Daily Recovery Readings - September 9

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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.

September 9

Daily Reflections

OPENING NEW DOORS

They [the Promises] are being fulfilled among us - sometimes quickly,
sometimes slowly.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84

The Promises talked about in this passage are slowly coming to life for
me. What has given me hope is putting Step Nine into action. The Step
has allowed me to see and set goals for myself in recovery. Old habits
and behaviors die hard. Working Step Nine enables me to close the
door on the drunk I was, and to open new avenues for myself as a
sober alcoholic. Making direct amends is crucial for me. As I repair
relationships and behavior of the past, I am better able to live a sober
life! Although I have some years of sobriety, there are times
when the "old stuff" from the past needs to be taken care of, and
Step Nine always works, when I work it.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When an alcoholic is offered a life of sobriety by following the A.A.
program, he will look at the prospect of living without alcohol and he
will ask: "Am I to be consigned to a life where I shall be stupid, boring
and glum, like some of the righteous people I see? I know I must get
along without liquor, but how can I? Have you a sufficient
substitute?" Have I found a more than sufficient substitute for
drinking?

Meditation For The Day

In God's strength you conquer life. Your conquering power is the
grace of God. There can be no complete failure with God. Do you
want to make the best of life? Then live as near as possible to God,
the Master and Giver of all life. Your regard for depending on God's
strength will be sure. Sometimes the reward will be renewed power to
face life, sometimes wrong thinking overcome, sometimes people
brought to a new way of living. Whatever success comes will not be all
your own doing, but largely the working out of the grace of God.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may try to rely more fully on the grace of God. I pray
that I may live a victorious life.

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As Bill Sees It

Face the Music, p.251

"Don't be too discouraged about that slip. Practically always, we
drunks learn the hard way.

"Your idea of moving on to somewhere else may be good, or it may
not. Perhaps you have got into an emotional or economic jam that
can't be well handled where you are. But maybe you are doing just
what all of us have done, at one time or another: Maybe you are
running away. Why don't you try to think that through again
carefully?

"Are you really placing recovery first, or are you making it
contingent upon other people, places, or circumstances? You may
find it ever so much better to face the music right where you are
now, and, with the help of the A.A. program, win through. Before
you make a decision, weigh it in these terms."

Letter, 1949

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Walk In Dry Places

Compliance isn’t acceptance
Honesty
We are sometimes mystified when people come into the AA program,
respond to its message for months or years, and then disappear, seemingly without
a trace. Later, we may be shocked to learn that they’re drinking again.
While we have no way of knowing the real reason, one possible explanation
is that they were practicing compliance without really accepting the program. The
danger of compliance is that it may simply be an outward show of working the
program while leaving one’s real thoughts and feelings unchanged.
At the same time, we often urge people to practice what is really only a form
of compliance. We then the, for example, to “bring the body” to meetings in the
belief that they heart will follow. This does little good if one’s heart does not
follow!
The only solution is to continue the difficult but rewarding search for
honesty in all things. When we examine ourselves honestly, we will recognize
when we are truly accepting and when we are merely complying.

I’ll remember today that the real success of AA is not in the number of people
who show up at meetings, but in how we truly accept the program.

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Keep It Simple

One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears---by listening to them. ---Dean Rusk
We hate being told what to think. We like to make up our own minds.
It helps to talk things out with another person who, listens to us.
Someone who care what we think.
We can give this respect to others. We can listen their point of view.
We can try to understand them and care about what they think.
When we do this, others start to care what we think too. We share ideas.
The ideas get a little more clear. They change a little. We get a little
closer to agreement. We both feel good.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know when to listen and
when to talk today. Work for me and though me. Thanks.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll look for chances to listen to others
when I really want to talk. I’ll say, “Tell me more about that.” And I’ll listen.

