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12-27-2008, 01:47 PM
Daily Reflections
SUIT UP AND SHOW UP
In A.A. we aim not only for sobriety - we try again
to become citizens of the world that we rejected, and
of the world that once rejected us. This is the
ultimate demonstration toward which Twelfth Step work
is the first but not the final step.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 21
The old line says, "Suit up and show up." That action
is so important that I like to think of it as my motto.
I can choose each day to suit up and show up, or not.
Showing up at meetings starts me toward feeling a part
of that meeting, I can talk with newcomers, and I can
share my experience; that's what credibility, honesty,
and courtesy really are. Suiting up and showing up are
the concrete actions I take in my ongoing return to
normal living.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
A.A. may be human in its organization, but it is divine
in its purpose. The purpose is to point me toward God and
the good life. My feet have been set upon the right path.
I feel it in the depths of my being. I am going in the
right direction. The future can be safely left to God.
Whatever the future holds, it cannot be too much for me
to bear. I have the Divine Power with me, to carry me
through everything that may happen. Am I pointed toward
God and the good life?
Meditation For The Day
Although unseen, the Lord is always near to those who
believe in Him and trust Him and depend on Him for the
strength to meet the challenges of life. Although veiled
from mortal sight, the Higher Power is always available to
us whenever we humbly ask for it. The feeling that God is
with us should not depend on any passing mood of ours, but
we should try to be always conscious of His power and love
in the background of our lives.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that today I may feel that God is not too far away
to depend on for help. I pray that I may feel confident of
His readiness to give me the power that I need.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Beneath the Surface, p.258
Some will object to many of the questions that should be answered in
a moral inventory, because they think their own character defects
have not been so glaring. To these, it can be suggested that a
conscientious examination is likely to reveal the very defects the
objectionable questions are concerned with.
Because our surface record hasn't looked too bad, we have frequently
been abashed to find that this is so simply because we have buried
these selfsame defects deep down in us under thick layers of
self-justification. Those were the defects that finally ambushed us
into alcoholism and misery.
12 & 12, pp. 53-54
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Rehearing Rejection
Fortitude
The possibility of rejection exists with almost everything we do, if we are free to choose. We might not like rejection, but we want the same freedom to reject others. As freely choosing people, we need to turn down ideas or proposals we don't like.
One thing we should never do, however, is rehearse rejections before they occur. If we do this, we may give up even before we have attempted what we hope to accomplish. In effect, we will be killing our hopes even before others have a chance to review them. This is always a ticket to failure.
Rejection is really a feedback mechanism that reports information we ought to have. It tells us either to change our approach or to seek acceptance elsewhere. It is not evidence that we're completely unacceptable.
Our problem with any single rejection may be that it causes us to recall all the rejections we ever had. We can learn to see any rejection as a normal event that can be beneficial if we accept it properly.
I'll not let any fear or visualization of rejection keep me from actions I ought to take today. I am an acceptable person, and there is a place for what I have to offer.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
If You Walk With Lame Men You'll soon Limp Yourself. Seaman McManus
Before recovery, we kept company with people who were as sick as us, or worse. We got angry and made fun of people who were trying to improve their lives. They scared us. They were like mirrors that reflected how spiritually lost we were becoming. Now we walk in the crowd we avoided. Now we have values. We have spiritual beliefs. Living up to these values and beliefs can be hard. We need to be around people who live by their values. In recovery, we learn that we need others. Remember, the first word in Step One is we. We need good people in our lives. We need friends who will not tell us what we want to hear, but what we are doing wrong.
Prayer for the Day: Sometimes I act like I need no one. Help me pick my friends wisely, for my life is at stake.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll pick one friend, and we'll talk about how we can better help each other.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THERE IS A SOLUTION
Here was the terrible dilemma in which our friend found himself when he had the extraordinary experience, which as we have already told you, made him a free man.
We, in our turn, sought the same escape with all the desperation of drowning men. What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God. A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, “a design for living” that really works.
p. 28
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."
