When one alcoholic/addict shares with another alcoholic/addict

[MajestyJo]

August 16



"The temporary or seeming good can often be the deadly enemy of the permanent best."

The Language of the Heart

AA Co-Founder, Bill W., January 1955
"Why Alcoholics Anonymous is Anonymous"
The Language of the Heart

[MajestyJo]

August 17



"No generation is a carbon copy of the previous one ... Young people in the meetings today are in many respects luckier: They have learned more in less time. If they seem to dwell at length on how they are feeling at the moment, it doesn't mean they are less dedicated to stopping drinking one day at a time and practicing the Steps of the program. Nor does less shame, brought about by less stigma, mean less dedication."

Voice of Long Term Sobriety

New York, N.Y., June 1994
"...And the Wisdom to Know the Difference"
Voices of Long-Term Sobriety

[MajestyJo]

August 18



"An old-timer spoke about the danger of becoming complacent and explained the need for the Steps in her life. 'The way I see it,' she said, 'I might have gotten the monkey off my back, but the circus is still in town.'"

New York, N.Y., September 2005
"Ham on Wry"
AA Grapevine

[MajestyJo]

August 19



"The first thing that captured me at my very first meeting was the way AA members talked with one another. There was a genuineness, something real there, that I wanted ... I saw they were sober and that they were honest with each other."

Voice of Long Term Sobriety

New York, N.Y., February 2001
"The Real Thing"
Voices of Long-Term Sobriety

[MajestyJo]

August 20



"Although I have a lot of 'yets' out there, I have true friends who love me. All I need to do is call them and go to meetings and work my program, and for today the 'yets' won't come."

In Our Own Words

Raleigh, N.C., August 1999
"Haven't You Had Enough?"
In Our Own Words: Stories of Young AAs in Recovery

[MajestyJo]

August 21



"The more I change, the more I hope the Traditions and principles of AA don't change."

In Our Own Words

San Mateo, Calif., December 1995
"Ten Minutes of Oneness"
In Our Own Words: Stories of Young AAs in Recovery

[MajestyJo]

August 22



"Nothing ever falls out of the universe."

Voice of Long Term Sobriety

New York, N.Y., February 2001
"The Real Thing"
Voices of Long-Term Sobriety

[MajestyJo]

August 23



"We are again citizens of the world. It is a distraught world, very tired, very uncertain. It has worshipped its own self-sufficiency - and that has failed. We AAs are a people who once did that very thing. That philosophy failed us, too. So perhaps, here and there, our example of recovery can help."

The Language of the Heart

AA Co-Founder, Bill W., October 1944
"A Date With Destiny"
The Language of the Heart

[MajestyJo]

August 24



"Everyone around me said, 'Quit drinking,' but no one was able to tell me how."

Voice of Long Term Sobriety

Austin, Texas, November 2004
"The Perfect Curve"
Voices of Long-Term Sobriety

[MajestyJo]

August 25



"The AA message is a message from one amateur to another."

Voice of Long Term Sobriety

Riverside, Ill., September 2007
"It Works for Me"
Voices of Long-Term Sobriety

We come from all walks of life, yet we can all communicate if we allow ourselves to identify and not compare. We have been there, done it, wore the T-Shirt, even if we haven't worn the jeans. I believe it is the jeans, not the genes, that is the origin of my disease. I was a product of my environment. It was how I perceived things, and when I came into recovery, I felt at home.

We may think ourselves better than others, but that is our disease talking. We are all created equal, we walk beside each other, not one ahead or one ahead. It doesn't matter what the trappings are we wear, it is what is inside that counts.

[MajestyJo]

August 26



"Ego was being replaced with self-respect ... resentment and hatred were being replaced with tolerance and understanding ... fear was being replaced with trust ... loneliness and self-pity were being replaced with gratitude and love -- all because I was working the program to the best of my ability and wasn't drinking."

In Our Own Words

Toledo, Ohio, September 1982
"Above All, an Alcoholic"
In Our Own Words: Stories of Young AAs in Recovery

[MajestyJo]

August 27



"AA membership cannot depend upon any particular belief whatever ... our Twelve Steps contain no article of religious faith except faith in God - as each of us understands him."

The Language of the Heart

AA Co-Founder, Bill W., September 1950
"We Came of Age"
The Language of the Heart

[MajestyJo]

August 28

"Not drinking is the first requirement for joy; the
second requirement is gratitude."

