Daily Recovery Readings - August 23

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God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
and Wisdom to know the difference.
Thy will, not mine, be done.

August 23

Daily Reflections

BRINGING THE MESSAGE HOME

Can we bring the same spirit of love and tolerance into our
sometimes deranged family lives that we bring to our A.A. group?
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS , pp. 111 -112

My family members suffer from the effects of my disease. Loving and
accepting them as they are - just as I love and accept A.A. members
- fosters a return of love, tolerance and harmony to my life. Using
common courtesy and respecting other's personal boundaries are
necessary practices for all areas of my life.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"We who have accepted the A.A. principles have been faced with the
necessity for a thorough personal housecleaning. We must face and
be rid of the things in ourselves that have been blocking us. We
therefore take a personal inventory. We take stock honestly. We
search out the flaws in our make-up that caused our failure.
Resentment is the number one offender. Life that includes deep
resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. If we are to
live, we must be free of anger." Am I free of resentment and anger?

Meditation For The Day

Keep in mind the goal you are striving for, the good life you are
trying to attain. Do not let little things divert you from the
path. Do not be overcome by the small trials and vexations of each
day. Try to see the purpose and plan to which all is leading. if,
when climbing a mountain, you keep your eyes on each stony or
difficult place, how weary is your climb. But if you think of each
step as leading to the summit of achievement from which a glorious
landscape will open out before you, then your climb will be endurable
and you will achieve your goal.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may realize that life without a goal is futile.
I pray that I may find the good life worth striving for.

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As Bill Sees It

Freed Prisoners, p. 234

Letter to a prison group:

"Every A.A. has been, in a sense, a prisoner. Each of us has
walled himself out of society; each has known social stigma. The
lot of you folks has been even more difficult: In your case, society
has also built a wall around you. But there isn't any really essential
difference, a fact that practically all A.A.'s now know.

"Therefore, when you members come into the world of A.A. on the
outside, you can be sure that no one will care a fig that you have
done time. What you are trying to be--not what you were--is all that
counts to us."

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Walk In Dry Places

Planning for others.
Letting Go.
There are times when we think we see perfectly what others ought to be doing. It pains and disturbs us when loved ones..... our children, perhaps... do not heed our advice. In planning for others, we can easily fall into the trap of enabling. An enabler is a person who supports others in an unhealthy addiction or
dependency.
We must not plan the lives of others, no matter how dear they are to us or how attached we become to them. They must have the freedom to live without obligation or the belief that they could not have succeeded
without our help. Freedom of choice is a precious right that includes the freedom to make
mistakes.
I'll release any tendency I have to plan for others. At all times, my responsibility is to keep on the right track and let others
be free.

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Keep It Simple

Where there is no vision, a people perish.---Ralph Waldo Emerson
Working our program teaches us to see things more clearly. We learn to look at who we really are. At first, we’re scared to see ourselves. But it turns out okay, even though were not perfect.
We also begin to see others more clearly. We see good in people we don’t like. And we see faults in people we thought we’re prefect. But we don’t judge people anymore. Nobody is perfect. Just as our program friends accept us as we are, we learn to accept others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, sometimes I don’t like what I see. Help me to believe Your way will for me. Help me have a vision.
Action for the Day: I will use my new way of seeing thing to avoid trouble today.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Were our knowledge of human relationships a hundredfold more reliable than it is now, it would still be foolish to seek ready-made solutions for problems of living in the index of a book. --Mirra Komarovsky
The problems each of us experience have within their own parameters the solutions most fitting. And we each must discover those solutions, understand their appropriateness, and absorb them into the body of information that defines who we are and who we are becoming.
We learn experientially because only then is our reality significantly affected. Others' experiences are helpful to our growth and affirm how similar is our pain, but each of us must make our own choices, take responsible action in our own behalf.
How fortunate that we are now in a position to make healthy decisions about our relationships! No longer the victim, we have the personal power to choose how we want to spend our time and with whom. Through active participation in all our relationships, we can discover many of the hidden elements in our own natures and develop more fully all the characteristics unique to our personhood. Our growth as recovering women is enhanced in proportion to our sincere involvement within the relationships we've chosen.
I can inform myself about who I am within my relationships. Therein lie the solutions to my problems.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 10 - To Employers

