Daily Recovery Readings - August 31

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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 31

Daily Reflections

A UNIQUE PROGRAM
Alcoholics Anonymous will never have a professional class. We
have gained some understanding of the ancient words "Freely ye
have received, freely give." We have discovered that at the point
of professionalism, money and spirituality do not mix.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 166

I believe that Alcoholics Anonymous stands alone in the treatment
of alcoholism because it is based solely on the principle of one
alcoholic sharing with another alcoholic. This is what makes the
program unique. When I decided that I wanted to stay sober, I called
a woman who I knew was a sober member of A.A., and she carried
the message of Alcoholics Anonymous to me. She received no
monetary compensation, but rather was paid by staying sober another
day herself. Today I could ask for no payment other than another day
free from alcohol, so in that respect, I am generously paid for my
labor.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"Call on new prospects while they are still jittery. They may be
more receptive when depressed. See them alone if possible. Tell
them enough about your drinking habits and experiences to
encourage them to speak of themselves. If they wish to talk, let
them do so. If they are not communicative, talk about the troubles
liquor has caused you, being careful not to moralize or lecture.
When they see you know all about the drinking game, commence to
describe yourself as an alcoholic and tell them how you learned
you were sick." Am I ready to talk about myself to new prospects?

Meditation For The Day

Try not to give way to criticism, blame, scorn, or judgment of
others, when you are trying to help them. Effectiveness in helping
others depends on controlling yourself. You may be swept away by
a temporary natural urge to criticize or blame, unless you keep a
tight rein on your emotions. You should have a firm foundation of
spiritual living which makes you truly humble, if you are going to
really help other people. Go easy on them and be hard on yourself.
That is the way you can be used most to uplift a despairing spirit.
And seek no personal recognition for what you are used by God to
accomplish.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may try to avoid judgment and criticism. I pray that I
may always try to build up others instead of tearing them down.

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As Bill Sees It

Let Go Absolutely, p.242

After failure on my part to dry up any drunks, Dr. Silkworth
reminded me of Professor William James's observation that truly
transforming spiritual experiences are nearly always founded on
calamity and collapse. "Stop preaching at them," Dr. Silkworth
said, "and give them the hard medical facts first. This may soften
them up at depth so that they will be willing to do anything to get
well. Then they may accept those spiritual ideas of yours, and
even a Higher Power."

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We beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some
of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas, and the result was
nil--until we let go absolutely.

1. A.A. Comes Of Age, p.13
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p.58

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Walk In Dry Places

HONESTY IS NOT ENOUGH
Action AA tells us that we must be honest about our problems if we hope to overcome them.
Some people seem quite w11ling to do this. But an honest admission alone does not solve our problems. We have to go beyond honesty by taking needed action to correct what's wrong in our lives.
For example, we would not believe that any- thing had been corrected simply because a doctor diagnosed a physical problem. We know that such diagnosis is only a preliminary step that must lead to treatment to be effective. In the same way, an honest admission of our alcoholism does not lead to sobriety unless we take further action to ad- dress the problem.
We should also be careful about becoming prideful in announcing our shortcomings. If we are recovering from alcoholism but excuse a bad temper as one of our "alcoholic defects," are we attempting to correct our behavior? The more prideful we are about any fault, the more difficult it will be to change it.
Having become honest about my shortcomings, I'll look for opportunities today to make needed corrections in my behavior. If I find myself using my "alcoholic nature" as an excuse for unacceptable behavior, I'll take action to do something about it.

