the suffering: I release it! Every grudge, the uneasy thoughts and all the negativity, I rebuke it!

All the fear, all the doubt and lack of faith, I curse it out! Every chain that binds me to my past shall be broken and I am set free.
Amen!

~ Cheryce Rampersad

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Just a Thought


The way of A.A. is the way of service.

Without that, it would not work. We have been "on the wagon" and hated it. We have taken the pledge and waited for the time to be up with impatience. We have tried in all manner of ways to help ourselves. But not until we begin to help other people do we get full relief. It is an axiom that the A.A. program has to be given away in order to be kept. A river flows into the Dead Sea and stops. A river flows into a clear pool and flows out again. We get and then we give. If we do not give, we do not keep.

So ............

Have I given up all ideas of holding A.A. for myself alone?

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Just a Contemplation

Mature Living

Being in error now and then is part of our human existence. Many of us, however, feel unbearable self-reproach when we make a mistake. Some compulsive people even blame themselves for errors beyond their control.
But the worst mistake is the refusal, or denial, of responsibility for mistakes. This comes from a strange belief that we can erase the mistake by refusing to accept it. It may stem from the belief that we should be above mistakes. This is immature thinking.
We are learning and growing when we accept our mistakes graciously and immediately move to correct them. Most of the time, when this is done, the distress passes quickly and we can go on to other matters.
I'll take full responsibility for all of my actions today, and I'll move quickly to correct any of my mistakes.

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Desire

Each day that I try to have a desire to be sober and to remember to keep an open heart, love and help flow into me. These bounties are unlimited in A.A. if we are fortunate enough to have the desire.

Came to Believe page 51

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Just a Quote

“The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.” ~ Edward John Phelps

[bluidkiti]

January 17

Let Go of Pride Prayer

Dear Lord,
I want to believe I am not a prideful person…but the truth is I still wrestle with pride. Please help me to let go of pride. I pray for a humble heart. I pray I would not see myself as better than anyone. I pray I would not hinder others from helping just so I can receive praise for doing it all myself. I pray I would not let pride motivate me to argue with others. Instead I pray humility would lead me. I pray love would be my motivation not pride.
Amen

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Just a Thought

Service to others makes the world a good place.

Civilization would cease if all of us were always and only for ourselves. We alcoholics have a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the well-being of the world. We have a common problem. We find a common answer. We are uniquely equipped to help others with the same problem. What a wonderful world it would be if everybody took his own greatest problem and found the answer to it and spent the rest of his life helping others with the same problem in his spare time. Soon we would have the right kind of a world.

So ............

Do I appreciate my unique opportunity to be of service?

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Just a Contemplation

Finding Happiness

We delude ourselves if we believe that our happiness and well-being will come when we reach a certain goal. Whatever happiness and well-being we obtain must come through the process of living in ordinary, everyday situations.
If we observe carefully, we'll find lots of happy people who are in situations or work that we might consider unpleasant. It is not the work or situation that creates happiness and fulfillment. What counts is the ATTITUDE toward it.
Those of us in 12 Step programs should have special insight into the issue of happiness. We tried to find it, here and now, in false ways. But it is available to us, here and now, in ordinary living.
I'll be happy today in knowing that I'm blessed with the ordinary tasks of life.

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Pride

Some see pride as just a minor issue. I see pride, and resistance to change, as the deadliest character flaw every alcoholic deals with on a daily basis. The only answer I've ever found in dealing with such a high level of denial, is written about in the Big Book, and can be found in action at just about any AA meeting in the world.

From: The AA Grapevine, April 2014

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Just a Quote

"A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. " ~ C.S. Lewis

[bluidkiti]

January 18

Serenity Prayer
(Full Version)

God, grant me the Serenity
To accept the things, I cannot change...
Courage to change the things I can,
And Wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His will.
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
Amen.

~ Reinhold Niebuhr
(Research suggests that Niebuhr wrote the prayer as part of a sermon he was giving)
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Just a Thought

Two things can spoil group unity--gossip and criticism.

