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

As Bill Sees It

Better Than Gold, p. 57

As newcomers, many of us have indulged in spiritual intoxication.
Like a gaunt prospector, belt drawn in over the last ounce of food, we
saw our pick strike gold. Joy at our release from a lifetime of
frustration knew no bounds.

The newcomer feels he has struck something better than gold. He
may not see at once that he has barely scratched the limitless lode
which will pay dividends only if he mines it for the rest of his life and
insists on giving away the entire product.

Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 128-129

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Walk In Dry Places
 
The Fix that Never was_____ Recovery
In all of the despair and defeat that went along with drinking, most of us held to the ideal of a "fantastic fix"-----  a drinking experience so fulfilling and complete that it would solve our problems and leave us searching no more.
Compulsive disorders, like alcoholism, seem to include this delusion. The gambler looks for the big score, the overeater seeks the total enjoyment of food, and the sex junkie searches for the perfect partner.  But the search never ends, because our compulsions always drive us to seek stronger wine and greater excitement.
The only fix that will ever work has to be rooted in sobriety and right living. When we think and live properly, free from alcohol, we find a fix that really works.  We find continuous satisfaction instead of soaring excitement, sound relationships with other people instead of ego-gratifying encounters, and purpose instead of drifting.
The peak experience we had been seeking is a fix that never can be.  We can be truly "fixed" only by staying sober.
I will live calmly and gratefully today, forgetting the drive for excitement that was destroying me.  My Higher Power knows who I am and what I should be doing.

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

Keep It Simple

Forewarned. forearmed: being prepared is half the victory.---Miguel de Cervantes
Ther will be hard times in our program. There will be hard times in our lives. That's the way the life is. It helps if we accept this. Then we can prepare for tough times. We can prepare by getting a good set of habits and sticking to them. We can make it a habit to give time to our program each day. Sticking to good habits is like having a savings account: when hard times come, we can take the "investment" we've made and overcome our problems.
Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, help me accept that there will be hard times. Help me prepare for them. With Your help, I'll stay close to You, my friends, and the program.
Action for the Day:  I'll put something into my program "savings account" today. I'll make that extra call. I'll read a little longer or go to an extra meeting.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Happiness is a byproduct of an effort to make someone else happy.  --Gretta Brooker Palmer
We have striven for happiness, generally in self-centered ways. We expected others to favor us with their attention, for example. Or we waited for invitations or gifts. We have probably tried to buy happiness with the purchase of a new dress or shoes. Fleeting moments of happiness were gained, that's all. And soon we were discontent once again. And the search was begun anew.
But things have changed for some of us. We are learning, maybe slowly, how to find a more permanent happiness. And we know the happiness that comes from "getting" is elusive. Giving to others, giving attention, sharing hope, sharing our own stories, listening to theirs, is the key to finding the happiness for which we've searched so long. We must get outside of ourselves and focus on another's joy or sorrow. Only then do we get a clear perspective on who we are and the necessary role we play in the lives of others who need our attention and who have a message we also need to hear.
The creative power stirring in me needs recognition. Looking deeply into another person, listening intently to the stirring will elicit joy. I will feel in touch with my own creative power, a lasting thrill, not a fleeting moment of happiness.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 7 - WORKING WITH OTHERS

Suppose now you are making your second visit to a man. He has read this volume and says he is prepared to go through with the Twelve Steps of the program of recovery. Having had the experience yourself, you can give him much practical advice. Let him know you are available if he wishes to make a decision and tell his story, but do not insist upon it if he prefers to consult someone else.

p. 96

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

Jim's Story

This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.

I was born in a little town In Virginia in an average religious home.  My father, a Negro, was a country physician.  I remember in my early youth my mother dressed me just as she did my two sisters, and I wore curls until I was six years of age.  At that time I started school, and that's how I got rid of the curls.  I found that even then I had fears and inhibitions.  We lived just a few doors from the First Baptist Church, and when they had funerals, I remember very often asking my mother whether the person was good or bad and whether they were going to heaven or hell.  I was about six then.

p. 232

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

While the purpose of making restitution to others is paramount, it is equally necessary that we extricate from an examination of our personal relations every bit of information about ourselves and our fundamental difficulties that we can. Since defective relations with other human beings have nearly always been the immediate cause of our woes, including our alcoholism, no field of investigation could yield more satisfying and valuable rewards than this one. Calm, thoughtful reflection upon personal relations can deepen our insight. We can go far beyond those things which were superficially wrong with us, to see those flaws which were basic, flaws which sometimes were responsible for the whole pattern of our lives. Thoroughness, we have found, will pay--and pay handsomely.

p. 80

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This is a great day to be sober, patient, tolerant, kindly and loving.