Here, for instance, is a typical example: An officer of one of the largest banking institutions in America knows I no longer drink. One day he told me about an executive of the same bank who, from his description, was undoubtedly alcoholic. This seemed to me like an opportunity to be helpful, so I spent two hours talking about alcoholism, the malady, and described the symptoms and results as well as I could. His comment was, "Very interesting. But I'm sure this man is done drinking. He has just returned from a three-months leave of absence, has taken a cure, looks fine, and to clinch the matter, the board of directors told him this was his last chance."

p. 138

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

Physician, Heal Thyself

Psychiatrist and surgeon, he had lost his way until he realized that God, not he, was the Great Healer.

Shortly after I was starting to work on the program, I relaized that I was not a good father. I wasn't a good husband, but, oh, I was a good provider. I never robbed my family of anything. I gave them everything, except the greatest thing in the world, and that is peace of mind. So I went to my wife and asked her if there wasn't something that she and I could do to somehow get together, and she turned on her heel and looked me squarely in the eye, and said, "You don't care anything about my problem," and I could have smacked her, but I said to myself, "Grab on to your serenity!"

p. 307

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step One - "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had become unmanageable. "

No other kind of bankruptcy is like this one. Alcohol, now become the rapacious creditor, bleeds us of all self-sufficiency and all will to resist its demands. Once this stark fact is accepted, our bankruptcy as going human concerns is complete.

p. 21

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Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness
without action.
--Benjamin Disraeli

Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just
sit there.
--Will Rogers

First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to
others.
--Thomas A. Kempis

There is only one you for all time. Fearlessly be yourself.
--Anthony Rapp

I can repeat the past, or I can create new and better experiences.
--Shelley

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

"Children stand more in need of example than criticism."
--Joseph Joubert

What is not love is fear. Anger is one of fear's most potent faces.
And it does exactly what fear wants it to do. It keeps us from
receiving love at exactly the moment when we need it most.
-- Marianne Williamson

The spiritual path is not one of attainment, but return.
--Alan Cohen

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

CONFIDENCE

"There is no sort of work that
could ever be done well if you
minded what fools say."
-- George Eliot

Part of the risk in my recovery is arousing the displeasure of others. I
know that I cannot please all the people --- and yet my disease tells me
that I must! For years I missed life's opportunities because I listened
to negative and frightened people. Today I choose to shout my "yes"
to life, and I ignore the fools. The fools are rarely friends. Rather,
they seek to keep me in the same prison as themselves. If they truly
loved me, they would encourage me to be imaginative and creative.

Today I have a joyride "letting go and letting God" because God is a
great risk-taker!

I pray that I may always listen to the advice of others, but never miss
my power of decision.

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The Lord watches over you.....
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
Psalm 121 : 5

"Judge not according to the appearance."
John 7: 24

"Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing
spirit."
Psalm 51:12

"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives
in us and his love is made complete in us."
I John 4:12

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Daily Inspiration

Life has a way of working itself out if you simply make the best of this moment, one moment at a time. Lord, You have given me this moment. Grant me the wisdom to live it in a way that will make a difference for me and for those around me.

No one has ever asked of God and not received an answer. Lord, bless me with quiet resolve to hear You and wisdom to accept Your Will.

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NA Just For Today

Decision Making

"Before we got clean, most of our actions were guided by impulse. Today, we are not locked into this type of thinking."
Basic Text p. 87

Life is a series of decisions, actions, and consequences. When we were using, our decisions were usually driven by our disease, resulting in self-destructive actions and dire consequences. We came to see decision making as a rigged game, one we should play as little as possible.

Given that, many of us have great difficulty learning to make decisions in recovery. Slowly, by working the Twelve Steps, we gain practice in making healthy decisions, ones that give positive results. Where our disease once affected our will and our lives, we ask our Higher Power to care for us. We inventory our values and our actions, check our findings with someone we trust, and ask the God of our understanding to remove our shortcomings. In working the steps we gain freedom from the influence of our disease, and we learn principles of decision making that can guide us in all our affairs.

Today, our decisions and their consequences need not be influenced by our disease. Our faith gives us the courage and direction to make good decisions and the strength to act on them. The result of that kind of decision making is a life worth living.

