Daily Recovery Readings - August 4

[bluidkiti]

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 4

Daily Reflections

SEEDS OF FAITH

Faith, to be sure, is necessary, but faith alone can avail nothing. We
can have faith, yet keep God out of our lives.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 34

As a child I constantly questioned the existence of God. To a
"scientific thinker" like me, no answer could withstand a thorough
dissection, until a very patient woman finally said to me, "You must
have faith." With that simple statement, the seeds of my recovery
were sown!
Today, as I practice my recovery -- cutting back the weeds of
alcoholism -- slowly I am letting those early seeds of faith to grow and
bloom. Each day of recovery, of ardent gardening, brings the Higher
Power of my understanding more fully into my life. My God has
always been with me through faith, but it is my responsibility to have
the willingness to accept His presence.
I ask God to grant me the willingness to do His will.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

We in A.A. are offering a kind of psychological program as well as a
spiritual one. First, people must be mentally able to receive it. They
must have made up their minds that they want to quit drinking, and
they must be willing to do something about it. Their confidence must
be obtained. We must show them that we are their friends and really
desire to help them. When we have their confidence, they will listen to
us. Then the A.A. fellowship is a kind of group therapy. Newcomers
need the fellowship of other alcoholics who understand their problem
because they have had it themselves. Individuals must learn to
reeducate their minds. They must learn to think differently. Do I do
my best to give mental help?

Meditation For The Day

"And this is life eternal, that they may know Thee." It is the flow of
life eternal through spirit, mind, and body that cleanses, heals,
restores, and renews. Seek conscious contact with God more and more
each day. Make God an abiding presence during the day. Be conscious
of His spirit helping you. All that is done without God's spirit is
passing. All that is done with God's spirit is life eternal.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be in the stream of eternal life. I pray that I may be
cleansed and healed by the Eternal Spirit.

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As Bill Sees It

After the "Honeymoon", p. 216

"For most of us, the first years of A.A. are something like a
honeymoon. There is a new and potent reason to stay alive, joyful
activity aplenty. For a time, we are diverted from the main life
problems. That is all to the good.

"But when the honeymoon has worn off, we are obliged to take
our lumps, like other people. This is where the testing starts.
Maybe the group has pushed us onto the side lines. Maybe
difficulties have intensified at home, or in the world outside. Then
the old behavior patterns reappear. How well we recognize and
deal with them reveals the extent of our progress."

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The wise have always known that no one can make much of his
life until self-searching becomes a regular habit, until he is able to
admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and
persistently tries to correct what is wrong.

1. Letter, 1954
2. 12 & 12, p. 88

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Walk In Dry Places

Treating loved ones worse than strangers.
Personal Relations
Some of us grew up with resentments about the way our families treated us. It was confusing to notice how nice our parents could be toward strangers and then how abruptly they could become abusive toward us.
The best release for this kind of resentment is forgiveness, but we should also ask ourselves if we're guilty of the same faults. Are we discourteous and inconsiderate toward our own children and family members? Do we apologize when we offend strangers, but not when we hurt our own children?
We should try to treat everyone with fairness and kindness. No family member should be subjuected to our incessant criticism and rudeness. We owe them the same courtesies we extend to strangers.
If I've had bad examples of abusive treatment in my own early years, I'll change the pattern by treating my own family with fairness and kindness, starting today.

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Keep It Simple

Let him that would move the world, first move himself.---Socrates
Before recovery, most of us were big talkers. The Twelve Steps are for
doers, not talkers. In the Steps we find action words: admitted, humbly
asked, made direct amends, continued to take personal inventory. All these
words speak of action, of doing. Recovery is about action. It's for doers.
An action may be very simple. Such as going to a meeting early to set up
chairs. Or it could be helping a neighbor. The program teaches that
spirituality active, we grow and change.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, give me movement. Give me spiritual movement. Help me be a
doer, not just a talker. Teach me to work my program.
Today's Action: Today, I'll remember the words actions go together.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Let me tell thee, time is a very precious gift of God; so precious that it's only given to us moment by moment. --Amelia Barr
Where are our minds right now? Are we focused fully on this meditation? Or are our minds wandering off to events scheduled for later today or tomorrow perhaps? The simple truth is that this moment is all God has allowed right now. It's God's design that we will live fully each moment, as it comes. Therein lies the richness of our lives. Each moment contributes to the full pattern that's uniquely our own.
We must not miss the potential pleasure of any experience because our thoughts are elsewhere. We never know when a particular moment, a certain situation, may be a door to our future. What we do know is that God often has to work hard getting our attention, perhaps allowing many stumbling blocks in order to get us back on target.
Being in tune with now, this moment, guarantees a direct line of communication to God. It also guarantees a full, yet simple life. Our purpose becomes clear as we trust our steps to God's guidance. How terribly complicated we make life by living in the past, the present, and many future times, all at once!
One step, one moment, and then the next step and its moment. How the simple life brings me freedom!

