DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
RECOVERY, UNITY, SERVICE
Our Twelfth Step--carrying the message--is the basic service that A.A.'s Fellowship gives; this is our principal aim and the main reason for our existence.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 160
I thank God for those who came before me, those who told me not to forget the Three Legacies: Recovery, Unity and Service. In my home group, the Three Legacies were described on a sign which said: "You take a three legged stool, try to balance it on only one leg, or two. Our Three Legacies must be kept intact. In Recovery, we get sober together, in Unity, we work together for the good of our Steps and Traditions; and through Service--we give away freely what has been given to us."
One of the chief gifts of my life has been to know that I will have no message to give, unless I recover in unity with A.A. principles.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
We have definitely left that dream world behind. It was only a sham. It was a world of our making and it was not the real world. We are sorry for the past, yes, but we learned a lot from it. We can put it down to experience, valuable experience, as we see it now, because it has given us the knowledge necessary to face the world as it really is. We had to become alcoholics in order to find the A.A. program. We would not have gotten it any other way. In a way, it was worth it. Do I look at my past as valuable experience?
Meditation for the Day
Shed peace, not discord, wherever you go. Try to be part of the cure of every situation, not part of the problem. Try to ignore evil, rather than to actively combat it. Always try to build up, never to tear down. Show others by your example that happiness comes from living the right way. The power of your example is greater than the power of what you say.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may try to bring something good into every situation today. I pray that I may be constructive in the way I think and speak and act today.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
New Ideas
"We reevaluate our ideas so we can become acquainted with the new ideas that lead to a new way of life."
Basic Text, pg. 91
Learning to live a new way of life can be difficult. Sometimes, when the going gets especially hard, we're tempted to follow the path of least resistance and live by our old ideas again. We forget that our old ideas were killing us. To live a new way of life, we need to open our minds to new ideas.
Working the steps, attending meetings, sharing with others, trusting a sponsor - these suggestions may meet our resistance, even our rebellion. The NA program requires effort, but each step in the program brings us closer to becoming the kinds of people we truly want to be. We want to change, to grow to become something more than we are today. To do that, we open our mind, try on the new ideas we've found in NA, and learn to live a new way of life.
Just for today: I will open my mind to new ideas and learn to live my life in a new way.
pg. 373
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
We pastor the value of our unholy past.
Sandy B.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Winston Churchill
“Sobriety is like a bunch of bananas, if you get too far from the bunch, you get peeled.” (Steve K.)
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Even though the training in ethics takes many forms, the ethics of abandoning the ten non-virtues is their basis. Of the ten non-virtues, three pertain to bodily actions, four to verbal actions, and three to mental actions.
The four verbal non-virtues are:
1. Lying: deceiving others through spoken words or physical gestures.
2. Divisiveness: creating dissension by causing those in agreement to disagree still further.
3. Harshness: abusing others.
4. Senselessness: talking about foolish things motivated by desire and so forth.
The opposite of these ten non-virtues are the ten virtues, and engaging in them is called the practice of ethics.
From "The Pocket Dalai Lama," edited by Mary Craig, 2002.
Native American
"It's not the package and the wrapping which counts but what is inside, underneath the clothes and the skin."
--Lame Deer, LAKOTA
Our eyes and ears gather information that is fed to the mind, and we tend to form judgments, opinions and assumptions on what our perception is. We might see someone act a certain way, then label that person forever, not at all concentrating on what is inside the person. It matters not our height, our size, our facial features, or our gender. What matters is our thoughts. Good thoughts overcome all obstacles.
Great Spirit, let my inside contain Your qualities.
Keep It Simple
We not only need to be willing to give, but also to be open to receiving from others. ---from On Hope
Many of us took so much from others during our addiction that now we may not want to ask for anything.
We may be afraid to ask for help, so our needs go unmet. In fact, many of us would rather give than receive. In recovery, we need to understand the difference between taking and receiving. Giving to others is important. So is receiving from others. As we grow spiritually, we learn to accept gifts. The gift of sobriety teaches us this. We need to accept the gifts the world gives us without shame. We are entitled.
God loves us and will give us much if we're willing to receive it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be receptive to Your gifts. Help me see and believe that I'm entitled to all the happiness of the world.
Action for the Day: I'll think of what a friend has given me. I'll thank this friend.