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Keep It Simple

One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back of life. ---Eleanor Roosevelt
We’re going to have tough times. Maybe we don’t get a pay raise. Maybe we get fired. Whatever happens, don’t use alcohol or other drugs. Whatever happens, keep working the program. Our program will never turn its back on us. When tough times come, we can always turn to our meetings and sponsors. We’re lucky because we don’t have to face hard times alone. We have no reason to give up because our program will never give up.
So, pull closer to your program when times get tough. Call a friend and talk about your problems. Take in an extra meeting. All of this keeps us from turning our backs on life.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me believe that tough times are a chance to get closer to You.
Action for the Day: The program will always be there for me in tough times. Today, I’ll make a list of what to do to stay sober when tough times come. I’ll put the list in my Big Book.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Tears are like rain. They loosen up our soil so we can grow in different directions. --Virginia Casey
Full self-expression softens our being, while self-reservation makes us brittle. Our wholeness is enhanced each time we openly acknowledge our feelings and share our many secrets. The tears that often accompany self-disclosure, self-assessment, or the frustration of being "stuck" seem to shift whatever blocks we have put in our paths.
At each stage of our lives, we are preparing for yet another stage. Our growth patterns will vary, first in one direction, and then another. It's not easy to switch directions, but it's necessary. We can become vulnerable, accept the spiritual guidance offered by others and found within, and the transition from stage to stage will be smooth.
Tears shed on the rocky places of our lives can make tiny pebbles out of the boulders that block our paths. But we also need to let those tears wash away the blinders covering our eyes. Tears can help us see anew if we're willing to look straight ahead--clearly, openly, and with expectation of a better view.
Tears nurture the inner me. They soften my rootedness to old behavior. They lesson my resistance to new growth.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 11 - A Vision For You

On the third day the lawyer gave his life to the care and direction of his Creator, and said he was perfectly willing to do anything necessary. His wife came, scarcely daring to be hopeful, though she thought she saw something different about her husband already. He had begun to have a spiritual experience.
That afternoon he put on his clothes and walked from the hospital a free man. He entered a political campaign, making speeches, frequenting men’s gathering places of all sorts, often staying up all night. He lost the race by only a narrow margin. But he had found God—and in finding God had found himself.
That was in June, 1935. He never drank again. He too, has become a respected and useful member of his community. He has helped other men recover, and is a power in the church from which he was long absent.

p. 158

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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.

I will never forget the first meeting that I attended. There were five people present, including me. At one end of the table sat our community butcher. At the other side of the table sat one of the carpenters in our community, and at the farther end of the table sat the man who ran the bakery, while on one side sat my friend who was a mechanic. I recall, as I walked into that meeting, saying to myself, "Here I am, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a Fellow of the International College of Surgeons, a diplomatic of one of the great specialty boards in these United States, a member of the American Psychiatric Society, and I have to go to the butcher, the baker, and the carpenter to help make a man out of me!"

pp. 303-304

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Eight - "Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers."

We think the answer is "No. Members who select such full-time careers do not professionalize A.A.'s Twelfth Step." The road to this conclusion was long and rocky. At first, we couldn't see the real issue involved. In former days, the moment an A.A. hired out to such enterprises, he was immediately tempted to use the name Alcoholics Anonymous for publicity or money-raising purposes. Drunk farms, educational ventures, state legislatures, and commissions advertised the fact that A.A. members served them. Unthinkingly, A.A.'s so employed recklessly broke anonymity to thump the tub for their pet enterprise. For this reason, some very good causes and all connected with them suffered unjust criticism from A.A. groups. More often than not, these onslaughts were spearheaded by the cry "Professionalism! That guy is making money out of A.A.'s Twelfth Step work. The violation in these instances was not professionalism at all; it was breaking anonymity. A.A.'s sole purpose was being compromised, and the name of Alcoholics Anonymous was being misused.

p. 170

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Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice
melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to
evaporate.
--Dr. Albert Schweitzer (1875 - 1965)

Funny thing about kindness. The more it's used, the more you have of
it.
--unknown

Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: if
you're alive, it isn't.
--Richard Bach

Apologizing with words isn't the same thing as apologizing with
actions.
--Laura J.

You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.
--Oliver Goldsmith

"A hundredload of worry will not pay an ounce of debt."
--George Herbert

"Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another."
--Condorcet

"One had to take some action against fear when once it laid hold of
one."
--Rainer Maria Rilke

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

STYLE

"Style is the man himself."
-- Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon

Style is involved in Spirituality --- especially when it concerns the
recovering addict. Sobriety and serenity are not just seen in what we
say or do or in our ability to keep away from the first drink or pill ---
they are seen in our creative styles. How we feel about ourselves
should be seen in the confidence of our gait and the concern for
personal appearance. Personal hygiene is important because it
reflects a love of self. Physical health and exercise reveal a desire
and interest in life, fitness and energy.

