MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING

Fear... of economic insecurity will leave us.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84

Having fear reduced or eliminated and having economic
circumstances improve, are two different things. When
I was new in A.A., I had those two ideas confused. I
thought fear would leave me only when I started making
money. However, another line from the Big Book jumped
off the page one day when I was chewing on my financial
difficulties: "For us, material well-being always
followed spiritual progress; it never preceded."(p. 127).
I suddenly understood that this promise was a guarantee.
I saw that it put priorities in the correct order, that
spiritual progress would diminish that terrible fear of
being destitute, just as it diminished many other fears.
Today I try to use the talents God gave me to benefit
others. I've found that is what others valued all along.
I try to remember that I no longer work for myself. I
only get the use of the wealth God created, I never have
"owned" it. My life's purpose is much clearer when I just
work to help, not to possess.
***********************************************************

As Bill Sees It

Debits and Credits, p. 80

Following a gossip binge, we can well ask ourselves these questions:
"Why did we say what we did? Were we only trying to be helpful and
informative? Or were we not trying to feel superior by confessing
the other fellow's sins? Or, because of fear and dislike, were we not
really aiming to damage him?"

This would be an honest attempt to examine ourselves, rather than
the other fellow.

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

Inventory-taking is not always done in red ink. It's a poor day indeed
when we haven't done something right. As a matter of fact, the
waking hours are usually well filled with things that are constructive.
Good intentions, good thoughts, and good acts are there for us to see.

Even when we tried hard and failed, we may chalk that up as one of
the greatest credits of all.

1. Grapevine, August 1961
2. 12 & 12, p. 93

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

Walk in Dry Places
 
Living One Day at a  Time
Time management
It's surprising that some alcoholics learn how to "live one day at a time" while drinking.   It had to work that way, or their drinking life would have been even more intolerable.  It was convenient to shut off thoughts of tomorrow if one had enough money to drink today.  It was also convenient to blot out thoughts of yesterday, which only meant remorse.
In sobriety, living one day at a time is an excellent way to focus our minds so we can pour our energies into the work at hand. In reviewing the wasted yesterdays, we can always find ways that we could have been more productive and effective.  But we missed opportunities because we were still struggling with regrets or fearing what might happen in the future.
It's never too late to change all that.  We need neither regret the past nor fear the future.  The AA secret is to make the best of today's challenges.  It may mean just chipping away at a massive problem that seems insurmountable.  Living just for today, we can do today's job well.
I'll live comfortably and happily in the here and now. This means releasing the past and accepting the future as something I'll deal with at the proper time.

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

Keep It Simple

With each sunrise, we start anew.  ----Anonymous
Like a tree, our life depends on new growth. There are many ways to bring new ideas and growth into our lives. We can attend Twelve Step retreats. We can study books and tapes on spirituality.
We can attend different Twelve Step meetings.
But our spiritual newness may not just come from the Twelve Steps. We can do volunteer work or be active in other types of groups. We need to invite new ideas into our lives. We need to stay open to change. It doesn’t matter what renews our spiritual growth. What matters is that we keep our spiritual lives fresh and growing.
Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, spring is one of the four seasons. Help me feel like spring. Help me to be strong but not stuck Help me be firm yet open to spiritual growth.
Action for the Day:  Today, I’ll try to do something new. When I get stuck or stubborn, I’ll see that it’s due to my fear of trying new ideas.

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

Each Day A New Beginning

Children are surely one of God's greatest gifts and truest challenges. To share your life with a child is to humble yourself so that you may learn from them and discover with them the beautiful secrets that are only uncovered in searching.
--Kathleen Tierney Crilly
Humility accompanies every experience wherein we let ourselves fully listen to others, to learn from them, to be changed by their words, their presence. Each opportunity we take to be fully present to another person, totally with them in mind and spirit, will bless us while it blesses them. Offering and receiving the gift of genuine attention is basic to the emotional growth of every human being.
Before recovering, many of us so suffered from obsessive self-centered pity that we seldom noted the real needs or pain of the people close to us. We closed ourselves off, wallowing in our own selfish worries, and our growth was stunted.
Some days we still wallow. But a new day has dawned. The Steps offer us new understanding. They are helping us look beyond ourselves to all the "children of God" in our daily lives. From each of them we have many secrets to learn.
I will be joyous today. Many secrets about life are mine to learn if I will stay close to all the people who cross my path. I will be mindful they are there because they have something to give me. I will be ready to receive it.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 7 - WORKING WITH OTHERS

