Recovery Thoughts & Quotes 5/12

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~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Forgiveness

"The moment we ponder a twisted or broken relationship
with another person,
our emotions go on the defensive.
To escape looking at the wrongs we have done another,
we resentfully focus
on the wrong he has done us.
This is especially true if he has, in fact,
behaved badly at all.
Triumphantly, we seize upon his misbehavior
as the perfect excuse for minimizing
or forgetting our own.
If we are now about to ask forgiveness for ourselves,
why shouldn't we start out by forgiving them, one and all?"
Bill W., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 78

Thought to Consider . . .

We are prisoners of our own resentments.
Forgiveness unlocks the door and sets us free.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
KISS
Keep It Simple, Surrender

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*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*


Reborn
From "Bill's Story":
"Trembling, I stepped from the hospital a broken man. Fear sobered me for a bit. Then came the insidious insanity of that first drink, and on Armistice Day 1934, I was off again. Everyone became resigned to the certainty that I would have to be shut up somewhere, or would stumble along to a miserable end. How dark it is before the dawn! In reality that was the beginning of my last debauch. I was soon to be catapulted into what I like to call the fourth dimension of existence. I was to know happiness, peace, and usefulness, in a way of life that is incredibly more wonderful as time passes."

2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 8

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*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*


"As each member of a resentful family begins to see his shortcomings
and admits them to the others, he lays a basis for helpful
discussion. These family talks will be constructive if they can be
carried on without heated argument, self-pity, self-justification or
resentful criticism."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 127~

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Misc. AA Literature - Quote




Spot-Checking

A spot-check inventory taken in the midst of disturbances can be of very great help in quieting stormy emotions. Today's spot check finds its chief application to situations which arise in each day's march. The consideration of long-standing difficulties had better be postponed, when possible, to times deliberately set aside for that purpose.
The quick inventory is aimed at our daily ups and downs, especially those where people or new events throw us off balance and tempt us to make mistakes.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 90-91

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Member Submitted Quote



All my problems seem small, in retrospect. ( Mark P. )

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12 x 12 Quote

"After we come into AA, if we go on growing, our attitudes and actions
toward security--emotional security and financial security--commence to
change profoundly. Our demand for emotional security, for our own way,
had constantly thrown us into unworkable relations with other people.
Though we were sometimes quite unconscious of this, the result always
had been the same. Either we had tried to play God and dominate those
about us, or we had insisted on being overdependent upon them. Where
people had temporarily let us run their lives as though they were
still children, we felt very happy and secure ourselves. But when they
finally resisted or ran away, we were bitterly hurt and disappointed.
We blamed them, being quite unable to see that our unreasonable
demands had been the cause." (Twelve and Twelve, Step Twelve, pg. 115)