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 6 - INTO ACTION

Most alcoholics owe money. We do not dodge our creditors. Telling them what we are trying to do, we make no bones about our drinking; they usually know it anyway, whether we think so or not. Nor are we afraid of disclosing our alcoholism on the theory it may cause financial harm. Approached in this way, the most ruthless creditor will sometimes surprise us. Arranging the best deal we can we let these people know we are sorry. Our drinking has made us slow to pay. We must lose our fear of creditors no matter how far we have to go, for we are liable to drink if we are afraid to face them.

p. 78

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY - This young alcoholic stepped out a second-story window and into A.A.

At that point I interrupted her. "That was me," I said. "That was my last drunk." I had walked through that window when I was nineteen years old.
How had I gotten there? I had always been a "good kid" growing up, the kind of son other mothers loved. I was at the top of my classes academically and had been in almost no trouble for the first seventeen years of my life. I would like to say that was because of my well-developed moral fiber; in fact, much of it was a result of fear. My earliest memories included threats by my parents to throw me out onto the street for the slightest acts of disobedience. The thought of being forced to live on the street is pretty terrifying for a six-year-old. Those threats, coupled with a fair amount of physical punishment, kept me frightened and obedient.
pp. 421-422

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Ten - "Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."

As by some deep instinct, we A.A.'s have known from the very beginning that we must never, no matter what the provocation, publicly take sides in any fight, even a worthy one. All history affords us the spectacle of striving nations and groups finally torn asunder because they were designed for, or tempted into, controversy. Others fell apart because of sheer self-righteousness while trying to enforce upon the rest of mankind some millennium of their own specification. In our own times, we have seen millions die in political and economic wars often spurred by religious and racial difference. We live in the imminent possibility of a fresh holocaust to determine how men shall be governed, and how the products of nature and toil shall be divided among them. That is the spiritual climate in which A.A. was born, and by God's grace has nevertheless flourished.

pp. 176-177

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Keep looking for the positive and that's what you'll get!
--unknown

Having a resentment is like drinking poison and expecting
someone else to die.
--unknown

>From a little spark comes a great fire.
--Polish Proverb

Sometimes love has its ups and downs. Mostly though, there are more
ups than downs and true love will weather any storm.
--K. Lytestone

"Wake up with a smile and go after life . . .. Live it, enjoy it, taste it,
smell it, feel it."
--Joe Knapp

If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself.
What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.
--Hermann Hesse

Expectation is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of
tomorrow, it loses today.
--Seneca

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

POTENTIAL

"Education is helping the child
realize his potentialities."
-- Eric Fromm

When I was drinking, I behaved like a child. I behaved not just like a
child but "childish". I was so dependent upon my alcohol, so addicted,
that I never realized my potential in life. I never realized the gift of
life!

Today I have a spiritual program that offers me the world; it sets no
limits on my horizons; it encourages me to discover my potential and
live it. Today I am learning new languages, visiting different countries
and enjoying alternative cultures, making new friendships and, most
importantly, discovering the "bigness" of God in His world. The
education I have gained in my sobriety seems unending and
unstoppable. Each day produces a new opportunity and a different
experience. Everyday is a time to receive.

Teach me to journey through the words into the experience.

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"I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'"
Psalm 91:2

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do
good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Ephesians 2:10

This is the message he has given us to announce to you: God is light
and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we
have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are
not living in the truth. But if we are living in the light of God's
presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other,
and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.
1 John 1:5-7

Don't be impatient for the LORD to act! Travel steadily along his
path. He will honor you, giving you the land. You will see the wicked
destroyed.
Psalm 37:34

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Daily Inspiration

Never worry about the opinion others have of you because there is only one opinion that counts. Lord, I will walk in Your footsteps and seek to please You in my daily life.

When you live in the spirit of God you will always feel the love within you. Lord, may I seek peace in You and not from the outside world.

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NA Just For Today

When Is A Secret Not A Secret?

