PRINCIPLES, NOT PERSONALITIES

The way our "worthy" alcoholics have sometimes tried to judge the
"less worthy" is, as we look back on it, rather comical. Imagine, if
you can, one alcoholic judging another!
THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 37

Who am I to judge anyone? When I first entered the Fellowship I
found that I liked everyone. After all, A.A. was going to help me to a
better way of life without alcohol. The reality was that I couldn't
possibly like everyone, nor they me. As I've grown in the Fellowship,
I've learned to love everyone just from listening to what they had to
say. That person over there, or the one right here, may be the one
God has chosen to give me the message I need for today. I must
always remember to place principles above personalities.

***********************************************************

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

As we look back over our drinking careers, we must
realize that our lives were a mess because we were a mess
inside. The trouble was in us, not in life itself. Life
itself was good enough, but we were looking at it the
wrong way. We were looking at life through the bottom of
a whiskey glass, and it was distorted. We could not see
all the beauty and goodness and purpose in the world,
because our vision was blurred. We were in a house with
one-way glass in the windows. People could see us but we
could not look out and see them and see what life meant
to them and should mean to us. We were blind then, but
now we can see. Can I now look at life as it really is?

Meditation For The Day

Fear no evil, because the power of God can conquer evil.
Evil has power to seriously hurt only those who do not
place themselves under the protection of the Higher Power.
This is not a question of feeling, it is an assured fact
of our experience. Say to yourself with assurance that
whatever it is, no evil can seriously harm you as long as
you depend on the Higher Power. Be sure of the protection
of God's grace.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that fear of evil will not get me down. I pray that
I may try to place myself today under the protection of
God's grace.
***********************************************************

As Bill Sees It

The Step That Keeps Us growing, p.264

Sometimes, when friends tell us how well we are doing, we know
better inside. We know we aren't doing well enough. We still
can't handle life, as life is. There must be a serious flaw
somewhere in our spiritual practice and development.

What, then, is it?

The chances are better than even that we shall locate our trouble in
our misunderstanding or neglect of A.A.'s Step Eleven--prayer,
meditation, and the guidance of God.

The other Steps can keep most of us sober and somehow functioning.
But Step Eleven can keep us growing, if we try hard and work at it
continually.

Grapevine, June 1958

***********************************************************

Walk In Dry Places
 
Watching what we think
Personal Inventory.
It's healthy for AA members to confess personal difficulties with destructive thinking. When we find ourselves becoming too irritable or impatient, it's important to admit this in meetings or one-on-one discussions. Usually, just the admission of the problem helps solve it.
It's only false pride that makes us think we should be "above" destructive thinking. As human beings, we'll be susceptible to human failings no matter how long we've been sober.
If we continue to watch what we think, we'll also be able to head off very serious problem before they get out of control. Far from being a sign that we're not working the program, the practice of weeding out our current faults is the Tenth Step in action. Continuing to take personal inventory and admitting our wrongs are a safeguard against trouble.
Destructive thinking is no respecter of persons, and even as an older member, I could lapse into it today. I always have the Tenth Step, however, to get me back on track.

***********************************************************

Keep It Simple
 
It is possible to be different and still be right.--Anne Wilson Schaef
Each of us is special. In some ways we're all different. It's a good thing too. We'd be bored if we were all the same. Sometimes though, we try to hide the special things about us. We don't want to be "different."
But the ways that we're different makes us special. Others have a knack of fixing things. Some of us make beautiful art. Others are great with kids. Our Higher Power made us as different, as unique, as beautiful snowflakes.
Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, help me use my special gifts the way You want me to. Help me be thankful that You have given me something special to share with others.
Action for the Day:  I'll think of one thing about me that's special. I'll talk with my sponsor about it.