Just for today: I will use the principles of the Twelve Steps to make healthy decisions. I will ask my Higher Power for the strength to act on those decisions.
pg. 245

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Whenever you fall, pick something up. --Oswald Avery
There was once a very active boy who fell and broke his leg. He could run again in the spring, the doctors said, but only if he stayed in bed for an entire month and kept his leg still. At first the boy fought the rule, but he found that the more he thought about things he couldn't do, the more tired and angry he felt.
His parents put in a phone by his bed and friends called every day. He'd never much liked talking on the phone, but he felt better when they called. He wrote letters and got replies, and was surprised at what fun it was. Usually, he didn't have time to write letters.
He learned to play chess and began to enjoy reading. His days were slower and quieter than he'd been used to, but he learned a month really isn't a very long time. When spring came, he was running again, a little more joyfully than before.
When we can learn to accept our troubles, we find, like the boy, that they are just packages in which new growth and discoveries are wrapped.
If something unexpected slows me down today, what joys might I find at the slower pace?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he lacks vision. --Stevie Wonder
It has been easy for many of us to meet our limitations with self-pity. Maybe we think being a real man means always being strong, capable, good looking, and in charge. If we have a handicap, like blindness or a learning disability, we may have thought we were less masculine or less worthy.
All of us have handicaps. Some are greater than others, and some are more visible than others. These handicaps confront us with our powerlessness. We do not find our finest human qualities until we have met our limitations and accepted them. A new side of our strength develops when we accept our powerlessness and yield to it rather than trying to take charge of it. We develop greater vision when we stop feeling sorry for ourselves about our handicap and surrender to its truth. We then see our kinship with all men and women who struggle with their limitations.
Today, I will set aside self-pity and remember to be grateful for the lessons my limitations have taught me.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Were our knowledge of human relationships a hundredfold more reliable than it is now, it would still be foolish to seek ready-made solutions for problems of living in the index of a book. --Mirra Komarovsky
The problems each of us experience have within their own parameters the solutions most fitting. And we each must discover those solutions, understand their appropriateness, and absorb them into the body of information that defines who we are and who we are becoming.
We learn experientially because only then is our reality significantly affected. Others' experiences are helpful to our growth and affirm how similar is our pain, but each of us must make our own choices, take responsible action in our own behalf.
How fortunate that we are now in a position to make healthy decisions about our relationships! No longer the victim, we have the personal power to choose how we want to spend our time and with whom. Through active participation in all our relationships, we can discover many of the hidden elements in our own natures and develop more fully all the characteristics unique to our personhood. Our growth as recovering women is enhanced in proportion to our sincere involvement within the relationships we've chosen.
I can inform myself about who I am within my relationships. Therein lie the solutions to my problems.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Self Care
When will we become lovable? When will we feel safe? When will we get all the protection, nurturing, and love we so richly deserve? We will get it when we begin giving it to ourselves. --Beyond Codependency
The idea of giving ourselves what we want and need can be confusing, especially if we have spent many years not knowing that it's okay to take care of ourselves. Taking our energy and focus off others and their responsibilities and placing that energy on to our responsibilities and ourselves is a recovery behavior that can be acquired. We learn it by daily practice.
We begin by relaxing, by breathing deeply, and letting go of our fears enough to feel as peaceful as we can. Then, we ask ourselves: What do I need to do to take care of myself today, or for this moment?
What do I need and want to do?
What would demonstrate love and self-responsibility?
Am I caught up in the belief that others are responsible for making me happy, responsible for me? Then the first thing I need to do is correct my belief system. I am responsible for myself.
Do I feel anxious and concerned about a responsibility I've been neglecting? Then perhaps I need to let go of my fears and tend to that responsibility.
Do I feel overwhelmed, out of control? Maybe I need to journey back to the first of the Twelve Steps.
Have I been working too hard? Maybe what I need to do is take some time off and do something fun.
Have I been neglecting my work on daily tasks? Then maybe what I need to do is get back to my routine.
There is no recipe, no formula, no guidebook for self care. We each have a guide, and that guide is within us. We need to ask the question: What do I need to do to take loving, responsible care of myself? Then, we need to listen to the answer. Self-care is not that difficult. The most challenging part is trusting the answer, and having the courage to follow through once we hear it.
Today, I will focus on taking care of myself. I will trust myself and my Higher Power to guide me in this process.


