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God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
and Wisdom to know the difference.
Thy will, not mine, be done.

January 24

Daily Reflections

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As Bill Sees It

Alike When The Chips Are Down, p. 24

In the beginning, it was four whole years before A.A. brought permanent
sobriety to even one alcoholic woman. Like the "high bottoms," the
women said they were different; A.A. couldn't be for them. But as the
communication was perfected, mostly by the women themselves, the
picture changed.

This process of identification and transmission has gone on and on. The
Skid-Rower said he was different. Even more loudly, the socialite (or
Park Avenue stumblebum) said the same--so did the artists and the
professional people, the rich, the poor, the religious, the agnostic, the
Indians and the Eskimos, the veterans, and the prisoners.

But nowadays all of these, and legions more, soberly talk about how
very much alike all of us alcoholics are when we admit that the chips are
finally down.

Grapevine, October 1959

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Walk In Dry Places
 
No Hidden Thoughts_____Moral Inventory
It is fortunate that we can think in secret, because our thoughts would quickly get us in trouble if others could read them.  In our thoughts, we can choose what we wish to reveal to others before we speak or act.
In the long run, however, we do not really conceal our true thoughts and feelings. The nature of our thoughts shapes our character and becomes part of us.  It even affects our appearance. It is not difficult at all to identify people who are fearful, angry, or jealous.
This process has its good side, because kind thoughts and feelings also affect our appearance, and in positive ways. Norman V. Peale wrote that "God runs a beauty parlor," meaning that plain people with gracious thoughts tend to become more attractive as years wear on.
We need not fear our own thoughts and feelings if we are continuing to work the program.  As the sober years stretch out, we will be improving our thoughts and feelings, and this will tell others what the program is doing for us and through us.
I'll remember today that I don't really keep my thoughts and feelings secret. I will think well of myself and all others.  I know that there are no hidden thoughts in the long run.

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Keep It Simple

Few people can be happy unless they hate some other person, nation, or creed.   Bertand Russell
In recovery  learn to give up hate. We must stand for justice, not for hate. We must learn to respect people. They, in turn, will respect us in most cases. We begin to see how important it is to give up hate--if we want others to care for us. Hate is often our secret. Hate is found deep in our hearts and minds. It eats at our souls. It hurts our spiritual growth. Sometimes people are public about their hate. There are even dangerous groups based on hate. But, the most dangerous hate is the private and unspoken. Do I have public hates? Do I have secret hates?
Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, search my hearts and show me any hates I have. Help me rid myself of them.
Action for the Day:  I'll list any people, nations, to creeds I hate. I'll pray to have this hate removed. I'll pray for these people, nations, or creeds.

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Each Day a New Beginning

I look in the mirror through the eyes of the child that was me.  --Judy Collins
The child within each of us is fragile, but very much alive, and she interprets our experiences before we are even conscious of them. It is our child who may fear new places, unfamiliar people, strange situations. Our child needs nurturing, the kind she may not have received in the past. We can take her hand, coax her along, let her know she won't be abandoned. No new place, unfamiliar person, or strange situation need overwhelm her.
It's quite amazing the strength that comes to us when we nurture ourselves, when we acknowledge the scared child within and hold her, making her secure. We face nothing alone. Together, we can face anything.
I will take care of my child today and won't abandon her to face, alone, any of the experiences the day may bring.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 6 - INTO ACTION

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

pp. 83-84

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

Our Southern Friend

Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"

Four alcoholics play bridge in a smoke-filled room. Anything to get my mind from myself. The game is over and the other three leave. I start to clean up the debris. One man comes back, closing the door behind him.
He looks at me. "You think you are hopeless, don't you?" he asks.
"I know it," I reply.
"Well, you're not," says the man. "There are men on the streets of New York today who were worse than you, and they don't drink anymore."
"What are you doing here then?" I ask.
"I went out of here nine days ago saying that I was going to be honest, and I wasn't," he answers.
A fanatic, I thought to myself, but I was polite. "What is it?" I enquire.

pp. 213-214

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Six - "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

