Good Morning!!!
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.
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
April 12, 2023
GIVING UP INSANITY
. . . where alcohol has been involved,
we have been strangely insane.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 38
Alcoholism required me to drink,
whether I wanted to or not.
Insanity dominated my life
and was the essence of my disease.
It robbed me of the freedom of choice
over drinking and, therefore,
robbed me of all other choices.
When I drank,
I was unable to make effective choices
in any part of my life
and life became unmanageable.
I ask God to help me understand and accept
the full meaning of the disease of alcoholism.
******************************
Humility First
We found many in A.A.
who once thought, as we did,
that humility was another name for weakness.
They helped us to get down to right size.
By their example they showed us
that humility and intellect could be compatible,
provided we placed humility first.
When we began to do that,
we received the gift of faith,
a faith which works.
This faith is for you, too.
Where humility formerly stood
for a forced feeding on humble pie,
it now begins to mean
the nourishing ingredient that can give us serenity.
12 & 12: 1. P. 30, 2. P. 74
**********
"Just keep bringing the body.
Sooner or later the mind will follow!"
********************
Heard at AA Meeting
"WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE
between pride and humility?
A. Pride is WHO is right.
B. Humility is WHAT is right."
******************************
Insanity/Obsession
the crux of the problem –
not the craving!!
You may have understood the physical side to the illness,
and the mental side, but there is one more part to the mental
and that is the insanity.
With the physical, once alcohol is ingested into the body the
phenomenon of craving takes place and you are unable to leave it alone. So, if that were simply all there was to the problem we just wouldn't drink. But there is the mental side, the obsession that says that one day we will be able to beat alcohol at its game and drink like other people. But time and again it is we who are beaten. What is it that makes us unable to see this?
While we think we can beat alcohol at its game we give it a go, but as it gives us beating after beating, we no longer see that this is so. And we may have numerous reasons for wanting to quit drinking but we cannot, and we resolve to try harder
in light of our latest experience.
We know see that we are blind to this experience;
we have a curious mental blank spot when it comes to alcohol.
As the book says, "So we shall describe some of the mental states that precede a relapse into drinking,
for obviously that is the crux of the problem."
Chapter 3 'More About Alcoholism'
attempts to highlight some of the
fallacious reasoning, as it says
"Whatever the precise definition of the
word maybe we call this plain insanity.
How can such a lack of
proportion, of the ability to think straight,
be called anything else?"
It is here that we see that avoiding triggers,
having new hobbies and interests,
having new relationships, reading habits, etc. will not do.
"But there was always the curious mental phenomenon
that parallel with our sound reasoning
there inevitably some insanely trivial excuse
for taking the first drink.
Our sound reasoning failed to hold us in check.
The insane idea won out.
Next day we asked in all seriousness and sincerity,
how it could have happened."
In some instances, we find ourselves struck drunk
and wonder how it happened,
in other cases, we have gone out to get deliberately drunk.
"But even in this type of beginning
we are obliged to admit that our justification for a spree
was insanely insufficient
in the light of what always happened.
Whatever the precise definition is,
where alcohol is involved,
haven't we been strangely insane?
Knowledge of the physical does not protect us
from the mental, and knowledge of the mental
does not protect us from the crux of the problem.
“Our behaviour is as absurd and incomprehensible
with respect to the first drink as that of an individual
with a passion for say jay-walking.
He gets a thrill out of skipping
in front of fast-moving vehicles.
He enjoys himself for a few years
in spite of friendly warnings.
Up to this point you would label him
as a foolish chap having a queer idea of fun.
Luck the deserts him and he is slightly injured
several times in succession.
You would expect him, if he were normal, to cut it out.
Presently he is hit again
and this time has a fractured skull.
Within a week after leaving hospital
a fast-moving trolley car breaks his arm.
He tells you he has decided to stop jay walking for good,
but in a few weeks, he breaks both legs.
On through the years this conduct continues,
accompanied by his continual promises
to be careful or to keep off the streets altogether.
Finally, he can no longer work,
his wife gets a divorce and he is held up to ridicule.
He tries every known means
to get the jay walking idea out of his head.
He shuts himself up in an asylum,
hoping to mend his ways.
But the day he comes out he races in front of a fire engine,
which breaks his back.
Such a man would be crazy, wouldn't he?
You may think our illustration is too ridiculous.
But is it?
We, who have been through the alcoholic wringer,
have to admit if we substituted
alcoholism for jay walking,
the illustration would fit exactly.
However intelligent we may have been in other respects,
where alcohol has been involved,
we have been strangely insane.
Its strong language – but isn't it true?”
**********
"Sometimes you need to lose yourself,
before you can find anything....."
*****************
Grapevine quote of the day
"What matters is what works,
not my opinion of what works."
November 1991
From: "Trusting the Silence"
Beginner's Book:
Getting and Staying Sober in AA
******************************
The quieter I become,
the more I can hear.
Joe McFadden
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