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09-12-2007, 01:50 PM
Daily Reflections
REPAIRING THE DAMAGE
Good judgment, careful sense of timing, courage and prudence -
these are the qualities we shall need when we take Step Nine.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 83
To make amends can be viewed two ways: first, that of repairing
damage, for if I have damaged my neighbor's fence, I "make a mend,"
and that is a direct amend; the second way is by modifying my
behavior, for if my actions have harmed someone. I make a daily
effort to cause no further harm. I "mend my ways," and that is
an indirect amend. Which is the best approach? The only right
approach, provided that I am causing no further harm in so doing,
is to do both. If harm is done, then I simply "mend my ways."
To take action in this manner assures me of making honest amends.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
"No one is too discredited, nor has sunk too low, to be welcomed
cordially into A.A., if he or she means business. Social
distinctions, petty rivalries and jealousies are laughed out of
countenance. Being wrecked in the same vessel, being restored
and united under one God, with hearts and minds attuned to the
welfare of others, the things which matter so much to some people
no longer signify much to us. In A.A., we have true democracy and
true brotherhood."
Meditation For The Day
When you call on God in prayer to help you overcome weakness,
sorrow, pain, discord, and conflict, God never fails in some way
to answer the appeal. When you are in need of strength for yourself
or for the help of some other person, call on God in prayer. The
power you need will come simply, naturally, and forcefully. Pray
to God not only when you need help, but also just to commune
with Him. The spirit of prayer can alter an atmosphere from one
of discord to one of reconciliation. It will raise the quality of
thought and word and bring order out of chaos.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may bring peace where these is discord.
I pray that I may bring conciliation where these is conflict.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Righteous Indignation, p. 58
"The positive value of righteous indignation is theoretical--especially
for alcoholics. It leaves every one of us open to the rationalization
that we may be as angry as we like provided we can claim to be
righteous about it."
<< << << >> >> >>
When we harbored grudges and planned revenge for defeats, we
were really beating ourselves with the club of anger we had intended
to use on others. We learned that if we were seriously disturbed, our
very first need was to quiet that disturbance, regardless of who or
what we thought caused it.
1. Letter, 1954
2. 12 & 12, p. 47
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Learning to Cut my Losses
Honesty
Business people speak of “cutting their losses” when it becomes clear that a venture is going sour. As recovering alcoholics, we need to practice the same principle when we’re obviously on the wrong track.
If a resentment is developing, for example, the sooner we spot it and clear it out, the less damage we suffer. In the same way, we may be engaging in selfish but destructive behavior, or perhaps something that borders on being illicit or dishonest. We minimize our losses by admitting the wrong and getting back to our basic principles of living.
In cutting our losses, the usual barriers are pride and self-deception. While these shortcomings will probably always dog us, we at least have experience in dealing with them, or we wouldn't have made any progress in sobriety.
If a course of thought or action isn't working out well, perhaps it’s time today to cut my loses in order to get back on the right track.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
People seldom improve when they have no model but themselves to copy.---Oliver Goldsmith
If we had to get well by ourselves, we’d be in trouble. We’ve already tried this route. We need to learn a new way to live, not the old way we already know.
That’s why we have sponsors in Twelve Step programs. Sponsors are one of the best things about our recovery. We pick people who are happy and doing well in recovery. Then we copy them. We copy them because sponsors are special people who have what we want. They have sobriety. They have happiness. They have common sense. They have peace and serenity. And they will help us get those things too. We learn a new way to live from them.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me pick good models. Help me copy what works for them.
Action for the Day: If I don’t have a sponsor now, I’ll work today on getting one.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
SAFE HAVEN - This A.A. found that the process of discovering who he really was began with knowing who he didn't want to be.
It was a beautiful September weekend just before Labor Day. I made the decision to buy a case of beer and a bottle of wine. Later in the evening I drank whiskey on top of the beer and wine, blacked out, committed a drunken crime, was arrested, and within ten days was convicted and sentenced to twenty years in prison. I guess an alcoholic death can come in much the same way: I drink, I black out, I die. At least with prison I would have another chance at life somewhere down the line.
pp. 455-456
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Seven - "Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions."
