Daily Recovery Readings - October 23

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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.

October 23

Daily Reflections

WHAT WE KNOW BEST

"Shoemaker, stick to thy last!" . . . better do one thing supremely well than many badly.
That is the central theme of this Tradition [Five]. Around it our Society gathers in unity.
The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of this principle.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 150

The survival of A.A. depends upon unity. What would happen if a group decided to
become an employment agency, a treatment center or a social service agency? Too much
specialization leads to no specialization, to frittering of efforts and, finally, to decline. I
have the qualifications to share my sufferings and my way of recovery with the newcomer.
Conformity to A.A.'s primary purpose insures the safety of the wonderful gift of sobriety,
so my responsibility is enormous. The life of millions of alcoholics is closely tied to my
competence in "carrying the message to the still-suffering alcoholic."

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I have learned how to be honest. What a relief! No more ducking or dodging. No more tall
tales. No more pretending to be what I am not. My cards are on the table, for all the
world to see. "I am what I am," as Popeye used to say in the comics. I have had an
unsavory past. I am sorry, yes. But it cannot be changed now. All that is yesterday and is
done. But now my life is an open book. Come and look at it, if you want to. I'm trying to
do the best I can. I will fail often, but I won't make excuses. I will face things as they are
and not run away. Am I really honest?

Meditation For The Day

Though it may seem a paradox, we must believe in spiritual forces which we cannot
see more than in material things which we can see, if we are going to truly live. In the
last analysis, the universe consists more of thought or mathematical formulas than it
does of matter as we understand it. Between one human being and another only
spiritual forces will suffice to keep them in harmony. These spiritual forces we know,
because we can see their results although we cannot see them. A changed life--a new
personality--results from the power of unseen spiritual forces working in us and through
us.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may believe in the Unseen. I pray that I may be convinced by the results of
the Unseen which I do see.

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As Bill Sees It

Love+Rationality=Growth, p. 294

"It seems to me that the primary object of any human being is to
grow, as God intended, that being the nature of all growing things.

"Our search must be for what reality we can find, which includes
the best definition and feeling of love that we can acquire. If the
capability of loving is in the human being, then it must surely be in his
Creator.

"Theology helps me in that many of its concepts cause me to
believe that I live in a rational universe under a loving God, and
that my own irrationality can be chipped away, little by little. This
is, I suppose, the process of growth for which we are intended."

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Walk In Dry Places

How do we hurt others?
Inventory
Even while drinking, few of us abused others physically or committed crimes. Yet we did harm others, even when we thought we were hurting only ourselves.
One way we harmed others.... and this applies to many alcoholic family relationships.. was by with-holding the love and support they needed. If we had a nasty disposition at times, this poisoned the atmosphere and made others uncomfortable and afraid.
Maybe we harmed others by not being productive at work. Our absenteeism, for example, may have put our boss in a bad light with superiors or caused the firm to lose a client.
Perhaps the worst harm was in being completely indifferent to what we were doing to others. Any willingness to admit wrong, then, can be a major step toward recovery and self-improvement.
Though, I have no intention of harming anyone today, I'll realize that even my attitude can affect others unfavorably. I'll try to maintain an attitude that's uplifting to everyone.

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Keep It Simple

It’s not dying faith that’s so hard, it’s living up to it.William Makepeace Thackeray
We may ask, “Do I have to do an Eighth or Ninth Step?” “Do I really need a sponsor?” “Hmm…can I get by without going to so many meetings?” Having faith means putting our questions aside. So…what do we do? We work the program. We accept that those who’ve gone before us were right. We accept the idea that we need others. Faith is knowing that others love and care for us. Faith is also about action. The main way we know that we have faith is by looking at our behavior. Ask yourself this: “Are my actions those of a person with faith?”
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me remove the questions that get in my way. Help me act like a person with faith.
Action for the Day: I’ll list four parts of my program that I have faith in, such as, “I believe honesty is important to my sobriety.”

