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[janbear]

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Do not regret the past. 'The past is but the beginning of a beginning/and all that is and has been/is but the twilight of the dawn.' ~H. G. Wells from Beside Prayers. Your past is the beginning of this beginning.

I 'will not regret the past nor wish to close the door on it.� (P 83, AA Big Book)

AA 'Big Book'
Big Books & other books may be ordered HERE Misc. AA Literature Quote Time for Joy - Book

[janbear]

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If you think you are having a problem with God, just try to imagine the problem He/She is having with you!

There is no way to know God's Will unless I do it.

[PocketSponsor]

Thank you so much for putting this up for us!!! I need to be reminded every day what the principles are and this helps! You in the fellowship are my lifeline.

[janbear]

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When we pray for strength, the Universe gives us difficulties to make us strong. When we pray for courage, the Universe gives us danger to overcome. When we pray for patience, the Universe gives us long lines and traffic jams. What are you praying for?

I may ask for favors but the Universe gives me opportunities.

[janbear]

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Wet the bed and blame the blanket�that is the life we led. With the Twelve Steps, we learn that problems are basically of our own making.

At the end of BLAME is ME.

[janbear]

What we believed when we were five was not what we believed by the time we turned twelve. What we think we know at two years sobriety will change when we have eight. It is for this reason that we have "suggested" steps and not commandments.

Not only is the way I work the steps today different from
The way others may work the steps today, but it may be
Different from the way I work them tomorrow!

Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[janbear]

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'This time, like all times, is a very good one if we but know what to do with it.' ~Ralph Waldo Emerson. Every thought you have can be part of a continuous prayer and everything you do can be your practice of healing.

If I'm not happy today, what am I waiting for?

[janbear]

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You can't change reality but you can change your attitude toward it.

When reality messes up my fantasies, I pause and ask my Higher Power to guide my thoughts.

[janbear]

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Are you going to let tough times make you bitter or make you better?

I embrace 'tough' times because I get to practice my principles.

[janbear]

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'There are more things in heaven and earth... than are dreamt of in your philosophy.' ~William Shakespeare. Hold on to the knowledge that more good is occurring on this hunk of rock floating through space than you can ever imagine.

I ask for all things that I might enjoy life, I am given life that I might enjoy all things.

[janbear]

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Seemingly 'bad days are usually the days in which we don't get our own way. This is a Third Step problem. If you are having a 'bad� day, read the Third Step from your basic recovery text and ask yourself what part of your life today has not been turned over.

Today I work toward matching my will to my Higher Power's, not my Higher Power's to mine.

[janbear]

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There is no right way to do the wrong thing. Whatever you were thinking of doing, you can not rationalize it into 'right' action by saying, 'yes but this' or 'no but that.' You know what's right and you know what's wrong�that gut feeling guides you.

When things go wrong, I don't go with them.

[janbear]

There will be times when people around you act like absolute jerks. If they are a jerk and the problem is with them, time will reveal it. Likewise, if you are the jerk and the problem is with you, time will reveal it. Do the next right thing and give time time.



Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[janbear]

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Service is sacred; our sometimes smoke-filled, coffee-filled, talk-filled clubs, meetings, and social gatherings are the basis for a lot more than laughter�they add up to a major part of our recovery.� May 29, Day By Day

Am I contributing to the fellowship?

[janbear]

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If you are looking for the perfect group before you join a home group, then you are going to be homeless.

My home group members are not perfect and neither am I, so we suit each other perfectly.

[janbear]

There may be some people who want you to be perfect. But thanks to our fellowship, to God, and the Twelve Steps, you don't have to be one of them!

I claim progress, not perfection.

Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[janbear]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote



It's hard to believe that this simple program can work for us. But it does. We see it each time an old timer celebrates a birthday, a newcomer picks up a token, or a former skid row drunk reaches out to help an alcoholic doctor that has hit his first meeting in desperation. Believe.

[janbear]

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Self will and �running the show' can be like the monkey who sticks his hand into the trap for food. He grasps the food tightly creating a fist that won't slide out the trap door. The monkey struggles but won't release the food and he is trapped. Holding tight to your will and your way can be the fist that traps you.

I Let Go and Let God. What a relief.

[janbear]

Do not become one of these people who have two excuses for everything:
one excuse for what you don't do and another for what you don't have.

Excuses are simply my lack of faith in me.

Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[janbear]

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Our program will work for people who believe in God. Our program will work for people who don't believe in God. Our program will not work for people who believe they are God.

A God of my understanding, a God not of my understanding. God can simply be a 'Group Of Drunks' if I choose!

[admin]

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Us addicts are often hyper-vigilant about others 'talking behind our backs' or slandering us. Our sponsors tell us that what 'they� think of us is none of our business. It can still be hard to take.

It matters not if someone speaks badly of me; I live so no one will believe it.

