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01-10-2008, 04:06 PM
Daily Reflections
THE 100% STEP
Only Step One, where we made the 100 percent admission we were
powerless over alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 68
Long before I was able to obtain sobriety in A.A., I knew without a
doubt that alcohol was killing me, yet even with this knowledge, I was
unable to stop drinking. So, when faced with Step One, I found it
easy to admit that I lacked the power to not drink. But was my life
unmanageable? Never! Five months after coming into A.A., I was
drinking again and wondered why.
Later on, back in A.A. and smarting from my wounds, I learned that
Step One is the only Step that can be taken 100%. And that the only
way to take it 100% is to take 100% of the Step. That was many
twenty-four hours ago and I haven't had to take Step One again.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When we were drinking, most of us never thought of helping others.
We liked to buy drinks for people, because that made us feel like big
shots. But we only used others for our own pleasure. To really go out
and try to help somebody who needed help never occurred to us. To
us, helping others looked like a sucker's game. But when we came
into A.A., we began to try to help others. And we found out that helping
others made us happy and also helped us to stay sober. Have I learned that
there is happiness in helping others?
Meditation For The Day
I will pray only for strength and that God's will be done. I will use
God's unlimited store of strength for my needs. I will seek God's will
for me. I will strive for consciousness of God's presence, for He is the
light of the world. I have become a pilgrim, who needs only marching
orders and strength and guidance for this day.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may seek God's guidance day by day. I pray that I may
strive to abide in God's presence.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Honesty And Recovery, p.270
In taking an inventory, a member might consider questions such as
these:
How did my selfish pursuit of the sex relation damage other
people and me? What people were hurt, and how badly? Just how
did I react at the time? Did I burn with guilt? Or did I insist that I
was the pursued and not the pursuer, and thus absolve myself?
How have I reacted to frustration in sexual matters? When
denied, did I become vengeful or depressed? Did I take it out on
other people? If there was rejection, or coldness at home, did I
use this as a reason for promiscuity?
*******************************
Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family
back. His recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent
upon his relationship with God, however he may define Him.
1. 12 & 12 ,pp. 50-51
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 99-100
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
BEING DOWN
Overcoming Depression
It would be difficult to find a group of people more subject to mood swings than alcoholics. While we were drinking, most of us were not perceptive enough to realize most of us were not perceptive enough to realize that our moods rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern. We did not mind being "up," but it distressed us greatly when we were "down." Alcohol was the "upper" most of us took when we were depressed.
In sobriety, there is usually no chemical "upper" that's safe to take for any of our down moods. Some of us have been helped by vitamins or by inspirational reading. But most of us simply have to RIDE OUT our down moods, doing the best we can until things are on the upswing again. In spite of being down, we do not have to drink.
Whatever the causes of mood swings, we can live with them, and we do not need any mood-altering drugs to see us through a down period. Our depression will pass, and we might even notice its hold lessening as we continue to grow in sobriety.
I will accept my feelings today, and I will not be disturbed if my mood seems somewhat low. This, too, will pass away.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
If there is a harder way of doing something, someone will find it.---Ralph E. Ross
When we used alcohol or other drugs, we did most things the hard way. We could turn a simple task into a day-long project. We could turn a simple problem into an argument. We were creative giants in doing things the hard way! we need to change this. We deserve easier lives. It's okay to take the smooth road .
In our program ,We have slogans for this: Keep It Simple, Let Go and Let God, First Things First, and Easy Does It. These slogans remind us that it's okay to live with as little trouble as possible.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, show me how to live a simple life. I don't have to do everything the hard way if I listen better to You.
Action for the Day: I'll list three or four things I do that makes my life harder than it needs to be. I'll share them with a friend.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
A VISION OF RECOVERY - A feeble prayer forged a lasting connection with a Higher Power for this Mic-Mac Indian.