In Our Own Words

Lombard, Ill., Feb. 1995
"The Most Beautiful Word in the English Language"
In Our Own Words: Stories of Young AAs in Recovery




August 29

"Not only ... could spiritual experiences make people saner, they could transform men and women so that they could do, feel, and believe what had hitherto been impossible to them. It mattered little whether these awakenings were sudden or gradual; their variety could be almost infinite."

The Language of the Heart

AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1953
"A Fragment of History: Origin of the Twelve Steps"
The Language of the Heart




August 30

"Happiness or tragedy might just depend upon a slight sign of recognition, a nod of the head or perhaps a friendly smile."

Chappaqua, N.Y., December 1947
"Recognition"
AA Grapevine


August 31

"My past sobriety is not a ticket to future sobriety. I have to pay that fare and make the decision to recover daily."

In Our Own Words

AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1953
"A Fragment of History: Origin of the Twelve Steps"
The Language of the Heart

Grapevine quote of the day for the month of August. Sorry I have not been able to be post these daily.

[MajestyJo]

September 1

"I don't need to project the future or cry about the past. Just live to the best of my ability, one day at a time."

AA Around the World

Bangkok, Thailand, October 1988
"The Best of My Ability"
AA Around the World: Adventures in Recovery



=====

September 2

"By admitting where I was at fault, I was given the ability to forgive ... With forgiveness came a freedom that I had not anticipated. The amends had required nothing but courage, and a faith that my Higher Power would carry me where I had been too afraid to walk alone."

Step by Step Book

Sterling, Alaska, September 1993
"Scene of the Crime"
Step By Step



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September 3

"I had a really good reason for working Step Nine and making amends to my family and friends. I didn't want a parade of people at my funeral singing, 'Ding, dong, the wicked witch is dead!'"

Step by Step Book

Sarasota, Fla., February 2009
"Heard at Meetings"

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September 4

"AA is spiritual, is the eye of the hurricane, is my refuge and my comfort."

Spiritual Awakenings Vol. 1

Oklahoma City, Okla., December 1992
"Eye of the Hurricane"



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September 5

"My Higher Power works incognito, defying definition and requiring faith."

Spiritual Awakenings Vol. 1

State College, Penn., April 1994
"Working Incognito"
Spiritual Awakenings

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September 6

"I felt myself move with a new power, courage, and faith that, by the grace of God, I have acquired as a result of working the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous."

Spiritual Awakenings II
Click to learn more
Conn., June 2005
"Life and Taxes"
Spiritual Awakenings II



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September 7

"The individual must sometimes place the welfare of his fellows ahead of his own uncontrolled desires. Were the individual to yield nothing to the common welfare there could be no society at all - only self-will run riot; anarchy in the worst sense of the word."

Celebrating The Language of the Heart

AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1946
"The Individual in Relation to AA as a Group"

September 8

"I am feeling much better now, and I thank God for AA and my good friends. I have learned how to accept their help."

Emotional Sobriety II

Queens, N.Y., February 1971
"Carrying the Message"
Emotional Sobriety II



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September 9

"When I'm willing to pay the price for top-shelf sobriety, 'action' is still the magic word."

Emotional Sobriety II

Craig, Colo., January 1997
"Paying the Price for Improvement"
Emotional Sobriety II

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September 10

"We who live in the haven of AA cling together with an intensity of purpose which the outside world seldom comprehends. The anarchy of the individual melts away. Self-love subsides and democracy becomes a reality. We begin to know true freedom of the spirit."

Celebrating The Language of the Heart

AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1946
"The Individual in Relation to AA as a Group"

=====

September 11

"Alcoholics Anonymous has given me something of real value that I can share with others."

Spiritual Awakenings II
Click to learn more
Tucson, Ariz., May 2004
"The Fugitives"

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September 12

"Ever so slowly, I could feel myself changing. Things that had seemed important were no longer important. There was inside me a warming, a softening, a stirring, as the petals of a rosebud stir almost imperceptibly into a blossom."

Spiritual Awakenings II
Neoga, Ill., February 1974
"There Can Be Love and Laughter"

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September 13

"I am learning how to cope with life, people, and situations, not as I want them to be, but as they really are."

