ALL WE DO IS
TRY
Can He now take them all -- every one?
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76
In doing Step Six it helped me a lot to remember that I am striving for
"spiritual progress." Some of my character defects may be with me for
the rest of my life, but most have been toned down or eliminated. All
that Step Six asks of me is to become willing to name my defects, claim
them as my own, and be willing to discard the ones I can, just for
today.
As I grow in the program, many of my defects become more
objectionable to me than previously and, therefore, I need to repeat
Step
Six so that I can become happier with myself and maintain my serenity.
***********************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Drinking is the way we alcoholics express our maladjustment's to life. I
believe that I was a potential alcoholic from the start. I had an
inferiority
complex. I didn't make friends easily. There was a wall between me and
other people. And I was lonely. I was not well adjusted to life. Did I
drink to escape from myself?
Meditation For The Day
According to the varying needs of each person, so does each person
think of God. It is not necessary that you think of God as others think
of
Him, but it is necessary that you think of Him as supplying what you
personally need. The weak need God's strength. The strong need God's
tenderness. The tempted and fallen need God's saving grace. The
righteous needs God's pity for sinners. The lonely need God as a friend.
The fighters for righteousness need a leader in God. You may think of
God in any way you wish. We usually do not turn to God until we need
Him.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may think of God as supplying my needs. I pray that I will
bring all my problems to Him for help in meeting them.
***********************************************************
As Bill Sees It
Imagination
Can Be Constructive, p. 157
We recall, a little ruefully, how much store we used to set by
imagination as it tried to create reality out of bottles. Yes, we
reveled in that sort of thinking, didn't we? And, though sober
nowadays, don't we often try to do much the same thing?
Perhaps our trouble was not that we used our imagination. Perhaps
the real trouble was our almost total inability to point imagination
toward the right objectives. There's nothing the matter with truly
constructive imagination; all sound achievement rests upon it. After
all, no man can build a house until he first visions a plan for it.
12 & 12, p. 100
***********************************************************
Walk in Dry Places
My opportunities are in change
Personal Growth.
It’s common to hear a recovering person voice apprehensions about an
impending change. This apprehension only results from our fear that
change will mean loss.
There can never be any permanent loss if we are solidly anchored in our
spiritual program. Our Higher Power is the guiding force in all change
and will make all things right as events unfold.
We should also remember that change brought us to our present
situation. Any good we now enjoy came to us by a certain process.
Even painful experiences have been valuable lessons.
There is no way we can avoid change; it is a built-in condition of
life. We can accept it more gracefully if we view it as God’s way of
bringing us opportunity.
Any change that I sense today is just a signal for the arrival of new
opportunities. Even if changes seem uncomfortable, I'll welcome
all such change.
***********************************************************
Keep It Simple
Fortunate are the people whose roots are deep.---Agnes Meyer
A tree's roots seek water and minerals. Though the roots can't be seen
easily seen, they are there.
The life of the tree depends on them. The stronger a tree's roots, the
higher a tree can grow.
We need to set deep roots into the soil of recovery. The soil of
recovery
is made up of the Twelve Steps, fellowship, and service to others.
We'll
have to get through storms and high winds in our return to health. In
so
doing, we'll become beautiful, strong, and spiritual. We'll be able to
live with both the gentle breezes and the heavy winds of life.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me believe in what I can't
see.
Just as I believe that
the roots of a tree are there because I can see the leaves. I believe
in
a Higher Power because I can see the results.
Action for the Day: I will ask myself, "Which Step do I need to
work
on the most right
now?" I will volunteer to give a meeting on that Step.
***********************************************************
Each Day a New Beginning
From early infancy onward we all incorporate into our lives the
message
we receive concerning our self-worth, or lack of self-worth, and this
sense of value is to be found beneath our actions and feelings as a
tangled network of self-perception. --Christina Baldwin
Lifting our self-esteem is not a particularly easy task for most of us.
It's probable that again and again our confidence wavered before we
sought help from the program. It's also probable that our confidence
still wanes on occasion. The old fears don't disappear without effort.
But each day we can do some one thing that will help us to feel better
about ourselves. All it takes is one small act or decision, each day.
The program can give us the strength we need each day to move forward
one step.