Many will at once ask, "How can we accept the entire implication of Step Six? Why--that is perfection!" This sounds like a hard question, but practically speaking, it isn't. Only Step One, where we made the 100 percent admission we were powerless over alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection. The remaining eleven Steps state perfect ideals. They are goals toward which we look, and the measuring sticks by which we estimate our progress. Seen in this light, Step Six is still difficult, but not at all impossible. The only urgent thing is that we make a beginning, and keep trying.

p. 68

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Allowing an unimportant mistake to pass without comment is a wonderful social grace.  --Judith Martin

"One never knows what each day is going to bring. The important thing is to be open and ready for it."  --Henry Moore

"You cannot plan the future by the past." --Edmund Burke

Slow down to relish the wonder of God's creation. --Glen Childress

God makes possible what we cannot accomplish alone. --Gary Shank

Faith in God changes our manner of living. --Chester L Schneider

God's reassuring, caring love is with us moment by moment. --Walter N. Maris

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

OPPORTUNITY

"Too many people are thinking
of security instead of
opportunity; they seem more
afraid of life than death."
-- James Byrnes

Today I am aware of the opportunities that I did not recognize when I
was drinking. Drinking stopped me from seeing the life that was
before me. I drank myself away from the daily miracle. I missed the
sunsets, the fun of relationships, the joy of the theater and the
satisfaction of being "aware".

In the business world I did not see the opportunity for profit and
expansion; I did not create or have faith in my ideas, and I was not
able to understand or absorb the new information to be successful in
my life. Alcoholism kept me on the outside of my life.

Today I am alive in my life, creating, expanding and enjoying my
leisure. With sobriety I have the opportunity to experience God in
the many aspects of life.

Teach me to find You in the risks of life.

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"Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven."  Psalm 107:30

We are to grow up in all aspects into Him.  Ephesians 4:15

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
2 Peter 1:3

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Daily Inspiration

If you can't see more blessings than you can count, you aren't looking hard enough. Thank you, Lord, for all of my blessings and especially those that I don't recognize or take for granted.

Be joyful in whatever you do today because you have been blessed, are being blessed and have many more blessings waiting for you. Lord, I am so grateful for Your love.

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NA Just For Today

From Isolation To Connection

" Our disease isolated us... Hostile, resentful, self-centered, and self-seeking, we cut ourselves off from the outside world."
Basic Text p. 3-4

Addiction is an isolating disease, closing us off from society, family, and self. We hid. We lied. We scorned the lives we saw others living, surely beyond our grasp. Worst of all, we told ourselves there was nothing wrong with us, even though we knew we were desperately ill. Our connection with the world, and with reality itself, was severed. Our lives lost meaning, and we withdrew further and further from reality.

The NA program is designed especially for people like us. It helps reconnect us to the life we were meant to live, drawing us out of our isolation. We stop lying to ourselves about our condition; we admit our powerlessness and the unmanageability of our lives. We develop faith that our lives can improve, that recovery is possible, and that happiness is not permanently beyond our grasp. We get honest; we stop hiding; we "show up and tell the truth&quto; no matter what. And as we do, we establish the ties that connect our individual lives to the larger life around us.

We addicts need not live lives of isolation. The Twelve Steps can restore our connection to life and living-if we work them.

Just for today: I am a part of the life around me. I will practice my program to strengthen my connection to my world.