Some day we hope that Alcoholics Anonymous will help the public to a better realization of the gravity of the alcoholic problem, but we shall be of little use if our attitude is one of bitterness or hostility. Drinkers will not stand for it.
After all, our problems were of our own making. Bottles were only a symbol. Besides, we have stopped fighting anybody or anything. We have to!

p. 103

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

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.

About seven that evening my sponsor walked in; Charlie G.  He didn't seem too much at ease in the beginning.  I guess I felt, and he sensed it, that I wanted him to hurry up and say what he had to say and get out.  Anyhow, he started talking about himself.  He started telling me how much trouble he had, and I said to myself, I wonder why this guy is telling me all his troubles.  I have troubles of my own.  Finally, he brought in the angle of whiskey.  He continued to talk and I to listen.  After he'd talked half an hour, I still wanted him to hurry up and get out so I could go and get some whiskey before the liquor store closed.  But as he continued to talk, I realized that this was the first time i had met a person who had the same problems I did and who, I sincerely believe, understood me as an individual.  I knew my wife didn't, because I had been sincere in all my problems to her as well as to my mother and to my close friends, but the urge to take that drink was more powerful than anything else.

pp. 243-244

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

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

Our first objective will be the development of self restraint. This carries a top priority rating. When we speak or act hastily or rashly, the ability to be fair-minded and tolerant evaporates on the spot. One unkind tirade or one willful snap judgment can ruin our relation with another person for a whole day, or maybe a whole year. Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen. We must avoid quick-tempered criticism and furious, power-driven argument. The same goes for sulking or silent scorn. These are emotional booby traps baited with pride and vengefulness. Our first job is to sidestep the traps. When we are tempted by the bait, we should train ourselves to step back and think. For we can neither think nor act to good purpose until the habit of self-restraint has become automatic.

p. 91

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

Don't go through life, grow through life.
--Eric Butterworth

"You see what you choose to see, because all perception is a choice.
And when you cease to impose your meanings on what you see,
your spiritual eyes will open, and you will see a world free of judgment
and shining in its endless beauty."
--Paul Ferrini

To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose
everything else.
--Bernadette Devlin

God is the architect. I am the builder.

"Stop talking about the problem and start thinking about the
solution." -–Brian Tracy

The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it
but what he becomes by it.
--John Ruskin

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

BROTHERHOOD

"I love my country better than my
family; but I love humanity better
than my country."
-- Francois Fenelon

We need to think "big". We need to escape from those little concepts
that keep us small. Life is more than we can ever perceive. We need
to see it in its totality. The nuclear family can be restrictive if taken as
the center of our loyalty. Even our national citizenship needs to be
placed in the context of the world. Our freedom rests in our universal
humanity.

Spirituality is about thinking "big". It is finding God in the richness of
His creation. Our insistence on our shared humanity is the path to
world peace and serenity. Divisions should not exist for the
humanitarian who seeks acceptance for all men simply because they
are men.

May I seek to find the One in the many --- and the many in the One.

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

"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed,
but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not
destroyed."
2 Corinthians 4:8-9

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and
glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly."
Psalms 84:11

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

Daily Inspiration

God not only answers prayer, but He has all the answers to the prayers that we haven't bothered to ask. Lord, when you said "ask and you shall receive", may I keep in mind that no request is too small.

It is far wiser to ask God for what He thinks is good for us, than for what we think is good for us. Lord, Your Will not mine be done.

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

NA Just For Today

A Treatable Illness

"Addiction is a disease that involves more than the use of drugs."
Basic Text p. 3

At our first meeting, we may have been taken aback at the way members shared about how the disease of addiction had affected their lives. We thought to ourselves, "Disease? I've just got a drug problem! What in the world are they talking about?"

