Daily Recovery Readings - August

[bluidkiti]

August 16

Daily Reflections

"I HAD DROPPED OUT"

We might next ask ourselves what we mean when we say that we have
"harmed" other people. What kinds of "harm" do people do one
another, anyway? To define the word "harm" in a practical way, we
might call it the result of instincts in collision, which cause physical,
mental, emotional, or spiritual damage to people.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS , p. 80

I had been to Eighth Step meetings, always thinking, "I really
haven't harmed many people, mostly myself." But the time came when
I wrote my list out and it was not as short as I thought it would
be. I either liked you, disliked you, or needed something from you
- it was that simple. People hadn't done what I wanted them to do
and intimate relationships were out of hand because of my partners
unreasonable demands. Were these "sins of omission"? Because of my
drinking, I had "dropped out" - never sending cards, returning
calls, being there for other people, or taking part in their lives.
What a grace it has been to look at these relationships, to make
my inventories in quiet, alone with the God of my understanding,
and to go forth daily, with a willingness to be honest and
forthright in my relationships.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"The alcoholic is absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of
self-knowledge. We must admit we can do nothing about it ourselves.
Willpower and self-knowledge will never help in the strange mental
blank spots when we are tempted to drink. An alcoholic mentally is
in a very sick condition. The last flicker of conviction that we can
do the job ourselves must be snuffed out. The spiritual answer and
the program of action are the only hope. Only spiritual principles
will solve our problems. We are completely helpless apart from Divine
help. Our defense against drinking must come from a Higher Power."
Have I accepted the spiritual answer and the program of action?

Meditation For The Day

Rest now until life, eternal life, flowing through your veins and
heart and mind, bids you to bestir yourself. Then glad work will
follow. Tired work is never effective. The strength of God's spirit
is always available to the tired mind and body. He is your physician
and your healer. Look to these quiet times of communion with God for
rest, for peace, for cure. Then rise refreshed in spirit and go out
to work, knowing that your strength is able to meet any problems
because it is reinforced by God's power.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that the peace I have found will make me effective. I pray
that I may be relieved of all strain during this day.

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As Bill Sees It

The Beginning of True Kinship, p.228

When we reached A.A., and for the first time in our lives stood
among people who seemed to understand, the sense of belonging
was tremendously exciting. We thought the isolation problem had
been solved.

But we soon discovered that, while we weren't alone any more in
a social sense, we still suffered many of the old pangs of
anxious apartness. Until we had talked with complete candor of
our conflicts, and had listened to someone else do the same thing, we
still didn't belong.

Step Five was the answer. It was the beginning of true kinship
with man and God.

12 & 12, p. 57

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Walk In Dry Places

Who is the Key person?
Respecting others
The Twelve Step movement grew out of a society that practiced a Key Person strategy; If you
could win important persons into your group, others of high
standing would follow.
The experience of Alcoholics Anonymous led a different
strategy: Work with anybody who wants help, and let leaders
appear as they will. The leaders, whom we call
trusted servants, were sometimes very ordinary people in the
eyes of the world. Some were like Bill W., people of great ability
whose careers had been wrecked by alcoholism.
In any case, it is obvious that we are poor judge of who might become a
key person. In the sight of God, we're told, all humans
are equal. Our best success comes when we treat every newcomer as a
key person.
I'll remember today to view every person with the respect and
consideration that is usually extended to people whom the world considers
important.

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Keep It Simple

The strongest rebellion may be expressed in quiet, undramatic behavior.---Benjamin Spock
In recovery, we each rebel against our disease. Each day we fight for the freedom to stay close to our Higher Power, friends and family.
It's mainly a quiet battle. It's fought daily. We fight and win by acting in a spiritual way. We fight and win every time we help a friend, go to meetings, or read about how to improve our lives
We move slowly but always forward. Rushing will only tire us out. Our battle will go on for life.
We are quiet fighters, but we're strong, for we do not fight alone. And we know what waits for us if we lose.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me stay free. When I want to give up, help me realize this is normal. Help me to keep fighting at these times.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll be a rebel. I will go to an extra meeting, or I'll talk with my sponsor. I'll find a way to help someone without the person knowing.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Love is a force. It is not a result; it is a cause. It is not a product; it produces. It is a power, like money, or steam or electricity. It is valueless unless you can give something else by means of it. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Love and feeling loved--how often both elude us! We have taken the first step, though. Let's be grateful for our recovery; this is an act of love. We have chosen to love ourselves, and the program opens the way to our loving others. Love and loving are balms for the soul sickness we experience. We are being healed. We are healing one another.
Loving others means going beyond our own selfish concerns, for the moment, and putting others' concerns first. The result is that others feel our love. They feel a caring that is healing. And our spiritual natures are likewise soothed.
We find God and ourselves through touching the souls of one another. Our most special gift is being loved and giving love. Every moment we spend with another person is gift-giving time.
Every day is a gift-giving holiday, if I will but make it so.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

After high school came four years in one of the best colleges in the country where drinking seemed to be a major extra-curricular activity. Almost everyone seemed to do it. I did it more and more, and had lots of fun without much grief, either physical or financial. I seemed to be able to snap back the next morning better than most of my fellow drinkers, who were cursed (or perhaps blessed) with a great deal of morning-after nausea. Never once in my life have I had a headache, which fact leads me to believe that I was an alcoholic almost from the start. My whole life seemed to be centered around doing what I wanted to do, without regard for the rights, wishes, or privileges of anyone else; a state of mind which became more and more predominant as the years passed. I was graduated with "summa *** laude" in the eyes of the drinking fraternity, but not in the eyes of the Dean.

p. 172

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Seven - "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

During this process of learning more about humility, the most profound result of all was the change in our attitude toward God. And this was true whether we had been believers or unbelievers. We began to get over the idea that the Higher Power was a sort of bush-league pinch hitter, to be called upon only in an emergency. The notion that we would still live our own lives, God helping a little now and then, began to evaporate. Many of us who had thought ourselves religious awoke to the limitations of this attitude. Refusing to place God first, we had deprived ourselves of His help. But now the words "Of myself I am nothing, the Father doeth the works" began to carry bright promise and meaning.

p. 75

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In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give
out completes the circle and comes back to us.
--Flora Edwards

There are only three possible outcomes for alcoholics: locked up,
covered up, or sobered up.
--unknown

Seven days without a meeting makes one weak.
--Herb B.

"Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will
ever regret."
--Ambrose Bierce

If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time
with them, and half as much money on them.
--Abigail Van Buren

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred
days of sorrow.
--Cited in The Best of...BITS & PIECES

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

SACRIFICE

"To believe in sensible ideas is
easy, but to implement them
involves sacrifice."
-- Dorothy Fosdick

What am I prepared to sacrifice for what I want? I remember the time
I said I would do "anything". Today I know that anything must be
translated into something. No person, job or thing can be allowed to
come between myself and abstinence. This love of self will enable me
to love others. But I must remember to sacrifice my desire to please
others and place my needs as a priority in my life.

Today I know that if I do not love myself enough to make sacrifices,
then I can be nothing.

In gratitude I give up those things I know will hurt me.

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For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of
love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our
Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for
the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a
holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own
purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the
beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing
of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought
life and immortality to light through the gospel.
2 Timothy 1:7-10

"He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to
your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you."
Romans 8:11

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Daily Inspiration

Becoming overwhelmed creeps up slowly, one commitment at a time. Lord, help me regain my time and sanity, accomplish my priorities without major setbacks, and have quiet time left to nurture my spirit.

Be patient with others, but mostly be patient with yourself. Lord, help me to keep a smile on my face and to realize my goodness and refuse to dwell on my imperfections.

[bluidkiti]

August 17

Daily Reflections

RIGHTING THE HARM

In many instances we shall find that though the harm done others has
not been great, the emotional harm we have done ourselves has.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 79

Have you ever thought that the harm you did a business associate, or
perhaps a family member, was so slight that it really didn't deserve an
apology because they probably wouldn't remember it anyway? If that
person, and the wrong done to him, keeps coming to mind, time and
again, causing an uneasy or perhaps guilty feeling, then I put that
person's name at the top of my "amends list," and become willing to
make a sincere apology, knowing I will feel calm and relaxed about
that person once this very important part of my recovery is
accomplished.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"To one who feels he is an atheist or agnostic, a spiritual experience
seems impossible, but to continue as he is means disaster. To be
doomed to an alcoholic death or to live on a spiritual basis are not
always easy alternatives to face. But we have to face the fact that we
must find a spiritual basis of life--or else. Lack of power is our
dilemma. We have to find a power by which we can live, and it has to
be a power greater than ourselves." Have I found that power by which
I can live?

Meditation For The Day

Sunshine is the laughter of nature. Live out in the sunshine. The sun
and air are good medicine. Nature is a good nurse for tired bodies. Let
her have her way with you. God's grace is like the sunshine. Let your
whole being be enwrapped in the Divine spirit. Faith is the soul's
breathing in of the Divine spirit. It makes glad the hearts of human
beings. The Divine spirit heals and cures the mind. Let it have its way
and all will be well.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may live in the sunshine of God's spirit. I pray that my
mind and soul may be energized by it.

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As Bill Sees It

Day of Homecoming, p. 229

"As sobriety means long life and happiness for the individual, so
does unity mean exactly the same thing to our Society as a whole.
Unified we live; disunited we shall perish."

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

"We must think deeply of all those sick ones still to come to A.A. As
they try to make their return to faith and to life, we want them to
find everything in A.A. that we have found, and yet more, if that
be possible. No care, no vigilance, no effort to preserve A.A.'s
constant effectiveness and spiritual strength will ever be too great
to hold us in full readiness for the day of their homecoming."

1. Letter, 1949
2. Talk, 1959

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Walk In Dry Places

Whom Should we Respect?
Respecting others.
While having dinner in a nice restaurant, my friends and I realized that we were treating the young man
bussing the table with cold indifference. He appeared to be unsure of
himself, doing his work with apprehension and a lack of
confidence.
Here was an example of a person who needed silent encouragement. He
needed to be assured that his performance of honest, useful work was
respected and appreciated. He also needed to be reminded that he
had opportunities to continue developing and using his talents.
Perhaps we, as patrons of the restaurant, could provide that.
Sometimes this encouragement can simply be expressed in the way we act
and feel toward people. If it is genuine and based on good spiritual
principles, it will be understood. It's actually a form of
practicing the principles of the Twelve Steps in all our affairs.
At the same time, we practice identifying with every person we
meet.
I'll try to take note of every person I come in contact with today, knowing that everyone needs support and encouragement. I can do my part to provide that.

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Keep It Simple

Words that do not match deeds are not important.---Ernesto Ch'e Guevara
What we do can be much more important than what we say. We tend to talk about things we want to do. We need to also be people who do things we talk about. We are not spiritual people unless our actions are spiritual.
Many of us used to be "all or nothing" people. That made us afraid to take the big projects. But now we can get things done, if we take one step at a time. We're not "all or nothing" people anymore. We're people who are changing and growing a little every day. And each day our deeds match our words a little better.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me live fully today. Help me not to talk to much about what I want to do. Give me the gift of patience, so I can be pleased with my progress.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list the things that I say I'd like to do. What is one thing I can do today to make each of them happen? I'll take one step today to match my life to my dreams.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Life is not always what one wants it to be, but to make the best of it as it is, is the only way of being happy. --Jennie Jerome Churchill
We are generally so certain that we know what's best for ourselves. And we are just as often certain that what we think is best will guarantee happiness. Perhaps we should reflect on all the times in the past when our wishes didn't come true--fortunately.
Did any one of us expect to be doing today, what we each are doing? We may have expected children, a particular kind of home, a certain career, but did we really anticipate all that life has wrought? Addiction, and then recovery from it, was probably not in our pictures. But it does fit into the big picture. The happiness we experience today probably doesn't visit us in the way we anticipated a few years back. But it is measured out according to our needs. The choice to be happy with what is, is ours to make, every moment.
I can take life as it is, and trust that it is just right, just what it needs to be. The big picture guarantees me lasting happiness. Today's experiences will move me a step closer.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

The next three years I spent in Boston, Chicago, and Montreal in the employ of a large manufacturing concern, selling railway supplies, gas engines of all sorts, and many other items of heavy hardware. During these years, I drank as much as my purse permitted, still without paying too great a penalty, although I was beginning to have morning "jitters" at times. I lost only a half day's work during these three years.

pp. 172-173

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Seven - "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

We saw we needn't always be bludgeoned and beaten into humility. It could come quite as much from our voluntary reaching for it as it could from unremitting suffering. A great turning point in our lives came when we sought for humility as something we really wanted, rather than as something we must have. It marked the time when we could commence to see the full implication of Step Seven: "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

p. 75

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"We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road.
They get run over."
--Anuerin Bevan

"You cannot plan the future by the past."
--Edmund Burke

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.
--Saint Thomas Aquinas

Life is not always what one wants it to be, but to make the best of it as
it is, is the only way of being happy.
--Jennie Jerome Churchill

It's not the load that breaks you down...it's the way you carry it.
--unknown

He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the
universe.
--Marcus Aurelius

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

COURAGE

"Nothing will ever be attempted
if all possible objections must
be first overcome."
-- Samuel Johnson

There was a time when I never attempted anything because I said it
"can't" be done. I could never get sober. I could never stand up to my
drunken friends. I could never face my buried secrets. I could never
stop gambling. I could never change my eating habits or stop using
cocaine.

Then I heard the confidence and hope that was reflected in people who
were recovering from these same problems. I heard people talk about
what it was like, what happened and what it is like now. They told me I
didn't mean "can't", I meant "won't"! They told me to take a risk,
think positive, try. Today, yesterday's objections are mere memories.

Thank You for showing me the light at the end of the tunnel. May I
continue to walk in the light.

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I call on the Lord in my distress and He answers me.
Psalm 120:1

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we
do not see."
Hebrews 11:1

"However, as it is written: 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no
mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.'"
I Corinthians 2:9

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Daily Inspiration

Pray together as a family and share each other's joys and burdens. Lord, he is not heavy. He's my brother.

If you feel the need to get even, try getting even with those that have helped you. Lord, free me from any thoughts of revenge because this only shuts the door to my own happiness.

[bluidkiti]

August 18

Daily Reflections

GETTING WELL, p.239

Very deep, sometimes quite forgotten, damaging emotional
conflicts persist below the level of consciousness.
12 & 12, pp. 79-80

Only through positive action can I remove the remains of guilt and
shame brought on by alcohol. Throughout my misadventures when
I drank, my friends would say, "Why are you doing this? You're
only hurting yourself." Little did I know how true were those
words. Although I harmed others, some of my behavior caused
grave wounds to my soul. Step Eight provides me with a way of
forgiving myself. I alleviate much of the hidden damage when I
make my list of those I have hurt. In making amends, I free
myself of burdens, thus contributing to my healing.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"We of agnostic temperament have found that as soon as we were
able to lay aside prejudice and express a willingness to believe in a
Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even
though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or
comprehend that Power, which we call God. As soon as you can
say that you do believe or are willing to believe, you are on your
way. Upon this simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective
spiritual structure can be built." Am I willing to depend on a Power
that I cannot fully define or comprehend?

Meditation For The Day

We seek God's presence and "they who seek shall find." It is not
a question of searching so much as an inner consciousness of the
Divine spirit in your heart. To realize God's presence you must
surrender to His will in the small as well as in the big things of life.
This makes God's guidance possible. Some things separate you
from God--a false word, a fear-inspired failure, a harsh criticism, a
stubborn resentment. These are the things that put a distance
between your mind and God. A word of love, a selfless
reconciliation, a kind act of helpfulness--these bring God closer.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may think and say and do the things that bring God
closer to me. I pray that I may find Him in sincere prayer, a kind
word, or an unselfish deed.

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As Bill Sees It

Love Everybody?, p. 230

Not many people can truthfully assert that they love everybody.
Most of us must admit that we have loved but a few; that we have
been quite indifferent to the many. As for the remainder--well, we
have really disliked or hated them.

We A.A.'s find we need something much better than this in order to
keep our balance. The idea that we can be possessively loving of
a few, can ignore the many, and can continue to fear or hate
anybody at all, has to be abandoned, if only a little at a time.

We can try to stop making unreasonable demands upon those we
love. We can show kindness where we had formerly shown none.
With those we dislike we can at least begin to practice justice and
courtesy, perhaps going out of our way at times to understand and
help them.

12 & 12, pp. 92-93

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Walk In Dry Places

Handle Today's Problem
Living Today
Many of us face seemingly insurmountable
difficulties, perhaps because of our compulsion or simply through
misfortune. Whatever the scale of our problems,One Day at a
Time and First things First, are keys to handling them.
Today, we can deal only with today's problems. One of today's problems, of course,
may be worrying about the future. A good method of handling that problem
is to turn our concern about it over to our Higher Power. But when
we do have work that clearly should be done today, we must carry through
with it. It's neither reasonable nor sensible to put off things that we
can and should do today.
There are certain tasks and responsibilities that must be dealt with
today. I will not put them off.

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Keep It Simple

The Master doesn't talk, she acts. When her work is done, the people say, "Amazing: we did it, all by ourselves!"
Our Higher Power works like the Master. Quietly. In fact, we usually take the credit ourselves!
We're like the child who bakes cookies for the first time. Mother found the recipe, bought the ingredients, and got out the bowl and pans and spoons. She told us what to do, and finished when we got tired. Then she cleaned up after us. We proudly served our cookies, saying, "I made them all by my self!"
In recovery, our Higher Power helps and teaches us every step of the way, just like a loving parent.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you ---for my life, for my recovery, for love, for hope, and for faith. Thank-you for teaching me how to live in a better way.
Action for the Day: I'll list five ways my Higher Power has acted in my life.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Today was like a shadow. It lurked behind me. It's now gone forever. Why is it that time is such a difficult thing to befriend? --Mary Casey
Each passing minute is all that we are certain of having. The choice is ever present to relish the moment, reaping fully whatever its benefits, knowing that we are being given just what we need each day of our lives. We must not pass up what is offered today.
Time accompanies us like a friend, though often a friend denied or ignored. We can't recapture what was offered yesterday. It's gone. All that stands before us is here, now.
We can nurture the moment and know that the pain and pleasures offered us with each moment are our friends, the teachers our inner selves await. And we can be mindful that this time, this combination of events and people, won't come again. They are the gift of the present. We can be grateful.
We miss the opportunities the day offers because we don't recognize the experiences as the lesson designed for the next stage of our development. The moment's offerings are just, necessary, and friendly to our spiritual growth.
I will take today in my arms and love it. I will love all it offers; it is a friend bearing gifts galore.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

My next move was to take up the study of medicine, entering one of the largest universities in the country. There I took up the business of drinking with much greater earnestness than I had previously shown. On account of my enormous capacity for beer, I was elected to membership in one of the drinking societies, and soon became one of the leading spirits. Many mornings I have gone to classes, and even though fully prepared, would turn and walk back to the fraternity house because of my jitters, not daring to enter the classroom for fear of making a scene should I be called on for recitation.

p. 173

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Seven - "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

As we approach the actual taking of Step Seven, it might be well if we A.A.'s inquire once more just what our deeper objectives are. Each of us would like to live at peace with himself and with his fellows. We would like to be assured that the grace of God can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We have seen that character defects based upon shortsighted or unworthy desires are the obstacles that block our path toward these objectives. We now clearly see that we have been making unreasonable demands upon ourselves, upon others, and upon God.

p. 76

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The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new
landscapes but in having new eyes.
--Marcel Proust

"The first recipe for happiness is: Avoid too lengthy meditations on
the past."
--André Maurois

"Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself."
--Felix Adler

"The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching
the egg - not by smashing it."
--Arnold Glasow

"Patience and perseverance at length / Accomplish more than anger
or brute strength."
--Jean de La Fontaine

Hold your head high, stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets
dark sometimes but morning comes... Keep hope alive.
--Jesse Jackson

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

ABILITY

"Man's ability is derived from
God and does not have to be
acquired."
-- James H. McReynolds

I woke this morning and remembered that sobriety and serenity are
gifts from God that are freely given. I need only discover them within
my capacity to be honest. I need only seek them in my new attitudes. I
need only discover them in the spiritual program from my life.

God is alive in my life and His acceptance of me is guaranteed.

May I continue to discover more of Your beauty in my life.

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"Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath."
James 1:19

"The Father and I are one."
John 10:30

"But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from
the evil one."
2 Thessalonians 3:3

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Daily Inspiration

The more frantic we feel on the inside, the more compulsive we try to organize the outside. Lord, help me bring peace and order to my inner spirit by letting go of the past, bring resolution to the issues that are pressing and making a commitment to enjoy my life right now.

Do not be afraid to ask everything of God. He is always present and always loving us. Lord, I trust in You and ask for Your help in all that I do and need and want. I also ask for Your help in accepting Your answers when they are different than I would want or expect.

[bluidkiti]

August 19

Daily Reflections

A FRAME OF REFERENCE

Referring to our list [inventory] again. Putting out of our minds the
wrongs others had done, we resolutely looked for our own mistakes.
Where had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and frightened?
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 67

There is a wonderful freedom in not needing constant approval from
colleagues at work or from the people I love. I wish I had known about
this Step before, because once I developed a frame of reference, I felt
able to do the next right thing, knowing that the action fit the situation
and that it was the correct thing to do.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"People of faith have a logical idea of what life is all about. There is a
wide variation in the way each one of us approaches and conceives of
the Power greater than ourselves. Whether we agree with a
particular approach or conception seems to make little difference.
There are questions for each of us to settle for ourselves. But in each
case the belief in a Higher Power has accomplished the miraculous, the
humanly impossible. There has come a revolutionary change in their
way of living and thinking." Has there been a revolutionary change in
me?

Meditation For The Day

Worship is consciousness of God's divine majesty. As you pause to
worship, God will help you raise your humanity to His divinity. The
earth is a material temple to enclose God's divinity. God brings to
those who worship Him a divine power, a divine love, and a divine
healing. You only have to open your mind to Him and try to absorb
some of His divine spirit. Pausing quietly in the spirit of worship, turn
your inward thoughts upward and realize that His divine power may be
yours, that you can experience His love and healing.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may worship God by sensing the eternal Spirit. I pray
that I may experience a new power in my life.

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

As Bill Sees It

Privileged to Communicate, p. 231

Everyone must agree that we A.A.'s are unbelievably fortunate
people; fortunate that we have suffered so much; fortunate that
we can know, understand, and love each other so supremely well.

These attributes and virtues are scarcely of the earned variety.
Indeed, most of us are well aware that these are rare gifts which
have their true origin in our kinship born of a common suffering and
a common deliverance by the grace of God.

Thereby we are privileged to communicate with each other to a
degree and in a manner not very often surpassed among our
nonalcoholic friends in the world around us.

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

"I used to be ashamed of my condition and so didn't talk about it. But
nowadays I freely confess I am a depressive, and this has attracted
other depressives to me. Working with them has helped a great
deal."*

1. Grapevine, October 1959
2. Letter, 1954
*Bill added that he had no depression after 1955.

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

Walk In Dry Places

Inventory is now
Personal Inventory.
In the early days of AA, the dramatic accounts of drinking escapades seemed to show honesty. Taking personal inventory often included telling others about bizarre behavior connected with drinking.
We know today that inventory ought to continue on a daily basis, even
though years have passed since our last drink. We've learned
through painful experiences that in sobriety we can still display many of
the shortcomings that plagued us as practicing alcoholics.
It can also be a trap to focus on our past wrongs rather than today's
faults. We may be using this focus on the past to avoid being
honest about where we stand today. Let's remember that inventory is always now. Taking inventory of the past won't help us with today's shortcomings.
I won't use a discussion of my past wrongs as a subterfuge to keep
from being honest about today's wrongs. I'll continue to take
personal inventory and admit wrongs as they come up.

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

Keep It Simple

The future is made of the same stuff as the present. --- Simone Weil
We found we didn’t need magic to recover---we needed a miracle! Now we are walking miracles.
Part of our miracle is that we see how important today is. We can’t change our future unless we change today. So we live One Day at a Time. By living today well, we make our future better. There is comfort in knowing that the program will be there. Hope we’ll be there.
Old-timers say sobriety is easy if we go by one simple rule: don’t drink and go to meeting.
Life can get simpler; they don’t change much. Staying sober will be easier for us over time.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me keep my sobriety simple. Help me accept the rules of life.
Action for the Day: I will list three things that will be there for me tomorrow and the next day, because I’m working on them today.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

...to have a crisis and act upon it is one thing. To dwell in perpetual crisis is another. --Barbara Grizzuti Harrison
Exaggerating the negative element in our lives is familiar behavior for all too many of us. But this obsession is our choice. We can stop at any moment. We can decide to let go of a situation that we can't control, turn it over to God, and be free to look ahead at the possibilities for happiness.
Perhaps we can learn to accept a serious situation in our lives as a special opportunity for growth first of all, but even more as an opportunity to let God work in our lives. We learn to trust by giving over our dilemmas to God for solutions. With patience, we will see the right outcomes, and we will more easily turn to God the next time.
Crises will lessen in number and in gravity in direct proportion to the partnership we develop with our higher power. The stronger our dependence on that power, for all answers and all directions, the greater will our comfort be in all situations.
Serenity is the gift promised when we let God handle our lives. No crisis need worry us. The solution is only a prayer away.
I will take action against every crisis confronting me--I will turn to God. Each crisis is an invitation to serenity.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

This went from bad to worse until sophomore spring when, after a prolonged period of drinking, I made up my mind that I could not complete my course, so I packed my grip and went South and spent a month on a large farm owned by a friend of mine. When I got the fog out of my brain, I decided that quitting school was very foolish and that I had better return and continue my work. When I reached school, I discovered the faculty had other ideas on the subject. After much argument they allowed me to return and take my exams, all of which I passed creditably. But they were much disgusted and told me they would attempt to struggle along without my presence. After many painful discussions, they finally gave me my credits and I migrated to another of the leading universities of the country and entered as a Junior that fall.

pp. 173-174

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Seven - "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

The chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear--primarily fear that we would lose something we already possessed or would fail to get something we demanded. Living upon a basis of unsatisfied demands, we were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration. Therefore, no peace was to be had unless we could find a means of reducing these demands. The difference between a demand and a simple request is plain to anyone.

p. 76

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

"Lost time is never found again."
--Benjamin Franklin

Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except
what you're going to do now and do it.
--William Durant

When you have read the Bible, you will know it is the word of God,
because you will have found it the key to your own heart, your own
happiness, and your own duty.
--Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924)

"It doesn't matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes.
What matters most is getting off. You can not make progress without
making decisions."
--Jim Rohn

All that is necessary to make this world a better place to live is to
love....to love as He loved.
--Isadora Duncan

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of
throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned."
--Buddha

Whatever my problem today, I will let God have it. A solution is in the
making. I'll see it just as quickly as I can let go of the problem.
--unknown

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
--Shakespeare

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

DECISION

"When you see a snake, never
mind where he came from."
-- W. G. Benham

So many alcoholics have died looking for "the problem" that made
them drink. The wife, family, neighborhood or unemployment was
why they thought they got drunk. They died seeking a reason.
Alcoholics Anonymous clearly states that alcohol is the problem
for alcoholics.

Alcohol is the problem! A statement that is so simple yet so profound
in its healing. Today thousands upon thousands are choosing not to
die by not taking the first drink. To see the problem clearly and
honestly is the beginning of wisdom. O.A., ACoA, N.A., G.A.,
Al-Anon and others have used these simple principles with
profound results. Do I see the snake?

Teach me to avoid those things that cause me pain and destruction.

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

"For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and
understanding."
Proverbs 2:6

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and
let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the
livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move
along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed
them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the
earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the
air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then
God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the
whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be
yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of
the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that
has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it
was so.
Genesis 1:26-30

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

Daily Inspiration

Begin each day with the certainty that today is the best day of your life and watch what happens. Lord, I celebrate my life and give thanks for everything because for everything there is a reason.

Make today the best day of your life. Lord, I have been greatly blessed not only by what I have, but by those burdens that I have been spared.

[bluidkiti]

August 20

Daily Reflections

TOWARD EMOTIONAL FREEDOM

Since defective relations with other human beings have nearly always
been the immediate cause of our woes, including our alcoholism, no
field of investigation could yield more satisfying and valuable
rewards than this one.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS , p. 80

Willingness is a peculiar thing for me in that, over a period of
time, it seems to come, first with awareness, but then with a
feeling of discomfort, making me want to take some action. As I
reflected on taking the Eighth Step, my willingness to make amends
to others came as a desire for forgiveness, of others and myself.
I felt forgiveness toward others after I became aware of my part
in the difficulties of relationships. I wanted to feel the peace
and serenity described in the Promises. From working the first
seven Steps, I became aware of whom I had harmed and that I had
been my own worst enemy. In order to restore my relationships
with my fellow human beings, I knew I would have to change. I
wanted to learn to live in harmony with myself and others so that
I could also live in emotional freedom. The beginning of the end
to my isolation - from my fellows and from God - came when I
wrote my Eighth Step list.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"When many hundreds of people are able to say that the
consciousness of the presence of God is today the most important fact of
their lives, they present a powerful reason why one should have faith.
When we see others solve their problems by simple reliance upon
some Spirit of the universe, we have to stop doubting the power of
God. Our ideas did not work, but the God-idea does. Deep down in
every man, woman, and child is the fundamental idea of God. Faith
in a Power greater than ourselves and miraculous demonstrations of
that power in our lives are facts as old as the human race." Am I
willing to rely on the Spirit of the universe?

Meditation For The Day

You should not dwell too much on the mistakes, faults, and failures
of the past. Be done with shame and remorse and contempt for
yourself. With God's help, develop a new self-respect. Unless you
respect yourself, others will not respect you. You ran a race, you
stumbled and fell, you have risen again, and now you press on
toward the goal of a better life. Do not stay to examine the spot
where you fell, only feel sorry for the delay, the shortsightedness
that prevented you from seeing the real goal sooner.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may not look back. I pray that I may keep picking
myself up and making a fresh start each day.

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

As Bill Sees It

The Value of Human Will, p. 232

Many newcomers, having experienced little but constant deflation,
feel a growing conviction that human will is of no value whatever.
They have become persuaded, sometimes rightly so, that many
problems besides alcohol will not yield to a headlong assault
powered only by the individual's will.

However, there are certain things which the individual alone can do.
All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs
to develop the quality of willingness. When he acquires
willingness, he is the only one who can then make the decision to
exert himself along spiritual lines. Trying to do this is actually an
act of his own will. It is the right use of this faculty.

Indeed, all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps require our sustained and
personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to
God's will.

12 & 12, p. 40

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

Walk In Dry Places

All that Glitters
Tempting Moments
Though real sobriety means all lose of desire to drink, it's not uncommon to have moments when the
old life takes on a sudden appeal. This appeal is never based on a realistic look at things as they
were. It is more a rush of feeling connected with some alluring aspect of the drinking life.
Such a false feeling will always pass if we let ourselves remember what happened to us and why we needed to seek recovery. We cannot have this rush of feeling when we remember the misery, despair, and other pain from that part of our lives.
All that glitters is not gold, goes an old saying. All the glittering scenes connected with drinking are not really golden moments, either. They are, for us, always preludes to disaster.
I'll remember today to let realistic thinking rule my life even if there are moments when my feelings run temporarily awry.

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

Keep It Simple

Heaven and hell is right now. . .You make it heaven or you make it hell by your actions.----George Harrison
We used chemicals to feel better, but we started feeling worse. We were out of control. Life seemed like hell.
Now we have a program that tells us how to make life better. Some days, it even feels like heaven! But we have to work our program to make our own heaven.
Working the program isn’t too hard. And it makes us feel so good. So, why don’t we do it all the time? Maybe we’re a little afraid of heaven. It’s time to learn to love having a better life!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me work my program each day, so each day has a little bit of heaven in it. Help me get used to having a better life.
Action for the Day: Tonight, I’ll think about the moments of kindness, joy, hope and faith that put a little bit of heaven into my life today.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

Everything in life that we really accept undergoes a change. So suffering must become love. That is the mystery.
--Katherine Mansfield
Acceptance of those conditions that at times plague us changes not only the conditions but, in the process, ourselves. Perhaps this latter change is the more crucial. As each changes, as we all change into more accepting women, life's struggles ease. When we accept all the circumstances that we can't control, we are more peaceful. Smiles more easily fill us up.
It's almost as though life's eternal lesson is acceptance, and with it comes life's eternal blessings.
Every day offers me many opportunities to grow in acceptance and thus blessings. I can accept any condition today and understand it as an opportunity to take another step toward serenity, eternal and whole.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

There my drinking became so much worse that the boys in the fraternity house where I lived felt forced to send for my father, who made a long journey in the vain endeavor to get me straightened around. This had little effect however for I kept on drinking and used a great deal more hard liquor than in former years.

p. 174

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Seven - "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

The Seventh Step is where we make the change in our attitude which permits us, with humility as our guide, to move out from ourselves toward others and toward God. The whole emphasis of Step Seven is on humility. It is really saying to us that we now ought to be willing to try humility in seeking the removal of our other shortcomings just as we did when we admitted that we were powerless over alcohol, and came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. If that degree of humility could enable us to find the grace by which such a deadly obsession could be banished, then there must be hope of the same result respecting any other problem we could possibly have.

p. 76

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

Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value
your time, you will not do anything with it.
--M. Scott Peck

Let me tell thee, time is a very precious gift of God; so precious that
it's only given to us moment by moment.
--Amelia Barr

"You cannot give to people what they are incapable of receiving."
--Agatha Christie

"I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of
my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most
precious gift I have - life itself."
--Walter Anderson

If I love with my Spirit, I don't have to think so hard with my head.
--unknown

"For many people, change is more threatening than challenging. They
see it as the destroyer of what is familiar and comfortable rather than
the creator of what is new and exciting."
--Nido Qubein

Often when we're being tough and strong, we're scared. It takes a lot
of courage to allow ourselves to be vulnerable, to be soft.
--Dudley Martineau

Heaven and hell is right now. . .You make it heaven or you make it hell
by your actions.
--George Harrison

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

TOGETHERNESS

"A man who thinks of himself as
belonging to a particular national
group in Americas has not yet
become an American."
-- Woodrow Wilson

Today I know that I belong. I am not alone. I do not exist outside of
the human race. I am an important part of this world.

Addiction makes us feel different, separated and isolated. It keeps us
divided within ourselves, our family and relationships. So long as it can
do this, it wins.

Now I know that I belong. I make up a part of the whole. Something of
this universe is mine.

I am not an island unto myself. I am an essential part of the human
race. I am at home in my world.

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

My help comes from the Lord the maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:2

If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do
what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but
you must master it."
Genesis 4:7

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But
one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what
is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God
has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:13-14

"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are
still angry."
Ephesians 4:26

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

Daily Inspiration

Make peace with your imperfections and concentrate on your strengths. Lord, teach me to become more aware of my goodness so that little by little I will become even better.

We can be serious about our work without being serious about ourselves. Lord, help me to enjoy the person that I am.

[bluidkiti]

August 21

Daily Reflections

WE JUST TRY, p.242

My stability came out of trying to give, not out of demanding that
I receive.
The Best Of Bill, pp. 46-47

As long as I try, with all my heart and soul, to pass along to others
what has been passed along to me, and do not demand anything in
return, life is good to me. Before entering this program of Alcoholics
Anonymous I was never able to give without demanding something
in return. Little did I know that, once I began to give freely of
myself, I would begin to receive, without ever expecting or
demanding anything at all. What I receive today is the gift of
"stability," as Bill did: stability in my A.A. program; within
myself; but most of all, in my relationship with my Higher Power,
whom I choose to call God.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"Who are you to say there is no God? This challenge comes to all
of us. Are we capable of denying that there is a design and
purpose in all of life as we know it? Or are we willing to admit that
faith in some kind of Divine Principle is a part of our makeup, just
as much as the feeling we have for a friend? We find a great Reality
deep down within us, if we face ourselves as we really are. In the
last analysis, it is only there that God may be found. When we find
this Reality within us, we are restored to our right minds." Have I
found the great reality?

Meditation For The Day

"Behold, I make all things new." When you change to a new way of
life, you leave many things behind you. It is only the earth-bound
spirit that cannot soar. Loosen somewhat the strands that tie you to
the earth. It is only the earthly desires that bind you. Your new
freedom will depend on your ability to rise above earthly things.
Clipped wings can grow again. Broken wings can regain a strength
and beauty unknown before. If you will, you can be released and
free.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be freed from things that hold me down. I pray that
my spirit may soar in freedom.

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

As Bill Sees It

The Value of Human Will, p. 232

Many newcomers, having experienced little but constant deflation,
feel a growing conviction that human will is of no value whatever.
They have become persuaded, sometimes rightly so, that many
problems besides alcohol will not yield to a headlong assault
powered only by the individual's will.

However, there are certain things which the individual alone can do.
All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs
to develop the quality of willingness. When he acquires
willingness, he is the only one who can then make the decision to
exert himself along spiritual lines. Trying to do this is actually an
act of his own will. It is the right use of this faculty.

Indeed, all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps require our sustained and
personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to
God's will.

12 & 12, p. 40

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

Walk In Dry Places

Meeting needs in the Right Way.
Self-Understanding.
Bizarre as it is, the bad behavior of drunkenness has an underlying logic when it's really understood.
Why, for example, would people squander money buying drinks for total
strangers when their families are going without?
This is an insane way of meeting needs for intimacy and approval. 
It's true that these needs will never be met in this fashion, but try
telling that to a person who is still drinking!
In recovery, we can more easily forgive ourselves for past actions
when we realize they came out of a misguided attempt to meet basic
needs. A starving person will seek out garbage. Starved as we
were for necessities of life, we sought a form of garbage. The good
news in AA recovery is that sobriety will help us meet basic needs in the
right way.
I'll keep in mind today that as a human being I have certain needs
that should be met in proper ways.

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

Keep It Simple

Beauty is not caused. It is.--- Emily Dickinson
Probably, there have been many times when we thought we weren’t beautiful. We thought we were ugly. We thought we were bad people. This is a natural part of addiction. Our program tells us we’re good, we’re beautiful. Do we believe this? Do we accept this part of the program?
Beauty is an attitude, just as self-hate is an attitude. We need to keep the attitude that we’re beautiful. We owe it to ourselves and to those around us. And, yes, it’s true that you must love yourself before you can love others. Remember, ours is a selfish program. We have to love and see ourselves as beautiful, before we can give it to others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me claim my beauty. Help me to see that, sometimes, I have to be selfish to grow.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll work at falling in love with myself.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

With each new day I put away the past and discover the new beginnings I have been given. --Angela L. Wozniak
We can't recapture what is no more. And the minutes or hours we spend dwelling on what was or should have been only steal away from all that presently is. Today stands before us with promise. The opportunities for growth are guaranteed, as is all the spiritual help we need to handle any situation the day offers.
If today offers us a challenge, we can be grateful. Our challenges are gifts. They mean we are ready to move ahead to new awarenesses, to a new sense of our womanhood. Challenges force us to think creatively; they force us to turn to others; they demand that we change. Without challenges, we'd stagnate, enjoying life little, offering life nothing.
We each are making a special contribution, one that only we can make; each time we confront a new situation with courage. Each time we dare to open a new door. What we need to do today is to close the door on yesterday. Then we can stand ready and willing to go forward.
This day awaits my full presence. I will be the recipient of its gifts.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

Coming up to final exams I went on a particularly strenuous spree. When I went in to write the examinations, my hand trembled so I could not hold a pencil. I passed in at least three absolutely blank books. I was, of course, soon on the carpet and the upshot was that I had to go back for two more quarters and remain absolutely dry, if I wished to graduate. This I did, and proved myself satisfactory to the faculty, both in deportment and scholastically.

p. 174

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

Steps Eight and Nine are concerned with personal relations. First, we take a look backward and try to discover where we have been at fault; next we make a vigorous attempt to repair the damage we have done; and third, having thus cleaned away the debris of the past, we consider how, with our newfound knowledge of ourselves, we may develop the best possible relations with every human being we know.

p. 77

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

Don't worry about what's ahead. Just go as far as you can go - from
there you can see farther.
--unknown

Life's most difficult challenges, are our greatest teachers and an
opportunity for growth.
--unknown

Happiness is intrinsic, it's an internal thing. When you build it into
yourself, no external circumstances can take it away. That kind
of happiness is a twenty-four-hour thing.
--Leo F. Buscaglia

Spirit is at work through me, I am led to do the right and loving thing.
--Shelley

Stay committed to your growth process until you wake up one morning
and ask yourself, What is that strange thing I am feeling? Then know
what the answer is. The answer is joy.
--Melody Beattie

We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily
into the trap of being our own worst enemies.
--Roderick Thorpe

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

HAPPINESS

"We are looking in the wrong
places for happiness."
-- Robert J. McCracken

I sought happiness in the bottle. Others looked for "good feelings" in
drugs, food or other people. Today I know that nothing that is outside
of me can make me acceptable --- acceptance must come from within.

I need to discover that spiritual place where I can be acceptable to me.
Self-esteem is an essential part of my recovery and that can only be
realized by making the spiritual journey within.

Today I seek to discover me. I want to know me --- because You
created me.

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

"Our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your
steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you."
Psalm 38:21-22

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you
will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
Luke 6:37

"The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he
will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you with his love."
Zephaniah 3:17a

"You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into
glory."
Psalm 73:24

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

Daily Inspiration

By being less judgmental of others, you will eliminate much frustration. Lord, I pray for the peace that comes from understanding and compassion.

Because Jesus is with you, you can survive the darkest moment and emerge a better and stronger person. Lord, I trust quietly that you are working things out according to Your plan for me.

[bluidkiti]

August 22

Daily Reflections

SEEKING EMOTIONAL STABILITY, p.243

When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible
source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that
dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was
healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would. If we
really depended upon God, we couldn't very well play God to our
fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human
protection and care.
12 & 12, p.116

All my life I depended on people for my emotional needs and
security, but today I cannot live that way anymore. By the grace of
God, I have admitted my powerlessness over people, places and
things. I had been a real "people addict"; wherever I went there
had to be someone who would pay some kind of attention to me. It
was the kind of attitude that could only get worse, because the more
I depended on others and demanded attention, the less I received. I
have given up believing that any human power can relieve me of that
empty feeling. Although I remain a fragile human being who needs to
work A.A.'s Steps to keep this particular principle before my
personality, it is only a loving God who can give me inner peace and
emotional stability.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"Those who do not recover are people who are constitutionally
incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such
unfortunates. They are not at fault. They seem to have been
born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and
developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty.
Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who
suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them
do recover, if they have the capacity to be honest." Am I completely
honest with myself and with other people?

Meditation For The Day

You can make use of your mistakes, failures, losses, and sufferings.
It is not what happens to you so much as what use you make of it.
Take your sufferings, difficulties, and hardships and make use of
them to help some unfortunate soul who is faced with the same
troubles. Then something good will come out of your suffering and
the world will be a better place because of it. The good you do each
day will live on, after the trouble and distress have gone, after the
difficulty and the pain have passed away.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may make good use of my mistakes and failures. I
pray that some good may result from my painful experiences.

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

As Bill Sees It

Everyday Living, p. 233

The A.A. emphasis on personal inventory is heavy because a great
many of us have never really acquired the habit of accurate
self-appraisal.

Once this heavy practice has become a habit, it will prove so
interesting and profitable that the time it takes won't be missed. For
these minutes and often hours spent in self-examination are bound to
make all the other hours of our day better and happier. At length, our
inventories become a necessity of everyday living, rather than
something unusual or set apart.

12 & 12, pp. 89-90

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

Walk In Dry Places

Whose experience is important?
Sharing.
In the Twelve Step movement, we often feature outstanding speakers at large anniversary meetings. In some ways, this makes celebrities of them..... their personal stories seem to be deemed more important that those of others. We should accept such large meetings for what they are: Part entertainment, part socialization, and part celebration. The real work of our fellowship, however, lies in ordinary, continuous activity in the groups.
The most important experience to be shared is not the dramatic or
humorous account heard at the large meeting. What really works to
keep us sober is the experience we share with each other. This can
survive long after the powerful speech is forgotten.
I'll remember today that I can find help and growth in talking
with different people I meet at regular meetings.

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

Keep It Simple

It’s a rare person who wants to hear what we doesn’t want to hear.---Dick Cavett
We want only to hear good thins. That we’re nice people. That our loved ones are healthy.
That we did a good job. We don’t want to hear that anyone is angry with us, or that we made a mistake. We don’t want to hear about illness or troubles.
But life isn’t just happy news. Bad things happen. We can’t change that. As we live our recovery program, we learn to handle the addiction. We choose the path of life. We need to know all the news, good, and bad. Then we can deal with life as it really is.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me listen---even when I don't want to. Gently help me deal with both the good and bad. All the help I need is mine for the asking.
Action for the Day: I will ask my sponsor and three friends to tell me about my blind spots.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

We're only as sick as the secrets we keep. --Sue Atchley Ebaugh
Harboring parts of our inner selves, fearing what others would think if they knew, creates the barriers that keep us separate, feeling different, certain of our inadequacies.
Secrets are burdens, and they weigh heavily on us, so heavily. Carrying secrets makes impossible the attainment of serenity--that which we strive for daily. Abstinence alone is not enough. It must come first, but it's not enough by itself. It can't guarantee that we'll find the serenity we seek.
This program of recovery offers self-assurance, happiness, spiritual well-being, but there's work to be done. Many steps to be taken. And one of these is total self-disclosure. It's risky, it's humbling, and it's necessary.
When we tell others who we really are, it opens the door for them to share likewise. And when they do, we become bonded. We accept their imperfections and love them for them. And they love us for ours. Our struggles to be perfect, our self-denigration because we aren't, only exaggerates even more the secrets that keep us sick.
Our tarnished selves are lovable; secrets are great equalizers when shared. We need to feel our oneness, our sameness with other women.
Opportunities to share my secrets will present themselves today. I will be courageous.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

I conducted myself so creditably that I was able to secure a much coveted internship in a western city, where I spent two years. During these two years I was kept so busy that I hardly left the hospital at all. Consequently, I could not get into any trouble.
When those two years were up, I opened an office downtown. Then I had some money, all the time in the world, and considerable stomach trouble. I soon discovered that a couple of drinks would alleviate my gastric distress, at least for a few hours at a time, so it was not at all difficult for me to return to my former excessive indulgence.

p. 174

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

This is a very large order. It is a task which we may perform with increasing skill, but never really finish. Learning how to live in the greatest peace, partnership, and brotherhood with all men and women, of whatever description, is a moving and fascinating adventure. Every A.A. has found that he can make little headway in this new adventure of living until he first backtracks and really makes an accurate and unsparing survey of the human wreckage he has left in his wake. To a degree, he has already done this when taking moral inventory, but now the time has come when he ought to redouble his efforts to see how many people he has hurt, and in what ways. This reopening of emotional wounds, some old, some perhaps forgotten, and some still painfully festering, will at first look like a purposeless and pointless piece of surgery. But if a willing start is made, then the great advantages of doing this will so quickly reveal themselves that the pain will be lessened as one obstacle after another melts away.

pp. 77-78

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

"Holding resentment is like eating poison and then waiting for the
other person to keel over." --Unknown
"Would you rather be right, or happy?"
--A Course in Miracles

"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden,
where the flowers are all dead. The consciousness of loving and being
loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring."
--Oscar Wilde

Ask a question and you're a fool for three minutes; do not ask a
question and you're a fool for the rest of your life.
--Chinese Proverb

Giving is the highest expression of our power.
--Vivian Greene

What lies before us and what lies behind us are tiny matters compared
to what lies within us.
--Oliver Wendell Holmes

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

INDIFFERENCE

"The worst sin towards our
fellow creatures in not to hate
them, but to be indifferent to
them. That's the essence of
inhumanity."
-- George Bernard Shaw

For years I was indifferent to family and friends. And the tragedy
was that because of my alcoholism I did not know it! For too long I
was unaware of my disease and its multiple implications.

Today I am not indifferent. Spirituality teaches me that I am not a
spectator but a participant. I am involved in my life and, ultimately,
in the lives of others. Today I seek to practice the principles of
sobriety in every area of my life. I not only seek to be sober on a
daily basis, but I also seek to be honest, open and tolerant with
other people.

The spiritual goal of sobriety and abstinence has placed me at the
center of the universe and I know today that I make a difference
to my fellow man.

Remove from me all attitudes of indifference and apathy. Make me
a worthy steward in Your vineyard.

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

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all
knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have
not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender
my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is
patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not
proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices
with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres. Love never fails. And now these three remain:
faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13

"As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you."
Isaiah 66:13

"Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds
and praise your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:16

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

Daily Inspiration


Each day offers many opportunities to smile when others don't and be more patient when others aren't. Lord, may I be an example of Your presence within me and a reminder to others that You are there for them too.

Each day there are lessons to learn and lives to touch. Lord, You have done so much for me. Help me to repay You.

[bluidkiti]

August 23

Daily Reflections

BRINGING THE MESSAGE HOME

Can we bring the same spirit of love and tolerance into our
sometimes deranged family lives that we bring to our A.A. group?
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS , pp. 111 -112

My family members suffer from the effects of my disease. Loving and
accepting them as they are - just as I love and accept A.A. members
- fosters a return of love, tolerance and harmony to my life. Using
common courtesy and respecting other's personal boundaries are
necessary practices for all areas of my life.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"We who have accepted the A.A. principles have been faced with the
necessity for a thorough personal housecleaning. We must face and
be rid of the things in ourselves that have been blocking us. We
therefore take a personal inventory. We take stock honestly. We
search out the flaws in our make-up that caused our failure.
Resentment is the number one offender. Life that includes deep
resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. If we are to
live, we must be free of anger." Am I free of resentment and anger?

Meditation For The Day

Keep in mind the goal you are striving for, the good life you are
trying to attain. Do not let little things divert you from the
path. Do not be overcome by the small trials and vexations of each
day. Try to see the purpose and plan to which all is leading. if,
when climbing a mountain, you keep your eyes on each stony or
difficult place, how weary is your climb. But if you think of each
step as leading to the summit of achievement from which a glorious
landscape will open out before you, then your climb will be endurable
and you will achieve your goal.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may realize that life without a goal is futile.
I pray that I may find the good life worth striving for.

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

As Bill Sees It

Freed Prisoners, p. 234

Letter to a prison group:

"Every A.A. has been, in a sense, a prisoner. Each of us has
walled himself out of society; each has known social stigma. The
lot of you folks has been even more difficult: In your case, society
has also built a wall around you. But there isn't any really essential
difference, a fact that practically all A.A.'s now know.

"Therefore, when you members come into the world of A.A. on the
outside, you can be sure that no one will care a fig that you have
done time. What you are trying to be--not what you were--is all that
counts to us."

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

Walk In Dry Places

Planning for others.
Letting Go.
There are times when we think we see perfectly what others ought to be doing. It pains and disturbs us when loved ones..... our children, perhaps... do not heed our advice. In planning for others, we can easily fall into the trap of enabling. An enabler is a person who supports others in an unhealthy addiction or
dependency.
We must not plan the lives of others, no matter how dear they are to us or how attached we become to them. They must have the freedom to live without obligation or the belief that they could not have succeeded
without our help. Freedom of choice is a precious right that includes the freedom to make
mistakes.
I'll release any tendency I have to plan for others. At all times, my responsibility is to keep on the right track and let others
be free.

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

Keep It Simple

Where there is no vision, a people perish.---Ralph Waldo Emerson
Working our program teaches us to see things more clearly. We learn to look at who we really are. At first, we’re scared to see ourselves. But it turns out okay, even though were not perfect.
We also begin to see others more clearly. We see good in people we don’t like. And we see faults in people we thought we’re prefect. But we don’t judge people anymore. Nobody is perfect. Just as our program friends accept us as we are, we learn to accept others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, sometimes I don’t like what I see. Help me to believe Your way will for me. Help me have a vision.
Action for the Day: I will use my new way of seeing thing to avoid trouble today.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

Were our knowledge of human relationships a hundredfold more reliable than it is now, it would still be foolish to seek ready-made solutions for problems of living in the index of a book. --Mirra Komarovsky
The problems each of us experience have within their own parameters the solutions most fitting. And we each must discover those solutions, understand their appropriateness, and absorb them into the body of information that defines who we are and who we are becoming.
We learn experientially because only then is our reality significantly affected. Others' experiences are helpful to our growth and affirm how similar is our pain, but each of us must make our own choices, take responsible action in our own behalf.
How fortunate that we are now in a position to make healthy decisions about our relationships! No longer the victim, we have the personal power to choose how we want to spend our time and with whom. Through active participation in all our relationships, we can discover many of the hidden elements in our own natures and develop more fully all the characteristics unique to our personhood. Our growth as recovering women is enhanced in proportion to our sincere involvement within the relationships we've chosen.
I can inform myself about who I am within my relationships. Therein lie the solutions to my problems.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

By this time I was beginning to pay very dearly physically and, in hope of relief, voluntarily incarcerated myself at least a dozen times in one of the local sanitariums. I was between Scylla and Charybdis now, because if I did not drink my stomach tortured me, and if I did, my nerves did the same thing. After three years of this, I wound up in the local hospital where they attempted to help me, but I would get my friends to smuggle me a quart, or I would steal the alcohol about the building, so that I got rapidly worse.

pp. 174-175

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

These obstacles, however, are very real. The first, and one of the most difficult, has to do with forgiveness. The moment we ponder a twisted or broken relationship with another person, our emotions go on the defensive. To escape looking at the wrongs we have done another, we resentfully focus on the wrong he has done us. This is especially true if he has, in fact, behaved badly at all. Triumphantly we seize upon his misbehavior as the perfect excuse for minimizing or forgetting our own.

p. 78

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

Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness
without action.
--Benjamin Disraeli

Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just
sit there.
--Will Rogers

First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to
others.
--Thomas A. Kempis

There is only one you for all time. Fearlessly be yourself.
--Anthony Rapp

I can repeat the past, or I can create new and better experiences.
--Shelley

Today I will take enough time to do something good for myself only.
I will buy myself a gift or spend worthwhile time doing something
pleasant and fulfilling. I have enough time today and I deserve this
time for myself.
--Ruth Fishel

"Children stand more in need of example than criticism."
--Joseph Joubert

What is not love is fear. Anger is one of fear's most potent faces.
And it does exactly what fear wants it to do. It keeps us from
receiving love at exactly the moment when we need it most.
-- Marianne Williamson

The spiritual path is not one of attainment, but return.
--Alan Cohen

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

CONFIDENCE

"There is no sort of work that
could ever be done well if you
minded what fools say."
-- George Eliot

Part of the risk in my recovery is arousing the displeasure of others. I
know that I cannot please all the people --- and yet my disease tells me
that I must! For years I missed life's opportunities because I listened
to negative and frightened people. Today I choose to shout my "yes"
to life, and I ignore the fools. The fools are rarely friends. Rather,
they seek to keep me in the same prison as themselves. If they truly
loved me, they would encourage me to be imaginative and creative.

Today I have a joyride "letting go and letting God" because God is a
great risk-taker!

I pray that I may always listen to the advice of others, but never miss
my power of decision.

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

The Lord watches over you.....
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
Psalm 121 : 5

"Judge not according to the appearance."
John 7: 24

"Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing
spirit."
Psalm 51:12

"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives
in us and his love is made complete in us."
I John 4:12

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

Daily Inspiration

Life has a way of working itself out if you simply make the best of this moment, one moment at a time. Lord, You have given me this moment. Grant me the wisdom to live it in a way that will make a difference for me and for those around me.

No one has ever asked of God and not received an answer. Lord, bless me with quiet resolve to hear You and wisdom to accept Your Will.

[bluidkiti]

August 24

Daily Reflections

A RIDDLE THAT WORKS

It may be possible to find explanations of spiritual experiences
such as ours, but I have often tried to explain my own and have
succeeded only in giving the story of it. I know the feeling it
gave me and the results it has brought, but I realize I may never
fully understand its deeper why and how.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 313

I had a profound spiritual experience during an open A.A. meeting,
which led me to blurt out. "I'm an alcoholic!" I have not had a
drink since that day. I can tell you the words I heard just prior
to my admission, and how those words affected me, but as to why it
happened, I do not know. I believe a power greater than myself
chose me to recover, yet I do not know why. I try not to worry or
wonder about what I do not yet know; instead, I trust that if I
continue to work the Steps, practice the A.A. principles in my
life, and share my story, I will be guided lovingly toward a deep
and mature spirituality in which more will be revealed to me. For
the time being, it is a gift for me to trust God, work the Steps
and help others.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"When we saw our faults, we listed them. We placed them before us in
black and white. We admitted our wrongs honestly and we were
willing to set these matters straight. We reviewed our fears thoroughly. We
asked God to remove our fears and we commenced to outgrow fear.
Many of us needed an overhauling in regard to sex. We came to
believe that sex powers were God-given and therefore good, if used
properly. Sex is never to be used lightly or selfishly, nor is it to be despised
or loathed. If sex is troublesome, we throw ourselves the harder into
helping others, and so take our minds off ourselves." Am I facing my
sex problems in the proper way?

Meditation For The Day

Cling to the belief that all things are possible with God. If this
belief is truly accepted, it is the ladder upon which a human soul
can climb from the lowest pit of despair to the sublime heights of
peace of mind. It is possible for God to change your way of living.
When you see the change in another person through the grace of God,
you cannot doubt that all things are possible in the lives of people
through the strength that comes from faith in Him who rules us all.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may live expectantly. I pray that I may believe deeply
that all things are possible with God.

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

As Bill Sees It

Looking for Lost Faith, p. 235

Any number of A.A.'s can say, "We were diverted from our
childhood faith. As material success began to come, we felt we were
winning at the game of life. This was exhilarating, and it made us
happy.

"Why should we be bothered with theological abstractions and
religious duties, or with the state of our souls, here or hereafter? The
will to win should carry us through.

"But then alcohol began to have its way with us. Finally, when all our
score cards read 'zero,' and we saw that one more strike would put us
out of the game forever, we had to look for our lost faith. It was in
A.A. that we rediscovered it."

12 & 12, pp. 28-29

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

Walk In Dry Places

Is Life Unfair?
Justice
The glib remark "Life is Unfair" is sometimes used to dismiss any concern about trouble or seeming injustice. This usually implies that all such matters are part of God's plan..... that somehow God couldn't create life without making it unfair. But nobody really knows whether life is unfair or not, since what we see
is only a small part of it.
We should know, however, that we can practice fairness ourselves. We will live better if we forget how unfair
life can be and make the best of the opportunities we have.
Some of us could even argue that life treated us unfairly by giving us a susceptibility to alcoholism. In the long run, this turned out to be an opportunity to live the Twelve Step program. Some of us even consider
this to be outworking of divine justice that has proved to be eminently fair. As one AA member put it, It was a case of one of the worst things becoming one of the best that ever happened to me !
I'll not let any seeming unfairness or injustice keep me from doing my best today. My real belief is that there is an eternal justice underlying all things.

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

Keep It Simple

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. Oscar Wilde
There’s a big difference between being self-centered and having self love. We’re self-centered when we think we don’t need people. We might think, “I’m more important than others.” Being self-centered ends up hurting us.
It makes us lonely. It keeps us from our Higher Power. Addiction is about being self-centered.
Recovery and the Twelve Steps are about self-love. If we love ourselves, we say, “We’re all equal and in need of each other.” Self-love includes having good relationships.
It includes trusting that they we’ll do what is best, with the help of our Higher Power. We must believe in ourselves to trust others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me love myself as You love me. Help me take good care of myself.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list three things I like about myself. I’ll talk with a friend and share these things. I’ll ask my friend what he or she likes about me.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

There were many ways of breaking a heart. Stories were full of hearts broken by love, but what really broke a heart was taking away its dream--whatever that dream might be. --Pearl S. Buck
No new door is opened without the inner urge for growth. Dreams guide us, encourage us, stretch us to new heights--and leave us momentarily empty when they are dashed.
Recovery has given us resilience and a multitude of reasons for living. We have come to understand that when one dream serves us no longer, it is making way for an even better one. Our dreams are our teachers. When the student is ready, a new one comes into focus.
Dreams in our earlier years often come to nought. They couldn't compete for our attention as effectively as the self-pity. The direction they offered was lost. Each day that we look forward with positive anticipation, we put the wreckage of the past farther from our minds.
Our dreams are like the rest areas on a cross-country trip. They refresh us, help us to gauge the distance we've come, and give us a chance to consider our destination.
Today's dreams and experiences are points on the road map of my life. I won't let them pass, unnoticed.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

Finally my father had to send a doctor out from my home town who managed to get me back there some way and I was in bed about two months before I could venture out of the house. I stayed about town a couple of months more and returned to resume my practice. I think I must have been thoroughly scared by what had happened, or by the doctor, or probably both, so that I did not touch a drink again until the country went dry.

p. 175

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

Right here we need to fetch ourselves up sharply. It doesn't make much sense when a real tosspot calls a kettle black. Let's remember that alcoholics are not the only ones bedeviled by sick emotions. Moreover, it is usually a fact that our behavior when drinking has aggravated the defects of others. We've repeatedly strained the patience of our best friends to a snapping point, and have brought out the very worst in those who didn't think much of us to begin with. In many instances we are really dealing with fellow sufferers, people whose woes we have increased. If we are now about to ask forgiveness for ourselves, why shouldn't we start out by forgiving them, one and all?

p. 78

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

"My father gave me these hints on speech-making: Be sincere . . . be brief . . . be seated."
--James Roosevelt

"Watch your manner of speech if you wish to develop a peaceful state
of mind. Start each day by affirming peaceful, contented and happy
attitudes and your days will tend to be pleasant and successful."
--Norman Vincent Peale

You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always
control what goes on inside.
--Wayne Dyer

Not what we gain, but what we give measures the worth of the life we
live.
--Cited in BITS & PIECES

"Yesterday's home run doesn't win today's ball game."
--Unknown

"Some people think that hanging in there shows great strength when
the truth is 'letting go' is the real test of character."
--Unknown

It is not God's will that makes me miserable. It is my resistance to
God's will that makes me miserable.
--unknown

Dear God, Please keep your arm around my shoulder, but keep your hand
over my mouth!
--unknown

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

LIMITATIONS

"Why would we kill off a good
watchdog just because he could
not fly?"
-- Frank Mar

God has created this world with variety and we all have different gifts.
Some people make music, others write stories and many are practical
at home or in industry. We need to understand what gifts and skills we
have and develop them.

It is both fruitless and negative to spend our time complaining that we
are not like other people --- or are without their talents. Such an
attitude stops us from discovering our own creative talents. We are so
busy comparing ourselves with others that we miss our own
uniqueness.

Today I enjoy discovering more about me and the abundant gifts that
God has freely given to me. What about you?

I pray that I may be truly grateful for what I have.

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

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we
must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself
said: `It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Acts 20:35

I will thank you, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
Psalm 9:1-2

When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and
pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets,
will reward you.
Matthew 6:6

For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
Proverbs 23:7

"Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong."
Job 6:24

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

Daily Inspiration

Frequently remind yourself of that which is important in your life. Lord, help me to treasure my family and friends, recognize how valuable they are and tell them often how happy that I am because they are in my life.

There is light behind every shadow. Lord, You are the light of the world. May I never forget to turn to You when my life fills with shadows.

[bluidkiti]

August 25

Daily Reflections

THE GIFT OF BONDING

Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS , p. 63

Many times in my alcoholic state, I drank to establish a bond
between myself and others, but I succeeded only in establishing
the bondage of alcoholic loneliness. Through the A.A. way of
life, I have received the gift of bonding - with those who were
there before me, with those who are there now, and with those yet
to come. For this gracious gift from God, I am forever grateful.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"Unless we discuss our defects with another person, we do not acquire
enough humility, fearlessness, and honesty to really get the program.
We must be entirely honest with somebody, if we expect to live
happily in this world. We must be hard on ourselves, but always
considerate of others. We pocket our pride and go to it, illuminating
every twist of character and every dark cranny of the past. Once we
have taken this step, withholding nothing, we can look the world in
the eyes." Have I discussed all my defects with another person?

Meditation For The Day

Never yield to weariness of the spirit. At times, the world's cares
and distractions will intrude and the spirit will become weak. At
times like this, carry on and soon the spirit will become strong
again. God's spirit is always with you, to replenish and renew. None
ever sincerely sought God's help in vain. Physical weariness and
exhaustion make a time of rest and communion with God more
necessary. When you are overcome by temporary conditions that you
cannot control, keep quiet and wait for the power of the spirit to flow
back.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may not speak or act in the midst of emotional upheaval.
I pray that I may wait until the tempest is past.

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

As Bill Sees It

Perfection--Only The Objective, p. 236

There can be no absolute humility for us humans. At best, we can
merely glimpse the meaning and splendor of such a perfect ideal.
Only God himself can manifest in the absolute; we human beings
must needs live and grow in the domain of the relative.

So we seek progress in humility today.

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

Few of us can quickly or easily become ready even to look at spiritual
and moral perfection; we want to settle for only as much
development as may get us by in life, according, of course, to our
various and sundry ideas of what will get us by. Mistakenly, we strive
for a self-determined objective, rather than for the perfect
objective which is of God.

1. Grapevine, June 1961
2. 12 & 12, p. 68

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

Walk In Dry Places

What should We accept?
Acceptance
Alcoholics usually have trouble accepting ordinary setbacks and limitations that
other people live with all the time. Sometimes it seems much easier
to just get drunk than to accept boredom and frustration.
The irony of such behavior is that we then have to accept much more
failure as a result of problems created by drinking. Our
drinking brings far more pain than it removes.
Learning acceptance in sobriety is part of the growing-up process.
Along with learning to accept things we cannot change, however, we learn
there are some things we don't have to accept. Living sober gives us the
power and confidence to make such changes.
I'll repeat the Serenity Prayer today if I begin to feel disturbed or
threatened. I will face life realistically while knowing I have many
opportunities for growth and change.

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

Keep It Simple

In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.---Friedrick Nietzsche
All of us have a child inside. We may see that child as a friend or as a enemy.
Many of us were taught that growing up meant doing away with our inner child. It was as if being a child was bad and being an adult was good. If we try to be only an adult, the child cries, ”Let me run free and show you the beauty of the world.” If we try to be only a child, we find the adult in using us saying, “It’s time to grow up.”
Let’s find a balance. Remember, the adult needs the wonder found in the eyes of the child. Remember, the child needs the loving care of the adult. The child lives where we find our spirit. Our Higher Power is the prefect balance of the two.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be both the child and the adult. I need both.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll make time to be a child and to be an adult.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

In soloing--as in other activities--it is far easier to start something than it is to finish it. --Amelia Earhart
Procrastination plagues us all, at one time or another. But any activity that is worthy of our effort should be tackled by bits and pieces, one day at a time. We are too easily overwhelmed when we set our sights only on the accomplished goal. We need to focus, instead, on the individual elements and then on just one element at a time. A book is written, word-by-word. A house is built, timber-by-timber. A college degree is attained, course-by-course.
By the time we got to this program, most of us had accumulated a checkered past, much of which we wanted to deny or forget. And the weight of our past can stand in the way of the many possibilities in the present.
Our past need not determine what we set out to do today. However, we must be realistic: We can't change a behavior pattern overnight. But we can begin the process. We can decide on a reasonable, manageable objective for this 24-hour period. Enough days committed to the completion of enough small objectives will bring us to the attainment of any goal, large or small.
I can finish any task I set my sights on, when I take it one day at a time. Today is before me. I can move forward in a small way.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

With the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment I felt quite safe. I knew everyone would buy a few bottles, or cases, of liquor as their exchequers permitted, and it would soon be gone. Therefore it would make no great difference, even if I should do some drinking. At that time I was not aware of the almost unlimited supply the government made it possible for us doctors to obtain, neither had I any knowledge of the bootlegger who soon appeared on the horizon. I drank with moderation at first, but it took me only a relatively short time to drift back into the old habits which had wound up so disastrously before.

p. 175

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

When listing the people we have harmed, most of us hit another solid obstacle. We got a pretty severe shock when we realized that we were preparing to make a face-to-face admission of our wretched conduct to those we had hurt. It had been embarrassing enough when in confidence we had admitted these things to God, to ourselves, and to another human being. But the prospect of actually visiting or even writing the people concerned now overwhelmed us, especially when we remembered in what poor favor we stood with most of them. There were cases, too, where we had damaged others who were still happily unaware of being hurt. Why, we cried, shouldn't bygones be bygones? Why do we have to think of these people at all? These were some of the ways in which fear conspired with pride to hinder our making a list of all the people we had harmed.

pp. 78-79

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

You are the creator of your own Serenity. It lives and breathes within
your desire for Recovery. It is no mystery. It is a conscious choice.
Serenity is born and flourishes, with the help of your Higher Power,
through your own efforts to maintain order, stability and self-discipline
within your everyday life.
Serenity is a daily gift you give to yourself. Be generous!
--Lumpy Karma

The routines of good rest, exercise, regular meal times, prayer, and
meetings are the skeleton on which the body of our recovery program
can grow. Each of these activities is a reward in itself, and serves to
remind us of what our new lives have to offer.
--unknown

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can,
in all the ways you can, in all the places you can,
at all the times you can, to all the people you can,
as long as ever you can."
--John Wesley

"Look at everything as though you were seeing it
for the first time or the last time.
Then your time on earth will be filled with glory."
--Betty Smith

"Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times."
--Anonymous

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost;
that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
--Thoreau

We would have much peace if we would not busy ourselves with the
sayings and doings of others.
--Thomas À Kempis

Many do not know that we are here in this world to live in harmony.
--Buddha

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

TEMPER

"Your temper is the only thing
that doesn't get better with age."
-- Anonymous

I lost my temper when I was in the wrong and wanted to protect
myself. My temper was closely associated with my ego and pride; I
hated to admit I was in the wrong.

Today I know that I am not God. I make mistakes and apologize. I
don't have to have an answer. It is okay to be imperfect and human.
And you know what I am finding? I don't lose my temper so much!

I pray that I may express my anger and discomfort without having a
selfish temper tantrum.

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

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered
me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with
ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and
thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in
authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness
and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all
men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."
I Timothy 2:2

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

Daily Inspiration

Many more things go right in a day than go wrong, but you will never notice if that one trying moment becomes your focus. Lord, help me make a conscious effort to see the richness of my life and live with gratitude for all of its wonders.

If you have more than you need, but still feel it isn't enough, then you are poor. Lord, may I take time to recognize and enjoy my blessings.

[bluidkiti]

August 26

Daily Reflections

GIVING IT AWAY

Though they knew they must help other alcoholics if they would
remain sober, that motive became secondary. It was transcended
by the happiness they found in giving themselves to others.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p.159

Those words, for me, refer to a transference of power, through which
God, as I understand Him, enters my life. Through prayer and
meditation, I open channels, then I establish and improve my
conscious contact with God. Through action I then receive the power
I need to maintain my sobriety each day. By maintaining my spiritual
condition, by giving away what has been freely given to me, I am
granted a daily reprieve.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"If we are still clinging to something that we will not let go, we
must sincerely ask God to help us to be willing to let even that go,
too. We cannot divide our lives into compartments and keep some
for ourselves. We must give all the compartments to God. We
must say: ‘My creator, I am now willing that you should have all of
me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every
single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness
to you and my friends.'" Am I still clinging to something that I will
not let go?

Meditation For The Day

The laws of nature cannot be changed and must be obeyed if you
are to stay healthy. No exceptions will be made in your case. Submit
to the laws of nature or they will finally break you. And in the
realm of the spirit, in all human relationships, submit to the moral
laws and to the will of God. If you continue to break the laws of
honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love, you will be broken to some
extent yourself. The moral and spiritual laws of God, like the laws
of nature, are unbreakable without some disaster. If you are
dishonest, impure, selfish, and unloving, you will not be living
according to the laws of the spirit and you will suffer the
consequences.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may submit to the laws of nature and to the laws of God.
I pray that I may live in harmony with all the laws of life.

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

As Bill Sees It

No Orders Issued, p. 237

Neither the A.A. General Service Conference, its Board of Trustees,
nor the humblest group committee can issue a single directive to an
A.A. member and make it stick, let alone mete out any punishment.
We've tried this lots of times, but utter failure is always the result.

Groups have sometimes tried to expel members, but the banished
have come back to sit in the meeting place, saying, "This is life for
us; you can't keep us out." Committees have instructed many an
A.A. to stop working on a chronic backslider, only to be told: "How I
do my Twelfth Step work is my business. Who are you to judge?"

This doesn't mean that an A.A. won't take good advice or
suggestions from more experienced members. He simply objects to
taking orders.

12 & 12, p. 173

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

Walk In Dry Places

Waste Utilization
Releasing the past
Today the world faces seemingly insurmountable problems with solid and liquid
waste. Communities struggle to find solutions as waste accumulates
and space for disposal sites grows scarce.
As recovering people, we have a similar problem with waste residues from
our past. We don't seem to be able to bury bad memories; like the
physical waste in the environment, they come back to poison us. The best answer is to use waste, not throw it away. Instead of trying to bury the past, let's keep it in view but let it be purified by the sunlight of honesty and humility. By admitting past wrongs and forgiving
everyone involved.... including ourselves..... we turn waste into useful experience. Nature can do this with much physical waste, over time. we can also let our spiritual nature do that with the emotional and mental waste of our past.
I'll realize that every past mistake and experience can be properly
utilized today for something good and uplifting.

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

Keep It Simple

THINK ---Alcoholics Anonymous slogan
Now that we’re recovering, our minds are free. We can think. When we are faced with problems or choices, we can do this:
Ask, “What is the problem?”
Make a list of what we can do to work on the problem.
Decide which of the actions on our list might work.
Pick the action that seems the best so far.
Ask ourselves, “Can I do it? Will I do it? If not, it’s not a good plan.
Talk to our sponsor if we need help thinking it out.
Do it.
Look back on it. Did it work? If not, go back and try something else.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to think well. Help me to see things clearly.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll use the points listed above to help me think about a choice I have to make.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

A woman who has no way of expressing herself and of realizing herself as a full human has nothing else to turn to but the owning of material things. --Enriqueta Longeaux y Vasquez
Each of us struggling with these Twelve Steps is finding self-expression and self-definition. Introspection, coupled with self-revelation through sharing with others, affords us the awareness of how like others we are. How human we are. And what we receive from others who respond to our vulnerability diminishes our need for "things" to fill our lives.
The love that we receive freely from a trusting, caring friend or group fills up the empty places in our souls, the places we used to try filling up with alcohol or cookies or sex. New clothes maybe even a new home or a different job served their terms as void fillers too. Nothing succeeded for long, and then the program found us.
The program is the filler for all times. Of this we can be certain. Time will alleviate any doubts we may have. All that is asked of us is openness, honesty, and attention to others' needs as well as our own.
I can share our likenesses and relish whatever differences may surface. The chain of friendship I've created makes me the proud owner of my wholeness. I am a succeeding woman who is moving forward with courage and self-awareness on this, my road of life.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

During the next few years, I developed two distinct phobias. One was the fear of not sleeping, and the other was the fear of running out of liquor. Not being a man of means, I knew that if I did not stay sober enough to earn money, I would run out of liquor. Most of the time, therefore, I did not take the morning drink which I craved so badly, but instead would fill up on large doses of sedatives to quiet the jitters, which distressed me terribly. Occasionally, I would yield to the morning craving, but if I did, it would be only a few hours before I would be quite unfit for work. This would lessen my chances of smuggling some home that evening, which in turn would mean a night of futile tossing around in bed followed by a morning of unbearable jitters. During the subsequent fifteen years I had sense enough never to go to the hospital if I had been drinking, and very seldom did I receive patients. I would sometimes hide out in one of the clubs of which I was a member, and had the habit at times of registering at a hotel under a fictitious name. But my friends usually found me and I would go home if they promised that I should not be scolded.

pp. 175-176

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

Some of us, though, tripped over a very different snag. We clung to the claim that when drinking we never hurt anybody but ourselves. Our families didn't suffer, because we always paid the bills and seldom drank at home. Our business associates didn't suffer, because we were usually on the job. Our reputations hadn't suffered, because we were certain few knew of our drinking. Those who did would sometimes assure us that, after all, a lively bender was only a good man's fault. What real harm, therefore, had we done? No more, surely, than we could easily mend with a few casual apologies.

p. 79

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

Real happiness in life starts when you begin to cherish others.
--Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Continuing to cling to the patterns you know inhibits your ability to
discover what you don't know.
--Eric Allenbaugh

When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks
grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under
pressure.
--Peter Marshall

“Everything I need shall be provided today. Everything.” Say it, until
you believe it. Say it at the beginning of the day. Say it throughout the
day.
--unknown

God is at home, We are in the far country.
--Meister Eckhart

The Way isn't something that can be put into words.
You have to practice before you can understand.
You can't force things, including practice.
Understanding is something that happens naturally.
It's different for everyone.
The main thing is to reduce your desires and quiet your mind.
-- Master Hsueh

All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.
--Ellen Glasgow

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

SECURITY

"Nobody in this world is more
secure than a man in a
penitentiary."
-- Harvey S. Firestone, Jr.

In one sense it is safe to live in a prison --- but at what price? To live is
to be free and have the responsibility of choice. Addiction removes
this freedom of choice; addiction takes away our freedom.

In sobriety I am involved in the joys of risk. I experience the pleasure
and pain that comes with the responsibility of choice. Today I know I
am living --- yesterday I had to read about it!

God, I thank You for the confusing gift of freedom.

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

The Lord will keep you from all harm...... He will watch over your life.
Psalm 121:7

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him,
and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in
song."
Psalm 28:7

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine
upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace."'
Numbers 6:24-26

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of
doing, but let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see
the Day approaching."
Hebrews 10:25

"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:30

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

Daily Inspiration

God is the best friend you will ever have and prayer is merely the technical term for having a chat with Him. Lord, let me tell You about some things that are on my mind and then I'll listen while You tell me what You think.

In your search for peace, look within. If you are looking elsewhere, you are looking in the wrong place. Lord, help me to open my heart to Your gift of peace and refuse to let anything in that disturbs it.

[bluidkiti]

August 27

Daily Reflections

CENTERING OUR THOUGHTS
When World War II broke out, our A.A. dependence on a Higher
Power had its first major test. A.A.'s entered the services and
were scattered all over the world. Would they be able to take the
discipline, stand up under fire, and endure . . . ?
As Bill Sees It, p.200

I will center my thoughts on a Higher Power. I will surrender all to
this power within me. I will become a soldier for this power, feeling
the might of the spiritual army as it exists in my life today. I will
allow a wave of spiritual union to connect me through my
gratitude, obedience and discipline to this Higher Power. Let me allow
this power to lead me through the orders of the day. May the
steps I take today strengthen my words and deeds, may I know
that the message I carry is mine to share, given freely by this power
greater than myself.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"We must be willing to make amends to all the people we have
harmed. We must do the best we can to repair the damage done in
the past. When we make amends, when we say: ‘I'm sorry,' the
person is sure at least to be impressed by our sincere desire to set
right the wrong. Sometimes people we are making amends to admit
their own faults, so feuds of long standing melt away. Our most
ruthless creditors will sometimes surprise us. In general, we must
be willing to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences
may be for us." Have I made a sincere effort to make amends to
the people I have harmed?

Meditation For The Day

The grace of God cures disharmony and disorder in human
relationships. Directly you put your affairs, with their confusion
and their difficulties, into God's hands. He begins to effect a cure
of all the disharmony and disorder. You can believe that He will cause
you no more pain in the doing of it than a physician that knows
how to effect a cure would cause a patient. You can have faith that
God will do all that is necessary as painlessly as possible. But you
must be willing to submit to His treatment, even if you cannot now
see the meaning or purpose of it.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may willingly submit to whatever spiritual discipline
is necessary. I pray that I may accept whatever it takes to live a
better life.

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

As Bill Sees It

Maudlin Martyrdom, p. 238

"Self-pity is one of the most unhappy and consuming defects we
know. It is a bar to all spiritual progress and can cut off all effective
communication with our fellows because of its inordinate demands
for attention and sympathy. It is a maudlin form of martyrdom,
which we can ill afford.

"The remedy? Well, let's have a hard look at ourselves, and a still
harder one at A.A.'s Twelve Steps to recovery. When we see how
many of our fellow A.A.'s have used the Steps to transcend great
pain and adversity, we shall be inspired to try these life-giving
principles for ourselves."

Letter, 1966

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

Walk In Dry Places

Finding Our Real Selves
Building Self-esteem
Many of us sold ourselves short while we were drinking. We wanted approval and
acceptance, but often felt unworthy of it, even accepting the unfavorable
opinions others had toward us. We resented such opinions, but secretly feared that our critics were right.
In the Twelve Step program, however, we discover a higher and better self
that hadn't found expression during active drinking. We no longer have to impress anybody, we no longer need applause, and we no longer crave the false camaraderie that passes for friendship among problem drinkers. We can, in many ways, become new people.
When we experience such change and growth, we may come to wonder how we
ever could have been so deluded by the sick self of our drinking years. We feel relief when we realize that we no longer have to live and think that way.... if we continue in the program and make sobriety our highest priority. We will realize too that the self we find in sobriety is the real self.... a person who was there all along but was crowded out and suppressed by the demands of our sick nature. This real self is what we were created to be, and sobriety brought its discovery.
I'll go about my affairs today knowing that my real self is what God wants me to be. Being sober, I can now find answers and opportunities that were beyond my reach when I was still drinking.

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

Keep It Simple

Things do not change, we do. ---Henry David Thoreau
There are still as many bars as there were when we were drinking. There are still lots of drugs around. The world hasn’t changed. What’s changed is that we now live a different way of life.
We’ve learned that, for us, alcohol and other drugs are poison.
For us, there are now two worlds: the world we left behind, and our new world of recovery. In our old world, we’d try to get everyone else to change. We had the right. In our new world, we look for ways we can change for the better. In our new life, we’re willing to change.
Prayer for the Day: I pray that I may be like a mighty river, always changing.
Action for the Day: I will list changes I need to make in my new life.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgment of the facts of a situation. Then deciding what you're going to do about it. --Kathleen Casey Theisen
Recovery offers us courage to make choices about the events of our lives. Passive compliance with whatever is occurring need no longer dominate our pattern of behavior. Powerlessly watching our lives go by was common for many of us, and our feelings of powerlessness escalated the more idle we were.
Today, action is called for, thoughtful action in response to the situations begging for our attention. Recovery's greatest gift is the courage to take action, to make decisions that will benefit us as well as the people who are close to us. Courage is the byproduct of our spiritual progress, courage to accept what we cannot change, believing that all will be well, courage to change in ourselves what we do have control over.
An exhilaration about life accompanies the taking of action. The spell that idleness casts over us is broken, and subsequent actions are even easier to take. Clearly, making a choice and acting on it is healthful. The program has given us the tools to do both.
Decisions will be called for today. I will be patient with myself, and thoughtful. I will listen closely to the guidance that comes from those around me.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

If my wife were planning to go out in the afternoon, I would get a large supply of liquor and smuggle it home and hide it in the coal bin, the clothes chute, over door jambs, over beams in the cellar and in cracks in the cellar tile. I also made use of old trunks and chests, the old can container, and even the ash container. The water tank on the toilet I never used, because that looked too easy. I found out later that my wife inspected it frequently. I used to put eight or twelve ounce bottles of alcohol in a fur lined glove and toss it onto the back airing porch when winter days got dark enough. My bootlegger had hidden alcohol at the back steps where I could get it at my convenience. Sometimes I would bring it in my pockets, but they were inspected, and that became too risky. I used also to put it up in four ounce bottles and stick several in my stocking tops. This worked nicely until my wife and I went to see Wallace Beery in "Tugboat Annie," after which the pant-leg and stocking racket were out!
I will not take space to relate all my hospital or sanitarium experiences.

pp. 176-177

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

This attitude, of course, is the end result of purposeful forgetting. It is an attitude which can only be changed by a deep and honest search of our motives and actions.

p. 79

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

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by
people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."
--Dale Carnegie

Sometimes lack of thought is a very good sign. It means you are totally
relaxed and have control of your mind.
--unknown

Getting the job done requires doing your work, not just talking about
it.
--unknown

When we take things for granted we forget life is a gift.
--unknown

Love is a gift to your self.
--unknown

In quiet meditation I listen to my own Higher Power.
I connect with my personal spirituality in my own time and place.
--Ruth Fishel

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

PURPOSE

"I have never doubted that God
created man for great purposes .
. . "
-- Preston Bradley

I am special today. I know that there is a purpose for my life and that
it is essentially good and creative. I know that beauty is not just in
things that I can see . . . beauty is also in me. Today I affirm my great
purpose in this world . . . to be the best that I can be.

For too many years I gave my God-given power away; I gave it to
alcohol, I gave it to people, I gave it to a belief system that did not
make sense to me. Today I am discovering the power that God has
given to me, and I feel good about myself. Today I reclaim my divinity.

Creator of this wonderful universe, make me an instrument of Your
peace.

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

"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
Galatians 5:25

"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried
out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. "He who
believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow
rivers of living water."
John 7:37-38

"I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with
thanksgiving."
Psalm 69:30

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His
own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who
called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."
1 Peter 2:9

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

Daily Inspiration

When children speak, listen. They freely share the joys of life that we are often too preoccupied to remember. Lord, help me bring back those qualities that I had as a child that would allow me to be more lighthearted, more playful and more determined to live happy.

Enthusiasm keeps the mind young and the spirit growing. Lord, may I always see wonder in the ordinary happenings of my day.

[bluidkiti]

August 28

Daily Reflections

LIGHTENING THE BURDEN

Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very
thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now. . . . the
dark past is . . . the key to life and happiness for others.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p.124

Since I have been sober, I have been healed of many pains:
deceiving my partner, deserting my best friend, and spoiling my
mother's hopes for my life. In each case someone in the program
told me of a similar problem, and I was able to share what happened
to me. When my story was told, both of us got up with lighter
hearts.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"We must continue to take personal inventory and continue to set
right any new mistakes as we go along. We should grow in
understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter;
it should continue for our lifetime. Continue to watch for
selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When these crop
up, we ask God at once to remove them. We must not rest on our
laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do. We are not cured of
alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve, contingent on
the maintenance of our spiritual condition." Am I checking my
spiritual condition daily?

Meditation For The Day

Happiness cannot be sought directly; it is a byproduct of love and
service. Service is a law of our being. With love in your heart, there
is always some service to other people. A life of power and joy
and satisfaction is built on love and service. Persons who hate or
are selfish are going against the law of their own being. They are
cutting themselves off from God and other people. Little acts of
love and encouragement, of service and help, erase the rough
places of life and help to make a path smooth. If we do these things,
we cannot help having our share of happiness.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may give my share of love and service. I pray that I may
not grow weary in my attempts to do the right thing.

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

As Bill Sees It

When And How To Give, p.239

Men who cry for money and shelter as a condition of their sobriety are
on the wrong track. Yet we sometimes do provide a new prospect
with these very things--when it becomes clear that he is willing to
place his recovery first.

It is not whether we shall give that is the question, but when and how
to give. Whenever we put our work on a material plane, the alcoholic
commences to rely upon alms rather than upon a Higher Power and
the A.A. group. He continues to insist that he cannot master alcohol
until his material needs are cared for.

Nonsense! Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this
truth: that, job or no job, wife or no wife, we simply do not stop
drinking so long as we place material dependence upon other people
ahead of dependence on God.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p.98

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

Walk In Dry Places

No Prayer Goes Unanswered
Guidance.
It would be nearly impossible to do an accounting of the results of prayer. Sometimes there seems to be no answer , and at other times, an answer seems to be the result of coincidence. It's too easy to dismiss these results as things that would have happened even if we hadn't prayed.
Yet those of us who believe in prayer feel that it is indeed a way of communicating with our Higher Power. It takes many forms. Even thinking about God is a type of prayer.
The best answers to prayer come in the new ways we begin to feel about ourselves and others. If prayer brings us to a realization of being in tune with our Higher Power, we are working in the right way. The proper changes will come into our lives as needed. We should not try to measure results, because this tends to bring doubt into the process. Our only responsibility is to pray then let God's work take place in our lives.
I will pray regularly to day, thinking often about God and asserting to myself and others that this Higher Power is in charge.

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

Keep It Simple

The saints are the sinners who kept going.---Robert Louis Stevenson
The saints are what our program calls the “winner.” We’re told to “stick” with the winners. Saints are just proven winners. They keep on believing in their Higher Power even when things get hard.
There will be times when we’ll want to give up. We may want to stop going to meetings. We may want to get high. We may want to stop working the Steps.
To be winners in this program, we need to follow the example of the saints. This means we live a spiritual life. We need to keep on going. One day at a time.
Prayer for the Day: I pray that I’ll be a winner in this program. Higher Power, be with me in the easy times and the hard times. Help me keep going.
Action for the Day: I’ll list people who are winners in this program. I’ll ask one of the how he or she keeps going in tough times.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

There are sounds to seasons. There are sounds to places, and there are sounds to every time in one's life. --Alison Wyrley Birch
Live is rich and full. Your life. My life. Even when the day feels flat or hollow, there's a richness to it that escapes our attention. We see only what we choose to see. We hear selectively, too. Our prejudgment precludes our getting the full effects of any experience. Some days we hear only the drum of the humdrum.
But the greater our faith in the program and a loving God, the clearer our perceptions become. We miss less of the day's events; we grow in our understanding of our unfolding, and we perceive with clarity the role others are playing in our lives.
We can see life as a concert in progress when we transcend our own narrow scope and appreciate the variety of people and situations all directed toward the same finale. The more we're in tune with the spiritual activity surrounding us; the more harmoniously we will be able to perform our parts.
I will listen to the music of today. I will get in tune, in rhythm. I am needed for the concert's beauty.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

During all this time we became more or less ostracized by our friends. We could not be invited out because I would surely get tight and my wife dared not invite people in for the same reason. My phobia for sleeplessness demanded that I get drunk every night, but in order to get more liquor for the next night, I had to stay sober during the day, at least up to four o' clock. This routine went on with few interruptions for seventeen years. It was really a horrible nightmare, this earning money, getting liquor, smuggling it home, getting drunk, morning jitters, taking large doses of sedatives to make it possible for me to earn more money, and so on ad nauseam. I used to promise my wife, my friends, and my children that I would drink no more-promises which seldom kept me sober even through the day, though I was very sincere when I made them.

p. 177

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

Though in some cases we cannot make restitution at all, and in some cases action ought to be deferred, we should nevertheless make an accurate and really exhaustive survey of our past life as it has affected other people. In many instances we shall find that though the harm done others has not been great, the emotional harm we have done ourselves has. Very deep, sometimes quite forgotten, damaging emotional conflicts persist below the level of consciousness. At the time of these occurrences, they may actually have given our emotions violent twists which have since discolored our personalities and altered our lives for the worse.

pp. 79-80

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

Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. . .
Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness,
and it is as though a voice were saying: "You are accepted."
--Paul Tillich

"Life didn't promise to be wonderful."
--Teddy Pendergrass

Today I do not need to say the first thing that comes into my head, or
react to what others say about me. Today I can practice restraint of
tongue and pen...think before I speak...and say kind things or nothing
at all.
--Ruth Fishel

One of the first things to do, is to love everybody ... with love, all
things are possible ... and the one who has learned to love all people
will find plenty of people who will return that love.
--Ernest Holmes

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many
-- not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
--Charles Dickens

Sit down with a pen and paper and write your thoughts down.
It frees your mind.
--unknown

God's answers are always wiser than your prayers...

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

CHARACTER

"A man never discloses his own
character so clearly as when he
describes another's."
-- Johann Paul Richter

I was always so perceptive when it came to assessing the character
faults of others. I could offer the best therapy and treatment to
others; the best advice in the world. I was excellent at "pulling the
covers" on a con-man --- but always I missed me! I never really
heard my insights. I never followed my advice. I always minimized
my character faults.

Usually what I saw in others was reflected in my own personality.
The things I loathed in others existed in me. The anger and
resentments came from a denial of self.

In sobriety I hear the advice of others. I don't always like it but I
hear it. I give criticism and today I am growing in my acceptance of
criticism.

In relationships may I see clearly my own reflection.

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

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe
yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience."
Colossians 3:12

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and
admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."
Colossians 3:16

"Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one
another."
John 13:34

"The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved
me."
Psalms 116:6

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

Daily Inspiration

If you are too easily offended and become upset too quickly, you are taking life far too seriously. Lord, help me avoid looking for things to complain about.

Never underestimate the power of your presence nor your ability to comfort and encourage. Lord, thank You for my opportunities to do Your work.

[bluidkiti]

August 29

Daily Reflections

I CHOOSE ANONYMITY

We are sure that humility, expressed by anonymity, is the
greatest safeguard that Alcoholics Anonymous can ever have.
12 & 12, p.187

Since there are no rules in A.A. I place myself where I want to be,
and so I choose anonymity. I want my God to use me, humbly, as
one of His tools in this program. Sacrifice is the art of giving of
myself freely, allowing humility to replace my ego. With sobriety,
I suppress that urge to cry out to the world, "I am a member of
A.A." and I experience inner joy and peace. I let people see the
changes in me and hope they will ask what happened to me. I place
the principles of spirituality ahead of judging, fault-finding, and
criticism. I want love and caring in my group, so I can grow.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"We cannot get along without prayer and meditation. On
awakening, let us think about the 24 hours ahead. We consider our
plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our
thinking. Our thought lives will be placed on a much higher plane
when we start the day with prayer and meditation. We conclude
this period of meditation with a prayer that we will be shown
through the day what our next step is to be. The basis of all our
prayers is: Thy will be done in me and through me today." Am I
sincere in my desire to do God's will today?

Meditation For The Day

Breathe in the inspiration of goodness and truth. It is the spirit of
honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love. It is readily available if we
are willing to accept it wholeheartedly. God has given us two things
– His spirit and the power of choice – to accept or not, as we will.
We have the gift of free will. When we choose the path of
selfishness and greed and pride, we are refusing to accept God's
spirit. When we choose the path of love and service, we accept
God's spirit and it flows into us and makes all things new.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may choose the right way. I pray that I may try to
follow it to the end.

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

As Bill Sees It

Hard On Ourselves, Considerate Of Others, p. 240

We cannot disclose anything to our wives or our parents which will
hurt them and make them unhappy. We have no right to save our own
skins at their expense.

Such damaging parts of our story we tell to someone else who will
understand, yet be unaffected. The rule is, we must be hard on
ourselves, but always considerate of others.

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

Good judgment will suggest that we ought to take our time in making
amends to our families. It may be unwise at first to rehash certain
harrowing episodes. While we may be quite willing to reveal the very
worst, we must be sure to remember that we cannot buy our own
peace of mind at the expense of others.

1. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 74
2. 12 & 12, p. 84

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

Walk In Dry Places

Giving The Right Support
Carrying the Message
We're surrounded by people who need help-financial and otherwise.
It is sometimes tempting to believe that we can and should reach out to improve the conditions
of their lives.
This is not always an easy thing to do, or even a right thing to do. The early AA members
who tried this finally decided to limit most of their help simply to carrying the 1Welve Step message.
While this seemed callous, it was really the only practical approach to a difficult problem.
Many people are able to solve their own financial problems when they really understand and
practice the twelve Step program. If they still need other assistance, it is then given and received in
ways that work. In any case, we should always seek guidance and direction from our Higher Power
when considering or offering any kind of assistance. We'll then know that any support we give will
be the right kind.
I'll be willing today to assist others in any way I can. I will not, however, take responsibility for
running their lives.

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

Keep It Simple

This day I choose to spend in perfect peace. --- A Course in Miracles
Today, let’s be gentle and kind. Lets talk to ourselves with love and respect. Let’s be gentle with others too.
Today, let’s be clear in how we think, speak, and act. And if we start to get mixed up, let’s stop thinking and listen for our Higher Power’s voice.
Today, we know that we have just a small job to do. It is to live today with love in our heart. We can’t take care of every problem in the world. But we make our actions today part of the answer instead of the part of the problem. Let's Keep It Simple.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me find Your calmness and peace in my heart today.
Action for the Day: Do I believe that peace starts with me? Today, I’ll listen to the simple voice of peace inside of me. And I’ll Keep It Simple.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. --Helen Keller
The next 24 hours are guaranteed to excite us, to lift us to new levels of understanding, to move us into situations with others where we can offer our unique contributions. All that is asked of us is a willingness to trust that we will be given just what we need at each moment.
We can dare to live, fully, just for today. We can appreciate the extraordinariness of every breath we take, every challenge we encounter. Within each experience is the invitation for us to grow, to reach out to others in caring ways, to discover more fully the women we are capable of being. We must not let a single moment go by unnoticed.
When we withdraw from life, we stunt our growth. We need involvement with others, involvement that perturbs us, humors us, even stresses us. We tap our internal resources only when we have been pushed to our limits, and our participation in life gifts us, daily, with that push. How necessary the push!
None of us will pass this way again. What we see and feel and say today are gone forever. We have so much to regret when we let things slip away, unnoticed or unappreciated.
A special series of events has been planned for me today. I shall not miss it.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

For the benefit of those experimentally inclined, I should mention the so-called beer experiment. When beer first came back, I thought that I was safe. I could drink all I wanted of that. It was harmless; nobody ever got drunk on beer. So I filled the cellar full, with the permission of my good wife. It was not long before I was drinking at least a case and a half a day. I put on thirty pounds weight in about two months, looked like a pig, and was uncomfortable from shortness of breath. It then occurred to me that after one was all smelled up with beer nobody could tell what had been drunk, so I began to fortify my beer with straight alcohol. Of course, the result was very bad, and that ended the beer experiment.

pp. 177-178

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

While the purpose of making restitution to others is paramount, it is equally necessary that we extricate from an examination of our personal relations every bit of information about ourselves and our fundamental difficulties that we can. Since defective relations with other human beings have nearly always been the immediate cause of our woes, including our alcoholism, no field of investigation could yield more satisfying and valuable rewards than this one. Calm, thoughtful reflection upon personal relations can deepen our insight. We can go far beyond those things which were superficially wrong with us, to see those flaws which were basic, flaws which sometimes were responsible for the whole pattern of our lives. Thoroughness, we have found, will pay--and pay handsomely.

p. 80

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

"God's strength behind you, His concern for you, His love within
you, and His arms beneath you are more than sufficient for the job
ahead of you."
--William Arthur Ward

Each day comes bearing its gifts. Untie the ribbons.
--Ruth Ann Schabacker

"Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and
effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world
outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in
getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness
is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few
drops on yourself."
--Og Mandino

People do not grow old; When they cease to grow, They become old.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help
others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, "What's in it for
me?"
--Brian Tracy

God knows what He's about. If He has you sidelined, out of the
action for a while, He knows what He's doing. You just stay
faithful--stay flexible--stay available--stay humble.
--Growing Strong In The Seasons Of Life, p.531

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

EDUCATION

"The university exists only to
find and communicate the
truth."
-- Robert Maynard Hutchins

Today in my recovery I know I am a student of Truth and will
hopefully be so until the day that I die. No longer do I search for the
cheap thrill or the quick fix --- now I desire lasting truths.

Spirituality is about finding God in things that are true and honest,
good and wholesome, creative and positive.

I battle daily with that sick side of me that is greedy, selfish and
dishonest --- I'm not perfect. Today I know that the sick and
dishonest way of living does not work. My history teaches me that it
does not work. I was never truly happy knowing that the gains came
at the expense of others. Now I am a student in the "university of
life", and I enjoy learning something new about me every day. Today
I am able to listen --- listen to those who are wiser than I. I know that
I do not have all the answers --- and with this knowledge comes
freedom.

God, who lives in and through Truth, continue to radiate and illuminate
my life.

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

"The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those who
dwell therein."
Psalms 24:1

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of
them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you
nor forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will
soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will
walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:29-31

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will
reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9

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

Daily Inspiration

Count on God for what you lack. Would you not do the same for someone that you loved? Lord, I know that whatever I am doing, You can and will help.

Mistakes give us experience. Without them going forward is almost impossible. Lord, may I always look for the good and use it to make tomorrow better.

[bluidkiti]

August 30

Daily Reflections

THE ONLY REQUIREMENT. . .

"At one time. . .every A.A. group had many membership rules.
Everybody was scared witless that something or somebody would
capsize the boat. . .The total list was a mile long. If all those rules had
been in effect everywhere, nobody could have possibly joined A.A.
at all. . ."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 139-40

I'm grateful that the Third Tradition only requires of me a desire
to stop drinking. I had been breaking promises for years. In the
Fellowship I didn't have to make promises, I didn't have to
concentrate. It only required my attending one meeting, in a foggy
condition, to know I was home. I didn't have to pledge undying love.
Here, strangers hugged me. "It gets better," they said, and "One
day at a time, you can do it." They were no longer strangers, but
caring friends. I ask God to help me to reach out to people
desiring sobriety, and to, please, keep me grateful!

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure
immunity from drinking as extensive work with other alcoholics.
Carry the message to other alcoholics. You can help when no one
else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail. Life
will take on new meaning for you. To watch people recover, to see
them help others in turn, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a
fellowship grow about you, to have a host of friends, this is an
experience you must not miss." Am I always ready and willing to help
other alcoholics?

Meditation For The Day

One secret of abundant living is the art of giving. The paradox of
life is that the more you give, the more you have. If you loose your
life in the service of others, you will save it. You can give
abundantly and still live abundantly. You are rich in one respect – you
have a spirit that is inexhaustible. Let no mean or selfish thought
keep you from sharing this spirit. Of love, of help, of
understanding, and of sympathy, give and keep giving. Give your
personal ease and comfort, your time, your money, and most of all,
yourself. And you will be living abundantly.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may live to give. I pray that I may learn this secret of
abundant living.

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

As Bill Sees It

Middle of the Road, p.241

"In some sections of A.A., anonymity is carried to the point of real
absurdity. Members are on such a poor basis of communication
that they don't even know each other's last names or where each
lives. It's like the cell of an underground.

"In other sections, we see exactly the reverse. It is difficult to
restrain A.A.'s from shouting too much before the whole public, by
going on spectacular 'lecture tours' to play the big shot.

"However, I know that from these extremes we slowly pull
ourselves onto a middle ground. Most lecture-giving members do not
last too long, and the superanonymous people are apt to come out
of hiding respecting their A.A. friends, business associates, and the
like. I think the long-time trend is toward the middle of the
road--which is probably where we should be."

Letter, 1959

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

Walk In Dry Places

THE MASKS ARE FALLING
Openness Individuals and families can be quite successful at masking personal problems and feelings. This doesn't always work very well with alcoholics, though some of us did manage to conceal our problem for long periods before our lives began to break down.
However, it is becoming more acceptable to admit to such problems, and it is no longer surprising to read that a prominent person is being treated for an addiction.
This new openness has also made it possible to abandon the masks we've been wearing to hide our feelings. When people learn they can be more open with their problems and need for help, it also becomes easier to admit that they are angry. fearful. unhappy, or even frightened.
Removing our masks and letting others see us as we are is only the first phase in the real honesty we're seeking. After expressing ourselves authentically, do we find we like who we are?
Now that we know and admit the truth about ourselves, what are we going to do to make needed changes?
I will face who and what I really am today. I will use my strengths and not let any shortcomings keep me from being effective.

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

Keep It Simple

Love is something if you give away, you end up having more. --- Malvina Reynolds
Service is how we give love away. It’s the “self” of self-help. Service is not a duty; a gift that’s been given to us. We help ourselves by helping others. It’s how we make sure the program will be here tomorrow. We “carry the message.” It’s just one way we see how important we are to others. The world needs us. The world needs our love.
Prayer for the Day: I pray for help in making service a big part of my program. Higher Power, help me to “carry the message.”
Action for the Day: Which people could use a kind word and a little love? I will go visit them or give them a call.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

I like my friend for what is in her heart, not for the way she does things. --Sandra K. Lamberson
We find good in situations, experiences and people when we look for it. Generally we find just what we expect to find. The power attaching to our attitudes is awesome. Often it is immobilizing; too seldom is it positive.
We each create the personal environment that our soul calls home, which means that at any moment we have the power to change our perspective on life, our response to any particular experience and most of all, our feelings about ourselves. Just as we will find good in others when we decide to look for it, we'll find good in ourselves.
We are such special women, all of us. And in our hearts we want joy. What the program offers is the awareness that we are the creators of the joy in our hearts. We can relinquish the past and its sorrows, and we can leave the future in the hands of our higher power. The present is singular in its importance to our lives, now.
Behavior generally reveals attitudes, which are of the mind and frequently in conflict with the heart. I will strive for congruence. I will let my heart lead the way. It will not only find the good in others, it will imitate it.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

About the time of the beer experiment I was thrown in with a crowd of people who attracted me because of their seeming poise, health, and happiness. They spoke with great freedom from embarrassment, which I could never do, and they seemed very much at ease on all occasions and appeared very healthy. More than these attributes, they seemed to be happy. I was self conscious and ill at ease most of the time, my health was at the breaking point, and I was thoroughly miserable. I sensed they had something I did not have, from which I might readily profit. I learned that it was something of a spiritual nature, which did not appeal to me very much, but I thought it could do no harm. I gave the matter much time and study for the next two and a half years, but still got tight every night nevertheless. I read everything I could find, and talked to everyone who I thought knew anything about it.

p. 178

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

We might next ask ourselves what we mean when we say that we have "harmed" other people. What kinds of "harm" do people do one another, anyway? To define the word "harm" in a practical way, we might call it the result of instincts in collision, which cause physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual damage to people. If our tempers are consistently bad, we arouse anger in others. If we lie or cheat, we deprive others not only of their worldly goods, but of their emotional security and peace of mind. We really issue them an invitation to become contemptuous and vengeful. If our sex conduct is selfish, we may excite jealousy, misery, and a strong desire to retaliate in kind.

p. 80

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"When anger spreads through the breast, guard thy tongue from
barking idly."
--Sappho

Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to
you.
--Madeline Bridges

Words are powerful, may I use them wisely.
--Shelley

Today I will do all that I am capable of doing at this time of my life
to free myself of past mistakes. And then I will let go and live in my
now...fully enjoying today.
--Ruth Fishel

Ability is what you're capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it."
-- Lou Holtz

We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us . . .

Sobriety is a gift, not a right.

AA is not something you join, it's a way of life.

Life didn't end when I got sober -- it started.

While it isn't always easy, if I keep it simple, it works.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

LISTENING

"If other people are going to
talk, conversation becomes
impossible."
-- James McNeill Whistler

Part of my addiction was never listening to what people were saying.
This was part arrogance, part denial, part fear, part control, part ego
--- the bottom line was that I did not listen. I was bored and unhappy
with my life because I was a prisoner of my own thoughts.

My spiritual awakening --- which I consider a process rather than an
event, a process that is still going on in my life on a daily basis --- was
in allowing some new information into my life that led to admittance
and acceptance. The day that I was able to admit that I was an
alcoholic was the day I took a step towards acceptance.

Today I receive immense help and comfort from other people,
especially recovering alcoholics. Two people experiencing an honest
conversation are part of God's promised love for His world.

Let the words I hear be acceptable in Your sight

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"The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those who
dwell therein."
Psalms 24:1

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of
them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you
nor forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will
soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will
walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:29-31

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will
reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9

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Daily Inspiration

The best things in life aren't really things at all. Lord, thank You for all that I am and for all that I am able to be and thank You for my family, my friends, and for all those that touch my life in a special way.

Spend less time trying to change and more time making the best of who you are. Lord, help me daily to put Your words into action.