GOOD ORDERLY DIRECTION

It is when we try to make our will conform with God's
that we begin to use it rightly. To all of us, this
was a most wonderful revelation. Our whole trouble had
been the misuse of willpower. We had tried to bombard
our problems with it instead of attempting to bring it
into agreement with God's intention for us. To make
this increasingly possible is the purpose of A.A.'s
Twelve Steps, and Step Three opens the door.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 40

All I have to do is look back at my past to see where
self-will has led me. I just don't know what's best for
me and I believe my Higher Power does. G.O.D., which I
define as "Good Orderly Direction," has never let me
down, but I have let myself down quite often. Using my
self-will in a situation usually has the same result as
forcing the wrong piece into a jigsaw puzzle--exhaustion
and frustration. Step Three opens the door to the rest of the program.
When I ask God for guidance I know that whatever happens
is the best possible situation, things are exactly as
they are supposed to be, even if they aren't what I want
or expect. God does for me what I cannot do for myself,
if I let Him. ***********************************************************

As Bill Sees It

Truth, the Liberator, p. 70

How truth makes us free is something that we A.A.'s can well
understand. It cut the shackles that once bound us to alcohol. It
continues to release us from conflicts and miseries beyond reckoning;
it banishes fear and isolation. The unity of our Fellowship, the love
we cherish for each other, the esteem in which the world holds us--all
of these are products of the truth which, under God, we have been
privileged to perceive.

<< << << >> >> >>

Just how and when we tell the truth--or keep silent--can often reveal
the difference between genuine integrity and none at all.

Step Nine emphatically cautions us against misusing the truth when it
states: "We made direct amends to such people wherever possible,
except when to do so would injure them or others." Because it points
up the fact that the truth can be used to injure as well as to heal, this
valuable principle certainly has a wide-ranging application to the
problem of developing integrity.

Grapevine, August 1961

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

Walk in Dry Places
 
Living with Bad Vibes____Human Relations
Some of us are sensitive to the feelings we pick up from people in the immediate environment. The feelings we sense from the people around us can be as powerful as odors and sounds.  We can feel tense in the presence of domineering people, and we can be uncomfortable around people who seem resentful.
Acceptance and knowledge help us retain mastery of ourselves in these situations. But we don't have to tune in to another person's bad feelings, just as we wouldn't tune in to a radio station whose music bothers us. We can also detach from the situation in thought, just as Al-Anon trained spouses detach from alcoholics in a spirit of love and understanding.
The less we try to resist such a situation, the less power it has to disturb us. And the less involved we become with such situations, the sooner they seem to change.  People in Twelve Step programs sometimes report miraculous changes when they adjust their own feelings. One frequently hears of outcomes such as this:  "I learned not to let this person bother me, and two weeks later he was transferred to another department."
My own sensitivity makes me vulnerable to good or bad feelings in the atmosphere. Recognizing them for what they are, I'll enjoy the good feelings and refuse to e disturbed or upset by those that seem bad.

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

Keep It Simple

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.---AA saying
Before recovery, we never thought we had enough alcohol or other drugs. More would make us feel better, we thought. Sometimes, we are like this in recovery too. We know we need to change, so we want to do it all right now. If we can just change ourselves totally, we'll feel better, we think.
But we can't change all at once. If we ask our Higher Power to take charge of our lives, we'll have the chance to change a little at a time. We'll learn the right things when we need to know them.
Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, help me fix what needs fixing today.
Action for the Day:  I'll make a list of what is broken. Which things on my list can I fix today?

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

Each Day a New Beginning

The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town.  --Eleanor H. Porter
We have met certain people who inspired laughter, hope, or changes in us, or those close to us. We look forward to seeing them. We leave their presence believing in ourselves, aware that we can tackle whatever problems had us immobilized. That special gift to inspire is ours for the taking, too. The inspiration comes from God.
We can look to God for the strength we need. It will come. We can look also to God for direction, for the steps we need to take today. And then wait. Those persons who inspire us have developed a secure connection to their God. And it's their connection that comes through them to inspire us.
We can take some time today, before the demands overwhelm us, to weave our connection to our higher power. When that contact is secure, we won't have to await inspiration from another person to forge ahead with our plans. The inspiration will live within us, and it will beckon us onward. Our way will be illuminated.
I shall meditate upon this.  Conscious contact with God is only a prayer away. My life will be brightened. My burdens will be lifted. My hopes will become realities, whenever I look to God for the gift of inspiration.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 7 - WORKING WITH OTHERS

