Daily Recovery Readings - April 9

[bluidkiti]

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.

April 9

Daily Reflections

FREEDOM FROM "KING ALCOHOL"

. . . let us not suppose even for an instant that we are not under
constraint. . . . Our former tyrant, King Alcohol, always stands ready
again to clutch us to him. Therefore, freedom from alcohol is the
great "must" that has to be achieved, else we go mad or die.
As Bill Sees It, p. 134

When drinking, I lived in spiritual, emotional, and sometimes, physical
confinement. I had constructed my prison with bars of self-will and
self-indulgence, from which I could not escape. Occasional dry spells
that seemed to promise freedom would turn out to be little more than
hopes of reprieve. True escape required a willingness to follow
whatever right actions were needed to turn the lock. With that
willingness and action, both the lock and the bars themselves opened
for me. Continued willingness and action keep me free--in a kind of
extended daily probation--that need never end.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Third, alcoholics recover their proper relationship with other people.
they think less about themselves and more about others. They try to
help other alcoholics. They make new friends so that they're no
longer lonely. They try to live a life of service instead of selfishness.
All their relationships with other people are improved. They solve
their personality problems by recovering their personal integrity, their
faith in a Higher Power, and their way of fellowship and service to
others. Is my drink problem solved as long as my personality problem
is solved?

Meditation For The Day

All that depresses you, all that you fear, is really powerless to harm
you. These things are but phantoms. So arise from earth's bonds,
from depression, distrust, fear, and all that hinders your new life.
Arise to beauty, joy, peace, and work inspired by love. Rise from
death to life. You do not even need to fear death. All past sins are
forgiven if you live and love and work with God. Let nothing hinder
your new life. Seek to know more and more of that new way of living.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may let God live in me as I work for Him. I pray that I
may go out into the sunlight and work with God.

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

As Bill Sees It

The "Slipper" Needs Understanding, p. 99

"Slips can often be charged to rebellion; some of us are more rebellious
than others. Slips may be due to the illusion that one can be 'cured' of
alcoholism. Slips can also be charged to carelessness and
complacency. Many of us fail to ride out these periods sober. Things
go fine for two or three years--then the member is seen no more. Some
of us suffer extreme guilt because of vices or practices that we can't or
won't let go of. Too little self-forgiveness and too little prayer--well,
this combination adds up to slips.

"Then some of us are far more alcohol-damaged than others. Still
others encounter a series of calamities and cannot seem to find the
spiritual resources to meet them. There are those of us who are
physically ill. Others are subject to more or less continuous exhaustion,
anxiety, and depression. These conditions often play a part in
slips--sometimes they are utterly controlling."

Talk, 1960

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

Walk in Dry Places

Understanding Compulsion__Protecting Sobriety
Often called a "compulsive illness," alcoholism is still a baffling mystery to most people. All we really know is that a single drink, a pleasant beverage for many, becomes a deadly trigger for alcoholics. We may even think it's unfair that we're unable to enjoy the pleasant customs of social drinking. If we let down our guard, we can even entertain the thought that we've somehow been cured of the compulsion to drink.
But we don't have to understand the exact nature of compulsion to realize that we are victims of it. Bitter experience and the tragic examples of others should tell us that our compulsion exists and is activated by the first drink. That's really all the understanding we need for living successfully in sobriety.
If there's anything we should question, it's not whether we have the compulsion, but why we would have any doubts after so much bad experience with alcohol. After all, if we always had a bad reaction from any other food or beverage, we would soon give it up. Why is there so much persistence in denying that we are compulsively attached to alcohol?
We still may be trying to convince ourselves that we can take a drink safely, and this delusion is another way the compulsion works. All we have to understand is that a single drink leads to our destruction.
I'll remember today that I've accepted the fact that I am alcoholic and subject to disaster with a first drink. I'll live today with the knowledge that I only have to understand that I have a compulsion to drink.

