Daily Recovery Readings - March 30

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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.

March 30

Daily Reflections

OUR GROUP CONSCIENCE

". . . sometimes the good is the enemy of the best."
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE, p. 101

I think these words apply to every area of A.A.'s Three Legacies:
Recovery, Unity and Service! I want them etched in my mind and life as
I "trudge the Road of Happy Destiny" (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 164).
These words, often spoken by co-founder Bill W., were appropriately
said to him as the result of the group's conscience. It brought home to
Bill W. the essence of our Second Tradition: "Our leaders are but
trusted servants; they do not govern."

Just as Bill W. was originally urged to remember, I think that in our
group discussions we should never settle for the "good," but always
strive to attain the "best." These common strivings are yet another
example of a loving God, as we understand Him, expressing Himself
through the group conscience. Experiences such as these help me to
stay on the proper path of recovery. I learn to combine initiative with
humility, responsibility with thankfulness, and thus relish the joys of
living my twenty-four hour program.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Before I met A.A., I was very unloving. From the time I went away to
school, I paid very little attention to my mother and father, I was on my
own and didn't even bother to keep in touch with them. After I got
married, I was very unappreciative of my spouse. Many a time I would
go out all by myself to have a good time. I paid too little attention to our
children and didn't try to understand them or show them affection. My
few friends were only drinking companions, not real friends. Have I
gotten over loving nobody but my self?

Meditation For The Day

Be calm, be true, and be quiet. Do not get emotionally upset by anything
that happens around you. Feel a deep, inner security in the goodness and

purpose in the universe. Be true to your highest ideals. Do not let
yourself slip back into the old ways of reacting. Stick to your spiritual
guns. Be calm always. Do not talk back or defend yourself too much
against accusation, whether false or true. Accept criticism as well as you
accept praise. Only God can judge the real you.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may not be upset by the judgment of others. I pray that I
may let God be the judge of the real me.

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As Bill Sees It

Review The Day, p. 89

When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we
resentful, selfish, dishonest, or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have
we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another
person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we
have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or
were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could
pack into the stream of life?

We must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse, or morbid
reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to ourselves and to
others. After we making our review, we ask God's forgiveness and
inquire what corrective measures should be taken.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 86

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Walk in Dry Places

Identify, don't compare
Good Judgment.
There's always danger in comparing ourselves with others. If we use behavior and drinking as yardsticks, such comparisons can lead us to believe that we might not really be alcoholics. This mistaken conclusion has been the undoing of some alcoholics.
The better course is to identify with the problems others have in common with us. Thought drinking patterns and habits may vary between two people, individuals may at least share the fears and delusions that drinking brought.
Other common factors that bind alcoholics together are emotional immaturity, a misplaced faith that alcohol solves problems, loneliness, and a tendency toward resentments. These also make good discussion topics for meetings.
At the very beginning of AA, the founders had trouble coming up with a real definition of alcoholism. Since then, we've done very well be letting members "Diagnose" themselves. It's best to leave it this way: "If your drinking is a problem in your life, AA has an answer for you.
Today I will not waste time comparing myself with others. Having accepted my alcoholism, I'll devote my attention to the things that enhance sobriety.

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Keep It Simple

Spirituality is...the awareness that survival is a savage fight between you and yourself.---Lisa S.
As recovering people, we're getting stronger each day. We go to meetings to learn how to be better people. But we also go to remind ourselves of the beast inside us---our addiction. This beast is waiting for us to slip---to go back to our addiction---so it can regain control.
Thus ,it's wise to learn all we can about our disease. That's why it's important to do a good job on our Fourth Step. When we work Step Four, we learn how our addiction acts, thinks, and feels. With the help of our program, we can quiet the beast. One Day at a Time.,
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I'm fighting for my life. Thanks to You, I'm winning today and my life is free.
Action for the Day: I'll talk to a friend about my addiction, the beast inside me. I'll do this so it will have less power over me.

