Daily Recovery Readings - March 24

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God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
and Wisdom to know the difference.
Thy will, not mine, be done.

March 24

Daily Reflections

ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE, p. 92

Man is supposed to think, and act. He wasn't made to God's image to
be an automation.
As Bill Sees It, p. 55

Before I joined A.A., I often did not think, and reacted to people and
situations. When not reacting I acted in a mechanical fashion. After
joining A.A., I started seeking daily guidance from a Power greater
than myself, and learning to listen for that guidance. Then I began to
make decisions and act on them, rather than react to them. The
results have been constructive; I no longer allow others to make
decisions for me and then criticize me for it.
Today--and every day--with a heart full of gratitude, and a desire for
God's will to be done through me, my life is worth sharing, especially
with my fellow alcoholics! Above all, if I do not make a religion out of
anything, even A.A., then I can be an open channel for God's
expression.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Strength comes from honestly telling your own experiences with
drinking. In religion, they call it confession. We call it witnessing or
sharing. You give a personal witness, you share your past experiences,
the troubles you got into, the hospitals, the jails, the break-up of your
home, the money wasted, the debts, and all the foolish things you did
when you were drinking. This personal witness lets out the things you
had kept hidden, brings them out into the open, and you find release
and strength. Am I receiving strength from my personal witnessing?

Meditation For The Day

We cannot fully understand the universe. The simple fact is that we
cannot even define space or time, which we have manufactured by our
own minds and on that depends all our so-called knowledge of the
universe. The simple fact is that we can never know all things, nor are
we made to know them. Much of our lives must be taken on faith.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that my faith may be based on my own experience of the power
of God in my life. I pray that I may know this one thing above all else
in the universe.

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As Bill Sees It

We Cannot Live Alone, p. 83

All of A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural
desires; they all deflate our egos. When it comes to ego deflation, few
Steps are harder to take than the Fifth. Scarcely any Step is more
necessary to long-time sobriety and peace of mind.

A.A. experience has taught us we cannot live alone with our pressing
problems and the character defects which cause or aggravate them. If
Step Four has revealed in stark relief those experiences we'd rather
not remember, then the need to quit living by ourselves with those
tormenting ghosts of yesterday gets more urgent than ever. We have
to talk to somebody about them.

<< << << >> >> >>

We cannot wholly rely on friends to solve all our difficulties. A good
adviser will never do all our thinking for us. He knows that each final
choice must be ours. He will therefore help to eliminate fear,
expediency, and self-deception, so enabling us to make choices which
are loving, wise, and honest.

1. 12 & 12, p. 55

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Walk in Dry Places

This Too Shall Pass____ Fortitude
Growing older in sobriety, w soon become aware of the fact that both good and bad experiences eventually pass on. No matter how beautiful or ugly a situation becomes, it must change in time. In discussions, we catch this idea by reminding ourselves that "This too shall pass."
We are very fortunate that this is true. Were it otherwise, intolerable conditions would last forever. Our business is to make sure that our own thoughts and actions lead to betterment, for ourselves and others. While we should be willing to accept unpleasantness if the re is no way of avoiding it, we should always hope…. And work….. for improvement.
When unpleasant experiences do pass on. We must also be careful not to resurrect them by brooding about how badly we were treated or trying to get even with others. This only prolongs the trouble. The good news in AA is that we can survive any experience and put it behind us.
Whatever I'm facing today, I'll know that it is temporary and has no power to keep me from the deeper happiness and gratitude I have in the 12 step program.