"Addicts tend to live secret lives.... It is a great relief to get rid of all our secrets and to share the burden of our past."
Basic Text, p.32

We've heard it said that "we're as sick as our secrets" What do we keep secret, and why?

We keep secret those things that cause us shame. We may hold onto such things because we don't want to surrender them. Yet if they're causing us shame, wouldn't we live more easily with ourselves if we were rid of them?

Some of us hold onto the things that cause us shame for another reason. It's not that we don't want to be rid of them; we just don't believe we can be rid of them. They've plagued us for so long, and we've tried so many times to rid ourselves of them, that we've stopped hoping for relief. Yet still they shame us, and still we keep them secret.

We need to remember who we are: recovering addicts. We who tried so long to keep our drug use a secret have found freedom from the obsession and compulsion to use. Though many of us enjoyed using right to the end, we sought recovery anyway. We just couldn't stand the toll our using was taking on us. When we admitted our powerlessness and sought help from others, the burden of our secret was lifted from us.

The same principle applies to whatever secrets may burden us. Yes, we're as sick as our secrets. Only when our secrets stop being secret can we begin to find relief from those things that cause us shame.

Just for today: My secrets can make me sick only as long as they stay secret. Today, I will talk with my sponsor about my secrets.
pg. 226

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Do I love you because you're beautiful Or are you beautiful because I love you? --Oscar Hammerstein
Once, a powerful king agreed to help a small, lost boy find his mother. Since the boy described his mother as the most beautiful woman in the world, the king commanded all the beautiful women in the kingdom to come to the castle.
From miles around, they came--women with complexions of porcelain and hair of spun gold, with cheeks the color of apricots and eyes as dark as the raven's. But none of them was the boy's mother. When the last of the women had paraded before them, and the king and the boy had begun to despair, they heard a timid knock on the door. "Come in," the king said wearily. In shuffled an old washer woman, her grey hair tied up in a kerchief, her hands rough and red, her dress coarse and patched.
"Mother!" the boy cried when he saw her, and he leapt from his chair and raced into the woman's arms. The king stared in amazement.
Will I be able to see the real beauty in others today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
The craftsman does not always build toward a prior vision. Often images come in the process of working. The material, his hands - together they beget. --M. C. Richards
We awaken in the morning, and the day is an un-built creation. We have some ideas about what we will accomplish today. But our Higher Power also has some things in mind, which are not yet part of our consciousness. We have lived long enough to know that every day brings surprises. We know in advance we will be frustrated in some of our desires, and we may be helped or advanced in others. But what about the totally unexpected? Will we even notice the subtle opportunities? Will we see an opportunity for a friendly conversation? Do our plans unwittingly prevent other possibilities from intruding?
When we hold loosely to our daily plans, we are more open to knowing the will of our Higher Power. Then each day is a spiritual process. It becomes a combined creation of our Higher Power and our own consciousness.
Today, I will hold my own plan loosely so that I can continue to be open to the healing powers of God.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Let me tell thee, time is a very precious gift of God; so precious that it's only given to us moment by moment. --Amelia Barr
Where are our minds right now? Are we focused fully on this meditation? Or are our minds wandering off to events scheduled for later today or tomorrow perhaps? The simple truth is that this moment is all God has allowed right now. It's God's design that we will live fully each moment, as it comes. Therein lies the richness of our lives. Each moment contributes to the full pattern that's uniquely our own.
We must not miss the potential pleasure of any experience because our thoughts are elsewhere. We never know when a particular moment, a certain situation, may be a door to our future. What we do know is that God often has to work hard getting our attention, perhaps allowing many stumbling blocks in order to get us back on target.
Being in tune with now, this moment, guarantees a direct line of communication to God. It also guarantees a full, yet simple life. Our purpose becomes clear as we trust our steps to God's guidance. How terribly complicated we make life by living in the past, the present, and many future times, all at once!
One step, one moment, and then the next step and its moment. How the simple life brings me freedom!


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Vulnerability
I've learned that the more vulnerable I allow myself to be, the more in control of myself I really am. --Anonymous
Many of us feel that we can only show our strong, confident side. We believe the face we have to show to the world should always be one of politeness, perfection, calm, strength, and control.
While it is certainly good and often appropriate to be in control, calm, and strong, there is another side to all of us--that part of us that feels needy, becomes frightened, has doubts, and gets angry. That part of us that needs care, love, and reassurance those things will be okay. Expressing these needs makes us vulnerable and less than perfect, but this side needs our acceptance too.
Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable will help us build lasting relationships. Sharing our vulnerabilities helps us feel close to people and helps others feel close to us. It helps us grow in self-love and self-acceptance. It helps us become healing agents. It allows us to become whole and accessible to others.
Today, I will allow myself to be vulnerable with others when it's safe and appropriate to do so.