A positive attitude is a person's passport to a better tomorrow.  --Anon

Gratitude is our most direct line to God and the angels. If we
take the time, no matter how crazy and troubled we feel, we
can find something to be thankful for. The more we seek gratitude,
the more reason the angels will give us for gratitude and joy to
exist in our lives.
--Terry Lynn Taylor

God, help me learn to respond to whatever environment I'm in by
taking the appropriate actions to take care of myself.
--Melody Beattie

Every new day is the beginning of the rest of your life. On each day
you can make new choices on how to live it.

No matter what the season, God is with us.
--George J. Waggoner

God's love reaches us wherever we are.
--Karen Christy Kurtz

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

UNIQUENESS

"Each honest calling, each walk of
life, has its own elite, its own
aristocracy based upon excellence
of performance."
-- James Bryant Conant

Everybody has a gift and a special feature that is unique to
themselves. Unfortunately so many people are so busy admiring the
gifts of others that they miss their own; they are so caught up in the
lives of others that they miss the "specialness" of their own
existence. One of the symptoms of my alcoholism was low self-esteem.
Of course I acted a role of confidence. I pretended that everything was
okay. I wore the mask of success --- but deep within myself, I was always
waiting for the world to find out that I was a fake, that something
was missing in my life.

In recovery I have discovered God's powerful gift of spirituality and I
know that through my life a uniqueness exists in the world. I have the
capacity to make the day better --- not only for myself but also for
others.

Thank You for the "specialness" of my life.

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

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow
to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20

"Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
Proverbs 12:18

We love because [God] first loved us.
1 John 4:19

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Daily Inspiration

Lift yourself above the seriousness of life by keeping a gentle sense of humor. Lord, You have made me one of a kind. Help me to enjoy who I am.

No one can live for himself alone for then he will have no purpose in life. To give of self is one of life's greatest joys and blesses us with a full and rich life. Lord, help me to be selfless and loving to those around me.

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NA Just For Today

Remorse

"The Eighth Step offers a big change from a life dominated by guilt and remorse."
Basic Text, p. 38

Remorse was one of the feelings that kept us using. We had stumbled our way through active addiction, leaving a trail of heartbreak and devastation too painful to consider. Our remorse was often intensified by our perception that we couldn't do anything about the damage we had caused; there was no way to make it right.

We remove some of the power of remorse when we face it squarely. We begin the Eighth Step by actually making a list of all the people we have harmed. We own our part in our painful past.

But the Eighth Step does not ask us to make right all of our mistakes, merely to become willing to make amends to all those people. As we become willing to clean up the damage we've caused, we acknowledge our readiness to change. We affirm the healing process of recovery.

Remorse is no longer an instrument we use to torture ourselves. Remorse has become a tool we can use to achieve self-forgiveness.

Just for today: I will use any feelings of remorse I may have as a stepping-stone to healing through the Twelve Steps.

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

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
From harmony, from heavenly harmony,
This universal frame began . . .
--John Dryden
Our family is like a small orchestra. Each of us has an important part to play. To achieve harmony we tune in to how others are sounding. We recognize that every orchestra needs a conductor, a center for direction. We rely on our Higher Power for this support and guidance, and we realize that our family's music exists in time. It changes, it passes, and we begin a new song. Our music comes and goes. It is not carved in marble. It is a free expression of family love.
No one of us has to play alone, because we are an ensemble. The time for soloing comes later. Today we rejoice that we can play together.
How can my music add to the family's symphony today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
I have never for one instant seen clearly within myself. How then would you nave me judge the deeds of others?
--Maurice Maeterlinck
We have been given the job of getting to know ourselves and dealing with our own craziness. We aren't so good at it that we have spare time and energy left to make judgments about those around us. We are tempted to become absorbed in their behavior and choices, and it does feel like a welcome distraction from anxieties about ourselves. So we must learn to detach from the family members and friends that we are tempted to fix, or monitor, or judge.
Although we are very close, we are on separate paths in life. We were not born together, and we will not die together. We will make our family or our friendships and the world a little bit better by staying centered on our own sanity.
I pray for a clear separation between what is on my path in this program and what is on someone else's path. Then we can make good bridges between us.