If you have been successful in solving your own domestic problems, tell the newcomer’s family how that was accomplished. In this way you can set them on the right track without becoming critical of them. The story of how you and your wife settled your difficulties is worth any amount of criticism.

p. 100

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

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 had a long talk with a psychiatrist, but nothing came of that, and I had also, just about that time, talked with a minister for whom I had a great deal of respect. He went into the religious side and told me that I didn't attend church as regularly as I should and that he felt, more or less, that this was responsible for my trouble. I rebelled against this, because just about the time that I was getting ready to leave high school, a revelation came to me about God, and it made things very complicated for me. The thought came to me that if God, as my mother said, was a vengeful God, he couldn't be a loving God. I wasn't able to comprehend it. I rebelled, and from that time on, I don't think I attended church more than a dozen times.

p. 238

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Nine - "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others."

Above all, we should try to be absolutely sure that we are not delaying because we are afraid. For the readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the very spirit of Step Nine.

p. 87

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

Sometimes we are so eager to give our children what we didn't have
that we forget to give them what we did have.

If today offers a challenge, be grateful.
Challenges are gifts of awareness and growth.

The more faithfully you listen to the voice within you, the better you hear what is
sounding outside of you.
--Dag Hammarskjold

Nothing hath separated us from God but our own will, or rather
our own will is our separation from God.
--William Law

Never ask the question you don't want to know the answer to.

Pureness in your heart will provide you with fullness in your life.

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

PROFIT

"In freeing people . . . our
country's blessing will also come;
for profit follows righteousness."
-- Senator Albert Beveridge

Profit is more than financial benefit or material well-being. Profit, for
the recovering alcoholic and drug addict, is being aware of life,
feeling feelings and having the capacity for a relationship with God,
self and others.

But a financial benefit is also part of spirituality; the blessing of
money and financial stability are part of God's love and trust. His gift
of freedom involves our responsibility and stewardship of money.

With money and profit we are not only able to have creative
comforts, but we can also make the lives of others creative. A
responsible use of money is part of my recovery program and has
become one of the joys of the "spiritual awakening".

Let Your blessing of money in life help me to bless others.

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

When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken."
Psalms 30:6

"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."
Matthew 21:22

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

Daily Inspiration

Sometimes we search for God in the wrong places. To help someone in need is the quickest way to touch His hand. Lord, in my ordinary day in my ordinary ways may I come to know and understand You more.

Our words are powerful tools and can influence even when we are not aware. Lord, help me to speak with kindness and sensitivity and to be a positive source of encouragement and support to others.

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

NA Just For Today

Lightening The Load

"It will not make us better people to judge the faults of another It will make us feel better to clean up our lives."
Basic Text, p. 37

Sometimes we need something tangible to help us understand what holding a resentment is doing to us. We may not be aware of how destructive resentments actually are. We think, "So what, I have a right to be angry;" or, "I might be nursing a grudge or two, but I don't see the harm."

To see more clearly the effect that holding resentments is having in our lives, we might try imagining that we are carrying a rock for each resentment. A small grudge, such as anger at someone driving badly, might be represented by a pebble. Harboring ill will toward an entire group of people might be represented by a enormous boulder. If we actually had to carry stones for each resentment, we would surely tire of the weight. In fact, the more cumbersome our burden, the more sincere our efforts to unload it would be.

The weight of our resentments hinders our spiritual development. If we truly desire freedom, we will seek to rid ourselves of as much extra weight as possible. As we lighten up, we'll notice an increased ability to forgive our fellow human beings for their mistakes, and to forgive ourselves for our own. We'll nourish our spirits with good thoughts, kind words, and service to others.

Just for today: I will seek to have the burden of resentments removed from my spirit.

