A "DESIGN FOR LIVING"
We in our turn, sought the same escape with all the
desperation of drowning men. What seemed at first a
flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful
hand of God. A new life has been given us or, if you
prefer, "a design for living" that really works.
ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS , p. 28
I try each day to raise my heart and hands in thanks
to God for showing me a "design for living" that really
works through our beautiful Fellowship. But what,
exactly, is this "design for living" that "really
works"? For me, it is the practice of the Twelve Steps
to the best of my ability, the continued awareness of
a God who loves me unconditionally, and the hope that,
in each new day, there is a purpose for my being. I
am truly, truly blessed in the Fellowship.
***********************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
We in A.A. are offering an intangible thing, a
psychological and spiritual program. It's a wonderful
program. When we learn to turn to a Higher Power, with
faith that that Power can give us the strength we need,
we find peace of mind. When we reeducate our minds by
learning to think differently, we find new interests that
make life worthwhile. We who have achieved sobriety
through faith in God and mental reeducation are modern
miracles. it is the function of our A.A. program to
produce modern miracles. Do I consider the change in my
life a modern miracle?
Meditation For The Day
You should never doubt that God's spirit is always with
you, wherever you are, to keep you on the right path.
God's keeping power is never at fault, only your
realization of it. You must try to believe in God's
nearness and availability of His grace. It is not a
question of whether God can provide a shelter from the
storm, but of whether or not you seek the security of
that shelter. Every fear, worry, or doubt is disloyalty
to God. You must endeavor to trust God wholly. Practice
saying: "All is going to be well." Say it to yourself
until you feel it deeply.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may feel deeply that all is well. I pray that nothing
will be able to move me from that deep conviction.
***********************************************************
As Bill Sees It
Willing To
Believe, p. 219
Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms
deter you from honestly asking yourself what they might mean to
you. At the start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual
growth, to effect our first conscious relation with God as we
understood Him. Afterward, we found ourselves accepting many
things which had seemed entirely out of reach. That was growth.
But if we wished to grow we had to begin somewhere. So at first we
used our own conceptions of God, however limited they were.
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, even in this small degree, or is willing to believe, we
emphatically assure him that he is on his way.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 47
***********************************************************
Walk In Dry Places
Competing with others
Attitude
Some of us never liked close competition. We preferred to be clear
winners or not to compete at all. We didn't like to have
competitors breathing down our necks.
This attitude kept us from doing our best, and we made a mistake when
we thought we were competing with others. We're actually competing with
ourselves at all times, trying to do better than we did yesterday.
The presence of other people only helps us to set performance
standards and goals.
Once we accept the idea of self-improvement, we can delight in
competition. We can take satisfaction in situations where, though we
were not number one, we came in a close second instead of a sullen
last.
I'll know today that I'm always working with others but only competing
against myself.
***********************************************************
Keep It Simple
True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the
body.---Humboldt
In recovery, we work at taking better care of ourselves. We care for
our
mind and our body.
Often, during our drinking and drugging, we ignored our mind and body.
We
probably ate poorly, and we pushed our body to the limit.
But now, we are to recover. . .totally! We are to care for our mind and
body as we care for our spirit. Our illness is an illness of mind,
body,
and spirit. So let's care for all three. In recovery, we learn to care
for and love all of who we are.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me care for my mind and
body as I recover. You love
all of me. Help me to respect and care for all of me.
Action for the Day: I will write down how much time I've spent
caring for my mind and body in
the past two weeks. Is it enough?
***********************************************************
Each Day a New Beginning
To have one's individuality completely ignored is like being pushed
quite out of life. Like being blown out as one blows out a light.
--Evelyn Scott
We need to know that we matter in this life. We need evidence that
others are aware of our presence. And thus, we can be certain that
others need the same attention from us. When we give it, we get it. So
the giving of attention to another searching soul meets our own need
for attention as well.
Respectful recognition of another's presence blesses her, God, and
ourselves. And we help one another grow, in important ways, each time
we pay the compliment of acknowledgment.
We're not sure, on occasion, just what we have to offer our friends,
families, co-workers. Why we are in certain circumstances may have us
baffled, but it's quite probably that the people we associate with
regularly need something we can give them; the reverse is just as
likely. So we can begin with close attention to people in our path. It
takes careful listening and close observation to sense the message
another soul may be sending to our own.