Today, I will do one thing I've been putting off. A whole collection of
"one days" will lay the groundwork for the person I'm building within.
***********************************************************
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth
Edition
Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards
If the family cooperates, dad will soon see that he is suffering from a
distortion of values. He will perceive that his spiritual growth is
lopsided, that for an average man like himself, a spiritual life which
does not include his family obligations may not be so perfect after
all. If the family will appreciated that dad’s current behavior is but
a phase of his development, all will be well. In the midst of an
understanding and sympathetic family, these vagaries of dad’s spiritual
infancy will quickly disappear.
p. 129
***********************************************************
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth
Edition Stories
The Keys
Of The Kingdom
This
worldly lady helped to develop A.A. in Chicago and thus passed her keys
to many.
Until now, I had never been told that I was an alcoholic. Few
doctors will tell a hopeless patient that there is no answer for him or
her. But this day my doctor gave it to me straight and said,
"People like you are pretty well known to the medical profession.
Every doctor gets his quota of alcoholic patients. Some of us
struggle with these people because we know that they are very sick, but
we also know that, short of some miracle, we are not going to be able
to help them except temporarily and that they will inevitably get worse
and worse until one of two things happens. Either they die of
acute alcoholism or they develop wet brains and have to be put away
permanently."
pp. 271-272
***********************************************************
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition One
- "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon
A.A. Unity."
To many minds all this liberty for the individual spells sheer anarchy.
Every newcomer, every friend who looks at A.A. for the first time is
greatly puzzled. They see liberty verging on license, yet they
recognize at once that A.A. has an irresistible strength of purpose and
action. "How," they ask, "can such a crowd of anarchists function at
all? How can they possible place their common welfare first? What in
Heaven's name holds them together?"
pp. 129-130
***********************************************************
Live to learn and you will learn to live.
--Portuguese Proverb
It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the
consequences of dodging our responsibilities.
--Sir Josiah Stamp
You cannot raise a man up by calling him down.
--William Boetcker
"Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person
is like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a
vegetarian."
--Dennis Wholey
Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.
--Will Rogers
Realize the acts of others are not for or against you. They are
experiences in his or her life.
--unknown
We do not have to be perfect, self assured, and untarnished, to be
accepted and loved.
--SweetyZee
Anxiety separates us from experiencing a great life. So caught up are we
in our worry, we may even cut ourselves off from giving and receiving
love. God invites us into a fuller life in which we recognize that
there is
no anxiety that our Creator cannot handle, if we only remember to ask.
--Mary Manin Morrissey
Nothing can separate us from God's love.
--Luis Aramayo
***********************************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
SCIENCE
"As long as men are free to ask
what they must - free to say what
they think - free to think what they
will - freedom can never be lost
and science can never regress."
--J. Robert Oppenheimer
We need to press on in this wonderful journey of life because new
discoveries await us in our tomorrows. Spirituality always brings joy in
the journey. In the traveling is the fun for we will never reach our
destination in this life.
The freedom to question is the discipline of science, and science is
involved in the treatment and recovery of addiction. We must always be
looking for better ways of treatment, more vivid ways of teaching and
creative aids to recovery.
Science, and every other creative discipline, should be used in the
treatment of addictions: God is to be found in the many.
Lord, let us remember that You gave mankind a scalpel and a prayer
book.
***********************************************************
"No
temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man;
but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what
you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape,
that you may be able to bear it."
1 Corinthians 10:13
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and
in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how
we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn
us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.
1 John 3:18-20
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher
than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:9
***********************************************************
Daily Inspiration
Even the most difficult of trials is God's way of
preparing us for something else. Lord, may I view my challenges as an
opportunity to grow rather than as an opportunity to fail.
Jesus said, "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received
it, and it will be yours.". Lord, I pray, I believe, and I thank you
even before it is fulfilled.
***********************************************************
NA Just For Today
Recovery Doesn't Happen Overnight
"The Twelve Steps of Narcotics
Anonymous are a progressive recovery process established in our daily
living."