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

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Being a healthy parent means being firm but nurturing, giving children a decent sense of the boundaries along with lots of unconditional love. --Karen Shaud
In a healthy family, life goes along and everybody pitches in to do the housework. Some people wonder why housework is such a big deal. It is because people need to contribute to a group in order to feel they belong to it. Housework makes us part of the same group--our house, our family. We make our house comfortable so we can feel comfortable and safe in it. We show love for ourselves by making our surroundings likeable. And when we do physical work, we can do our inner housekeeping, letting go of negative feelings that pile up during the day.
On days when life feels out of control, we feel good when we do one simple job: clean the messy desk, wash dirty dishes, shovel the snowy walk. In this way we regain control of our feelings as well as a perspective on those things within our control.
What simple work do I need to do to feel better today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
One must not hold one's self so divine as to be unwilling occasionally to make improvements in one's creations.
--Ludwig van Beethoven
We addicted and codependent men too often feel ashamed of our mistakes. It pains us to admit there is room for improvement in what we have done. When we do see that our work can be improved, shame overwhelms us. Our oversensitivity to flaws puts us in a kind of competition with God. We are not yet resigned to letting ourselves be fully human - and letting God be God. Life is much calmer when we remember that who we are and what we do are not the same.
We are deeper and richer than any object we create or any job we hold. A genius like Beethoven could see he needed to make occasional improvements in his composition, and we can follow his model. Allowing for imperfection, we are better prepared to deal with it, and we are liberated to do our jobs and live our lives more fully.
I will be content to let God be God and accept my life with all its need/or improvements.


You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Letting Go of Confusion
Sometimes, the way is not clear.
Our minds get clouded, confused. We aren't certain what our next step should be, what it will look like, what direction we are headed.
This is the time to stop, ask for guidance, and rest. That is the time to let go of fear. Wait. Feel the confusion and chaos, and then let it go. The path will show itself. The next step shall be revealed. We don't have to know now. We will know in time. Trust that. Let go and trust.
Today, I will wait if the way is not clear. I will trust that out of the chaos will come clarity.


Today I continue to let go of all thoughts that continue to pull me out of the present and bringing me to the past and the future. I am becoming more and more open to letting the power of good and love into my life. --Ruth Fishel

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

Journey to the Heart

Enjoy the Changing Scenery

How easy it is to think, I will be feeling like this forever. But look at how quickly the scenery changes!

In the space of a few hours while driving down the highway, we can see mountains, deserts, a petrified forest, and iron-rich mesas. In the space of a day we can see courage, faith, despair, desolation, anger, healing, and joy. If there’s one thing that’s true, it’s this: the universe is always changing. It is constant, continual evolution.

The same holds true for the minutes, hours, and days of our lives. We are continually changing and shifting. Each emotion, attitude, and experience– each piece of scenery– leads into the next. Put them all together and what do you have? A grand journey– an exciting trip that leads to someplace worth going and someplace worth being, each moment you are here.

Look at how quickly the scenery changes. Learn to enjoy the view.

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

More Language Of Letting God

Things happen

A healthy friend dies participating in a sport she loves. A husband works hard on his marriage only to come home one day and find his wife in bed with another man.

A knock at the door, and a starving family opens it to find bags of groceries piled anonymously on the porch. A large order comes in just as a company is getting ready to close its doors, and the owner’s dream is given new life.

Sometimes life twists. Sometimes it goes the other way,too. Things happen. Sometimes we label these events good, sometimes bad. We cannot always see the reason or purpose in them, but most of us choose to believe there’s a Divine plan.

I don’t know why I’ve received some of the blessings I’ve been given. I don’t know why some of the sorrow has come my way. All I can do is trust that whatever comes my way, there’s a lesson at hand.

Are you focusing on the circumstances of your life instead of the lessons? The circumstances are the tools. Be involved in them. Feel the pain of loss and the elation of victory. Let compassion work its way into your soul. Learn caring and kindness for others and yourself,too.

Instead of asking why, learn to ask what the lesson is. The moment you become ready to accept it, the lesson will become clear.

God, help me accept all the twists and turns along my way. Help me learn to say whatever to the good and the unfortunate incidents that come my way.

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

Set Yourself Free
Letting Go of Perfection

It is good to remember that one of our goals in life is to not be perfect. We often lose track of this aspiration. When we make mistakes, we think that we are failing or not measuring up. But if life is about experimenting, experiencing, and learning, then to be imperfect is a prerequisite. Life becomes much more interesting once we let go of our quest for perfection and aspire for imperfection instead.