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Keep It Simple

Love your enemy it will drive him nuts.Eleanor Doan
Love you enemy. It’s a lot easier on you! Hating someone takes so much time and energy.
Loving your enemy means, instead of trying to get even, you let your Higher Power handle that person. Of course, loving your enemy is also hard. It means giving up control. It means giving up self-will. We addicts naturally want to control things and people.
This is where we turn to our program for help. We learn to love our enemies, not for some grand reason. We simply do it because hate can cause us to use alcohol or other drugs again.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, watch over my family, friends, and my enemies. Take from me my desire to control. Take from me all reasons to get high.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list all my enemies. I’ll say each of their names, and then I’ll read the Third Step out loud.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Love has a hundred gentle ends. --Leonora Speyer
Letting go is a process that is seldom easy. For many, its meaning is elusive. How do we "let go"? Letting go means removing our attention from a particular experience or person and putting our focus on the here and now. We hang on to the past, to past hurts, but also to past joys. We have to let the past pass. The struggle to hang on to it, any part of it, clouds the present. You can't see the possibilities today is offering if your mind is still drawn to what was.
Letting go can be a gentle process. Our trust in our higher power and our faith that good will prevail, in spite of appearances, eases the process. And we must let each experience end, as its moment passes, whether it is good or bad, love or sorrow. It helps to remember that all experiences contribute to our growth and wholeness. No experience will be ignored by the inner self who is charting our course. All are parts of the journey. And every moment has a gentle end, but no moment is forgotten.
My journey today is akin to yesterday's journey and tomorrow's too. I will savor each moment and be ready for the next.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

MORE ABOUT ALCOHOLISM

MOST OF US have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.
We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed.

p. 30

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

WINNER TAKES ALL - Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way to stay sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.

My parents were very much in love and had been married a couple of years when they decided to start a family. They were so excited when their first son was born. They owned their own small business, and with the arrival of their son their lives seemed perfect--until tragedy struck. When their son was about two years old, my parents were eating at a local restaurant, and he was dancing to the music of the jukebox and having a good time. He followed some older children outside and was hit by a car. My parents carried him in an ambulance to a hospital thirty miles away, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. My parents were stricken with grief.

p. 375

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

Of course all A.A.'s, even the best, fall far short of such achievements as a consistent thing. Without necessarily taking that first drink, we often get quite far off the beam. Our troubles sometimes begin with indifference. We are sober and happy in our A.A. work. Things go well at home and office. We naturally congratulate ourselves on what later proves to be a far too easy and superficial point of view. We temporarily cease to grow because we feel satisfied that there is no need for all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps for us. We are doing fine on a few of them. Maybe we are doing fine on only two of them, the First Step and that part of the Twelfth where we "carry the message." In A.A. slang, that blissful state is known as "two-stepping. " And it can go on for years.

pp. 112-113

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I keep my sobriety by giving it away.

Humility does not mean you think less of yourself.
It means you think of yourself less.
--Ken Blanchard

"Recovery is a path, not a sudden landing."
--Sandra B

"The two major sources of value today are time and knowledge. Find
new ways every day to use them better."
--Brian Tracy

Action is the antidote to despair.
--Joan Baez

Even though our love may waiver, God's love for us never fails.
--Howard Coop

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

LANGUAGE

"Language is the light of the mind."
John Stuart Mill

When I was drinking, I never really thought about how I behaved, how
I dressed or the language I used. Today I believe I should be
responsible for the whole of me.

Language is important because it is my bridge to others; it is also the
vehicle for understanding the ideas of others. Spirituality involves the
concept of language because it is the means of growth, communication
and relationship. My words help me to be known. My ability to
understand the ideas and aspirations of others helps me to feel that I
belong.

God is perceived in this world and the gift of language is one of the
ways God is revealed. My words are spiritual.

May the light of God's eternal truth be manifested in the way I talk
and relate to others.

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Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the LORD,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31

"Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let
God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice
that the plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands, and moves
toward the goal of true maturity."
Romans 12:2

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Daily Inspiration

A house becomes a home when it is filled with love and friendship. Lord, bless my life with laughter and many shared moments that I may in turn be a source of sunshine to others.

Live as a responsible adult, but approach God as a child, full of faith and trust. You cannot help but perfect one by the other. Lord, You are my Father. Who else will so lovingly listen to me and care for my desires.