[admin]

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And so our very best thoughts won't save us. When we are given a program of action, it tells us what to DO, not what to think. Think anything you want, just DO the suggestions (your thoughts will change).

What can I do this moment to have an awesome day?

[janbear]

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Everybody makes mistakes. Fools repeat them, the weak excuse them, only the wise admit and profit from them.

If I really want to find a solution to my current quandary, I will. If not, I will find an excuse.

[janbear]

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'Thoroughly have we seen a person fail who has rarely followed our path.' This is an interesting slip of the tongue from Chapter Five of Alcoholic's Anonymous. Yet it contains a lot of wisdom.

I cannot work the steps too soon, because I do not know how soon it may be too late.

[janbear]

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Today you are leading a life. When you were drinking and drugging, you were a life being led.

It is God's job to make miracles and I am one of them.

[janbear]

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'For a time we are living inside a scream where there seems to be no exit, only echoes. The small cares that seemed so important yesterday seem like nothing, and our daily concerns become petty and irrelevant. When we finally reclaim ourselves, as we ultimately do, we are changed.' -Kent Nerburn, Simple Truths

Cooperating with God is the easier softer way.

[janbear]

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'Nothing contributes more to the peace of the soul than having no opinion at all.' -George Christopher Lichtenberg

When I have no opinion on outside issues, I cannot be drawn into controversy. (Tradition Ten)

[janbear]

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You are an exceptional human being. There has never been anyone with your personality, ability, and unique way of seeing things. Take the world by storm because you have what it takes!

I used to feel impending doom. Now I feel impending good

[janbear]

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Let go or be dragged�

I pray for the willingness to be willing to be willing to let go absolutely. (P 97, Meeting Wisdom)

[francie21805]

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Egoism isn't necessarily thinking a lot of yourself--just thinking of yourself a lot.

I begin this day by thinking of another first. Who is distressed or frightened that I may offer words of comfort?

[janbear]

Forgiving is not condoning. It means you let go of the energy of condemning so that you
can give energy to the process of good living.

God forgives "them" anyway, so I don't have to worry about withholding mine.

Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[janbear]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote



Witness the miracle of recovery happening for others, and you come to believe that this miracle can happen for you as well. Look at the miracles around you, one month off drugs, three years, 20 years or more. You are surrounded by living miracles.

I do not believe in miracles, I rely on them.

[janbear]

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. With sobriety, you can live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.

My life is not a dress rehearsal.

Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[francie21805]

Pocket Sponsor - Book – Quote


Many meetings, many chances; few meetings, few chances; no meetings, no chances.

The trouble with staying home and isolating is I get a lot of bad advice.

[janbear]

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If something is right, it can be done. If it is wrong, it can be done without.

I can do that!

[janbear]

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They say both, 'My best thinking got me drunk' and 'Think a drink through.' Which is it? Are our thoughts friend or foe? Both, and the difference between 'stink'n think'n� and 'straight thinking� is simply self-honesty. We find a good place to start in Step Four.

I have to think everything I believe, but I don't have to believe everything I think.

[janbear]

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Anger is one letter away from danger.

If I am right, I don't need to be angry. If I am wrong, I can't afford to be angry.

[flick]

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Nothing happens by accident. There are no coincidences, they say, only God-incidences.

I believe that God can do for me what I can't do for myself. I believe in God-incidences.

[flick]

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When do you begin helping a newcomer? When you see a newcomer. Don't sweat it; just do it.

When I work with a drunk, the drunk I'm working on is me.

[flick]

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Life on earth is one of polarity. We feel the comfort of love because we know the pain of rejection; we know the satisfaction of a full belly because we know the emptiness of hunger. Without darkness we can't appreciate the light; without cold we can't cherish the warmth. We know the joy of recovery because we came from the depths of despair.

I am not what I am in spite of my disease; I am what I am because of it.

[flick]

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We find that the difference between adventure and disaster usually boils down to attitude. It's like the glass half full or half empty. Is it a problem or an opportunity; an obstruction or a challenge for growth? The way you choose to see it makes all the difference.

I don't see thing as they are, I see things as I am.

[flick]

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Practicing the principles can never be done from a pedestal of self-righteousness. The very act of judging, complaining or criticizing, demonstrates that we are spiritually out of whack--not the ones we judge. Oh, they may be out of whack too, but that's not our side of the street, is it?

My program does not work in principle. It only works in practice.

[flick]

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Some recovering addicts take comfort in their complexity as if they are the exceptionally wounded. They worry their wounds and pick at their pain, giving themselves permission to be difficult, slow, and self-absorbed. Are you simply healing to your own internal rhythm or giving yourself excuses to be difficult?

I don't make the pity pot too comfortable.

[bluidkiti]

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Try to live your life without adding to your Eight Step list. You have enough wreckage to clear up from the past without creating wreckage in the now.