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Only with winter patience can we bring The deep desired, long-awaited spring. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Family life requires patience. We probably realized that a long time ago. The Greek origin of the word patience is pathos, which means "suffering." In our lives together, we often suffer. Life is full of bumps and scrapes, both physical and emotional. In our search for greater family unity and harmony we need to realize that we will not be able to escape all suffering. This is why we need patience. It is a form of love. When we suffer the bumps and scrapes and still have faith something good will come of it, we are living out our love. From this winter- patience we will surely find a reward.
How have I practiced my patience already today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
You have got to know what it is you want, or someone is going to sell you a bill of goods somewhere along the line that can do irreparable damage to your self esteem, your sense of worth, and your stewardship of the talents that God gave you.
--Richard Nelson Bolles
In recovery, getting to know ourselves sometimes means developing a new form of toughness. As we deepen our relationships with ourselves, we have a clearer sense of what we care about, what is truly important, and what is not. Certainly we have learned there is evil in the world. Harm does come to good people and the good side does not always win. So we must be men who know ourselves and are not pushovers when our basic values and needs are challenged. We leave room for being wrong, and we continue to grow and learn. But we stand up for what we believe as we see it today.
We must not join the forces that would put us down or destroy us. Those negative forces are within us more often than they are outside. Wherever they come from, knowing clearly what we want and care about is our strongest defense.
I will seek the wisdom to know my values and the strength to defend my beliefs.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
I look in the mirror through the eyes of the child that was me. --Judy Collins
The child within each of us is fragile, but very much alive, and she interprets our experiences before we are even conscious of them. It is our child who may fear new places, unfamiliar people, strange situations. Our child needs nurturing, the kind she may not have received in the past. We can take her hand, coax her along, let her know she won't be abandoned. No new place, unfamiliar person, or strange situation need overwhelm her.
It's quite amazing the strength that comes to us when we nurture ourselves, when we acknowledge the scared child within and hold her, making her secure. We face nothing alone. Together, we can face anything.
I will take care of my child today and won't abandon her to face, alone, any of the experiences the day may bring.

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Clearing the Slate
One of the greatest gifts we can give is an open, loving heart. And holding on to negative feelings from past relationships is our greatest barrier to that gift.
Most of us have had relationships that have ended. When we examine these relationships, we need to clear the emotional slate. Are we holding on to anger or resentments? Are we still feeling victimized? Are we living with the self-defeating beliefs that may be attached to these relationships - Women can't be trusted.... Bosses use people.... There is no such thing as a good relationship....
Let go of all that may be blocking your relationships today. With great certainty, we can know that old feelings and self-defeating beliefs will block us today from giving and getting the love we desire. We can clear the slate of the past. It begins with awareness, honesty, and openness. The process is complete when we reach a state of acceptance and peace toward all from our past.
Today, I will begin the process of letting go of all self-defeating feelings and beliefs connected to past relationships. I will clear my slate so I am free to love and be loved.


Today I will accept all of me just as I am. I will put aside all judgments and I will rejoice at the miracle of my uniqueness.
--Ruth Fishel

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Journey To The Heart

Stay in the present Moment

Stay in the present moment. That’s where you find life’s magic.

How overwhelmed we feel when we anitcipate the future, all that needs doing, all the tasks, the work, the potential problems, the responsibilities. How tired we become when we dwell on what we’ve done already, the energy we’ve expended, and the imperfect results.

Yes, sometimes to stay in the present we need to visit the past, to clear out an old feeling, to heal an old, limiting belief. But that visit can be brief. And sometimes we need to think about the future– to make commitments, to plan, to envision where we want to go. But to linger there can cause unrest. It can spoil the moment we’re in now. Stay in the present moment, and the past and the future will fall naturally and easily into place.

Stay in the present moment, and the magic will return.

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More Language Of Letting Go

Learn to let

Someone said, “Let go and let God,” and this is a wonderful recipe for overcoming fear or getting out of a tight place. In any case, the rule for creation is always to let.
–Emmet Fox

Darren, a friend of mine, keeps Light Show in his computer. It’s a program of his own making. In this file, he records all incidences of Divine Guidance, Divine Intervention, answered prayers, and serendipitous events in his life. Whenever he begins to doubt the presence of a Benevolent Force, whenever he stops trusting life, whenever he feels abandoned or wonders exactly how wise it is to trust God, he turns to his own light show to remind himself how powerful and wise it really is to let go.

People can tell others how miraculous it is to let go, how beneficial it is to practice a hands-off policy when it comes to manipulating or controlling the affairs of others, how stunning it is to let go of goals and let nature take its course. I could tell you how beneficial letting go is in creating healthy relationships.

But that’s my light show. Why not create your own?

Don’t try, don’t force, don’t make it happen. Let. Let it happen.

Let go and let God.