You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Twelve Step Programs
I was furious when I found myself at my first Al Anon meeting. It seemed so unfair that he had the problem and I had to go to a meeting. But by that time, I had nowhere left in the world to go with my pain. Now, I'm grateful for Al Anon and my codependency recovery. Al Anon keeps me on track; recovery has given me a life. --Anonymous
There are many Twelve Step programs for codependents: Al Anon, Adult Children of Alcoholics, CoDa, Families Anonymous, Nar-Anon, and more. We have many choices about which kind of group is right for us and which particular group in that category meets our needs. Twelve Step groups for codependents are free, anonymous, and available in most communities. If there is not one that is right for us, we can start one.
Twelve Step groups for codependents are not about how we can help the other person; they're about how we can help ourselves grow and change. They can help us accept and deal with the ways codependency has affected us. They can help us get on track and stay there.
There is magic in Twelve Step programs. There is healing power in connecting with other recovering people. We access this healing power by working the Steps and by allowing them to work on us. The Twelve Steps are a formula for healing.
How long do we have to go to meetings? We go until we "get the program." We go until the program "gets us." Then we keep on going and growing.
Selecting a group and then attending regularly are important ways we can begin and continue to take care of ourselves. Actively participating in our recovery program by working the Steps is another.
I will be open to the healing power available to me from the Twelve Steps and a recovery program.

It is safe to know there is a special place within me where I can feel peace. --Ruth Fishel

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Journey to the Heart

Embrace the Lessons of Night

I reached Wyoming’s Yellowstone Park late, much later than I had planned. The park was sprawling. I wasn’t certain how to find the lodge. I couldn’t find anyone to ask for help or directions. Tired and exhausted, I couldn’t make sense of the map. I found myself driving around and around, becoming almost frantic.

Suddenly, beyond the treetops, I spotted a bright light. Good, I thought, it must be the lodge. I drove a little further, then stopped the car and stared in awe. What I saw stilled my heart, and calmed my frantic pace.

Above Yellowstone Lake, nestled between two mountain peaks, glowed a huge, white, full moon, the largest I’d ever seen it. The pines stood guard, quiet and still. A light layer of snow and ice frosted the lake’s surface. I pulled to the side of the road and watched the moon set. It was the single most beautiful, breathtaking scene of the journey.

I would never have seen this scene in the daytime. I would never have seen this moon, had I not gotten lost. I would never have seen it, had it not been this particular time of night. So maybe I’m not lost, I thought. And maybe I’m not late. Maybe what I’m really doing is taking a beautiful evening drive.

When we’re lost, when the way gets dark, sometimes we see things we never would have seen in the daylight. Sometimes, the lessons we learn in the darkness are breathtakingly beautiful.

Enjoy the sunshine, but trust the darkness,too. It is more than to be endured. It is to be experienced, and later cherished.

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More Language Of Letting Go

Open the door to fun experiences

You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.
–Colette

It was nighttime. A light breeze ruffled through my hair as I sat on the bench looking out over the lights of Las Vegas. How did I get here agaiin? I thought. Then I remembered. It had been another of Chip’s wrong turns that had led us from southern California into the unknown.

The man wrapped a thick cloth around my ankles and then attached the cord to it. Another backup cord ran to the harness around my waist.

I was on a tower 150 feet above the ground getting ready to bungee jump. By my feet. At night. In vegas. Again.

Sometimes the first step is the hardest. Sometimes it’s the second step that gets you. The thing about a new experience is that you have no expectations, there is no frame of reference. But the second time. … I remembered the feeling of looking down off the platform to the ground below, the unnatural, terrifying step into nothingness, then my stomach jumping up into my chest, the long second when time seemed to freeze, the plunge toward the ground, and the tug of the cord slowing me. I remembered the rebound, the hanging there, waiting to be pulled back up. I remembered it all, and it grew in my mind. And besides, this time it was night, and I was going to be hanging by my feet.

I walked to the edge of the platform. I wasn’t holding on. But I was shaking.

“5-4-3-2-1- go!” came the count. I closed my eyes and let myself fall.

And I laughed and I screamed, and I laughed at myself for screaming. It was fun.

Later, as we headed farther down the road, farther away from home on another intuitive road trip, I was still smiling.

Growth is self-perpetuating. Each new experience opens the door for further experiences. Today, remember something that you may have done only once, something you liked; then do it again. Allow your mind to fill you with uncertainty as you remember all of the experiences of the first time. It doesn’t have to be work-related. Maybe you went to a play instead of watching TV. Camped in the woods. Or wrote a poem. Find something that was fun, and do it again. Then, bring that feeling back to your ordinary world. Bring the woohoo of the second time into the third, forth, and fifth times that you do a thing.

Keep the life in your life.

God, please remind me of some fun, interesting things that I like to do. Then help me get out of my chair and do them.

