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04-29-2008, 05:45 PM
Daily Reflections
A GREAT PARADOX
These legacies of suffering and of recovery are easily passed
among alcoholics, one to the other. This is our gift from God,
and its bestowal upon others like us is the one aim that today
animates A.A.'s all around the globe.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 151
The great paradox of A.A. is that I know I cannot keep the
precious gift of sobriety unless I give it away.
My primary purpose is to stay sober. In A.A. I have no other
goal, and the importance of this is a matter of life or death
for me. If I veer from this purpose I lose. But A.A. is not
only for me; it is for the alcoholic who still suffers. The
legions of recovering alcoholics stay sober by sharing with
fellow alcoholics. The way to my recovery is to show others
in A.A. that when I share with them, we both grow in the
grace of the Higher Power, and both of us are on the road
to a happy destiny.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
The A.A. program is one of faith because we find that we must
have faith in a Power greater than ourselves if we are going
to get sober. We're helpless before alcohol, but when we turn
our drink problem over to God and have faith that He can give
us all the strength we need, then we have the drink problem
licked. Faith in that Divine Principle in the universe which
we call God is the essential part of the A.A. program. Is faith
still strong in me?
Meditation For The Day
Each one of us is a child of God, and as such, we are full of
the promise of spiritual growth. A young person is like the
springtime of the year. The full time of the fruit is not yet,
but there is promise of the blossom. There is a spark of the
Divine in every one of us. Each has some of God's spirit that
can be developed by spiritual exercise. Know that your life is
full of glad promise. Such blessings can be yours, such joys,
such wonders, as long as you develop in the sunshine of God's
love.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may develop the divine spark within me. I pray
that by so doing I may fulfill the promise of a more abundant
life.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Between the Extremes, p. 159
"The real question is whether we can learn anything from our experiences upon which we
may grow and help others to grow in the likeness and image of God.
"We know that if we rebel against doing that which is reasonably possible for us, then we
will be penalized. And we will be equally penalized if we presume in ourselves a
perfection that simply is not there.
"Apparently, the course of relative humility and progress will have to lie somewhere
between these extremes. In our slow progress away from rebellion, true perfection is
doubtless several millennia away."
Letter, 1959
************************************************** *********
Walk in Dry Places
Addicted to Crisis___Personal Relations
It's sometimes a surprise to learn that we mismanage our affairs even in sobriety. We may even find that we seem to be addicted to problem situations. It takes a crisis, it seems, to give us the energy and purpose we need to get things done.
One common form of this strange addiction is procrastination. Some of us have a tendency to put off important tasks until the very last moment, and then work overtime to get the job done.
Is this laziness? Maybe it is, to some extent. Maybe, however, we need an impending emergency to get motivated and energized to do what needs to be done. Maybe we're addicted to crisis.
If so, this may be another disease that can be arrested but not cured. We arrest it by slowly adopting better work habits and paying closer attention to schedules and deadlines. Working with greater efficiency, we'll have more time and energy for the things that really matter.
Today I don't need a crisis to take charge of my life and do what needs to be done. I'll tackle at least one thing I've been putting off, and either complete the task or get a good start on it.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
When you want to be something, it means you really love it.---Andy Warhol
At times, we turned to chemicals because we couldn't love ourselves. Our addiction gave a promise of relief, but it gave us self-hate. We wanted to love, but couldn't. What is it we really love ? Where should we put out energy ? In raising children ? In creating art ? In helping addicts who still suffer ? There's much in this world that needs our love. We can be many things in our lives. Let's
be people we believe in. Let's be people we can love.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know myself through my inventories. My skills, talents, values, and my loves must be clear to me so I can use them to do Your will.
Action for the Day: Today I'll think about what I'd really love to do through my work.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
A LATE START - "It's been ten years since I retired, seven years since I joined A.A. Now I can truly say that I am a grateful alcoholic.
I was forty-nine when my second husband and I were married. Years before, we had dated through high school and two years of college but then were separated by World War II. Each of us had married elsewhere, divorced, and thirty years later we met by chance. We had ten years of laughter. sharing, and wonderment well laced with martinis and Scotch on the rocks. By the time I was sixty, anyone wise in the ways of alcoholism would have known I was in for big trouble. Happy plans dissolved into pouts, arguments began, and meals burned. Hurricanes of anger rushed through our once-happy cottage. We agreed we were drinking too much. We tried to switch technique, the time control schedule, the drink-only-on-weekends ploy. Nothing worked. Between us we were badly damaging our budget. My husband lost his job, and then or two harrowing years I watched him die of alcoholism. But I learned nothing from his death, and my drinking escalated as I bottle-fed my sorrow.
p. 537
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Nine - "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others."
