Daily Recovery Readings - August 28

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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.
Thy will, not mine, be done.

August 28

Daily Reflections

LIGHTENING THE BURDEN

Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very
thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now. . . . the
dark past is . . . the key to life and happiness for others.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p.124

Since I have been sober, I have been healed of many pains:
deceiving my partner, deserting my best friend, and spoiling my
mother's hopes for my life. In each case someone in the program
told me of a similar problem, and I was able to share what happened
to me. When my story was told, both of us got up with lighter
hearts.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"We must continue to take personal inventory and continue to set
right any new mistakes as we go along. We should grow in
understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter;
it should continue for our lifetime. Continue to watch for
selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When these crop
up, we ask God at once to remove them. We must not rest on our
laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do. We are not cured of
alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve, contingent on
the maintenance of our spiritual condition." Am I checking my
spiritual condition daily?

Meditation For The Day

Happiness cannot be sought directly; it is a byproduct of love and
service. Service is a law of our being. With love in your heart, there
is always some service to other people. A life of power and joy
and satisfaction is built on love and service. Persons who hate or
are selfish are going against the law of their own being. They are
cutting themselves off from God and other people. Little acts of
love and encouragement, of service and help, erase the rough
places of life and help to make a path smooth. If we do these things,
we cannot help having our share of happiness.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may give my share of love and service. I pray that I may
not grow weary in my attempts to do the right thing.

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As Bill Sees It

When And How To Give, p.239

Men who cry for money and shelter as a condition of their sobriety are
on the wrong track. Yet we sometimes do provide a new prospect
with these very things--when it becomes clear that he is willing to
place his recovery first.

It is not whether we shall give that is the question, but when and how
to give. Whenever we put our work on a material plane, the alcoholic
commences to rely upon alms rather than upon a Higher Power and
the A.A. group. He continues to insist that he cannot master alcohol
until his material needs are cared for.

Nonsense! Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this
truth: that, job or no job, wife or no wife, we simply do not stop
drinking so long as we place material dependence upon other people
ahead of dependence on God.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p.98

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Walk In Dry Places

No Prayer Goes Unanswered
Guidance.
It would be nearly impossible to do an accounting of the results of prayer. Sometimes there seems to be no answer , and at other times, an answer seems to be the result of coincidence. It's too easy to dismiss these results as things that would have happened even if we hadn't prayed.
Yet those of us who believe in prayer feel that it is indeed a way of communicating with our Higher Power. It takes many forms. Even thinking about God is a type of prayer.
The best answers to prayer come in the new ways we begin to feel about ourselves and others. If prayer brings us to a realization of being in tune with our Higher Power, we are working in the right way. The proper changes will come into our lives as needed. We should not try to measure results, because this tends to bring doubt into the process. Our only responsibility is to pray then let God's work take place in our lives.
I will pray regularly to day, thinking often about God and asserting to myself and others that this Higher Power is in charge.

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Keep It Simple

The saints are the sinners who kept going.---Robert Louis Stevenson
The saints are what our program calls the “winner.” We’re told to “stick” with the winners. Saints are just proven winners. They keep on believing in their Higher Power even when things get hard.
There will be times when we’ll want to give up. We may want to stop going to meetings. We may want to get high. We may want to stop working the Steps.
To be winners in this program, we need to follow the example of the saints. This means we live a spiritual life. We need to keep on going. One day at a time.
Prayer for the Day: I pray that I’ll be a winner in this program. Higher Power, be with me in the easy times and the hard times. Help me keep going.
Action for the Day: I’ll list people who are winners in this program. I’ll ask one of the how he or she keeps going in tough times.