I will be conscious of the people around me. I shall acknowledge them
and be thankful for all they are offering me.
***********************************************************
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth
Edition
Chapter
7 - WORKING WITH
OTHERS
It is not the matter of giving that is in question, but when and how to
give. That often makes the difference between failure and success. The
minute we put our work on a service plane, the alcoholic commences to
rely upon our assistance rather than upon God. He clamors for this or
that, claiming he cannot master alcohol until his material needs are
cared for. Nonsense. Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn
this truth: Job or no job—wife or no wife—we simply do not stop
drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of
dependence on God.
p. 98
***********************************************************
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth
Edition Stories
ACCEPTANCE WAS THE ANSWER - The
physician wasn't hooked, he thought--he just prescribed drugs medically
indicated for his many ailments. Acceptance was his key to
liberation.
And acceptance is the answer to all
my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some
person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is
supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing,
happens in God's world by mistake. Until I could accept my
alcoholism, I could stay sober; unless I accept life completely on
life's terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so
much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be
changed in me and in my attitudes.
p. 417
***********************************************************
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Four - "Each
group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or
A.A. as a whole."
When that lifted, a wonderful thing had happened. The head promoter
wrote the Foundation office. He said he wished he'd paid some attention
to A.A. experience. Then he did something else that was to become an
A.A. classic. It all went on a little card about golf-score size. The
cover read: "Middleton Group #1. Rule #62." Once the card was unfolded,
a single pungent sentence leaped to the eye: "Don't take yourself too
dam* seriously."
p. 149
***********************************************************
There
is
no
try.
There
is
either
do or don't do.
--unknown
I wake each morning with the thrill of expectation and the joy of being
truly alive. And I'm thankful for this day.
--Angela L. Woznick
How I relate to my inner self influences my relationships with all
others. My satisfaction with myself and my satisfaction with other
people are directly proportional.
--Sue Atchley Ebaugh
My relationships with others are as healthy and fulfilling as my
communication with God.
--unknown
Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, and faith looks up.
--unknown
"Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they
merely determine where you start."
--Nido Qubein
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PREJUDICE
"There is no more evil thing in
the world than race prejudice . .
. it justifies and holds together
more baseness, cruelty and
abomination than any other sort
of error in the world."
-- H. G. Wells
Something about me fears racism because I know that I am at risk. If a
group of people can be persecuted or ridiculed for being "different"
from others, then why shouldn't it eventually happen to me? With
racism the whole world is at risk.
Also racism is the opposite of spirituality. Spirituality always seeks
to
include, bring together and unite. The world that God has made is
ONE. All people and races are "a family" that must learn to co-exist
together if we are to be productive and creative. In the variety is the
strength. With the unusual and peculiar comes divinity. God is to be
found in the confusions of life.
Teacher, let me have the courage to expose the inadequacies in my
life.
***********************************************************
Keep
alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the
spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!
Matthew 26:41
"Make me know Thy ways, O LORD; teach me Thy paths."
Psalm 25:4
"He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is
seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no
unrighteousness in Him."
John 7:18
"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as
braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead,
it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle
and
quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."
I Peter 3:3-4
***********************************************************
Daily Inspiration
It is always possible to pray no matter what you are doing. Lord, You
are with me, guiding and caring for me. It takes but a brief moment to
turn my thoughts to You.
God sends us His message, but we must be willing to receive it and then
live it. Lord, when I yield to You, I become free and full of the
richness of life.
***********************************************************
NA Just For Today
The Gratitude List
"We focus on anything that isn't going
our way and ignore all the beauty in our lives."
Basic Text, p.77
It's easy to be grateful when
everything runs smoothly. If we get a raise at work, we're grateful. If
we get married, we're grateful. If someone surprises us with a nice
present or an unasked favor, we're grateful. But if we get fired,
divorced, or disappointed, gratitude flies out the window. We find
ourselves becoming obsessed with the things that are wrong, even though
everything else may be wonderful.
This is where we can use a gratitude
list. We sit down with a pen and paper and list the people for whom we
are grateful. We all have people who've supported us through life's
upheavals. We list the spiritual assets we have attained, for we know
we could never make it through our present circumstances without them.
Last, but not least, we list our recovery itself. Whatever we have that
we are grateful for goes on the list.