Style may not make the man but it certainly reveals the man!

May I seek to reveal the beauty You gave me with my appearance
and style.

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Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 124 : 8

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all
circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
I Thessalonians 5:16-18

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever
humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven."
Matthew 18:3-4

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many
kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops
perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be
mature and complete, not lacking anything."
James 1:2-4

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Daily Inspiration

Worry gets in the way of getting what you really want. Lord, help me use my time in ways to enrich my life rather than focusing on things I can do nothing about anyway.

Great things happen when you believe and pray. Lord, grant me an amazing faith in life and the strength to meet its challenges.

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NA Just For Today

Gratitude

"Hopeless living problems have become joyously changed. Our disease has been arrested, and now anything is possible."
Basic Text p.102

The NA program has given us more freedom than we ever dreamed possible. Sometimes, though, in the daily routine, we lose track of how much we've been given. How, exactly, have our lives changed in Narcotics Anonymous?

The bottom line of recovery, of course, is freedom from the compulsion to use. No longer must we devote all our resources to feeding our addiction. No longer must we endanger, humiliate, or abuse ourselves or others just to get the next "fix". Abstinence itself has brought great freedom to our lives.

Narcotics Anonymous has given us much more than simple abstinence-we've been given a whole new life. We've taken our inventory and have identified the defects of character that bound us for so long, keeping us from living and enjoying life. We've surrendered those shortcomings, taken responsibility for them, and sought the direction and power we need to live differently. Our home group has given us the personal warmth and support that helps us continue living in recovery. And topping all this off, we have the love, care, and guidance of the God we've come to understand in NA.

In the course of day-to-day recovery, we sometimes forget how much our lives have changed in Narcotics Anonymous. Do we fully appreciate what our program has given us?

Just for today: Recovery has given me freedom. I will greet the day with hope, grateful that anything is possible today.
pg. 253

