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10-04-2008, 06:37 PM
Daily Reflections
YESTERDAY'S BAGGAGE
For the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching
becomes a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he
patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong.
12 & 12, p. 88
I have more than enough to handle today, without dragging along yesterday's baggage
too. I must balance today's books, if I am to have a chance tomorrow. So I ask myself if
I have erred and how I can avoid repeating that particular behavior. Did I hurt anyone,
did I help anyone, and why? Some of today is bound to spill over into tomorrow, but most
of it need not if I make an honest daily inventory.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Do I have any hard feelings about other group members or for any
other A.A. group? Am I critical of the way a group member thinks or acts? Do I feel that
another group is operating in the wrong way and do I broadcast it? Or do I realize that all
A.A. members, no matter what their limitations, have something to offer, some good,
however little, that they can do for A.A. in spite of their handicaps? Do I believe that
there is a place for all kinds of groups in A.A., provided they are following A.A. traditions,
and that they can be effective even if I do not agree with their procedure? Am I tolerant
of people and groups?
Meditation For The Day
"The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this
time forth and even forever more." All your movements, your goings and comings can be
guided by the Unseen Spirit. Every visit to help another, every unselfish effort to assist,
can be blessed by that Unseen Spirit. There can be a blessing on all you do, on every
interview with one who is suffering. Every meeting of a need may not be a chance
meeting, but it may have been planned by the Unseen Spirit. Led by the Spirit of the
Lord, you can be tolerant, sympathetic, and understanding of others and so accomplish
much.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be led by the spirit of God. I pray that the Lord will
preserve my goings and my comings.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Personality Change, p. 1
"It has often been said of A.A. that we are interested only in alcoholism.
That is not true. We have to get over drinking in order to stay alive.
But anyone who knows the alcoholic personality by firsthand contact
knows that no true alky ever stops drinking permanently without
undergoing a profound personality change."
<< << << >> >> >>
We thought "conditions" drove us to drink, and when we tried to
correct these conditions and found that we couldn't do so to our entire
satisfaction, our drinking went out of hand and we became alcoholics. It
never occurred to us that we needed to change ourselves to meet
conditions, whatever they were.
1. Letter, 1940
2. 12 & 12, p. 47
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
What can Sobriety Bring?
Living Sober
The single goal of staying sober is so all-important in AA that side benefits are often overlooked. There is even a tendency to warn members about the hazards of attaching importance to anything except sobriety.
But we do have to become responsible people in all things, not just sober people. We can expect real sobriety to bring the confidence and well-being we expected from the bottle, but never received.
Sobriety is not likely to give us the equivalent of the euphoria we got from drinking, but a great sense of well-being based on realistic expectations is more satisfying than the ridiculous mental states we sought in drinking. Living the right kind of life will bring its own rewards.
.Alone with staying sober today, I'll meet all my responsibilities to my family and friends. Sobriety does not promise miracles, but it does bring a good life.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
It is often easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them---Adlai Stevenson
It easy to talk about our values. But when the clerk at the store gives extra change my mistake, those values get put to the test. It feels good to read about spirituality in a comfortable chair at home. But when we get stuck in a traffic jam, it’s hard to live by our values.
That’s why practicing our program daily helps. Practice prepares us for the tough times.
Maybe we’ll feel like drinking or using other drugs once a year. Maybe we’ll only get the wrong amount of change once a year. But if we live our values daily, we’ll be ready when the hard times come. Remember: “It’s not enough to talk the talk. You have to walk the walk.”
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me live this program each day. Help me “walk the walk.”
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll do a Step Ten, Taking an inventory tells me if I’m living up to my values.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Doctor's Opinion
We believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy; that the phenomenon of craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate drinker. These allergic types can never safely use alcohol in any form at all; and once having formed the habit and found they cannot break it, once having lost their self-confidence, their reliance upon things human, their problems pile up on them and become astonishingly difficult to solve.
p. xxviii
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Seven - "Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions."
Alcoholics are certainly all-or-nothing people. Our reactions to money prove this. As A.A. emerged from its infancy into adolescence, we swung from the idea that we needed vast sums of money to the notion that A.A. shouldn't have any. On every lip were the words "You can't mix A.A. and money. We shall have to separate the spiritual from the material." We took this violent new tack because here and there members had tried to make money out of their A.A. connections, and we feared we'd be exploited. Now and then, grateful benefactors had endowed clubhouses, and as a result there was sometimes outside interference in our affairs. We had been presented with a hospital, and almost immediately the donor's son became its principal patient and would-be manager. One A.A. group was given five thousand dollars to do with what it would. The hassle over that chunk of money played havoc for years. Frightened by these complications, some groups refused to have a cent in their treasuries.
p. 161
************************************************** *********
Give and forget. Receive and remember.