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Each Day a New Beginning

I do not want to die . . . until I have faithfully made the most of
my talent and cultivated the seed that was placed in me until the
last small twig has grown. --Kathe Kollwitz
There's so much to do before we rest . . . so much to do. We each
are gifted with talents, similar in some respects to others' talents,
but unique in how we'll be able to use them. Do we realize our talents?
We need only to dare to dream, and there they'll be.
It's so easy to fall into the trap of self-pity, thinking we have no
purpose, fearing we'll take life nowhere, dreading others' expectations
of us. But we can turn our thinking around at any moment. The choice
is ours. We can simply decide to discover our talents, and nurture them
and enrich the lives of others. The benefits will be many. So will the joys.
We have a very important part to play, today, in the lives we touch. We
can expect adventure, and we'll find it. We can look for our purpose;
it's at hand. We can remember, we aren't alone. We are in partnership
every moment. Our talents are God-given, and guidance for their full
use is part of the gift.
I will have a dream today. In my dream is my direction.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

MORE ABOUT ALCOHOLISM

For those who are unable to drink moderately the question is how to stop altogether. We are assuming, of course, that the reader desires to stop. Whether such a person can quit upon a nonspiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he has already lost the power to choose whether he will drink or not. Many of us felt that we had plenty of character. There was a tremendous urge to cease forever. Yet we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it—this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish.

p. 34

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

III - THE MEDICAL VIEW ON A.A.

Dr. Harry M. Tiebout, psychiatrist: “As a psychiatrist, I have thought a great deal about the relationship of my specialty to A.A. and I have come to the conclusion that our particular function can very often lie in preparing the way for the patient to accept any sort of treatment or outside help. I now conceive the psychiatrist’s job to be the task of breaking down the patient’s inner resistance so that which is inside him will flower, as under the activity of the A.A. program.”

p. 569

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Twelve - "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."

But in the beginning, anonymity was not born of confidence; it was the child of our early fears. Our first nameless groups of alcoholics were secret societies. New prospects could find us only through a few trusted friends. The bare hint of publicity, even for our work, shocked us. Though ex-drinkers, we still thought we had to hide from public distrust and contempt.

p. 184

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Today, help me, God, to let go of my resistance to change. Help me to
be open to the process. Help me believe that the place I'll be dropped
off will be better than the place where I was picked up. Help me
surrender, trust, and accept, even if I don't understand.
--Melody Beattie

We must be the change we wish to see in the world.
--Mahatma Gandhi

Today I will spend some time putting my own needs aside to help
someone else. It is so good to know that I can be filled with such good
feelings and I get so much when I give of myself.
--Ruth Fishel

God loves all of us, whether we walk away pain-free or not. Keep
taking care of yourself, no matter what. God, transform my pain into
compassion for others and myself.
--Melody Beattie

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.
--Jesse Jackson

My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but
doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next
moment.
--Oprah Winfrey

"If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were
always yours. And if they don't, they never were."
--Kahlil Gibran, "The Prophet"

Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to meet it...
--unknown

The task before you is never greater than the power behind you...
--unknown

Always, He will watch over us and comfort us.
--Ernest Holmes

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

RELIGION

"Science without religion is
lame, religion without science is
blind."
-- Albert Einstein

In the field of addiction we need to work together and listen to the
professionalism we all bring: the answer will be in "the many".

So often we divide ourselves up into "ghettos" of learning and miss
what "the others" are saying -- and the disease wins! This is
reminiscent of the old days in the church when science was seen as
the enemy, the world was flat and the earth was the center of the
universe. Pride and ego kept people sick, isolated and afraid -- and
thousands suffered and died. However, people began to listen to each
other and the world benefited from the shared wisdom.

As addictionologists and recovering people we need to listen to each
other.

Help me to see You in the honest experience of every man.

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Help me, O LORD my God; save me in accordance with your love.
Let them know that it is your hand, that you, O LORD, have done it.
Psalm 109:26-27

With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng I
will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to
save his life from those who condemn him.
Psalm 109:30-31

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
James 1:2-3

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Daily Inspiration

If a part of your past continues to haunt you and rob you of your joy, forgive.
Lord, I can not undo the past, but with Your help, I can let go by forgiving myself
and everyone else that has hurt me.