***********************************************************

Each Day a New Beginning

Every person is responsible for all the good within the scope of her abilities, and no more . . .  --Gail Hamilton
We have been given the gift of life. Our recovery validates that fact. Our pleasure with that gift is best expressed by the fullness with which we greet and live life. We need not back off from the invitations our experiences offer. Each one of them gives us a chance, a bit different from all other chances, to fulfill part of our purpose in the lives of others.
It has been said that the most prayerful life is the one most actively lived. Full encounter with each moment is evidence of our trust in the now and thus our trust in our higher power. When we fear what may come or worry over what has gone before, we're not trusting in God. Growth in the program will help us remember that fact, thus releasing us to participate more actively in the special circumstances of our lives.
When we look around us today, we know that the persons in our midst need our best, and they're not there by accident but by Divine appointment. We can offer them the best we have--acceptance, love, support, our prayers, and we can know that is God's plan for our lives and theirs,
I will celebrate my opportunities for goodness today. They'll bless me in turn.

***********************************************************

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

BILL'S STORY

At the hospital I was separated from alcohol for the last time. Treatment seemed wise, for I showed signs of delirium tremens.
There I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost. I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch. I have not had a drink since.

p. 13

***********************************************************

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

Because I'm An Alcoholic

This drinker finally found the answer to her nagging question, "Why?"

When I passed out and fell into bed early, I woke up at four or five and had Irish coffee to start the day. I discovered beer was better than orange juice to ease my hangover. Afraid my colleagues or students would smell my breath at work, I was careful to keep my distance. When I got up late and rushed off to the lab, fortified only with coffee, my hands shook so badly it was impossible to weigh out the milligrams of compounds needed for an experiment. When I went out to lunch with another alcoholic, we might never make it back to work that day.

pp. 341-342

***********************************************************

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

To see how erratic emotions victimized us often took a long time. We could perceive them quickly in others, but only slowly in ourselves. First of all, we had to admit that we had many of these defects, even though such disclosures were painful and humiliating. Where other people were concerned, we had to drop the word "blame" from our speech and thought. This required great willingness even to begin. But once over the first two or three high hurdles, the course ahead began to look easier. For we had started to get perspective on ourselves, which is another way of saying that we were gaining in humility.

pp. 47-48

***********************************************************

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When
The language of truth is simple.
--Czech Proverb

"Laughter is by definition healthy."
--Doris Lessing

As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in
his way.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your vision will become clear only when You can look into your own heart. Who looks
outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
--Carl Jung

"Being quiet does not mean sacrificing productivity."
--Jane Nelson

***********************************************************

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

PERSEVERANCE

"Great works are performed, not
by strength, but perseverance."
-- Samuel Johnson

Today I saw a large 200-pound man drunk in a parking lot. Last night I heard a frail
mother celebrate ten years of sobriety. The difference? Perseverance. People get
what they really want in life. If you want sobriety more than anything else, are
prepared to go to any lengths, then nothing will stop you. Perseverance reveals the
"walk" as well as the "talk".

Today I need to remember that what is worth having requires sacrifice and effort.
God helps those who are prepared to help themselves. Today I intend to help myself
to sobriety.

I pray that I may persevere through my fears towards my goal.

***********************************************************

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven
belongs to such as these.
Matthew 19:14

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the
believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
Timothy 4:12

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.
Do everything in love.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.
1 Corinthians 16:23-24

***********************************************************

Daily Inspiration

If you want peace and goodness in your life you must be kind and loving. Lord, may I avoid creating misery so that my life will reflect my love for You.

God's blessings never end and His mercies are forever. Lord, may I love others as You love me.

***********************************************************

NA Just For Today

A New Way To Live

"When at the end of the road we find that we can no longer function as a human being, either with or without drugs, we all face the same dilemma.... Either go on as best we can to the bitter ends-jails, institutions, or death-or find a new way to live."
Basic Text pg. 84

What was the worst aspect of active addiction? For many of us, it wasn't the chance that we might die some day of our disease. The worst part was the living death we experienced every day, the never-ending meaninglessness of life. We felt like walking ghosts, not living, loving parts of the world around us.

In recovery, we've come to believe that we're here for a reason: to love ourselves and to love others. In working the Twelve Steps, we have learned to accept ourselves. With that self-acceptance has come self-respect. We have seen that everything we do has an effect on others; we are a part of the lives of those around us, and they of ours. We've begun to trust other people and to acknowledge our responsibility to them.

