Daily Recovery Readings - April 15

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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.

April 15

Daily Reflections

THE BONDAGE OF RESENTMENTS

. . . harboring resentment is infinitely grave. For then
we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the spirit.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 5

It has been said, "Anger is a luxury I cannot afford."
Does this suggest I ignore this human emotion? I believe
not. Before I learned of the A.A. program, I was a slave
to the behavior patterns of alcoholism. I was chained to
negativity, with no hope of cutting loose.
The Steps offered me an alternative. Step Four was the
beginning of the end of my bondage. The process of
"letting go" started with an inventory. I needed not be
frightened, for the previous Steps assured me I was not
alone. My Higher Power led me to this door and gave me
the gift of choice. Today I can choose to open the door
to freedom and rejoice in the sunlight of the Steps, as
they cleanse the spirit within me.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Terrible things could have happened to any one of us. We
never will know what might have happened to us when we
were drunk. We usually thought: "That couldn't happen to
me." But any one of us could have killed somebody or have
been killed ourselves, if we were drunk enough. But fear
of these things never kept us from drinking. Do I believe
that in A.A. we have something more effective than fear?

Meditation For The Day

I must keep calm and unmoved in the vicissitudes of life.
I must go back into the silence of communion with God to
recover this calm when it is lost even for one moment. I
will accomplish more by this calmness than by all the
activities of a long day. At all cost I will keep calm.
I can solve nothing when I am agitated. I should keep
away from things that are upsetting emotionally. I should
run on an even keel and not get tipped over by emotional
upsets. I should seek for things that are calm and good
and true and stick to those things.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may not argue nor contend, but merely state
calmly what I believe to be true. I pray that I may keep
myself in that state of calmness that comes from faith in
God's purpose for the world.

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As Bill Sees It

Move Ahead, p. 105

To spend too much time on any one alcoholic is to deny some other an
opportunity to live and be happy. One of our Fellowship failed entirely
with his first half-dozen prospects. He often says that if he had
continued to work on them, he might have deprived many others, who
have since recovered, of their chance.

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

"Our chief responsibility to the newcomer is an adequate presentation
of the program. If he does nothing or argues, we do nothing but
maintain our own sobriety. If he starts to move ahead, even a little,
with an open mind, we then break our necks to help in every way we
can."

1. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 96
2. Letter, 1942

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Walk in Dry Places

When Things are Not humanly possible._____ Facing Difficulties
We're reminded again and again that "No human power could have relieved our alcoholism." Whatever it is that keeps us sober must come from a Higher Power … God as we understand Him.
This fact about our alcoholism also has broader application to the general conditions of life. There's an almost endless list of conditions that are not humanly possible to change. Some of these conditions apply only to us; others, such as war and disease, cruelly afflict all of humankind. Looking at this sorry picture, many of us wish we had the power to apply Twelve Step principles to all human problems.
While we don't have such power at the moment, we do have the power to take a spiritual view of all seemingly hopeless conditions. This includes trying to do whatever we can about any problem, while recognizing that the real solution must eventually come from a Higher Power. We must never lose hope that God will cork with us and through us to create a better world. In a small way, we can help by sharing what happened to us in our recovery from alcoholism. No human power could have relieved our alcoholism, but God could and did.
Though I live and work with people who may be frightened and cynical, I'll hold to the idea that a Higher Power is working ceaselessly to improve the human condition in general. There is no reason why the miraculous healing power that relieved my alcoholism should not apply to other problems in my life.

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Keep It Simple

That day is lost on which one has not laughed. ---French proverb
For a long time, we didn't really laugh. It's surprising when we think about it: We hadn't really laughed for so long . . . we almost forgot how good we could feel. It feels so good to laugh again!
Now our spirits come more alive each day. Now we feel what alcohol and other drugs stuffed deep inside us. Pain, fear and anger come up. But so do happiness and joy, thankfulness and a sense of humor. In early recovery, we work through the hard feelings. As we grow in the program, we have more and more room for happiness.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, wake me up to the joy and laughter that today holds for me. Don't let me miss it!
Action for the Day: Today, I'll spread some laughter. I will learn a joke and tell it to three people.