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Each Day a New Beginning

There are sounds to seasons. There are sounds to places, and there are sounds to every time in one's life. --Alison Wyrley Birch
Live is rich and full. Your life. My life. Even when the day feels flat or hollow, there's a richness to it that escapes our attention. We see only what we choose to see. We hear selectively, too. Our prejudgment precludes our getting the full effects of any experience. Some days we hear only the drum of the humdrum.
But the greater our faith in the program and a loving God, the clearer our perceptions become. We miss less of the day's events; we grow in our understanding of our unfolding, and we perceive with clarity the role others are playing in our lives.
We can see life as a concert in progress when we transcend our own narrow scope and appreciate the variety of people and situations all directed toward the same finale. The more we're in tune with the spiritual activity surrounding us; the more harmoniously we will be able to perform our parts.
I will listen to the music of today. I will get in tune, in rhythm. I am needed for the concert's beauty.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

BILL'S STORY

He talked for hours. Childhood memories rose before me. I could almost hear the sound of the preacher's voice as I sat, on still Sundays, way over there on the hillside; there was that proffered temperance pledge I never signed; my grandfather's good natured contempt of some church folk and their doings; his insistence that the spheres really had their music; but his denial of the preacher's right to tell him how he must listen; his fearlessness as he spoke of these things just before he died; these recollections welled up from the past. They made me swallow hard.
That war-time day in old Winchester Cathedral came back again.

p. 10

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

IV - THE LASKER AWARD

In 1951 the Lasker Award was given Alcoholics Anonymous. The citation reads in part as follows:
“The American Public Health Association presents a Lasker Group Award for 1951 to Alcoholics Anonymous in recognition of its unique and highly successful approach to that age-old public health and social problem, alcoholism . . . In emphasizing alcoholism as an illness, the social stigma associated with this condition is being blotted out . . . Historians may one day recognize Alcoholics Anonymous to have been a great venture in social pioneering which forged a new instrument for social action; a new therapy based on the kinship of common suffering; one having a vast potential for the myriad other ills of mankind.”

p. 571

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

To clergymen, doctors, friends, and families, the alcoholic who means well and tries hard is a heartbreaking riddle. To most A.A.'s, he is not. There are too many of us who have been just like him, and have found the riddle's answer. This answer has to do with the quality of faith rather than its quantity. This has been our blind spot. We supposed we had humility when really we hadn't. We supposed we had been serious about religious practices when, upon honest appraisal, we found we had been only superficial. Or, going to the other extreme, we had wallowed in emotionalism and had mistaken it for true religious feeling. In both cases, we had been asking something for nothing. The fact was we really hadn't cleaned house so that the grace of God could enter us and expel the obsession. In no deep or meaningful sense had we ever taken stock of ourselves, made amends to those we had harmed, or freely given to any other human being without any demand for reward. We had not even prayed rightly. We had always said, "Grant me my wishes" instead of "Thy will be done." The love of God and man we understood not at all. Therefore we remained self-deceived, and so incapable of receiving enough grace to restore us to sanity.

p. 32

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Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. . .
Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness,
and it is as though a voice were saying: "You are accepted."
--Paul Tillich

"Life didn't promise to be wonderful."
--Teddy Pendergrass

Today I do not need to say the first thing that comes into my head, or
react to what others say about me. Today I can practice restraint of
tongue and pen...think before I speak...and say kind things or nothing
at all.
--Ruth Fishel

One of the first things to do, is to love everybody ... with love, all
things are possible ... and the one who has learned to love all people
will find plenty of people who will return that love.
--Ernest Holmes

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many
-- not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
--Charles Dickens

Sit down with a pen and paper and write your thoughts down.
It frees your mind.
--unknown

God's answers are always wiser than your prayers...

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

CHARACTER

"A man never discloses his own
character so clearly as when he
describes another's."
-- Johann Paul Richter

I was always so perceptive when it came to assessing the character
faults of others. I could offer the best therapy and treatment to
others; the best advice in the world. I was excellent at "pulling the
covers" on a con-man --- but always I missed me! I never really
heard my insights. I never followed my advice. I always minimized
my character faults.

Usually what I saw in others was reflected in my own personality.
The things I loathed in others existed in me. The anger and
resentments came from a denial of self.