We're sure to find that we have
literally hundreds of things in our lives that inspire our gratitude.
Even those of us who are suffering from an illness or who have lost all
material wealth will find blessings of a spiritual nature for which we
can be thankful. An awakening of the spirit is the most valuable gift
an addict can receive.
Just for today: I will write a list of
things, both material and spiritual, for which I am grateful.
pg. 229
***********************************************************
You are reading from the book Today's
Gift.
Love consists in this, that two
solitudes protect and touch and greet each other. --Rainer Maria Rilke
For a relationship to be healthy and
fulfilling, each of us must respect the other. "Two solitudes" is
exactly what we are, and we will never be one, no matter how close we
become. It may feel like that at times, but we always remain separate
persons with our own thoughts, feelings, dreams, and interests.
When we love one another, we allow
each other to be who we are, to have our own lives, for it is out of
those separate lives that we bring strength and energy and life into
our relationships.
We are meant to honor the differences
between us. Often these differences lead to squabbles, but when we
recognize that each of us is necessary to the union we have created, we
create a better one, far superior to the sum of its parts.
What differences between us make our
lives together better?
You are reading from the book
Touchstones.
We love because it's the only true
adventure. --Nikki Giovanni
In loving, we meet ourselves. As we
have become more honest, we no longer make excuses about our
relationship problems. We can't blame our troubles on our partner. Our
problems with love were often because we didn't know how to be close or
we didn't dare to be.
When we let ourselves engage in this
adventure, we meet many obstacles - things we can't control, and
sometimes we want to quit right there. We have arguments and
disappointments as well as good feelings. But what adventure is without
difficulty or surprises? Part of the reason for choosing new
experiences is to confront forces outside our control. A relationship
is a dialogue. Only if we stay with it through the frustrations,
express our deepest feelings openly, and listen to our partner, do we
achieve a new level of understanding and confidence in the
relationship. Then deeper levels also open within ourselves.
Today, I will let honesty guide me in
this adventure of my love dialogue.
You are reading from the book Each Day
a New Beginning.
To have one's individuality completely
ignored is like being pushed quite out of life. Like being blown out as
one blows out a light. --Evelyn Scott
We need to know that we matter in this
life. We need evidence that others are aware of our presence. And thus,
we can be certain that others need the same attention from us. When we
give it, we get it. So the giving of attention to another searching
soul meets our own need for attention as well.
Respectful recognition of another's
presence blesses her, God, and ourselves. And we help one another grow,
in important ways, each time we pay the compliment of acknowledgment.
We're not sure, on occasion, just what
we have to offer our friends, families, co-workers. Why we are in
certain circumstances may have us baffled, but it's quite probably that
the people we associate with regularly need something we can give them;
the reverse is just as likely. So we can begin with close attention to
people in our path. It takes careful listening and close observation to
sense the message another soul may be sending to our own.
I will be conscious of the people
around me. I shall acknowledge them and be thankful for all they are
offering me.
You are reading from the book The
Language of Letting Go.
Saying No
For many of us, the most difficult
word to say is one of the shortest and easiest in the vocabulary: No.
Go ahead, say it aloud: No.
No - simple to pronounce, hard to say.
We're afraid people won't like us, or we feel guilty. We may believe
that a "good" employee, child, parent, spouse, or Christian never says
no.
The problem is, if we don't learn to
say no, we stop liking ourselves and the people we always try to
please. We may even punish others out of resentment.
When do we say no? When no is what we
really mean.
When we learn to say no, we stop
lying. People can trust us, and we can trust ourselves. All sorts of
good things happen when we start saying what we mean.
If we're scared to say no, we can buy
some times. We can take a break, rehearse the word, and go back and say
no. We don't have to offer long explanations for our decisions.
When we can say no, we can say yes to
the good. Our no's and our yes's begin to be taken seriously. We gain
control of ourselves. And we learn a secret: "No" isn't really that
hard to say.
Today, I will say no if that is what I
mean.
Today I will do all that I am capable
of doing at this time of my life to free myself of past mistakes. And
then I will let go and live in my now... fully enjoying today. --Ruth
Fishel
*****
Forward Momentum
The Train as Metaphor by Madisyn Taylor
People can be like trains, making
unscheduled stops along the way, but inevitably always arriving at our
proper destination.