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

Keep It Simple

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day a time. --Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln did great things for the United States. He took life One Day at a time.. He broke the future into manageable pieces. We can do the same. We can live in the present and focus on the task at hand.
Spirituality comes when we focus this way. When we stay in the present we find choice. And we worry less about the future. Still, we must have goals.
We must plan for the future.
Goals and plans help us give more credit to the present than to the future. And when we feel good about the present, we feel good about the future.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me focus. Help me keep my energy in the present. Have me live life One Day at a Time.
Action for the Day: When I find myself drifting into the future, I'll work at bring myself back to the present.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

For is it not true that human progress is but a mighty growing pattern woven together by the tenuous single threads united in a common effort? --Soong Mei-ling (Madame Chiang Kai-shek)
We each are spinning our individual threads, lending texture, color, pattern, to the "big design" that is serving us all. Person by person our actions, our thoughts, our values complement those of our sisters, those of the entire human race. We are heading toward the same destination, all of us, and our paths run parallel on occasion, intersect periodically, and veer off in singleness of purpose when inspiration calls us.
It's comforting to be reminded that our lives are purposeful. What we are doing presently, our interactions with other people, our goals, have an impact that is felt by many others. We are interdependent. Our behavior is triggering important thoughts and responses in someone else, consistently and methodically. No one of us is without a contribution to make. Each one of us is giving what we are called upon to give when we are in a right relationship with God, who is the master artist in this design we are creating.
Prayer and meditation will direct my efforts today. My purpose can then be fulfilled.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 7 - WORKING WITH OTHERS

Continue to speak of alcoholism as an illness, a fatal malady. Talk about the conditions of body and mind which accompany it. Keep his attention focussed mainly on your personal experience. Explain that many are doomed who never realize their predicament. Doctors are rightly loath to tell alcoholic patients the whole story unless it will serve some good purpose. But you may talk to him about the hopelessness of alcoholism because you offer a solution. You will soon have your friend admitting he has many, if not all, of the traits of the alcoholic. If his own doctor is willing to tell him that he is alcoholic, so much the better. Even though your protégé may not have entirely admitted his condition, he has become very curious to know how you got well. Let him ask you that question, if he will. Tell him exactly what happened to you. Stress the spiritual feature freely. If the man be agnostic or atheist, make it emphatic that He does not have to agree with your conception of God. He can choose any conception he likes, provided it makes sense to him. The main thing is that he be willing to believe in a Power greater than himself and that he live by spiritual principles.
When dealing with such a person, you had better use everyday language to describe spiritual principles. There is no use arousing any prejudice he may have against certain theological terms and conceptions about which he may already be confused. Don’t raise such issues, no matter what your own convictions are.

pp. 92-93

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

He Sold Himself Short

But he found there was a Higher Power that had more faith in him than he had to himself. Thus, A.A. was born in Chicago.

In 1930, I loved to Chicago. Shortly thereafter, aided by the Depression, I found that I had a great deal of spare time and that a little drink in the morning helped. By 1932, I was going on two- or three-day benders. That same year, my wife became fed up with my drinking around the house and called my dad in Akron to come and pick me up. She asked him to do something about me because she couldn't. She was thoroughly disgusted.

pp. 258-259

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity."

Countless times, in as many cities and hamlets, we reenacted the story of Eddie Rickenbacker and his courageous company when their plane crashed in the Pacific. Like us, they had suddenly found themselves saved from death, but still floating upon a perilous sea. How well they saw that their common welfare came first. None might become selfish of water or bread. Each needed to consider the others, and in abiding faith they knew they must find their real strength. And as they did find, in measure to transcend all the defects of their frail craft, every test of uncertainty, pain, fear, and despair, and even the death of one.

p. 131

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

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go unto the wilderness
of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll
discover will be yourself.
--Alan Alda

Right now, this moment, is the time to celebrate by dancing beneath
the warmth of the sun.
--Gary Barnes

When we are doing our best to live as God would have us live, if we
are in harmony with God, we shall feel and be at peace.
--SweetyZee

Silence is the great revelation.
--Lao Tzu

"God answers all kneel-mail."
--Gary R.

Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.

Make a conscious effort to thank God today.
--Patricia Ferris

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

SERVICE

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."
Charles Dickens

As a drunk I thought that the world owed me a living. Everybody
existed for my employment and service; the world was waiting for my
telephone call! For years I manipulated people, and I was such a good
con artist they often left thanking me!

Today a part of my spiritual program requires service. I make the
coffee, put out the cookies, cook the meal and invite friends for
dinner. I make the telephone call, give the lectures, share in groups
and write articles. The life of service helps to keep me sober. I am
the message that I share. And I do it for me!

Thank you for making me aware of my need to give.

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

It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
Lamentations 3:26

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and
where thieves do not break through nor steal.
Matthew 6:20

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

Daily Inspiration

Courage is not the lack of fear, but the ability to go on in spite of it. Lord, may I be strong in my abilities and courageous in my beliefs.