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Each Day a New Beginning

...words are more powerful than perhaps anyone suspects, and once deeply engraved in a child's mind, they are not easily eradicated. --May Sarton
How burdened we became, as little girls, with the labels applied by parents, teachers, even school chums. We believe about ourselves what others teach us to believe. The messages aren't always overt. But even the very subtle ones are etched in our minds, and they remind us of our "shortcomings" long into adulthood.
Try as we might to forget the criticisms, the names, they linger in our memories and influence our self-perceptions as adults. The intervening years have done little to erase whatever emotional scars we acquired as children.
Our partnership with God will help us understand that we are spiritual beings with a wonderful purpose in this life. And we are as lovely, as capable, as successful as we perceive ourselves to be. Our own thoughts and words, our own labels can become as powerful as those of our youth. It takes practice to believe in ourselves. But we can break the past's hold on us.
My higher power will help me know the real me. I am all that I ever needed to be; I am special, and I will come to believe that.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 11 - A Vision For You

So, you see, there were three alcoholics in that town, who now felt they had to give to others what they had found, or be sunk. After several failures to find others, a fourth turned up. He came through an acquaintance who had heard the good news. He proved to be a devil-may-care young fellow whose parents could not make out whether he wanted to stop drinking or not. They were deeply religious people, much shocked by their son’s refusal to have anything to do with the church. He suffered horribly from his sprees, but it seemed as if nothing could be done for him. He consented, however, to go to the hospital, where he occupied the very room recently vacated by the lawyer.
He had three visitors. After a bit, he said, “The way you fellows put this spiritual stuff makes sense. I’m ready to do business. I guess the old folks were right after all.” So one more was added to the Fellowship.

pp. 158-159

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

Student Of Life

Living at home with her parents, she tried using willpower to beat the obsession to drink. But it wasn't until she met another alcoholic and went to an A.A. meeting that sobriety took hold.

Six months later my boss flew me to California for a trade show. I hated working the shows, but I loved to travel, so I went. I was extremely nervous about this trip because my boss like to party and we were flying in a guy our age from Hawaii to work the show with us. At this point I had managed to hold together thirty-one days without a drink, and I was terrified that I would give in to the temptation of being on an all-expenses-paid trip in a fun city with two party animals. It had been very difficult for me to stay dry for thirty-one days; the obsession spoke to me every day.

pp. 324-325

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

Of course the depressive and the power-driver are personality extremes, types with which A.A. and the whole world abound. Often these personalities are just as sharply defined as the examples given. But just as often some of us will fit more or less into both classifications. Human beings are never quite alike, so each of us, when making an inventory, will need to determine what his individual character defects are. Having found the shoes that fit, he ought to step into them and walk with new confidence that he is at last on the right track.

p. 48

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Honesty is something you can't wear out.
--Waylon Jennings

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can
see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
--Antoine de Saint- [The Little Prince]

"Sometimes we need to look hard at a person and remember that he is doing the best
he can. He's just trying to find his way. That's all."
--Ernest Thompson

"God's gift to us is our life. What we do with it, is our gift to God."

An error is a positive way to learn provided you make the attempt to correct the mistake.
--unknown

"It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is
that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves."
--Helen Keller

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

VALUE

"A cynic is a man who knows the
price of everything and value of
nothing."
-- Oscar Wilde

I never knew the value of my life until I looked beyond it. For years I was so
self-obsessed that I missed the joy and beauty of this wonderful world. I was so
concerned with details and minutia of life that I missed the fun of living.

I now see that my behavior had its roots in my childhood. I was the child in a
dysfunctional family. I became a parent to my parents. I took charge of everybody's
life and I felt responsible and guilty. Everything was work and I did not learn how to
play.

Today I am working on my recovery. I am "dumping" my feelings of guilt, shame and
anger. I am beginning to understand that I am not responsible for my parents and I
am beginning to feel free. Today I am learning how to play.

Lord of the dance, teach me the steps.

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"Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God."
Joshua 23:11

"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?"
Matthew 16:26

"Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous
pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take
refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler."
Psalm 91:3-4

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Daily Inspiration

Start an "I am grateful for..." list and read it when you are feeling low. Lord, help me see things in a new light and understand that with a little effort I can turn my complaints into something positive.

We are the only ones who can change how we think or how we act. Lord, help me make positive decisions so that life doesn't just happen to me.

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NA Just For Today

Surrender

"By surrendering control, we gain a far greater power."

Basic Text, p.43

When we were using, we did everything we could to run things our way. We used every scheme imaginable to bring our world under control. When we got what we wanted, we felt powerful, invincible; when we didn't, we felt vulnerable, defeated. But that didn't stop us - it only led to more efforts to control and manipulate our lives into a manageable state.