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Each Day a New Beginning

It seems to me that I have always been waiting for something better - sometimes to see the best I had snatched from me.
--Dorothy Reed Mendenhall
Gratitude for what is prepares us for the blessings just around the corner. What is so necessary to understand is that our wait for what's around the corner closes our eyes to the joys of the present moment. We have only the 24 hours ahead of us. In fact, all we can be certain of having is the moment we are presently experiencing. And it is a gift to be enjoyed. There is no better gift just right for us than this moment, at this time.
We can, each of us, look back on former days, realizing that we learned too late the value of a friend or an experience. Both are now gone. With practice and a commitment to ourselves, we can learn to reap the benefits of today, hour by hour. When we detach from the present and wait for tomorrow, or next week, or look to next year, we are stunting our spiritual growth. Life can only bless us now, one breath at a time.
I can live in the present if I choose to. Gentle reminders are often necessary, however. I will step into my life, today. It can become a habit, one I will never want to break.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 8 - TO WIVES

We know these suggestions are sometimes difficult to follow, but you will save many a heartbreak if you can succeed in observing them. Your husband may come to appreciate your reasonableness and patience. This may lay the groundwork for a friendly talk about his alcoholic problem. Try to have him bring up the subject himself. Be sure you are not critical during such a discussion. Attempt instead, to put yourself in his place. Let him see that you want to be helpful rather than critical.

p. 111

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

The Man Who Mastered Fear

He spent eighteen years in running away, and then found he didn't have to run. So he started A.A. in Detroit.

This office job brought me face to face with a problem that I had sidestepped all my adult life, lack of training. This time I did something about it. I enrolled in a correspondence school that taught nothing but accounting. With this specialized training, and a liberal business education in the school of hard knocks, I was able to set up shop some two years later as an independent accountant. Seven years of work in this field bright an opportunity to affiliate myself actively with one of my clients, a fellow A.A. We complement each other beautifully, as he is a born salesman and my taste is for finance and management. At long last I am doing the kind of work I have always wanted to do but never had the patience and emotional stability to train myself for. The A.A. program showed me the way to come down to earth, start from the bottom, and work up. This represents another great change for me. IN the long ago past I used to start at the top as president or treasurer and end up with the sheriff breathing down my neck.

p. 255

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

Of course, it is reasonable and understandable that the question is often asked: "Why can't we take a specific and troubling dilemma straight to God, and in prayer secure from Him sure and definite answers to our requests?"
This can be done, but it has hazards. We have seen A.A.'s ask with much earnestness and faith for God's explicit guidance on matters ranging all the way from a shattering domestic or financial crisis to correcting a minor personal fault, like tardiness. Quite often, however, the thoughts that seem to come from God are not answers at all. They prove to be well-intentioned unconscious rationalizations. The A.A., or indeed any man, who tries to run his life rigidly by this kind of prayer, by this self-serving demand of God for replies, is a particularly disconcerting individual. To any questioning or criticism of his actions he instantly proffers his reliance upon prayer for guidance in all matters great or small. He may have forgotten the possibility that his own wishful thinking and the human tendency to rationalize have distorted his so-called guidance. With the best of intentions, he tends to force his own will into all sorts of situations and problems with the comfortable assurance that he is acting under God's specific direction. Under such an illusion, he can of course create great havoc without in the least intending it.

pp. 103-104

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To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its
own.
--Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Listen to your feelings. They tell you when you need to take care of
yourself, like finding a friend if you feel lonely, crying if you feel sad,
singing and smiling if you feel happy, and acting frisky if you feel good.
--Pat Palmer

Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've
decided to see beyond the imperfections.

"The spiritual journey, the path of recovery and personal growth,
is a detoxification process in which we bring up and out the negative
beliefs we have carried with us from the past and that now poison the
present."
--Marianne Williamson

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way
things turn out."
--Art Linkletter

As long as you're recreating yourself, why not start by simply being
GLAD! to be alive?
--LUMPYSEZ

"He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself
away."
--Raymond Hull

"God doesn't play dice."
--Albert Einstein

God always leads us toward life.
--Gracie M. Willingham

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

SOLITUDE

"People who take time to be
alone usually have depth,
originality and quiet reserve."
--John Miller

I need to be alone. I need time to listen to my thoughts, consider my
opinions and strengthen my body. I need to pull away from my hectic
life to be alone with me.

As a drinking alcoholic I hated to be alone. I became paranoiac about
"leaving the fort" - today I accept that nobody is indispensable and
that the world will still be there when I return from the desert!

Today I grow in the stillness of solitude. I can rest in that "still" part
of me that is the essential me.

God is very close to me in the silence of self.