Emotional Sobriety II

Millburn, N.J., July 1971
"Reality Can Be Uncomfortable"



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September 14

"The way our 'worthy' alcoholics have sometimes tried to judge the 'less worthy' is, as we look back on it, rather comical. Imagine, if you can, one alcoholic judging another!"

Celebrating The Language of the Heart

AA Co-Founder, Bill W., August 1946
"Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?"
The Language of the Heart

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September 15

"The next time you feel hurt, outraged, bitter or resentful - the beginning of many a slip as attested to by AA speakers - try to remember quickly that you haven't been mortally harmed. In nearly all cases, it's just a pain in your feelings!"

Emotional Sobriety II

Elmhurst, N.Y., March 1950
"Got a Pain in Your Feelings?"

[MajestyJo]

September 16

"Am I strong enough? Am I willing to commit my life and my heart at an even deeper level to doing whatever it takes to keep moving forward?"

Spiritual Awakenings II

North Hollywood, Calif., September 2005
"Where's My Reward?"
Spiritual Awakenings II

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September 17

"Though all alone out there, an AA from the Marshall Islands still claimed his group had three members, to wit: 'God, the book Alcoholics Anonymous, and me.'"

Celebrating The Language of the Heart

AA Co-Founder, Bill W., September 1950
"We Came of Age"
The Language of the Heart


=====

September 18

"The inner energy that is love connects all the parts of us - our emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual selves."




Emotional Sobriety II
Calif., March 1984
"Powerful Simplicity"
Emotional Sobriety II

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September 19

"One day, after sitting alone, soaked in tears and feeling empty, worthless, and crippled in the smallest task, I reached out and gave my phone number to someone else - they were hurting, too. In that simplest of acts, my world changed."

Spiritual Awakenings II

Salt Lake City, Utah, July 2007
"Life, Not Regrets"
Spiritual Awakenings II

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September 20

"There has to be something to be grateful for if I am only willing to change my attitude and look for it."

Emotional Sobriety II

Mesa, Ariz., March 2010
"Not On Fire"
Emotional Sobriety II


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September 21

"Most of us do follow, in our personal lives, the Twelve suggested Steps to recovery ... We do this from choice. We prefer recovery to death. Then, little by little, we ... conform because we want to."


Celebrating The Language of the Heart

AA Co-Founder, Bill W., January 1947
"Will AA Ever Have a Personal Government?"

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September 22

"With the help of the Fellowship, the Twelve Steps, and a Higher Power ... I do not have to be a newcomer again."

Emotional Sobriety II



Montpelier, Vt., March 2003
"Confessions of a Reluctant Newcomer"
Emotional Sobriety II

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September 23

"I have made a determined effort to focus more on seeing myself as God sees me."



Spiritual Awakenings II
Click to learn more
Reston, Va., December 2009
"I'm Not Broken"
Spiritual Awakenings II

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September 24

"While we readily share our views, perhaps one of the nicest things about the AA program is that we don't always have to agree with each other."




Emotional Sobriety II
Click to learn more
Brooklyn, N.Y., June 1975
"Self-Acceptance"
Emotional Sobriety II


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September 25

"Those little maxims 'Easy Does It' and 'Live and Let Live' have come to be deeply meaningful and significant."

Celebrating The Language of the Heart

AA Co-Founder, Bill W., January 1947
"Will AA Ever Have a Personal Government?"

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September 26

"The beauty of sobriety is that sometimes I am the one supported, and other times the one supporting. One act helps destroy my ego, the other my self-centeredness. I need to practice both actions if I want to survive"

No Matter What

Los Angeles, Calif., July 2007
"Self-Support"
No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety

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September 27

"Always a heady wine, success may sometimes cause us to forget that each of us lives on borrowed time."

Celebrating The Language of the Heart

AA Co-Founder, Bill W., October 1947
"Traditions Stressed in Memphis Talk"
The Language of the Heart

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September 28

"I don't fear for the future because I am in the loving arms of AA today."

No Matter What
Los Angeles, Calif., July 2007
"Self-Support"
No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety

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September 29

"I've never taken my sobriety for granted because I know I'm only one drink away from ruining my life."

No Matter What

Jamaica Plain, Mass., May 1997
"The Littlest Things"
No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety

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September 30

"Since today marks not only the last day of my life to this date, but also the first day of the rest of my life, and since I have come to believe that the best is yet to come, I think today has been my best day sober."

Lubbock, Texas, December 2000
"My Best Day Sober"
No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety

=====