Scheming was our way of denying our powerlessness. As long as we could distract ourselves with our plans, we could put off accepting that we were out of control. Only gradually did we realize that our lives had become unmanageable and that all the conning and manipulating in the world was not going to put our lives back in order.

When we admit our powerlessness, we stop trying to control and manage our way to a better life - we surrender. Lacking sufficient power of our own, we seek a Power greater than ourselves; needing support and guidance, we ask that Power to care for our will and our lives. We ask others in recovery to share their experience with living the NA program instead of trying to program our own lives. The power and direction we seek is all around us; we need only turn away from self to find it.

Just for today: I will not try to scheme and manipulate my way to a manageable life. Through the NA program, I will surrender myself to my Higher Power's care.

pg. 309

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. --D. H. Lawrence
Sometimes when we feel sorry for ourselves we will sit alone in our bedroom. We may even feel so down in the dumps that we decide to stay there, indulging in self-pity, thinking about how the world is against us.
However, if we use our imagination to step outside our own point of view for a moment, we might think differently. If we were deer in the forest, we would be thinking about keeping safe from the wolves, and where our next meal would be coming from.
The animals have no time to feel sorry for themselves, they are too busy doing what has to be done to survive, and each thing that happens presents a new survival problem to be solved.
When we feel blue, it helps to keep this in mind. If we have the time to feel down, and can get physically comfortable while doing it, how bad can the problem really be?
In what ways is my life comfortable, easy, and full of love?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Self-knowledge and self-improvement are very difficult for most people. It usually needs great courage and long struggle. --Abraham Maslow
This is a simple program but it isn't easy. We cannot take the principles we learn and thereby possess them as if we were taking a class or reading a book. We need to live them. We can only get this program by participating with others who are also on the journey. Gradually we absorb it into every fiber of our being. This takes time and dedication.
The honesty required is sometimes frightening and painful. Any man who remains faithful to this program has great courage and deserves deep respect. But we do not have to wait long to begin receiving the rewards. New freedoms, good feelings, and friendships quickly develop, and we are promised in this program to continue growing and to receive more benefits throughout our lives. What rewards have come from our courage and struggle?
I will give much to my spiritual growth because it gives much to me.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
...words are more powerful than perhaps anyone suspects, and once deeply engraved in a child's mind, they are not easily eradicated. --May Sarton
How burdened we became, as little girls, with the labels applied by parents, teachers, even school chums. We believe about ourselves what others teach us to believe. The messages aren't always overt. But even the very subtle ones are etched in our minds, and they remind us of our "shortcomings" long into adulthood.
Try as we might to forget the criticisms, the names, they linger in our memories and influence our self-perceptions as adults. The intervening years have done little to erase whatever emotional scars we acquired as children.
Our partnership with God will help us understand that we are spiritual beings with a wonderful purpose in this life. And we are as lovely, as capable, as successful as we perceive ourselves to be. Our own thoughts and words, our own labels can become as powerful as those of our youth. It takes practice to believe in ourselves. But we can break the past's hold on us.
My higher power will help me know the real me. I am all that I ever needed to be; I am special, and I will come to believe that.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Morning Cues
There is an important message for us first thing every day.
Often, once we get started with the day, we may not listen as closely to life and ourselves as we do in those still moments when we first awaken.
An ideal time to listen to ourselves is when we are laying quietly, our defenses are down, and we're open and most vulnerable.
What is the first feeling that floods through us, the feeling that perhaps we are trying to avoid during the business of the day? Are we angry, frustrated, hurt, or confused? That is what we need to focus on and work through. That's the issue we need to address.
When you awaken, what is the first idea or thought that enters your mind? Do you need to finish a timely project? Are you in need of a fun day? A restful day?
Do you feel sick and need to nurture yourself? Are you in a negative frame of mind? Do you have an issue to resolve with someone?
Do you need to tell someone something? Is something bothering you? Is something feeling particularly good?
Does an idea occur to you, something you could get or do that would feel good?
When you awaken, what is the first issue that presents itself? You don't have to be fearful. You don't have to rush. You can lay still and listen and then accept the message.
We can define some of our recovery goals for the day by listening to the morning message.
God, help me let go of my need to be in resistance to the harmonic flow of life. Help me learn to go with the flow and accept the help and support that You have to offer me.


