LOVE AND TOLERANCE

Love and tolerance of others in our code.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84

I have found that I have to forgive others in all
situations to maintain any real spiritual progress.
The vital importance of forgiving may not be obvious
to me at first sight, but my studies tell me that every
great spiritual teacher has insisted strongly upon it.
I must forgive injuries, not just in words, or as a
matter of form, but in my heart. I do this not for the
other persons' sake, but for my own sake. Resentment,
anger, or a desire to see someone punished, are things
that rot my soul. Such things fasten my troubles to me
with chains. They tie me to other problems that have
nothing to do with my original problem.
***********************************************************

As Bill Sees It

Whose Responsibility?, p. 79

"An A.A. group, as such, cannot take on all the personal problems of
its members, let alone those of nonalcoholics in the world around us.
The A.A. group is not, for example, a mediator of domestic relations,
nor does it furnish personal financial aid to anyone.

"Though a member may sometimes be helped in such matters by his
friends in A.A., the primary responsibility for the solutions of all his
problems of living and growing rests squarely upon the individual
himself. Should an A.A. group attempt this sort of help, its
effectiveness and energies would be hopelessly dissipated.

"This is why sobriety--freedom from alcohol--through the teaching
and practice of A.A.'s Twelve Steps, is the sole purpose of the group.
If we don't stick to this cardinal principle, we shall almost certainly
collapse. And if we collapse we cannot help anyone."

Letter, 1966

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

Walk in Dry Places
 
Think, Think, Think
Prudence.
It's hard to believe, but some AA members insist that newcomers shouldn't think. "Whoever said you should think?" some members are told. The newcomer is apparently supposed to suspend all thinking for several months until reaching a certain level of recovery.
This is nonsense, and it also contradicts AA teaching.  If we don't want people to use their heads, why do we have printed cards on meeting room walls that say, "Think, Think, Think"?   We are always capable of thinking, even in moments of deep despair. Indeed, we could not keep from thinking.
A constructive approach to thinking is to form complete sentences from the slogan on the wall:  THINK what might happen if I take one drink. THINK of the wonderful new life that awaits me in sobriety.  THINK about ways of improving myself and following a more satisfactory lifestyle.
It's also important to remember that good thinking will drive out bad thinking…. But good thinking has to be cultivated.
I'll keep my thinking centered today on the good things that can be done in life.  I'll focus my attention only on matters that are under my control, and I know that better thinking will bring better conditions.

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

Keep It Simple

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years of trying to get other people interested in you. ---Dale Carnegie
We wanted friends, but our addiction wanted all our attention. We had no time to be close to others.
Well, stand aside, addiction! The program has taught us that others are important. Our purpose is to help others. People have become what’s important to us.
Now we listen to others. We help them do what they want to do, not what we want them to do. We help people instead of use them. Friendship is now a way of life. And another promise of the program becomes a part of us.
Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, help me to know that I’m here to help others, not just myself. Through others, I find myself.
Today’s’ Action:  Today I’ll help someone the way he or she wants to be helped.

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Each Day a New Beginning

There's a period of life where we swallow a knowledge of ourselves and it becomes either good or sour inside.  --Pearl Bailey
For too many of us, feelings of shame, even self-hatred, are paramount. No one of us has a fully untarnished past. Every man, every woman, even every child experiences regret over some action. We are not perfect. Perfection is not expected in the Divine plan. But we are expected to take our experiences and grow from them, to move beyond the shame of them, to celebrate what they have taught us.
Each day offers us a fresh start at assimilating all that we have been. What has gone before enriches who we are now, and through the many experiences we've survived, we have been prepared to help others, to smooth the way for another woman, perhaps, who is searching for a new direction.
We can let go of our shame and know instead that it sweetens the nuggets of the wisdom we can offer to others. We are alike. We are not without faults. Our trials help another to smoother sailing.
I will relish the joy at hand. I can share my wisdom. All painful pasts brighten someone's future, when openly shared.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 7 - WORKING WITH OTHERS