To avoid these divisive things, we must realize that we're all in the same boat. We're like a group of people in a life-boat after the vessel has sunk. If we're going to be saved, we've got to pull together. It's a matter of life or death for us. Gossip and criticism are sure ways of disrupting any A.A. group. We're all in A.A. to keep sober ourselves and to help each other to keep sober. And neither gossip nor criticism helps anyone to stay sober.

So ............
Am I guilty of gossip or criticism?


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Just a Contemplation

Release

We're promised a "new freedom" in the 12 Step program. How does this differ from the "old freedom" we've known?
The new freedom is an inner feeling of release from the bondage of compulsion. We are no longer serving as our own jailers. We are free from useless things that have held us back. Think of the burdens we had assumed by fearing others, by holding grudges, by having needless regrets.
This new freedom has nothing to do with political or civil liberties, which we hope to enjoy as our birthright. But nobody can give us freedom if we are locked into compulsions that bind us. We must seek the new freedom within ourselves.

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A New Attitude

And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone - even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. 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. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is our experience. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.

Alcoholics Anonymous Pages 84-85

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Just a Quote

'The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.” ~ James Allen

[bluidkiti]

January 19

Prayer When Confused

Lord, I desire to be clear-minded in a time when deceit and deception floods into my minds from so many quarters, and so I pray that you endow me with your wisdom, so that I may not be tossed about by the many winds of challenges and troubles of the world that can cause confusion, and distort the truth.
Amen

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Just a Thought

Alcoholics recover their proper relationship with other people. They think less about themselves and more about others.

They try to help other alcoholics. They make new friends so that they're no longer lonely. They try to live a life of service instead of selfishness. All their relationships with other people have improved. They solve their personality problems by recovering their personal integrity, their faith in a Higher Power, and their way of fellowship and service to others.

So ............

Is my drink problem solved as long as my personality problem is solved?

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Just a Contemplation

Volunteering

The most precious time we will ever have we give away by doing volunteer chores to help others get more out of life. There is no material wage for this kind of work, but a host of emotional rewards.

What great humility this can bring to us, who live in a world where selfish people often insist on credit for all their deeds - often things they had nothing to do with.

All we need to do is think of all we have received without deserving it or asking for it. By taking part in the giving end of life, we find the true wealth of our own generosity.

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Fear

For all its usual destructiveness, we have found that fear can be the starting point for better things. Fear can be a stepping-stone to prudence and to a decent respect for others. It can point the path to justice, as well as to hate. And the more we have respect and justice, the more we shall begin to find the love which can suffer much, and yet be freely given. So fear need not always be destructive, because the lessons of its consequences can lead us to positive values.
~ Bill W.

The Language of the Heart, April 2014

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Just a Quote

"What goes around comes around. I will look for the opportunities to be kind and feel the results." ~ Karen Casey

[bluidkiti]

January 20

Prayer for Emotional Pain

Lord, I come to You today with distress and sadness in my soul.I feel darkness today like an oppressing cloud. I am exhausted and weary beyond belief.
Lord, I feel like You’re a thousand miles away! I feel helpless and my mind is in turmoil. I feel like I’m falling beneath the weight of everything.

Lord, I come to You for refuge, please keep me safe. When I am troubled by anxiety and fear, help me remember that You will guard me.
Bend down and listen to my plea for comfort and free me from this pain.
I cry out to You in my distress. Lord, I trust in You for protection from these fiery darts of pain and grief and hurt.

Lord, I know You hear my weeping. I thank You that You have heard my plea and that You will answer my prayer.
Amen

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Just a Thought

Strength comes from honestly telling your own experiences with drinking.

In religion, they call it confession. We call it witnessing or sharing. You give a personal witness, you share your past experiences, the troubles you got into, the hospitals, the jails, the break-up of your home, the money wasted, the debts, and all the foolish things you did when you were drinking. This personal witness lets out the things you had kept hidden, brings them out into the open, and you find release and strength.

So............