Big Book
"We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much
more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our
respective homes, occupations and affairs."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 19
Christmas Past, Christmas Present
AA Grapevine (online exclusive)
An AA who relapsed compares that year's holiday with this one
The Christmas before last was the worst. Four years ago, I gave up 13 years of sobriety to drink and abuse pain medication. For my decision to drink again I was rewarded with a divorce and a business deal that went sour. I had been warned that all the bad things that hadn't happened to me yet would if I went back to drinking but some how I chose to ignore that advice. Who was I to think that the rules of alcoholic drinking did not apply to me?
Thirty years ago when I went to my first AA meeting a few of the old timers said "kid I spilled more booze on my tie than you drank." Many more said, "alcoholism was like an elevator and you could get off before it went to the bottom floor." Of course I decided to listen to the minority and after a year of sobriety and my life getting better I drank for another 10 years. I figured I hadn't lost a wife, a job, or thousands of dollars and most importantly I couldn't drink a fifth a day which seemed to be the minimum for a true alcoholic. Never mind that I wasn't married or employed and I had always been broke. The capacity for alcohol would increase, it is one of the rules of alcoholic drinking.
Years later, I had been divorced and lost a job and blown lots of money on booze and had all the accidents that go with it. I was depressed and miserable and I realized that the only time I had been happy was as a member of AA. That was the place I learned how to be a decent human being so I came back. I was lucky to find a sponsor who would put up with me. I questioned everything and told him that I hated meetings and for a time quit attending them but somehow I stayed sober and managed to not get fired by him.
I read the literature and became very active with my home group and my life improved in every way. Financially, I had a thriving business and a beautiful home. I had been spared from many painful experiences. Then after 12 years of sobriety, I became disenchanted with the discussion meetings that I had been attending, but instead of looking for other meetings, I stopped going. My employment caused me to see many AA members who did not appear to be practicing the 12 Steps in all their affairs. I couldn't believe that they would be worse off drinking. I called other AA members hypocrites, but I who had gained so much from a Program I was now denouncing was the biggest hypocrite of all. I had graduated and it wasn't with a degree of humility.
When I drank again I only had two glasses of wine and I didn't turn into a pumpkin so I thought I must have licked this thing that was more psychological than physical. For a month I would have one or two beers and laugh that I couldn't drink more because I got sleepy. I hate to admit it but I was thinking about being the first guy to comeback and stand up at a meeting to announce that I found a way to drink successfully.
Since this is a story about Christmas I will skip the drunk-a-log and get right to the worst yuletide I have experienced. I went from two glasses of wine to three bottles and five or six pain pills. My wife divorced me and so did many of my friends. I was unable to sleep through the night. I would wake from my stupor feeling sick and would drink medicinally to get a couple of hours sleep. I didn't view that as a morning drink until I had been sober a few months. All of the things my Higher Power spared me from the first two times now were beating me into submission because of my self-will.
In the past I had laughed at people who would drink and go to meetings. I could not understand some one who would drink and read the Big Book and now it was happening to me. Now I was desperate to stop drinking but I couldn't get what had come so easily to me before. I went to meetings and felt they weren't for me and I couldn't stop drinking. I cannot imagine a deeper sense of loneliness and hopelessness than knowing you are an alcoholic and that AA is the only solution for you and yet not connecting with meetings and the program. Suicide was looking like the only way out.
I believe my Higher Power was protecting me because I didn't get a DUI and I didn't physically harm any one but he was also teaching me about the desperation that I had not known before. I needed the education so that this time I would cling to the program like a drowning man would a life preserver.
Today I keep the focus on me. I acknowledge that we all have frailties and the only chance we have to overcome them is by staying sober. If a meeting doesn't appeal to me I search out ones that do. When I was drinking if I didn't like a bar
I didn't quit drinking I simply found one that I enjoyed. Now I look for discussion meetings that strictly follow the Steps and speaker meetings so I get to know someone's whole story. I look forward to attending my regular meetings and I plan my life around them. Pain and progress have led me to love the program and Fellowship that I hated.
I celebrated Christmas sober for the first time in four years. I had time and energy to visit elderly friends. I felt love for the first time and began to feel worthy of it. I came to realize that many hurt feelings and anger were the result of my not feeling that I could be loved. My wife and I hosted a Christmas party and our home was filled with friends and there was no sickness or remorse the next day. We went to plays and celebrations and yet I had plenty of time to attend meetings.
I believe my higher power gave me two chances to join AA with less suffering but I refused the opportunities. The good news is that I made it back and have a new enthusiasm for the program and meetings. This year I look forward to celebrating another sober Christmas and being grateful for the best gift of all, recovery through the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.
—Anonymous, Toledo, Ohio
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