[bluidkiti]

January 15

Practice of the Day-
BB pg 86-
Ch 6- Into Action:
(Referencing the directions for the 11th Step)
On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from
self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives.

-Tom- My sponsor took a lot of time making sure I understood these particular instructions for the morning portion of the 11th step.
-first lesson was when I should do the 11th step- “upon awakening” meaning first thing of every morning. Personally I need a cup of coffee in me before my brain wakes up, then I get after it.
-second lesson- go directly to my God and ask Him to divorce (which means,
Dis-union) my mind from self-pity, dishonesty and self-seeking motives. The most important thing is that I am asking Him to do that for me, I cannot do it myself. Remember at the beginning we established “the main problem of the alcoholic/addict centers in his mind rather than in his body”. I can’t change me, I don’t have the Power, but my Higher Power does. This is not a “self-help” program, it is a “Higher Power reliance” program.
-third lesson- it is not until the 11th step that
AA says “now you can use your brain and start thinking, and this is how we go about thinking”
I would not be able to think clearly and confidently unless I had completed the 10 previous Steps.
I pray that today I put all my efforts in the Solution and pay no attention to the problem.