Today I will take enough time to do something good for myself only. I will buy myself a gift or spend worthwhile time doing something pleasant and fulfilling. I have enough time today and I deserve this time for myself. --Ruth Fishel

*****

Storytelling
Reviving a Community Tradition by Madisyn Taylor

Most cultures use storytelling to pass down family history using the power and energy of the human voice.

Ever since our ancestors could first communicate, we have gathered to share our stories. We have passed along creation tales and tragic stories of love lost. We have repeated accounts of real heroism and simple stories of family history. When our forebears lived closer to the land and to each other, the practice of storytelling was imbued with ritual and occasion. Members of the tribe would often gather around the fire to hear their genealogy recited aloud by an elder or master storyteller. Listeners could track how their own lives, and the lives of their parents, interwove with the lives of the other tribe members, as everyone’s ancient relatives once played out similar life dramas together.

As a custom, some cultures’ storytellers repeat the same tale over and over because they believe that each time you hear it, you come to the story as a different person and view the plot and characters in a new light. Hearing the story over and over is a way to gauge where you have been and where you are now on your path of personal evolution. It also helps the younger generation learn the stories so that they can pass them to forthcoming generations.

When we hear others tell stories, we can laugh at their humorous adventures, feel the thrill of exciting encounters, see parts of ourselves in them, and learn from the challenges they face. Though most of our formal traditions of storytelling are lost, it does not mean we have to be without. We can begin new practices in our own families of listening to one another, of honoring our own journey, and witnessing the journeys of those around us. We can revive the fireside communal by gathering around the campfire or hearth with family and friends, sharing in stories. By building new practices of storytelling, we give ourselves and the ones we love an opportunity to draw ever closer in our shared human experience. Published with permission from Daily OM

*****

Journey to the Heart
Value Passion

Value what ignites the flame within you.

Value what inspires and interests you, what enrages you, what tickles and exhilarates you, what sparks the fire within. Your strong feelings-- what you love or hate-- are not wrong. Your passions will lead and guide you in all you want to do. From the tiniest idea to the grandest scheme, what makes your flame burn more brightly is the light shining from above, gently guiding the way.

The universe and God will lead and guide you, tell you what to do. The message might come through a story someone tells you, a place someone mentions that they liked, or a problem someone's having trouble resolving that attracts your attention with a bit of extra force. A movie that sticks in your mind. A book you couldn't put down. Something you realize you hate, something you find you love after all, an idea you find interesting, something that makes you stop and think. Learn to tell how you react to what you see and hear. That's how you'll learn to listen to what the universe has to say. That place may be the next place you're to go on your path. The idea may be just what you're looking for to help you get unstuck.

When you know what you're feeling deep inside, you'll know what you like. If you've grown cold and bored, you can come alive again. Feel whatever you need to feel, and you'll find your passion underneath. If you don't know when you feel sad and alone, you won't know when you feel good. Feel all the feelings that come your way. Each one has a lesson for you. And as you release that energy, you'll be releasing passion,too. Value your passions and the way you feel. Soon you'll find yourself knowing just what to do and when.

Stay open. Keep your fire burning bright. When you recognize what inspires you, you'll be recognizing the Light.

*****

more language of letting go
Be grateful for the wind

"It'd be easier to skydive without all that wind trying to push me around," I said to my jump master.

"No, it wouldn't," he said. "Without the wind, you wouldn't be able to move around at all. If you didn't have resistance, you wouldn't be able to fly your body. That's what the wind is there for-- to push against."

It's easy in our lives to think that we'd be so much happier without that problem, that situation, those people disturbing our peace. What a bother, we think. Why can't my life just be calm and serene, peaceful, with no interruptions and bothersome events?

Sometimes, resistance is necessary. While it's important to live in a calm, nurturing environment, sometimes resistance is essential to our growth. Take a moment. Look at how your problems have shaped you into who you have become.

When problems and challenges arise, they force us to examine our ideals, become alert, and often learn something new about others and ourselves. Even our enemies, rivals, and competitors give us something to push against. They help us define who we are and challenge us to become our best.

Instead of complaining and grumbling about that problem or circumstance, thank it for being there. Right now, this moment, the resistance in your life is giving you something to push against.

Be grateful for the wind. You need it to learn to fly.