Am I receiving strength from my personal witnessing?

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Just a Contemplation

Change & Security

The specter of change builds dread in most of us. We fear the effects on our personal lives. We lack faith that the impending change will benefit us.

We long for permanence, believing it guarantees security, not realizing the only real security available to us comes with our trust in God, from whom all change comes as a blessing on the growth we've attained. If we were to experience total lack of change, we'd find death. Life is a challenge, continued change, always endurable and growth enhancing. We can reflect on what's gone before, and trust that which faces us now. Changes are gifts.

Change means I am progressing.

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Unlimited Choice

Any number of alcoholics are bedeviled by the dire conviction that if they ever go near A.A. they will be pressured to conform to some particular brand of faith or theology.

They just don't realize that faith is never an imperative for A.A. membership. that sobriety can be achieved with an easily acceptable minimum of it, and that our concepts of a Higher Power and God--as we understand Him--afford everyone a nearly unlimited choice of spiritual belief and action.

As Bill Sees It Page 201

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Just a Quote

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” ~ William James

[bluidkiti]

January 21

Prayer to Accept Change

Lord, I don’t like change. I like newness, excitement and adventure; but, when it’s all said and done, I love to come home to the predictable and manageable—to my favorite chair and comfortable routines. So I need fresh grace to accept change, because there’s so much change going on everywhere I look.

Lord, I ask that your wisdom direct me to my guest for change. Help me to feel confident in the direction and make your will recognizable. Help me to have no doubt or confusion on the path I am choosing.
Amend

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Just a Thought

The identification that one alcoholic has with another is mysterious, spiritual--almost incomprehensible.

But it is there. I "feel" it. Today I feel that I can help people and that they can help me. It is a new and exciting feeling for me to care for someone; to care what they are feeling, hoping for, praying for; to know their sadness, joy, horror, sorrow, grief; to want to share those feelings so that someone can have relief. I never knew how to do this--or how to try. I never even cared.

So ............

The Fellowship of A.A., and God, are teaching me how to care about others.

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Just a Contemplation

Attitude

There's a saying that we have only one chance to make a good first impression. That's true, but we always have the opportunity to make good lasting impressions.
The secret of making good impressions is contained in one word: ATTITUDE. Whatever we really feel will be expressed to others as our true character and the impression we give will be authentically us.
The way to control the impressions we are making is simply to continue cultivating an attitude that's consistent with humility, acceptance, and graciousness. We should have others' best interests at heart without being meddlesome. We should be genuinely helpful.
This attitude will create any good impressions we need to make.

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Freedom Through Acceptance

We admitted we couldn't lick alcohol with our own remaining resources, and so we accepted the further fact that dependence upon a Higher Power (if only our A.A. group) could do this hitherto impossible job. The moment we were able to accept these facts fully, our release from the alcohol compulsion had begun.

For most of us, this pair of acceptances had required a lot of exertion to achieve. Our whole treasured a lot of exertion to achieve. Our whole treasured philosophy of self-sufficiency had to be cast aside. This had not been done with sheer will power; it came instead as the result of developing the willingness to accept these new facts of living. We neither ran nor fought. But accept we did. And then we began to be free.

From the Grapevine March 1962

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Just a Quote

“A wise man adapts himself to circumstances, as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it.”~ Chinese Proverb

[bluidkiti]

January 22

Obsession Prayer

Lord,
You have all the power to set me free from these chains of thoughts that obsess my mind.
I pray that this bondage which steals away my happiness and peace of mind be shattered right now.
Let Your power remove these evil thoughts and establish peace in my heart.
I commit my thoughts into Your mighty hands.
I thank You for relieving me from this obsession.
Amen

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Just a Thought

One of the finest things about A.A. is the diversity of its membership.

We come from all walks and stations of life. All types and classes of people are represented in an A.A. group. Being different from each other in certain ways, we can each make a different contribution to the whole. Some of us are weak in one respect, but strong in another. A.A. can use the strong points of all its members and can disregard the weaknesses. A.A. is strong, not only because we all have the same problem, but also because of the diversified talents of its members. Each can contribute his part.