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Dark Night of the Soul
Surrendering the Ego

by Madisyn Taylor

While we are in a dark night of the soul experience, hold steady knowing the light will appear once again.


Whenever a word is overused, it is most likely being misused, and over time, it begins to lose its meaningfulness. For example, we often refer to a fleeting feeling of depression or a period of confusion, as a dark night of the soul, but neither of these things qualifies as such. A dark night of the soul is a very specific experience that some people encounter on their spiritual journeys. There are people who never encounter a dark night of the soul, but others must endure this as part of the process of breaking through to the dawn of higher consciousness.

The dark night of the soul invites us to fully recognize the confines of our egos’ identity. We may feel as if we are trapped in a prison that affords us no access to light or the outside. We are coming from a place of higher knowing, and we may have spent a lot of time and energy reaching toward the light of higher consciousness. This is why the dark night has such a quality of despair: We are suddenly shut off from what we thought we had realized and the emotional pain is very real. We may even begin to feel that it was all an illusion and that we are lost forever in this darkness. The more we struggle, the darker things get, until finally we surrender to our not knowing what to do, how to think, where to turn. It is from this place of losing our sense of ourselves as in control that the ego begins to crack or soften and the possibility of light entering becomes real.

Some of us will have to endure this process only once in our lives, while others may have to go through it many times. The great revelation of the dark night is the releasing of our old, false identity. We finally give up believing in this false self and thus become capable of owning and embracing the light. Published with permission from Daily OM

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

“What if…” How often we hear these words from newcomers to The Program. How often, in fat,we tend to say them ourselves. “What if I lose my job?” “What if my car breaks down?” What if I get sick and can’t work?” “What if my child gets hooked on drugs?” What if — anything our desperate imaginings can project. Only two small words, yet how heavy-laden they are with dread, fear and anxiety. The answer to “What if…” is, plainly and simply, “Don’t project.” We can only live with our problems as they arise, living one day at a time. Am I keeping my thoughts positive?

Today I Pray

May I grow spiritually, without being held back by anxieties. May projected fears not hobble my pursuits or keep me from making the most of today. May I turn out fear by faith. If I will only make a place for God within me, He will remove my fears.

Today I Will Remember

I can only borrow trouble at high interest rates.

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

One More Day

I shall not pass this way again;
Then let me now relieve some pain,
Remove some barrier from the road,
Or brighten someone’s heavy load.
– Eva Rose York

Sometimes we help other through – neighborhood clean-up committees, recycling stations, and paint-a-tons. Maybe we’ve volunteered through school or church or community organizations.

Illness has helped us better understand the relationship between those who help and those who need help. Loving help is not prompted by pity or superiority, but by empathy and shared humanness. Also, we’ve learned that no one is always the helper or always the one needing help. We are both. We are bonded to others through what we give — and what we receive.

I will show my love by helping and being willing to be helped.

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

Food For Thought

Eating Slowly

We compulsive overeaters are inclined to devour our meals in a great rush. Mealtime often finds us anxious and tense, and sometimes we are just plain greedy! While others at the table are interested in conversation and socializing, we may be narrowly focused on food and preoccupied with trying to satisfy a ravenous appetite.

We need to break out of our self-centeredness. Rather than being completely absorbed with satisfying our own appetite (which we can never do), we can learn to focus some of our attention on the concerns of those around us. When we eat more slowly, we have more time for others and we feel less deprived. Our enjoyment, of both the company and the food, is greatly increased.

Even when we eat a meal alone, we should remember that we do not receive all of our nourishment from physical food. When we eat more slowly, we become more relaxed and refreshed both physically and spiritually. When we are aware of our Higher Power and thankful for all of His blessings, the meal is more satisfying.

Help me to slow down and appreciate Your gifts.

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One Day At A Time

~ MEMORIES ~

Some memories are realities ...
and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again.
Willa Cather

When one is young, the world is large and the thought of exploring it is exciting. Each year that we live we add to our memory chest ... and by middle age those memories are substantial. I have found as I have grown older that I remember more of the good things that have happened in my life than the bad. The good things seem to become sharper as time goes by ... and the bad seem less so. It's almost as though the memory has turned into a "feeling" rather than a specific event.

When I work on the fourth and the eighth Steps, my life flashes before me and, like one of those calendars from an old movie, time whizzes by and people who have been part of my life hurtle through space ... each triggering a memory.