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NA Just For Today

Letting Go Of The Past

"It is not where we were that counts, but where we are going."
Basic Text, pg.22

When we first find recovery, some of us feel shame or despair at calling ourselves "addicts." In the early days, we may be filled with both fear and hope as we struggle to find new meaning in our lives. The past may seem inescapable and overpowering. It may be hard to think of ourselves in any way other than the way we always have.

While memories of the past can serve as reminders of what's waiting for us if we use again, they can also keep us stuck in a nightmare of shame and fear. Though it may be difficult to let go of those memories, each day in recovery can bring us that much farther away from our active addiction. Each day, we can find more to look forward to and less to punish ourselves for.

In recovery, all doors are open to us. We have many choices. Our new life is rich and full of promise. While we cannot forget the past, we don't have to live in it. We can move on.

Just for today: I will pack my bags and move out of my past into a present filled with hope.

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
The things we hate about ourselves aren't more real than things we like about ourselves. --Ellen Goodman
It is so easy, and tempting, to get down on ourselves, to focus on an imperfect face, a dismal batting average, our fear of math, or our big feet. The trouble is, the more we feel sorry for ourselves, and the more we have to feel sorry about. And though it probably doesn't hurt to indulge in a little self-pity once in a while, how unfortunate--and limiting--it can be to let those attitudes define us.
The things we hate about ourselves are no more real than the things we like about ourselves. The trick is to dwell on the things we like instead of those we don't. Even on days when we are sure we are the least lovable creatures in the world, we can "act as if" we like ourselves. What a surprise at the end of the day, to find out that we actually do!
What can I like about myself today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
I don't like a man to be too efficient. He's likely to be not human enough. --Felix Frankfurter
On our path we seek balance. Pursuing any single value and ignoring another, whether it is efficiency, hard work, or leisure, will make one sided men of us. Psychology tells us our right brain is the creative, intuitive side and our left brain is the concrete, fact gathering side. Spending our energies developing only one part of ourselves will leave us incomplete. We males have been taught we should be decisive, practical, and have our feet on the ground.
As men we are also creative and sensitive. We think in stories, pictures, and metaphors and we love music. At our best, we are willing to place people and relationships ahead of things and goals. When we are wisest and most human, we draw on the many sides of ourselves.
Today, I will use both the creative, intuitive part of me and the practical, decisive part that can get a job done.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Love has a hundred gentle ends. --Leonora Speyer
Letting go is a process that is seldom easy. For many, its meaning is elusive. How do we "let go"? Letting go means removing our attention from a particular experience or person and putting our focus on the here and now. We hang on to the past, to past hurts, but also to past joys. We have to let the past pass. The struggle to hang on to it, any part of it, clouds the present. You can't see the possibilities today is offering if your mind is still drawn to what was.
Letting go can be a gentle process. Our trust in our higher power and our faith that good will prevail, in spite of appearances, eases the process. And we must let each experience end, as its moment passes, whether it is good or bad, love or sorrow. It helps to remember that all experiences contribute to our growth and wholeness. No experience will be ignored by the inner self who is charting our course. All are parts of the journey. And every moment has a gentle end, but no moment is forgotten.
My journey today is akin to yesterday's journey and tomorrow's too. I will savor each moment and be ready for the next.


You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Appreciating Ourselves
We are the greatest things that will ever happen to us. Believe it. It makes life much easier. --Codependent No More
It is time to stop this nonsense of running around picking on ourselves.
We may have walked through much of our life apologizing for ourselves either directly or indirectly - feeling less valuable than others, believing that they know better than we do, and believing that somehow others are meant to be here and we are not.
We have a right to be here.
We have a right to be ourselves.
We are here. There is a purpose, a reason, and an intention for our life. We do not have to apologize for being here or being who we are.
We are good enough, and deserving.
Others do not have our magic. We have our magic. It is in us.
It doesn't matter what we've done in our past. We all have a past, woven with mistakes, successes, and learning experiences. We have a right to our past. It is ours. It has worked to shape and form us. As we progress on this journey, we shall see how each of our experiences will be turned around and used for good.
We have already spent too much time being ashamed, being apologetic, and doubting the beauty of ourselves. Be done with it. Let it go. It is an unnecessary burden. Others have rights, but so do we. We are neither less than nor more than. We are equal. We are who we are. That is whom we were created and intended to be.
That, my friend, is a wonderful gift.
God, help me own my power to love and appreciate myself. Help me give myself validity instead of looking to others to do that.