Despite these misgivings, we had to recognize the fact that A.A. had to function. Meeting places cost something. To save whole areas from turmoil, small offices had to be set up, telephones installed, and a few full-time secretaries hired. Over many protests, these things were accomplished. We saw that if they weren't, the man coming in the door couldn't get a break. These simple services would require small sums of money which we could and would pay ourselves. At last the pendulum stopped swinging and pointed straight at Tradition Seven as it reads today.
pp. 161-162
************************************************** *********
None of us has gotten where we are solely by pulling ourselves up
from our own bootstraps. We got here because somebody bent down
and helped us.
--Thurgood Marshall
Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The
second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.
--Henry James
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used
when we created them."
--Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
"Listen or Thy tongue will keep Thee deaf."
--American Indian Proverb
Rather than regretting that I wasted half of my life drinking, I am
just grateful that God has given me the rare opportunity to live two
lives in one lifetime.
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
MINORITY
"The greatest good of a minority
of our generation may be the
greatest good for the greatest
number of people in the long
run."
-- Oliver Wendell Homes, Jr.
I belong to a minority. I am a recovering alcoholic. I use a spiritual
program that keeps me sober a day at a time. I have a God that I can
understand today. I do a daily inventory and make amends when
appropriate, and I feel good about myself.
This spiritual program is reaching out to the world: gamblers,
overeaters, cocaine addicts, the families of addicts, the children of
compulsive people; obsessive people can all be helped by this daily
program of acceptance.
Perhaps the recovering drunk has stumbled upon a miracle that can
bring the world back to God!
Lord, the more I talk about my "difference" with people, the more
they and I feel the same.
************************************************** *********
"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit
lead me on a level path."
Psalm 143:10
"You have let me sink down deep in desperate problems. But you will
bring me back to life again, up from the depths of the earth!"
Psalms 71:20
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Talent is the ability to do easily that which others find difficult. Lord, help me to recognize and value the abilities that I have been given and use them gratefully.
Simple trust in God is all that is required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Lord, I love You. I trust in You. I am Your child.
REPAIRING THE DAMAGE
Good judgment, careful sense of timing, courage and prudence -
these are the qualities we shall need when we take Step Nine.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 83
To make amends can be viewed two ways: first, that of repairing
damage, for if I have damaged my neighbor's fence, I "make a mend,"
and that is a direct amend; the second way is by modifying my
behavior, for if my actions have harmed someone. I make a daily
effort to cause no further harm. I "mend my ways," and that is
an indirect amend. Which is the best approach? The only right
approach, provided that I am causing no further harm in so doing,
is to do both. If harm is done, then I simply "mend my ways."
To take action in this manner assures me of making honest amends.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
"No one is too discredited, nor has sunk too low, to be welcomed
cordially into A.A., if he or she means business. Social
distinctions, petty rivalries and jealousies are laughed out of
countenance. Being wrecked in the same vessel, being restored
and united under one God, with hearts and minds attuned to the
welfare of others, the things which matter so much to some people
no longer signify much to us. In A.A., we have true democracy and
true brotherhood."
Meditation For The Day
When you call on God in prayer to help you overcome weakness,
sorrow, pain, discord, and conflict, God never fails in some way
to answer the appeal. When you are in need of strength for yourself
or for the help of some other person, call on God in prayer. The
power you need will come simply, naturally, and forcefully. Pray
to God not only when you need help, but also just to commune
with Him. The spirit of prayer can alter an atmosphere from one
of discord to one of reconciliation. It will raise the quality of
thought and word and bring order out of chaos.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may bring peace where these is discord.
I pray that I may bring conciliation where these is conflict.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Righteous Indignation, p. 58
"The positive value of righteous indignation is theoretical--especially
for alcoholics. It leaves every one of us open to the rationalization
that we may be as angry as we like provided we can claim to be
righteous about it."
<< << << >> >> >>
When we harbored grudges and planned revenge for defeats, we
were really beating ourselves with the club of anger we had intended
to use on others. We learned that if we were seriously disturbed, our
very first need was to quiet that disturbance, regardless of who or
what we thought caused it.