Basic Text, p. 96
After some time in recovery, we may
find we are faced with what seem like overwhelming personal problems,
angry feelings, and despair. When we realize what's going on, we may
wail, "But I've been working so hard. I thought I was..." Recovered,
maybe? Not hardly. Over and over, we hear that recovery is an ongoing
process and that we are never cured. Yet we sometimes believe that if
we just work our steps enough, pray enough, or go to enough meetings,
we'll eventually... Well, maybe not be cured, but be something!
And we are "something." We're
recovering-recovering from active addiction. No matter what we've dealt
with through the process of the steps, there will always be more. What
we didn't remember or didn't think was important in our first inventory
will surely present itself later on. Again and again, we'll turn to the
process of the steps to deal with what's bothering us. The more we use
this process the more we'll trust it, for we can see the results. We go
from anger and resentment to forgiveness, from denial to honesty and
acceptance, and from pain to serenity.
Recovery doesn't happen overnight, and
ours will never be complete. But each day brings new healing and the
hope for more tomorrow.
Just for today: I will do what I can
for my recovery today and maintain hope in the ongoing process of
recovery.
***********************************************************
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
A good anger acted upon is beautiful
as lightning and swift with power. A good anger swallowed clots the
blood like slime.
--Marge Piercy
How does it feel when someone tells us
we should play basketball when we don't want to? Often, it angers us
that someone else is telling us what to do. After we have been told we
should do something many times, we begin to believe it and forget how
we really feel. Even though we have forgotten what we wanted to do, we
feel angry, often without realizing it. Such hidden anger can leave us
feeling bad without knowing why.
It is important to know when we are
angry, and to say so. There are healthy ways of expressing anger
without blaming others. Saying we are angry, and thereby claiming it as
our own feeling and not something others force on us, is a way to
express it which also affirms our right to be angry.
If there is anger in me today, can I
express it correctly?
You are reading from the book
Touchstones.
Words and magic were in the beginning
one and the same thing, and even today words retain much of their
magical power. --Sigmund Freud
We shape our experiences with the
words we use to describe them. Word images create expectations and we
naturally move toward them. When a man says, "I can't!" he is
commanding his unconscious self to be helpless. When he has a picture
in his mind of moving toward his goal, he may say, "It's hard, but I'm
going to give it my best effort." If, every time he makes a mistake, he
mutters berating statements to himself like, "You idiot! You can't do
anything right," he is teaching himself to be inadequate.
It's our responsibility in recovery to
use respectful, honest, health- giving words. We can no longer use
defeating, shaming, or derogatory words. Our language has a hypnotic
effect on us and the people around us. So let's look at our resources
today and name them. Let's meet our difficulties with our strength, our
patience, and the backing of our Higher Power.
Today, I will call forth images and
use words to show I respect myself and others.
You are reading from the book Each Day
a New Beginning.
>From early infancy onward we all
incorporate into our lives the message we receive concerning our
self-worth, or lack of self-worth, and this sense of value is to be
found beneath our actions and feelings as a tangled network of
self-perception. --Christina Baldwin
Lifting our self-esteem is not a
particularly easy task for most of us. It's probable that again and
again our confidence wavered before we sought help from the program.
It's also probable that our confidence still wanes on occasion. The old
fears don't disappear without effort.
But each day we can do some one thing
that will help us to feel better about ourselves. All it takes is one
small act or decision, each day. The program can give us the strength
we need each day to move forward one step.
Today, I will do one thing I've been
putting off. A whole collection of "one days" will lay the groundwork
for the person I'm building within.
You are reading from the book The
Language of Letting Go.
The Gift of Readiness
Were entirely ready to have God remove
all these defects of character. --Step Six of Al-Anon
We progress to the Sixth Step by
working diligently, to the best of our ability, on the first Five
Steps. This work readies us for a change of heart, openness to becoming
changed by a Power greater than ourselves - God.
The path to this willingness can be
long and hard. Many of us have to struggle with a behavior or feeling
before we become ready to let it go. We need to see, over and over
again, that the coping device that once protected us is no longer
useful.
The defects of character referred to
in Step Six are old survival behaviors that once helped us cope with
people, life, and ourselves. But now they are getting in our way, and
it is time to be willing to have them removed.
Trust in this time. Trust that you are
being readied to let go of that which is no longer useful. Trust that a
change of heart is being worked out in you.