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Each Day a New Beginning

The pure relationship, how beautiful it is! How easily it is damaged, or weighted down with irrelevancies--not even irrelevancies, just life itself, the accumulations of life and of time. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Many of us are presently rebuilding old relationships and searching for new ones, ones that we hope we can protect. We can't survive without relationships, some intimate, some close, some casual. And we discover ourselves through our relationships with others.
The purity of a relationship is directly proportional to the undivided attention we both give to those shared moments, hours, experiences, to being there with one another. This communion with another is the celebration of life and God that quickens hearts and ushers in serenity.
Each day I can look for those chances to give myself wholly. And gifts will abound.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 11 - A Vision For You

All this time our friend of the hotel lobby incident remained in that town. He was there three months. He now returned home, leaving behind his first acquaintances, the lawyer and the devil-may-care chap. These men had found something brand new in life. Though they knew they must help other alcoholics if they would remain sober, that motive became secondary. It was transcended by the happiness they found in giving themselves for others. They shared their homes, their slender resources, and gladly devoted their spare hours to fellow-sufferers. They were willing, by day or night, to place a new man in the hospital and visit him afterward. They grew in numbers. They experienced a few distressing failures, but in those cases they made an effort to bring the man’s family into a spiritual way of living, thus relieving much worry and suffering.

p. 159

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

EMPTY ON THE INSIDE - She grew up around A.A. and had all the answers--except when it came to her own life.

My father joined Alcoholics Anonymous when I was seven. Many of my childhood Friday nights were spent at open A.A. meetings because we couldn't afford a babysitter (I was the kid sitting over in the corner with a book). What effect did it have? I knew that being an alcoholic meant you couldn't drink any more and that you had to go to A.A. As my drinking career began, I was always careful not to utter the "A" word in connection with my name. At my house I would have been handed a meeting schedule. Besides, I knew that A.A. was all old guys that drank coffee, smoked, and ate donuts--I had been there. (Looking back, I'm sure most of those "old guys" were barely thirty.) So no A.A. for me. That would mean not drinking. And when I drank, life changed.

pp. 512-513

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

All this should be very encouraging news for those who recoil from prayer because they don't believe in it, or because they feel themselves cut off from God's help and direction. All of us, without exception, pass through times when we can pray only with the greatest exertion of will. Occasionally we go even further than this. We are seized with a rebellion so sickening that we simply won't pray. When these things happen we should not think too ill of ourselves. We should simply resume prayer as soon as we can, doing what we know to be good for us.

p. 105

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For happiness brings happiness
And loving ways bring love;
And Giving is the treasure
That contentment is made of.
--Amanda Bradley

Life is like a taxi. The meter just keeps a-ticking whether you are getting
somewhere or just standing still.
--Lou Erickson

No matter what we have done, God always offers us the chance to begin
anew. Knowing that God grants us a new beginning, we, too, can look
at our parents, our children, our partner or our friends, anyone with
whom we've had some distance, and say, "Let's have a new
beginning." Love is greater than any of our mistakes.
--Mary Manin Morrissey

God, help me be open to all the ways you speak to me to help guide me
along my path.
-Melody Beattie

Words are potent weapons for all causes, good or bad.
--Manly Hall

A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword.
--Robert Burton

In our lowest moments God is with us to say, "Do not fear."
--Bob Frankenburg

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

REASON

"For here we are not afraid to
follow wherever it may lead, nor
to tolerate error so long as
reason is free to combat it."
-- Thomas Jefferson

As an alcoholic I was so often afraid to challenge the thinking and ideas
of other people. My "people pleasing" demanded peace at any price.
And yet so much of what I heard, read and practiced I did not agree
with. Now I see that my behavior, my attitude --- along with the alcohol
consumption --- kept me sick.

In my spiritual program today I am free to reject, consider and have my
own opinions in life. I do not simply have to agree with everything that is
said, in this way I am discovering my value and self-esteem.

Lord, I am grateful for the freedom to cooperate.

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"Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one
another."
John 13:34

'In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust.'
Psalm 71

"Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you."
1 Peter 5:7

'I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith
the Lord.'
Jeremiah, 30:17

"The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!' The Lord replied,
'If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this
mulberry tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the seas," and it would obey
you.'"
Luke 17:5-6

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Daily Inspiration

Some can find fault in everything, but it takes a good and loving heart to find goodness, especially when it is less than obvious. Lord, bless me with gentleness and patience and the determination not to complain.

There is much wisdom in knowing what to overlook. Lord, may I take every opportunity to praise and choose carefully when I feel the need to criticize.