Memories aren't made more poignant by time. One might think that a decade of recurring events might be remembered with more clarity than a year ... but I have found in the case of my own memories that it is the quality and intensity of time that produces the kind of memories Willa Cather talks about. A year or two or three, given the right circumstances, can produce the feelings we love our memories to trigger, more than those experienced during a lifetime. And a lifetime of memories can be dwindled into just moments.

One Day at a Time . . .
I will cherish my memories ~ Because I may never experience the reality of some of them again.
~ Mari ~

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

THERE IS A SOLUTION. Almost none of us like the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation. - Pg. 25 - There Is A Solution

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

There is a fundamental unity that underlies the fellowship of our programs. It is this unity that can comfort us and help us hold on when we want a fix, pill, drink, smoke, or snort more than we want this new unfamiliar life.

God, as I understand You, show me how to take comfort from the unity of fellowship when drugs call me back.

Fear

Today, I allow myself to experience my fears as fears. I don't need to let them control and color the circumstances of my life. They are real, and it is understandable that I have them. Healing can mobilize my deep fears, they come up more intensely than normal. But this is a part of my process, and growth and healing aren't neat and tidy. When I am very afraid, I will comfort myself or seek comfort from someone else. I will understand that even though I fear the worst, the worst will not necessarily happen. My feelings feel very powerful inside me, but they are not facts. I can survive my fears and understand that they will pass.

I have compassion for the fearful part of me.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Whatever you are trying to avoid, we won't go away until you confront it.

When I see myself as others see me, do I deny it?

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Your Higher Power makes your life uncomfortable when it's time for you to change.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

It is safe to know there is a special place within me where I can feel peace.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I'm unique, just like everybody else. - Anon.

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AA Thought for the Day

February 26

Peace of Mind
As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind,
as we discovered we could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence,
we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 63

Thought to Ponder . . .
Happiness and peace of mind are always here, open and free to anyone.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Always Awesome.

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

Neighbors
Near you, alcoholics are dying helplessly
like people in a sinking ship.
If you live in a large place, there are hundreds.
High and low, rich and poor,
these are future fellows of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Among them you will make lifelong friends.
You will be bound to them with new and wonderful ties,
for you will escape disaster together
and you will commence shoulder to shoulder
your common journey.
Then you will know what it means to give of yourself
that others may survive and rediscover life.
You will learn the full meaning of
"Love Thy neighbor as thyself."
c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 152-3

Thought to Consider . . .
Sobriety is a journey, not a destination.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
T E A M = Together Everyone Achieves More.

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

Illness
Step Two: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
"Few indeed are the practicing alcoholics who have any idea how irrational they are, or seeing their irrationality, can bear
to face it. Some will be willing to term themselves 'problem drinkers,' but cannot endure the suggestion that they are in
fact mentally ill. They are abetted in this blindness by a world which does not understand the difference between sane
drinking and alcoholism. 'Sanity' is defined as 'soundness of mind.' Yet no alcoholic, soberly analyzing his destructive
behavior, whether the destruction fell on the dining-room furniture or his own moral fiber, can claim 'soundness of mind'
for himself."
1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005; Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pgs. 32-33

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

"I was told by a sober member of AA that if I wanted to stay sober I would need to do three things: get a sobriety date
and don't change it, get a sponsor, and get a home group."
Glendale, Calif., March 2002
From: "Three Essentials"
Beginner's Book: Getting and Staying Sober in AA

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

"We know that while the alcoholic keeps away from drink, as he may do
for months or years, he reacts much like other men. We are equally
positive that once he takes any alcohol whatever into his system,
something happens, both in the bodily and mental sense, which makes
it virtually impossible for him to stop. The experience of any
alcoholic will abundantly confirm this."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 22~

"...we were at Step Three, which is that we decided to turn our will
and our life over to God as we understood Him. Just what do we mean
by that, and just what do we do?
The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on
self-will can hardly be a success. On that basis we are almost
always in collision with something or somebody, even though our
motives are good. Most people try to live by self-propulsion."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 60~

"It will become more and more evident as we go forward that it is pointless to become angry, or to get hurt by people
who, like us, are suffering from the pains of growing up.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 92

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Better than Gold
As newcomers, many of us have indulged in spiritual intoxication. Like a gaunt prospector, belt drawn in over the last
ounce of food, we saw our pick strike gold. Joy at our release from a lifetime of frustration knew no bounds.
The newcomer feels he has struck something better than gold. He may not see at once that he has barely scratched a
limitless lode which will pay dividends only if he mines it for the rest of his life and insists on giving away the entire
product. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp . 128-129

Prayer for the Day: Dear Lord, Please grant me the wisdom to understand that failing at something is just another
opportunity to start again. Please help me to never give up.