We are careful never to show intolerance or hatred of drinking as an institution. Experience shows that such an attitude is not helpful to anyone. Every new alcoholic looks for this spirit among us and is immensely relieved when he finds we are not witchburners. A spirit of intolerance might repel alcoholics whose lives could have been saved, had it not been for such stupidity. We would not even do the cause of temperate drinking any good, for not one drinker in a thousand likes to be told anything about alcohol by one who hates it.

p. 103

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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'd been home about a week or ten days when one of my friends asked if I could repair one of his electrical outlets.  Thinking only of two or three dollars to buy some whiskey, I did the job and that's how I met Ella G., who was responsible for my coming into A.A.  I went to this friend's shop to repair his electrical outlet, and I noticed this lady.  She continued to watch me, although she didn't say anything.  Finally she said, "Isn't your name Jim S?"  I said, "Yes."  Then she told me who she was.  She was Ella G.  When I had known her years before, she was rather slender, but at this time she weighed as much as she does now, which is up around in the two hundreds or very close to it.  I had not recognized her, but as soon as she said who she was, I remembered her right away.  She didn't say anything about A.A. or getting me a sponsor at that time, but she did ask about Vi, and I told her Vi was working and how she could locate her.  It was around noon, a day or two later, when the telephone rang and it was Ella.  She asked me if I would let someone come up and talk to me concerning a business deal.  She never mentioned anything about my whiskey drinking because if she had I would have told her no right then.  I asked her just what this deal was, but she wouldn't say.  She said, "He has something of interest, if you will see him."  I told her that I would.  She asked me one other thing.  She asked if I would try to be sober if I possibly could.  So I put forth some effort that day to try to stay sober if I could, though my sobriety was just a daze.

p. 242-243

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."

In all these situations we need self-restraint, honest analysis of what is involved, a willingness to admit when the fault is ours, and an equal willingness to forgive when the fault is elsewhere. We need not be discouraged when we fall into the error of our old ways, for these disciplines are not easy. We shall look for progress, not for perfection.

p. 91

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"There is only one small letter between the words CAN and
CAN'T...and that one letter will TOTALLY change your destiny."
-–Doug Firebaugh

Happiness is intrinsic, it's an internal thing. When you build it
into yourself, no external circumstances can take it away. That kind of
happiness is a twenty-four-hour thing.
--Leo F. Buscaglia

God, if I can't see the joy in life, help me look again.
--Melody Beattie

Now and then I like to lift my eyes up from the details of daily life and
remember the bigger picture, and take a breath of God, and feel and
remember that ultimately, it's all okay.
--Dan Millman

God wants us to give from the heart when we see a need.
--Nancy Shelton

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

APATHY

"Science may have found a cure
for most evils; but it has found no
remedy for the worst of them all ---
the apathy of human beings."
-- Helen Keller

I read today of a woman who ate herself to death. Friends and family
when interviewed said, "She simply didn't seem to care." She had
stuffed her feelings for so long that she had forgotten what they were;
she had lost her spirituality. Apathy kills people.

So long as people do nothing, the disease of addiction gets worse and
more victims are claimed. Apathy feeds ignorance because it stops
activity; apathy stops life.

The antidote for apathy is spirituality. The spiritual person is alive with
positive attitudes and creative hope --- he is infectious. People are
challenged to discover a meaning to life in their own lives. Hope
produces recovery; recovery produces a message that must be shared; in
the message is the miracle of life.

I pray that in the face of apathy I can discover hope.

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

"He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be
greatly moved."
Psalms 62:2

"For we walk by faith, not by sight."
2 Corinthians 5:7

When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets.
Matthew 6:2

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Daily Inspiration

To run the life's race successfully we must run toward life, not away from it. Lord, bless me with the courage to meet my challenges as they happen and never allow fear to set up roadblocks.

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.