God, help me become ready to let go of
my defects of character. Help me know, in my mind and soul, that I am
ready to let go of my self defeating behaviors, the blocks and barriers
to my life.
I know that I cannot be hurt by anyone
if I consistently look for their best. Today I continue to search out
the best in all my relationships, looking for something I can love in
everyone. --Ruth Fishel
**************************************************
Journey To The Heart
Learn to Change Your Energy
The simple act of moving around can
change your energy. When your mind starts to flag, move your body
around. Go for a walk, take a bath, get a drink of water, work out at
the gym. You’re doing more than moving your body, you’re changing and
rearranging your energy field.
Listen to your body. It will say what
it needs, what it would like, what would be helpful. If you let it, it
will even move quite naturally to what would do it good. Stretch your
legs. Stretch your arms. Go outside. Do some deep breathing. Call a
friend. Meditate. Tell a joke to a co-worker. You don’t have to stay
stuck in the energy you’re in. You don’t have to be a victim to the way
you feel right now.
One of the powers we learn we have is
the ability to shift, refocus, and rearrange our energy. When we get
stuck in a particular emotion or reaction or mind-set, when we get
bogged down or too fired up, we can save ourselves a lot of time by
changing our energy, instead of hammering away at a change in the
situation. Learn to tell when it is time to do that. Then discover what
works for you– the little acts as well as the big ones.
Be gentle with yourself when you get
stuck, when you need a fresh viewpoint. Learn to change and rearrange
your energy as needed.
**************************************************
More Language Of Letting Go
Let go of tension
In Find and Use Your Inner Power,
author Emmet Fox used the metaphor of trying to force a key into the
lock to unlock the door. When we’re tense and afraid, Fox explained, we
fumble. Sometimes the very key that is the right key doesn’t work
because we’re trying to force it, because we’re so tense and uptight.
Relax. See! The less control and force
you use, the better.
Maybe the key you’ve been trying to
use all along is the right one. Maybe it was your fear and panic that
was keeping you from unlocking the door. Maybe you were trying to force
it, after all.
See how easily and naturally things
work out when you just simply relax and let go. You will tap into your
true power and the power of the universe when you move, love, work, and
play from a place of relaxed and calm inner peace.
Move from your center. Let things work
out.
God, help me stay serene, confident,
and joyful as I go through my day.
**************************************************
Staying Grounded
Foot Cleansing Rituals by Madisyn Taylor
Our feet are our primary means of
connecting with the earth but remain so neglected confined to shoes.
In most contemporary cultures, where
there aren’t many opportunities to go barefoot, few acts are as
intimate as touching the feet of another person. Our feet are our
primary means of connecting with the earth, yet they usually remain
confined in shoes or sandals. Cleansing the feet of a friend or loved
one is a sign of trust, closeness, and openness. Cleansing your own
feet can be a relaxing interlude that can help you feel refreshed. Foot
cleansing also has become a popular stress reliever and beautification
ritual.
Ritual foot cleansing has a long and
intricate history involving many methods and motivations. It has been
used as an initiation, a welcoming gesture, a purification ceremony,
and as a means to demonstrate humbleness. Cleansing ceremonies
involving the feet are performed in many different parts of the world.
In many cases, the meaning of the ritual was twofold. It was a way of
cleaning a guest’s feet before entering a home and a sign of
hospitality. In Buddhism, clean water mixed with sandalwood to clean
the feet is one of the eight typical offerings. By cleansing the feet
of an enlightened being, it is possible to cleanse one’s own karma.
You can perform a foot washing ritual
on yourself or a companion as a ceremonial activity or as a way to
unwind. You may want to start by trying a traditional ritual, or you
might feel comfortable inventing your own. Try mixing elements like
traditional flower infused water with something more modern like a
sugar scrub. Take the time to set your intention for the foot washing
ritual. Perhaps you would like to cleanse away old energies in your
life so you may step freely toward your future. Or, maybe soaking your
feet in warm water will help you relax after a long day at work.