So ............

Do I recognize the good points of all my group's members?

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Just a Contemplation

Right Work

"You cannot change your type, but you can make yourself a brilliant success I that type," Wrote Emmet Fox. This is a reminder for people who are discontented with their lot in life, and this includes most people who participate in 12 Step programs.
There are many different TYPES of people, and all types are good. We only need t find where our type is required and then do our best in that place. We will have immediate advantages, because all of our energies and talents will then be applied in the right way.
We should never spend a moment envying other types of people who are brilliantly successful in their activities. Our happiness is to be found in our place, not theirs.
If I'm doing what's right for my type, I'll give it my very best. If I'm in the wrong place, I'll know that my Higher Power is guiding me toward the right outlet for my talents.

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Growth

Growth and understanding came slowly, but they came steadily. And finally, I could feel gratitude for my sobriety -- for the saving grace of God. Now I feel totally free, because I know the truth about myself. . . I know that spiritual growth is a great, wide, beautiful thing and that I have only stepped up to the open door.

Came To Believe Page 94

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Just a Quote

"How simple it is to see that we can only be happy now, and there will never be a time when it is not now." ~ Gerald Jampolsky

[bluidkiti]

January 23

The Tolerance Prayer

Lord, give me tolerance towards those whose thoughts and ways conflict with mine. For though I would, I cannot always know what constitutes the Absolute Truth. The other person may be right, while I may be all wrong, yet unaware.

Lord, make my motives right, for only this can ease my conscience when I sometimes err.

Lord, give me tolerance, for who am I to stand in judgment on another person's mistakes? No one knows better than my inward self how many little blunders I have and can make.

Life is full of stones that somehow trip us, and meaning not, we stumble now and then.

Lord, give me tolerance, for only you are rightly fit to judge my fellow travelers.
Amen

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Just a Thought

We should remember that all A.A.'s have "clay feet."

We should not set any member upon a pedestal and mark her or him out as a perfect A.A. Its not fair to the person to be singled out in this fashion and if the person is wise she or he will not wish it. If the person we single out as an ideal A.A. has a fall, we are in danger of falling, too. Without exception, we are all only one drink away from a drunk, no matter how long we have been in A.A. Nobody is entirely safe. A.A. itself should be our ideal, not any particular member of it.

So ............

Am I putting my trust in A.A. principles and not in any one member of the group?


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Just a Contemplation

Sensing Rejection

We laugh when a recovering person tells how he "learned to quit just before he got fired." We sometimes can tell when a rejection is coming, and we take steps.... such as quitting.. To avoid further pain and humiliation.
In the recovery process, there still may be times when we sense a coming rejection. If it does come, we must remember that rejection is part of living. People receive rejection for all sorts of reasons, including wrong ones.
When we sense any kind of a rejection in the works, our best course is to let it happen, accept it, and put it behind us. If we are living our program, we don't need to feel pain or humiliation, as rejection is simply part of normal human experience.
I'll try today to be as accepting as possible in everything I do. If others choose to reject me, I will also accept this without resentment or self-reproach.


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New Beginning

I knew I had to have a new beginning, and this beginning had to be here. I had to let go of the past and forget the future. As long as I held on to the past with one hand and grabbed at the future with the other hand I had nothing to hold on to today with. So I had to begin here, now.

Came To Believe Page 46

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Just a Quote

"Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others. " ~ John F. Kennedy

[bluidkiti]

January 24

Just Today Lord

Lord,
I come to You today asking that you open the way for a deepening of my trust in You.
I give You my worries, my burdens and fears, confident that You will make something useful of them.
I give You all my hopes and dreams. Thank You for showing me what to do to make them come true.
Amen

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Just a Thought

When we were drinking, we used to be ashamed of the past.

Remorse is terrible mental punishment: ashamed of ourselves for the things we've said and done, afraid to face people because of what they might think of us, afraid of the consequences of what we did when we were drunk. In A.A., we forget about the past. Do I believe that God has forgiven me for everything I've done in the past, no matter how black it was, provided I'm honestly trying to do the right thing today?