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

NA Just For Today

Higher Power

"Most of us have no trouble admitting that addiction had become a destructive force in our lives. Our best efforts resulted in ever greater destruction and despair. At some point, we realized that we needed the help of some Power greater than our addiction."
Basic Text p. 24

Most of us know without a doubt that our lives have been filled with destruction. Learning that we have a disease called addiction helps us understand the source or cause of this destruction. We can recognize addiction as a power that has worked devastation in our lives. When we take the First Step, we admit that the destructive force of addiction is bigger than we are. We are powerless over it.

At this point, our only hope is to find some Power greater than the force of our addiction—a Power bent on preserving life, not ending it. We don't have to understand it or even name it; we only have to believe that there could be such a Higher Power. The belief that a benevolent Power greater than our addiction just might exist gives us enough hope to stay clean, a day at a time.

Just for today: I believe in the possibility of some Power that's bigger than my addiction.

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

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
I want, by understanding myself, to understand others. --Katherine Mansfield
Growing up to be the best people we can be is a lifelong process. As teenagers, we may have thought that twenty-one would be a magic year for us because then we would become adults. We'd be grown up and able to handle any problems that came along, if any did.
But the older we get, the more we realize that growing up is a process that never ends. We are always becoming the people we are capable of being. We're always learning new things about ourselves, and in that process, we're always coming to new understandings about other people and how we can get along with them.
How wonderful that life always offers us room to grow! It makes new discoveries possible all through our lives, and ensures us that we will always have something to offer.
What discovery have I made just today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
New life comes from shedding old skins and pressing through the darkness toward the light. Spring is the season of new beginnings and of growth. --Karen Kaiser Clark
All of us in this program have had great turning points in our lives. In these new beginnings we have pressed onward or groped through the darkness, hoping to find the light, much like a new sprout arising from the cold soil in spring. Our recovery has pointed us toward the light. As spiritually alive men, we also have smaller beginnings all the time. Spring exists for us on the inside regardless of the time of year.
On this particular day, we can think about the changes we see growing in our lives. It may be unclear to some of us just what is changing or how. We may not be able to name the change or describe it until it's in the past. Springtime brings a feeling of liberation, and our growth in this program frees us from muddled thinking, denial, addictions, and codependency.
I am thankful for new beginnings in the world and the eternal spring within my being.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
There's a period of life where we swallow a knowledge of ourselves and it becomes either good or sour inside. --Pearl Bailey
For too many of us, feelings of shame, even self-hatred, are paramount. No one of us has a fully untarnished past. Every man, every woman, even every child experiences regret over some action. We are not perfect. Perfection is not expected in the Divine plan. But we are expected to take our experiences and grow from them, to move beyond the shame of them, to celebrate what they have taught us.
Each day offers us a fresh start at assimilating all that we have been. What has gone before enriches who we are now, and through the many experiences we've survived, we have been prepared to help others, to smooth the way for another woman, perhaps, who is searching for a new direction.
We can let go of our shame and know instead that it sweetens the nuggets of the wisdom we can offer to others. We are alike. We are not without faults. Our trials help another to smoother sailing.
I will relish the joy at hand. I can share my wisdom. All painful pasts brighten someone's future, when openly shared.


You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Releasing
Let fears slip away.
Release any negative, limiting, or self-defeating beliefs buried in your subconscious too. These beliefs may be about life, love, or yourself. Beliefs create reality.
Let go. From as deep within as your fears, resentments, and negative beliefs are stored, let them all go. Let the belief or feeling surface. Accept it; surrender to it. Feel the discomfort or unrest. Then let it go. Let new beliefs replace the old. Let peace and joy and love replace fear.
Give yourself and your body permission to let go of fears, resentments, and negative beliefs. Release that which is no longer useful. Trust that you are being healed and prepared for receiving what is good.
Today, God, help me become willing to let go of old beliefs and feelings that may be hurting me. Gently take them from me and replace them with new beliefs and feelings. I do deserve the best life and love has to offer. Help me believe that.