In sobriety I hear the advice of others. I don't always like it but I
hear it. I give criticism and today I am growing in my acceptance of
criticism.

In relationships may I see clearly my own reflection.

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"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe
yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience."
Colossians 3:12

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and
admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."
Colossians 3:16

"Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one
another."
John 13:34

"The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved
me."
Psalms 116:6

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Daily Inspiration

If you are too easily offended and become upset too quickly, you are taking life far too seriously. Lord, help me avoid looking for things to complain about.

Never underestimate the power of your presence nor your ability to comfort and encourage. Lord, thank You for my opportunities to do Your work.

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NA Just For Today

The Light Of Exposure

"These defects grow in the dark and die in the light of exposure."
Basic Text p.31

The Fifth Step asks us to share our true nature with God, with ourselves, and with another human being. It doesn't encourage us to tell everyone every little secret about ourselves. It doesn't ask us to disclose to the whole world every shameful or frightening thought we've ever had. Step Five simply suggests that our secrets cause us more harm than good when we keep them completely to ourselves.

If we give in to our reluctance to reveal our true nature to even one human being, the secret side of our lives becomes more powerful. And when the secrets are in control, they drive a wedge between ourselves, our Higher Power, and the things we value most about our recovery.

When we share our secret selves in confidence with at least one human being-our sponsor, perhaps, or a close friend-this person usually doesn't reject us. We disclose ourselves to someone else and are rewarded with their acceptance. When this happens, we realize that honest sharing is not life-threatening; the secrets have lost their power over us.

Just for today: I can disarm the secrets in my life by sharing them with one human being.
pg. 250