When you give of yourself, you receive more than you give.
--Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul.
--Henry David Thoreau
Prosperity depends more on wanting what you have than having what you want.
--Geoffry F. Abert
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It
turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a
feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
--Melody Beattie
"The more you recognize and express gratitude for the things you have, the more things
you will have to express gratitude for."
--Zig Ziglar
When a person habitually thinks optimistically and hopefully, they activate life around
them positively and thereby attract positive results. Positive Thinking sets in motion
positive and creative forces and success flows toward you!
--Norman Vincent Peale
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PRIDE
"The books I haven't written are
better than the books other
people have."
-- Cyril V. Connolly
Today I still have to grapple with pride, vanity and conceit. Today, thanks to God and my
spiritual program, I am not so preoccupied with self, but the old tapes can still be heard:
"Thank God I am not as stupid as her." "I am blessed in not being like those people." "I
suppose everybody in the room is looking at me."
Pride is still a big obstacle because it keeps me isolated from people. It emphasizes the
difference between me and the world, rather than the commonality. Pride keeps me a
prisoner of my ego and develops that cruel and sadistic streak in my nature that I know
exists. Pride stops me being grateful because it keeps me too focused on what I am doing
and I miss the beauty and splendor of my life. Pride keeps my nose pushed against
the picture so I cannot see the portrait!
I can only change this "proudful" attitude by talking about it. The way for me to grow is
to "dump it" . . . today.
May I find me in the people I meet and share with.
************************************************** *********
"I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you
throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your
offspring after you."
Genesis 17:7
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Philippians 4:4-5
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:12-13
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
God will give you today, no more than you can handle today. It is when you choose to add yesterday's and tomorrow's troubles to it that it becomes too much to carry. Lord, help me remember that it is only right now that I can find all that I am looking for.
Take time to learn from the mistakes of others. We don't have time to make all of them ourselves. Lord, guide me onto paths that lead me to You.
YESTERDAY'S BAGGAGE
For the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching
becomes a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he
patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong.
12 & 12, p. 88
I have more than enough to handle today, without dragging along yesterday's baggage
too. I must balance today's books, if I am to have a chance tomorrow. So I ask myself if
I have erred and how I can avoid repeating that particular behavior. Did I hurt anyone,
did I help anyone, and why? Some of today is bound to spill over into tomorrow, but most
of it need not if I make an honest daily inventory.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Do I have any hard feelings about other group members or for any
other A.A. group? Am I critical of the way a group member thinks or acts? Do I feel that
another group is operating in the wrong way and do I broadcast it? Or do I realize that all
A.A. members, no matter what their limitations, have something to offer, some good,
however little, that they can do for A.A. in spite of their handicaps? Do I believe that
there is a place for all kinds of groups in A.A., provided they are following A.A. traditions,
and that they can be effective even if I do not agree with their procedure? Am I tolerant
of people and groups?
Meditation For The Day
"The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this
time forth and even forever more." All your movements, your goings and comings can be
guided by the Unseen Spirit. Every visit to help another, every unselfish effort to assist,
can be blessed by that Unseen Spirit. There can be a blessing on all you do, on every
interview with one who is suffering. Every meeting of a need may not be a chance
meeting, but it may have been planned by the Unseen Spirit. Led by the Spirit of the
Lord, you can be tolerant, sympathetic, and understanding of others and so accomplish
much.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be led by the spirit of God. I pray that the Lord will
preserve my goings and my comings.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Personality Change, p. 1
"It has often been said of A.A. that we are interested only in alcoholism.
That is not true. We have to get over drinking in order to stay alive.
But anyone who knows the alcoholic personality by firsthand contact
knows that no true alky ever stops drinking permanently without
undergoing a profound personality change."
<< << << >> >> >>
We thought "conditions" drove us to drink, and when we tried to
correct these conditions and found that we couldn't do so to our entire
satisfaction, our drinking went out of hand and we became alcoholics. It
never occurred to us that we needed to change ourselves to meet
conditions, whatever they were.
1. Letter, 1940
2. 12 & 12, p. 47
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
What can Sobriety Bring?
