Pocket Sponsor

[janbear]

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You may very well under-stand your demons, defects, compulsions, and fear. You have an arsenal of information about recovery to overcome them. Why then is it all so difficult? Deep inside you know what you always have known: knowledge alone is not enough.

I know that 'no-ing' is not enough and 'knowing' is not enough. I must do.

[janbear]

Occasionally, seizing a HALT moment, the Babbler begins a silent running dialogue in your head ready to put you down because you are vulnerable, "You're stupid; they're stupid; who wants sobriety; boy, is this dumb." Babbler is not the voice of your Higher Power. It is the voice of addiction capitalizing on a HALT moment.

My Higher Power does not put me down. When
The Babbler begins, I call a HALT to it by
Taking care of myself.


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

[janbear]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote



We not only attempt geographical 'cures' while drinking, but often while clean and sober too. When you make a move 'for the better,' unless you can honestly say you are running to something positive, then you are running from something that you haven't faced.

No matter how fast or how far I go, I can't outrun myself.

[janbear]

You are an evolving being and what you believe today, may not be what you believe tomorrow. If your conclusions about the world are set in concrete, when the world doesn't hold up to your mold, you will be furious at the "unfairness" of it all.

Like a child's Legos, my beliefs can be rearranged and
Rebuilt as I grow. The blocks that represented a rowboat
At age four, became Battleship Galactica at age twelve.

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

[janbear]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote



A temper will get us into trouble and pride will keep us there.

I can't save my face and my butt at the same time.

[janbear]

There is a certain universality to the truths taught in our Twelve-Step programs. They are nothing new. These principles are derived from eons of experience and spirituality. What is new is our personal understanding that living these principles gives us a reprieve from our addiction.

If I don't do it, I won't get it!

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

[francie21805]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote


The people you most need to give love to will seem like the ones who deserve it the least.
It begins with me.

[janbear]

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Honesty without kindness is cruel and kindness without honesty is co-dependence.

If I can't say it kindly, I needn't say it at all.

[janbear]

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It is better to have some-one sober and hating you because you told them the truth, rather than have someone drunk and liking you because you told them a lie.

[janbear]

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We may have empathy for your situation but we will not pity you. We know that pitying you leads to you pitying yourself which leads to mind-affecting chemicals. Rather than pity you, if you need an attitude adjustment, it's very likely a fellow group member will let you know.

Attitudes are contagious. Is mine worth catching?

[janbear]

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When working Steps Six and Seven we honestly have to ask ourselves 'Do I really want to give up the defect? Or do I just want to give up the result of the defect?�

Being an alcoholic does not give me the excuse to act alcoholically.

[francie21805]

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Reputation: what others are not thinking about you.

What others think about me is never as important as what I think about them.

[janbear]

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'Imagine if at every moment we each embraced the world as the gift it is: An apple is a gift; the color pink is a gift; the blue sky is a gift; the scent of honeysuckle is a gift. Hidden in every experience is a gift,' ~Marcia Prager, The Path of Blessing: Experiencing the Energy and Abundance of the Divine

[janbear]

It is important for us to think in the positive. It doesn't help to think "I don't want to dink, I don't want to lose," because we end up thinking of what we don't want. We energize that very thing. If we think, "I like having a clear mind; I like remembering; I like growing," we have positive thoughts directed away from our disease.

My thoughts focus on what I'm working toward,
Not what I'm escaping from.

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

[janbear]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote



There are no magic wands or burning bushes in our program. Just footwork and faith.

As I feed my faith, my doubts will starve to death.

[janbear]

The reason people blame other people is because there is only one alternative.

I do not point a finger at another because there are
Always three pointing back at me.

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

[janbear]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote



We make two great decisions in life: one, the decision to get clean and sober; the other, the decision to stay that way. Never make the decision not to stay that way when you are depressed or unhappy.

'Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time.' ~Robert Schuller

[janbear]

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Is your ideal to be clean and whole? If so, ask yourself: What sort of neighbor is a clean and sober person? What sort of family member is a clean and sober person? What sort of Twelve Step program will a clean and sober person work?

Sober is as sober does.

[janbear]

There is no completion for the circle of recovery. A circle has no beginning and no end. It is suggested that recovery begins when you have learned enough from those before you and pass it along to those behind. Love is the process that keeps the circle moving.

Standing hand in hand or arm in arm after a meeting I
Absorb the love that travels our circle of recovery.