After some time in the program, we began to see that our addiction ran deeper than our obsessive, compulsive drug use. We saw that we suffered from a chronic illness that affected many areas of our lives. We didn't know where we'd "caught" this disease, but in examining ourselves we realized that it had been present in us for many years.

Just as the disease of addiction affects every area of our lives, so does the NA program. We attend our first meeting with all the symptoms present: the spiritual void, the emotional agony, the powerlessness, the unmanageability.

Treating our illness involves much more than mere abstinence. We use the Twelve Steps, and though they don't "cure" our illness, they do begin to heal us. And as we recover, we experience the gift of life.

Just for today: I will treat my illness with the Twelve Steps.

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

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. --Mother Goose
Poor Humpty ended up such a scrambled egg. Maybe that's what comes from sitting too long in one place, choosing neither this way nor that, playing both sides against the middle. Maybe he played too much politics, got too much advice, had too much to think about. When the centipede was asked which leg he first moved when setting out on a stroll, he got those legs all tangled in his mind and couldn't walk at all. It is better to be simply moved by those around us, or by our Higher Power, with faith and love. When our thoughts fail, their hearts, hands, and eyes will show the way.
Do I sometimes decide my fate by refusing to decide?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
If I Had My Life to Live Over ... I'd relax.... I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.... I'd start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry go rounds. I would pick more daisies. --Nadine Stair
"Letting go" is a theme with many variations. When we live with gusto and are released to experience the full excitement of life, we are letting go. When we turn our lives and wills over to the care of our Higher Power, we are freed of many cares. If we orient our lives with a compass that always points to fear and insecurity, or to power and success, we are giving ourselves over to those forces. But we can orient our lives to our Higher Power's care and support. That makes it possible to drop our guard, allow for some mistakes, and delight in the pleasures of creation.
Today, let me forget my worries and enjoy the fullness of life.


You are reading from the book Each Day A New Beginning
Children are surely one of God's greatest gifts and truest challenges. To share your life with a child is to humble yourself so that you may learn from them and discover with them the beautiful secrets that are only uncovered in searching.
--Kathleen Tierney Crilly
Humility accompanies every experience wherein we let ourselves fully listen to others, to learn from them, to be changed by their words, their presence. Each opportunity we take to be fully present to another person, totally with them in mind and spirit, will bless us while it blesses them. Offering and receiving the gift of genuine attention is basic to the emotional growth of every human being.
Before recovering, many of us so suffered from obsessive self-centered pity that we seldom noted the real needs or pain of the people close to us. We closed ourselves off, wallowing in our own selfish worries, and our growth was stunted.
Some days we still wallow. But a new day has dawned. The Steps offer us new understanding. They are helping us look beyond ourselves to all the "children of God" in our daily lives. From each of them we have many secrets to learn.
I will be joyous today. Many secrets about life are mine to learn if I will stay close to all the people who cross my path. I will be mindful they are there because they have something to give me. I will be ready to receive it.


You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Considering Commitment
Pay attention to your commitments.
While many of us fear committing, its good to weigh the cost of any commitment we are considering. We need to feel consistently positive that its an appropriate commitment for us.
Many of us have a history of jumping- -leaping headfirst- -into commitments without weighing the cost and the possible consequences of that particular commitment. When we get in, we find that we do not really want to commit, and feel trapped.
Some of us may become afraid of losing out on a particular opportunity if we don't commit. It is true that we will lose out on certain opportunities if we are unwilling to commit. We still need to weigh the commitment. We still need to become clear about whether that commitment seems right for us. If it isn't, we need to be direct and honest with others and ourselves.
Be patient. Do some soul searching. Wait for a clear answer. We need to make our commitments not in urgency or panic but in quiet confidence that what we are committing to is right for us.
If something within says no, find the courage to trust that voice.
This is not our last chance. It is not the only opportunity well ever have. Don't panic. We don't have to commit to what isn't right for us, even if we try to tell ourselves it should be right for us and we should commit.
Often, we can trust our intuitive sense more than we can trust our intellect about commitments.
In the excitement of making a commitment and beginning, we may overlook the realities of the middle. That is what we need to consider.
We don't have to commit out of urgency, impulsivity, or fear. We are entitled to ask, Will this be good for me? We are entitled to ask if this commitment feels right.
Today, God, guide me in making my commitments. Help me say yes to what is in my highest good, and no to what isn't. I will give serious consideration before I commit myself to any activity or person. Ii will take the time to consider if the commitment is really what I want.