At this juncture, his A.A. sponsor usually laughs. This, the newcomer thinks, is just about the last straw. This is the beginning of the end. And so it is: the beginning of the end of his old life, and the beginning of his emergence into a new one. His sponsor probably says, "Take it easy. The hoop you have to jump through is a lot wider than you think. At least I've found it so. So did a friend of mine who was a one-time vice-president of the American Atheist Society, but he got through with room to spare."
p. 26
************************************************** *********
"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."
--Charles A. Beard
"Learn from the negative as well as the positive, from the failures as well as the
successes."
--Jim Rohn
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
"If you want to be listened to, you should put in time listening."
--Marge Piercy
"In every crisis there is a message. Crises are nature's way of forcing change--breaking
down old structures, shaking loose negative habits so that something new and better can take
their place."
--Susan Taylor
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
HUMOR
"Humor is an affirmation of
dignity, a declaration of man's
superiority to all that befalls
him."
-- Romain Gary
Today I laugh at myself. Today I need to laugh at myself in order to stay sane. Today
I choose not to take myself too seriously.
When I tell jokes about the alcoholic, I am not belittling the person. I am making fun of
the disease that nearly killed me. For me to live with the disease, I need to be able to
laugh at the disease in this way I stop it from having power in my life.
Also I catch something of the symptoms of the disease in the jokes: the grandiosity,
arrogance, manipulation, insanity, ego, selfishness and exaggeration. The joke allows
me to face reality with a smile.
O God, thank You for the healing gift of humor.
************************************************** *********
"For you are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord shall enlighten my darkness."
II Samuel 22:29
"Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore!"
1 Chronicles 16:11
See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called
children of God.
1 John 3:1
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you
may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 15:13
"Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be
disappointed."
Isaiah 49:23
"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is
born of God and knows God."
1 John 4:7
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Do not run ahead of the Lord, but walk with Him, pray for His guidance and listen to His answers. Lord, let me put Your will first in my life.
Do what is right and good in the eyes of the Lord and receive the fullness of His blessings. Lord, I thank You for the gifts that I have received and ask forgiveness for all that I have done wrong.
SUIT UP AND SHOW UP
In A.A. we aim not only for sobriety - we try again
to become citizens of the world that we rejected, and
of the world that once rejected us. This is the
ultimate demonstration toward which Twelfth Step work
is the first but not the final step.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 21
The old line says, "Suit up and show up." That action
is so important that I like to think of it as my motto.
I can choose each day to suit up and show up, or not.
Showing up at meetings starts me toward feeling a part
of that meeting, I can talk with newcomers, and I can
share my experience; that's what credibility, honesty,
and courtesy really are. Suiting up and showing up are
the concrete actions I take in my ongoing return to
normal living.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
A.A. may be human in its organization, but it is divine
in its purpose. The purpose is to point me toward God and
the good life. My feet have been set upon the right path.
I feel it in the depths of my being. I am going in the
right direction. The future can be safely left to God.
Whatever the future holds, it cannot be too much for me
to bear. I have the Divine Power with me, to carry me
through everything that may happen. Am I pointed toward
God and the good life?
Meditation For The Day
Although unseen, the Lord is always near to those who
believe in Him and trust Him and depend on Him for the
strength to meet the challenges of life. Although veiled
from mortal sight, the Higher Power is always available to
us whenever we humbly ask for it. The feeling that God is
with us should not depend on any passing mood of ours, but
we should try to be always conscious of His power and love
in the background of our lives.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that today I may feel that God is not too far away
to depend on for help. I pray that I may feel confident of
His readiness to give me the power that I need.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Beneath the Surface, p.258
Some will object to many of the questions that should be answered in
a moral inventory, because they think their own character defects
have not been so glaring. To these, it can be suggested that a
conscientious examination is likely to reveal the very defects the
objectionable questions are concerned with.
Because our surface record hasn't looked too bad, we have frequently
been abashed to find that this is so simply because we have buried
these selfsame defects deep down in us under thick layers of
self-justification. Those were the defects that finally ambushed us
into alcoholism and misery.