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

[janbear]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote



Positive clean thoughts of ourselves are a must. Picture yourself speaking at meetings, greeting newcomers, laughing, sponsoring others, and holding your head high. Clean and sober thoughts help counter years of drunk and dirty thoughts.

I picture myself laughing and sharing with others

[francie21805]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote


According to the martial arts, Akido, the best way to win a fight is not to be there in the first place. Think of this the next time you are invited to a bar, to ride in vehicle with a pot smoker, or to celebrate at the office party.

My best path to cease fighting anybody or anything, is not to be in the ring in the first place.

[francie21805]

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Sweat the small stuff. The big stuff we can handle, it's the day to day crap that gets us. How do we attend to the small stuff? Steps Ten and Eleven.

Today I treat myself to quiet time in order to review the small stuff.

[letgo]

Absolutely and just what I need to be reading right now!

[francie21805]

Absolutely is right!!!

[janbear]

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How important are the slogans? Sometimes, these are the only things we can bring to mind when we stand at a turning point, the thresh-hold of a crisis.

The slogans work much better for me when I decorate my life with them rather than decorating the walls with them.

[janbear]

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'When one door closes another door opens, but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the new worlds which open for us.' ~Alexander Graham Bell

God wants for me what I would want for myself, IF I had all the facts.

[janbear]

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There are a lot more reasons for working the Ninth Step than freedom, serenity, and moral responsibility. Making amends is a good way of having the last word.

I take my program seriously and myself lightly.

[janbear]

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Some days you will be shocked at how nasty and short tempered you are. You'll think, 'This can't be me being so unreasonable.' Yet it is. You may deny it's really you by jostling the blame on another, 'If they hadn't....� No, your bad behavior is your fault. You have no excuse. Now, can you love you anyway?

I learn to love me even when I don't like me.

[francie21805]

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'We weren't perfect at it. Sometimes we rebelled, and rejected our sponsors' feedback or the guidance of the Steps. Still, the recovery process was always there when we needed and accepted it. (P 80, CDA First Edition)

I worked my using hard, so now I work my recovery hard.

[janbear]

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Doing the next right thing in the face of a tricky situation is not a choice you can run away from. As the saying goes: Wherever you go, there you are.

I do the next right thing first, so the 'situation� doesn't last.

[janbear]

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When the pain of where you were is worse than the discomfort of where you are going, then you'll move.

The pain of my growth is a good sign, not a stop sign.

[francie21805]

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'We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.' ~Helen Keller

My adversities are opportunities in disguise.

[janbear]

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Some people do not have to have a program to stop drinking and using. But for us, we remember untreated abstinence will make our past our future.

I don't work the program to get my life back; I work the program to get my life forward.

[janbear]

This is so true for me. I wanted a new life, not an old one back.

[francie21805]

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Do not be hung up on what you ought to be, what you were supposed to be or what you were going to be. You will never have time to be what you are.

I am the best me there is.

[janbear]

The diversity of people seeking recovery is extraordinary. Whether an old salty dog, young gang member, grandparent, or teen with attitude, we remember: as cancer is no respecter of victims, neither is addiction. Same disease, same recovery.

"We all came on different ships, but we're all on the
Same boat now." ~Martin Luther King

[francie21805]

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The smallest deed is better than the grandest intention. The smallest kindness is better than the best pitch.

It's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice.

[francie21805]

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The consequences of being dishonest, of being a liar, is not so much that others will not believe you, as it is that you can not believe others.

'Does what I gain by lying balance out the integrity I lose?’ (P 54, CDA First Edition)

[francie21805]

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'The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.' ~Max Lerner. That 'core of strength' is based on abstinence and spiritual principles.

I suit up; I show up: I grow up.

[francie21805]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

At the start of meeting we always ask, 'Is there anybody new or coming back?' We should also ask, 'Is there anybody old and going out?

I remember that the 'still suffering alcoholic' can include old timers too!

[francie21805]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

There is no completion for the circle of recovery. A circle has no beginning and no end. It is suggested that recovery begins when you have learned enough from those before you and pass it along to those behind. Love is the process that keeps the circle moving.

Standing hand in hand or arm in arm after a meeting I absorb the love that travels our circle of recovery.

[janbear]

You don't wait and get well enough to do the steps; you do the steps to get well. This is the promise of our program, the rainbows of recovery: the Twelve Steps work.