I can remember only one good thing that happened during this time. As my mother lay dying, I talked to her in Mic-Mac language. She seemed so happy, and she told me that it sounded beautiful to hear me speaking Mic-Mac. I cherish this memory.
p. 496
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."
Before tackling the inventory problem in detail, let's have a closer look at what the basic problem is. Simple examples like the following take on a world of meaning when we think about them. Suppose a person places sex desire ahead of everything else. In such a case, this imperious urge can destroy his chances for material and emotional security as well as his standing in the community. Another may develop such an obsession for financial security that he wants to do nothing but hoard money. Going to the extreme, he can become a miser, or even a recluse who denies himself both family and friends.
p. 43
************************************************** *********
"Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every
time we fall." --Ralph Waldo Emerson
"All I need to know I learned from my cat." --Suzy Becker
Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing
peace, abolishing strife. --Kahlil Gibran
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when
you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in
the spirit of love. --Henry Drummond
I know and trust that God cares for me, and takes care of all my
needs. --Shelley
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PHILOSOPHY
"To teach men how to live without
certainty and yet without being
paralyzed by hesitation is perhaps
the chief thing philosophy can do."
-- Bertrand Russell
I suppose the "Twelve Steps" are a practical philosophy of how to
live positively with the disease of alcoholism: (a) Don't drink. (b) Find
a God in your life that is understandable. (c) Begin to make positive
choices in attitudes and behaviors. (d) Let "never forget" be an
essential part of the message.
The miracle of this philosophy is that it reaches out to so many who
suffer with addictive compulsions and teaches us how to live with
being imperfect. I believe the Twelve Steps are the answer to "The
Fall" of man --- we are going home to God.
Let me see beyond the logic to Your loving energy.
************************************************** *********
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just
as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord. Colossians 3:16
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Look beyond a person's faults so that you can see the real person. Lord, may I learn to focus on the goodness that is in each person and love them because all are your children.
The moment of absolute certainty over decisions made never arrives, so make your decision and move on. Lord, grant me wisdom and confidence in making my choices and the ability to recognize when new decisions need to be made.
THE 100% STEP
Only Step One, where we made the 100 percent admission we were
powerless over alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 68
Long before I was able to obtain sobriety in A.A., I knew without a
doubt that alcohol was killing me, yet even with this knowledge, I was
unable to stop drinking. So, when faced with Step One, I found it
easy to admit that I lacked the power to not drink. But was my life
unmanageable? Never! Five months after coming into A.A., I was
drinking again and wondered why.
Later on, back in A.A. and smarting from my wounds, I learned that
Step One is the only Step that can be taken 100%. And that the only
way to take it 100% is to take 100% of the Step. That was many
twenty-four hours ago and I haven't had to take Step One again.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When we were drinking, most of us never thought of helping others.
We liked to buy drinks for people, because that made us feel like big
shots. But we only used others for our own pleasure. To really go out
and try to help somebody who needed help never occurred to us. To
us, helping others looked like a sucker's game. But when we came
into A.A., we began to try to help others. And we found out that helping
others made us happy and also helped us to stay sober. Have I learned that
there is happiness in helping others?
Meditation For The Day
I will pray only for strength and that God's will be done. I will use
God's unlimited store of strength for my needs. I will seek God's will
for me. I will strive for consciousness of God's presence, for He is the
light of the world. I have become a pilgrim, who needs only marching
orders and strength and guidance for this day.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may seek God's guidance day by day. I pray that I may
strive to abide in God's presence.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Honesty And Recovery, p.270
In taking an inventory, a member might consider questions such as
these:
How did my selfish pursuit of the sex relation damage other
people and me? What people were hurt, and how badly? Just how
did I react at the time? Did I burn with guilt? Or did I insist that I
was the pursued and not the pursuer, and thus absolve myself?
How have I reacted to frustration in sexual matters? When
denied, did I become vengeful or depressed? Did I take it out on
other people? If there was rejection, or coldness at home, did I
use this as a reason for promiscuity?