Everywhere I turn I know I am being supported by powerful, positive energy. I am finding love and support wherever I go. --Ruth Fishel

*****

Journey to the Heart
The Spiritual Experience Is You

"When I look at people now, I don't see issues," he said. "I see souls."

The man said he had a spiritual experience. Actually, he said he had four. He didn't go to the mountains, or the ocean, or the desert to have them. He had his four spiritual experiences in the same place-- in the parking lot outside a Shell gas station in Portland, Oregon. "The car filled with light. My heart just opened up and I forgave everyone I was resenting," he continued. "Even my ex-wife."

We don't have to search for spiritual experiences. We are the spiritual experience-- a spiritual being having a human life. Look at the people around you. Now look again and see souls. See them having many kinds of spiritual experiences in the form of human life.


When you look for holy ground, look down. That's where your spiritual experience takes place. Right where you're standing, wherever you are now.

*****

more language of letting go
Celebrate the gift of friendship

Celebrate the gift of friendship.

Get a piece of paper and a pen. Now write down:

1. The name of a good friend.

2. A lesson that you have learned from him or her.

3. Something about the friend that makes you smile.

4. Your friends favorite meal. (This might take a little research.)

5. An activity that he or she enjoys.

Now, pick up the phone. Call your friend and invite him or her to a celebration with you. Do the activity that he or she enjoys: go for a walk, go to a ballgame, sit at home and watch videos, whatever this person likes to do best. Than prepare your friend's favorite meal or take your friend out to eat at the restaurant he or she likes best. Tell your friend specifically, and from your heart, the lesson he or she helped you learn.

Then tell your friend what he or she does that makes you smile. Tell your friend the things that you genuinely appreciate about her or him-- those things that make your friend uniquely who she or he is.

Friendship is another important gift from God. Don't just tell your friends how much they mean in your life. Show your friends how much you care with an act of gratitude.


God, thank you for making each of us unique. Thank you for my friends.

*****

Disapproving Faces
Not Everybody Will Like You by Madisyn Taylor

Not everybody we meet will like us and it is ok to move into acceptance rather than trying to make somebody like you.

It is not necessarily a pleasant experience, but there will be times in our lives when we come across people who do not like us. As we know, like attracts like, so usually when they don’t like us it is because they are not like us. Rather than taking it personally, we can let them be who they are, accepting that each of us is allowed to have different perspectives and opinions. When we give others that freedom, we claim it for ourselves as well, releasing ourselves from the need for their approval so we can devote our energy toward more rewarding pursuits.

While approval from others is a nice feeling, when we come to depend on it we may lose our way on our own path. There are those who will not like us no matter what we do, but that doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with us. Each of us has our own filters built from our experiences over time. They may see in us something that is merely a projection of their understanding, but we have no control over the interpretations of others. The best we can do is to hope that the role we play in the script of their lives is helpful to them, and follow our own inner guidance with integrity.

As we reap the benefits of walking our perfect paths, we grow to appreciate the feeling of fully being ourselves. The need to have everyone like us will be replaced by the exhilaration of discovering that we are attracting like-minded individuals into our lives—people who like us because they understand and appreciate the truth of who we are. We free ourselves from trying to twist into shapes that will fit the spaces provided by others’ limited understanding and gain a new sense of freedom, allowing us to expand into becoming exactly who we’re meant to be. And in doing what we know to be right for us, we show others that they can do it too. Cocreating our lives with the universe and its energy of pure potential, we transcend limitations and empower ourselves to shine our unique light, fully and freely. Published with permission from Daily OM

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

I heard someone in The Program once read, “Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get well, regardless of anyone. The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house.” That is what Step Seven means to me – that I’m going to clean house and will have all the help I need. Do I realize, by taking the Seventh Step, that I’m not really giving up a thing, but, instead, getting rid of whatever might lead me back to my addiction and away from the peace of mind?

Today I Pray

May I know that if I should give up that key word “humbly,” which combines all in one — my humility, my awe, my faith, I would once again be taking too much on my shoulders and assuming that the Power in my own. May God in His wisdom make His will mine, His strength mine, His goodness mine. As He fills me with these Divine gifts, there can be little space left in me for looming defects.