God is guiding me with every step and every breath I take today. All I have to do is wake up, ask for help guidance and knowledge to a power greater than myself, and trust that I will know what to do. --Ruth Fishel

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Journey To The Heart
October 23
Cherish Joy

Choose joy. Then cherish and savor it.

Joy is not a fleeting emotion based on outward sircumstances, a transitory feeling of the moment, a reaction to the scenery around you. It comes from within your heart like a waterfall that rushes out the side of a mountain. Joy is a runoff from the wellspring within you. And sometimes it is a delightful, surprising contrast to the scenery around you.

Embrace joy. Relish it. Even if those around you don’t have it right now, you can feel your joy. You don’t have to be disrespectful of their feelings, nor do you have to let their lack of joy diminish yours.

You have done your work. You have chosen to open your heart. Now you have your reward

Cherish joy. It’s your treasure. You’ve found it. You’ve earned it. It’s yours.

*****

more language of letting go
Find and respect your own stride

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old: seek what they sought.
--Basho

One of the dangers of following a hero is the temptation to emulate them too much instead of walking our own path. John quit his job and started his own company when he was twenty-four years old. Five years later he sold out for millions of dollars. We want to be like John so we try the same thing and go broke. What happened? Is the universe against us? No. We just got confused about the difference between learning from a hero and trying to walk his path. John's path may have led him to start a company; your path may also lead you on that course, just not at the same time in your life.

We can still learn much from our heroes and the people we admire. Just be aware that their path and time frame may be different from ours.

When the time comes for you to start that business, learn a new skill, enter into a relationship, or whatever you're hoping to do, the experience will be there. The experience will be ready for you when you're ready for it. Your timing may be different from everyone else's.

I know people who got married after knowing each other only two weeks and then stayed mostly happily married for more than thirty years. I know people who date each other for years and still can't decide if they're ready to commit. My friend made the transition from living in the Midwest to living in California in months. That transition took me several years.

We each have our own stride and path. And while many of our lessons are similar, each of us is unique. If we spend our time trying to emulate a person rather than an idea, we'll at best be an inferior version of our teacher and at worst will never discover our own path. Their stride will be too long or too short for us, and we won't learn the true lesson, which is to trust our inner guide.

Gautama Buddha found enlightenment while sitting under a banyan tree; Milarepa found it while living as a hermit in a Himalayan cave. Gaining enlightenment isn't an exercise in following a person; it's an exercise in following your heart.

God, help me let go of any expectations of perfection I may have of myself or others. Help me be aware of the messages you send me, then help me discern my own truth.

*****

Opening to Understanding
Willingness to Feel

We must be willing to dive deep and feel, really feel what is underneath. This is where you will be set free.

There are times when we may find ourselves struggling or even fighting with our thoughts and emotions. We may feel that something must be done in a certain way or not at all, or there may be some other situation that feels absolutely black and white. But life is not this way—it's the way we are looking at our experiences that is causing the turmoil within us. When we become aware that the struggle we are having is with ourselves, we can turn our attention to the source in order to solve the problem, but we must be being willing to look where we need to and feel emotions that may make us uncomfortable at first. Then we can choose to really open ourselves to understanding all the options we can imagine. We are likely to discover that we are resisting something based on a limited understanding, and we must then open ourselves to willingness.

When we are willing to look at all the possibilities, we also become willing to accept that there is room for more than we can imagine. We can release ourselves from the grip we had on our emotions and stop limiting ourselves. We may have been unwilling to experience feeling loss, confusion, fear, or even joy for some reason or another, but when we realize that our understanding was limited we allow space for the universe to move in our lives.

Opening ourselves to willingness may feel like we are surrendering or abandoning all that we believed. But at the same time it is an act of power and courage because it is a conscious choice we make about how to apply our personal will. Being willing is to be in a state of willing something into creation. It is at once allowing ourselves to be while also choosing to direct our energy in a focused way. It is being and doing from a place of openness, where we can work with the universe rather than resist it. It is an open hand rather than one that is clenched into a fist. When we make a step toward willingness, we open ourselves to truth, possibility, and the movement of the wise universe in and through our lives. Published with permission from Daily OM

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

“One’s own self is well hidden from one’s own self,” a renowned philosopher once wrote. “of all mines of treasure, one’s own is the last to be dug up.” The Twelve Steps have enabled me to unearth my “own self,” the one that for so long was buried beneath my desperate need for approval from others. Thanks to The Program and my Higher Power, I’ve begun acquiring a true sense of self and a comfortable sense of confidence. No longer do I have to react chameleon like, changing my coloration from one moment to the next, fruitlessly trying to bee all things to all people. Do I strive, at all time, to be true to myself?