God is guiding me in peace and calm today. I know that everything that upsets this feeling is not permanent and will pass. I no longer allow upsets to keep me from seeing the good in others. --Ruth Fishel

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

Journey to the Heart

Nurture the Seasons of Your Soul

Study nature’s ways. Learn her rhythms, her seasons, her cycles. See how she hibernates and rests during the cold winter, using that time to replenish and heal. See how she bursts forth in a slow crescendo of green and bright colors over the spring, rejoicing in the inevitable new growth. See how she gives her all, her grandest performance, over the summer months before gradually descending into a final burst of changing colors in autumn. Watch her cool down, return to her depths, and again take time to replenish.

These same seasons are within us. There are times to take action, to be busily involved with creating and doing and participating and giving. There are quieter times when we are being prepared for those times of activity. We cannot give and give without taking time to replenish ourselves. There are times of gentle growth when the first blades of grass, the first signs of spring begin to emerge in our lives– whether those signal a new stage of personal growth, a new stage in a love relationship, or the first buds of life on a project we’re creating.

And each season, each time, leads into the next.

There is purpose and value in each day of your life, in each season of your life. Nurture your times of action, of creating, of doing, and value your quieter times of going within. The more you study nature, the more you will learn about yourself. Nurture and trust the seasons of your soul.

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

More Language Of Letting Go

Letting go of finances

Letting go doesn’t mean we don’t care. It’s about having faith that things will work out. Let’s take a look at how letting go applies to the issue of money.

John had been an alcoholic for years. Over time, the disease destoyed his life, including his financial health. He hit bottom and finally began recovery. After a while, he was able to start making progress in life. But his finances were in terrible shape. For a while, he hid all the bills in a drawer. Then one day, he took out the bills and started to make a plan. Instead of feeling hopeless and overwhelmed, he applied the Twelve Steps to this area of his life. He called his creditors. He gave himself a budget. He did the best that he could and he let go of the rest.

Slowly, over the years, he began to rebuild his credit. He paid off his debts, a little at a time. He applied for a credit card, the kind you have to pay in advance. Then after a year, his limit was raised. He doesn’t use the card for credit; he uses it for a credit rating. He’s now got a checking and savings account. He pays his taxes and manages to save a little every week.

Sometimes things happen. Cars break down. People get sick. The rent gets raised. That unexpected expense comes up, out of the blue, just when you thought you were ahead.

Worry never helped.

An attitude of taking responsibility for myself did.

What we cannot do for ourselves, God will do for us. And God knows we need money to live here on earth. What was that the Bible said? Seek money first, and then you’ll have peace? Nope, I got that backwards. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all else shall be added unto you.”

Manifest what you need from a place of responsibility, trust, and peace.

God, teach me to let go of worrying about money.

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

Remembering Who We Are
Brave Spirits

Most of us are familiar with the idea that we are not human beings having spiritual experiences; instead, we are spiritual beings having human experiences. We hear this and even though we may experience a resounding yes in our bodies, we may not take the time to really acknowledge the truth of these statements. Integrating this idea into how we view ourselves can broaden our sense of who we are and help us appreciate ourselves as brave spirits on an important mission to learn and grow here on earth.

As spiritual beings, we are visitors in this physical realm. The fact that we came here and lost all memory of what happened to us before we were born is one of the many reasons that it takes so much courage for a soul to incarnate on earth. This is why spiritual inquiry so often feels like a remembering—because it is. Remembering that we are spiritual beings is part of the work that we are here on earth to do. When we operate from a place of remembering, we tap into the wisdom that our spirit accumulated even before we stepped into this lifetime. Remembering who we are can give us the patience to persevere when we become overwhelmed or frustrated. It can give us the courage to work through the most daunting challenges and help us trust the ancient wisdom we carry that is offered to us by our intuition.