Lord, in the stillness of Your life, I am healed and rejuvenated.

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"He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness
until now."
1 John 2:9

"Whoever trusts in the Lord will be enriched."
Proverbs 28:25

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Daily Inspiration

Never give up on yourself because God never gives up on you. Lord, You forgive me. Who am I not to forgive myself too?

God is always doing new things in our lives. Lord, help me to close the door to my past and take the time to notice and enjoy the newness I am experiencing right now.

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NA Just For Today

Keep Coming Back

"We have come to enjoy living clean and want more of the good things that the NA fellowship holds for us"
Basic Text p. 26

Can you remember a time when you looked at the addicts recovering in NA and wondered, "If they aren't using drugs what on earth do they have to laugh about?" Did you believe that the fun stoped when the using stopped? So many of us did. We were certain that we were leaving the good life behind. Today many of us can laugh at that misconception because we know how full our life in recovery can be.

Many of the things we enjoy so much in recovery are gained by actively participating in the fellowship of NA. We begin to find true companionship, friends who understand and care about us just for ouselves. We find a place where we can be useful to others. There are recovery meetings, service activities, and fellowship gatherings to fill out time and accupy our interests. The fellowship can be a mirror to reflect back to us a more acurate imagine of who we are. We find teachers, helpers, friends, love, care,and support. The fellowship always has more to offer us, as long as we keep coming back.

Just for today: I know where the good life is. I'll keep coming back.
pg. 109

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
If I have freedom in my life, And in my soul am free, Angels alone that soar above Enjoy such liberty. --Richard Lovelace
When a cow decides to stop nursing her calf, she isn't rejecting it. She knows it's time for the calf to be on its own. Although the calf might feel rejected and puzzled at first, it soon adapts to its new independence and freedom.
When we feel rejected, it's useful to remember that whatever has caused us to feel this way might have nothing to do with us. It might be a reflection of what's happening with someone else, or just the end of a natural stage in life, as with the calf.
When we understand that others' actions toward us come from their own feelings, and that we don't cause their feelings any more than they control ours, we can free ourselves from a little bit of fear and self-hate. We can see what seems to be rejection as an open door, with our freedom on the other side.
What rejections have set me free?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Just be what you are and speak from your guts and heart - it's all a man has. --Hubert Humphrey
Some of us have doubted our inner voice so completely that we abandoned it totally. Many of us have discovered in recovery that by our denial we had violated our inner voice with lies, even to ourselves. Now we question whether we can trust our instincts, and we may not know what we feel.
Masculine spiritual recovery is a return to our guts and our heart. Standing up and speaking from our hearts may be difficult at times, but our self-respect rises as we do. That is where we go for our final decision-making. We develop better reception for the inner voice as we live this program. We accept that we are never absolutely right. We continue with humility, knowing we may be wrong and listening to others and our Higher Power. Yet we must live with our choices.
I will seek the courage to be faithful to my own instincts.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
It seems to me that I have always been waiting for something better - sometimes to see the best I had snatched from me.
--Dorothy Reed Mendenhall
Gratitude for what is prepares us for the blessings just around the corner. What is so necessary to understand is that our wait for what's around the corner closes our eyes to the joys of the present moment. We have only the 24 hours ahead of us. In fact, all we can be certain of having is the moment we are presently experiencing. And it is a gift to be enjoyed. There is no better gift just right for us than this moment, at this time.
We can, each of us, look back on former days, realizing that we learned too late the value of a friend or an experience. Both are now gone. With practice and a commitment to ourselves, we can learn to reap the benefits of today, hour by hour. When we detach from the present and wait for tomorrow, or next week, or look to next year, we are stunting our spiritual growth. Life can only bless us now, one breath at a time.
I can live in the present if I choose to. Gentle reminders are often necessary, however. I will step into my life, today. It can become a habit, one I will never want to break.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Communication
Part of owning our power is learning to communicate clearly, directly, and assertively. We don't have to beat around the bush in our conversations to control the reactions of others. Guilt producing comments only produce guilt. We don't have to fix or take care of people with our words; we cant expect others to take care of us with words either. We can settle for being heard and accepted. And we can respectfully listen to what others have to say.
Hinting at what we need doesn't work. Others cant read our mind, and they're likely to resent our indirectness. The best way to take responsibility for what we want is to ask for it directly. And, we can insist on directness from others. If we need to say no to a particular request, we can. If someone is trying to control us through a conversation, we can refuse to participate.
Acknowledging feelings such as disappointment or anger directly, instead of making others guess at our feelings or having our feelings come out in other ways, is part of responsible communication. If we don't know what we want to say, we can say that too.
We can ask for information and use words to forge a closer connection, but we don't have to take people around the block with our conversations. We don't have to listen to, or participate in, nonsense. We can say what we want and stop when were done.
Today, I will communicate clearly and directly in my conversations with others. I will strive to avoid manipulative, indirect, or guilt producing statements. I can be tactful and gentle whenever possible. And I can be assertive if necessary.