I forgive myself and all others today. --Ruth Fishel

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Journey to the Heart

Tap into Life’s Energy

Life is not something separate or apart from you, as you once believed. There is a power, a life force, that moves, guides, directs, and inspires you. You are one with life, with life’s energy.

Do things that energize you, charge your soul. Soak up the sun. Soak up color. Soak up beautiful sounds. Immerse yourself in nature, in a world the refreshes, restores, and renews. Don’t worry about the task or the day that looms ahead, the work, and love and play, the problems and choices that are on the way. If you energize yourself, restore yourself, the power to take action will come naturally like water from a spring.

Look around. What do you see that feels right to do? Which direction do you see as the right way to go? Trust the smallest glimmer. Give in to the urge, to the guidance that’s there. Do it once. Do it again. Soon you will find yourself in harmony.

You will have all the guidance, energy, ideas, creativity, power, and ability you need to do all you’re meant to do. And you will be given the power to enjoy it.

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More Language Of Letting Go

Cultivate inner peace

According to my experience, the principle characteristic of genuine happiness is peace, inner peace.
–His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Cultivate a sense of peace, an abiding inner peace that doesn’t depend on outward circumstance.

So much chaos, so much drama, so many emotions surge through us. It is so easy, so tempting to believe that once we get through this circumstance, once we achieve this goal, once we solve this problem, then we will be peaceful.

That’s an illusion.

“I’m happy when I get what I want,” said Kent. “For a few minutes.”

Getting what we want may cause us to feel happy for a moment, but it will bring a limited, transient happiness. The next problem or emotion will present itself. Or we will begin resenting that person or job, because he, she, or it did not bring the happiness we believed it would. Like a carrot on a stick, happiness will always be the next problem, acquisition, or emotion away.

Be peaceful now.

Be happy now.

Take the limits off your joy.

God, help me remember to be peaceful first, no matter what situation I face.

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A Great Teacher
Living Like Water

The journey of water as it flows upon the earth can be a mirror of our own paths through life. Water begins its residence on earth as it falls from the sky or melts from ice and streams down a mountain into a tributary or stream. In the same way, we come into the world and begin our lives on earth. Like a river that flows within the confines of its banks, we are born with certain defining characteristics that govern our identity. We are born in a specific time and place, within a specific family, and with certain gifts and challenges. Within these parameters, we move through life, encountering many twists, turns, and obstacles along the way just as a river flows.

Water is a great teacher that shows us how to move through the world with grace, ease, determination, and humility. When a river breaks at a waterfall, it gains energy and moves on, as we encounter our own waterfalls, we may fall hard but we always keep moving on. Water can inspire us to not become rigid with fear or cling to what’s familiar. Water is brave and does not waste time clinging to its past, but flows onward without looking back. At the same time, when there is a hole to be filled, water does not run away from it in fear of the dark; instead, water humbly and bravely fills the empty space. In the same way, we can face the dark moments of our life rather than run away from them.

Eventually, a river will empty into the sea. Water does not hold back from joining with a larger body, nor does it fear a loss of identity or control. It gracefully and humbly tumbles into the vastness by contributing its energy and merging without resistance. Each time we move beyond our individual egos to become part of something bigger, we can try our best to follow the lead of the river. Published with permission from Daily OM

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

All of us are faced with the troubles and problems of daily living, whether we’ve been in The Program two days or 20 years. We’d sometimes like to beieve we could ake care of all our problems right now, but it rarely works that way If we remember the slogan “Easy Does It” when we are ready to panic, we mayb come to know that the very best way to handle all things is “Easy.” We put one foot in front of the other, doing the best we are capapble of doing. We say “Easy Does It.” and we do it. Are The Pogram’s slognas gtwoing with me as I grow with The Program?