Remember to thank your feet for their support. Whether done with
pleasure or as an offering, a foot cleansing ritual is a sacred act
that honors the divine in you and others. Published with permission
from Daily OM
**************************************************
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Adjusting myself to things as they
are, and being able to love without trying to interfere with or control
anyone else, however close to me — that’s one of the important things I
search for and can find in The Program. The learning is sometimes
painful; however, the reward is life itself — full and serene. Is The
Program helping restore me to a sane and reasonable way of thinking, so
I can handle my interpersonal relationships with love and understanding?
Today I Pray
May I respect those that I love enough
to set them free — to stop controlling, manipulating, scheming, balling
them out of trouble. May I love them enough to let them make their own
mistakes and take responsibility for them. May I learn to let go.
Today I Will Remember
Love is letting Go.
**************************************************
One More Day
Prayer is not asking. It is a longing
of the soul.
– Mohandas Gandhi
Some people have suggested that we
shouldn’t ask for something in prayer. Yes our need to pray is often
fueled by emotional or physical pain or by confusion or doubt.
Certainly we can’t — certainly we shouldn’t — wait for distressing
situations to pass before we pray or meditate.
Our soul long for balance and
serenity, and we find this when we turn our pain, doubts, and fears
over to the comforting presence of our Higher Power. Often what we seek
is not an answer to a question as much as a sense of being loved and
understood. When we can’t find these in our physical world, we reach
out with our spiritual selves to a balancing presence that understands
our deepest pains and fears and our greatest joys.
No matter what I express in prayer, I
am comforted in knowing I’m understood.
************************************
Food For Thought
A New Boss
When we turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we
understand Him, we have a new employer. From now on, we are working
first of all for our Higher Power.
Before, we were probably motivated by egotism, the desire for personal
power, prestige, and superiority. Since we were number one, we used our
appetites to serve ourselves with the inevitable result that no amount
of food, sex, or material wealth was enough. God did not create us to
satisfy ourselves; He created us to serve Him.
Recovering a sense of stewardship may take time for those of us who
have spent many years trying to gratify our own desires. We need to
pause often each day to ask for God's guidance, so that the work we do,
the activities we enjoy, and the thoughts we think may all serve Him.
Under His direction, our talents and abilities develop and our
appetites serve His purpose.
May my thoughts, appetites, and activities serve You.
*****************************************
One Day At A Time
HUMAN EMOTION
"Character cannot be developed in ease
and quiet.
Only through experiences of trial and
suffering
can the soul be strengthened, vision
cleared,
ambition inspired and success
achieved."
Helen Keller
While traveling through life, I have
made choices that have injured myself and others. Others have made
choices that have hurt me. Remembering and writing about my past has
proved to bring up a plethora of negative emotions. At this moment I
feel pain, remorse, anger, frustration, and am overwhelmed.
Every human on earth experiences these
same feelings at one time or another. This is part of what I am here
for. How could I ever comprehend bliss without experiencing misery? How
could I enjoy inspiration without suffering depression? How could I
appreciate peace without encountering turmoil? I am grateful for the
problems life gives me -- partnered with the emotions they bring --
because without the bad I could not understand the good. Everything has
its opposite. Things will always change. Things will always get better,
just like the sun shines after each storm. The good news is that even
though I may be experiencing negative feelings, I am learning empathy
and I am gaining wisdom. And how much more will I value the rays of
sunshine that break through the gray clouds?
One day at a time...
I will allow myself the honor of
feeling human emotion. I will ask my Higher Power to give me comfort in
my hardships and to help me remember why I am here. I will ask my
Higher Power to open my heart to the lessons I am learning. For today,
with hope and faith, I will look for the sunbeams shining through the
haze.
~ Susanne
*****************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
For the type of alcoholic who is able
and willing to get well, little charity, in the ordinary sense of the
word, is needed or wanted. The men who cry for money and shelter before
conquering alcohol, are on the wrong track. - Pg. 97 - Working With
Others
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Compulsion is a word you will hear a
lot now that you have made the decision to begin recovery. You may
often feel compelled to drink or use drugs again even when you don't
want to. Compulsion is a symptom of our disease and we use all the new
tools of our program to counteract compulsions.
Please help me understand that
compulsion is a symptom of my disease and as such need not be acted
upon. I offer my compulsive behavior to God, as I understand God.