It is beautiful to know that I am the creator of how I think and feel today, that I can choose my now. Today I choose to feel joy and I will do all that I have to do to make that possible. --Ruth Fishel

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Journey To The Heart

Imagine What You Want

What do you want? What do you want to create in your life? What situation do you want to live in? Describe the scenario. Imagine it. We can often have what we want, but we rarely take the time to imagine it. And imagination is the first step toward creativity.

What do you want? What would it look like, feel like? Is what you’re working so hard on what you really want? That relationship? That job? That home? If it is, go for it. If it’s not, imagine and create something different.

Begin with imagination. Imagine what you really want in your mind, and you’ve taken the first step toward creating it. If you don’t know what you want, that’s okay too. Ask the universe for help. Ask God and the universe to bring you your highest good.

Ask the universe to help you create exactly what you want and need. Trust the universe, and you will be trusting an honorable and benevolent friend.

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More Language Of Letting Go

Say what you can’t have

“Why is it,” one man asked, “that if I walk into a room with one hundred women, the one I’m attracted to will either be engaged to someone else or live across the country? Will someone please explain that to me?”

I laughed when he asked the question, although he wasn’t trying to be funny. Many people find themselves enamored with what they can’t have. His question struck a cord because I’m one of them. Unavailability– and not being able to have what you want– although painful, can be deliciously enticing in many ways.

That miserable, deprived place feels so comfy and familiar to us. Even though we know where it leads– to letdown, loneliness, sitting by the phone– we’ll let that feeling lead us around by the nose.

Wanting what we can’t have is a universal dilemma. It’s so easy to conjure up fantasies about how delicious it would be if we could only have that, even though we know we never could. Then we don’t have to deal with what we have. And we don’t have to face issues like intimacy, commitment, and love.

Learn to recognize longing and yearning for what we can’t have. And ask for the courage and wisdom to learn about the true delights of available, requited love.

If we begin yearning for something we can’t have, we don’t have to take ourselves so seriously. We can see it for what it is and just enjoy a good laugh at ourselves.

God, help me stop sabotaging myself.

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Creating What We Don’t Want
When Worry becomes A Prayer

If prayer is an intention that we announce to the universe in order to create a desired outcome, then our every thought is a prayer. This includes thoughts of worry as well as of hope. All thoughts are subtle creative energy. Some thoughts are more focused or repeated more often, gathering strength. Some are written down or spoken, giving them even greater power. Every thought we have is part of a process whereby we cocreate our experience and our reality with the universe. When we use our creative energy unconsciously, we create what is commonly known as self-fulfilling prophecy. In essence, when we worry, we are repeatedly praying and lending our energy to the creation of something we don’t want.

The good news is that we can retrain our minds and thoughts to focus our energy on what we do desire to bring into our lives. Since most worry is repetitive, it will take more than one positive thought to counteract the energy we’ve created. The simplest antidote to worry is affirmations. When we hold these positive thoughts, repeat them often, speak them and write them and refer to them throughout our day, we are using focused energy to create positive results.

We can start right away, together: I am a creative being, using my energy to cocreate a wonderful world. I know that I create my experience of life from within, and as I do so, I also create ripples of energy around me that echo into the world. My positive thoughts gather together with the thoughts and prayers of others, and together we create enough positive energy to heal not only our own lives but the world we share. I am grateful for the ability to cocreate good in my life and in the world.

