DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
I'M NOT DIFFERENT
In the beginning it was four whole years before A.A. brought permanent sobriety to even one alcoholic woman. Like the "high bottoms," the women said they were different; . . . The Skid-Rower said he was different; . . . so did the artists and the professional people, the rich, the poor, the religious, the agnostic, the Indians and the Eskimos, the veterans and the prisoners. . . . nowadays all of these, and legions more, soberly talk about how very much alike all of us alcoholics are when we admit that the chips are finally down.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 24
I cannot consider myself "different" in A.A.; if I do I isolate myself from others and from contact with my Higher Power. If I feel isolated in A.A., it is not something for which others are responsible. It is something I've created by feeling I'm "different" in some way. Today I practice being just another alcoholic in the worldwide Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
Many things we do in A.A. are in preparation for that crucial moment when, walking down the street on a nice sunshiny day, we see a nice cool cocktail lounge and the idea of having a drink pops into our minds. If we've trained our minds so that we're well prepared for that crucial moment, we won't take that first drink. In other words, if we've done our A.A. homework well, we won't slip when temptation comes. In preparation for that crucial moment when I'll be tempted, will I keep in mind the fact that liquor is my enemy?
Meditation for the Day
How many of the world's prayers have gone unanswered because those who prayed did not endure to the end? They thought it was too late, that they must act for themselves, that God was not going to guide them. "He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved." Can I endure to the very end? If so, I shall be saved. I will try to endure with courage. If I endure, God will unlock those secret spiritual treasures that are hidden from those who do not endure to the end.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may follow God's guidance, so that spiritual success shall be mine. I pray that I may never doubt the power of God and so take things into my own hands.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Reservations
Page 51
"Relapse is never an accident. Relapse is a sign that we have a reservation in our program."
Basic Text, p. 79
A reservation is something we set aside for future use. In our case, a reservation is the expectation that, if such-and-such happens, we will surely relapse. What event do we expect will be too painful to bear? Maybe we think that if a spouse or lover leaves us, we will have to get high. If we lose our job, surely, we think, we will use. Or maybe it's the death of a loved one that we expect to be unbearable. In any case, the reservations we harbor give us permission to use when they come true-as they often do.
We can prepare ourselves for success instead of relapse by examining our expectations and altering them where we can. Most of us carry within us a catalog of anticipated misery closely related to our fears. We can learn how to survive pain by watching other members live through similar pain. We can apply their lessons to our own expectations. Instead of telling ourselves we will have to get high if this happens, we can quietly reassure ourselves that we, too, can stay clean through whatever life brings us today.
Just for Today: I will check for any reservations that may endanger my recovery and share them with another addict.
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"No matter how far along the road I go, I’m still the same distance from the ditch." (thanks Jim M.)
A friend, Tim B, has created an interesting website and useful tool. He has given me permission to share:
www.bigbookfordummies.com
"I was a self-made man and I worshiped my creator."
(thanks Gary M.)
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Tung-shan was asked, "The normal mind is the way; what is the normal mind?"
He replied, "Not picking things up along the road."
From Teachings of Zen, edited by Thomas Cleary,
Native American
The Old Man said, `you are both ugly and handsome and you must accept your ugliness as well as your handsomeness in order to really accept yourself."
--Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA
My Grandfather told me one time that any person who is judgmental to another is also judgmental to themselves. If we want to be free of being judgmental, we need to first work on how judgmental we are to ourselves. If we quit judging ourselves and start accepting ourselves as we are, we will start accepting others as they are. Then we will experience a level of new freedom.
Great Spirit, let me accept myself as I am --honoring both my strengths and my weaknesses.
Keep It Simple
Changing brings questions, and questions bring change. --- Anonymous
What am I becoming? How do I know if what I'm doing is right? Is it best for me? We are full of questions. Often, times of question a are times of change. We are becoming something new, and there is always a little fear of change. Luckily, we don't need to know what we are becoming to find peace. What we need to know is what we believe in. And we'll become what we believe in. If we believe in sobriety, we'll be sober. If we believe in honestly, we'll struggle to be more honest. We must give ourselves the freedom of becoming. Becoming means we're on a trip, a journey. Over time, becoming takes on a comfort of its own.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, what am I becoming? I give up having to know the answer. All I need to believe is that You love me and will do what is best for me.
Action for the Day: I'll ask lots of questions. Often, the question is more important than the answer.
Big Book
"We are people who normally would not mix. But there exists among us
a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is
indescribably wonderful."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 17~
Mr. Hyde or Mr. Hide
Larry R.
The Big Book talks about how alcohol can make you change
One minute you act normal and the next you act insane
It references the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Once the drink takes over, normal thinking put aside
A chap that I had worked with had a pattern when he drank
I came to know him well when we were working for a bank
Come five o’clock we’d sit around and have a drink or two
And once he had his third one, he was not the man I knew
It was almost like his face had been transformed into a mask
The smile was gone, his look grew fierce, his conversation crass
I did not know why he would change, become so vitriolic
Until another friend told me he was an alcoholic
Back then I did not understand that it was a disease
Why can’t he just control himself, give drinking a reprise
He made me feel uncomfortable, I tried to stay away
Little did I know that I would be like him someday
Some thirty years had passed before the bottle took control
Up to that point my life was good, was really on a roll
Though drinking had increased it had not put me in a funk
No mean or hostile attitude, I was a pleasant drunk
Then came the time I realized a change had taken place
Yet I’d become unwilling to admit it, to embrace
The fact that I had lost control, commanded by my pride
So, unlike our Mr. Jekyll, I turned into Mr. Hide
I began to hide my drinking, kept pretending all was well
My outside self would act secure, my inside self was hell
I had to hide my secret life and hoped no one would know
But cracks in my façade appeared, the truth began to show
As the end approached with Mr. Hide my closet friend
Not wanting to expose myself, defiant to the end
I shied away from people, they would only cause me grief
“Who needs them” when I had my Vodka bottle for relief?
When the bottle had stopped working and I had to face the fact
That I’m and alcoholic and my hiding can’t detract
From the truth about what I’d become, a lost and hopeless soul
Adrift upon a sea of grief and stranded on a shoal
I found the help I need in a room where people meet
To share what they have learned and how they over-came defeat
Invite you to their family like a sister or a brother
And only want the best for you, from one drunk to another
And once the urge I had to drink did finally subside
I felt relived that I had lost that other Mr. Hide
Enjoying time with my new friends, to be part of the crowd
A sober life with benefits that this fellowship endows
Larry R.
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