Do not let yourself be judged by others or ruled by approval or disapproval.
Lord, may I always trust in myself and You and live each day accordingly.

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NA Just For Today

Feet Of Clay

"One of the biggest stumbling blocks to recovery seems to be placing unrealistic expectations on... others."

Basic Text p.78

Many of us come into Narcotics Anonymous feeling pretty poorly about ourselves. By comparison, the recovering addicts we meet at meetings may seem almost superhumanly serene. These wise, loving people have many months, even years of living in accordance with spiritual principles, giving of themselves to others without expecting anything back. We trust them, allowing them to love us until we can love ourselves. We expect them to make everything alright again.

Then the glow of early recovery begins to fade, and we start to see the human side of our NA friends and sponsor. Perhaps a fellow member of our home group stands us up for a coffee date, or we see two old-timers bickering at a committee meeting, or we realize our sponsor has a defect of character or two. We're crushed, disillusioned-these recovering addicts aren't perfect after all! How can we possibly trust them anymore?

Somewhere between "the heroes of recovery" and "the lousy NA bums" lies the truth: Our fellow addicts are neither completely bad nor completely good. After all, if they were perfect, they wouldn't need this program. Our friends and sponsor are ordinary recovering addicts, just like we are. We can relate to their ordinary recovery experience and use it in our own program.

Just for today: My friends and my sponsor are human, just like me-and I trust their experience all the more for that.

pg. 263

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth. --Lao-tzu
Imagine yourself with a pile of dirt in front of you and building plans for a one-story structure. It would be easy to think, "Oh, this is impossible--it will never get done."
But the architect hires people to help. A foundation is built, and then the frame. From there, step-by-step, the rest is filled in. We have all watched a building take shape and become a finished product.
Building plans are like the goals we all have. We want to be a better person or friend, a better artist or athlete. Reaching a goal is like putting up a building. Once we have a goal, we need a strong foundation to support us. All of us need the help of others to reach our goals.
What small step can I take toward a goal today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was. --R. L. Evans
Feelings of discouragement are to be expected as part of life. We will have our times of greater energy and hope and our times of feeling depleted and lost. As we mature we learn to see many peaks and valleys across the landscape.
Giving ourselves over to feelings of discouragement is self-indulgent and saps our strength. We cannot see into the future. The dailiness of our lives isn't always dramatic and doesn't usually offer great changes. But we are part of an unfolding process. Looking back over just a week or a month, we can recall troubled times that now seem insignificant. We see other' people and their progress, and we know they too grew just one day at a time and couldn't see what the future would bring them. So we continue - knowing that our process is hopeful - even though we cannot foresee the details of our future.
I have the strength to live through the peaks and valleys and to stay faithful to my recovery.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
I do not want to die . . . until I have faithfully made the most of my talent and cultivated the seed that was placed in me until the last small twig has grown. --Kathe Kollwitz
There's so much to do before we rest . . . so much to do. We each are gifted with talents, similar in some respects to others' talents, but unique in how we'll be able to use them. Do we realize our talents? We need only to dare to dream, and there they'll be.
It's so easy to fall into the trap of self-pity, thinking we have no purpose, fearing we'll take life nowhere, dreading others' expectations of us. But we can turn our thinking around at any moment. The choice is ours. We can simply decide to discover our talents, and nurture them and enrich the lives of others. The benefits will be many. So will the joys.
We have a very important part to play, today, in the lives we touch. We can expect adventure, and we'll find it. We can look for our purpose; it's at hand. We can remember, we aren't alone. We are in partnership every moment. Our talents are God-given, and guidance for their full use is part of the gift.
I will have a dream today. In my dream is my direction.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Perspective
Too often, we try to gain a clear perspective before it is time.
That will make us crazy.
We do not always know why things are happening the way they are. We do not always know how a particular relationship will work out. We do not always understand the source of our feelings, why we've been led down a particular path, what is being worked out in us, what we are learning, why we needed to recycle, why we had to wait, why we needed to go through a time of discipline, or why a door closed. How our present circumstances will work into the larger scheme of events is not always clear to us. That is how it needs to be.
Perspective will come in retrospect.
We could strain for hours today for the meaning of something that may come in an instant next year.
Let it go. We can let go of our need to figure things out, to feel in control.
Now is the time to be. To feel. To go through it. To allow things to happen. To learn. To let whatever is being worked out in us take its course.
In hindsight, we will know. It will become clear. For today, being is enough. We have been told that all things shall work out for good in our life. We can trust that to happen, even if we cannot see the place today's events will hold in the larger picture.
Today, I will let things happen without trying to figure everything out. If clarity is not available to me today, I will trust it to come later, in retrospect. I will put simple trust in the truth that all is well, events are unfolding as they should, and all will work out for good in my life - better than I can imagine.