There can only be one consideration which should qualify our desire for a complete disclosure of the damage we have done. That will arise in the occasional situation where to make a full revelation would seriously harm the one to whom we are making amends. Or--quite as important--other people. We cannot, for example, unload a detailed account of extramarital adventuring upon the shoulders of our unsuspecting wife or husband. And even in those cases where such a matter must be discussed, let's try to avoid harming third parties, whoever they may be. It does not lighten our burden when we recklessly make the crosses of others heavier.
p. 86
************************************************** *********
The only real win, is the win of tapping into the spirit.
--Oprah Winfrey
Getting sober is like learning to ride a horse, if you fall off, get back
on, you can't learn to ride on the ground.
--Patricia D
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting
different results."
--Albert Einstein
"Success is living up to your potential. That's all. Wake up with a smile
and go after life … Live it, enjoy it, taste it, smell it, feel it."
--Joe Kapp
"As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey."
--Thomas A. Edison
I embrace the lightness I feel when I trust, and give all of me to God.
--SweetyZee
No matter the storm... when you're with God there's always a rainbow
waiting. Remember, God answers knee-mail!
--Anonymous
Men trip not on mountains! They trip on molehills.
--Chinese Proverb
Wish not so much to live long, as to live well.
--Benjamin Franklin
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
ORIGINALITY
"Originality does not consist in
saying what no one has ever said
before, but in saying exactly what
you think yourself."
--James Stephens
Sometimes I surprise myself with what I say, think or contemplate.
Within my being is a very strange world that I wish to share with
others. Why? Because if I am truly honest about what I think and feel,
it may unite me with the true identity of others. Perhaps we are all a
little strange! However I will never know what people are thinking or
feeling unless I take a risk and share my honest feelings. My
involvement with my fellow man revolves around my honesty.
In the knowledge of Your love let me share my feelings.
************************************************** *********
Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.
Proverbs 4:23
Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:3-4
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Each day guide your thoughts and actions so that you may set God's will above your own. Lord, may Your will be my will.
No matter what you must confront today, know that God is with you. Lord, today is part of Your plan for me. I do not doubt You and therefore I will not doubt You within me.
A GREAT PARADOX
These legacies of suffering and of recovery are easily passed
among alcoholics, one to the other. This is our gift from God,
and its bestowal upon others like us is the one aim that today
animates A.A.'s all around the globe.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 151
The great paradox of A.A. is that I know I cannot keep the
precious gift of sobriety unless I give it away.
My primary purpose is to stay sober. In A.A. I have no other
goal, and the importance of this is a matter of life or death
for me. If I veer from this purpose I lose. But A.A. is not
only for me; it is for the alcoholic who still suffers. The
legions of recovering alcoholics stay sober by sharing with
fellow alcoholics. The way to my recovery is to show others
in A.A. that when I share with them, we both grow in the
grace of the Higher Power, and both of us are on the road
to a happy destiny.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
The A.A. program is one of faith because we find that we must
have faith in a Power greater than ourselves if we are going
to get sober. We're helpless before alcohol, but when we turn
our drink problem over to God and have faith that He can give
us all the strength we need, then we have the drink problem
licked. Faith in that Divine Principle in the universe which
we call God is the essential part of the A.A. program. Is faith
still strong in me?
Meditation For The Day
Each one of us is a child of God, and as such, we are full of
the promise of spiritual growth. A young person is like the
springtime of the year. The full time of the fruit is not yet,
but there is promise of the blossom. There is a spark of the
Divine in every one of us. Each has some of God's spirit that
can be developed by spiritual exercise. Know that your life is
full of glad promise. Such blessings can be yours, such joys,
such wonders, as long as you develop in the sunshine of God's
love.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may develop the divine spark within me. I pray
that by so doing I may fulfill the promise of a more abundant
life.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Between the Extremes, p. 159
"The real question is whether we can learn anything from our experiences upon which we
may grow and help others to grow in the likeness and image of God.
"We know that if we rebel against doing that which is reasonably possible for us, then we
will be penalized. And we will be equally penalized if we presume in ourselves a
perfection that simply is not there.
"Apparently, the course of relative humility and progress will have to lie somewhere
between these extremes. In our slow progress away from rebellion, true perfection is
doubtless several millennia away."