Living Sober
The single goal of staying sober is so all-important in AA that side benefits are often overlooked. There is even a tendency to warn members about the hazards of attaching importance to anything except sobriety.
But we do have to become responsible people in all things, not just sober people. We can expect real sobriety to bring the confidence and well-being we expected from the bottle, but never received.
Sobriety is not likely to give us the equivalent of the euphoria we got from drinking, but a great sense of well-being based on realistic expectations is more satisfying than the ridiculous mental states we sought in drinking. Living the right kind of life will bring its own rewards.
.Alone with staying sober today, I'll meet all my responsibilities to my family and friends. Sobriety does not promise miracles, but it does bring a good life.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
It is often easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them---Adlai Stevenson
It easy to talk about our values. But when the clerk at the store gives extra change my mistake, those values get put to the test. It feels good to read about spirituality in a comfortable chair at home. But when we get stuck in a traffic jam, it’s hard to live by our values.
That’s why practicing our program daily helps. Practice prepares us for the tough times.
Maybe we’ll feel like drinking or using other drugs once a year. Maybe we’ll only get the wrong amount of change once a year. But if we live our values daily, we’ll be ready when the hard times come. Remember: “It’s not enough to talk the talk. You have to walk the walk.”
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me live this program each day. Help me “walk the walk.”
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll do a Step Ten, Taking an inventory tells me if I’m living up to my values.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Doctor's Opinion
We believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy; that the phenomenon of craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate drinker. These allergic types can never safely use alcohol in any form at all; and once having formed the habit and found they cannot break it, once having lost their self-confidence, their reliance upon things human, their problems pile up on them and become astonishingly difficult to solve.
p. xxviii
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Seven - "Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions."
Alcoholics are certainly all-or-nothing people. Our reactions to money prove this. As A.A. emerged from its infancy into adolescence, we swung from the idea that we needed vast sums of money to the notion that A.A. shouldn't have any. On every lip were the words "You can't mix A.A. and money. We shall have to separate the spiritual from the material." We took this violent new tack because here and there members had tried to make money out of their A.A. connections, and we feared we'd be exploited. Now and then, grateful benefactors had endowed clubhouses, and as a result there was sometimes outside interference in our affairs. We had been presented with a hospital, and almost immediately the donor's son became its principal patient and would-be manager. One A.A. group was given five thousand dollars to do with what it would. The hassle over that chunk of money played havoc for years. Frightened by these complications, some groups refused to have a cent in their treasuries.
p. 161
************************************************** *********
Give and forget. Receive and remember.
When you give of yourself, you receive more than you give.
--Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul.
--Henry David Thoreau
Prosperity depends more on wanting what you have than having what you want.
--Geoffry F. Abert
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It
turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a
feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
--Melody Beattie
"The more you recognize and express gratitude for the things you have, the more things
you will have to express gratitude for."
--Zig Ziglar
When a person habitually thinks optimistically and hopefully, they activate life around
them positively and thereby attract positive results. Positive Thinking sets in motion
positive and creative forces and success flows toward you!
--Norman Vincent Peale
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PRIDE
"The books I haven't written are
better than the books other
people have."
-- Cyril V. Connolly
Today I still have to grapple with pride, vanity and conceit. Today, thanks to God and my
spiritual program, I am not so preoccupied with self, but the old tapes can still be heard:
"Thank God I am not as stupid as her." "I am blessed in not being like those people." "I
suppose everybody in the room is looking at me."
Pride is still a big obstacle because it keeps me isolated from people. It emphasizes the
difference between me and the world, rather than the commonality. Pride keeps me a
prisoner of my ego and develops that cruel and sadistic streak in my nature that I know
exists. Pride stops me being grateful because it keeps me too focused on what I am doing
and I miss the beauty and splendor of my life. Pride keeps my nose pushed against
the picture so I cannot see the portrait!
I can only change this "proudful" attitude by talking about it. The way for me to grow is
to "dump it" . . . today.
May I find me in the people I meet and share with.
************************************************** *********
"I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you
throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your
offspring after you."
Genesis 17:7
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Philippians 4:4-5
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:12-13
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
God will give you today, no more than you can handle today. It is when you choose to add yesterday's and tomorrow's troubles to it that it becomes too much to carry. Lord, help me remember that it is only right now that I can find all that I am looking for.
Take time to learn from the mistakes of others. We don't have time to make all of them ourselves. Lord, guide me onto paths that lead me to You.