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
The route you take depends a good deal upon where you want to go. --Lewis Carroll
Day after day, the father drove to work along the same dreary highway to the same dreary job. Sometimes his daughter went to his office with him. On one of these occasions she noticed a winding road running parallel to the highway. "Oh, Daddy, let's take that road today," she suggested. After some grumbling and mumbling, the father agreed and turned off to take the side road.
To their delight, the road was lined with full trees and a rainbow of flowers. They came upon a quaint little village in which there was an office with a sign in the window, which said, "Clerk Wanted. Inquire Within." The job seemed perfect and the man accepted it with excitement he hadn't felt in many years.
Sometimes we have to risk taking a different path in order to arrive at a different place. How else can we change things in our lives that need to be changed? And how easy to do it, once we're willing to risk something out of the ordinary.
What can I do that's out of the ordinary today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
I am still learning. --Michelangelo's motto
Is it okay for a man to say he does not know? Our myths of masculinity tell us we are supposed to know all about how to be great lovers, how to do a job, how to get from here to there. We should never look confused or bewildered because someone will think we are weak. This is certainly a boyish attitude! How can we ever learn anything new if we can't look like beginners? That's the way to be an underachiever. In our growing up, we can shed these small ideas and have the strength to admit we don't always know.
Many of us have had the experience of growing in years without growing more mature. Having a sponsor is one of the ways we can clearly arrange to be learners. We can also learn from the fellowship of other men and women in our group. To be learners, we need to be honest and straightforward about what we already know as well as about what we do not know. When we are willing to be learners, we grow emotionally.
I will be honest about things I don't know so I can continue to learn.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
There are sounds to seasons. There are sounds to places, and there are sounds to every time in one's life. --Alison Wyrley Birch
Live is rich and full. Your life. My life. Even when the day feels flat or hollow, there's a richness to it that escapes our attention. We see only what we choose to see. We hear selectively, too. Our prejudgment precludes our getting the full effects of any experience. Some days we hear only the drum of the humdrum.
But the greater our faith in the program and a loving God, the clearer our perceptions become. We miss less of the day's events; we grow in our understanding of our unfolding, and we perceive with clarity the role others are playing in our lives.
We can see life as a concert in progress when we transcend our own narrow scope and appreciate the variety of people and situations all directed toward the same finale. The more we're in tune with the spiritual activity surrounding us; the more harmoniously we will be able to perform our parts.
I will listen to the music of today. I will get in tune, in rhythm. I am needed for the concert's beauty.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Taking Care of Ourselves on the Job
It's okay to take care of ourselves on the job. It is not only okay, it is necessary.
Taking care of ourselves on the job means we deal with feelings appropriately; we take responsibility for ourselves. We detach, when detachment is called for. We set boundaries, when we need to do that.
We negotiate conflicts; we try to separate our issues from the other person's issues, and we don't expect perfection from others or ourselves.
We let go of our need to control that which we cannot control. Instead, we strive for peace and manageability, owning our power to be who we are and to take care of ourselves.
We do not tolerate abuse, nor do we abuse or mistreat anyone else. We work at letting go of our fear and developing appropriate confidence. We try to learn from our mistakes, but we forgive ourselves when we make them.
We try to not set ourselves up by taking jobs that couldn't possibly work out, or jobs that aren't right for us. If we find ourselves in one of those circumstances, we address the issue responsibly.
We figure out what our responsibilities are, and we generally stick to those, unless another agreement is made. We leave room for great days, and not so great days.
We are gentle and loving with people whenever possible, but we are assertive and firm when that is called for. We accept our strengths and build on them. We accept our weaknesses and limitations, including the limitations of our power.
We strive to stop trying to control and change what is not our business to change. We focus on what is our responsibility and what we can change.
We set reasonable goals. We take ourselves into account. We strive for balance.
Sometimes, we give ourselves a good gripe session to let it all out, but we do that appropriately, in a way meant to take care of ourselves and release our feelings, not to sabotage ourselves. We strive to avoid malicious gossip and other self defeating behaviors.
We avoid competition; strive for cooperation and a loving spirit. We understand that we may like some people we work with and dislike others, but strive to find harmony and balance with everyone. We do not deny how we feel about a certain person, but we strive to maintain good working relationships wherever possible.
When we don't know, we say we don't know. When we need help, we ask for it directly. When panic sets in, we address the panic as a separate issue and try not to let our work and behavior be controlled by panic.
We strive to take responsible care of ourselves by appropriately asking for what we need at work, while not neglecting ourselves.
If we are part of a team, we strive for healthy teamwork as an opportunity to learn how to work in cooperation with others.
If something gets or feels crazy, if we find ourselves working with a person who is addicted or has some kind of dysfunction that is troublesome, we do not make ourselves crazier by denying the problem. We accept it and strive in peace to figure out what we need to do to take care of ourselves.
We let go of our need to be martyrs or rescuers at work. We know we do not have to stay in situations that make us miserable. Instead of sabotaging a system or ourselves, we plan a positive solution, understanding we need to take responsibility for ourselves along the way.
We remove ourselves as victims, and we work at believing we deserve the best. We practice acceptance, gratitude, and faith.
One day at a time, we strive to enjoy what is good, solve the problems that are ours to solve, and give the gift of ourselves at work.
Today, I will pay attention to what recovery behavior I could practice that would improve my work life. I will take care of myself on the job. God, help me let go of my need to be victimized by work. Help me be open to all the good stuff that is available to me through work.


Today I am worthy of being gentle with myself. I am worthy of it and I am going to give myself gentleness and softness. I am developing a new habit of being softer with myself today.... of not driving myself so hard. --Ruth Fishel

*****

Journey to the Heart
Make Yourself at Home

Once you accept yourself unconditionally, you'll be surprised at how comfortable you begin to feel, no matter where you are.

We may have tricked ourselves into thinking our security came from outside ourselves-- that we needed certain other people or places, needed certain objects or items around us, or had to live our lives in a particular way to feel secure. But relying on things and people outside ourselves provides a false sense of security. False security will be shown for what it is.

There's a real security, a true safety, available to us all, no matter who we are, where we are, or what we're doing. That security comes from accepting ourselves. That security comes from trusting ourselves, trusting our hearts, our wisdom, our connection to the Divine and to the universe around us.

Once we accept ourselves unconditionally, no matter where we are, it will feel like home.