This doesn’t mean that we don’t strive to be our best. We simply accept that there is no such thing as perfection—especially in life. All living things are in a ceaseless state of movement. Even as you read this, your hair is growing, your cells are dying and being reborn, and your blood is moving through your veins. Your life changes more than it stays the same. Perfection may happen in a moment, but it will not last because it is an impermanent state. Trying to hold on to perfection or forcing it to happen causes frustration and unhappiness.

In spite of this, many of us are in the habit of trying to be perfect. One way to nudge ourselves out of this tendency is to look at our lives and notice that no one is judging us to see whether or not we are perfect. Sometimes, perfectionism is a holdover from our childhood—an ideal we inherited from a demanding parent. We are adults now, and we can choose to let go of the need to perform for someone else’s approval. Similarly, we can choose to experience the universe as a loving place where we are free to be imperfect. Once we realize this, we can begin to take ourselves less seriously and have more fun. Imperfection is inherent to being human. By embracing your imperfections, you embrace yourself. Published with permission from Daily OM

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

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

Since I came to The Program, I’ve begun to recognize my previous inability to form a true partnership with another person. It seems that my egomania created two disastrous pitfalls. Either I insisted upon dominating the people I knew, or I depended on them far too much. My friends in The Program have taught me that my dependence meant demand — a demand for the possession and control of the people and the conditions surrounding me. Do I still try to find emotional security either by dominating or being dependent on others?

Today I Pray

May I turn first to God to satisfy my love-hunger, knowing that all He asks from me is my faith in Him. May I no longer cast emotional nets over those I excessively dependent upon them — which is just another form of domination. May I give others the room they need to be themselves. May God show me the way to mature human relationships.

Today I Will Remember

To havve faith is His Love.

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

One More Day

The hopeful man sees success where others see failure, sunshine where others see shadows and storm.
– O.S. Marden

Once in a while we lose sight of the world around us and get caught up in how miserably we are feeling. We may be in physical or emotional pain and become self-absorded. Or we may be unhappy because things are not going exactly the way we want.

But we can imagine, just for a moment, a beautiful watercolor picture of a sunrise — the promise of a brand-new day. The hues are gentle pastels. The colors blend together subtly, gently, with no perceptible break from one section to another. We can relax in the beauty and serenity of the scene. We can enjoy it with no other motive than pleasure. Positive imagery can help us enhance the beauty of the moment.

I am overwhelmed by nature’s beauty and by the great joy I feel. I can call back these same feelings by visualizing them in my mind.

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

Food For Thought

Sharing

In our fellowship, we share our troubles and we share our joys - our faults as well as our assets. We will be accepted and understood, because we are with people who are like us. We may seem very different on the surface, but underneath we are all amazingly alike.

Someone has said, "I can only know that much of myself which I have had the courage to confide to you." As we reveal ourselves to others, they act as mirrors so that we may see and understand who we are.

All of us have hidden fears and buried guilts. Before we joined OA, we had no place to go with these negative emotions, and so we turned to unnecessary food. Instead of rationally facing our worries and our hurts, we ate. Even when we were happy, we found it easier to eat than to express our joy to someone else.

Sharing our thoughts, feelings, and experiences with other people shows us who we are and helps us to accept ourselves. Those with whom we share also benefit.

Grant me courage and trust so that I may share.

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

One Day At A Time

INSANITY

"Insanity: Doing the same thing over and
over again and expecting different results."
..... Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Everyday I get up and fight the fight of 'I am not good enough.' Nevertheless, I know I am who I am and that's what counts. I may never be what others expect me to be and many times those expectations were so great that I used to beat myself up over my failures.

That is the insanity of the compulsion that I am being healed from. I now have a mirror in my bedroom! I now can go without cleaning my house compulsively for those who visit me and now I can stand up for myself. Why? Because I love ME!

Program has given me back who I am. The person I love. My welfare comes first! Above all I am grateful for my sponsor, my Higher Power and this program. I am also grateful to the many men and women who have inspired my life because if it were not for all of these, I would still be in that insanity.