Letter, 1959
************************************************** *********
Walk in Dry Places
Addicted to Crisis___Personal Relations
It's sometimes a surprise to learn that we mismanage our affairs even in sobriety. We may even find that we seem to be addicted to problem situations. It takes a crisis, it seems, to give us the energy and purpose we need to get things done.
One common form of this strange addiction is procrastination. Some of us have a tendency to put off important tasks until the very last moment, and then work overtime to get the job done.
Is this laziness? Maybe it is, to some extent. Maybe, however, we need an impending emergency to get motivated and energized to do what needs to be done. Maybe we're addicted to crisis.
If so, this may be another disease that can be arrested but not cured. We arrest it by slowly adopting better work habits and paying closer attention to schedules and deadlines. Working with greater efficiency, we'll have more time and energy for the things that really matter.
Today I don't need a crisis to take charge of my life and do what needs to be done. I'll tackle at least one thing I've been putting off, and either complete the task or get a good start on it.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
When you want to be something, it means you really love it.---Andy Warhol
At times, we turned to chemicals because we couldn't love ourselves. Our addiction gave a promise of relief, but it gave us self-hate. We wanted to love, but couldn't. What is it we really love ? Where should we put out energy ? In raising children ? In creating art ? In helping addicts who still suffer ? There's much in this world that needs our love. We can be many things in our lives. Let's
be people we believe in. Let's be people we can love.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know myself through my inventories. My skills, talents, values, and my loves must be clear to me so I can use them to do Your will.
Action for the Day: Today I'll think about what I'd really love to do through my work.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
A LATE START - "It's been ten years since I retired, seven years since I joined A.A. Now I can truly say that I am a grateful alcoholic.
I was forty-nine when my second husband and I were married. Years before, we had dated through high school and two years of college but then were separated by World War II. Each of us had married elsewhere, divorced, and thirty years later we met by chance. We had ten years of laughter. sharing, and wonderment well laced with martinis and Scotch on the rocks. By the time I was sixty, anyone wise in the ways of alcoholism would have known I was in for big trouble. Happy plans dissolved into pouts, arguments began, and meals burned. Hurricanes of anger rushed through our once-happy cottage. We agreed we were drinking too much. We tried to switch technique, the time control schedule, the drink-only-on-weekends ploy. Nothing worked. Between us we were badly damaging our budget. My husband lost his job, and then or two harrowing years I watched him die of alcoholism. But I learned nothing from his death, and my drinking escalated as I bottle-fed my sorrow.
p. 537
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Nine - "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others."
There can only be one consideration which should qualify our desire for a complete disclosure of the damage we have done. That will arise in the occasional situation where to make a full revelation would seriously harm the one to whom we are making amends. Or--quite as important--other people. We cannot, for example, unload a detailed account of extramarital adventuring upon the shoulders of our unsuspecting wife or husband. And even in those cases where such a matter must be discussed, let's try to avoid harming third parties, whoever they may be. It does not lighten our burden when we recklessly make the crosses of others heavier.
p. 86
************************************************** *********
The only real win, is the win of tapping into the spirit.
--Oprah Winfrey
Getting sober is like learning to ride a horse, if you fall off, get back
on, you can't learn to ride on the ground.
--Patricia D
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting
different results."
--Albert Einstein
"Success is living up to your potential. That's all. Wake up with a smile
and go after life … Live it, enjoy it, taste it, smell it, feel it."
--Joe Kapp
"As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey."
--Thomas A. Edison
I embrace the lightness I feel when I trust, and give all of me to God.
--SweetyZee
No matter the storm... when you're with God there's always a rainbow
waiting. Remember, God answers knee-mail!
--Anonymous
Men trip not on mountains! They trip on molehills.
--Chinese Proverb
Wish not so much to live long, as to live well.
--Benjamin Franklin
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
ORIGINALITY
"Originality does not consist in
saying what no one has ever said
before, but in saying exactly what
you think yourself."
--James Stephens
Sometimes I surprise myself with what I say, think or contemplate.
Within my being is a very strange world that I wish to share with
others. Why? Because if I am truly honest about what I think and feel,
it may unite me with the true identity of others. Perhaps we are all a
little strange! However I will never know what people are thinking or
feeling unless I take a risk and share my honest feelings. My
involvement with my fellow man revolves around my honesty.
In the knowledge of Your love let me share my feelings.
************************************************** *********
Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.
Proverbs 4:23
Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:3-4
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Each day guide your thoughts and actions so that you may set God's will above your own. Lord, may Your will be my will.
No matter what you must confront today, know that God is with you. Lord, today is part of Your plan for me. I do not doubt You and therefore I will not doubt You within me.