July 13

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

We have been speaking to you of serious, sometimes tragic things. We have been dealing with alcohol in its worst aspect. But we aren't a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn't want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life. We try not to indulge in cynicism over the state of the nations, nor do we carry the world's troubles on our shoulders. - Pg. 132 - The Family Afterward

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Compulsive behavior is characterized by the need to be better than, sooner than, bigger then, more than. This creates pressure which creates stress, which for us creates danger! That is why we take the slogan 'Easy Does It,' seriously.

Help me to enjoy the journey, slow down and not expect five years of recovery in five weeks.

The Treasures Within

Within me is the perfect life waiting to awaken. The gifts I seek are already within me. A deep pool of awareness and aliveness is present all of the time but I am too distracted to know it. I get so lost in the superficial details and tasks of my life that I forget to live it, to drop down and contact the spirit that God has planted within me. It is the best kept secret that spirit lives within me, that the way in which I come in touch with my inner light is through letting the constant preoccupations of my mind float by, not taking them so seriously, not trying to control them. Today I realize that the gold is not in my ability to control my mind, the gold is in what lies beneath. What emerges when my mind, for a precious moment, is stilled.

Spirit is with me always

- Tian Dayton PhD

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Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.

I never trust my tongue when my heart is bitter.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

You get sober not with your head, but with you feet.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

I can go through anything a day at a time, a moment at a time with the faith and the knowledge that my Higher Power is guiding me to peace and security.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

If I don't stand for something, I'll fall for anything. - Anon.

July 14

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

A.A. is not a plan for recovery that can be finished and done with. It is a way of life, and the challenge contained in its principles is great enough to keep any human being striving for as long as he lives. We do not, cannot, out-grow this plan. As arrested alcoholics, we must have a program for living that allows for limitless expansion. Keeping one foot in front of the other is essential for maintaining our arrestment. Others may idle in a retrogressive groove without too much danger, but retrogression can spell death for us. However, this isn't as rough as it sounds, as we do become grateful for the necessity that makes us toe the line, for we find that we are more than compensated for a consistent effort by countless dividends we receive. - Pg. 311 - 4th. Edition - The Keys To The Kingdom

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

How long do we have to keep going to meetings? Until we want to go to meetings.

Grant me the will to keep going to meetings, until the day arrives that I want to go.

I Am Whole

Today, I see that my life is up to me. How I choose to live, what I will accomplish, how I conduct my intimate relationships, how I treat myself, all are in my own hands. I am no longer afraid that pain and anxiety will return me to a state of helplessness and vulnerability. Let it come; I am ready to meet it head-on. I am strong in the awareness that I can live as I choose to live. I have been willing to walk a path of recovery that, though difficult, has built a strength in me and a knowledge that I can survive my most painful feelings. I do not need to be afraid of my life if I am not afraid of myself or an emotional death. I have met and tamed the monsters that live inside me. I am comfortable in my own skin.

I am free to be who I am.

- Tian Dayton PhD

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We are often surprised by who we can count on when the going gets tough. Someone we did not expect to come through might and others whom we thought we could count on may fall short of our expectations. We do not blame the ones that fall short and are grateful for the ones who go the extra mile.

I measure others by their best moments, not their worst.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Everyone needs to be loved...especially when they do not deserve it.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I know that if I'm coming from good and love, then only good and love with happen. Today I know that what I give, I receive back.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

After a few years sober a lady felt sorry for me and got me a job in sales. On the streets I used to sell a lot of things I didn't have, so with a product and a business card it was a piece of cake.- Allen F.

July 15

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

I spend a great deal of time passing on what I learned to others who want and need it badly. I do it for four reasons:

1. Sense of duty.
2. It is a pleasure.
3. Because in so doing I am paying my debt to the man who took time to pass it on to me.
4. Because every time I do it I take out a little more insurance for myself against a possible slip. - Page 180-181 - 4th. Edition - Doctor Bob's Nightmare

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

It is remarkable how often we run across this feeling of 'uniqueness' as we recover: we used more, had worse contacts, spent more in bars, treated our family worse, were younger, older, blacker, gayer, more sensitive--whatever.