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NA Just For Today

God - Centeredness

"Gradually as we become more God-centered than self-centered, our despair turns to hope."
Basic Text p. 92

What a glorious thing to have hope! Before coming to Narcotics Anonymous, many of us lived lives of utter hopelessness. We believed we were destined to die from our disease.

Many members speak of being on a "pink cloud" their first months in the program. We've stopped using, made some friends, and life looks promising. Things are going great. Then reality sets in. Life is still life—we still lose jobs, our partners still leave us, friends still die, we still get sick. Abstinence is no guarantee that life will always go our way.

When the reality of life on its own terms sets in, we turn to our Higher Power and remember that life happens the way life happens. But no matter what occurs in our recovery we need not despair, for there is always hope. That hope lies in our relationship with our Higher Power.

This relationship, as expressed by the thought in our text, develops over time: "Gradually we become more God-centered." As we rely more and more on the strength of our Higher Power, life's struggles don't have to drag us into the sea of despair. As we focus more on God, we focus less on ourselves.

Just for today: I will rely on my Higher Power. I will accept that, regardless of what happens, my Higher Power will provide me with the resources to live with it.

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Come stand by my side where I'm going, Take my hand if I stumble and fall It's the strength that you share when you're growing That gives me what I need most of all. --Hoyt Axton
The bear cub was miserable. Her father, the leader of the pack, had left a month ago to find them winter shelter and had not yet returned. Everyone went on as if nothing had changed.
One evening the cub had a dream in which her father appeared and said, "Daughter, I know you grieve for me, but your burden is too heavy to carry alone. Share it with the others and let them comfort you. Sharing will only lighten your load, and if you can accept help now you will find it easier to give when others are in need."
The next morning the little cub woke with a much lighter heart. As it turns out, everyone in the pack shared the same dream. There was much hugging and crying and reaching out and healing.
We can easily lighten our loads by asking support from those who love us, knowing our turn to help will come.
What help can I ask for today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
We all carry it within us; supreme strength, the fullness of wisdom, unquenchable joy. It is never thwarted and cannot be destroyed. But it is hidden deep, which is what makes life a problem. --Huston Smith
How does a man lose touch with his strength, his wisdom, his joy? Perhaps it is in the nature of humanity. Our most profound qualities are hidden deep. They never go away, but we cannot always find them. There may be nothing wrong with ourselves as men when we lose touch. It doesn't have to mean that we are "bad guys" for getting depressed or for feeling inadequate. Who doesn't have that problem? It is the nature of life that we sometimes feel this way. This program helps us unearth the resources hidden within us.
When we cannot find those reassuring feelings of strength and wisdom and joy, we may think they are gone forever. We even doubt we ever had them or could have them again. But they are still there. They cannot be destroyed. And when we regain contact we know they have been with us all along.
I will have faith that the innermost places in me can never be destroyed.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
The pure relationship, how beautiful it is! How easily it is damaged, or weighted down with irrelevancies--not even irrelevancies, just life itself, the accumulations of life and of time. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Many of us are presently rebuilding old relationships and searching for new ones, ones that we hope we can protect. We can't survive without relationships, some intimate, some close, some casual. And we discover ourselves through our relationships with others.
The purity of a relationship is directly proportional to the undivided attention we both give to those shared moments, hours, experiences, to being there with one another. This communion with another is the celebration of life and God that quickens hearts and ushers in serenity.
Each day I can look for those chances to give myself wholly. And gifts will abound.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Experiment
Experiment. Try something new. Try stepping out.
We have been held back too long. We have held ourselves back too long.
As children, many of us were deprived of the right to experiment. Many of us are depriving ourselves of the right to experiment and learn as adults.
Now is the time to experiment. It is an important part of recovery. Let yourself try things. Let yourself try something new. Yes, you will make mistakes. But from those mistakes, you can learn what your values are.
Some things we just wont like. That's good. Then well know a little more about who we are and what we don't like.
Some things we will like, they will work with our values. They will work with who we are, and we will discover something important and life enriching.
There is a quiet time in recovery, a time to stand still and heal, a time to give ourselves a cooling off time. This is a time of introspection and healing. It is an important time. We deal with our issues.
There also comes a time when it is equally important to experiment, to begin to test the water.
Recovery does not equal abstention from life. Recovery means learning to live and learning to live fully. Recovery means exploration, investigation, and experimentation.
Recovery means being done with the rigid, shame based rules from the past, and formulating healthy values based on self-love, love for others, and living in harmony with this world.
Experiment. Try something new. Maybe you wont like it. Maybe you'll make a mistake. But maybe you will like it, and maybe you'll discover something you love.
Today, I will give myself permission to experiment in life. I will stop rigidly holding myself back, and I will jump in when jumping in feels right. God, help me let go of my need to deprive myself of being alive.