In recovery, we've come back to life. We maintain our new lives by contributing to the welfare of others and seeking each day to do that better - that's where the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Steps come in. The days of living like a ghost are past, but only so long as we actively seek to be healthy, loving, contributing parts of our own lives and the lives of others around us.

Just for today: I have found a new way to live. Today, I will seek to serve others with love and to love myself.

***********************************************************

You are reading from the book  Today's Gift.
And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round in the circle game.
--Joni Mitchell
High in the mountains near Sun Valley, Idaho, is a small cabin. The cabin is always left open for hikers to rest and refresh themselves. There is food in the cabin and wood for a fire. Often, weary backpackers have arrived there, tired and thirsty, to find just the beverage or snack they needed to help them on their way. The cabin operates on a system of trust--if you use something in the cabin, you replace it with something else. Perhaps it is just the thing the next traveler needs to go on. It is a circle game.
We are all part of a big circle. If we give of ourselves or do a favor for someone, eventually--sometimes years later--someone will do something for us that will help us on our way. We do these little deeds without expecting to be rewarded, and we can accept others' little gifts without feeling forever in someone's debt. These unselfish acts, stored in our mountain cabin, stand ready for the next traveler.
What gift can I pass on to another today?


You are reading from the book  Touchstones.
 There isn't enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle.  --Anonymous
Our lives can be like a battle between darkness and light. The darkness might be in our moods when we wake in the morning with feelings of despair. Then we can turn to the light of a prayer for openness: "God help me feel your love and acceptance." The darkness is there when we are tempted to take advantage of a clerk who gives us too much change. Perhaps we tell ourselves, "Everyone does it, it won't matter if I do."
Then the light comes as we remember that this program demands rigorous honesty, and each choice for honesty promotes our growth. The darkness may be when someone we care about is hurt or in danger, and we think, "I have to step in to prevent bad things from happening." Then we turn to our Higher Power for strength to stay in the relationship, but not control it.
Today, I can take a leap of faith by choosing an action and accepting that one small choice for the light makes a difference - even in all the darkness.


You are reading from the book  Each Day a New Beginning.
When action grows unprofitable, gather information; when information grows unprofitable, sleep.  --Ursula K. LeGuin
Sometimes we need to turn away from what's troubling us. Turn it over, says the Third Step. hanging onto a situation for which no solution is immediately apparent, only exaggerates the situation. It is often said the solution to any problem lies within it. However, turning the problem over and over in our minds keeps our attention on the outer appearance, not the inner solution.
Rest, meditation, quiet attention to other matters, other persons, opens the way for God to reveal the solution. Every problem can be resolved. And no answer is ever withheld for long. We need to be open to it, though. We need to step away from our ego, outside of the problem and then listen fully to the words of friends, to the words that rise from our own hearts. Too much thinking, incessant analyzing, will keep any problem a problem.
I will rest from my thoughts. I will give my attention wholly to the present. Therein will come the solution, and when least expected.


You are reading from the book  The Language Of Letting Go.
Good Things Coming
Do not worry about how the good that has been planned for you will come.
It will come.
Do not worry, obsess, and think you have to control it, go out hunting for it, or tangle your mind trying to figure out how and when it will find you.
It will find you.
Surrender to your Higher Power each day. Trust your Higher Power. Then, stay peaceful. Trust and listen to yourself. That is how the good you want will come to you.
Your healing. Your joy. Your relationships. Your solutions. That job. That desired change. That opportunity. It will come to you - naturally, with ease, and in a host of ways.
That answer will come. The direction will come. The money. The idea. The energy. The creativity. The path will open itself to you. Trust that, for it has already been planned.
It is futile, a waste and drain of energy, to worry about how it will come. It is already there. You have it already. It is in place. You just cannot see it!
You will be brought to it, or it will be brought to you.
Today, I will relax and trust that the good I need, will find me. Either through my leadings, or the leadings of others, all I want and need will come to me when the time is right.