One day at a time ... I will not require everyone's approval; I will not continually beat myself up when I expect more of myself than I can give; I will continue to love ME and all the good things about me.
~ Rosehips

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

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer. - Pg. 44 - We Agnostics

Note: It doesn't say 'may' or 'could' conquer.

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

'Stick with the winners and hang with the gods' and you'll see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sticking with the winners means to only associate with clean and sober people in the program and going to meetings is hanging with the gods.

Grant me the good sense to go to a meeting every day for 90 days and socialize with people on the path of recovery.

Co-Creation

I live in a world of possibilities. I live in a world in which my imagination walks ahead of me. What I can see in my mind's eye can manifest. First, I have to see it, feel it, experience it as real. Then I open a door within me through which my vision can manifest in God's time. I am limited only by what I am willing to accept as possible. Life is a creative process in which I am the co-creator. God and I work together to make this world a better place to be.
I co-create a beautiful world.

If not now, when? If not you, who? If not here, where?

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

It is our experience in recovery that a Power greater then ourselves places the answers before us that we need to hear when we need to hear them. Often we don't like the answers and practice self-will by trying to force our solution. Forcing solutions is the same as ignoring Step Three.

When I force the solution, the solution becomes the problem.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Ya gotta wanna.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I continue to let go of all thoughts that continue to pull me out of the present and bringing me to the past and the future. I am becoming more and more open to letting the power of good and love enter my life.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

You may be the only copy of the AA Big Book that someone ever reads. - Unknown origin.

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

AA Thought for the Day

March 11

Keep Coming Back
I've found that my experience can be of help to other people.
I have come to believe that hard times are not just meaningless suffering
and that something good might turn up at any moment.
That's a big change for someone who used to come to in the morning feeling sentenced to another day of life.
When I wake up today, there are lots of possibilities. I can hardly wait to see what's going to happen next.
I keep coming back because it works.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 374

Thought to Ponder . . .
That light at the end of the tunnel may be you.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
K C B = Keep Coming Back.

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

Willpower
"We AA's know the futility of trying to break the drinking obsession by will power alone. However, we do know that it
takes great willingness to adopt AA's Twelve Steps as a way of life that can restore us to sanity.
"Bill W., Letter, 1966 As Bill Sees It, p. 88

Thought to Consider . . .
Willingness is doing what I have to,
whether I want to or not.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
LET GO
Leave Everything To God, Okay?

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

Powerlessness
Step Three: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
"Isn''t it true that in all matters touching upon alcohol, each of them has decided to turn his or her life over to the care,
protection, and guidance of Alcoholics Anonymous? Already a willingness has been achieved to cast out one's own will
and one's own ideas about the alcohol problem in favor of those suggested by A.A. A willing newcomer feels sure A.A. is
the only safe harbor for the foundering vessel he has become. Now if this is not turning one's will and life over to a
newfound Providence, then what is it?"
1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005; Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pg. 35

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

"I have come to believe that my drinking insanity is only one form of the craziness to which we AAs are prone. I call it
Insanity A. Insanity B is finding out what works for you -- and then not doing it."
Prague, Czechoslovakia, February 2005
"Insanity B"
Beginner's Book: Getting and Staying Sober in AA

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

"Resentment is the "number one" offender. It destroys more
alcoholics than anything else."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 64~

"If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation
of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to
alcohol."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 33~

All these failings generate fear, a soul-sickness in its own right. Then fear, in turn, generates more character defects.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 49

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Truth, the Liberator
How truth makes us free is something that we A.A.'s can well understand. It cut the shackles that once bound us to alcohol. It continues to release us from conflicts and miseries beyond reckoning; it banishes fear and isolation. The unity of our Fellowship, the love we cherish for each other, the esteem in which the world holds us - all of these are products of the truth which, under God, we have been privileged to perceive.
Just how and when we tell the truth - or keep silent - can often reveal the difference between genuine integrity and none at all.
Step Nine emphatically cautions us against misusing the truth when it states: 'We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.' Because it points up the fact that the truth can be used to injure as well as to heal, this valuable principle certainly has a wide-ranging application to the problem of developing integrity. GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961

Prayer For The Day: Dear Lord, I thank you for all you have done. I feel sometimes as if I ask to much. Today I just want to say thank you.