When I look within, I find that I have all that I need. It feels wonderful to discover that I already am the beautiful person that I would like to be. --Ruth Fishel

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Journey to the Heart

Who or What Is Pulling on You?

Learn to become sensitive to the quiet as well as the clamorous pulls on your energy, your time, your emotions. You are becoming connected– to yourself, the universe, God, others– in a way you have never been before. To deny these pulls is to deny the connections.

A quiet tug on our consciousness may be telling us what we need to do. We think about an old friend and contemplate calling her, but we don’t. Don’t be silly, we tell ourselves. Why would I do that now? But maybe that friend is calling out to us. Or we have a problem we haven’t known how to solve. That situation begins to work on us, bothering us, interrupting our day. Maybe our instincts are telling us it’s time to do something about it.

We are living differently now, more magically, more at ease, more at one with our actions. One way we know it is time to do something not on the calendar or the clock is to pay attention to the quiet pulls on our energy. Being conscious of these impulses, then trusting ourselves to naturally know what to do and when to do it puts us in harmony with the universe and our soul.

Who or what is pulling on you? What do you think you should do? Now, take it to the next step, the next level. What does your heart lead you to do?

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More Language Of Letting Go

Go with the flow

I was standing in my kitchen, many years ago, cooking Thanksgiving dinner. The children were racing around the house. I was expecting company. Dinner wasn’t coming out the way I’d planned. And then I noticed, to my dismay, that one of my acrylic nails was mssing. I looked around frantically, then realized it was most likely where I feared: inside the turkey, in the stuffing.

I called my best friend and explained things to her.

“Just relax,” she said, in a cheery voice I liked so much– sometimes. “Go with the flow.”

“How?” I said, quietly.

I don’t remember the details of how that day worked out, but it did– I think Nichole found the nail. And so did the next. And so did the next. In time the lesson became clear– learn to relax, and go with the flow. From that relaxed place, you will learn to naturally manifest your power.

Some people call it ki, some chi, some the Holy Spirit, some the Way, the Tao, God’s will, or the force. Whatever we choose to call it, there’s an energy flow, a path, that will lead us through any situation we encounter in life.

I spent many years resisting this flow, this universal life force. I expended a great deal of energy creating dramas around each incident that took place. I spent as much time resisting a feeling or an event as I spent dealing with it. I lived in a state of fear.

The answer will appear. A solution will come to you. You’ll be led to the next place, person, or event. You’ll get the opening you need, along with the inspiration, courage, and wisdom. Feelings will come and go.

The lesson isn’t that things will be okay. It’s that things are okay, right now.

God, teach me how to give up resistance and go with the flow.

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In God’s Care

Love the moment and the energy of the moment will spread beyond all boundaries
~~Corita Kent

When we quiet our mind, bypassing our thoughts about the hour or day before, or our fear over what may come tomorrow, we can more easily relish each moment–this moment. We too often succumb to the seduction of worrying about the past and future, which are beyond our control. Our unwillingness to give up this obsessive thinking keeps the joy and serenity we long for out of reach. We forget that the power lies within us to clear our mind and to fully experience the peace of the moment.

Quieting our mind requires commitment and practice. We can circumvent any thought and experience moments of peace–a peace that will become as seductive as our old obsession to worry.

I will choose to give up worry today and enjoy many peace-fillled moments instead.

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Giving The Gift Of You
Serving Your Community

To live harmoniously, we need to be supportive and helpful to all people, creatures, and plant life that share this earth with us. While “being of service” is part of being a good citizen of the world, it also feels good to help others. When we do something for others in service, without the expectation of anything in return, we are turning our actions into offerings.