So ............

Am I ready to move on??

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Just a Contemplation

Temperament

People with bad dispositions, like people with drinking problems, do not recognize how difficult they are. They accept their bad disposition as normal. Some people even declare proudly that they're in a bad mood until they've been awake several hours or had three cups of coffee.
We do not have to put up with a BAD DISPOSITION. If we find ourselves touchy or grumpy at times, we should immediately release this to our Higher Power. There is a better pattern of thought and feeling to replace anything that comes across to others as a bad disposition.
It's surprising to learn that we don't have to live with a bad disposition. What's even more surprising is that we'll also be happier and more relaxed without it.
A bad disposition, we learn, is just so much unnecessary baggage we don't have to carry.
I'll be relaxed and friendly at all times today. I have neither a need nor an excuse for a bad disposition.

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Spirit of the Universe

I had always believed in a Power greater than myself. I had often pondered these things. I was not an atheist. Few people really are, for that means blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes nowhere. My intellectual heroes, the chemists, the astronomers, even the evolutionists, suggested vast laws and forces at work. Despite contrary indications, I had little doubt that a mighty purpose and rhythm underlay all. How could there be so much of precise and immutable law, and no intelligence? I simply had to believe in a Spirit of the Universe, who knew neither time nor limitation. But that was as far as I had gone.

Alcoholics Anonymous Page 10

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Just a Quote

“Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” ~ Tony Robbins

[bluidkiti]

January 25

Prayer For Peace & Joy

There are times, Lord, when I feel a deep sense of unrest.
Trials and tribulations beset me, and I do not know where to turn.
I pray that you will guide me in all ways and help me to make the best of the situation.
Help me to find happiness in the small things.
I pray that you bring me the peace and joy that I seek in life.
Amen

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Just a Thought

When we were drinking, we used to worry about the future.

Worry is terrible mental punishment. What's going to become of me? Where will I end up? In the gutter or the sanitarium? We can see ourselves slipping, getting worse and worse, and we wonder what the finish will be. Sometimes we get so discouraged in thinking about the future that we toy with the idea of suicide.

So ............

In A.A., have I stopped worrying about the future?

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Just a Contemplation

Detaching with Love

Sometimes people we love do things we don't like or approve of. We react. They react. Before long, we're all reacting to each other, and the problem escalates.

When do we detach? When we're hooked into a reaction of anger, fear, guilt, or shame. When we get hooked into a power play - an attempt to control or force others to do something they don't want to do. When the way we're reacting isn't helping the other person or solving the problem. When the way we're reacting is hurting us It's time to detach when detachment appears to be the least likely, or possible, thing to do.

The first step toward detachment is understanding that reacting and controlling don't help. The next step is getting peaceful - getting centered and restoring our balance.

Take a walk. Leave the room. Take a long, hot bath. Call a friend. Call on God. Breathe deeply. Find peace. From that place of peace and centering will emerge an answer, a solution. I will surrender and trust that the answer is near.

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Pain-Healer

In every A.A. story, pain has been the price of admission into a new life. But this admission price purchased more than we expected. It led us to a measure of humility, which we soon discovered to be a healer of pain. We began to fear pain less, and desire humility more than ever.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Page 75

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Just a Quote

“Everyone wants happiness. No one wants pain. But you can't have a rainbow without a little rain." ~ Unknown Author

[bluidkiti]

January 26

Just for Today Prayer

May today there be peace within you.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities
that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received,
and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing that you are a child of God.
Let His presence settle into your bones,
and allow your soul the freedom to sing,
dance, and to bask in the sun.
It is there for each and every one of you.
Amen

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Just a Thought

We have been given a new life just because we happened to become alcoholics.