I am becoming more open to look within me today for my solutions. I trust that I will find the right answers if I go quietly within and follow my inner guide. --Ruth Fishel

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

Journey to the Heart

Learn to Heal Yourself

Sometimes we trick ourselves. If we feel unhappy, troubled, or scared, we race toward what we think will make us feel better. In desperation, in fear, we grasp for something, anything to stop our pain. Finding that job. Making more money. Getting married. Having a relationship. If I get that one thing I need, then I’ll be happy. Then my pain will stop.

Sometimes it’s true that finding the solution to a problem improves the quality of our lives. Having enough money enables us to fix the furnace when it breaks. Having people in our lives we love and who love us can be an important part of our happiness. Having work to do that we enjoy and that we feel is worthwhile helps us feel good about ourselves.

But when we’re in pain– no matter what’s causing it– the way to heal that pain doesn’t come from outside of ourselves. External circumstances don’t make internal emotions disappear. Even if we get what we think we want, the painful emotion we haven’t had the strength or courage to face will still be there.

The way to heal pain, the only way, is to feel and release it. Your pain is your pain. Your fear, desperation, and resentments are yours, too. All these emotions belong to you. Feel them, learn from them, and let them go.

Walk courageously each step of the path on the journey to the heart. Emjoy when the universe sends you its gifts– a lover, some money, a good job. But know the ultimate key to happiness lies not in external things, but within you. Feel all your feelings. Learn to heal yourself.

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

More Language of Letting Go

Let go of what others think

We had gone for a walk in the snow down into the bowl of Bryce Canyon in Utah earlier that day. After a quick shower in the hotel room, we headed down to the restaurant for dinner. Our boots were soaked from the snow, so we wore our flip-flops to the restaurant.

The hostess was the first to notice. "Hey, you've got the wrong shoes on!" she admonished. "There's snow outside!"

"Yeah, I know. We're from California," Chip replied.

"Humph," the hostess sniffed, as she showed us our table.

When our server approached our table, the hostess was right there again, quick to point out our inappropriate footwear to him. We tried to explain that we had been hiking and our boots were wet, but it only set her off more.

"I certainly hope you didn't wear those," she said. "There's snow on the trails." Then she trotted back to her station.

Our server didn't care. He listened to the story about our hike, told us one of his own, and kept our glasses full.

Later during the meal, the hostess guided another couple past our table and pointed at our feet. "Look at these people," she said. "They're from California and they're wearing the wrong shoes!"

We giggled all through dinner that night, all because our hiking boots got soaked.

Sometimes what's appropriate for a situation just doesn't work for you and you're forced to improvise. Wear the wrong shoes if you must, but don't miss the party because of what someone else might think.


God, help me remember that the important thing is how I live, not how I look.

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A Separate Reality
Disconnecting from the Source

by Madisyn Taylor

We can all experience times when we feel disconnected from the universe, but you have never been abandoned.


We all experience periods where we feel separated from the loving ebb and flow of the universe. These times of feeling disconnected from the source may occur for many reasons, but self-sabotage is the most common cause for us choosing to cut ourselves off from the flow of the universe. We purposefully, though often unconsciously, cut ourselves off from this flow and from the embrace of humanity so we can avoid dealing with painful issues, shun the necessary steps for growth, or prevent the success that we are afraid of achieving from ever happening. When you choose to disconnect from the source, you block the flow of the universe’s energy from passing through you. You become like a sleepwalker who is not fully awake to life, and your hopes, plans, and dreams begin to appear as distant blurs on a faraway horizon. Universal support has never left you, but if you can remember that you became disconnected from source by choice, you can choose to reconnect.

Reconnecting with the universe grounds you and is as easy as you making a concerted effort to become interested in the activities you love or responding to what nurtures or stimulates you. You may also want to make a list of the activities and kinds of experiences that touch your soul. Try to pinpoint the times when you have felt fully engaged and aware and ask yourself what you were doing. But one of the easiest ways to reconnect is simply by stating the intention of doing so.