Today I Pray

May even the words “Easy Des It’ serve to slow me down in my hadlong rush to accomplis too much too fast. May just that world “Easy” be enough to make me ease up on he ships that drive my ambitions, ease up on the accelerator which plunges me into new situations without enough forethought, ese off on the number of hours spent in material pursuits. May I hark to the adage that Rome wasn’t built in a single day. Niether can I builde solutions to my problems all at once.

Today I Will Remember

Easy Does It.

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One More Day

Our safety is not in blindness, but in facing our danger.
– Johann Cristoph Schiller

Sometimes our difficulties are compounded when we take more drugs than needed to treat our illnesses. This can be due to our getting prescriptions from than one doctor or from using over-the-counter drugs in addition to our prescribed medications.

Certainly, we need to use the drugs that will keep us as healthy and functional as possible, but over medication can be an accidental side-effect of chronic medical problems. Also, psychological or physical dependence can also occur.

Besides necessary medications, the joy of living and the love of ourselves and others can help us deal with our illnesses. By learning to live with our limitations we can gain back some of the personal power that chronic illness has taken from us.

I am strengthened by facing my problems.

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Food For Thought

Action

Ours is a program of Action. It does no good to develop new awareness if we do not take appropriate new actions. When we become aware of the damage done by compulsive overeating and realize that OA has the answer to our problem, we take action by going to meetings, making phone calls, and working the steps. We follow a food plan and abstain from eating compulsively.

Taking inventory, admitting our mistakes, and making amends involves action. Our Higher Power gives us courage to change the things we can. He gives us the confidence to get involved in new activities, to be more assertive, to make new friends, to go back to school, to change jobs.

By abstaining from the type of eating that paralyzed us, we have strength and energy to do new things. One step at a time, we are led into action. Not to move according to the direction of God as we understand Him is to fall backwards and stagnate. Each positive action we take strengthens our recovery.

Direct my actions, Lord.

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One Day At A Time

Positive Thinking

"It takes but one positive when given
a chance to survive and thrive to overpower
and entire army of negative thoughts."
Robert H. Schuller

A positive attitude is crucial for a successful recovery. This summer, I wasn laid up with two torn tendons in my left ankle. This happened right at the start of my summer vacation. When it first happened, I was VERY dejected. This had to happen NOW!!! Just when my holidays are starting? (not that ANY time is a good time to receive an injury!). However, upon reflection it WAS good timing. I didn't have get myself to and from work. My daughter was finished school for the summer and was able to be home to assist me with day to day stuff. Plus I had just taken on some new OA service responsibilities and being home allowed me the time to really focus and internalize my new roles. Instead of looking at this as a negative - I think HP gave me an opportunity here to rest up and do some service at the same time. My daughter and I did some wonderful bonding as well. It would have been very easy just to turn negative and feel sorry for myself . But I simply would have made myself (and everyone around me) miserable during the my six weeks of recovery. Instead, it's turned out to be a wonderful learning experience (not to mention it provided a good idea for this meditation topic!). Life's too short for cheap wHine, n'est past?

One Day at a Time . . .
I will look at life from a positive point of view.
~ Rob R.

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

'The way you fellows put this spiritual stuff makes sense. - Pg. 159 - A Vision For You

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Do you sometimes feel like fate made a fool of you with this disease? This is a normal reaction to any chronic disease just like diabetes, lupus, or others. We are the fortunate ones because we can arrest this disease with a simple behavior change, many others can't.

God, as I understand You, grant me the willingness to be grateful for a way out of this devastating disease of addiction.

Golden Moments

I will pay attention to guidance from within and without. There are moments when I know I am doing what lights my spirit and challenges me. Moments when I feel alive and in tune; in touch with a force beyond me that is guiding me towards something that's right for me. Those moments are golden. They carry me through my fears and hard times, they sustain me when inevitable doubts creep in, they give me strength to carry on and stay on course.