A lot of times we have concerned loved ones that worry about us. When this happens they are also sending out a worry prayer to the world. A loving conversation letting them know what is happening is the easiest solution. Also, ask them to send you positive affirmations rather than worry about you. After all, worry doesn’t do them any good either. Explain to them that worry can actually be energetically harmful to you and that wishing good things for you is much more beneficial and much more fun too. Published with permission from Daily OM

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

Rare are the practicing alcoholics who have any idea how irrational they are, or, seeing their irrationality, can bear to face it. One reason is that they are abetted in their blindness by a world which doesn’t yet understand the difference between sane drinking and alcoholism. The dictionary defines sanity as “soundness of mind.” Yet no alcoholics, soberly analyzing his or her destructive behavior, can truly claim soundness of mind. Have I come to believe, as the Second Step suggests, that a Power greater than myself can restore me to sanity?

Today I Pray

May I see that my own behavior as a practicing alcoholic, a drug-user or a compulsive over-eater, could be described as “insane.” For those still actively addicted, admitting to “”insane” behavior is well-nigh impossible. I pray that I may continue to abhor the insanities and inanities of my addictive days. May others like me recognize their problems of addiction, find help in treatment and in The Program, and come to believe that a Higher Power can restore them to sanity.

Today I Will Remember

He restoreth my soul.

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One More Day

Just because everything is different doesn’t mean anything has changed.
– Irene Peter

Chance may happen gradually without our being aware of it. A sudden event may force us to recognize how different our lives have become. Yet even when the details or circumstances have changed, we may discover that the real meaning of our lives has remained the same.

We still carry many of the same values as before. We are thankful for the stable relationships that have grown as we have become stronger. We still strive to succeed in the goals we’ve set. We continue to look for — and to find — meaning in our life experiences. Certainly, we’ve changed and many things are different, but we continue to carry within ourselves the unique person we each are, the person we’ve always been.

I have always been a person capable of tremendous growth. I’m thankful that I can make changes that will help me grow.

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Food For Thought

A Daily Reprieve

Through the grace of our Higher Power and by means of the OA program, we compulsive overeaters are given a daily reprieve from our disease. This reprieve, however, is dependent on our spiritual condition. If we do not stay in touch with our Higher Power and if we do not practice the OA principles each day, we lose the reprieve and fall into compulsive overeating.

Our program comes first; other concerns are secondary. OA is not something which we can tack on to our schedule when it is convenient. To be effective, it requires top priority. This does not mean that we spend all of our time involved in OA activities. It does mean that all of our activities are guided by spiritual principles.

Impossible? Only if we refuse to turn our lives over to our Higher Power. When He is in control, our work, recreation, and rest all come under His direction. We are spiritually in tune each day and safe from our disease.

Thank You for saving me from my disease today.

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One Day At A Time

~ Success ~
I have begun everything with the idea that I could succeed, and I never had much patience with the multitudes of people who are always ready to explain why one cannot succeed. I have always had a high regard for the man who could tell me how to succeed.
Booker T. Washington

The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous is my main source of inspiration when it comes to recovery issues. It's proven to be a valuable asset to my program.

I've learned from the Big Book that recovery from any compulsive disease is possible. We are given Twelve Steps to follow, and told that if we do what our predecessors did, then we WILL recover. We have to be willing to go to any length to succeed. We have to do the footwork. The people who don't succeed in this program are the ones who don't avail themselves of all the help that's available to them. They don't read the literature, they don't go to meetings, they don't do service ... they don't do what those who have gone before have done. So they wallow in their disease instead of recovering.

There's a reason why we're told, "Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path." That means the program works IF you work it. Those who don't work the program don't recover. That's a pretty powerful statement, but it's true, and for some reason, a lot of compulsive people just don't get it. They keep doing the same old things and getting the same old results. In the process, they remain fully in the grip of their disease. Sure, recovery is a miracle, but it won't fall into your lap. You need to work for it, and by the grace of the God of your understanding, you'll receive the miracle.

One Day at a Time . . .
I remember that it's not enough to talk the talk; I need to walk the walk if I want to recover.
~ Jeff ~

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Another principle we observe carefully is that we do not relate intimate experiences of another person unless we are sure he would approve. We find it better, when possible, to stick to our own stories. - Pg. 125 - The Family Afterward

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Frequently, in our first hours and days of giving up using mind-affecting chemicals, our tricky thoughts begin to question, 'Are we really so bad off that we have to stop using right now?' We will want to say, 'Well, no. We're not that bad off.' But how bad do we have to get? Dead?

May I not play any head games with myself for this one hour. This hour I am not going to use.