In life it is those that persevere that will succeed. Lord, every day is a fresh beginning. With You, I will come closer to my goals each day if only I don't give up and quit.

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

NA Just For Today

Acting Out

"We learn to experience feelings and realize they can do us no harm unless we act on them."
IP No. 16, "For the Newcomer"

Many of us came to Narcotics Anonymous with something less than an overwhelming desire to stop using. Sure, the drugs were causing us problems, and we wanted to be rid of the problems, but we didn't want to stop getting high. Eventually, though, we saw that we couldn't have one without the other Even though we really wanted to get loaded, we didn't use; we weren't willing to pay the price anymore. The longer we stayed clean and worked the program, the more freedom we experienced. Sooner or later, the compulsion to use was lifted from us completely, and we stayed clean because we wanted to live clean.

The same principles apply to other negative impulses that may plague us. We may feel like doing something destructive, just because we want to. We've done it before, and sometimes we think we've gotten away with it, but sometimes we haven't. If we're not willing to pay the price for acting on such feelings, we don't have to act on them.

It may be hard, maybe even as hard as it was to stay clean in the beginning. But others have felt the same way and have found the freedom not to act on their negative impulses. By sharing about it and seeking the help of other recovering people and a Power greater than ourselves, we can find the direction, the support, and the strength we need to abstain from any destructive compulsion.

Just for today: It's okay to feel my feelings. With the help of my sponsor, my NA friends, and my Higher Power, I am free not to act out my negative feelings.

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

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
There are persons who have some parts like me, but no one adds up exactly like me. --Virginia Satir
Most of us feel pretty ordinary. We probably wish we were taller or shorter. Some of us are fat rather than thin. Few of us have perfect skin or teeth. Often we look at others, compare ourselves, and wish we were different. At these times, it's important to remember that each of us is special. We differ from others because we're created for different purposes.
Some of us will make a contribution to the world of sports, some to the art of music. Teaching or medicine will attract others and yet, no two of us will give to the world in the same way. Our unique mixture of looks, attitudes, and abilities will be special and very necessary to the people sharing our lifetime.
How can I give my special gift to the world today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. Do what you can. --Sydney Smith
We are capable of far more than we think. The task before us sometimes seems mountainous, but we don't have to do it all in one day. We can do only a little, although we want to accomplish the whole job at once. We must not let our desire for complete change all at once discourage us from doing what we can. We may need to look for a new job, or face the loneliness of ending a hurtful relationship, or hold firmly to our wisest fathering role with our children, or deal with an illness in ourselves or a loved one.
We do not have to face the tasks that challenge us by ourselves. We are all members of a large, quiet network of spiritual support for each other. We have our Twelve Step program, the loving strength of our Higher Power, and the companionship of other men and women in our group. With help, we can do what must be done. We only need to faithfully do a little at a time.
Today, I will remember that I am not alone. I have help in many forms, and I will do what I can.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
For is it not true that human progress is but a mighty growing pattern woven together by the tenuous single threads united in a common effort? --Soong Mei-ling (Madame Chiang Kai-shek)
We each are spinning our individual threads, lending texture, color, pattern, to the "big design" that is serving us all. Person by person our actions, our thoughts, our values complement those of our sisters, those of the entire human race. We are heading toward the same destination, all of us, and our paths run parallel on occasion, intersect periodically, and veer off in singleness of purpose when inspiration calls us.
It's comforting to be reminded that our lives are purposeful. What we are doing presently, our interactions with other people, our goals, have an impact that is felt by many others. We are interdependent. Our behavior is triggering important thoughts and responses in someone else, consistently and methodically. No one of us is without a contribution to make. Each one of us is giving what we are called upon to give when we are in a right relationship with God, who is the master artist in this design we are creating.
Prayer and meditation will direct my efforts today. My purpose can then be fulfilled.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Giving
Learning to be a healthy giver can be a challenge. Many of us got caught up in compulsive giving - charitable acts motivated by uncharitable feelings of guilt, shame, obligations, pity, and moral superiority.
We now understand that catering and compulsive giving don't work. They backfire.
Caretaking keeps us feeling victimized.
Many of us gave too much, thinking we were doing things right; then we became confused because our life and relationships weren't working. Many of us gave so much for so long, thinking we were doing Gods will; then in recovery, we refused to give, care, or love for a time.
That's okay. Perhaps we needed a rest. But healthy giving is part of healthy living. The goal in recovery is balance - caring that is motivated by a true desire to give, with an underlying attitude of respect for others and ourselves.
The goal in recovery is to choose what we want to give, to whom, when, and how much. The goal in recovery is to give, and not feel victimized by our giving.
Are we giving because we want to, because its our responsibility? Or are we giving because we feel obligated, guilty, ashamed, or superior? Are we giving because we feel afraid to say no?
Are the ways we try to assist people helpful, or do they prevent others from facing their true responsibilities?
Are we giving so that people will like us or feel obligated to us? Are we giving to prove were worthy? Or are we giving because we want to give and it feels right?
Recovery includes a cycle of giving and receiving. It keeps healthy energy flowing among our Higher Power, others, and us. It takes time to learn how to give in healthy ways. It takes time to learn to receive. Be patient. Balance will come.
God, please guide my giving and my motives today.