Let me see in this next hour, one area that I feel I'm 'unique' which is actually commonplace for us addicts.

Hesitation

Today, I will walk the walk and talk the talk. It will not be good for me, ultimately, to half commit myself. In a way, the particular path that I take is less significant than that I take a path. I can second-guess myself and my experience. Commitment to a path is really commitment to myself. I am allowing myself to take a clear direction, one in which I can actualize my talents on a day-to-day basis, one that will allow me to build a foundation and a structure in which I can live. I will have a passion in life, a passion that takes me beyond myself, a passion to love, nourish, be led and challenged by. I will follow it, and it will follow me.

I deserve a passion in my life.

- Tian Dayton PhD

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Pissing contests about who used how much and who acted bad are ego trips in reverse. 'It doesn't matter what or how much we used. In NA, staying clean has to come first. We realize that we cannot use drugs and live.' (P 19, NA Basic Text).

When I brag about how much I used, how bad it was, and how much damage I did, I am doing one of two things, trying to make myself look larger or them smaller.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Coffee makers make it.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I choose to think positive. Today I let my thoughts lead the way to success and happiness.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

'The best thing for you is to give up drinking.' 'Yeah.. What's the next best thing?' - Anon.

Good thoughts today. Like the last one, "what do we do next." Go to a meeting, get a sponsor, a home group, work the Steps, and get involved in service. Doesn't matter what it is. Set up chairs, put them away, make coffee, wash the dishes, be a greeter, put out the literature, when asked, take a part of the meeting by reading the literature, and most important of all is go to a meeting and occupy a chair.

I was told to come 15 minutes before the meeting and stay 15 minutes or longer for the meetings before and after the meetings.

When I asked my spiritual adviser and NA sponsor what I needed to change. I was told, "Everything." What you think you should do or say, do a 180 deg. turn and do the opposite.

Your best thinking got you to the doors of recovery, you need to change it.

July 16

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of such problems. We asked especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no request for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped. We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends. Many of us have wasted a lot of time doing that and it doesn't work. You can easily see why. - Pg. 87 - Into Action

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

It is important for us to think in the positive. It doesn't help to think 'I don't want to use, I don't want to use,' because we end up having to think of what we don't want to use. It stays on our mind. But if we think, 'I like having a clear mind; I like remembering; I like growing,' we have positive thoughts directed away from our diseases.

May my thoughts focus on what I'm working toward, not what I'm escaping from.

A Little Magic

Each day is a gift especially for me. I will look through innocent eyes at the world today and see the gifts that are meant just for me. Children think the sun rises for and because of them. They're sure that the moon hangs in the sky because they waved their arm towards the heavens. That flowers bloom for their eyes alone to see. They are magical thinkers. They take delight in the antics of a squirrel, in a balloon sailing in a bright, blue sky. They see the world fresh, in color and alive each new day, each new moment. They are constantly being surprised. Today, I think I'll borrow a little of their magic. Their magic and my maturity may just be a winning combination.

I believe anything is possible

- Tian Dayton PhD

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Do not become one of these people who have two excuses for everything: one excuse for what you don't do and another for what you don't have.

Excuses are simply my lack of faith in me.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Encouragement from an old-timer can turn a newcomer's life around.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I am willing to give away what I need for myself. I am willing to listen to someone else's problems. That way we will both see that we are traveling together on the same journey and are not alone.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

My life is none of my business. I just suit up, show up; be an example of AA and leave the rest to God. - Sharon B.