Today I Will Remember

Trust in God and clean house.

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One More Day

So never let a cloudy day ruin your sunshine, for even if you can’t see it, the sunshine is still there, inside of you, ready to shine when you will let it.
– Amy Michelle Pitzele

Amazing words of wisdom sometimes spring from the mouths of children. This wrote these words, which are the last stanza of a poem about understanding change. Life seen through the eyes of a child can be serenely simplistic. Where does a child get that kind of wisdom and that depth of understanding?

We can struggle to keep the child in us alive. We, too, can recognize that even when the cloudy days come, the sunshine is still there, ready to beam at a moment’s notice.

Today, my own personal sun will shine within me, no matter what the weather is outside.

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Food For Thought

Envy

When my inside looked at your outside, I overate. Envy of what others seemed to be and of the possessions they had was a prime trigger for overeating, turning to food to compensate for an apparent lack. No amount of food can satisfy envy.

Why is it that the other person seems so much more fortunate, or talented, or happier than we? We are painfully aware of our own inadequacies and quick to envy whoever appears to “have it together.” Looking at the outside image or mask is deceptive, however, and prevents us from seeing that underneath is a fellow human being beset with problems and difficulties just as we are.

Who we are, where we are, and what we have is God’s gift to us. What we do with ourselves is our gift to God. The more we seek to do His will, the less we envy our neighbor’s abilities and possessions. The peace of mind we receive through this program fills us with such gratitude that there is increasingly less room for envy.

Take away my envy, I pray.

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One Day At A Time

FAILURE
“Accept that all of us can be hurt,
that all of us can – and surely will at times – fail.
Other vulnerabilities, like being embarrassed
or risking love, can be terrifying, too.”
Dr. Joyce Brothers

The prospect of failing ~ or worse yet, “ Being A Failure” ~ was a crippling monster which held me in its cold and unforgiving stranglehold. If I thought I could not do a thing perfectly, I would not do it at all. If I didn’t know the “Right” way to act or to be, I was paralyzed. One day my therapist shocked me by suggesting I make a mistake on purpose. She wanted me to practice giving myself permission to make mistakes and to survive the experience.

I vividly recall intentionally dropping a gum wrapper on the ground and leaving it there. The Fearful Perfectionist inside of me screamed, “Pick it up! You never litter! This is wrong!” Yet I also heard a whisper welling up from within: “It will be alright. Just let it go.”

As part of my Recovery, I am exploring with brutal honesty the mistakes I’ve made in my life: the ways and the people that I’ve failed. Though doing so is embarrassing, humbling, and frightening, I am surprised to find a budding sense of relief. My attempts to avoid Failure never made me Perfect; rather, they caused me to be more entrenched in my pride, insecurities, fears, and stunted growth. A young girl I know is an expert skater. I asked her how she learned, and her answer stopped me in my tracks: “Mostly by falling down.”

One day at a time...
I will practice accepting my failures as necessary steps towards my healing. I will remember that the word “practice” honors the fact that we gain our progress by making attempts, failing, and learning from our mistakes.
~ Lisa V.

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

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 failed us? Self-reliance was good as far as it went, but it didn't go far enough. Some of us once had great self-confidence, but it didn't fully solve the fear problem, or any other. When it made us cocky, it was worse. - Pg. 68 - How It Works

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

If someone on the program talks rather harshly to you, it is because they too have been where you are. They will not pity you because pity leads to self-pity which leads to mind-affecting chemicals. Sometimes reality is harsh, and we won't hide that from you in our program.

When another in the program is harsh with me, help me to see the love behind the harshness, the reality behind my pain.

Shifting Helplessness to Powerlessness

Today I will allow my feelings of helplessness that I cannot help to shift to a powerlessness that I choose. Powerlessness leaves room for spiritual awakening. Helplessness is part of trauma. When I allow myself to shift into powerlessness, I make a profound move inward and upward. The helplessness that I carry from the disease, that feeling that nothing I can do will make a difference, transforms into a spiritual recognition and I can let go and let God in. I can stop being Cysifus pushing the same rock up the same mountain. I can step out from under the disease.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

The birth of resentment is blame. Often from the center of your bad feelings you seek someone to blame and yet if you 'find' this someone, it can only serve to increase your misery. Blame increases misery because it gives you something to focus on again and again. 'Resentment' is from Latin, meaning to 'feel again.'