The rails that crisscross the
countryside and cut through cities have long captured people’s
imaginations. Just the idea of taking a ride on a luxury train, an
express commuter line, or a cargo train can often evoke a sense of
freedom, adventure, or romance. Trains are like people in that they
must inevitably arrive at their destinations. They make scheduled and
unscheduled stops along the way and move at their different speeds.
Some trains can travel for hours and are mindful of only a single
destination; other trains meander from busy stop to busy stop. The
route and purpose of any train may change as the years go by.
Our lives stretch out in front and
behind us like train tracks, and we are the train, its passengers, and
the engineer. The way you choose to live your life and the goals you
are working toward are the route and destinations you have chosen. Like
a passenger riding a train, you have the choice to get on and off, find
new routes, pick new places to visit, or just stop and enjoy the view
for awhile. Perhaps you like to move quickly through life as if you
were an express train. Or maybe, like a commuter passenger, you like
taking the same routes over and over again. You may even want to stop
just riding along and choose a different direction you’d like you’re
life to take.
If you have examined the tracks of
your life and are feeling unsatisfied, you may want to explore changes
you could make to find a more fulfilling path to follow. Perhaps you’d
like to slow down a little bit more and take a windier path rather than
just traveling down the straight and narrow. Or maybe, you’d like to
experience your life more as an adventure rather than just a ride that
gets you where you need to go. Changing your route can sometimes give
you a chance to “get on the right track.” You may even discover that
the something new you’ve been waiting for is just around the bend.
Published with permission from Daily OM
*****
Journey to the Heart
Be All You Can Be
Step out into the cool night air.
Look at the stars. See how they shine. Know that it is okay for you to
shine,too.
Who told you you had to hold back?
Who told you your gifts, your talents, your beauty-- your natural,
beautiful, loving, delightful self-- was wrong? Who told you not to be
all you could be? Maybe, as some suggest, we've gotten too comfortable
focusing on our flaws, our errors, our dark side. Perhaps it's not our
dark side we fear. Perhaps we're really afraid of our gifts, our
brilliance, our light.
Now is a time of light. It's time for
us to shine. We've worked hard on ourselves, dealt with our issues,
gone back to the past. We've learned our lessons well. The reasons to
hold back and hide away are no longer there. Enjoy the fruits of your
labors.
Be all you can be, and enjoy being
that. Don't hold back. Use your gifts with joy. Use your talents. Let
your light shine for all the world to see.
Finally, you are free to be all that
you are and can be.
*****
more language of letting go
Stop second-guessing yourself
Often in life, when an incident
arises, we know what we want and need to do. It's clear. We've already
got that lesson under our belt. Our hearts and inner guides are clearly
speaking to us about what we want or don't want to do.
But I should be open to change and
new ideas, we think. Maybe what I want is wrong. Could it really be
that what I want is right? Probably not. Maybe I don't know what I'm
talking about.
Like Winnie the Pooh says, "Oh
bother. Oh angst."
We're creating this bother and angst
ourselves.
Be open to new ideas. We're not
always right in what we believe. Stay open to examining and changing
your beliefs and ideals. But don't spend all your time second-and third
guessing yourself. Your life will whiz by. You won't get anything done.
And chances are, those second, third, and fourth guesses will lead you
back to the place you started from.
God, help me stop wasting my time and
energy second-guessing myself. Help me learn to trust you and to trust
myself.
*******************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
What can we do about our resentments?
Fruitful experience has shown that the best thing to do is to write
them down, listing people, institutions or principles with which we’re
angry or resentful. When I write down my resentments and then ask
myself why I’m resentful, I’ve discovered that in most cases
myself-esteem, my finances, my ambitions, or my personal relationships
have been hurt or threatened. Will I ever learn that the worst thing
about my resentments is my endless rehearsal of the acts of retribution?
Today I Pray
May God help me find a way to get rid
of my resentments. May I give up the hours spent making up little
playlets, in which I star as the angry man or woman cleverly shouting
down the person who has threatened me. Since these dramas are never
produced, may I instead list my resentful feelings and look at the
why’s behind each one. May this be a way of shelving them.
Today I Will Remember
Resentments cause violence:
resentments cause illness in non-violent people.