It feels so comfortable when I trust my own truth. It is both powerful and peaceful to know that we are all at choice. Each and everyone of us is being led on a path to peace and love. --Ruth Fishel

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Journey To The Heart

Take Time to Be Pleased

Take time to be pleased with all the beauty in this world. Do more than drive by and casually notice a particularly beautiful stretch of scenery. Stop the car. Get out. Take it in. See it, smell it, touch it if possible. Absorb and feel the beauty you see. Then thank the universe for giving this moment to you.

Take time to be pleased with your creations too- your work, your life, yourself. Look around. Then look again. Take time to see the beauty in your own life. Take time to absorb and be pleased with the beauty you see.

Then take this gift to others,too. Take time to notice and really see all that is beautiful in the people you know. Then tell them about what they mean to you, and how beautiful you think they are.

Opening up to ourselves and the world means learning to recognize and absorb its beauty. Allow yourself to grow, to define and redefine what true beauty means and feels like to you. You may have deprived yourself of noticing beautiful sights too long. It’s time to take those dark glasses off. Appreciate the beauty around you.

Our soul is nurtured and fed by taking pleasure in the beauty in this world.

*****

more language of letting go
Discover what works for you

"Enroll in this weight loss program and you'll lose thirty pounds in five days!" "Come to this free seminar and after spending one hundred dollars on books you'll be a millionaire!"

There is no quick fix, no panacea that will work for every person. Success rarely happens overnight or in five days. Even the Twelve Steps are only suggestions. Although proven to work, the details and decisions about how we apply those Steps in our lives are left to each one of us.

And few things happen overnight, except the beginning of a new day.

Listen to your mentors. Examine what's been tried and true, and has worked and helped countless others along their paths. The Twelve Steps are one of those approaches. But don't be taken in by false claims of overnight success and instant enlightenment along your path.

True change takes time and effort, especially when we're changing and tackling big issues. We can often get exactly the help we need at times from a therapist, book, or seminar-- the best things in life really are free and available to each one of us.The Twelve Steps, again, qualify in this area.

Discover what works for you.

Trust that you'll be guided along your path and receive exactly the help and guidance you need. Then give it time.

There really isn't an easier, softer way.

God, give me perseverance to tackle my problems.

*****

An Incomplete Understanding
Feeling Lonely

We all have days when we feel lonely, but the idea comes from the false notion that we are separate from each other.

We all have days when we feel lonely, but the very idea of loneliness comes from the false notion that we are separate and isolated parts in a world filled with other separate, isolated parts. In truth, we can no more be separate from our world than a fish can be separate from the water in which it swims. When we really begin to look at the boundaries we see as so solid, they prove to be, in fact, quite porous. For example, it is not clear exactly where our skin ends and the air begins when we consider how our skin is affected by changes in the quality of the air. When it is dry, our skin becomes dry, and when it is humid, our skin becomes moist and supple.

By the same token, it is difficult sometimes to distinguish the boundary between one person and another, especially when our actions tie us together so inextricably. Every move we make has an effect that touches all the people around us. On an even more subtle level, when we share space with another person, we often pick up on their energy, feeling how they feel and attuning to them, whether we mean to or not. This is what we mean when we say a mood or a feeling is contagious. We cannot help but be part of the realities of the people around us because we take form from the same energetic force, and this force unifies all life. This force is the light that all the great mystics and gurus encourage us to move toward, and it is the light we will dissolve into when we move beyond our individual egos.

