A Prayer & Some Thoughts - April

[bluidkiti]

April 15

Prayer Against Depression

Lord,
Please strengthen our hearts, and remind us to encourage one another when the troubles of life start to overwhelm us.
Please guard our hearts from depression.
Give us the strength to rise up each day and fight against the struggles which seek to weigh us down.
Amen

~ John Barnett

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Just a Thought

Can I get well?

If I mean: "Can I ever drink normally again?" the answer is no. But if I mean, "Can I stay sober?" the answer is definitely yes. I can get well by turning my drink problem over to a Power greater than myself, that Divine Principle in the universe which we call God, and by asking that Power each morning to give me the strength to stay sober for the next twenty-four hours. I know from the experience of thousands of people that if I honestly want to get well, I can get well.

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

Am I faithfully following the A.A. program?

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Just a Contemplation

Being Different

What does it mean to be different? How does it feel? Is it okay to act or look or be different from everyone else at times? Sometimes, maybe even most of the time, it feels safer to blend into the crowd. We don't want to stick out like a sore thumb. But sometimes it's when we are different that we discover new things no one has ever thought of or done before.

We don't want to spend our whole lives doing only what others do. And there are times when we must take a stand if what others are doing is wrong. Perhaps it's good practice to try to do some little thing differently once in a while, to stand out from the crowd, just to get used to it. We might even like it. After all, if no one ever dares to be different, how would our world ever change for the better?

“Each man with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.” ~ Mark Twain

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"Success" in Twelfth-Stepping

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 Sees It Page 165

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Just a Quote

“’Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.” ~ Alice Walker