*******************************************
One More Day
Eat little at night, open your
windows, drive out often, and look for the good in things and people …
You will no long be sad, or bored, or ill.
– Mary Knowles
When we get caught up in our problems,
it may seem that they will continue to escalate, repeat, and escalate
again. We all have hard times — times when we are uncertain whether or
not life has meaning, and at those times it may feel as though we have
no control over the direction or quality of our lives.
But when we ease back a little and
remember the hundreds of small choices we can make, we’re more able to
accept some of the large unchangeable realities of our lives. We can’t
cure ourselves or change other people, but we can make the choices and
take charge of the decisions that are ours.
I can simplify my life by letting go
of decisions and problems that aren’t mine to handle.
**************************************************
*****************
Food For Thought
Keep It Simple
Complicated food plans and complicated
lives work against us in this program. We compulsive overeaters have a
hard time making decisions about food, and the more simple our menus,
the better. We also tend to overextend ourselves in other areas,
dissipating energy, which we need for working our program.
Our three meals a day can be
nourishing and attractive without being elaborate. If we spend too much
time and energy planning and preparing our food, we run the risk of
reactivating our obsession. Too much thinking about food usually leads
to overeating and invariably produces mental turmoil.
For our peace of mind and emotional
serenity, we need to keep the mechanics of our lives as simple as
possible. If the spirit is to be free, it cannot be shackled by over
concern with material things.
May I keep life simple today and use
my energies for working the program.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
~ SERVICE ~
You cannot do a kindness too soon ...
because you never know how soon it
will be too late.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
So many people in program sit silently
in meetings because they don't think they have anything of importance
to say. Perhaps they haven't been in program very long, and feel that,
because they aren't a seasoned veteran, they haven't the right to speak
up. But everyone's experiences and insights are different, and I would
appreciate hearing from those who are quiet. They just might say
something that will keep me from losing my serenity and abstinence. It
would be a kindness for them to speak up.
I've had people tell me, "Oh, I can't
pick up the phone and make an outreach call to someone I just met." To
that I say, "Why not?" It would be a kindness to let someone know that
you're there and you care about them.
Sometimes a person will say, "But I'm
having a bad day myself; how can I offer hope to someone when I'm in
such a shape?" It would be a kindness to share your struggle, for you
would be giving others the chance to serve. I think it's as much a
selfishness on our part to deny someone the opportunity to serve us as
it is to deny our service to someone who is hurting.
Ours is a fatal disease. I don't want
to risk missing the chance to serve someone who may not be with us
tomorrow. I want to do that kindness today in case it's YOU who isn't
here tomorrow. I hope you would do that kindness today in case it's ME
who isn't here tomorrow.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will perform an act of kindness,
for I never know when I may forever
lose that opportunity.
~ JAR ~
*****************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Although these reparations take
innumerable forms, there are some general principles which we find
guiding. Reminding ourselves that we have decided to go to any lengths
to find a spiritual experience, we ask that we be given strength and
direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal
consequences may be. We may lose our position or reputation or face
jail, but we are willing. We have to be. We must not shrink at anything.
Usually, however, other people are
involved. Therefore, we are not to be the hasty and foolish martyr who
would needlessly sacrifice others to save himself from the alcoholic
pit. - Pg. 79 - Into Action
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
There are no magic wands or burning
bushes in our program. Just footwork and faith.
My footwork right now is to not use
any mind-affecting chemical and go to a meeting today.
The Treasures Within
Within me is the perfect life waiting
to awaken. The gifts I seek are already within me. A deep pool of
awareness and aliveness is present all of the time but I am too
distracted to know it. I get so lost in the superficial details and
tasks of my life that I forget to live it, to drop down and contact the
spirit that God has planted within me. It is the best kept secret that
spirit lives within me, that the way in which I come in touch with my
inner light is through letting the constant preoccupations of my mind
float by, not taking them so seriously, not trying to control them.
Today I realize that the gold is not in my ability to control my mind,
the gold is in what lies beneath. What emerges when my mind, for a
precious moment, is stilled.
Spirit is with me always
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Who knows why they are chemically
dependent? The answer will not change the fact, and yet many continue
to question, why? Indeed, they need an answer, but they are asking the
wrong question. The real question is, 'How can I become free?' Free of
the fear. Free of the pain. Free of the bondage.