If loneliness is a temporary condition based on an incomplete understanding of what we are made of, we can think of its presence as a catalyst for exploring our ideas about reality. We can respond by testing the boundaries we believe separate us from the life within and all around us. If we test them, we will discover that they are not so solid after all and that we can never really be alone. Published with permission from Daily OM

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

The longer I’m in The Program and the longer I try to practice its principles in all my affairs, the less frequently I become morose and depressed. Perhaps, too, there’s something to that cynical old saying, “Blessed is he that expect nothing, for he shall not be disappointment.” If such a person is in The Program, he or she shall not be disappointed, but instead will be delighted daily by new and fresh evidence of the love of God and the friendliness of men and women. Does someone, somewhere,need me today? Will I look for that person and try to share what I’ve been given in The Program?

Today I Pray

May I be utterly grateful for God for lifting my depression. May I know that my depression will always lighten if I do not expect too much. May I know that the warmth of friends can fill the cold hollow of despair. May I give my warmth to someone else.

Today I Will Remember

To look for someone to share with.

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One More Day

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
– The Serenity Prayer

The Serenity Prayer has comforted millions of people who strive to cope with change, disappointments, chemical dependency, and all sorts of other problems. This prayer can comfort us as we deal with the realities of chronic illness.

When we’re overcome with pain or disappointed about slow or little progress, this prayer can help us put our lives into focus. It helps us see if we’re wasting time and energy on things we can’t change, such as the chronic conditions we live with, how others feel, and the past. And just as important, this prayer points us toward the things that we can control — our attitude, our willingness to change, and the outcome of this day.

I pray for the wisdom to recognize the difference between things I can and cannot change.

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Food For Thought

Amends to Others

The people most affected by our disease were undoubtedly the members of our own family. Then came our closest friends, if we had any when we were overeating. These people were directly affected by our negative moods and by our withdrawal away from them into overeating. They also may have been affected by not getting food which should have been theirs, but which we had eaten. Some of us stole money to buy food that we did not need but had to have. Some of us stole food.

Making amends is sometimes embarrassing and often difficult. It involves much pride swallowing. A simple, sincere apology may be all that is necessary. There may be concrete acts, which we can perform. As with making amends to ourselves, the best way we can make up for the hurt we have caused to family and friends is by abstaining from compulsive overeating. As we abstain, we reach out to those around us instead of withdrawing. Our own sanity is the best gift we can give to others.

May I have the courage to make amends.

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One Day At A Time

CONNECTION
We all have God's phone number
but the only number we tend to use is 911.
We only call in an emergency
instead of calling just for daily connection with God.
Mary Manin Morrissey

When I first came into the program, my goal was to lose weight. It’s still my goal, but now it’s not the main focus of my program of recovery.

I’ve learned that my spiritual and emotional fitness are every bit as important as my physical fitness. In fact, I’m finding that for me the spiritual aspect is the most important. If my relationship to the God of my understanding is in order, then everything else seems to fall into place. If I leave my Higher Power out of my life, then everything falls apart.

There’s an old program saying, “If you feel apart from God, then who moved?” Whenever I feel like God is a million miles away, I know it’s because I moved away from Him, not the other way around. When I am feeling separated from God, I see my disease of compulsion start to take over. That’s why it’s very important to me to maintain a conscious contact with my Higher Power. If I let things get too far out of hand and I start to move away from Him, then I need to pray. But my intention is to keep in constant touch with God so that a spiritual emergency isn’t the only reason I check in with Him.

One day at a time...
I will do all I can on a daily basis to connect with my Higher Power.
~ Jeff

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

'Once an alcoholic, always and alcoholic.' Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever. - Pg. 33 - More About Alcoholism

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Do you have a phone list of clean and sober people in the program? If yes, call one person right now and share a clean and sober morning greeting. If not, take this book and begin a sober list in the back. Collect names and numbers at the meeting you go to today.