God, help me be grateful for all the problems and circumstances in my life. Help me remember that you're teaching me to fly.

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A Day At A Time
August 4

Reflection For The Day

One of the best ways to get out of the self-pity trap is to do some “insstant bookkeeping.” For every entry of misery on the debit side of our ledger, we can surely find a blessing to mark on the credit side: the health we enjoy, the illnesses we don’t have, the friends who love us and who allow us to love them, a clean and sober 24 hours, a good day’s work. If we but try, we can easily list a whole string of credits that will far outweigh the debit entries which cause self-pity. Is my emotional balance on the credit side today?

Today I Pray

May I learn to sort out my debits and credits, and add it all up. May I list my several blessings on the credit side. May my ledger show me, when all is totaled, a fat fund of good things to draw on.

Today I Will Remember

I have blessings in my savings.

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One More Day
August 4

Today is the day in which to express your nobles qualities of mind and heart, to do at least one worthy thing which you have long postponed…
– Grenville Kleiser

Volunteer work. There are volunteer jobs for people with every level of ability. The main qualification is to care about others. Each day offers us the opportunity to make a difference in someone else’s life. We may choose to sing in a community choir or play in an amateur band. Or we might offer to read stories to or write letters for people with limited vision.

Volunteer work. What’s remarkable are the benefits we will reap from the simple caring. These acts affirm the bond that exists between us. They help us move out of a preoccupation with ourselves and our limitations, and they put us into the mainstream of life.

Today I will share my abilities and talents with others.

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In God’s Care

Time is a circus, always paking up and moving away.
~~Ben Hecht

We can’t hold on to time. Right now is the only time we have. It is the only time we can enjoy the season, hear a child’s laughter, feel the joy of sharing. This time, right nowm is the time to learn something. And it is the time for us to know God.

Time is always moving on, but we can stay in the present. To look back over our shoulder, trying to figure out how to change something we did or make someone react differently than he or she did, is futile. When we look ahead, trying to predict the future, we are creating needless anxiety. The present is where we exist.

God speaks to us in the present. It is the only time we have to make a connection.

Today I will try to live in the present moment.

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Day By Day

Being lucky

Some people think “luck” is the reaon for success in their lives. But does luck really mean the suffering and pain that we’ve not hesitated to endure? The opportunities for growth that we’ve embraced? The kindness and humor that we’ve shown others? The thanks we’ve expressed to others for their kindness to us?

If success is “lucky,” then we make our own luck. Then luck means being open and available; luck meas willingness plus grace.

Do I realize what a lucky person I am?

Higher Power, help me to be open and willing to receive your grace.

Today I will thank God for my “luck by…

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Food For Thought

God’s Time

When we feel under pressure and fear that there will not be enough time to do the things we think we need to do, it helps to stop for a moment and remember that all time is God’s. We may be wanting to do more than we should in the same way that we wanted to eat more than we needed. Exchanging compulsive overeating for compulsive activity is no solution to our problem.

Turning over our lives to our Higher Power as we begin each day allows Him to schedule what we will do and when we will do it. He knows our capabilities even better than we do, and He does not give us more to do than we can manage. To benefit from His guidance, we need to stay in touch with our inner selves and not get swept away by external demands.

In the past, we may have alternated between periods of non-productive lassitude and frantic bursts of activity. As we maintain ourselves on an even keel physically by abstaining from compulsive overeating, we learn moderation and order as God shows us how to use the time He gives us.

Please order the time which You give me every day.

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One Day At A Time

OTHERS
"In the deepest part of a compulsive eater's soul ...
is the realization that recovery begins when we find one another."
Anonymous

Growing up in the deep South in the 1950's, I witnessed things I never dreamed could happen. It taught me lessons I have never forgotten. Little did I think that someone like me could ever be discriminated against. After all, I was the right color, the right size, the right religion and lived on the right side of town.

Messages began to be taped early on in that little girl's brain ... into the psyche of that teenager who worked so hard to achieve ... and into the young woman who had the world by the tail. In adulthood those messages began to play ... and food made the messages easier to hear. So began the life of a compulsive eater. So began discrimination because of my weight.

Years later I would be grateful for my life as an overweight adult. I would look back and see that the God of my understanding was preparing me to see discrimination as a disease of the soul. But what happened to give me serenity and peace and contentment? I found another compulsive eater. And then I found another ... and another. And recovery began.