We have chosen to be on earth because there is something we want to learn that can only happen by inhabiting a body. Some of us are here to repay a debt, learn about love, or teach forgiveness. Most of us are here for a combination of reasons, we carry this information in our souls, all we have to do is remember. As you go through your journey, try not to forget how brave you are, being here now. Honor yourself. Published with permission from Daily OM

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

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

The Program teaches us that we have an incurable illness. We alwys get worse, never better. But we’re fortunate in that our incurable illness can be arrested, so long as we don’t tkae the first drink one day at a time. Hightoned academic rsearch and ivory tower studies to th contrary, we know rom experiece that we can no more control our drinking than we can control the ocean tides. Do I have any doubt that I am owerless over alcohol?

Today I Pray

May I never fall prey to any short-term research sresults which tell me that alcoholism can be cured, that I would be safe to bbegin drinking again, suppoosedly, in a responsible manner. My experience — and the experience of those in The Program — will outshout such threories. May I know thaat my disease is arrestablke, but not curable. May I know that if I took up my active addiction again, I would begin whre I left off — closer than ever to possible death or insanity.

Today I Will Remember

Be wary of new theories.

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

One More Day

It is a happy talent to know how to play. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

As the carefree days of childhood give way to adulthood, we sometimes forfeit too much of the child. We become what we think is mature — serious and busy. Quite unintentionally we might become caught up in the importance of being married, working hard at our jobs, raising children, or paying off the mortgage. Even at home we might be rushing here and there – mowing the lawn, getting a haircut, buying clothes or groceries, and performing all the small household chores which need doing regularly.

Where is the time we need for ourselves, to spend with friends, or just to play? We can find time, right now, if we want to. We can momentarily shrug off the demands of home or career and lend ourselves to carefree play.

It’s sometimes easy to be too serious. Today, I will let myself participate in play.

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

Food For Thought

Letting Go

By admitting that we are unable to manage our own lives, we become ready to let a Higher Power take over. Before we can fully benefit from God's direction, we must let go completely of the idea that we are in control.

We say that we are grateful compulsive overeaters, because if it had not been for our inability to control what we ate and the resulting turmoil in our lives, we might never have realized our need to "let go and let God."

When we turn our problems over to our Higher Power, we leave them with Him and move as He directs. If we take the problems back, we are like a child who has given his or her parent a broken toy to fix, but snatches it back before the parent can make the repair.

If we had been able to fix our problems ourselves, our way, we would not be in this program. Since we know we need help, let's be willing to let go and try God's way.

May I let go of my problems so that You may direct my life.

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

One Day At A Time

PATIENCE

"Patience is the companion of wisdom."
Saint Augustine

Patience is an area that I have had some REAL problems with in the past. I had a tendency to want - what I want - NOW! That included recovery. Gaining recovery, as I would eventually realize, is not the same as earning a university credit. It is a process not an end result. You have to be willing to learn to do things in HP's time and manner rather than your own. What began to happen was - the more impatient I became - the more life tended to resist my efforts. It took a long time for me to realize this. Instead of calming down, I would get even more impatient and struggle even harder. Eventually, I would have a big meltdown and feel like a fool afterwards.

The end result was absolutely no different for having done this. It took time for me to muster the willingness to do things in HP's time and manner. But when I did - life became much more peaceful and things had a tendency to work themselves out - without all the dramatics.

One Day at a Time . . .
I will learn to patiently and willingly do things in HP's time and manner.
Rob R.

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

The terms 'spiritual experience' and 'spiritual awakening' are used many times in this book which, upon careful reading, shows that the personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism has manifested itself among us in many different forms. - Pg. 567 - 4th. Edition - Appendices II - Spiritual Experience

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Take the name of the person who has caused you the most trouble today and say: ______________, I don't have to use you as an excuse to drink or take drugs right now, because I know chemical dependency is a disease, not a reaction to people, places, or things.