We certainly don't deserve the new life that has been given us. There is little in our past to warrant the life we have now. Many people live good lives from their youth on, not getting into serious trouble, being well adjusted to life, and yet they have not found all that we drunks have found. We had the good fortune to find Alcoholics Anonymous and with it a new life. We are among the lucky few in the world who have learned a new way to live.

So ............

Am I deeply grateful for the new life that I have learned in A.A.?

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Just a Contemplation

God's Name

It doesn't matter what name we use. No one name is ever fully adequate, and each of us has our own private way of trying to understand that which we can't ever understand fully. We give God names, which attempt to express what God means to us personally, what God does for us as individuals, and how we see ourselves in relation to God.

Could it also be true that other people can't be labeled and put into one box? Doing so limits them to one particular way of being understood, and it limits the ways we can get to know them. If we are all made in God's image, then we all deserve the freedom to be seen differently by different people.

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Self-restraint

Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen. We must avoid quick-tempered criticism and furious power-driven arguments. The same goes for silent scorn. These are emotional booby traps baited with pride and vengefulness. We can neither think nor act to good purpose until the habit of self-restraint has become automatic.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Page 91

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Just a Quote

“Just be honest with yourself. That opens the door.” ~ Vernon Howard

[bluidkiti]

January 27

Prayer to Start Today

Lord, thank you for this day.
I ask that You would guide my path today and, more specifically, my thoughts, words and actions.
Please be with me throughout the day and help me navigate whatever comes my way.
Most importantly, help me to reflect and live out my life in a way that reflects our will, not mine.
Amen

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Just a Thought

I need the A.A. principles for the development of the buried life within me, that good life, which I had misplaced, but which I found again in this fellowship.

This life within me is developing slowly but surely, with many setbacks, many mistakes, many failures, but still developing. As long as I stick close to A.A., my life will go on developing, and I cannot yet know what it will be, but I know that it will be good. That's all I want to know. It will be good.

So ............

Am I thanking God for A.A.?

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Just a Contemplation

Courage

We pray for the courage to change the things we can. Making changes requires the courage to start out on a new, unknown course. Courage does not mean the elimination of fear. Courage means acting in spite of the fact that we are afraid.

It takes courage to learn to affirm one's rights as an individual, especially if the old way was to say yes to all demands and requests, reasonable and unreasonable. It takes courage to face the truth instead of continuing to live with comfortable illusions.

Sometimes courage comes when we are pressed to a wall of failure. There is nothing to do but turn around and step out in a new direction, even though we are afraid. The courage born of desperation can produce remarkable results.

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Convinced

Practicing AA's Steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking. The average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme, doesn't care for this prospect -- unless he has to do these things in order to stay alive himself.

As Bill Sees It Page 118

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Just a Quote

"Pray not for lighter burdens but for stronger backs." ~ Theodore Roosevelt

[bluidkiti]

January 28

Assurance Prayer

Lord,
There are times when I have doubted my strength and my ability to do things.
I know that you have blessed me immensely with talent and a resilient heart.
Lord, I ask for your help as I pursue my dreams.
Multiply my confidence and help me believe that you have set me up for glory.
Amen

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Just a Thought

A.A. may be human in its organization, but it is divine in its purpose.

The purpose is to point me toward God and the good life. My feet have been set upon the right path. I feel it in the depths of my being. I am going in the right direction. The future can be safely left to God. Whatever the future holds, it cannot be too much for me to bear. I have the Divine Power with me to carry me through everything that may happen.

So ............

Am I pointed toward God and the good life?

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Just a Contemplation

Panic

If panic strikes, we do not have to allow it to control our behaviors. Behaviors controlled by panic tend to be self-defeating. No matter what the situation or circumstance, panic is usually not a good foundation. No matter what the situation or circumstance, we usually have at least a moment to breathe deeply and restore our serenity and peace.

The healthy way of life we are seeking, is built on a foundation of peace and quiet confidence - in ourselves, in our God. Do not panic. That takes us away from the path. Relax. Breathe deeply. Let peace flow through our body and mind. From this base, our Source shall supply the necessary resources.