12 & 12, pp. 53-54
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Rehearing Rejection
Fortitude
The possibility of rejection exists with almost everything we do, if we are free to choose. We might not like rejection, but we want the same freedom to reject others. As freely choosing people, we need to turn down ideas or proposals we don't like.
One thing we should never do, however, is rehearse rejections before they occur. If we do this, we may give up even before we have attempted what we hope to accomplish. In effect, we will be killing our hopes even before others have a chance to review them. This is always a ticket to failure.
Rejection is really a feedback mechanism that reports information we ought to have. It tells us either to change our approach or to seek acceptance elsewhere. It is not evidence that we're completely unacceptable.
Our problem with any single rejection may be that it causes us to recall all the rejections we ever had. We can learn to see any rejection as a normal event that can be beneficial if we accept it properly.
I'll not let any fear or visualization of rejection keep me from actions I ought to take today. I am an acceptable person, and there is a place for what I have to offer.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
If You Walk With Lame Men You'll soon Limp Yourself. Seaman McManus
Before recovery, we kept company with people who were as sick as us, or worse. We got angry and made fun of people who were trying to improve their lives. They scared us. They were like mirrors that reflected how spiritually lost we were becoming. Now we walk in the crowd we avoided. Now we have values. We have spiritual beliefs. Living up to these values and beliefs can be hard. We need to be around people who live by their values. In recovery, we learn that we need others. Remember, the first word in Step One is we. We need good people in our lives. We need friends who will not tell us what we want to hear, but what we are doing wrong.
Prayer for the Day: Sometimes I act like I need no one. Help me pick my friends wisely, for my life is at stake.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll pick one friend, and we'll talk about how we can better help each other.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THERE IS A SOLUTION
Here was the terrible dilemma in which our friend found himself when he had the extraordinary experience, which as we have already told you, made him a free man.
We, in our turn, sought the same escape with all the desperation of drowning men. What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God. A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, “a design for living” that really works.
p. 28
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."
At this juncture, his A.A. sponsor usually laughs. This, the newcomer thinks, is just about the last straw. This is the beginning of the end. And so it is: the beginning of the end of his old life, and the beginning of his emergence into a new one. His sponsor probably says, "Take it easy. The hoop you have to jump through is a lot wider than you think. At least I've found it so. So did a friend of mine who was a one-time vice-president of the American Atheist Society, but he got through with room to spare."
p. 26
************************************************** *********
"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."
--Charles A. Beard
"Learn from the negative as well as the positive, from the failures as well as the
successes."
--Jim Rohn
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
"If you want to be listened to, you should put in time listening."
--Marge Piercy
"In every crisis there is a message. Crises are nature's way of forcing change--breaking
down old structures, shaking loose negative habits so that something new and better can take
their place."
--Susan Taylor
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
HUMOR
"Humor is an affirmation of
dignity, a declaration of man's
superiority to all that befalls
him."
-- Romain Gary
Today I laugh at myself. Today I need to laugh at myself in order to stay sane. Today
I choose not to take myself too seriously.
When I tell jokes about the alcoholic, I am not belittling the person. I am making fun of
the disease that nearly killed me. For me to live with the disease, I need to be able to
laugh at the disease in this way I stop it from having power in my life.
Also I catch something of the symptoms of the disease in the jokes: the grandiosity,
arrogance, manipulation, insanity, ego, selfishness and exaggeration. The joke allows
me to face reality with a smile.
O God, thank You for the healing gift of humor.
************************************************** *********
"For you are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord shall enlighten my darkness."
II Samuel 22:29
"Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore!"
1 Chronicles 16:11
See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called
children of God.
1 John 3:1
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you
may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 15:13
"Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be
disappointed."
Isaiah 49:23
"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is
born of God and knows God."
1 John 4:7
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Do not run ahead of the Lord, but walk with Him, pray for His guidance and listen to His answers. Lord, let me put Your will first in my life.
Do what is right and good in the eyes of the Lord and receive the fullness of His blessings. Lord, I thank You for the gifts that I have received and ask forgiveness for all that I have done wrong.