God, show me how letting go can benefit my life.

Activity: Start a file in your computer or dedicate part of your journal to a light show. Document how you try to controll a problem, or a person, or the outcome of a particular situation. Enter that incident into your light show. Then, practice letting go. Make notes about what helped you, any tools you used such as meditation or prayer. When the problem gets solved, or the goal gets accomplished, or you simply get the peace and grace to live effortlessly with an unsolved problem, enter that into your logbook. Whenever you need reassurance, refer to your lightshow.

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

Among the many gifts that we are offered in The Program is the gift of freedom. Paradoxically, however, the gift of freedom is not without a price-tag; freedom can only be achieved by paying the price called acceptance. Similarly, if we can surrender to God’s guidance, it will cost us our self-will, that “commodity” so precious to those of us who have always thought we could and should run the show. Is my freedom today worth the price-tag of acceptance?

Today I Pray

May God teach me acceptance — the ability to accept the things I cannot change. god also grant me courage to change those things I can. god help me to accept the illness of my addiction and give me the courage to change my addictive behavior.

Today I Will Remember

Accept the addiction.
Change the behavior.

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One More Day

The type of hugging I recommend is the bear hug. Use both arms, face your partner and perform a full embrace. – David Bresler

We all need physical contact. And this contact does more than put us in touch with other people; it reminds us of our human need to love as well as to be loved.

Some of us may have a sense of aloneness, regardless of how many or few people surround us. If we live alone, it can be most difficult to get our daily ration of hugging and touching. Perhaps we need to consider buying a pet. A bird, a cat, a dog will offer affection all the time. All they require is a good, loving home. Or perhaps we need to think about the contact we have with others. Our expressions of love bring us the unexpected bonus of physical well-being.

I need to love and be loved. I will share my caring nature more freely with other living creatures.

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Food For Thought

Humility

It is the suffering we experience as a result of overeating compulsively, which eventually makes us humble enough to admit that we are powerless over food. Until we have the necessary humility, recovery is impossible. As long as we think we can successfully control and direct our lives by ourselves, we shall continue to fail.

Some of us hit bottom sooner than others. If we are lucky, we can see where the disease is leading us and what the inevitable result will be if we do not find help from a source outside ourselves. Whether we hit a high bottom or a low bottom, when we finally reach it the only way to go is up. When we are humble enough to seek help by turning over our will, we shall find the help we need.

Maintaining an attitude of humility is essential for our recovery. If we allow ourselves to fall into the trap of pride and egotism, we are headed for a slip. Understanding our weakness and dependence on God is the beginning of strength.

May I be granted humility.

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One Day At A Time

~ POSITIVE ATTITUDE ~

Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money,
than circumstances, than what people do or say.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.
Charles Swindoll

I can't remember ever having a consistently good attitude. When I was younger, I usually wore a mask of a good attitude, so many people were attracted to the mask but not to the real me, and I knew it. It didn't help my attitude grow more positive.

Coming into the Twelve Step program, my attitude was all negative. My theory was that if I expected the worst from everyone and everything, if by chance I got something better, I could be pleasantly surprised. This makes me laugh now. With that attitude, would ANYTHING ever be considered good enough to "pleasantly surprise" me? No, and it didn't. I ignored the many good things that happened--or I created a dark side to them.

In a meeting, I once heard that positives attract positives, and negatives attract negatives. This has stuck with me for years. It might be a scientific thing, but for me it refers to attitude. When I make the choice to be in a bad mood, I struggle through the day. Nothing seems to go right, and if it does, I don't notice it or appreciate it. When I make the simple choice to be in a good mood despite whatever problems I'm facing, good things happen to me. People smile back, elevating my mood. I can find humor in things around me. The sun is shining even on a rainy day. It's all up to me.

One Day at a Time . . .
I will make the choice to be happy for just today. I will look for the good in myself, in others and in the situations around me. I will keep my attitude positive.
~ Rhonda ~

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

To Christ I conceded the certainty of a great man, not too closely followed by those who claimed Him. His moral teachings - most excellent. For myself, I had adopted those parts which seemed convenient and not too difficult; the rest I disregarded. - Pg. 11 - Bill's Story

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Let us speculate on another subtle 'trick' of our disease: It lies to us! 'It wasn't so bad; I'm not really out of control; everyone drinks a little; these people are stupid.' These are lies.