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
I'm a trader at heart. . . except that I don't like trades that come out equally--that's too much like borrowing. I'd rather trade a strong hand for a patient ear or a story for a meal: anything that keeps things turning over. --Gordon Bok
There is an old saying that there are just two kinds of people in the world: givers and takers. Those of us who are givers delight in it. We have a buck to lend when someone is broke, a kind word when they're down, a helping hand when they need it. But sometimes we givers are uncomfortable when we're on the receiving end. We brush off thanks and gifts and help, even when they're needed or deserved.
Those of us who are takers, on the other hand, know how to receive graciously what others have to give; we know how to ask for what we need. Often, however, we don't know how to give. We may be afraid our gifts will be wrong or rejected or laughed at.
We can all strive to become traders, people who have learned how to both give and receive. We each have the capacity to give what we have freely and to ask, gratefully, for what we don't have. That is the greatest gift of all.
What can I give and take today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
In the world to come they will not ask me, "Why were you not Moses?" They will ask me, "Why were you not Zusya?"
--Zusya of Hanipoli
We grow in the direction of the choices we make. That growth depends as much on how we make decisions as on which ones we make. Often in the past we tried to model ourselves after someone we admired. Our self-confidence was poor, so we depended on others to let us know if our decisions were correct, or we modeled our decisions on how we thought others would decide. Now we see that we can never become exactly like someone else and we need not try.
To each of us, God gives a creative task and a problem - to take our special abilities and limitations and become whole men. We use standards for our choices based on our best ideas of right and wrong, of what fits with our inner feelings, and of what our Higher Power is guiding us toward. Unfinished and imperfect as we are, we become more peaceful as we become more fully ourselves.
May I be true to myself in the choices I make today? I am becoming the man that I admire.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Tears are like rain. They loosen up our soil so we can grow in different directions. --Virginia Casey
Full self-expression softens our being, while self-reservation makes us brittle. Our wholeness is enhanced each time we openly acknowledge our feelings and share our many secrets. The tears that often accompany self-disclosure, self-assessment, or the frustration of being "stuck" seem to shift whatever blocks we have put in our paths.
At each stage of our lives, we are preparing for yet another stage. Our growth patterns will vary, first in one direction, and then another. It's not easy to switch directions, but it's necessary. We can become vulnerable, accept the spiritual guidance offered by others and found within, and the transition from stage to stage will be smooth.
Tears shed on the rocky places of our lives can make tiny pebbles out of the boulders that block our paths. But we also need to let those tears wash away the blinders covering our eyes. Tears can help us see anew if we're willing to look straight ahead--clearly, openly, and with expectation of a better view.
Tears nurture the inner me. They soften my rootedness to old behavior. They lesson my resistance to new growth.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Denial
I've been recovering many years. I've used denial many times. It has been a defense, a survival device, a coping behavior, and, at times, almost my undoing. It has been both a friend and an enemy.
When I was a child, I used denial to protect my family and myself. I protected myself from seeing things too painful to see and feelings too overwhelming to feel. Denial got me safely through many traumatic situations, when I had no other resources for survival.
The negative aspect of using denial was that I lost touch with my feelings and myself. I became able to participate in harmful situations without even knowing I was hurting. I was able to tolerate a great deal of pain and abuse without the foggiest notion it was abnormal.
I learned to participate in my own abuse.
Denial protected me from pain, but it also rendered me blind to my feelings, my needs, and myself. It was like a thick blanket that covered and smothered me.
Eventually, I began to recover. I had a glimpse of awareness about my pain, my feelings, and my behaviors. I began to see myself, and the world, as we were. There was so much denial from my past that had the blanket been entirely ripped from me. I would have died from the shock of exposure. I needed to embrace insights, remembrances, awareness, and healing gently, gradually.
Life participated in this process with me. It is a gentle teacher. As I recovered, I was brought to the incidents and people I needed in order to remind me of what I was still denying, to tell me where I required more healing from my past, as I could handle these insights.
I still use, and break through, denial--as needed. When the winds of change blow through, upsetting a familiar structure and preparing me for the new, I pick up my blanket and hide, for a while. Sometimes, when someone I love has a problem, I hide under the blanket, momentarily. Memories emerge of things denied, memories that need to be remembered, felt, and accepted so I can continue to become healed - strong and healthy.
Sometimes, I feel ashamed about how long it takes me to struggle through to acceptance of reality. I feel embarrassed when I find myself again clouded by the fog of denial.
Then something happens, and I see that I am moving forward. The experience was necessary, connected, not at all a mistake, but an important part of healing.
It's an exciting process, this journey called recovery, but I understand I may sometimes use denial to help me get through the rough spots. I'm also aware that denial is a friend, and an enemy. I'm on the alert for danger signs: those cloudy, confused feelings . . . sluggish energy . . . feeling compulsive . . . running too fast or hard . . . avoiding support mechanisms.
I've gained a healthy respect for our need to use denial as a blanket to wrap ourselves in when we become too cold. It isn't my job to run around ripping people's blankets off or shaming others for using the blanket. Shaming makes them colder, makes them wrap themselves more tightly in the blanket. Yanking their blanket away is dangerous. They could die of exposure, the same way I could have.
I've learned the best thing I can do around people who are wrapped in this blanket is to make them feel warm and safe. The warmer and safer they feel, the more able they are to drop their blanket. I don't have to support or encourage their denial. I can be direct. If others are in denial about a particular thing, and their activity is harmful to me, I don't have to be around them. I can wish them will and take care of myself. You see, if I stand too long around someone who is harming me, I will inevitably pick up my blanket again.
I tend to be attracted to warm people. When I'm around warm people, I don't need to use my blanket.
I've gained respect for creating warm environments, where blankets are not needed, or at least not needed for long. I've gained trust in the way people heal from and deal with life.
God, help me be open to and trust the process that is healing me from all I have denied from my past. Help me strive for awareness and acceptance, but also help me practice gentleness and compassion for myself--and others--for those times I have used denial.