Today I Pray

I pray that I may be honest with myself, and that I will continue — with the help of God and my friends — to try to get to know the real me. May I know that I cannot suddenly be a pulled-together, totally defined, completely consistent personality; it may take a while to develop into that personality, to work out my values and my priorities. May I know now that I have a good start on being who I want to be.

Today I Will Remember

I’m getting to be who I want to be.

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One More Day

The more passionately we love life, the more intensely we experience the joy of life.
– Jurgen Moltman

While we would occasionally like to hide from the real-life drama around us, we know it’s not a healthy way to live. Instead we live the drama, love it, cry with it, and at times even hate it.

Choosing to live life on its terms brings enthusiasm and passion into our experiences. Our decisions to love life – despite the highs and lows — allows us to delight in the highs and to accept the lows as unavoidable, but momentary, setbacks. Although hiding from reality can sometimes insulate us from pain, it also blinds us to the joys of wonderment and living fully.

I choose to be enthusiastic about my life.\

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Food For Thought

Tomorrow Is Another Day

As compulsive overeaters; we can be tormented by the urge to finish everything right now, today. That was the way we used to eat, and it may still be the way we try to operate in other areas of behavior. It is possible to exchange our addiction to food for an addiction to work or perfection.

Trying to do everything today is just another example of self will run riot. We are not super people and we cannot perform miracles. It is our Higher Power who makes possible our accomplishments, and His work is done slowly and gradually. God never expects more of us than we are able to deliver. It is our own pride that entices us to tackle the impossible.

As long as we are alive, our work will not be finished. Each day we are given new tasks to do and new experiences to enjoy. What we do not complete today can be continued tomorrow, according to the will of our Higher Power.

I leave tomorrow's tasks for tomorrow.

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One Day At A Time

Pain
“People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous ...
Pain is meant to wake us up ...
You should stand up for your right to feel your pain.”
Jim Morrison

I am what some might call a “pain expert.” Inside, outside, stuffed, unavoidable ~ there are so many kinds of pain. I used to think that if I were really strong, I would never let pain effect me, regardless of its source. And there were plenty of sources. I walked around with this smile on my face and this wall built around me, trying to ward off the pain.

Then one day I cracked. I lost someone very close to me. When I actually accepted that, I just broke down. There was so much pain I had been avoiding for years. At that moment I was confronted by all of it!

That was when I started to realize that I couldn’t go through life avoiding pain. It was still there and it would come back. And it would be worse. Joining this program and reading the Big Book helped me to recognize my pain and feel it. I’m now able to not fear it, but to see it for what it is: a piece of me. I grow from what I feel, including pain. Without it I wouldn’t be me.

One day at a time...
I will feel my pain and I will do what is necessary to accept it. Together we are bound by pain. Together we can see our strength.
~ Miranda G.

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

When, however, the perfectly logical assumption is suggested that underneath the material world and life as we see it, there is an All Powerful, Guiding, Creative Intelligence, right there our perverse streak comes to the surface and we laboriously set out to convince ourselves it isn't so. we read wordy books and indulge in windy arguments, thinking we believe this universe needs no God to explain it. Were our contentions true, it would follow that life originated out of nothing, means nothing, and proceeds nowhere. - Pg. 49 - We Agnostics

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

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

God, as You have meaning to me, show me the strength of kindness in what I do this hour.

A Healthy Heart

Today, I will pray for help in forgiveness. My prayers have power in unseen realms. Research has borne out over and over again that prayer can be as effective a healer as medication at times. I will rely on the deep truth of the power of the unseen; invisible hands will guide my prayer. There is a peace within me that surpasses all understanding. Today, I will cultivate that peace by taking time to go within. The world within me is as real as anything I see. It sustains and nurtures me. It is of more value to me than I can imagine. I need this part of me to be alive and well. I need a healthy heart.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

The possibilities in this world are endless and abundant even when they appear impossible. Watch a tiny bird lift itself into the air by flapping fragile wings. See a pollywog transform into a frog, a seedling into an oak. Many wonders exist in God's world and you are one of them.

