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bluidkiti · 08-07-2013, 09:52 AM

Drunks don't need meetings, alcoholics do.

GRATITUDE--WHO NEEDS IT?

Often, when the chairperson of our home group announces that the topic for discussion at a given meeting will be gratitude, a silent groan goes through the group. Gratitude meetings are boring! Why waste our time stating something so obvious? Sure, we're thankful that we're sober today. We all know how lucky we are. And if we already know it, why do we have to talk about it?

Like it or not, the groaners have a point. Gratitude doesn't translate very well into speech. True gratitude is felt, not spoken. It's the feeling we get when we see a newcomer who has tried and tried finally get a one-year chip. Or the feeling we have when children who long ago stopped speaking to us suddenly ask us out for coffee. It's the feeling a lot of us have when we wake up and remember what we did last night (and more important, who we did it with!)

So why do we have a Gratitude Month? For starters, we do it to remind ourselves that no matter how far we have come, we haven't done it alone. Who among us could have gotten sober without the help of A.A.'s program and our fellow members? Or, as one member puts it, we have gratitude to avoid "taking-for-grant-itude." Another reason we pay special attention to gratitude is because it helps us turn our thoughts away from ourselves and toward our fellows. The minute most of us start making a gratitude list, self-pity flies away like water off a dog's back; our thinking is redirected toward the world outside our own heads.

And that prepares us for the truest of all expressions of gratitude--action. A.A.'s program teaches us that we need to put our feelings of gratitude to work by helping others. As the season of giving approaches, we need to remember that each of us who has had the fortune of recovering from alcoholism through A.A. is capable of giving one of the greatest gifts of all--we can pass the message of our program on to another alcoholic who still suffers.

We can change a life.

For that, we are truly grateful.

The Messenger, November 2008

08-07-2013, 09:52 AM	#15
bluidkiti Administrator Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 70,770	Drunks don't need meetings, alcoholics do. GRATITUDE--WHO NEEDS IT? Often, when the chairperson of our home group announces that the topic for discussion at a given meeting will be gratitude, a silent groan goes through the group. Gratitude meetings are boring! Why waste our time stating something so obvious? Sure, we're thankful that we're sober today. We all know how lucky we are. And if we already know it, why do we have to talk about it? Like it or not, the groaners have a point. Gratitude doesn't translate very well into speech. True gratitude is felt, not spoken. It's the feeling we get when we see a newcomer who has tried and tried finally get a one-year chip. Or the feeling we have when children who long ago stopped speaking to us suddenly ask us out for coffee. It's the feeling a lot of us have when we wake up and remember what we did last night (and more important, who we did it with!) So why do we have a Gratitude Month? For starters, we do it to remind ourselves that no matter how far we have come, we haven't done it alone. Who among us could have gotten sober without the help of A.A.'s program and our fellow members? Or, as one member puts it, we have gratitude to avoid "taking-for-grant-itude." Another reason we pay special attention to gratitude is because it helps us turn our thoughts away from ourselves and toward our fellows. The minute most of us start making a gratitude list, self-pity flies away like water off a dog's back; our thinking is redirected toward the world outside our own heads. And that prepares us for the truest of all expressions of gratitude--action. A.A.'s program teaches us that we need to put our feelings of gratitude to work by helping others. As the season of giving approaches, we need to remember that each of us who has had the fortune of recovering from alcoholism through A.A. is capable of giving one of the greatest gifts of all--we can pass the message of our program on to another alcoholic who still suffers. We can change a life. For that, we are truly grateful. The Messenger, November 2008 __________________ "No matter what you have done up to this moment, you get 24 brand-new hours to spend every single day." --Brian Tracy AA gives us an opportunity to recreate ourselves, with God's help, one day at a time. --Rufus K. When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. --Franklin D. Roosevelt We stay sober and clean together - one day at a time! God says that each of us is worth loving.