I can handle anything that comes up today... even if it is only a moment at a time.  --Ruth Fishel

***************************************

Journey To The Heart

Practice the Power of Respect

It is a quiet power, one that caught me by surprise on my journey. I had heard about it before, but somehow, in the shuffle of life, I had forgotten it: respect.

Respect is a spiritual power, a power of the heart, one that’s closely connected to gratitude, yet somehow different. It is an attitude toward people, toward life, toward ourselves that only takes a moment to convey, yet somehow has far-reaching effects. It does more than free people to be themselves, it encourages them to be their best. It honors people, life, and the mysterious connection we each have to the Divine.

Have a series of life experiences caused you to forget respect? In your anger, did you decide that certain persons or groups of people were undeserving of respect? Has familiarity with yourself or another caused you to forget to practice respect? Let go of the past; it’s over. But your power to transform the future has just begun.

Respect and honor yourself. Respect the needs of your body, the needs of your heart, and the dictates of your soul. Respect the lives of others. Respect the gift of life. Bow in spirit to all you meet. Bow to the gifts of the universe– the sun, moon, earth, sea, and stars. Honor all that lives, the trees, the wildflowers, the eagle soaring high. The deer in the woods, the squirrel scurrying up the tree, the june bug that lights on your shoulder. Each has its place in this world. So do you.

Discover the power of respect. Then practice it often. let it change your world.

***************************************

More Language Of Letting Go

Say how sweet it is

There’s so much talk about finding that extraordinary love of our life. Maybe everything we need to know about romantic love can be learned from our friends.

We don’t expect our friends to change our life and make everything that’s wrong,right. We just expect them to be who they are, and then we let them be that. It’s part of being a friend.

We don’t expect to like everything about our friends. We know they have defects of character. They do things occasionally that irritate us.

We don’t expect our friends to entertain and amuse us, keeping us laughing and smiling all the time. We let them go through their ups and downs. Sometimes we just sit in silence with our friends, and we each keep our thoughts to ourselves.

We don’t pick fights and create drama with our friends, just to keep passion alive. Usually we do everything we can to avoid fighting with our friends. We want our friendship to be a quiet, safe, peaceful place, a haven in our lives.

We don’t expect our friends to turn our lives upside down, distracting us from our path. Usually if a friend attempts to wreak havoc in our lives, we run the other way.

We wouldn’t let a friend hit us. And friends don’t talk mean. If an issue comes up, we usually carefully weigh the best way to talk about this issue with her or him.

We don’t expect friends to be in perfect health all the time. We know that they will have issues to deal with as they walk along their own paths. We encourage them. We pray for them. But we don’t take their issues as our own, and we don’t take it personally when they need some time to focus on their own personal growth.

In friendships, one person does not hold all the power. So despite the differences in our lives, we try to relate as equals.

We’re tolerant of cycles in our friendships, knowing that at different times, each person has different needs, different experiences to go through. Sometimes there’s more time and energy to devote to the friendships. Other times, there’s less.

We don’t expect our friends to be at our side twenty-four hours a day. We have our time together and value that, but then we each go our own way. We don’t try to force bonding with friends, or even force the relationship to be a friendship too fast. We let ourselves go through experiences together naturally, knowing that that’s how bonding takes place.

I’m not a expert on marital love, but we might have a better chance at finding love if we treated our lover like a friend.

God, help me find the middle ground between unrealistic expectations and no expectations at all. Help me cherish my relationships and not confuse heavy drama with romantic love.

***************************************

Conditioned Response
Reactions To Life Events

Our experiences color everything. The events of the past can have a profound effect on how we see our lives now and what we choose to believe about our world. Our past experiences can also influence our emotional reactions and responses to present events. Each of us reacts to stimulus based on what we have learned in life. There is no right or wrong to it; it is simply the result of past experience. Later, when our strong feelings have passed, we may be surprised at our reactions. Yet when we face a similar situation, again our reactions may be the same. When we understand those experiences, we can come that much closer to understanding our reactions and consciously change them.