Entering the Darkness
Today, I will allow myself to enter
into the dark and searing painful experiences of my past, and cry it
all out. If I can bring emotional literacy and forgiveness into the
'occupied territory' of my inner world, I can give myself the freedom I
desire. I have a world within me that is deep and peaceful. The grief
that I carry hidden in silence has great feelings in the present, and I
release them. There is no longer any safety for me in hiding. My
security comes from full awareness and acceptance of who I am. Until I
understand my grief and allow myself to know it, I will not be free of
its grip.
- Tian Dayton PhD
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
You must be prepared to make some
unpopular decisions when you live by principle. You will not be able to
please everyone. Be firm with others as you chose the principle and not
the personality; be firm with your personality as it butts heads with
your principles.
By practicing principles in all my
affairs, I learn not to 'people please' but to 'Higher Power Please.'
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
If a solution isn't practical, it
isn't spiritual.
Time for Joy - Book - Quote
I know that I cannot to hurt by anyone
if I consistently look for their best. Today I continue to search out
the best in all my relationships, looking for something I can love in
everyone.
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
It's amazing how much we can learn
after we think we know it all. - Anon.
*****************************************
AA Thought for the Day
June 6
Awakening
I think I have had a spiritual
awakening, as undramatic as it may have been,
and that it will go on and on as long
as I continue to practice this program in my daily affairs.
To me, there is no "spiritual side" to
the program of Alcoholics Anonymous;
the entire program is spiritual.
- Came To Believe . . ., p. 48
Thought to Ponder . . .
A spiritual awakening is our greatest
gift.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
G I F T S = Getting It From The Steps.
~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
Growing Up
"How many of us would presume to
declare,
'Well, I'm sober and I'm happy.
What more can I want, or do?
I'm fine the way I am.'
We know that the price of such
self-satisfaction is an inevitable
backslide,
punctuated at some point
by a very rude awakening.
We have to grow or else deteriorate.
For us, the status quo can only be for
today,
never for tomorrow.
Change we must;
we cannot stand still."
Bill W., Box 1980: The AA Grapevine,
June 1961
As Bill Sees It, p. 25
Thought to Consider....
The program has helped me grow up
enough
to be a kid again.
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
WISDOM
When Into Self, Discover Our Motives
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Commitment
From "Destinations":
"That first step is very important,
whether it is the first step of a beloved child learning to walk or the
First Step, taken by
a man on his way to a new life.
Looking into my little ones' faces, I can see the same qualities that
we need for the
Twelve Steps of A.A.: daring, to stake
everything on the attempt; a sense of direction, to be followed with no
swerving,
no detour; decision, to move forward
with out hesitation or reservation; determination, to make it all the
way.
Destination: a full life, a free life,
a serene life. Albany, Australia"
1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30th
printing 2004, pg. 93
*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"There will always be people in the
Fellowship with whom I don't see eye-to-eye, but that doesn't mean we
can't work
together. The Fellowship wouldn't be
what it is today if we always saw eye-to-eye on everything."
Goffstown, New Hampshire, September
1994
"Principles Before Personalities,"
AA Grapevine
~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve
Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*
"Remember that we deal with alcohol,
cunning, baffling, powerful!
Without help it is too much for us.
But there is One who has all
power that One is God. May you find
Him now!"
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition,
How It Works, Page 58~
"We learned that we had to fully
concede to our innermost selves that
we were alcoholics."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition,
More About Alcoholism, pg. 30~
At the very least, we shall have to
come to grips with some of our worst character defects and take action
toward their removal as quickly as we can.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,
p. 69
Misc. AA Literature - Quote
We recall, a little ruefully, how much
store we used to set by imagination as it tried to create reality out
of bottles. Yes, we revealed in that sort of thinking, didn't we? And,
through sober nowadays, don't we often try to do much the same thing?
Perhaps our trouble was not that we
used our imagination. Perhaps the real trouble was our almost total
inability to point imagination toward the right objectives. there's
nothing the matter with truly constructive imagination; all sound
achievement rests upon it. After all, no man can build a house until he
first visions a plan for it.
Prayer For The Day: Lord our God, inspire us to make our
choices well and understand our responsibilities and the consequences
of what we do. Help us to make good use of the opportunities that come
to us. Lead us to be positive in our attitude, that we may work well
with others and live this day to the full. Amen.