My Higher Power does the impossible, after I've done what is possible.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Work the Steps. You may still have living problems but you will no longer have problems living.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

God is guiding me with every step and every breath I take today. All I have to do is wake up, ask for help guidance and knowledge to a power greater than myself, and trust that I will know what to do.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

The bridges you cross before you come to them are over rivers which aren't there. - Gene Brown.

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AA Thought for the Day

October 23

Pride
We alcoholics return to drink far more often because of petty difficulties than because of life's serious setbacks and

tragedies.
The big problems seem to bring out our virtues, petty ones our faults.
For God to remove our shortcomings, we need to identify the defect for what it is. . .
And certainly the most difficult fault to see in ourselves is pride, aptly termed the first deadly sin.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 3], p. 208

Thought to Ponder . . .
Spiritual and emotional growth does not depend so much upon success as it does upon failures and setbacks.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
P R I D E = Personal Recovery Involves Deflating Ego.

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

Discipline
"Unless each AA member follows to the best of his ability
our suggested Twelve Steps to recovery,
he almost certainly signs his own death warrant.
His drunkenness and dissolution
are not penalties inflicted by people in authority;
they result from his personal disobedience
to spiritual principles. . .
Great suffering and great love are AA's disciplinarians;
we need no others."
c.1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 174

Thought to Consider . . .
"We alcoholics are undisciplined.
So we let God discipline us . . ."

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
C A R D S =
Call your sponsor,
. Ask for help from your Higher Power,
. Read the Big Book,
. Do the Twelve Steps,
. Stay active in your group.

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

No Spiritual Angle
From: "AA and St. Thomas Hospital"
In later years, the AA ward opened into the gallery of the chapel, which patients could visit at any time in hospital attire. What could be more conducive to the regeneration of the whole person spiritually, mentally, and morally than five to seven days spent in an institution where the spiritual atmosphere prevails? Sister Ignatia said.
She naturally put more emphasis on the spiritual than many others. However, she felt that Dr. Bob shared her views on this emphasis. There was one thing that always irritated Doctor, she said. Some people who were on the program for a length of time would come up to him and say, I don't get the spiritual angle. I heard him say time and again, There is no spiritual angle. It's a spiritual program.
1980, AAWS, Inc., DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, page 194

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

"One old-timer explained it this way to me: 'Don't let your mind rattle on at meetings. Then all you'll hear from someone else is something that gets you thinking about what you have to say. Listen to everything the person talking has to say, as if your life depended on it -- because it might one day. Listen to everyone this way, especially the ones you want to ignore,' this old-timer said. 'God won't deprive you of the answer you need, if you've come to an AA meeting needing an answer. He may, however, have your answer come out of the mouth of the person you least expect to have your answer. God has a sense of humor.'"
May 1990
"Quiet Guidance,"
Sober and Out

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

"...the actual or potential alcoholic, with hardly an exception,
will be absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of self
knowledge. This is a point we wish to emphasize and re-emphasize, to
smash home upon our alcoholic readers as it has been revealed to us
out of bitter experience."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 39~

"We have concluded to publish an anonymous vol*
ume setting forth the problem as we see it. We shall
bring to the task our combined experience and knowl*
edge. This should suggest a useful program for any*
one concerned with a drinking problem."
-Alcoholics Anonymous p.19

For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p.55

We saw that we were powerless over alcohol, but we also perceived that faith of some kind, if only in A.A. itself, is possible to anyone.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p.34

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

'Often, as we review each day, only the closest scrutiny will reveal what our true motives were. There are cases where our ancient enemy rationalization has stepped in and has justified conduct which was really wrong. The temptation here is to imagine that we had good motives and reasons when we really hadn't.
We'constructively criticized' someone who needed it, when our real motive was to win a useless argument. Or, the person concerned not being present, we thought we were helping others to understand him, when in actuality our true motive was to feel superior by pulling him down.
We hurt those we loved because they needed to be 'taught a lesson,' but we really wanted to punish. We were depressed and complained we felt bad, when in fact we were mainly asking for sympathy and attention.'

Prayer for the Day: Prayer for Protection - The Light of God surrounds me; The Love of God enfolds me; The Power of God protects me; The Presence of God watches over me; Wherever I am, God is, And all is well.

Ask and you shall receive,
Seek and ye shall find,
Knock and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7