My heart is open to all that happens in my life today. There is such joy in being alive and feeling everything with a full and open heart. --Ruth Fishel

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

Journey To The Heart

Take Better Care of Yourself

Take better care of yourself than you ever have before. That’s what your heart is telling you to do.

Those times of driving yourself, depriving yourself, not being gentle and loving with yourself will no longer work. Punishing, criticizing, repressing, and denying won’t bring the feelings, the growth, the result you’re seeking. The harder you push, the more you relentlessly demand perfection, the worse you’ll feel.

Fall in love with yourself. Be gentle, loving, kind, and attentive. Take time throughout each day to tend to your needs, just as you would tend to someone you loved deeply and dearly. Loving and caring for yourself this way won’t waste time. It’s not a delay. Take better care of yourself, and life’s magic will return. Your life will improve. You’ll feel better,too.

Taking care of yourself is a simple act with profound consequences. The better and more often you care for yourself, the more you’ll align with the universe and God’s love.

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

More Language Of Letting Go

You get to choose

Don’t forget that we get to choose.

I got my “A” license in skydiving. I continued to jump. But I was procrasitnating on buying my own parachute and gear. I used the rental gear, even though it didn’t fit my body comfortably and I was throwing money down the drain. I used the rental gear because the student parachutes were big.

A lot of sky divers start going for the smallest possible canopy as soon as they get into the sport. That didn’t work for me. As safe as I try to be and as much as I concentrate on landing properly, I usually land on my behind.

The bigger the canopy over my head, the better my behind feels when I land.

Whenever I discuss buying my own gear, the other skydivers would start insisting that I had to buy a small canopy, not to waste my money going big. So I put off the purchase, wondering when I’d want to jump and land with a canopy that small.

One day Eddy, a sky diver with more than ten thousand jumps and no injuries in the sport, pulled me aside. He asked me if I had bought my equipment. I told him no. He asked why. I told him because everybody had told me that when I bought my first canopy, it should be smaller than the size I was comfortable jumping.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Order the largest size you can. You’re the one jumping. You’re the one paying for the gear. Don’t let other people convince you that you shouldn’t have what you want. Do what’s right for you, and you’ll be in this sport for a long time.”

I was comforted and surprised by his words. How easy it is to let other people’s expectations control our thoughts and actions. Sometimes we just need a little reminder that it’s more than okay to choose what’s right for us– it’s what we’re meant to do.

God, help me set myself free from the limits that other people put on me.

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

Learned Self-Reliance
The Negative Effects of Spoiling Children

Parents are moved by instinct to love, nurture, and provide for their offspring. Because our children are so much a part of us, we want to see them blissfully happy. Also, our own desire to be liked, materialist pressures, and a fervent wish that our children have everything we lacked as youngsters can prompt us to spoil them. However, while it might seem that buying your child expensive gifts will give them fond memories of childhood or that you can heal your emotional wounds by doting on your sons and daughters, you may be unconsciously interfering with your children’s evolutional development. One of the most precious gifts you can grant your children is the true independence they gain when they learn to earn what they covet and become stewards of their own happiness. Try allowing your children to experience life to the fullest. Let them work and earn what they want. When the time comes for them to go to college and enter the workforce, you will have the confidence that yo! u have raised a child that can both enter and contribute to society confidently.

When children are not afforded the opportunity to explore self-reliance, to understand that with possession comes price, and to fulfill their own needs, they develop a sense of entitlement that blinds them to the necessity of hard work and the needs of others. We may spoil children because giving them gifts is pleasurable. Or we may want to avoid conflict out of fear that our children won’t love us. Yet children who are given acceptance, love, and affection in abundance are often kinder, more charitable, and more responsible than those whose parents accede to their every material demand. They develop a strong sense of self that stretches beyond possessions and the approval of their peers, and as adults they understand that each individual is responsible for building the life they desire. If you find yourself giving in to your child’s every whim, ask yourself why. You may discover that you are trying to answer for what you feel is lacking in your own life.