*****

more language of letting go
Say thanks for the ordinary

Don't overlook the wonder of the ordinary.

The extraordinary, the amazing, the phenomenon are daily glorified in the movies, the news, and on television. Our senses become bombarded. We become addicted to drama. The only things that get our attention are the big, catastrophic, knee-jerking events.

Take a closer look at your life, your everyday world, and the people and activities in it. If it were all taken from you in one moment, what would you miss? What sights, what sounds, what smells? Would you miss the view from your kitchen window? If you were never to see that scene again, would you nostalgically reminisce about it, wishing you could see it one more time, remembering how beautiful it was, and how much that familiar sight comforted you in your daily life?

What about those toys strewn about or the baby crying, because he's hungry or wet? What about the sounds of the city you live in, as it comes to life each morning? Or how about how your child smells after her bath? Or when she comes in cold from playing in the snow?

What about the way your friend smiles, or that little thing he says all the time and it's not funny but he thinks it is, so you laugh?

Look closely at the ordinary in your life. While you're being grateful, don't forget to express pure, sheer gratitude for how beautiful the ordinary really is. We can easily overlook the ordinary, take it for granted. The sun rises and sets, the seasons come and go, and we forget how beautiful and sensational the familiar really is.

God, thank you for every detail of my ordinary, everyday world.

*****

Light of the Party
Confidence in Social Situations by Madisyn Taylor

If you feel shy or awkward in social situations, know that many others are probably feeling the same way too.

If you’ve ever been to a social gathering where you’ve felt awkward and uncomfortable, chances are you are not alone. While social gatherings can be very enjoyable, especially when we are surrounded by people whose company we enjoy, there are social events that we attend where we sometimes find ourselves wishing we were someplace else. Such occasions can sometimes be the cause of much anxiety and self-consciousness. We may even feel like everyone else is having a good time except for us. Yet the truth is that everyone has felt shy and awkward on occasion. One of the best ways to overcome self-consciousness or get past your feelings of shyness at social gatherings is to focus on the people around you. If you can remember that other people might also be feeling awkward or shy, you might find the thought of speaking to them less intimidating or overwhelming.

The next time there is a social event you feel nervous about attending, you may want to try this exercise: Spend some time with your eyes closed and breathe deeply. When you feel ready, create your own zone of comfort by visualizing yourself surrounded in a warm white light that is protective yet accepting of others. Imagine people at the event being drawn to you because of the open and warm feelings that you are radiating. When you arrive at the event, take a moment to spread this same light of loving acceptance to everyone around you. Smile and greet people warmly. Try going up to someone who is standing alone and introduce yourself. When you radiate acceptance, openness, and receptivity, people can’t help but respond to you in kind.

Focusing on how we can make other people at a social gathering feel at ease can help us forget about our own insecurities. In the process, we end up making the very connections that we seek. The next time you attend a social gathering, invite people to join you in your zone of comfort that you have so lovingly and intentionally created. Let yourself enjoy being encircled in the warmth of their friendships. Published with permission from Daily OM

*****

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

“Prayer does not change God,” wrote Soren Kierkegaard, “but it changes him who prays.” Those of us in The Program who’ve learned to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it than we’d trun down sunshine, fresh air, or food — and for the same reason. Just as the body can wither and fail for lack of nourishment, so can the soul. We all need the light of God’s reality, the nourishment of His strenth, and the atmosphere of His Grace. Do I thank God for all that He has given me, for all that He has taken away from me, and for all He has left me?

Today I Pray

Dear H.P.; I want to thank you for spreading calm over my confusion, for making the jangled chords of my human relationships harmonize again, for putting together the shattered pieces of my Humpty Dumpty self, for giving me as a sobriety present a whole great expanded world of marvels and opportunities. May I remain truly Yours, Yours truly.

Today I Will Remember

Prayer, however simple, nourishes the soul.