Thank You for showing me that people are not good excuses for practicing a chronic and deadly disease.

Living the Segments of My Day Intentionally

I will divide my day into segments of intention. When I wake up in the morning I will picture feeling good as I go about my early routines. When I move into the next part of my day I will see my morning going smoothly, whatever I have to do I will picture doing with ease and a happy feeling. I will be intentional about each segment of my mid day, seeing myself operating effectively, competently and enjoying my interactions with those I encounter and interact. As afternoon approaches, I will imagine, in my mind's eye, a pleasant and peaceful evening. And as evening gives way to night, I will imagine myself enjoying a peaceful and restful sleep.

I will be intentional about how I live each part of my day.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

If you think you can or you think you can't, you're probably right.

The state of my world is a reflection of the state of my mind.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

To belittle is to be little.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

God is guiding me in peace and calm today. I know that everything that upsets this feeling is not permanent and will pass. I no longer allow upsets to keep me from seeing the good in others.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

God stands for; Group Of Drunks. - John L.

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

AA Thought for the Day

March 21

Progress
Walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress.
If you persist, remarkable things will happen.
When we look back, we realize that the things we put in God's hands
were better than anything we could have planned.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 100

Thought to Ponder . . .
When in doubt, be silent. Grow where you are planted.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
G R O W T H = God Reveals Other Ways To Heal.

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

Rationalization
"There are cases where our ancient enemy, rationalization, has stepped in and has justified conduct which was really
wrong. The temptation here is to imagine that we had good motives and reasons when we really didn't. We
'constructively criticized' someone who needed it, when our real motive was to win a useless argument. We sometimes
hurt those we love because they' need to be taught a lesson, 'when we really want to punish. This perverse wish to hide
a bad motive underneath a good one, permeates human affairs from top to bottom.
"Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 94

Thought to Consider . . .
Recognizing someone else's human dignity cannot cost you your own.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
PUSH
Pray Until Something Happens

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

Rapture
>From "Total Surrender":
"What has always impressed me most about the program and myself is the constant, continuing challenge to try
recapturing some of the true and honest rapture I felt upon total surrender, when I first came into A.A. For me, that
special peace of mind has never been duplicated. Now, after all the accumulated twenty-four-hour periods, I realize that
it probably never will be. I have come close to it a few times, but it's never the same."Des Plaines, Illinois, USA"
1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg. 29

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

"We are losing all fear of those violent emotional storms which sometimes cross our alcoholic world; perhaps it
bespeaks our confidence that every storm will be followed by a calm; a calm which is more understanding, more
compassionate, more tolerant than any we ever knew before."
AA Co-Founder, Bill W., August 1946
"Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?"
The Language of the Heart

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

"Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to
Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give
freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the
Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you
trudge the Road of Happy Destiny."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, pg. 164~

"A body badly burned by alcohol does not often recover overnight nor do
twisted thinking and depression vanish in a twinkling. We are convinced
that a spiritual mode of living is a most powerful health restorative."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, Page 133~

Just as firmly bound by obligation are the members of Alcoholics Anonymous, who have demonstrated that they can
help problem drinkers as others seldom can.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 150

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Debits and Credits
Following a gossip binge, we can well ask ourselves these questions: 'Why did we say what we did? Were we only
trying to be helpful and informative? Or were we not trying to feel superior by confessing the other fellow's sins? Or,
because of fear and dislike, were we not really aiming to damage him?'
This would be an honest attempt to examine ourselves, rather than the other fellow.
Inventory-taking is not always done in red ink. It's a poor day indeed when we haven't done something right. As a matter
of fact, the waking hours are usually filled with things that are constructive. Good intentions, good thoughts, and good
acts are there for us to see.
Even when we have tried hard and failed, we may chalk that up as one of the greatest credits of all.
1. GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961
2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p.93

Prayer For The Day: Dear Lord, please help me find confidence in myself. Help me understand that when I have confidence in myself others will have confidence in me.