I pray that the subtle lies of addiction go in one ear and out the other!

Blessings

I can lose my blessings. If I don't appreciate them, they can disappear. If I feel overly entitled, if I take what is mine for granted, if I behave as if it is simply owed me and I don't need to notice or appreciate them, I am literally telling them to shrink. There is a wisdom, even a divine sort of self-centerdness to gratitude, because what I focus on with appreciation has a way of expanding in my life. If I erase my blessings, I don't feed them with the grace of gratitude. If I give thanks for them, I show the creative force that brings forth all good things, that I am awake enough to appreciate what has been so generously given.

I know enough to say thank you

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

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.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Talking about the spiritual part of the program is like talking about the wet part of the ocean.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I will accept all of me just as I am. I will put aside all judgments and I will rejoice at the miracle of my uniqueness.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

The highest rank in AA: Sober. - Ken.

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AA Thought for the Day

January 24

Divine Mystery
My memories no longer fill me with shame and remorse.
On the contrary, they fill me with gratitude and joy.
My whole story is a sort of divine mystery to me.
I don't know how an intelligent human being ever could have got into such a mess,
and the more firmly established in sanity I become,
the more amazed I am that I ever got out of the mess.
- Came to Believe . . ., pp. 98-99

Thought to Ponder . . .
I saw, I felt, I believed.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A B C = Acceptance, Belief, Change.

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

Belief
Here are thousands of men and women, worldly indeed.
They flatly declare that since they have come to believe
in a Power greater than themselves,
to take a certain attitude toward that Power,
and to do certain simple things,
there has been a revolutionary change
in their way of living and thinking.
In the face of collapse and despair,
in the face of the total failure of their human resources,
they found that a new power, peace, happiness,
and sense of direction flowed into them.
c. 2001AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous,  p. 50

Thought to Consider . . .
Newcomers are the lifeblood of the program.
But our old-timers are the arteries.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
P R O G R A M  =  People Relying On God Relay A Message

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

Visibility
>From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"The 1941-1945 period brought still other developments. Our downtown Vesey Street office was moved to 415 Lexington
Avenue, just opposite Grand Central [train] Station. We made this move because the need for serving the many A.A.
travelers through New York had become urgent. Our new location near Grand Central brought us into contact with
visitors who, for the first time, began to see Alcoholics Anonymous as a vision for the whole world."
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pgs. 198-99

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

"I try to accept reality instead of trying to control it. When I make that adjustment, the struggle ends."
El Granada, Calif., March 2003
"How an Atheist Works the Steps,"
Beginners' Book:
Getting and Staying Sober in AA

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

"Yes, there is a substitute and it is vastly more than that. It is a
fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from
care, boredom and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will
mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your
existence lie ahead. Thus we find the fellowship, and so will you."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, pg. 152~

"In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be
able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for
inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take
it easy. We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right
answers come after we have tried this for a while."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 86

Then fear, in turn, generates more character defects.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 49

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

In the beginning, it was four whole years before A.A. brought permanent sobriety to even one alcoholic woman. Like the
'high bottoms,' the women said they were different; A.A. couldn't be for them. But as the communication was perfected,
mostly by the women themselves, the picture changed.
This process of identification and transmission has gone on and on. The Skid-Rower said he was different. Even more
loudly, the socialite (or Park Avenue stumblebum) said the same - so did the artists and the professional people, the
rich, the poor, the religious, the agnostic, the Indians and the Eskimos, the veterans, and the prisoners.
But nowadays all of these, and legions more, soberly talk about how very much alike all of us alcoholics are when we
admit that the chips are finally down.

Prayer for the Day:  Thank you, God, for all you have given me, for all you have taken from me, and for what you have left to me.

Ask and you shall receive,
Seek and ye shall find,
Knock and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7

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