There are many ways to be of service to our community. There are the obvious and much needed volunteer opportunities, such as serving Thanksgiving dinner at a shelter, mentoring our youth, or cleaning up a beach. Then, there is the kind of service that we may not even think of as being acts of service. Learning a new language (perhaps sign language) so that you can talk to more people is a way to reach out to others. Inviting someone who isn’t motivated enough to exercise on their own to join you on your daily walk is a way to give of yourself. Sharing flowers or vegetables from your garden, organizing a poetry reading, offering to babysit for a busy parent, or donating pet food to an animal shelter all are simple ways to offer your services to your community.

There are many ways that you can serve the world. Imagine the impact we would have on the environment if we picked up one piece of trash off the street everyday and chose not to drive our car once a week. Even gardening tactics such as throwing wildflower seeds onto a vacant lot can brighten the lives of others – including the lives of birds and insects. Everyday, you can do something to make this world a better place. During meditation, ask for guidance on what you can do to be of service. This can be a wonderful way to start your day. Smiling at a stranger who looks down in the dumps or teaching your neighborhood kids how to whistle will impact someone’s day or even their life. Giving of yourself is the best gift that you can give. Published with permission from Daily OM

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

“When I meditate upon such a vision,” Bill W. continued, “I need not be dismayed because I shall never attain it, nor need I swell with presumption that one of these days its virtues shall all be mine. I only need to dwell on the vision itself, letting it grow and even more fill my heart… Then I get a sane and healthy idea of where I stand on the highway to humility. I see that my journey towards God has scarcely begun. As I thus get down to my right size and stature, my self-concern and importance become amusing.” Do I take myself too seriously?

Today I Pray

May the grandiosity which is a symptom of my chemical addiction be brought back into proportion by the simple comparison of my powerlessness with the power of God. May I think of the meaning of Higher Power as it relates to my human frailty. May it bring my ego back down to scale and help me shed my defenses of pomp or bluster or secret ideas of self-importance.

Today I Will Remember

He is great. I am small.

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One More Day

If you don’t learn to laugh at trouble, you won’t have anything to laugh at when you grow old.
– Ed Howe

Laughing with others is important. Learning to laugh at our own problems, however, is even more important. Since we will continue to live with situations that cause us all types of problems, we may as well learn to laugh at ourselves.

Often with chronic illness, coordination changes. Reaction time may be slower. Sensitivity to cold, heat, or pain may be altered. It’s only logical that we will find ourselves in potentially embarrassing situations because of our bodies.

Often, a hearty laugh at all the strange situations flung our way is just the thing to help us work through what is painful and difficult. Laughter is a gift we give to ourselves. We can carry it with us whenever we go, it will always be ours.

I am headed in the right direction when I can laugh.

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Food For Thought

Simple Joys

When we came into OA, we may have thought that we needed many material possessions, power, security, and great admiration from other people in order to be happy. We may have spent a tremendous amount of effort trying to acquire these things. Perhaps we were apparently successful, and yet were miserable because of our inability to control our eating. No amount of material possessions, fame, or prestige can alleviate the pain of compulsive overeating.

Abstinence is simple. It does not require great wealth, talent, or intellectual ability. It is immediately available to all of us. When we abstain, we know the simple joy of waking up in the morning feeling good. We can live without fear of our next eating binge. We find that we enjoy our three simple meals a day much more than our former overindulgences.

Through OA, we can accept ourselves and others for what we are. We do not have to impress each other. Friendship and sharing increase our joy.

Thank You for the simple joys of abstinence.

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One Day At A Time

DISLOYALTY

"“Health is the greatest gift,
contentment the greatest wealth,
faithfulness the best relationship.”
..... Buddah

I have a history of chaotic relationships filled with destructive drama and a lack of loyalty. For many years, however, I believed that I was in fact a very loyal friend – and that it was my friends who were disloyal to me.

I was an avid -- even rabid -- people-pleaser. I drove myself crazy trying to figure out what people wanted and how I could best provide that for them. Because I thought I knew what was best for everybody, I failed to truly listen to the people in my life. Instead, I tried to impose my will upon them…then I wondered why they didn’t appreciate all of my efforts on “their” behalf. When they inevitably became frustrated with me, I was wounded by what I perceived to be their lack of loyalty to me.

Only recently in my recovery program have I come to learn that my efforts at people-pleasing were actually symptoms of my own disloyalty. I was failing to relate with people as they are – rather I was relating to them as I thought they “should be”. That is perhaps the most egregious form of disloyalty…insisting that others be loyal to my concept of them and myself.