July 17

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Some of our alcoholic readers may think they can do without spiritual help. Let us tell you the rest of the conversation our friend had with his doctor.
The doctor said: 'You have the mind of a chronic alcoholic. I have never seen one single case recover, where that state of mind existed to the extent that it does in you.' Our friend felt as though the gates of hell had closed on him with a clang.
He said to the doctor, 'Is there no exception?'
'Yes,' replied the doctor, 'there is. Exceptions to cases such as yours have been occurring since early times. Here and there, once in a while, alcoholics have had what are called vital spiritual experiences. To me these occurrences are phenomena. They appear to be in the nature of huge emotional displacements adn rearrangements. Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once the guiding forces of the lives of these men are suddenly cast to one side, and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them. - Pg. 27 - There Is A Solution

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Right now you are safe. Whatever is troubling you is not so bad that your sponsor or another group member cannot help. Call them as soon as you find a phone.

Grant me the humbleness to call for help whenever I feel threatened, lonely, angry, or in any way separated from my spiritual health.

Feeling Good Inside

I am in the present, I can actually see what the next right action might be and I can take it seamlessly, easily, fruitfully. I will see my day as an opportunity to grow; to learn to allow more of who I am to flow through me. Naturally, quietly and without force. I will become worthy of the life I have been given, grateful just to be alive for one more day. I will let life work out.

- Tian Dayton PhD

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No God; No Peace. Know God; Know Peace.

My program teaches me that I will have peace of mind in the exact proportion of the peace of mind I bring into the lives of others.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Relax, God is in charge.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

God gives me all the answers I need at the right time. Today I trust that it is okay not to know everything and that I will know when the time is right.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

If I was at your house, I'd ask to use the bathroom and I'd go through the medicine cabinet and take whatever's there. I don't need to know what it is. Sometimes I'd be up for days, saying the same thing over and over, chewing my tongue. Other times I'd be falling down, bouncing off the walls. Sometimes I'd get real 'regular'. And I probably took enough pills out of those wheels that there's no chance I'm going to get pregnant this century. - Bob D.

This reminds me of the saying, "My God gives me just the right amount of light, when and where I need it, for the Step I am working on."

July 18

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Most emphatically we wish to say that any alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems in the light of our experience can recover, provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual concepts. He can only be defeated by an attitude of intolerance or belligerent denial. - Pg. 568 - 4th. Edition - Appendices II - Spiritual Experience

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Our ideal right now must be to remain clean and sober. Other ideals can be built upon later, but right now the act of cleansing our bodies, minds, and spirits must prevail.

I clean my body by staying off all mind-affecting chemicals. I clean my mind by going to meetings. I clean my spirit by working steps.

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Sponsors are lighthouses, not foghorns. We look to them to see how they do it, not depend on them to tell us what not to do. We already know.

I cannot improve if I only have myself as a model.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

If you're thinking about going to a meeting, go to the meeting, and then think about it.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Fears sometimes still lingers in my mind. I can be okay when that happens. I can feel them through and talk about them and go on in spite of them, not letting myself picture the worst, but seeing the results in a positive light.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

My hands shook so bad I could thread a sewing machine - when it was running. - Eddie C.

Love the last line, but I found it was opposite for me. I had a tremon disorder and I couldn't thread a needle if my life depended on it. The ironic thing was, three doctors told me that if I picked up a drink, the tremon would disappear. Just for today I choose not to lose. I learned to accept and cope with it, even though I cuss at it a few times a day, picking up a drink is not an option.

July 19

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

There is scarcely any form of trouble and misery which has not been overcome among us. - Pg. 15 - Bill's Story

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

All of us go through phases of loving meetings, hating meetings, or ambivalence. The ups and downs and erratic emotions are a normal part of recovery. To stay in recovery we make 90 meetings in 90 days regardless of our many phases.

May I make 90 in 90, regardless of my erratic beginning emotions. I know my thinking is still not as clear as it will be.

Meditation

Today, I recognize the source of light and wisdom that is within me. When I look outside myself to learn about what is actually inside, I need to exercise great discernment because some of what I see fits and some does not. There is a fountain within me that is ever full and waiting to be discovered. When I can rest quietly in this inner place, I experience a sense of fullness, and my desire to go outside diminishes and gives way to a preference for undisturbed peace. Solitude takes on a different meaning when I can contact that quiet within. Life softens and external things become less important. I look for this place within me on a daily basis. I give myself this present today.