Rearing your children to respect the value of money and self-sufficiency as they grow from infants to young adults is a challenging but rewarding process. It can be difficult to watch a child struggle to meet a personal goal yet wonderful to be by their side as they achieve it. Your choice not to spoil your children will bless you with more opportunities to show them understanding and compassion and to be fully present with them as they journey toward adulthood. Published with permission from Daily OM

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

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

Faith is more than our greatest gift: its sharing with others that our greatest responsibility. May we of The Program continually seek the wisdom and the willingness by which we may well fulfill the immense trust of which the Giver of all. Perfect gifts has placed in our hands. If you pray, why worry? If you worry, why pray?

Today I Pray

Our God is a mighty fortress,m a bulwark who never fails us. Many we praise Him for our deliverance and for our protection. He gives us the right of faith to share. May we pass it along to others as best we know how and in the loving spirit in which He gave it to us.

Today I Will Remember

God will not fail us.

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

One More Day

The comforter’s head never aches.
– Italian Proverb

Sometimes, people who undergo a family crisis, such as the sudden death of a loved one, hold up commendably during the most difficult times, only to collapse later. While none of us can always stay calm, we rarely buckle when our strength is needed by others.

We comfort our loved ones when they’re angry, hurt, or disappointed. We comfort friends who have undergone surgery or had other crises of their own. We sit by the bed of people we love as they wait to die. Again and again, we prove we are strong. Our experience in comforting others helps us recognize the strength of our friends and family when they comfort us in our anger or disappointment, in our sadness or illness.

I am proud I can give comfort and strength to those who need it. I am grateful for those who comfort me.

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

Food For Thought

Retreats

OA retreats are a wonderful way to recharge our batteries and gain strength through sharing. Whether for a day or for a weekend, the retreat is an extremely effective tool for growth in our program.

If an organized retreat is not available when we need it, we can arrange our own personal retreat for a day or two. Choosing a day or a weekend when we can concentrate on our program may give us a boost we need when we are having difficulty. If a minimum of time is spent on necessary tasks, there will be many hours free for reading, writing, and meditating. We can plan our abstinent meals ahead of time so that they require as little preparation as possible.

A personal retreat may take place at home or, if there are many distractions and it is possible to leave for a day or two, we may go somewhere away from home where we can be quiet and reflect. Extra time spent in prayer and meditation yields enormous dividends, and we return with increased strength and perspective.

I seek the refreshment that comes from You.

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

One Day At A Time

~ Feelings ~

Few are those who see with their own eyes
and feel with their own hearts.
Albert Einstein

Before working the Twelve Step program, one reason I used to overeat was that I couldn't manage my feelings. My feelings were overwhelming and incapacitating to me. I would also overreact to feelings and this would make them truly more than I could handle. So I would then overeat to make the feelings stop. I would stuff myself, to stuff them down!

In working the Twelve Step program, I got a chance to work through past hurts and resentments that intensified my feelings. I learned to feel my feelings, just as they are, and how to stop overreacting to them. I learned to sort through messages my family gave me about feelings, that it's not okay to have or feel or express them. I learned to decide what is true for me, today, about feelings. I also worked through my codependency issues and learned how to communicate feelings in an appropriate, effective and loving way.

Now feelings are a part of my life and not something overwhelming and incapacitating. In fact, they have become something beautiful that enrich my life and give it color and texture and even pleasure.

One Day at a Time . . .
I honor the blessing of having my feelings returned to me. I enjoy them, and I respect my feelings and those of others. I thank my Higher Power for this wonderful gift.
~ Lynne ~

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

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

But it is clear that we made our own misery. God didn't do it. Avoid then, the deliberate manufacture of misery, but if trouble comes, cheerfully capitalize it as an opportunity to demonstrate His omnipotence. - Pg. 133 - The Family Afterward

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

By witnessing the miracle of recovery happening for others, we can come to believe that this miracle can happen for us as well. Look at the miracles around you, 1 month off drugs, 3 months, 6 months or years. You are surrounded by living miracles.

Let me know that all the living miracles around me once felt as desperate as I--and that I too am a miracle every hour I stay away from that first fix, pill, drink, toke, or snort.