When you disconnect from the universe, your sense of purpose, creativity, and ability to be innovative are not as easy to access. You may also experience a deep and empty sense of longing or feel devoid of ideas or unworthy of love. It’s important, however, to recognize that being disconnected from the universe is never a permanent state, and it can be reversed any time you decide that you are ready to reconnect. When you are connected to the universe, all aspects of your being will feel alive as the flow of the universe pours through your being and into your life. Published with permission from Daily OM

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

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

The longer I’m in The Program, the more important becomes the slogan “First Things First” I used to believe that my family came first, that my home life came first, that my job came first. But I know today, in the depths of my heart, that If I can’t stay sober I’ll have nothing. “First Things First.” to me, means that everything in my life depends on my sobriety. Am I grateful fo be sober today?

Today I Pray

May my first priority, the topmost item on my list of concerns, be my sobriety — maintaining it, learning to live comfortably with it, sharing the tools by which I maintain it. When other things crowd into my life and I am caught up in the busyness of living, may I still preserve that first -of-all goal — remaining free of chemicals.

Today I Will Remember

First Things First.

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

One More Day

Understanding human needs is half the job of meeting them.
– Adiai Stevenson

We may have needed constant reminding to do our chores when we were children. We expected to be told what to do. Today we are adults and are chronically ill, and we find ourselves giving reminders to the people around us. Now, however, the suggestions have to be extremely delicate and carefully given.

We can gently guide the behavior of spouse, friends, parents, and children regarding our medical problems. Our comments can be honest and direct: “It would help me if your would let me try to do things for myself before offering me your help.” Or “Please sweep the floor.” Or “Would you put the towels into the dryer?” Those around us are not able to read our minds. We can lear to say “I need” or “I want.” Our needs will be met if we ask directly.

Learn to ask for help is hard, but I can learn.

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

Food For Thought

Peeling Off Layers

As we work our program, we peel off layers of old, worn out thoughts and habits. OA gives us a place to share old hurts and fears so that we are able to get rid of them. Our OA friends accept us and give us the benefit of their experience. With their help, we are able to leave the old layers behind and move ahead.

We never stop learning and growing. When we are ready to accept it, our Higher Power reveals just as much truth to us as we can assimilate. He directs our progress through the Steps of this program as we are prepared to take them.

If we are sincere in our efforts, the right help will come when we need it. It may come through another member, a piece of literature, a new insight, or even a difficult experience. Peeling off and discarding worn out layers of ourselves is hard work and is often painful. But when we look back and see how we have grown, the satisfaction more than outweighs the pain.

Guide me as I peel away and leave behind the useless thoughts and habits I have accumulated.

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

One Day At A Time

Maintenance

"Another flaw in the human character is
that everybody wants to build and nobody
wants to do maintenance."
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

With the help of our Higher Power, sponsors, and fellow Program members we have completed the 12 Steps, studied the Big Book, hit regular meetings, worked the loops, given service, etc .... and finally were able to achieve abstinence and reach our recovery goals! Reaching our goals is one thing, but now we must maintain what we've struggled so hard to achieve. As COE's, we never truly lose our addiction for food. Relape is only a heartbeat away. Therefore, we must diligently strive to continue working the Program tools to guard this precious gift that we have earned.

One Day at a Time . . .
I will diligently maintain the recovery goals I have worked so long and hard to achieve.
Rob R.

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

We must be entirely honest with somebody if we expect to live long or happily in this world. - Pg. 73 - 74 - Into Action

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

It seems insane that we have to be brought to our knees before we seek help, but for most of us that's the way it is. Whatever crisis got us here, we will eventually see as a blessing in disguise.

Thank You Higher Power, of my understanding, for the crisis--the one that brought me to my knees, because it also bought me this hour of clean and sober time.

Seeing Clearly

Today I will use my mind to actually visualize what I want my life to look like. I will give myself the gift of seeing my life through this beautiful lens. My thoughts have a creative power, they reach out, shape and template my experience. What I see as true for me, can be true for me, if I am willing sustain my vision and do the work I need to do to get there. Today I will picture doors opening for me where there were none before. I will take my thoughts seriously. I'll decide on what I'd like to see manifest in my life and I will carry it in my mind's eye and take daily steps toward actualizing it. I will see it as if it is already a reality. Then I'll let it go again and again and again and allow the wisdom of the universe to bring those experiences and opportunities toward me that allow me to take the next right action.