*****

One More Day

Pain is life — the sharper, the more evidence of life.
– Charles Lamb

We all have pain in our lives. This is not necessarily illness, but deeper emotional pain caused by our perception of failure or success. Caused by a relationship ending. Caused by loss. Caused by giving up unrealistic goals. We all experience pain.

We gain knowledge that pain broadens our base of experience and can make us stronger — or weaker. And we are the ones who ultimately have to carry the burden and joy of our lives.

There’s more here than “pain in life.” It’s how we learn to handle our pain, how we react to what has caused our pain, and how we have made others feel about our pain that matters the most.

I choose to be a survivor. My experience can enrich my life.

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Food For Thought

Willingness

When we were overeating, we were negative and fearful. We alternated between avoiding work and feeling responsible for everybody and everything. An important part of our recovery is willingness: we become willing to change, willing to abstain, willing to learn. As we work the program, we become willing to allow our Higher Power to remove our character defects.

All of this does not happen overnight. When we get discouraged and make mistakes, we are willing to try again. We are willing to follow the lead of our Higher Power. As we see evidence of His care, we begin to trust that He will not require of us more than we are capable of doing.

To be willing is to hold ourselves ready and available for God’s direction. We do not jump into situations prematurely, and we do not close our minds in refusal to change. We are willing to grow and serve and, especially, willing to believe.

Increase my willingness.

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One Day At A Time

FIT SPIRITUAL CONDITION
“… 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.”
The Big Book, p.85

These words, read every morning during prayer time, teach me to live as I am meant to live. Sanely and peacefully. Laid back. Patient and forgiving of myself. I am no longer a part of the war of the worlds. Anger can be dealt with or walked away from. Eating over it is no longer an option. Compulsive overeating is a problem I can live without, just for today.

One day at a time...
I will remember where I came from and how I got here so long as I keep in fit spiritual condition.
~ Jo

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

A man of thirty was doing a great deal of spree drinking. He was very nervous in the morning after these bouts and quieted himself with more liquor. He was ambitious to succeed in business, but saw that he would get nowhere if he drank at all. Once he started, he had no control whatever. He made up his mind that until he had been successful in business and had retired, he would not touch another drop. An exceptional man, he remained bone dry for twenty-five years and retired at the age of fifty-five, after a successful and happy business career. Then he fell victim to a belief which practically every alcoholic has - that his long period of sobriety and self-discipline had qualified him to drink as other men. Out came his carpet slippers and a bottle. In two months he was in a hospital, puzzled and humiliated. He tried to regulate his drinking for a little while, making several trips to the hospital meantime. Then, gathering all his forces, he attempted to stop altogether and found he could not. Every means of solving his problem which money could buy was at his disposal. Every attempt failed. Though a robust man at retirement, he went to pieces quickly and was dead within four years. - Pgs. 32-33 - More About Alcoholism

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Positive clean thoughts of ourselves are a must. It is important to 'picture' ourselves speaking at meetings, 12th stepping newcomers, laughing, cleaned up and well groomed, and holding our heads high. These clean and sober thoughts help counter years of drunk and dirty thoughts.

I see myself laughing and sharing with others.

Loving My Family and Hating the Disease

I can love my family and hate the disease. I can love myself and hate the disease. This disease is more powerful than the human body's and psyche 's ability to fight it off sometimes. It enters the human body and makes it tense, hyper-vigilant and addictive. It floods our minds and makes our thinking distorted, depressed and disturbed It wraps itself around our hearts and makes us feel hopeless. It infiltrates relationships with mistrust, resentment and paranoia. This disease has invaded and degraded my family system. But I can do little to change that unless each family member seeks out recovery and works a vigorous program. Dabbling in a little 'help' only scratches the surface of the problem. This disease is powerful and needs to be treated as aggressively as a spreading cancer. Today I know that the only person I can heal is myself. If anyone else chooses recovery, it will be through the power of example and their own free will.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

When you are having trouble doing one day at a time and it feels as though several days have attacked you at once, realize that nothing except your own thoughts can really attack. In fact, it is only your own thoughts that can prove to you that you have not been attacked or singled out unfairly.