Now I am taking steps to honestly listen to people and to relate with them as they are – and as I truly am. I am no longer hiding behind food. In order to be loyal in my relationships, I must be loyal to the ‘Truth of Reality.’ Only then can we share the joy of faithful relationships.

One day at a time ... I will practice listening to the people in my life and I will honor them as they are. Each day I can choose to be loyal, rather than critical or people-pleasing.
~ Lisa

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Of necessity there will have to be discussion of matters medical, psychiatric, social, and religious. We are aware that these matters are, from their very nature, controversial. Nothing would please us so much as to write a book which would contain no basis for contention or argument. We shall do our utmost to achieve that ideal. - Pg. 19 - There Is A Solution

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Any of us who feel insecure, inferior, or unattractive may think we drink and take other drugs to counteract this. We do drugs compulsively because we are addicted and not for other reasons; other reasons are only rationales.

May I understand that fixing the 'rationales' in my life will not stop my disease. Not picking up will stop alcoholism and other addictions.

Endless Opportunities

I can start over each day. I can start over each hour of each day. The universe is impersonal in that sense. It's always waiting for me to tell it what I want. Like attracts like. I tell the world what I want more of, by what I am thinking and feeling right now, right this minute. Today, every hour on the hour, I will allow myself to see something positive about my day. I'll let myself send out an order by my pleasant thoughts and feelings for more of the same. When I catch myself heading down a negative path I'll stop and consciously observe what is going through my mind. Life is full of chances and so is my day. I can start it over any time I want to.

I shift my life a thought at a time

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

We came here for our drugging and stay in part for hugging.

Hugs are one way the fellowship demonstrates to me that it isn't 'me' and 'you' anymore, it's 'we' and 'us.'

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Don't worry about tomorrow, your Higher Power is already there.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

My Higher Power is guiding me with my positive attitude today. Negatives are something I no longer choose to live with. I feel positive strength pour through me as I release all negative thoughts.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I drank to three points: Until I passed out, blacked out, or got knocked out. - JoJo S.

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AA Thought for the Day

March 30

The Gift
To those of us who have hitherto known only excitement, depression, or anxiety
-- in other words, to all of us --
this newfound peace is a priceless gift.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 74

Thought to Ponder . . .
Sobriety is a gift, the price of which is eternal vigilance.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Altered Attitudes.

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

The Past
"Showing others who suffer how we were given help
is the very thing which makes
life seem so worthwhile to us now.
Cling to the thought that, in God's hands,
the dark past is the greatest possession you have--
the key to life and happiness for others.
With it you can avert death and misery for them."
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 124

Thought to Consider . . .
Get it - Give it - Grow in it.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
PACE
Positive Attitudes Change Everything

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

Privacy
>From "From Loneliness to Solitude":
"As the sober weeks go by, we can enjoy and treasure the few moments of solitude we are able to find in the rush and
hurry of life today. When we cease to fear loneliness and begin to cherish and use our solitude to advantage, we have
come a long way. We realize a little solitude is necessary to think and to try to work some of the Steps. In solitude, we
take our inventories. In solitude, we admit to ourselves the exact nature of our wrongs. In solitude, our spirits seek that
Power greater than we are; in solitude, we seek through prayer and meditation to be aware of God's will for us."
Houston, Texas, USA
1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg. 109

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

"It was at my home group that I learned to trust the experiences of the early groups with meetings. We have a Traditions
meeting once a month and when I was new and heard the Traditions read out loud, the experiences of the early AA
meetings gave me the first notion that real people -- drunks like me -- started this program."
New York, N.Y., February 1990
"Out of the Hat"
AA Grapevine

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

"Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental
defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither
he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 43~

"For the type of alcoholic who is able and willing get well, little
charity, in the ordinary sense of the word, is need or wanted. The men
who cry for money and shelter before conquering alcohol, are on the
wrong track."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 97

Where other people were concerned, we had to drop the word ”blame” from our speech and thought.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 47

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Review the Day
When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest, or afraid? Do we owe
an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we
kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were
we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life?
We must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse, or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to
ourselves and to others. After making our review, we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measure
should be taken. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 86

Prayer For The Day: May I go forth filled with the joy and confidence of your Spirit; and may everything I do this day, in word or deed, be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Amen.

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