I will hold inspiration close to me heart.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

They say you don't have to like your sponsor; they just have to have something you want-like a life. It is your sponsor's job to give you a program to work until you develop a program of your own.

People who sponsor themselves have fools for sponsors.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Action Not Distraction

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

I forgive myself and all others today.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

There are two types of people to watch in AA; those who make it, and those who don't. - Dr. Bob S.

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AA Thought for the Day

March 24

Stability
My stability came out of trying to give, not out of demanding that I receive.
Thus I think it can work out with emotional sobriety.
If we examine every disturbance we have, we will find at the root of it
some unhealthy dependency and its consequent unhealthy demand.
Let us, with God's help, continually surrender these hobbling demands.
- The Best of Bill, p. 58

Thought to Ponder . . .
Sobriety is a journey, not a destination.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
K I S S = Keep It Simple; Surrender.

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~

Traditions
"The Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous
are a distillate of our experience of living and working together.
They apply the spirit of the Twelve recovery Steps
to our group life and security.
They deal with the world outside and with each other;
they state our attitudes toward power and prestige,
toward property and money.
They would save us from tempting alliances
and major controversies;
they would elevate principles far above personal ambitions.
And as a token of this last, they request that we
maintain personal anonymity before the open public
as a protection to AA and as proof of the fact that
our society intends to practice true humility."
Bill W., The Language of the Heart, p. 96

Thought to Consider . . .
The reason they are called Principles is
because they always work.
If they didn't always work we'd just call them "good ideas."

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
WILLING
When I Live Life, I Need God

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*

Growth
>From "A Vision for You":
"So our fellow worker will soon have friends galore. Some of them may sink and perhaps never get up, but if our experience is a criterion, more than half of those approached will become fellows of Alcoholics Anonymous. When a few men in this city have found themselves, and have discovered the joy of helping others to face life again, there will be no stopping until everyone in that town has had his opportunity to recover if he can and will."
2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pgs. 163-64

*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"My emotional bottom came in sobriety ... I actually had to sit and feel all those feelings I had worked so hard to drown out with alcohol."
New York, N.Y., January 2006
"Attitude Adjustment"
Beginner's Book: Getting and Staying Sober in AA

~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*

"Yes, there is a substitute and it is vastly more than that. It is a
fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from
care, boredom and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will
mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your
existence lie ahead."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, pg. 152~

"we have ceased fighting anything or anyone— even alcohol."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 84~

We can try to stop making unreasonable demands upon those we love.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 93

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

WE Cannot Live Alone
All of A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires; they all deflate our egos. When it come to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take than the Fifth. Scarcely and Step is more necessary to long-time sobriety and peace of mind.
A.A. experience has taught us we cannot live alone with our pressing problems and the character defects which cause or aggravate them. If Step Four has revealed in stark relief those experiences we'd rather not remember, than the need to quit living by ourselves with those tormenting ghosts of yesterday gets more urgent than ever. We have to talk to somebody about them.
We cannot wholly rely on friends to solve all our difficulties. A good adviser will never do all our thinking for us. He knows that each final choice must be ours. He will therefore help to eliminate fear, expediency, and self-deception, so enabling us to make choices which are loving, wise, and honest.
1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 55
GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961

Prayer For The Day: Dear heavenly Father, I am grateful for Your constant provision. You have never failed me, Lord and I know that You never will. You are a faithful God, and I ask You to help me to trust You before my answer arrives. Lord, You are my source, and I know as I continue to look to You, I need never to worry about how You will provide. I just know that You will. Guard my mouth and remind me to speak what Your Word says about my situation. Deliver me from every vestige of fear, and fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I will always walk in faith. Lord, I pray that all my brothers and sisters in the family of God will also be granted this favor. May we each fulfill Your will in our lives. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Ask and you shall receive,
Seek and ye shall find,
Knock and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7