I will treat panic as a separate issue that needs immediate attention. I will refuse to allow panicky thoughts and feelings to motivate me. Instead, I will let peace and trust motivate my feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.

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Arrogance

I am a firm believer in both guidance and prayer. But I am fully aware, and humble enough, I hope, to see there may be nothing infallible about my guidance. The minute I figure I have got a perfectly clear pipeline to God, I have become egotistical enough to get into real trouble. Nobody can cause more needless grief than a power-driver who thinks he has got it straight from God.

As Bill Sees It Page 38

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Just a Quote
"When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was not really such a big threat after all." ~ Les Brown

[bluidkiti]

January 29

Prayer For Tough Times

Dear Lord,
Teach me to be content when I’m facing a bad day.
How easy it is to be happy when everything goes well.
How tough it is to remember my joy when one thing after another appears to defeat me.
Turn my frown into a smile. Tears into laughter.
Amen

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Just a Thought

I am content to face the rest of my life without alcohol.

I have surrendered as gracefully as possible to the inevitable. I have made the great decision once and for all. I have no more reservations. Nothing can happen to me now that would justify my taking a drink. No death of a dear one. No great calamity in any area of my life should justify me in drinking. Even if I were on some desert isle, far from the rest of the world, but not far from God, should I ever feel it right to drink. For me, alcohol is out - period.

So ............

I will always be safe unless I take that first drink. Am I fully resigned to this fact?

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Just a Contemplation

Choices

In recovery, we regain our right to have choices, our right to have honest relationships. Do we claim these rights, or do we let them go by?
Sometimes, standing up for our rights will mean going against the crowd. It will mean turning down that drink when everyone else has one. It will mean telling your honest opinion when it's different from what others think. Being sober will mean, at times being different. Lots of times, we find being different hard. We want to fit in. This is normal.
But we don't stand alone. We have friends who will stand with us during hard times. We have a Higher Power who will guide and comfort us. We are people with rights. Let's work hard so nothing takes away our rights.

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Honesty

I know the biggest word for me in AA is "honesty."
I don't believe this program would work for me if I didn't get honest with myself about everything.
Honesty is the easiest word for me to understand because it is the exact opposite of what I've been doing all my life.
Therefore, it will be the hardest to work on.
But I will never be totally honest -- that would make me perfect, and none of us can claim to be perfect.
Only God is.

Experience, Strength and Hope Pages 400-401

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Just a Quote

”Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us.” ~ Eric Hoffer

[bluidkiti]

January 30

Prayer for Empathy

Lord,
May we come to recognize our own vulnerability and our longing to be healed.
As we encounter our own pain, let it deepen in us a capacity to feel for others.
Enlarge our souls, expand our minds, and soften our hearts towards all who suffer.
Amen

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Just a Thought

If we allow an alcoholic thought to lodge in our minds for any length of time, we are in danger of having a slip.

Therefore, we must dispel such thoughts at once, by refusing their admittance and by immediately putting constructive thoughts in their place. Remember that alcohol is poison to you. Remember that it is impossible for you to drink normally. Remember that one drink will lead to others and you will eventually be drunk. Remember what happened to you in the past as a result of your drinking. Think of every reason you have learned in A.A. for not taking that drink. Fill your mind with constructive thoughts.

So ............

Am I keeping my thoughts constructive?

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Just a Contemplation

Talk

I know how to talk. I know how to sound good. I know how to convince a person of my good intentions --- indeed that was part of my manipulation for years.

Today I will try to walk the talk. I try to demonstrate what I say in the behavior I exhibit. The bottom line is action. Talking never stopped me from drinking --- my physical refusal of the first drink was the start of my recovery.

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Change

It never occurred to us that we needed to change ourselves to meet conditions, whatever they were. But in AA we slowly learned that something had to be done about our vengeful resentments, self-pity, and unwarranted pride. . . We learned that if we were seriously disturbed, our first need was to quiet that disturbance, regardless of who or what we thought caused it.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Page 47

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Just a Quote
"Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment." ~ Benjamin Franklin