Between stimulus and reaction exists a fleeting moment of thought. Often, that thought is based on something that has happened to you in the past. When presented with a similar situation later on, your natural impulse is to unconsciously regard it in a similar light. For example, if you survived a traumatic automobile accident as a youngster, the first thing you might feel upon witnessing even a minor collision between vehicles may be intense panic. If you harbor unpleasant associations with death from a past experience, you may find yourself unable to think about death as a gentle release or the next step toward a new kind of existence. You can, however, minimize the intensity of your reactions by identifying the momentary thought that inspires your reaction. Then, next time, replace that thought with a more positive one.

Modifying your reaction by modifying your thoughts is difficult, but it can help you to see and experience formerly unpleasant situations in a whole new light. It allows you to stop reacting unconsciously. Learning the reason of your reactions may also help you put aside a negative reaction long enough to respond in more positive and empowered ways. Your reactions and responses then become about what’s happening in the present moment rather than about the past. As time passes, your negative thoughts may lose strength, leaving only your positive thoughts to inform your healthy reactions. Published with permission from Daily OM

***************************************

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

Through our own experiences and the experiences of others in The Program, we see that a spiritual awakening is in reality a gift — a gift which in essence is a new state of consciousness and being. It means that I’m now on a road which really leads somewhere; it means that life is really worth living, rather than something to be endured. It means that I have been transformed in a sense that I have undergone a basic personality change — and that I possess a source of strength which I had so long denied myself. Do I believe that none come too soon to The Program — and that none return too late?

Today I Pray

I pray that I may attain that state of consciousness which transcends my everyday reality — but is also a part of it. May I no longer question the existence of God because I have touched His Being. For us who are recovering from addictions, the words reborn in the Spirit have a special, precious meaning. May I be wholly grateful to a Higher Power for leading me to a spiritual rebirth.

Today I Will Remember

Renaissance through my Higher Power.

***************************************

One More Day

What’s a joy to the one is a nightware to the other. That’s how it is today, that’s how it will be forever.
– Bertolt Brecht

Different stroke for different folks is a popular cliche, but it’s also an absolute truth which it comes to knowing people. Each of us has our own level of comfort for the activities we do and the performances we give in our lives.

we also find different levels of joy in our spiritual, social, and emotional experiences. Often, we find what we’re looking for — what we wish to find — in each situation. What’s most important is that we are able to find our own level of joy — wherever we are at that time — and claim it as belonging to us.

My joy may not be the same as someone Else’s joy, but I shall struggle on to keep the meaning of my joy alive.

************************************

Food For Thought

Daring

What is it inside our heads that keeps daring us to try once more to prove that we are not compulsive overeaters? What kind of stupidity makes us think that this time we can get away with taking one compulsive bite? In a moment of blind bravado, we can lose months or years of hard won control.

Our ego is our own worst enemy. We forget that once a compulsive overeater, always a compulsive overeater. We tell ourselves that since we have been doing so well for so long, surely we can manage one or two small deviations. We rebel against the program and place ourselves above it. We forget that we have a disease, and we decide to do what we feel like doing, oblivious to the fact that by taking that first compulsive bite we are destroying our sanity and our serenity.

This kind of daring is to be avoided at all costs. The best antidote is the humility, which reminds us of the reality of our illness. We are not like everyone else. We are compulsive overeaters and do not dare to throw away our program.

Save me from the kind of daring that destroys me.

*****************************************

One Day At A Time

~ RISING ABOVE ~
Our greatest glory is not in never failing,
but in rising up every time we fail.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the major premises of our recovery program is "progress, not perfection." No one but me expects me to be perfect. I have a history of driving myself in the quest for perfection. I've set goals that are so lofty that I could never acheive them. In that respect, I'm probably my own worst enemy.

However, I can also be my own best friend. I don't have to set standards that are impossible for me to meet. In fact, we're told we need to live one day at a time. If I can do that, then I don't need to live up to my impossibly high standards. My goals aren't so out-of-reach if I can see them as daily things.

What happens if I fail to meet even the "one day at a time" goal? I start over, knowing that I don't have to stay down. I can rise up and begin again. That, for me, is the greatest thing.