I do not receive the right answer when
I ask the wrong question.
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
Make the solution so big, the problem
does not exist.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
Today I will do all that I am capable
of doing at this time of my life to free myself of past mistakes. And
then I will let go and live in my now fully enjoying today.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
I had these two things in my 4th Step
I really didn't want to share. So I thought; 'Well she doesn't know
they're in there, I'll just skip them.' So I'm all ready to go when she
said; 'Before we start lets say a little prayer.' and she said
something like; 'Dear God let Pat be honest tonight.' I couldn't
believe it! So I read the whole thing. It took me longer to read those
two things than all the rest of the pages - I just sobbed hysterically.
But I did it - What I felt after that, was committed to AA. I knew I
had done something that night that I couldn't do. - Pat Y.
*****************************************
AA Thought for the Day
August 7
Time
And what is time to me now? It is a
most precious asset.
I have the luxury of being able to
cherish the memory of yesterday, to live today with serenity, to wait
for tomorrow.
I find contentment in just knowing
where I was and where I am. And I am grateful;
grateful for the existence of
Alcoholics Anonymous;
grateful to my God for leading me to
the doors of AA and to Himself, grateful for hope.
I am grateful for this minute. My
eternity may be in it.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 2],
p. 21
Thought to Ponder . . .
Give Time time.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
T I M E = This Is My Eternity.
~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
Tolerance
"Honesty with ourselves and others
gets us sober,
but it is tolerance that keeps us
that way.
Experience shows that few alcoholics
will long stay away from a group
because
they don't like the way it is run.
Most return and adjust themselves
to whatever conditions they must.
Some go to a different group, or form
a new one.
In other words, once an alcoholic
fully realizes
that he cannot get well alone,
he will somehow find a way to get
well and stay well
in the company of others.
It has been that way from the
beginning of AA
and probably always will be so."
Bill W., Letter, 1943
1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 312
Thought to Consider . . .
What does it benefit me to not like
another human being?
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H E A R T = Healing, Enjoying, And
Recovering, Together
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Conviction
From "How It Works":
"We reviewed our fears thoroughly. We
put them on paper, even though we had no resentment in connection with
them. We asked ourselves why we had them. Wasn't it because
self-reliance had failed us? Self-reliance was good as far as it went,
but it didn't go far enough. . . .
"Perhaps there is a better way -- we
think so. For we are now on a different basis; the basis of trusting
and relying upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite
selves."
2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition;
Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 68
*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"The ideal of AA, however short we
may be of it personally, is a thing of beauty and perfection. It is a
Power greater than ourselves which has lifted us out of the quicksand
and set us safe on shore."
AA Co-Founder, Bill W., May 1946
"Safe Use of Money"
The Language of the Heart
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N'
Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*
"Let no alcoholic say he cannot
recover unless he has his family
back. This just isn't so. In some
cases the wife will never come
back for one reason or another.
Remind the prospect that his
recovery is not dependent upon
people. It is dependent upon his
relationship with God. We have seen
men get well whose families have
not returned at all. We have seen
others slip when the family came
back too soon."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition,
Working With Others, pg. 99~
"But my friend sat before me, and he
made the pointblank declaration
that God had done for him what he
could not do for himself. His
human will had failed. Doctors had
pronounced him incurable.
Society was about to lock him up.
Like myself, he had admitted
complete defeat. Then he had, in
effect, been raised from the dead,
suddenly taken from the scrap heap to
a level of life better than
the best he had ever known!"
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition,
Bill's Story, pg. 11~
“Being still inexperienced and having
just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are
going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in
all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our
thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of
inspiration.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 87
“Above all, we should try to be
absolutely sure that we are not delaying because we are afraid. For the
readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to take
responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the
very spirit of Step Nine.”
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
p. 87
Misc. AA Literature - Quote
Do not let any prejudice you may have
against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what
they might mean to you. At the start, this was all we needed to
commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with
God as we understood Him. Afterward, we found ourselves accepting many
things which had seemed entirely out of reach. That was growth. But if
we wished to grow we had to begin somewhere. So at first we used our
own conceptions of God, however limited they were.
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, even in this small degree, or is willing to
believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way.
Prayer for the Day: God help me to become willing to sweep
away the debris of self will and self reliant living. Thy will be done
for this person as well as for me. Amen