Today I respect my body, mind and spirit and I am taking care of all three. I am gentle and nurturing, putting my needs first. Only then can I be well enough to help others with their needs. --Ruth Fishel

*****

Journey to the Heart
Serve Gently from Your Heart

Service. Gentle service that comes from the heart. That's the theme, the rhythm of life, work, love. See the trees, the grass, the flowers, the mountains, the ocean. Look and really see. See how effortlessly they serve. Their very life is service. Know that your life,too, is service. Let service arise naturally from your life.

Commit to your growth, to loving yourself and following your heart. Commit to joy, passion, gratitude for your life and all your lessons. Commit to honestly sharing and expressing who you are, what you feel, what you're going through.

Don't worry about what you will do to serve. Focus instead on loving yourself. Let your service arise from that, acts that spring from desire, joy, and inspiration. Cherish your life. It's a gift not just to yourself, but to others. To the entire universe.

Each star shines its light down from the heavens, making up the twinkling galaxy of the Milky Way. Each star is important and serves by playing its part-- naturally, gently, by being what it is. You too have a part to play in the universe. Your part is to serve others by being yourself.

Service is your path. Let service spring gently, naturally, from who you are. Radiate your gifts to the world by loving and sharing yourself.

*****

more language of letting go
Be a good guest

Guests come and go at the Blue Sky Lodge. Sometimes a sky diver comes to the drop zone for the weekend from a nearby town and needs a place to shower and sleep for one evening. Often, people come from around the world to train and jump at Skydive Elsinore, and it is a particular pleasure to offer our international friends a bed, showers, and the amenities of the Lodge.

Martin was one such guest.

After spending years in the military, he decided to have some fun with what he had learned. He now recruits skydiving trainees from the United Kingdom and plans training excursions at Lake Elsinore, staying for several weeks at a time. He frequently brings his wife with him, but occasionally comes here alone. On one such solo visit, we invited him to stay at the Blue Sky Lodge and were thrilled when he accepted our invitation.

All Blue Sky Lodge guests are told the same thing: Make yourself at home. The pool, hot tub, miniature golf course, DVD player, stereo, showers, food, beverages, books, prayer room, stunning mountain view, musical instruments, and contents of the refrigerator are here for your enjoyment. Help yourself!

"Martin was a good guest," Chip commented recently. "He swam, used the hot tub, ran, and sat outside and enjoyed the view."

I agreed. It gave us both pleasure to see Martin make himself at home and enjoy the gifts the Lodge has to offer. He was respectful and grateful-- a delightful humble air-- but he was also confident, and confidently enjoyed the pleasures and gifts available and offered to him.

What kind of a guest are you? Are you making yourself at home on this planet, whatever the circumstances you find yourself in? Are you taking delight and pleasure in the gifts and moments available to you, each day? Or are you sitting uncomfortably on the edge of a straight-backed chair, wondering if it's okay to help yourself?

We each have different gifts and pleasures available to us at any given time in our lives. Sometimes, we have to look to see what these gifts are. The pleasures may be as simple as a view of an old oak tree from our kitchen window, a big bath tub that fills up with hot water and comforts our body and soul, or a walk around the city block surrounding the apartment we rent.

Sometimes, the best way to say thanks is to simply enjoy with humble confidence the gifts and pleasures that are offered to us today.

Are you a good guest? Make yourself at home. It's your world,too.

God, teach me how to enjoy and savor the pleasures, gifts, and talents that are spread out before me. Help me learn to make myself at home, wherever I find myself today.

*****

Healing Your Sole
Self-reflexology by Madisyn Taylor

Exploring our feet through self-reflexology can be an easy and free way to support our mind, body and spirit.

Our feet are home to literally thousands of nerve endings and almost seventy acupuncture points, which is why foot reflexology is so effective. By massaging and stimulating specific areas on the soles of our feet, we can provide general support for our entire body, improve sleep patterns, increase physical and mental wellbeing and also alleviate chronic conditions such as sinusitis and digestive upset. Although it is wonderful to work with an experienced foot reflexologist whenever possible, we can also develop a practice of treating ourselves to a self-reflexology treatment if we take some time for this purpose before we begin our day or in the evening to relax before going to bed.