*******************************
Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family
back. His recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent
upon his relationship with God, however he may define Him.
1. 12 & 12 ,pp. 50-51
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 99-100
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
BEING DOWN
Overcoming Depression
It would be difficult to find a group of people more subject to mood swings than alcoholics. While we were drinking, most of us were not perceptive enough to realize most of us were not perceptive enough to realize that our moods rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern. We did not mind being "up," but it distressed us greatly when we were "down." Alcohol was the "upper" most of us took when we were depressed.
In sobriety, there is usually no chemical "upper" that's safe to take for any of our down moods. Some of us have been helped by vitamins or by inspirational reading. But most of us simply have to RIDE OUT our down moods, doing the best we can until things are on the upswing again. In spite of being down, we do not have to drink.
Whatever the causes of mood swings, we can live with them, and we do not need any mood-altering drugs to see us through a down period. Our depression will pass, and we might even notice its hold lessening as we continue to grow in sobriety.
I will accept my feelings today, and I will not be disturbed if my mood seems somewhat low. This, too, will pass away.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
If there is a harder way of doing something, someone will find it.---Ralph E. Ross
When we used alcohol or other drugs, we did most things the hard way. We could turn a simple task into a day-long project. We could turn a simple problem into an argument. We were creative giants in doing things the hard way! we need to change this. We deserve easier lives. It's okay to take the smooth road .
In our program ,We have slogans for this: Keep It Simple, Let Go and Let God, First Things First, and Easy Does It. These slogans remind us that it's okay to live with as little trouble as possible.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, show me how to live a simple life. I don't have to do everything the hard way if I listen better to You.
Action for the Day: I'll list three or four things I do that makes my life harder than it needs to be. I'll share them with a friend.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
A VISION OF RECOVERY - A feeble prayer forged a lasting connection with a Higher Power for this Mic-Mac Indian.
I can remember only one good thing that happened during this time. As my mother lay dying, I talked to her in Mic-Mac language. She seemed so happy, and she told me that it sounded beautiful to hear me speaking Mic-Mac. I cherish this memory.
p. 496
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."
Before tackling the inventory problem in detail, let's have a closer look at what the basic problem is. Simple examples like the following take on a world of meaning when we think about them. Suppose a person places sex desire ahead of everything else. In such a case, this imperious urge can destroy his chances for material and emotional security as well as his standing in the community. Another may develop such an obsession for financial security that he wants to do nothing but hoard money. Going to the extreme, he can become a miser, or even a recluse who denies himself both family and friends.
p. 43
************************************************** *********
"Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every
time we fall." --Ralph Waldo Emerson
"All I need to know I learned from my cat." --Suzy Becker
Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing
peace, abolishing strife. --Kahlil Gibran
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when
you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in
the spirit of love. --Henry Drummond
I know and trust that God cares for me, and takes care of all my
needs. --Shelley
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PHILOSOPHY
"To teach men how to live without
certainty and yet without being
paralyzed by hesitation is perhaps
the chief thing philosophy can do."
-- Bertrand Russell
I suppose the "Twelve Steps" are a practical philosophy of how to
live positively with the disease of alcoholism: (a) Don't drink. (b) Find
a God in your life that is understandable. (c) Begin to make positive
choices in attitudes and behaviors. (d) Let "never forget" be an
essential part of the message.
The miracle of this philosophy is that it reaches out to so many who
suffer with addictive compulsions and teaches us how to live with
being imperfect. I believe the Twelve Steps are the answer to "The
Fall" of man --- we are going home to God.
Let me see beyond the logic to Your loving energy.
************************************************** *********
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just
as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord. Colossians 3:16
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Look beyond a person's faults so that you can see the real person. Lord, may I learn to focus on the goodness that is in each person and love them because all are your children.
The moment of absolute certainty over decisions made never arrives, so make your decision and move on. Lord, grant me wisdom and confidence in making my choices and the ability to recognize when new decisions need to be made.