By eliminating blame, I don't allow 'them' to live rent free in my head.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

What would my Higher Power do?

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Everywhere I turn I know that I am being supported by a powerful, positive energy. I am finding love and support wherever I go.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

He said 'If you'll repeat sober what you said last night, I'll leave you and never bother you again. I said I'd do that on one condition: That he tell me what I said last night. - Anon.

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AA Thought for the Day

August 23

Serenity
That word "serenity" looked like an impossible goal when we first saw the prayer.
In fact, if serenity meant apathy, bitter resignation, or stolid endurance, then we didn't even want to aim at it.
But we found that serenity meant no such thing. . .
Serenity is like a gyroscope that lets us keep our balance no matter what turbulence swirls around us.
And that is a state of mind worth aiming for.
- Living Sober, p. 19

Thought to Ponder . . .
Serenity is not the absence of conflict but the ability to cope with it.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
K I S S = Keep It Serenely Simple.

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

Solution
"There is a solution.
Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling
of our pride, the confessions of shortcomings
which the process requires for its successful
consummation.
But we saw that it really worked in others,
and we had come to believe in the
hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it.
When, therefore, we were approached by those
in whom the problem had been solved,
there was nothing left for us but to pick up
the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet.
We have found much of heaven
and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension
of existence of which we had not even dreamed."
1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 25

Thought to Consider . . .
The solution is simple.
The solution is spiritual.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H O P E = Heart Open; Please Enter.

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

Serenity
>From "Happiness":
"The second tenet of the Serenity Prayer is too frequently slurred over. I am constantly amazed at the number of so-called obstacles I have overcome after giving them a second look, mustering what meager resources I have, then taking the hoe in hand.
"Serenity to me, therefore, is the absence of insoluble conflict. And it is up to me first to determine whether, after an honest look at myself, I can cope with the problem, then to decide whether it is to be tackled, passed over to another day, or dismissed forever. "New Hartford, New York, USA"
1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg. 111

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

"It surely may be said that the future looks bright. Much more hospitalization, based on the certainty that we are a sick people and that plenty can be done about it, is now on the way. We ought gratefully to acknowledge the work of those agencies outside AA who are strenuously helping this life-redeeming trend along."
AA Co-Founder, Bill W., May 1947
"Adequate Hospitalization: One Great Need"
The Language of the Heart

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

"On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We
consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to
direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-
pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we
can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God
gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much
higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 86~

"Besides a seeming inability to accept much on faith, we often found
ourselves handicapped by obstinacy, sensitiveness, and unreasoning
prejudice. Many of us have been so touchy that even casual reference
to spiritual things make us bristle with antagonism. This sort of
thinking had to be abandoned. Though some of us resisted, we found
no great difficulty in casting aside such feelings. Faced with
alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open minded on spiritual
matters as we had tried to be on other questions. In this respect
alcohol was a great persuader. It finally beat us into a state of
reasonableness."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 47~

“We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined.”
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 88

“So, practicing these Steps, we had a spiritual awakening about which finally there was no question.”
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 109

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Any number of A.A.'s can say, 'We were diverted from our childhood faith. As material success began to come, we felt we were winning at the game of life. This was exhilarating, and it made us happy.
'Why should we be bothered with theological abstractions and religious duties, or with the state of our souls, here or hereafter? The will to win should carry us through.
'But then alcohol began to have its way with us. Finally, when all our score cards read 'zero,' and we saw that one more strike would put us out of the game forever, we had to look for our lost faith. It was in A.A. that we rediscovered it.

Prayer for the Day: Dear Heavenly Father, Where I have done wrong, help me do right. I have done enough harm, and I ask Your help, so that I may do no more. I'll need more courage than I've got, help me be strong. I've been selfish, help me be selfless. Come what may, help me bear it. As I have in past harmed completely, help me to finish this, completely. I have been willful and hurtful; please grant me humility and humanity. Lord, help me be better. Better for You. Amen.

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