There are a number of different ways to work the soles of your feet, including walking barefoot on river stones, rolling each foot over a golf or tennis ball, or just using your fingers and hands to massage your feet. When starting a reflexology session, it’s a good idea to begin with loosening up your ankles – rotate each foot clockwise then counterclockwise about ten times. You might also want to pinch the end of your toes, which can increase circulation and drainage in your sinuses and stimulate your pituitary and pineal glands. Then you can begin massaging the ball of your foot, the arch, and the heel. If you find that an area is tender, it may indicate some distress or dysfunction occurring in the corresponding area of the body. You may want to explore what is going on with that organ or system.

Whether we are able to spend just a few minutes a day on this kind of self-care or a full half hour, our efforts are never wasted. By taking responsibility for our own health and taking time every day to connect with our body, we can not only assist our body in letting go of stress and dysfunction, but we can also continue to support an ongoing sense of wellness and vitality. Published with permission from Daily OM

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

From time to time, I begin to think I know what God’s will is for other people, I say to myself, “This person ought to be cured of his terminal illness,” or “That one ought to be freed from the torment she’s going through,” and I begin to pray for those specific things. My heart is in the right place when I pray in such fashion, but those prayers are based on the supposition that I know God’s will for the person for whom I pray, I out to pray that God’s will — whatever it is — be done for others as well as for myself. Will I remember that God is ready to befriend me, but only to the degree that I trust him?

Today I Pray

I praise God for the chance to help others. I thank God also for making me want to help others, for taking me out of my tower of self so that I can meet and share with and care about people. “Teach me to pray that “Thy Will be done” in the spirit of love, which God inspires in me.

Today I Pray

I will put my trust in the will of God.

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One More Day

A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally…
– Eleanor Roosevelt

Many of us are will aware of how easily tempers flare or tears can flow when we face an unexpected problem or situation. Perhaps illness contributes to this sensitivity, but we might also consider whether we’ve become more rigid. Are we holding too tightly to absolutes, wanting to have almost everything? Has coping with unpredictable illnesses driven us to seek predictability in other areas of our lives?

Maturity often means letting go of the need to control. We also find greater peace by allowing ourselves to be unprepared for people and events we can’t prepare for. There are no absolutes, and we don’t have to live as though there were.

I will be willing to consider new ideas.

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Food For Thought

Accepting Guidelines

Some of us have gone through life thinking that we did not need to follow any guidelines. Somehow, we got the idea that special circumstances placed us above the rules. We looked for shortcuts and rebelled against the tedium of discipline. Considering ourselves exceptional, we decided to make our own guidelines. These were usually based on doing what we felt like when we felt like it.

When we get to OA, we may spend a short or a long time experimenting with the program, adjusting it to suit ourselves. Sooner or later, we discover that our adjustments do not work. The OA program works, provided we follow the rules and work it as it is, not as we might like it to be.

Once we accept the rules at a gut level, they lead us out of negative restraint into positive freedom. By following a few simple guidelines, we become free from slavery to compulsive overeating and self-centered confusion.

Thank You for Your guidelines.

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One Day At A Time

Friendship
"The ideal friendship is between good people,
and people who share the same virtues.
Leading a good life for the sake of friends,
is the utmost of friendship itself."
Aristotle

When I first came into recovery I had no idea how to be a friend. I thought that people liked me because of what I did for them, what I gave them, and how nice I was to them. It never occurred to me that being a friend could mean taking care of myself. I didn’t realize that friendship also consists of holding fast to my program no matter what, being gently honest to others in all things, being loyal to my group, and being true to my program and to myself. But the part that escaped me the most was that there were those who counted me as a friend just because I am me.

One Day at a Time . . .
I will be a friend by being loyal to myself, my program and my ideals.
~ Judy N.

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God. - Pg. 46 - We Agnostics

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Are you angry or about to get angry? We have learned that only one thing causes anger: not getting what we think we want, need, or deserve. Whether it is attention, money, respect, sex, admiration, things, or security, it means not getting what we think is our just deserts.

As I do what I know is right in any given situation, anger will be replaced with a reliance on my Spiritual Source and that source will provide what I need.