One Day at a Time . . .
I will overwrite those taped messages;
I will not regret the past;
And I will cherish my fellows forever.
~ Mari

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

It was the usual situation: home in jeopardy, wife ill, children distracted, bills in arrears and standing damaged. He had a desperate desire to stop, but saw no way out, for he had earnestly tried many avenues of escape. Painfully aware of being somehow abnormal, the man did not fully realize what it meant to be alcoholic. - Pg. 155 - A Vision For You

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

We have many worries: economic, marital, parental, employment, religious, and legal. Some ill-trained people may try to pick one or two of these areas and act as if working on that will 'cure' us. We mustn't see our recovery as connected to a good marriage, job, or socialization. We know it isn't true.

I want to know that my recovery is connected to principle--not people, places, or things!

Staying in the Game

Each and every day is a rebirth into an entirely new set of possibilities. It carries with it a sense of renewal. Each and every day I will play the hand I'm dealt as well as I can play it. Each and every day I will wake up, place my hand in the hand of God and move into my day with the confidence and comfort of knowing that I am not alone, that I have access to the greatest source of compassion and power in the universe. Each and every day I will put one foot in front of the other and try to make sense of the life I have been given. I will have faith - I will stay connected and alive while I'm living.

I am an active member of my life.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

You will be receiving many gifts from people in the programs: gifts of help, time, energy, possibly money, talents, and knowledge. You will never be able to pay them all back. You are not obligated to pay them back. You are obligated to pay them forward by giving away what you have when you can.

I appreciate the generosity of others and pay it forward when I am able.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

The man who says, 'I can't', is usually right.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I will slow down and wait for answers. I will stop rushing and struggling to find them. They will make themselves known to me when I am ready to hear them. By just knowing that they are here and that they will appear in their time, I can relax.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

Take the Fifth - or drink one. - Unknown origin. USA.

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AA Thought for the Day

August 4

Step Eight
"Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."
This is a very large order. It is a task which we may perform with increasing skill, but never really finish. . . .
Every AA has found that he can make little headway in this new adventure until he first backtracks
and really makes an accurate and unsparing survey of the human wreckage he has left in his wake.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 77

Thought to Ponder . . .
Don't mess up an amend with an excuse.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H O W = Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness.

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

Resentment
"If you have a resentment you want to be rid of,
if you will pray for the person or the thing you resent,
you will be free.
If you will ask in prayer for everything
you want for yourself to be given to them,
you will be free.
Ask for their health, their prosperity, their happiness,
and you will be free.
Even when you don't really want it for them,
and your prayers are only words
and you don't mean it, go ahead and do it anyway.
Do it every day for two weeks and you will find
you have come to mean it and to want it for them,
and you will realize that where you used to feel
bitterness and resentment and hatred,
you now feel compassionate understanding
and love."
1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 552

Thought to Consider . . .
An expectation is a premeditated resentment.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F E A R = Frustration, Ego, Anxiety, Resentment

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

No Control Whatever
From: "More About Alcoholism"
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 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
2001, AAWS, Inc., Alcoholics Anonymous, pages 32-33

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

"I am grateful to AA that I have learned some humility, so when offered help, I can now say, 'Yes, I can use your assistance.'"
Queens, New York, May 2014, May 2014
"Yes Please, I Could Use Some Help,"
AA Grapevine

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

"We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. 'Do I now
believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power
greater than myself?' As soon as a man can say that he does believe,
or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on
his way. It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this
simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be built."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 47

"Next we launched out on a course of vigorous action, the first step
of which is a personal housecleaning, which many of us had never
attempted. Though our decision was a vital and crucial step, it
could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by a
strenuous effort to face, and to be rid of, the things in ourselves
which had been blocking us. Our liquor was but a symptom. So we had
to get down to causes and conditions.
Therefore, we started upon a personal inventory. This was Step Four."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 63~

"This thought brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right
any new mistakes as we go along."
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 84 (Into Action)

"Living upon a basis of unsatisfied demands, we were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration."
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 76 (Step Seven)

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

For most of us, the first years of A.A. are something like a honeymoon. There is a new and potent reason to stay alive, joyful activity aplenty. For a time, we are diverted from the main life problems. That is all to the good.
'But when the honeymoon has worn off, we are obliged to take our lumps, like other people. This is where the testing starts. Maybe the group has pushed us onto the side lines. Maybe difficulties have intensified at home, or in the world outside. Then the old behavior patterns reappear. How well we recognize and deal with them reveals the extent of our progress.'
The wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching becomes a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, as my behavior propels me to continue to move, allow me to move forward and up.

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