Empowering My Own Day

There are no victims, only volunteers. If there is something I don't like in the way things are going for me, I will see what I can change. I can change the subject if someone goes on and on about things that I don't want to talk about. I can change my routines or change the way I get to where I am going, I can set boundaries with my time if I am feeling over scheduled. My time and what I do with it is precious to me, it is all I have to call my very own. I won't throw it away and then blame someone else gobbling it up. I have a right to protect the quiet and enjoyment of my day, to do more of those things that give me pleasure and fewer of those things that run me down. If I am living up to my responsibilities, that is enough.

I won't throw my time away with both hands

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

One of the joys of this program is the path it provides us with to do the right thing. Our steps don't give us a whole lot of room for justifications. There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

I learn to do the next right thing, not the next 'me' thing.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Whenever you try to get even, you get even worse.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

My heart is open to all that happens in my life today. There is such joy in being alive and feeling everything with a full and open heart.

'Sometimes we turn to God when our foundations are shaking, only to find out it is God who is shaking them.' -- Unknown

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I thought controlled drinking was; you drink all you can and then try to control yourself. - Sean A.

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

AA Thought for the Day

April 9

Prayer
We finally did experiment, and when unexpected results followed, we felt different;
in fact, we knew different; and so we were sold on meditation and prayer.
And that, we have found, can happen to anybody who tries.
It has been well said that "almost the only scoffers at prayer are those who never tried it enough."
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 97

Thought to Ponder . . .
Trying to pray is praying.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A S A P = Always Say A Prayer.

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

Vigilance
"Now that we're in AA and sober,
winning back the esteem of our friends
and business associates,
we find that we still need to
exercise special vigilance.
As an insurance against
the dangers of big-shot-ism,
we can often check ourselves by remembering
that we are today sober only by
the grace of God
and that any success we may be having
is far more His success than ours."
Bill W., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 92
As Bill Sees It, p. 19

Thought to Consider . . .
"Vigilance will always be the price of survival."
Bill W., Box 1980: The AA Grapevine, November 1960.
The Language of the Heart, p. 317

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
BUT
Being Unconvinced Totally

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

ODAAT
From "The Missing Link":
"Exactly how was I supposed to not drink if my girlfriend breaks up with me, or if my best friend dies, or even through
happy times like graduations, weddings, and birthdays. They suggested I could just stay sober one day at a time. They
explained that it might be easier to set my sights on the twenty-four hours in front of me and to take on these other
situations when and if they ever arrived. I decided to give sobriety a try, one day at a time, and I've done it that way ever since."
2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 286-87

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

"Success is more a state of heart and mind than a sum total of material assets."
February 2007
"Change to Spare,"
Emotional Sobriety II: The Next Frontier

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

"In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be
able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for
inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take
it easy. We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right
answers come after we have tried this for a while."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 86

"Many doctors and psychiatrists agree with our conclusions. One of
these men, staff member of a world-renowned hospital, recently made
this statement to some of us: 'What you say about the general
hopelessness of the average alcoholic's plight is, in my opinion,
correct. As to two of you men, whose stories I have heard, there is no
doubt in my mind that you were 100% hopeless, apart from divine
help. Had you offered yourselves as patients at this hospital, I would
not have taken you, if I had been able to avoid it. People like you
are too heartbreaking. Though not a religious person, I have profound
respect for the spiritual approach in such cases as yours. For most
cases, there is virtually no other solution.'"
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 43~

To those of us who have hitherto known only excitement, depression, or anxiety – in other words, to all of us – this
newfound peace is a priceless gift.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 74

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

The 'Slipper' Needs Understanding
'Slips can often be charged to rebellion; some of us are more rebellious than others. Slips may be due to the illusion
that one can be 'cured' of alcoholism. Slips can also be charged to carelessness and complacency. Many of us fail to
ride out these periods sober. Things go fine for two or three years--then the member is seen no more. Some of us
suffer extreme guilt because of vices or practices that we can't or won't let go of. Too little self-forgiveness and too little
prayer--well, this combination adds up to slips.
'Then some of us are far more alcohol-damaged than others. Still others encounter a series of calamities and cannot
seem to find the spiritual resources to meet them. There are those of us who are physically ill. Others are subject to
more or less continuous exhaustion, anxiety, and depression. These conditions often play a part in slips--sometimes
they are utterly controlling.' TALK, 1960

Prayer For The Day: Dear Lord, know with all thy heart that I love you and thank you for each day. Grant me mercy and forgive me when I am wrong.

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