Keeping My Soles in the Room

I will get myself to a meeting today. I won 't go to hear anything life altering or to say anything brilliant. I will just go to keep my soles in the room knowing that my soul will somehow follow, even if I cannot fully see it. I will go to gather my senses, to hear what I hear, to get them emotional or limbic balance that comes when I sit with others like me in a room that is dedicated to telling the truth in a calm way. My limbic or emotional system is balanced by other humans 'read mammals' like me through a phenomenon called limbic resonance. When I sit with a room of calm people my nervous system calms, too. I actually repattern my neurological wiring in this way, I develop pathways for experiencing my emotions calmly by being around others who are doing that.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Relapse is part of recovery: NOT! What the fellowships say is keep coming back SOBER.- Members warn of the very real danger of that last relapse: stepping in front of a car or bus, overdosing, being institutionalized, and death! The truth is, any relapse can be your last. Never kid yourself, relapse is part of the disease process, not part of our recovery process.

I do not help people work on their recovery by OKing working on their disease. OK.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

It's not what you get from a meeting, it's what you take to a meeting.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I respect my body, mind and spirit and am taking care of all three.

I am gentle and nurturing, putting my needs first. Only then can I be well enough to help others with their needs.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I've had some lousy days sober. Some-down-in-the-dirt, drooling-on-myself, miserable low-life ugly days sober - But I've had fifteen and a half wonderful years. - Earl H.

*****************************************

AA Thought for the Day

August 31

Rule #62
"Don't take yourself too **** seriously."
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 149

But we aren't a glum lot.
If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn't want it.
We absolutely insist on enjoying life.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 132

Thought to Ponder . . .
Take time to laugh -- it is the music of the soul.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
T L C = Tears, Laughter, Caring.

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

A New World
"We have entered the world of the Spirit.
Our next function is to grow in understanding
and effectiveness.
This is not an overnight matter.
It should continue for our lifetime.
Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty,
resentment, and fear.
When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them.
We discuss them with someone immediately
and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone.
Then we resolutely turn our thoughts
to someone we can help."
1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 84

Thought to Consider . . .
Within our wonderful new world,
we have found freedom from our fatal obsession.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F I T = Faith, Intuition, and Trust

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

Pathway
>From "He Had Been Listening":
"In thinking all this over, it finally became obvious to me that the God I thought had judged and damned me had done nothing of the sort. He had been listening, and in His own good time His answer came. His answer was threefold: the opportunity for a life of sobriety; Twelve Steps to practice, in order to attain and maintain that life of sobriety; fellowship within the program, ever ready to sustain and help me each twenty-four- hour day.
"St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada"
1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg. 11

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

"My past sobriety is not a ticket to future sobriety. I have to pay that fare and make the decision to recover daily."
AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1953
"A Fragment of History: Origin of the Twelve Steps"
The Language of the Heart

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

"Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the
past. We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out
of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we
haven't the will to do this, we ask until it comes. Remember it was
agreed at the beginning we would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg.76~

"We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: 'Once an
alcoholic, always an alcoholic.' Commencing to drink after a period
of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 33~

"If you both show a willingness to remedy your own defects, there will be little need to criticize each other."
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 118 (To Wives)

"To escape looking at the wrongs we have done another, we resentfully focus on the wrong he has done us."
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 78 (Step Eight)

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Many newcomers, having experienced little but constant deflation, feel a growing conviction that human will is of no value whatever. They have become persuaded, sometimes rightly so, that many problems besides alcohol will not yield to a headlong assault powered only by the individual's will.
However, there are certain things which the individual alone can do. All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs to develop the quality of willingness. When he acquires willingness, he is the only one who can then make the decision to exert himself along spiritual lines. Trying to do this is actually an act of his own will. It is a right use of this faculty.
Indeed, all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps require our sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to God's will.

Prayer for the Day: Tomorrow is yet to be, but should God grant me another day, the hope, courage, and strength, through the working of the Twelve Steps and the Serenity Prayer, I shall be sufficiently provided for to meet my every need. This I believe.

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