1. Letter, 1954
2. 12 & 12, p. 47
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Learning to Cut my Losses
Honesty
Business people speak of “cutting their losses” when it becomes clear that a venture is going sour. As recovering alcoholics, we need to practice the same principle when we’re obviously on the wrong track.
If a resentment is developing, for example, the sooner we spot it and clear it out, the less damage we suffer. In the same way, we may be engaging in selfish but destructive behavior, or perhaps something that borders on being illicit or dishonest. We minimize our losses by admitting the wrong and getting back to our basic principles of living.
In cutting our losses, the usual barriers are pride and self-deception. While these shortcomings will probably always dog us, we at least have experience in dealing with them, or we wouldn't have made any progress in sobriety.
If a course of thought or action isn't working out well, perhaps it’s time today to cut my loses in order to get back on the right track.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
People seldom improve when they have no model but themselves to copy.---Oliver Goldsmith
If we had to get well by ourselves, we’d be in trouble. We’ve already tried this route. We need to learn a new way to live, not the old way we already know.
That’s why we have sponsors in Twelve Step programs. Sponsors are one of the best things about our recovery. We pick people who are happy and doing well in recovery. Then we copy them. We copy them because sponsors are special people who have what we want. They have sobriety. They have happiness. They have common sense. They have peace and serenity. And they will help us get those things too. We learn a new way to live from them.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me pick good models. Help me copy what works for them.
Action for the Day: If I don’t have a sponsor now, I’ll work today on getting one.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
SAFE HAVEN - This A.A. found that the process of discovering who he really was began with knowing who he didn't want to be.
It was a beautiful September weekend just before Labor Day. I made the decision to buy a case of beer and a bottle of wine. Later in the evening I drank whiskey on top of the beer and wine, blacked out, committed a drunken crime, was arrested, and within ten days was convicted and sentenced to twenty years in prison. I guess an alcoholic death can come in much the same way: I drink, I black out, I die. At least with prison I would have another chance at life somewhere down the line.
pp. 455-456
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Seven - "Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions."
Despite these misgivings, we had to recognize the fact that A.A. had to function. Meeting places cost something. To save whole areas from turmoil, small offices had to be set up, telephones installed, and a few full-time secretaries hired. Over many protests, these things were accomplished. We saw that if they weren't, the man coming in the door couldn't get a break. These simple services would require small sums of money which we could and would pay ourselves. At last the pendulum stopped swinging and pointed straight at Tradition Seven as it reads today.
pp. 161-162
************************************************** *********
None of us has gotten where we are solely by pulling ourselves up
from our own bootstraps. We got here because somebody bent down
and helped us.
--Thurgood Marshall
Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The
second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.
--Henry James
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used
when we created them."
--Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
"Listen or Thy tongue will keep Thee deaf."
--American Indian Proverb
Rather than regretting that I wasted half of my life drinking, I am
just grateful that God has given me the rare opportunity to live two
lives in one lifetime.
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
MINORITY
"The greatest good of a minority
of our generation may be the
greatest good for the greatest
number of people in the long
run."
-- Oliver Wendell Homes, Jr.
I belong to a minority. I am a recovering alcoholic. I use a spiritual
program that keeps me sober a day at a time. I have a God that I can
understand today. I do a daily inventory and make amends when
appropriate, and I feel good about myself.
This spiritual program is reaching out to the world: gamblers,
overeaters, cocaine addicts, the families of addicts, the children of
compulsive people; obsessive people can all be helped by this daily
program of acceptance.
Perhaps the recovering drunk has stumbled upon a miracle that can
bring the world back to God!
Lord, the more I talk about my "difference" with people, the more
they and I feel the same.
************************************************** *********
"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit
lead me on a level path."
Psalm 143:10
"You have let me sink down deep in desperate problems. But you will
bring me back to life again, up from the depths of the earth!"
Psalms 71:20
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Talent is the ability to do easily that which others find difficult. Lord, help me to recognize and value the abilities that I have been given and use them gratefully.
Simple trust in God is all that is required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Lord, I love You. I trust in You. I am Your child.