I counter thoughts of 'unfairness' with the realization that I am very lucky the world has not paid me back for all the wrongs I've caused.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Thank God for what you have. TRUST GOD for what you need.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I am worthy of being gentle with myself.
I am worthy of it and I am going to give myself gentleness and softness.

I am developing a new habit of being softer with myself today . . . of not driving myself so hard.

Today I will drive myself less and know that my Higher Power gives me the energy I need to do what needs to be done in this day.

I will stop pushing myself as hard as I do.

I will stop for a moment and get renewed by the energy that I receive when I know that my Higher Power is holding my hand.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

Selfishness, self-seeking and self-centeredness sound the same but I learned they're different: Selfishness is 'It's all for me.' - Self-centeredness is 'It's all about me' - Self-seeking is 'What's in it for me?' - Scott R.

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AA Thought for the Day

August 28

Sunlight
He said, "Why don't you choose your own conception of God?" That statement hit me hard.
It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years.
I stood in the sunlight at last.
It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself.
Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 12

Thought to Ponder . . .
I have been given a quiet place in bright sunshine.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
G O D = Good Orderly Direction.

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~

Self-appraisal
"I used to be a champ at unrealistic self-appraisal.
I wanted to look only at the part of my life
which seemed good.
Then I would greatly exaggerate whatever virtues
I supposed I had attained.
Next I would congratulate myself on the grand job
I was doing.
So my unconscious self-deception never failed
to turn my few good assets into serious liabilities.
This astonishing process was always a pleasant one. . .
I was falling straight back
into the pattern of my drinking days. . .
I shall forever regret the damage I did to people around me.
Indeed, I still tremble when I realize
what I might have done to AA and to its future."
Bill W., June 1961
1988AAGrapevine, The Language of the Heart, pp. 256-7

Thought to Consider . . .
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A A = Altered Attitudes

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*

Tornado Technique
From: "When AA Came of Age"
Still another famous early itinerant was Irwin M., a Cleveland AA who had become a champion salesman of Venetian 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 rather badly. At the New York Headquarters we had on file a long list of topers in many a Southern city and town, people who had not been personally visited. 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. 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.
1985, AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, page 25

*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"When I've examined a situation all ways from Sunday, and the only thing I can see are bad consequences, then I can say, 'God, I don't have the least idea what to do.' That seems to be the magic phrase for me. Then something happens, and it is usually an action I hadn't thought of doing, and the result is good for all."
Irasburg, Vermont, December 1997
"Distilled Spirits,"
AA Grapevine

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*

"Everybody knows that those in bad health, and those who seldom play,
do not laugh much. So let each family play together or separately as
much as their circumstances warrant. We are sure God wants us to be
happy, joyous, and free."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 132~

"Neither could we reduce our self-centeredness much by wishing or
trying on our own power. We had to have God's help."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 62

“Returning home we find a place where we can be a quiet for an hour, carefully reviewing what we have done.”
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 75

“A quiet, objective view will be our steadfast aim.”
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 82 (Step Eight)

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

We cannot disclose anything to our wives or our parents which will hurt them and make them unhappy. We have no right to save our own skins at their expense.
Such damaging parts of our story we tell to someone else who will understand, yet be unaffected. The rule is, we must be hard on ourselves, but always considerate of others.
Good judgment will suggest that we ought to take our time in making amends to our families. It may be unwise at first to rehash certain harrowing episodes. While we may be quite willing to reveal the very worst, we must be sure to remember that we cannot buy our own peace of mind at the expense of others.

Prayer for the Day: (Prayer of St Francis of Assisi) —"Lord, make me a channel of thy peace - that where there is hatred, I may bring love - that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness - that where there is discord, I may bring harmony - that where there is error, I may bring truth - that where there is doubt, I may bring faith - that where there is despair, I may bring hope - that where there are shadows, I may bring light - that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted - to understand, than to be understood - to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen."