March 16


Restore Power Prayer

Lord,
I pray for Your strength to be renewed in me, a boost of faith to overcome my fears and a splurge of power in my state of powerlessness.
Help me to get back on my feet once again and to run the race that is set before me.
Amen

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Just a Thought

As we look back on all those troubles we used to have when we were drinking:

The hospitals, the jails, we wonder why we could have wanted that kind of a life. As we look back on it now, we see our drinking life as it really was and we're glad we're out of it. So after a few months in A.A., we find that we can honestly say that we want something else more than drinking. We've learned by experience that a sober life is really enjoyable and we wouldn't go back to the old drunken way of living for anything in the world.

So ............

Do I want to keep sober a lot more than I want to get drunk?

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Just a Contemplation

Acceptance Today

Many of us made a mess of trying to run our own lives. We are amazed at how much better things go when we acknowledge that the Power greater than ourselves is in control.

Every experience, the bad one as well as the good one, becomes an opportunity to learn and to serve. We may not like what it is that we are given to do or to feel on a particular day, but we learn to accept it as necessary for our growth. We can look back and see that we have learned even more from our failures than from our successes.

Positive change and growth become possible when we accept our lives and ourselves as part of God's creation.

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Release and Joy

We think cheerfulness and laughter make for usefulness. Outsiders are sometimes shocked when we burst into merriment over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past. But why shouldn't we laugh? We have recovered, and have helped others to recover. What greater cause could there be for rejoicing than this?

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 132

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Just a Quote

"The power behind me is greater than the problem in front of me." ~ Rose H.

March 17

Aging Person's Prayer

Lord, teach me to grow old gracefully. Help me to see that my community does me no wrong when gradually it takes from me my duties; when it no longer seems to seek my views. Rid me of my pride in all the "wisdom" I have learned. Rid me of the illusion that I am indispensable.

Lord, let me still be useful, contributing to the world of my optimism, adding my prayers to the joyful fervor and courage of those who now take their turn at the helm.

Let my lifestyle now become one of humble and serene contact with the world in change, shedding no tears for the past; making of my human sufferings a fit of reparation to all my brothers.

And now, finally, may I have a clear, deep understanding of the joyful destiny you have prepared for me, guiding my every step from the first day of my life. Lord, teach me to grow old...
Amen

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Just a Thought

Sometimes we can't help thinking: Why can't we ever drink again?

We know it's because we're alcoholics, but why did we have to get that way? The answer is that at some time in our drinking careers, we passed what is called our "tolerance point." When we passed this point, we passed from a condition in which we could tolerate alcohol to a condition in which we could not tolerate it at all. After that, if we took one drink, we would sooner or later end up drunk.

So ............

When I think of alcohol now, do I think of it as something that I can never tolerate again?

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Just a Contemplation

Old Relationships

Some of the baggage we can let go of is lingering feelings and unfinished business with past relationships: anger, resentments; feelings of victimization, hurt, or longing. If we have not put closure on a relationship, if we cannot walk away in peace, we have not yet learned our lesson. That may mean we will have to have another go around with that lesson before we are ready to move on.

What feelings did we leave with in a particular relationship? Are we still carrying those feelings around? Do we want the heaviness and impact of that baggage on our behavior today? Are we still feeling victimized, rejected, or bitter about something that happened two, five, ten, or even twenty years ago?

It may be time to let it go. It may be time to open ourselves to the true lesson from that experience. It may be time to put past relationships to rest, so we are free to go on to new, more rewarding experiences.

We can choose to live in the past, or we can choose to finish our old business from the past and open ourselves to the beauty of today. Let go of your baggage from past relationships.

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New Direction

Where my life had been full of mental turmoil there is now an ever-increasing depth of calmness. Where there was a hit or miss attitude toward living there is now new direction and force.

Experience, Strength and Hope Page 134

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Just a Quote

“Somebody once asked me how I define sobriety, and my response was ‘liberation from dependence’.” ~ Leslie Jamison

March 18


Prayer to Heal Friends

God, of our friends who are ill, whom we now commend to Your compassionate regard.
Comfort them upon their sickbeds, and ease their suffering. We beg for deliverance and submit that no healing is too hard for the Lord if it be His will.
We, therefore, pray that You bless our friends with Your loving care, renew their strength, and heal what ails them.
Amend

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Just a Thought

After that first drink, we had a single-track mind.

It was like a railroad train.
The first drink started it off and it kept going on the single track until it got to the end of the line, drunkenness. We alcoholics knew this was the inevitable result when we took the first drink, but still we couldn't keep away from liquor. Our willpower was gone. We had become helpless and hopeless before the power of alcohol. It's not the second drink or the tenth drink that does the damage. It's the first drink.

So ............

Will I ever take that first drink again?

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Just a Contemplation

Showing Love

Receiving a loving hug from a parent or perhaps a smile from a friend or even a stranger gives us a special feeling inside. We know we are important to others when they show us their love through attention. And we sometimes forget that we matter to others. Family members and friends feel good in the same way when we show them our love. Everyone needs to be loved.

How can we show our love? Must it be through a hug? Doing a favor for someone is loving. Helping around the house or the yard is loving, particularly when we've volunteered our help. Giving an unexpected gift to a friend is a way of showing love. Showing others we care, even when they are angry, is perhaps the nicest of all expressions of love.

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Twelfth-Stepping "Success"

We now see that in twelfth-stepping the immediate results are not so important. Some people start out working with others and have immediate success. They are likely to get cocky. Those of us who are not so successful at first get depressed.

As a matter of fact, the successful worker differs from the unsuccessful only in being lucky about his prospects. He simply hits newcomers who are ready and able to stop at once. Given the same prospects, the seemingly unsuccessful person would have produced almost the same results. You have to work on a lot of newcomers before the law of averages commences to assert itself.

As Bill See It Page 165

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Just a Quote

“Where there is charity and wisdom there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility there is neither anger nor worry.” ~ Francis of Assisi

March 19


Surrender Prayer

God, I thank you for all that you are, and all that you do for me. Lord, I place myself entirely in your hands. I surrender to you my whole self, my heart, my mind, my memory, my imagination, my will, my emotions, my passions, my body, my sexuality, my desire for human approval, my weaknesses, my desires.

Lord, I surrender every person in my life to you. I surrender every situation in my life to you. I surrender every relationship I am in to you. I surrender every concern I have to you. I surrender every fear I have to you. I surrender every doubt I have to you. I surrender all confusion I have to you. I surrender all sadness I am experiencing in my heart to you. I surrender all my wounds to you. I surrender all anxiety and worry I have to you. I surrender all that deceives me in my heart to you. I trust you to care for me and others in a perfectly loving way
Amen

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Just a Thought

If alcoholism were just a physical allergy!!

Like asthma or hay fever, it would be easy for us, by taking a skin test with alcohol, to find out whether or not we're alcoholics. But alcoholism is not just a physical allergy. It's also a mental allergy or obsession. After we've become alcoholics, we can still tolerate alcohol physically for quite a while, although we suffer a little more after each binge and each time it takes a little longer to get over the hangovers.

So ............

Do I realize that since I have become an alcoholic, I cannot tolerate alcohol mentally at all?

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Just a Contemplation

Faults

It is easy to look outward and find faults with the world and people around us. We criticize family members or complain about our friends. We always notice disease in the trees around us.

But if we take time to be quiet, to sit alone in a tree or by a lake, we become more aware of how connected we are to the life around us. We are part of the beauty and the imperfection. When we notice our own tree is not perfect, it becomes easier to forgive the blights of those around us. It is also important to forgive ourselves our faults. Though all the trees are beautiful, they each have their scars. Being human means we are, like all humanity, both beautiful and imperfect.

I will see through the flaws to another's beauty!!

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Fear No Evil

Though we of A.A. find ourselves living in a world characterized by destructive fears as never before in history, we see great areas of faith, and tremendous aspirations toward justice and brotherhood. Yet no prophet can presume to say whether the world outcome will be blazing destruction or the beginning, under God's intention, of the brightest era yet known to mankind.

I am sure we A.A.'s will comprehend this scene. In microcosm, we have experienced this identical state of terrifying uncertainty, each in his own life. In no sense pridefully, we can say that we do not fear the world outcome, whichever course it may take. This is because we have been established to deeply feel and say, "We shall fear no evil--Thy will, not ours, be done.

As Bill Sees It Page 166

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Just a Quote

"Fear is a killer. It stops the God-given spirituality in our lives from taking shape and making life enjoyable." ~ Reverend Leo Booth

March 20


Prayer For Change

Lord,
Change me from the inside out, so that I do not fret and worry about things that may never happen, but help me rather to focus my mind on what is good and lovely. Enable me to give others the support and encouragement that they need, and not always expect others to address the needs and concerns that I have. Lord I know without You, I cannot change. Amen

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Just a Thought

One drink started a train of thought that became an obsession.

From then on, we couldn't stop drinking.
We developed a mental compulsion to keep drinking until we got good and drunk. People generally make two mistakes about alcoholism. One mistake is that it can be cured by physical treatment only. The other mistake is that it can be cured by willpower only. Most alcoholics have tried both of these ways and have found that they don't work. But we members of A.A. have found a way to arrest alcoholism.

So .............

Have I got over my obsession by following the A.A. program?

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Just a Contemplation

Feeling Worthless

Nobody is rotten to the core. Whenever we start to believe we are bad all the way through, we can picture good things we have done, days when someone else was happy to be with us, and see for ourselves that we have many good points that outweigh the bad.

If we have done something wrong, we must apologize and make amends. Making a mistake is not the same as being worthless. Mistakes are a natural part of living, not something to be ashamed of. Our freedom to make mistakes is one of our greatest assets, for this is the way we learn humility, persistence, courage to take risks, and better ways of doing things. All of us are valuable and lovable. How could we be otherwise? Since mistakes are natural aspects of growth, we can salute them in others and ourselves as signs of life and celebrate our ability to learn and to forgive.

I now see that mistakes have helped me grow.

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Solitude

In solitude, we take our inventories.
In solitude, we admit to ourselves the exact nature of our wrongs.
In solitude, our spirits seek that Power greater than we are;
In solitude, we seek through prayer and meditation to be aware of God's will for us. . .
We are alone, but not lonely.

Came To Believe Page 109

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Just a Quote

“Hatred is never anything but fear - if you feared no one, you would hate no one.” ~ Hugh Downs

March 21


Prayer To Change Life

Lord,
I look up to you in this time of change. Allow me to have the courage to change my life for the better. Allow all my burdens to be risen up to you as I know that You will see me through. Forgive those who have done evil and allow me to do the same. Teach me to love with an open heart and open spirit. Take time for me today to help with all the trials you have set out for me and allow me the strength and energy to follow you. Give me the blessing to keep my family together, and bless those who are away, may they be strong and know how much love is out there. Bless me with love, strength, wisdom, health, courage, forgiveness, and a willingness to learn.
Amen

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Just a Thought

Alcohol is poison to the alcoholic.

Poison is not too strong a word, because alcoholism leads eventually to the death of the alcoholic. It may be a quick death or a slow death. When we go by package stores and see various kinds of liquor all dressed up in fancy packages to make it look attractive, we should always make it a point to say to ourselves so we'll never forget it: "That stuff's all poison to me." And it is. Alcohol poisoned our lives for a long time.

So ............

Do I know that since I'm an alcoholic, that all alcohol is poison to me?

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Just a Contemplation

Acceptance

We do not achieve acceptance in a moment. We often have to work through a mirage of feelings - sometimes anger, outrage, shame, self-pity, or sadness. But if acceptance is our goal, we will achieve it.

What is more freeing than to laugh at our weaknesses and to be grateful for our strengths? To know the entire package called "us" - with all our feelings, thoughts, tendencies, and history - is worthy of acceptance and brings healing feelings.

To accept our circumstances is another miraculous cure. For anything to change or anyone to change, we must first accept others, the circumstance, and ourselves exactly as they are. Then, we need to take it one step further. We need to become grateful for our circumstances or ourselves. We add a touch of faith by saying, "I know this is exactly the way it's supposed to be for the moment."

No matter how complicated we get, the basics never lose their power to restore us to sanity.

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Progress

On studying the Twelve Steps, many of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints.

The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

Alcoholics Anonymous Page 60

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Just a Quote

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” ~ Henry Ford

March 22


Accepting Others Prayer

God, it's sometimes hard for me to understand or accept or love those who are different from me.
I find myself wanting to change them so that they fit my accepted patterns.
I know that the difference between us need not separate us, but my lack of understanding makes me want to stay within the safety of my own perceptions rather than embrace what seems foreign.
Give me curiosity of mind so that I am open to the perspectives that others can offer me.
Help me see the similarities that bind us together.
Amen

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Just a Thought

I became an alcoholic and alcohol poisoned my life.

Alcohol poisoned my love for my family and friends, it poisoned my ambition, it poisoned my self-respect. It poisoned my whole life, until I met A.A. My life is happier now than it has been for a long time. I don't want to commit suicide. So with the help of God and A.A., I'm not going to take any more of that alcoholic poison into my system. And I'm going to keep training my mind never even to think of liquor again in any way except as a poison.

So ............

Do I believe that liquor will poison my life if I ever touch it again?

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Just a Contemplation

Being Right

That concept can be difficult for many of us if we have lived in systems that functioned on the "right/wrong" justice scale. The person who was right was okay; the person who was wrong was shamed. All value and worth may have depended on being right; to be wrong meant annihilation of self and self-esteem.

We strive for love in our relationships, not superiority. Yes, we may need to make decisions about people's behavior from time to time. If someone is hurting us, we need to stand up for ourselves. We have a responsibility to set boundaries and take care of ourselves. But we do not need to justify taking care of ourselves by condemning someone else. We can avoid the trap of focusing on others instead of ourselves.

What we do needs to be right only for us. What others do is their business and needs to be right only for them. It's tempting to rest in the superiority of being right and in analyzing other people's motives and actions, but it's more rewarding to look deeper.

I will remember that I don't have to hide behind being right. I don't have to justify what I want and need with saying something is "right" or "wrong." I can let myself be who I am.

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Changing Beliefs

When I arrived, trembling and terrified, at my first meeting, I thought I no longer believed in anything. What a miracle that, after one talk with my sponsor and one meeting, I could have hope in A.A.! This hope kept me coming to meetings and gradually grew into a true belief that A.A. had all the answers for me, that, if I would be willing and try, I could stay sober—one day at a time. However, I found that this involved the effort to practice the program.

Come To Believe Page 103

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Just a Quote

"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." ~ Frederick Douglass

March 23


Embracing Differences Prayer

God, help us be gracious to one another regarding areas where we are very different.
Assist us to appreciate that we don’t need to have the same personality or the same preferences in everything.
Help us recognize that a happy relationship is one in which the other person completes you –
and often that requires different strengths, different abilities, and different ways of looking at things.
Teach us to accept the other for the wonderful person they are.
Amen

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Just a Thought

We have this choice every day of our lives.

We can take the path that leads to insanity and death. And remember, our next drunk could be our last one. Or we can take the path that leads to a reasonably happy and useful life. The choice is ours each day of our lives. God grant that we take the right path.

So ............

Have I made my choice today?

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Just a Contemplation

Choices

The day ahead offers us choices of many kinds - some big ones, many that will affect other persons close to us, a few that will have profound effects on our destiny. But no choice, no decision we make, will be wrong. A particular decision may lead us slightly astray. Down a dead-end path perhaps - but we can always turn back and choose again.

We are seldom aware of the gravity of a particular choice at the time of making it. Only hindsight reveals the wisdom of an important choice. Nevertheless, no choice is without importance in the overall picture of our lives. And at the same time, no choice is all-powerful regarding our destiny. We are offered chances again and again for making the right choices, the ones that will most contribute to the bigger plan for our lives.

I need not worry about today's opportunities for decision-making. I will listen to those around me. I will seek guidance in the messages coming to me. I will make the choices I need to, today.

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Character Defects

If I drew a line between active alcoholism on one side and life as God wants me to live and has equipped me to on the other, then I'm somewhere in the middle, striving toward the ideal. If I allow my character defects to rule my life again and forget the AA program, forget where the power to change for the better comes from, I will, in the long run, inevitably drink again.

The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 3], Page 187

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Just a Quote

“Acceptance doesn’t mean that life gets better; it just means that my way of living life on life’s terms improves.” ~ Sharon E. Rainey

March 24


Peaceful Sleep Prayer

Dear God, as I lay me down to sleep, relax the tension of my body; calm the restlessness of my mind; still the thoughts which worry and perplex me.
Help me to rest myself and all my problems in your strong and loving arms. ... Grant me sleep tonight, and tomorrow power to live. Amen

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Just a Thought

Alcohol used to be my friend.

I used to have a lot of fun drinking. Practically all the fun I had was connected with drinking. But the time came when alcohol became my enemy. I don't know just when it turned against me and became my enemy; but I know it happened, because I began to get into trouble. And since I realize that alcohol is now my enemy, my main business is keeping sober. Making a living or keeping house is no longer my main business. It's secondary to the business of keeping sober.

So ............

Do I realize that my main business is keeping sober?

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Just a Contemplation

Deception

Think of the trouble of excuses and lies that have caused us. When we invent a long line of lies, we have to memorize each one. It's easiest just to be trustful, using plain and simple words. So when accusers spear us with their stares, we can disarm them by looking them right in the eye.

Not only do lies deceive others, they keep us hidden from ourselves, and make our real reasons for the choices we've made seem unworthy, if we feel we can't express ourselves truthfully. Better that we be truthful, even if a little pain results. Truth keeps communication lines open. Then, when someone really wants to know what's on our minds, we can simply open our hearts. There should not be anything that we cannot tell a real friend.

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Dividends

The A.A. preoccupation with sobriety is sometimes misunderstood. To some, this single virtue appears to be the sole dividend of our Fellowship. We are thought to be dried-up drunks who otherwise have changed little, or not at all, for the better. Such a surmise widely misses the truth. We know that permanent sobriety can be attained only by a most revolutionary change in the life and outlook of the individual--by a spiritual awakening that can banish the desire to drink.

As Bill Sees It Page 171

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Just a Quote

“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.” ~ Edward R. Murrow

March 25


Prayer for Healing

I ask you to please humble me to take any selfishness from me.
Plus any greed, any hypocritical attitudes, any hate, any envy, any jealousy, and unkind words and actions.
Please heal me in mind, body, spirit, and soul.
Make me whole again and please bless me with wisdom and peace.
Amen

~ Mary Graves

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Just a Thought

Intelligent faith in that Power greater than ourselves can be counted on to stabilize our emotions.

It has an incomparable capacity to help us look at life in a balanced perspective. We look up, around, and away from ourselves, and we see that nine out of ten things that at the moment upset us will shortly disappear. Problems solve themselves, criticism and unkindness vanish as though they had never been.

So ............

Have I got the proper perspective toward life?

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Just a Contemplation

Living in the Present

The present moment is all we have. Yes, we have plans and goals, a vision for tomorrow. But now is the only time we possess. And it is enough.

We can clear our mind of the residue of yesterday. We can clear our mind of fears of tomorrow. We can be present, now. We can make ourselves available to this moment, this day. It is by being fully present now that we reach the fullness of tomorrow.

Have no fear, child, a voice whispers. Have no regrets. Relinquish your resentments. Let Me take your pain. All you have is the present moment. Be still. Be here Trust.

All you have is now. It is enough.

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This Matter of Honesty

Only God can fully know what absolute honesty is. Therefore, each of us has to conceive what this great ideal may be--to the best of our ability.

Fallible as we all are, and will be in this life, it would be presumption to suppose that we could ever really achieve absolute honesty. The best we can do is to strive for a better quality of honesty.

Sometimes we need to place love ahead of indiscriminate 'factual honesty.' We cannot, under the guise of 'perfect honesty,' cruelly and unnecessarily hurt others. Always one must ask, 'What is the best and most loving thing I can do?'"

As Bill Sees It Page 177

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Just a Quote

“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” ~ Eddie Cantor

March 26


Prayer for Self Acceptance

I accept myself completely.
I accept my strengths and my weaknesses, my gifts and my shortcomings.
I accept myself as a human being.
I accept that I am here to learn and grow, and

I accept that within my mind are both fear and love, and
I accept my power to choose which I will experience as real.
I accept mistakes as a part of growth.
I am willing to forgive myself and give myself another chance.

I accept my own life as a blessing and a gift.
My heart is open to receive, and I am deeply grateful.
May I always share the gifts that I receive fully, freely, and joyfully.

I accept all that I was, all that I am, and all that I choose to become.

~ Lise Storgaard

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Just a Thought

Now we can take an inventory of the good things.

To begin with, we're sober today. That's the biggest asset on any alcoholic's books. Sobriety to us is like goodwill in business. Everything else depends on that. Most of us have jobs, which we owe to our sobriety. We know we couldn't hold these jobs if we were drinking, so our jobs depend on our sobriety. Most of us have wives or husbands and children, which we either had lost or might have lost, if we hadn't stopped drinking. We have friends in A.A., real friends who are always ready to help us.

So ............

Do I realize that my life today is dependent upon my sobriety?

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Just a Contemplation

Solving Problems

Many of us lived in situations where it wasn't okay to identify, have, or talk about problems. Denial became a way of life - our way of dealing with problems A problem doesn't mean life is negative or horrible. Having a problem doesn't mean a person is deficient. All people have problems to work through.

We must learn to focus on solving our problems. First, we make certain the problem is our problem. If it isn't, our problem is establishing boundaries. Then we seek the best solution. This may mean setting a goal, asking for help, gathering more information, taking an action, or letting go. Having problems does not mean our God is picking on us. Some problems are part of life; others are ours to solve, and we'll grow in necessary ways in the process.

Face and solve today's problems. Don't worry needlessly about tomorrow's problems, because when they appear, we'll have the resources necessary to solve them.

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Realization

“The number of times that you win or lose is not important. The only thing that matters is the number of times that you try.”

For several years I had tried to get someone else to solve my problem for me, but I had not realized I was doing so until that moment of insight. '... That you try.' I was exhilarated. Now I knew that I was an alcoholic and that I had the only qualification for membership in A.A., a desire to stop drinking.

Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, Page 50

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Just a Quote

“I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” ~ Brené Brown

March 27


Prayer For Self Confidence

Lord,
Let a ray of Your brilliance
Penetrate my understanding
Grant me a retentive memory
And the ability to grasp things
Correctly and completely.
Let me be convincing in my explanations
Steadfast and unwavering in my presentations
Give me Your confidence
To trust my God-given capabilities.
Help me with each task at hand
Guide me through its completion.
Amen

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Just a Thought

Most of us have found faith thought A.A.

That's faith in a Power greater than ourselves to which we can turn for help; faith in that Divine Principle in the universe which we call God and which is on our side as long as we do the right thing. There have been many days in the past when, if we had taken an inventory, we'd have found ourselves very much in the red, without sobriety, and therefore without jobs, families, friends, or faith in God. We now have these things because we're sober.

So ............

Do I make one resolution every day of my life to stay sober?

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Just a Contemplation

Strength

We don't always have to be strong. Sometimes, our strength is expressed in being vulnerable. Sometimes, we need to fall apart to regroup and stay on track. We all have days when we cannot push any harder, cannot hold back self-doubt, cannot stop focusing on fear, cannot be strong.

There are days when we cannot focus on being responsible. Occasionally we don't want to get out of our pajamas. Sometimes, we cry in front of people. We expose our tiredness, irritability, or anger. Those days are okay. They are just okay.

Part of taking care of ourselves means we give ourselves permission to "fall apart" when we need to. We do not have to be perpetual towers of strength. We are strong. We have proven that. Our strength will continue if we allow ourselves the courage to feel scared, weak, and vulnerable when we need to experience those feelings.

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Inner Resource

I promise to watch for every opportunity to turn toward my Higher Power for guidance. I know where this power is: it resides within me, as clear as a mountain brook, hidden in the hills -- it is the unsuspected Inner Resource. . . I trust it today and hope it trusts me to make all effort to find the right thought or action today.

Daily Reflections Page 28

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Just a Quote

“Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.” ~ Peter T. Mcin

March 28


Helping Others Prayer

God,
There are so many people in this world who are in need.
Please show us how we can help.
Use us Lord, to be a blessing to others.
I pray You would show us how to use our resources to help others.
Give us eyes to see those who are in need.
I pray that our lives are used for a great purpose of service to others.
Amen

~ Jeanne Lucas

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Just a Thought

"But for the grace of God."

When we came to our first A.A. meeting, we looked up at the wall at the end of the room and saw the sign: "But for the grace of God." We knew right then and there that we would have to call on the grace of God in order to get sober and get over our soul sickness. We heard speakers tell how they had come to depend on a Power greater than themselves. That made sense to us and we made up our minds to try it.

So ............

Am I depending on the grace of God to help me stay sober?

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Just a Contemplation

Obstacles

The truck was in mud to its axles. Three lumberjacks sat in stony silence in the cab. There they were, stuck in the woods on their way to the cutting site. The first man slammed the steering wheel, cursed, and stormed out of the truck. The second thought the early morning woods inviting and said he'd just crawl under a pine to nap until someone came along to pull them out. The third man, left alone, grabbed an axe and a saw and set about cutting wood to slide under the wheels. Within an hour he managed to pull the truck out of its muddy bath and they got on their way.

We can choose how we respond to an obstacle. As with the three men, our response may be to curse and give up, to sit back and wait for someone else to help us, or to set to work fearlessly to try to overcome it ourselves. The event itself isn't important; how we think about it is.

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24-hour Plan

Getting away from the pull of the first drink is like putting a space vehicle in orbit. It takes a lot of thrust to overcome the pull of gravity and get the vehicle off the ground. But once it gets in orbit, all that's required is a small correction from time to time.
That's how the 24-hour plan works -- a small daily checkup and correction to keep us away from the pull of that first drink. The 24-hour plan is a discipline whose yield is freedom.

The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 1], Page 152

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Just a Few Quotes

“Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.” ~ Sally Koch

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” ~ Dr. Seuss

March 29


Discouragement Prayer

Lord,
I come to You today, feeling discouraged and worn out emotionally.
I ask for You to renew me inwardly. I know that what I’m going through is temporary.
Please help me to focus on the things that are positive and uplifting, rather than these things that are wearing me down because they are transient.
Please restore, confirm, strengthen and reestablish me.
Amen

~ John Driscoll

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Just a Thought

No chain is stronger than its weakest link.

Likewise, if you fail in the day-by-day program, in all probability it will be your weakest point. Great faith and constant contact with God's power can help you discover, guard, and undergird your weakest point with a strength not your own. Intelligent faith in God's power can be counted on to help you master your emotions, help you to think kindly of others, and help you with any task that you undertake, no matter how difficult.

So ............

Am I master of my emotions?

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Just a Contemplation

Laughter

We are told that laughter is sunshine filling a room. And where there is laughter, there also is life. They say that people who laugh a lot live longer than do the sour-faced. When we laugh together, gratitude comes more easily, companionship thrives, and all praise is sincere. Laughter brings us joy that cannot be bought. Such joy is with us throughout each day. To hoard joy, to hide it away deep within us away from others, will make us lonely misers. We cannot buy or trade for joy, but we can give or receive it as a gift.

Laughter's joy celebrates the moment we are living right now. It is a gift we must share, or it will wither and die. Shared, it grows and thrives, and always returns to us when we need it most.

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Belonging

There is no more 'aloneness,' with that awful ache, so deep in the heart of every alcoholic that nothing, before, could ever reach it. That ache is gone and never need return again. Now there is a sense of belonging, of being wanted and needed and loved. In return for a bottle and a hangover, we have been given the Keys of the Kingdom.

Alcoholics Anonymous Page 312 (3rd Edition)

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Just a Quote

“We’re so busy watching out for what’s just ahead of us that we don’t take time to enjoy where we are.” ~ Calvin & Hobbes

March 30


Selfishness Prayer

Lord,
Please forgive me. I am still such a selfish person. I don’t know why I struggle so much with this. Every day my flesh is confronted with a decision and I want so badly, and oftentimes do, justify my reasoning for what I choose to do. I do what benefits me. If it is inconvenient or outside of my desire, I don’t want to do it. The worst part is when my family are the ones asking and I deny them. Please help me not to be so selfish. If my family or friends need help with anything please help me to do it with a joyful heart. Change me Lord. Remove my selfish ways. Give me a heart and mind that is focused on serving others.
Amen

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Just a Thought

When we came into A.A., we came to believe in a Power greater than ourselves.

We came to believe in that Divine Principle in the universe, which many of us call God, and to whom we can turn for help. Each morning we have a quiet time. We ask God for the power to stay sober for the next twenty-four hours. And each night we thank Him for helping us to keep sober that day.

So ............

Do I believe that each man or woman I see in A.A. is a demonstration of the power of God to change a human being from a drunkard to a sober person?

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Just a Contemplation

Bad Days

We all have days from time to time when it feels like the world is against us or that the chaos we are experiencing will never end. One negative circumstance seems to lead to another. You may wonder, on a bad day, whether anything in your life will ever go right again. But a bad day, like any other day, can be a gift. Having a bad day can show you that it is time to slow down, change course, or lighten up. A bad day can help you glean wisdom you might otherwise have overlooked or discounted. Bad days can certainly cause you to experience uncomfortable feelings you would prefer to avoid, yet a bad day may also give you a potent means to learn about yourself.

You may consider a bad day to be one where you’ve missed an important meeting because your car stalled, the dryer broke, and you received a piece of very bad news earlier in the morning. Multiple misfortunes that take place one after the other can leave us feeling vulnerable and intensely cognizant of our fragility. But bad days can only have a long-term negative effect on us if we let them. It is better to ask yourself what you can learn from these kinds of days. The state of your bad day may be an indicator that you need to stay in and hibernate or let go of your growing negativity.

Bad days contribute to the people we become. Though we may feel discouraged and distressed on our bad days, a bad day can teach us patience and perseverance. It is important to remember that your attitude drives your destiny and that one negative experience does not have to be the beginning of an ongoing stroke of bad luck. A bad day is memorable because it is one day among many good days – otherwise, we wouldn’t even bother to acknowledge it as a bad day. Know too, that everybody has bad days, you are not alone, the world is not against you.

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Surrender

We surrender to win. On the face of it, surrendering certainly does not seem like winning. But it is in AA. Only after we have come to the end of our rope, hit a stone wall in some aspect of our lives beyond which we can go no further; only when we hit "bottom" in despair and surrender, can we accomplish sobriety which we could never accomplish before. We must, and we do, surrender in order to win."

Alcoholics Anonymous, 2nd Edition, Page 341

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Just a Quote

“Selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride. 'How everything affects me' is the center of all that matters - self-conceit, self-pity, worldly self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking.” ~ Ezra Taft Benson