COMMITMENT

 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^*~*~*~*~*

 

February 16, 2024

 

COMMITMENT

 

Understanding is the key

to right principles and attitudes,

and right action is the key to good living.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 125

 

There came a time in my program of recovery

when the third stanza of the Serenity Prayer —

“The wisdom to know the difference” –

became indelibly imprinted in my mind.

From that time on,

I had to face the ever-present knowledge

that my every action,

 word and thought was within,

or outside, the principles of the program.

I could no longer hide behind self-rationalization,

nor behind the insanity of my disease.

The only course open to me,

if I was to attain a joyous life for myself

(and subsequently for those I love),

was one in which I imposed on myself

an effort of commitment, discipline,

and responsibility.

 

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

Our Companions

 

Today, the vast majority of us

 welcome any new light that can be thrown

on the alcoholic’s mysterious and baffling malady.

We welcome new and valuable knowledge

whether it is issues from a test tube,

from a psychiatrist’s couch,

or from revealing social studies.

We are glad of any kind of education

that accurately informs the public

and changes its age-old attitude toward the drunk.

More and more we regard all who labor

 in the total field of alcoholism

as our companions on a march

from darkness into light.

We see that we can accomplish together

what we could never accomplish

 in separation and in rivalry.

Grapevine, March 1958

 

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ORIGINALITY

 

"Originality exists in every individual

because each of us differs from the others.

We are all primary numbers

divisible only by ourselves."

Jean Guitton

 

For too many years

I tried to be "the same" as other people;

matched their styles, repeated their words,

did what they wanted,

lived to please a crowd of people I did not really know

and they certainly did not know me!

I said other people's prayers,

quoted other people's opinions

and memorized the ideas of others

 and I felt empty.

Today I value the lives of others

but I am slowly beginning

 to explore my place in this universe.

Today I accept the "specialness" that is me;

that uniqueness makes me God's miracle.

Now others are listening and benefiting from my life.

You are reading from the book:

SAY YES TO YOUR LIFE BY FATHER LEO BOOTH

 

*******

GRAPEVINE quote of the day

 

"Nearly all of us, when we think about it,

agree that we are a long, long way

from being anywhere near grown up,

from almost any point of view.

We can clearly see that our job as individuals

 and as a Fellowship

is to keep right on growing

by the constant use of our Twelve Steps."

AA Co-Founder,

Bill W.,

July 1960

From: "AA Tomorrow"

The Language of the Heart

© AA Grapevine, Inc. 1944-2014

 

*~*~*~*~*~*

“I am only one; but still I am one.

I cannot do everything, but I still can do something.

I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”

–Helen Keller

 

There are as many ways to live and grow

as there are people.

Our own ways are the only ways

 that should matter to us.