When I feel my worst, I try my best.

[janbear]

“You can’t laugh and think at the same time! So every time you laugh you’re getting a break from you.” ~Ken D. (P 153, Alkiespeak)

I take my program seriously, not myself.

Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[flick]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

When you work with others, you allow Divine Intelligence to speak and smile through you. You allow the Divine to reach out and hug the drunk, the junkie, and the dope head.

All people smile in the same language.

[flick]

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Do not ask what your Higher Power can do for you, but rather what you can do for your Higher Power. This gets us out of self.

Dear God, what can I do for you today?

[flick]

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People who seek a sponsor without faults, will be without a sponsor.

I know that my sponsor is willing to make mistakes, if I am willing to learn from them.

[flick]

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You are either progressing or regressing. There is no such thing as standing still; there is no such thing as simply 'gressing.'

W I can only coast one way, and that's downhill.

[janbear]

Deal with the small stuff or it will deal with you. Do not allow the small stuff to pile up on the camel’s back. Take each situation that bothers you and deal with that as one unit, not as the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

When I feel it, I deal with it and then can heal from it.

Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[flick]

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Often the difference between a bad attitude and a good one is simply what you call it. You can be lonely or enjoy blessed solitude. You can be burdened or building strength. People can use you or you can be of use to others.

Whether it is AA for Altered Attitude,' NA for New Attitude,' or CDA for Change D Attitude,' my attitude today is a direct reflection of my personal growth.

[janbear]

Resentment is from the Latin, meaning to "feel again." Rather than feeling that again, think of how it could have been worse, then be grateful it isn’t. Once you get to the grateful part, you can’t be resentful.

I cannot be grateful and resentful at the same time;
I can't serve two masters.

Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[flick]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Recovery is a Process Not an Event. There will never be a graduation day for your new way of life. The more you learn and grow the more you will see that you have more to learn and grow. That is what Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve are all about.

I learn to grow and grow to learn. My day of graduation is when I die.

[flick]

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Half measures do not avail us half, they avail us nothing.

Am I willing to go to any length?

[flick]

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We often hear 'turn it over.' This means turn over problems not under our control right now--whether they are with family, friends, work, or the law--we offer the things we cannot change to a Higher Power and LET GO.

If I turn it over and don't let go, I'll be upside down!

[janbear]

Do not project into the future how things are going to be. Tomorrow is today's mystery. If you project a continuum of pain and failure, you only invite that pain and failure. Allow the world to surprise you, because it surely will.

Tomorrow is today's mystery as today becomes
tomorrow's history. I do not write more pain
and failure into my history books.

Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[francie21805]

Pocket Sponsor – Quote

'You should not be esteemed by others if you have no real inner virtue.’ -Dogen, The Pocket Zen Reader You get esteem by doing something esteeming.

I never have to worry about low self-esteem when I do esteeming things.

[flick]

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The safest banks fail, corporations fold, loved ones die, all things change. Your life now changes like the tides or the seasons. You are not alone in this change. Seek out others who have experienced relief from your problem of choice and let them guide you through it.

I can change my clothes and change my address but until I change myself, I cannot grow.

[janbear]

We are the inheritors of those who have gone before us, the originators of the Twelve Step programs. Their blood, sweat, tears, and persistence is a gift to us. Their sheer tenacity in educating the public, the government, the medical profession, and most of all themselves is our great legacy.

I carry forth the legacy one principle at a time,
One day at a time, one hour at a time.

Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[flick]

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Our disease had so much control over our lives, that it not only made us do things we did not want to do, but would not let us do things that we wanted to.

My disease used to make my choices. Now I do.

[janbear]

The difference between Turing it Over and Rolling Over: To Turn It Over you say, “God, I know this is for the best, even if I don’t understand the means. After all, I once thought it was horrible that I was an alcoholic and addict. Now it is my greatest blessing!” Rolling over you say, “Go ahead, God, and screw up my life some more. After all, you cursed me with alcoholism, didn’t you?”

I turn it over, not roll over.

Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[janbear]

The spiritual journey is one of continually falling on your face, getting up, brushing yourself off, looking sheepishly at God, and taking another step.

If I'm faced in the right direction, and fall on my face, I've still made progress.

[janbear]

As you begin this day at this morning hour, know that there are several million people who genuinely love you. This is the nature of our fellowship.

All the love I need is flowing into my life today.

Excerpt from the Pocket Sponsor, By The
Hazelden author of ' Day By Day' & other Meditation Books

[bluidkiti]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

It's a very interesting thing about human nature, when you stop treating yourself poorly, it will become unacceptable for others to do so.

If I don't take care of myself, why should anyone else?

[janbear]

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Do you think you deserve special treatment because you are clean and sober? Most of us do at one time or another. Treat us special and we feel normal; treat us normal and we feel rejected.

Do I want my ego to be the first thing people see when I walk into a room?