People say, 'Call me anytime.' Let me know that as long as I am clean and sober, they mean it!

Forgiveness

Today I recognize forgiveness as the quickest road to freedom and serenity. When I forgive my past, I release myself from the grip that it has on my present. I no longer carry that heavy baggage around with me. It is difficult to live in peace today if I am psychically engaged in yesterday's battles. But I cannot forgive and release what I do not first feel and come to terms with. The type of forgiveness that bypasses this stage only pays lip service to letting go. I will do what I need to do today to process fully the issues in my life that remain unresolved so that I can let them go.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Take a breath and hold it. Take another and hold, hold, hold. You can see that you can't live on the inhale alone. The inhale is the breath of the program bringing you life. The exhale is you working with others.

I inhale healing for my soul and exhale hope for others.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Your situation is your situation, not your problem.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

It feels so comforting when I trust my own truth.

It is both powerful and peaceful to know that we are all at choice. Each and every one of us is being led on a path of peace and love.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

Alcoholics Anonymous is an utter simplicity which encases a complete mystery. - Bill W.

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AA Thought for the Day

September 9

Acceptance
And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.
When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation -- some fact of my life -- unacceptable to me,
and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God's world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober;
unless I accept life on life's terms, I cannot be happy.
I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and my attitude.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 417

Thought to Ponder . . .
My serenity is directly proportional to my level of acceptance.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A B C = Acceptance, Belief, Change.

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

Delusion
"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 were like other people,
or presently may be, has to be smashed."
1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 17

Thought to Consider . . .
There is no such thing as being 'a little bit alcoholic.'

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
D E N I A L = Don't Even Notice I Am Lying

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

Condemn
Tradition Three: The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
Why did A.A. finally drop all its membership regulations? Why did we leave it to each newcomer to decide himself
whether he was an alcoholic and whether he should join us? Why did we dare say, contrary to the experience of
society and government everywhere, that we would neither punish nor deprive any A.A. of membership, believe
anything, or conform to anything?
The answer, now seen in Tradition Three, was simplicity itself. At last experience taught us that to take away any
alcoholic's full chance was sometimes to pronounce his death sentence, and often to condemn him to endless
misery. Who dared to be judge, jury, and executioner of his own sick brother?
1981, AAWS, Inc., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 141

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

"When I'm willing to pay the price for top-shelf sobriety, 'action' is still the magic word."
Craig, Colo., January 1997
"Paying the Price for Improvement"
Emotional Sobriety II

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

"Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them
help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up
about you, to have a host of friends, this is an experience you
must not miss."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 89~

Whether the family has spiritual convictions or not, they may do
well to examine the principles by which the alcoholic member is
trying to live. They can hardly fail to approve these simple
principles, though the head of the house still fails somewhat in
practicing them. Nothing will help the man who is off on a
spiritual tangent so much as the wife who adopts a sane spiritual program,
making a better practical use of it.
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 130~

"Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely."
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 58

"And as we grow spiritually, we find that our old attitudes toward our instincts need to undergo drastic revisions."
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 114

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Alcoholism was a lonely business, even though we were surrounded by people who loved us. But when our self-will
had driven everybody away and our isolation became complete, we commenced to play the big shot in cheap
barrooms. Failing even in this, we had to fare forth alone on the street to depend upon the charity of passers-by.
We were trying to find emotional security either by dominating or by being dependent upon others. Even when our
fortunes had not totally ebbed, we nevertheless found ourselves alone in the world. We still vainly tried to be secure by
some unhealthy sort of domination or dependence.
For those of us who were like that, A.A. has a very special meaning. In this Fellowship we begin to learn right relations
with people who understand us; we don't have to be alone any more.

Prayer for the Day: God, please forgive me for my failings today. I know that because of my failings, I was not able to be as effective as I could have been for you. Please forgive me and help me live thy will better today. I ask you now to show me how to correct the errors I have just outlined. Guide me and direct me. Please remove my arrogance and my fear. Show me how to make my relationships right and grant me the humility and strength to do thy will.

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