One Day at a Time . . .
I will rise above my failures and shortcomings, and know that I'm making progress. I don't have to be perfect any more.
Jeff

*****************************************

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven't got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us. - Pg. 164 - A Vision For You

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

HALT. Don't get too Hungry, too Angry, too Lonely, too Tired. Why? Because any of these conditions weaken our mind and emotions and in a weakened state our disease of addiction can easily trick us into using some mind-affecting chemical.

Higher Power, as I understand You, help me understand the dangers of HALT.

Staying in the Game

Each and every day is a rebirth into an entirely new set of possibilities. It carries with it a sense of renewal. Each and every day I will play the hand I'm dealt as well as I can play it. Each and every day I will wake up, place my hand in the hand of God and move into my day with the confidence and comfort of knowing that I am not alone, that I have access to the greatest source of compassion and power in the universe. Each and every day I will put one foot in front of the other and try to make sense of the life I have been given. I will have faith - I will stay connected and alive while I'm living.

I am an active member of my life

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

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.

I carry the message, not the mess.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

The trouble with many of us is that in trying times we stop trying.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

I can handle anything that comes up today even if it is only a moment at a time.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

There are no chemical solutions to spiritual problems. - Ron K.

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AA Thought for the Day

December 22

The First Step
The First Step and I have always been great friends.
I repeated it and thanked God each day for my sobriety -- the only grace, maybe, for that day.
Gradually, I began to see another part of me emerging -- a grateful me, expecting nothing,
but sure that another power was beginning to guide me, counsel me, and direct my ways. And I was not afraid.
- Came To Believe . . ., p. 45

Thought to Ponder . . .
Many of our fears are tissue paper thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
S T E P S = Solutions Through Each Positive Step.

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

Let Go
If you have decided you want what we have
and are willing to go to any length to get it --
then you are ready to take certain steps.
At some of these we balked.
We thought we could find an easier, softer way.
But we could not.
With all the earnestness at our command,
we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start.
Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas
and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.
Remember we deal with alcohol -- cunning, baffling, powerful!
Without help it is too much for us.
But there is One who has all power -- that One is God.
May you find Him now!
c. 1976, 2001AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 58

Thought to Consider . . .
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H O P E = Heart Open; Please Enter

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

Safe
>From "Good Housekeeping" article, 1954:
"When you stand outside a room where a group of Alcoholics Anonymous is meeting, the most frequent sound you hear
is laughter. Mellow laughter, which can come only from people who have looked destruction and catastrophe in the face,
not once but continuously over long years, and now are free and unafraid. The laughter, in short, of people who hold
God's hand and feel safe."
c. Letter to a Woman Alcoholic (A.A. Pamphlet P-14)

*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"My group included almost every type of alcoholic that old-timers feared most ... The amazing thing is most of us stayed
sober, despite all the dire predictions. Why? Because the two things we had in common were more important than all
our differences. We were alcoholics and we believed in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous."
Springville, UT, March 2000
"Courage to Change"
Beginner's Book: Getting and Staying Sober

~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*

"Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental
defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither
he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense
must come from a Higher Power."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 43~

"We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much
more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our
respective homes, occupations and affairs."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 19

Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p.77

When the Twelfth Step is seen in its full implication, it is really talking about the kind of love that has no price tag on it.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p.106

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

For a new prospect, outline the program of action, explaining how you made a self-appraisal, how you straightened out
your past, and why you are now endeavoring to be helpful to him. It is important for him to realize that your attempt to
pass this on to him plays a vital part in your own recovery. Actually, he may be helping you more than you are helping
him. Make it plain that he is under no obligation to you.
In the first six months of my own sobriety, I worked hard with many alcoholics. Not a one responded. Yet this work kept
me sober. It wasn't a question of those alcoholics giving me anything. My stability came out of trying to give, not out of
demanding that I receive.

Prayer for the Day: I surrender my life to Thee, O God. Living in self has separated me from your Divine guidance and
grace. Take my life and run it for me, according to Your will and Your plan. Thy will, not mine be done.