I search within.

- Tian Dayton PhD

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Our program won't keep you from going to hell nor is it a ticket to heaven. But it will keep you clean and sober long enough for you to make up your mind which way you want to go.

My journey is my destination.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

For 'suggestion' you have two choices: Take it or leave it.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I have faith that I am being led to the answers I need to learn. If I keep putting one foot in front of the other, I will always be in a safe place.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I have an amnesty prayer, I've seen it work hundreds of times. It's very simple. You can put it in your own words; 'I forgive everyone on the face of this earth, living or dead, who has ever done anything to me - real or imagined - and I want good things to happen to them.' If you will continue to say that , I will guarantee you that your attitude toward the people who are troubling you in your life is going to change. - Frank H.

July 20

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:
(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were sought.

Being convinced, WE WERE AT STEP THREE, which is that we decided to turn our will and our life over to God as we understand Him. - Pg. 60 - How It Works

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

If we are in the program on a basis of 'temporary permanence' (we'll stay until we find something better), then we need to re-evaluate. Addiction is cunning, baffling, and powerful and will always convince us it's better than sobriety. We can only make this program if we commit ourselves each day, every day.

This hour I will not take a fix, pill, drink, smoke, or snort of any mind-affecting chemical.

Who Am I?

Today I will ask this question over and over again. I will not expect an answer. I will ask for the sake of asking, I will ask in order to put my mind in the frame of searching for a deeper life of the spirit, I will ask to be guided, toward awareness of all that is eternal. I will ask this question throughout my life without ever expecting or insisting upon an answer. I understand that God lives in the asking, that God is too great and vast to reduce to any simple answer, that God lives in the question.

I am curious about the deeper mysteries of this life.

- Tian Dayton PhD

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Through the Fourth and Fifth steps we learn who we really are. Once we know who and what we are, we don't have to be what we were.

Today, I am myself. I am perfect for the part.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

You must allow people to be right, because it consoles them for not being anything else.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I am reaching out to those who love and support me. I am letting go of my ego and self-centeredness so that I can make space to take in love and support and ideas from others.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

My parents tried to save me from an unhappy childhood but I thwarted them and had one anyway. - Charlie C.

July 21

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

We have shown how we get out from under. You say, 'Yes, I'm willing. But am I to be consigned to a life where I shall be stupid, boring, and glum, like some righteous people I see? I know I must get along without liquor, but how can I? Have you a sufficient substitute?'
Yes, there is a substitute and it is vastly more than that. If is a fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from care, boredom and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead. Thus we find the fellowship, and so will you. - Pg. 152 - A Vision For You

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

It is now time to forgive ourselves for the trials of our addiction and it is time to forgive others who let us down. We are not well yet, but have made the first giant steps: admittance of our disease and forgiveness for not being well yesterday.

Grant me the humbleness to work for and accept my marker tokens knowing I could not do it alone. Grant me the pride to realize that without me it could not be done at all.

Spirit Calls

I am willing to allow my life to happen. Life has taught me that the best laid plans can go awry. I know that I need to have goals and missions in order to give shape, meaning and a sense of destiny to my life. However, when I let those goals run me, when I let them preoccupy me to such an extent that I stop living in the present and I miss the beauty and spontaneity of each new day, then I am becoming a slave to my own plans. I will learn to take an action and let go of the result, to have a goal then to move toward it in a relaxed manner that doesn't rob me of my pleasure and my day.

I am in touch with spirit within and without

- Tian Dayton PhD

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When making amends, a subtle shift occurs in our thinking. We go from thinking we were a mistake to acknowledging we made a mistake.