Rainbows are the ribbons on God's gift to me, recovery

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

[francie21805]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

They say, 'When all else fails, read the directions.' In recovery, we say, 'When all else fails, only then are you ready to read the directions. It takes what it takes.

I do not wait to hit the bottom of a problem before I hit the books for directions.

[francie21805]

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Some of us change when we see the light, most of us change when we feel the heat. Are you waiting to get burned before you do what you need to?

If I don't change... my clean and sober date will.

[francie21805]

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The law of physics says there is only one way to coast: down hill.

If I am not moving forward, I am moving backward. There is no coasting in recovery.

[francie21805]

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Which 'isms' affect you? Alcoholism: Incredibly Short Memory. Egoism: I, Self, and Me. Recidivism: I Sponsor Myself. Narcissism: InSide Me. Pessimism: I Sabotage Myself. Optimism: Incredibly Spiritual Moments.

Which 'ism' do I adopt for my life?

[allaflutter]

The "ism" for me today is spiritualism

[letgo]

The "ism" for me today is spiritualism

Thanks. This is such a positive take on "ism"; we usually talk about the isms of our illness in the negative - "I sponosr me" or " I, Self, Me" a

[francie21805]

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Pure and simple: Fear is the absence of Faith. Whether your fears are the Frantic Efforts to Appear Recovered or the F*ck Everything And Run type, one thing is guaranteed to alleviate them, the Fear Ain't In This House type of faith.

My fear no longer owns me.

[allaflutter]

Face
Everyhting
And
Recover

[francie21805]

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How long does it take to clear away the wreckage of our past? In the Northwest region of the U.S., Native Americans have a special saying, 'How long does it take to clear a landslide? One rock at a time.

I remove the landslide of my past, one rock at a time.

[francie21805]

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In working with others, remember that no one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.

I love the unloveables.

[francie21805]

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Some program members get stuck on rules of what one can and can't say and what dependency qualifies one to be in what recovery group. They demand that newcomers follow traditions as interpreted by them. This can drive newcomers away before they even find out what recovery means.

[francie21805]

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There is nothing about you that was not intended to be. You have an incredibly sacred purpose.

I am on purpose.

[francie21805]

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When we feel that fate has dealt us a bad hand with chemical dependency, we simply remember that many people have MS, cancer, diabetes, lupus, or a myriad of maladies that are not so easily put into remission.

Because I count my blessings, my blessings count.

[francie21805]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

As you sponsor others, remember this: If you are trying to recreate someone in your own image, then one of you will be redundant.

My job as a sponsor is to model, not mold, recovery for my sponsees.

[francie21805]

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Everyone has problems. Your problem though, is not the real problem. The real problem is how you deal with the original problem.

I work the program, not the problem.

[janbear]

Some people do not have to have a program to stop drinking. But for us, we remember untreated abstinence will make our past our future.

I don't work the program to get my life back;
I work the program to get my life forward.

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

[francie21805]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

It is remarkable how often we run across this feeling of 'uniqueness' as we recover. We may brag that we used more, had worse contacts, spent more in bars, treated our family worse, were younger, older, blacker, gayer, more sensitive--whatever.

I am the only ‘me' there is ever going to be. I do not try to convince others that I am a better me than they.

[francie21805]

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The reason people blame other people is because there is only one alternative.

I do not point a finger at another because there are always three pointing back at me.

[janbear]

When you're being nice, it's OK to over do it. During the HALT moments, when you're too hungry, angry, lonely, and tired, it's not.

When I go too far, it is seldom in the right direction.

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

[francie21805]

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

If you are clean and sober, the miracle has already happened. Stick around, the impossibilities take a little longer.

Nothing is impossible in God's world.

[janbear]

"Laughter has something in it in common with the ancient winds of faith and inspiration; it unfreezes pride and unwinds secrecy; it makes people forget themselves in the presence of something greater than themselves; something that they cannot resist." ~G.K. Chesterton

I cannot feel sorry for myself and laugh at the
Same time, so I take my levity seriously.

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

[janbear]

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When you can't find the solution to a problem, look for the soulution to the problem.

I keep whispering my heart's desires because I never know when my angel is listening.

[janbear]

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The sole purpose of AA is to help the alcoholic stop drinking. The sole purpose of NA is to help the addict stop using. The sole purpose of CDA is to help the chemically dependent give up mind affecting chemicals. The soul purpose of all these fellowships is service, unity, and recovery.

'I do not put the sole purpose of any fellowship above the soul purpose.' ~Shelly Marshall