I have faith in my own vision

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

'To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.' -Jules Henri Poincsre

I question myself, 'Am I a nay sayer to all suggestions?' or equally destructive 'Am I a disciple of a God Squad, blindly following a hard and inflexible line of thought?'

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

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

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

I am becoming more open to look within me today for my solutions. I trust that I will find the right answers if I go quietly within and follow my inner guide.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

It's ironic; when I looked like an alcoholic I wasn't one. Now I am an alcoholic I don't look like one. - Anon.

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AA Thought For the Day

March 20

Understanding
Gradually, God began to clear my channels so that real understanding began to come.
Then was the time when full realization and acknowledgement came to me.
It was realization and acknowledgement of the fact that I had not fully given my problems to God.
I was still trying to do my own fixing.
- Experience, Strength and Hope, p. 22

Thought to Ponder . . .
God seldom becomes a reality until God becomes a necessity.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
G O D = Good Orderly Direction.

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

Illusion
"Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death."
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 30

Thought to Consider . . .
"Many alcoholics are enthusiasts. They run to extremes.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
DENIAL
Don't Even Notice I Am Lying

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

Cooperation
>From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"In 1949 the American Psychiatric Association did exactly the same thing [recognizing A.A. as a valid aid for alcoholics]. I [Bill W.] read a paper at its annual meeting in Montreal. I wound up by describing the spiritual experience as we understand it in A.A. As I read, I doubted if even a handful of the audience could possibly agree with the views expressed in my paper. To my astonishment there was a sustained round of applause. But this was not at all a tribute to me or to the contents of my paper; it was instead a tribute to Alcoholics Anonymous, a tribute to a way of life which had worked for alcoholics when other approaches had failed. This generous response was evidence that our friends the psychiatrists were being much more tolerant of us than we had been of them. If we ourselves became more open-minded, then far greater co-operation with this profession would be assured.
"The Association promptly confirmed the view of its members in Montreal. My paper was carried in the American Journal of Psychiatry and we were permitted to reprint it in a pamphlet, now entitled Alcoholism the Illness.* Our standing with the psychiatric profession has increased greatly since that time.
"*Later retitled Three Talks to Medical Societies by Bill W., this pamphlet also includes Bill's paper before the Medical Society of the State of New York"
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 205

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

"If you haven't been to a meeting for a while, come, and add to the mix ... we need you. Come for yourself, come for the Fellowship, come to celebrate sobriety, and come for the alcoholic who still suffers."
San Francisco, Calif., February 1993
"Torn Asunder"
AA Grapevine

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

"Reminding ourselves that we have decided to go to any lengths to
find a spiritual experience, we ask that we be given strength and
direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal
consequences may be."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 79~

"To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main
purpose of this book."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Foreword To First Edition, pg. xiii~

But its object is always the same: to improve our conscious contact with God, with His grace, wisdom, and love.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 101

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Whose Responsibility?
'An A.A. group, as such, cannot take on all the personal problems of its members, let alone those of nonalcoholics in the world around us. The A.A. group is not, for example, a mediator of domestic problems, nor does it furnish personal financial aid to anyone.
'Though a member may sometimes be helped in such matters by his friends in A.A., the primary responsibility for the solutions of all his problems of living and growing rests squarely upon the individual himself. Should an A.A. group attempt this sort of help, its effectiveness and energies would be hopelessly dissapated.
'This is why sobriety -- freedom from alcohol -- through the teaching and practice of A.A.'s Twelve Steps, is the sole purpose of the group. If we don't stick to this cardinal principle, we shall almost certainly collapse. And if we collapse we cannot help anyone.' Letter, 1966

Prayer For The Day: Dear Lord, thank you for this day. Please give me the wisdom to understand that the only way to have a friend is by being a friend.