I may make mistakes but my Higher Power doesn't and my Higher Power made me.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

You can't run from God, so let God run you.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I am open to everyone who is on my path, whether I know them or not. Somewhere there will be someone who needs my help and I want to be there for them. My Higher Power will tell me what needs to be done.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

Poor me, poor me...pour me a drink. - Unknown origin.

Use to say, `Poor me, poor me, pour me another one.` There was never a thought of just one to make me feel better.

July 22

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

VII - THE TWELVE CONCEPTS (SHORT FORM)

A.A's Twelve Steps are principles for personal recovery. The Twelve Traditions ensure the unity of the Fellowship. Written by co-founder Bill W. in 1962, the Twelve Concepts for World Service provide a group of A.A.'s service structure remain responsive and responsible to those they serve.

The 'short form' of the Concepts, which follows, was prepared by the 1974 General Service Conference. - Pg. 574 - 4th. Edition - Appendices - VII - The Twelve Concepts (Short Form)

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

In this first month, we name our disease: ADDICTION. It is not chemical specific. A mind-affecting chemical of any kind can trigger our disease of addiction. If we try to say we have trouble with only one chemical (like pot or alcohol) then we do not yet understand addiction and will probably use again.

Please reveal to me the true nature of my disease that I may truly recover.

Transformation

Count me in. Whatever are my talents, my usefulness; wherever you see me fitting into your grand scheme, God . . . place me there. I am willing to open my heart to your guidance. I am built to be part of this moment of transformation. I see a better world in my mind's eye and I know that others see it too. Connect me with those people who wish to quietly usher in a new world. Together we can push through the eye of the needle - together we can help it happen.

We are transforming together

- Tian Dayton PhD

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Earth Angels dwell among us and they will find you at the moment you need them. These are the people who know just the right thing to say and do to keep you focused on recovery and principle.

Some of my Higher Power's best work is done anonymously.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Are you doing your meds? Meditations.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I am growing in my faith that I dare to look at what is really disturbing my serenity. Today I trust that by searching deep within for my own truth, I will discover the door to freedom and peace.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I'm not only one drink away from a drunk, I'm one drink away from maybe never being sober again for the rest of my life. - Anon.

July 23

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

I. Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.

II. The General Service Conference of A.A. has become, for nearly every practical purpose, the active voice and the effective conscience of our Society in its world affairs.

III. To insure effective leadership, we should endow each element of A.A. - the Conference, the General Service Board and its service corporations, staffs, committees, and executives - with a traditional 'Right of Decision.' - Pg. 574 - 4th. Edition - Appendices - VII - The Twelve Concepts (Short Form)

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Now we must choose and use a sponsor. Just one. More than one sponsor gives us more than one answer and allows us to play games with the program. We ask for guidance in choosing a sponsor, then we use them.

Higher Power, as I understand You, please guide me to the sponsor that will give me the answers I need.

My Work

I am whole and in tact and as such I have a positive contribution to make to this world. My work needs me. Whatever my gifts are, I will share them. I will not hold back, telling myself I am not ready, not smart enough, not good enough. Today is the day. This is as good a place to begin as any. I will dig deep into myself and find beauty and wisdom. I will produce good works and I will share those openly with others. As I expand my own consciousness, it becomes my responsibility to share what I learn with the collective. I am available to find my mission. I will give myself the gift of feeling purposeful, today.

I will share my gifts


- Tian Dayton PhD

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land, there is no other life but this.

Henry David Thoreau

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'Each place along the way is somewhere you had to be to be here.' ~Wayne Dyer

I cannot get ahead until I learn to be here.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Reality can be as painful to accept as it was to escape.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I will put aside all negative and destructive thoughts so that I can come from the place of love. Today I will let go of all blame and anger and resentments so that my heart and my mind will be open and free to feel love and give love.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I was so grateful I couldn't stop crying, because I thought about all the friends of mine that I've known through the years who couldn't make it. Who missed it all. And I thought 'No matter what happens I've got no quarrel. Not with God, not with life, not with anything. And I stood there - with cancer - feeling like one of the most fortunate women on earth. - Gayle W.