May 25

Daily Reflections

PROGRESSIVE GRATITUDE Gratitude should go forward, rather than backward. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 29

I am very grateful that my Higher Power has given me a second chance to live a worthwhile life. Through Alcoholics Anonymous, I have been restored to sanity. The promises are being fulfilled in my life. I am grateful to be free from the slavery of alcohol. I am grateful for peace of mind and the opportunity to grow, but my gratitude should go forward rather than backward. I cannot stay sober on yesterday's meetings or past Twelfth-Step calls; I need to put my gratitude into action today. Our co-founder said our gratitude can best be shown by carrying the message to others. Without action, my gratitude is just a pleasant emotion. I need to put it into action by working Step Twelve, by carrying the message and practicing the principles in all my affairs. I am grateful for the chance to carry the message today!

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

In twelfth-step work, the third thing is conviction. Prospects must be convinced that they honestly want to stop drinking. They must see and admit that their life is unmanageable. They must face the fact that they must do something about their drinking. They must be absolutely honest with themselves and face themselves as they really are. They must be convinced that they must give up drinking and they must see that their whole life depends on this conviction. Do I care enough about other alcoholics to help them reach this conviction?

Meditation For The Day

There is no limit to what you can accomplish in helping others. Keep that thought always. Never relinquish any work or give up the thought of any accomplishment because it seems beyond your power. God will help you in all good work. Only give it up if you feel that it's not God's will for you. In helping others, think of the tiny seed under the dark, hard ground. There is no certainty that, when it has forced its way up to the surface, sunlight and warmth will greet it. Often a task seems beyond your power, but there is no limit to what you can accomplish with God's help.

Prayer For The Day I pray that I may never become discouraged in helping others. I pray that I may always rely on the power of God to help me.

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

As Bill Sees It

To Take Responsibility, p. 145

Learning how to live in the greatest peace, partnership, and brotherhood with all men and women, of whatever description, is a moving and fascinating adventure.

But every A.A. has found that he can make little headway in this new adventure of living until he first backtracks and really makes an accurate and unsparing survey of the human wreckage he has left in his wake.

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

The readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the very spirit of Step Nine.

12 & 12 1. p. 77 2. p. 87

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

Walk in Dry Places

Forgetting past failures Living today.
"You never do anything right!"

Some of us carry this accusation deep in our minds, perhaps from childhood. We remember past mistakes and failures, sometimes dregging them up again when new failures occur. When we do this, we unduly burden ourselves with a past that should be released and forgotten. The result of past mistakes was a feeling of inadequacy and helplessness that prolonged our sickness. IN those troubled days, we were trying to solve our problems inways that actually made the problems worse. On that path, there was no hope of a real solution. Today our failure and mistakes are but signs that we are will human and still fall short of perfection. But now we can use failure to good advantage and even learn from it. Our best progress will come when we separate ourselves from the mistakes and failures of the past.

Today I will not believe that "I never did anything right!" I will go through the day knowing that I am capable and effective, and have the help of my higher power in everything I do.

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

Keep It Simple

In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me.---Virginia Satir

Let's keep this in mind: each of us is special in our own way. Often, we're hard on ourselves because we're different. Our Twelve Step groups pull our differences together. We listen and learn from our differences. We learn to see that each one of us is different---and this is important. Our program and the Steps stay alive for us, because each new person brings a different way of seeing things. Let's celebrate our differences instead of trying to be alike.

Prayer for the Day: Today, is a day to celebrate that, in all of the world, there is only one me. Thank-you, Higher Power, and help me see clearly how special I am.

Action for the Day: I'll make a list of what makes me special. I'll share this with a friend or my sponsor and my Higher Power.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Our Southern Friend

Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"

A haze filled the room. The electric light began to move. Then two bulbs appeared. The faces of the other boys grew dim. How sick I felt. I staggered to the bathroom. Shouldn't have drunk so much or so fast. But I knew how to handle it now. I'd drink like a gentleman after this. And so I met John Barleycorn. The grand fellow who at my call made me "a hale fellow, well met," who gave me such a fine voice, as we sang "Hail, hail, the gang's all here," and "Sweet Adeline," who gave me freedom from fear and feelings of inferiority. Good old John! He was my pal, all right.

p. 209

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to makeamends to them all."

This attitude, of course, is the end result of purposeful forgetting. It is an attitude which can only be changed by a deep and honest search of our motives and actions.

p. 79

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

"I'd never trade my worst day sober for my best day drunk." --unknown

"If you do what you have always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." --Anon

He who learns, teaches. --African Proverb

"You must get good at one of two things: sowing in the spring or begging in the fall." --Jim Rohn

"Don't ever slam a door; you might want to go back." --Don Herold

"We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and adventure to discover our own special light. --Mary Dunbar

God bids me to do the right and loving thing. --SweetyZee

" For every minute you are angry you lose 60 seconds of happiness" --Ralph Waldo Emerson

God knows our hearts and wants better for us than we can dream.

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

VARIETY

"The growth of the human mind is still high adventure, in many ways the highest adventure on earth." --Norman Cousins

Today my life is an adventure. I am prepared for the unusual; I expect the confusion of life; I revel in God's reflected difference within creation: variety and the acceptance of variety is part of my joy in living.

God is to be found in the "odd" things in life: The dance, relationships, Charlie Chaplin, jogging, the pet dog and the sincere hug. The adventure we find in life reflects our adventure in God.

Spirituality is seeing beyond the ordinary into the extraordinary: "The Kingdom of God is within".

May I always seek to find You in the smallest and strangest places.

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

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light. Matthew 11:28-30

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christmay dwellin your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may befilled to themeasureofallthe fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his powerthat is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21

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

Daily Inspiration

The best way to guide your own behavior is to make a commitment to always be a good example. Lord,may I bea reflection ofYourlove.

Should you find your energy lapsing, a sure remedy is to give someone a helping hand or a word of support and maketheirday. Lord, You are patient with me and loving. May I be the same with the people in my life. Appreciate every moment of life because even in your darkest moment God is with you. Lord, I know that when things become too difficult for me, You will take my burden and carry me. I am not afraid.

0