The Creative Power of My Thoughts

Today, I recognize that I tend to produce in my life what I feel is true for myself. Thoughts have a creative power of their own. If I look closely, I can see my thoughts come to life. I create the possibility of what I would like by first experiencing it in my mind. I will visualize what I would like to have in my life in my mind's eye. I will accept what I see in my inner eye as being available for me, and I will fully participate in my vision as if it were already mine. I will be specific about what I see in my mind's creative eye and I will accept my inner vision as fully possible. I will see it, sense, taste it and see it as already happening. What I believe can be true for me, can be true for me. I block things form happening with my own doubt and disbelief. Today, I will imagine that I can live the life I am able to hold as a steady vision. If I can see it, I can move toward it, I can accept it, I can crate it.

All good things are possible for me

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

You must learn to pick up a program, not just set down a drink! They call this foot work. Your Higher Power wants to make a deal with you. You do the foot work and He'll take care of the results.

If I have one hand in the fellowship and one hand in God's, I can't pick up today.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Responsibility: Your response to God's ability.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

I will put aside all judgments and accept each and every situation with openness and trust today. Only then will I discover the joy that lies beyond my fear.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

I sat on the steps of that liquor store, with my broken jaw, raccoon eyes, unwashed, uncombed hair. And I sat there waiting for.. I don't know what. And this VW pulls up, and these beautiful Californian AA's; bright smiles, bright eyes - I immediately hated them - got out and walked toward me, like I was a piece of gold, like I was an emerald sitting there on that sidewalk. - Sharon B.

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AA Thought for the Day

April 15

Pride
Some see pride as just a minor issue. I see pride, and resistance to change,
as the deadliest character flaw every alcoholic deals with on a daily basis.
The only answer I've ever found in dealing with such a high level of denial,
is written about in the Big Book,
and can be found in action at just about any AA meeting in the world.
The AA Grapevine, April 2014

Thought to Ponder . . .
Into action, out of self.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
P R I D E = Personal Recovery Involves Deflating Ego.

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

Intoxication
"As newcomers, many of us have indulged
in spiritual intoxication.
Like a prospector,
belt drawn in over the last ounce of food,
we saw our pick strike gold.
Joy at our release from a lifetime
of frustration knew no bounds.
The newcomer feels he has struck
something better than gold.
He may not see at once
that he has barely scratched a limitless lode
which will pay dividends
only if he mines it for the rest of his life
and insists on giving away
the entire product."

Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 128-9
As Bill Sees It, p. 57

Thought to Consider . . .
We give it away to keep it.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
T H I N K = The Happiness I Never Knew

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

Excuses
Step Four: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
"The majority of A.A. members have suffered severely from self-justification during their drinking days. For most of us,
self-justification was the maker of excuses; excuses, of course, for drinking, and for all kinds of crazy and damaging
conduct. We had made the invention of alibis a fine art. We had to drink because times were hard or times were good.
We had to drink because at home we were smothered with love or got none at all. We had to drink because at work we
were great successes or dismal failures. We had to drink because our nation had won a war or lost a peace. And so it went, ad infinitum."
1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005; Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pgs. 46-47

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

"Every day will bring me challenges, but now I have the spiritual tools to cope with life on life's terms. I am no longer the
prisoner of my past, my wants, my sorrows, my addictions"
October 2002
"On My Knees into the World Wide Web of Recovery,"
Spiritual Awakenings II

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

"When we decide who is to hear our story, we waste no time. We have
a written inventory and we are prepared for a long talk. We explain
to our partner what we are about to do and why we have to do it. He
should realize that we are engaged upon a life-and-death errand.
Most people approached in this way will be glad to help; they will be
honored by our confidence."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 75

"Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and
our personal adventure before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:
(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were sought."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, Page 60~

We A.A.‘s cannot pretend to offer full answers to age-old perplexities, but our own experience does provide certain answers that work for us.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 117

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Move Ahead
To spend too much time on any one alcoholic is to deny some other an opportunity to live and be happy. One of our
Fellowship failed entirely with his first half-dozen prospects. He often says that if he had continued to work on them, he
might have deprived many others, who have since recovered, of their chance.
'Our chief responsibility to the newcomer is an adequate presentation of the program. If he does nothing or argues, we
do nothing but maintain our own sobriety. If he starts to move ahead, even a little, with an open mind, we then break our
necks to help in every way we can.'
1. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 96
2. LETTER, 1942

Prayer For The Day: Let me not forget you as I go forth into the world this day, blessed Lord; may my every word be a prayer, and my every act be testimony to your love and truth, and my I know your presence every second of this day. Amen.

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