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^*~*~*~*~*
October 12, 2022
CURBING RASHNESS
When we speak or act hastily or rashly,
the ability to be fair-minded and tolerant
evaporates on the spot.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 91
Being fair-minded and tolerant
is a goal toward which I must work daily.
I ask God, as I understand Him,
to help me to be loving and tolerant to my loved ones,
and to those with whom I am in close contact.
I ask for guidance to curb my speech when I am agitated,
and I take a moment to reflect
on the emotional upheaval my words may cause,
not only to someone else, but also to myself.
Prayer, meditation and inventories
are the key to sound thinking and positive action for me.
*************************************
Learning Trust
Our entire A.A. program rests
upon the principle of mutual trust.
We trust God, we trust A.A., and we trust each other.
Therefore, we trust our leaders in world service.
The "Right of Decision" that we offer them
is not only the practical means by which
they may act and lead effectively,
but it is also the symbol of our implicit confidence.
<< << << >> >> >>
If you arrive at A.A. with no religious convictions,
you can, if you wish, make A.A. itself
or even your A.A. group your "Higher Power".
Here's a large group of people
who have solved their alcohol problem.
In this respect they are certainly
a power greater than you.
Even this minimum of faith will be enough.
Many members who have crossed the threshold
just this way will tell you that,
once across, their faith broadened and deepened.
Relieved of the alcohol obsession,
their lives unaccountably transformed,
they came to believe in a Higher Power,
and most of them began to talk of God.
1. TWELVE CONCEPTS, P. 19
2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 27-28
As Bill Sees It, P. 310
***************************************
Fear makes strangers of people
who should be friends.
—Shirley MacLaine
No one is brave every moment; each of us feels awkward, shy, perhaps even ugly or dumb part of the time. If we could understand that about each other, it would make it easier for us to be friendly and willing to talk to someone new. Instead, we often sit back, waiting to be noticed; waiting for someone to invite us to join in an activity.
We are all so much alike, yet we are so certain we're different. Being self-conscious is normal. Even those who are the most popular suffer the same fears as the rest of us. The better we understand the ways we are the same, the easier it will be to make friends with someone new. And it's through friends that we grow and are strengthened for whatever lies ahead.
What new person can I offer friendship to today?
************************************
When I take another’s needs
into consideration and bend,
I spiritually stretch.
--Helene Lerner-Robbins
We have been told that this is a selfish program. Perhaps that has given us license to be inconsiderate. However, that isn’t what the founders meant by a selfish program. While it’s true that we must protect our sobriety always, it is never wrong to be kind and considerate toward others. Our kindness to someone else won’t ever make us drink! That’s what we must keep uppermost in our mind.
Along with helping us maintain abstinence, the program helps us develop a spiritual relationship that can change every aspect of our lives. Coming to believe in a Higher Power and turning to that Power for guidance and comfort allow us to experience hope in every situation. We can enhance our spiritual growth by treating others as we want God to treat us.
My spiritual growth can get a boost today
if I get my ego out of the way
and help someone else feel better.
*******
Just a thought..............
"When a job still looked like a mere means of getting money rather than an opportunity for service, when the acquisition of money for financial independence looked more important than a right dependence upon God, we were still the victim of unreasonable fears ... But as time passed, we found that with the help of AA's Twelve Steps we could lose those fears ...
It did not matter too much what our material condition was. Money gradually became our servant and not our master.
It became a means of exchanging love and service with those about us... We found that freedom from fear was more important than freedom from want."
(Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,
pp. 120-121)
So ......
What does my job mean to me today? Am I grateful for that job? Do I really consider my job as an opportunity to serve others?
Or is it service with a snarl to everyone, but the boss?
Who's the real boss anyway?
*************************************
Nothing worse could happen to one
than to be completely understood.
—Carl Jung
We so often long to be understood.
We imagine it would cure
our loneliness and empty feelings.
We think of it as a kind of intimacy.
Yet, we may be longing for a false goal.
We are each a unique man on an incomplete journey.
We don't yet fully understand ourselves.
There is still much mystery beneath the surface of our being.
If our partners or friends completely understood us,
where would we go from there?
We would no longer belong to ourselves.
Perhaps we are completely understood
by our Higher Power but not by another person.
It is a fact of life that we continue to grow
and to reveal deeper layers of ourselves.
We have relationships in which we can share
the mysteries as they unfold.
We can talk and be understood.
In communication we find our closeness and intimacy.
Today, I will remember that
at the deepest level
no one can fully understand me.
I will communicate with others
to deal with my loneliness.
*******
“When God says no to our request
we can be sure it's for our best”.
“It is wise to pray for the future,
but not to worry about it,
because we can't live it
until it becomes the present”.
“All angels are girls
because they gotta wear dresses
and boys didn't go for it”
- Antonio, age nine.
(Angles explained by children)
A.S.A.P.
Always Say A Prayer
**************************************
I like not only to be loved,
but also, to be told that I am loved . . .
the realm of silence is large enough
beyond the grave.
--George Eliot
We've all heard many times that we must love ourselves if we're ever to love another. Too often we mistakenly think that means we shouldn't need to hear someone's affirmation of love. That assumption is wrong. Praise from others builds our self-confidence, keeps us on track, aware of how we're presenting ourselves moment by moment.
But many of us didn't develop healthy egos in our youth because we didn't get feedback that affirmed us. We didn't hear we were loved. As adults, we're scrambling to feel confident, to feel sure of our direction and our value to society. And we're hoping to hear we're loved. We can be certain someone close will be helped by hearing our words of love.
There's no time like the present for sharing love.
*************************************
~*~A.A. Thoughts for The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
(\ ~~ /)
( \ (AA)/ )
(_ /AA\ _)
/AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Fear
^*^*^*^*^
"We have had a much keener look at ourselves
and those about us.
We have seen that we were prodded by
unreasonable fears and anxieties
into making a life business of winning fame, money,
and what we thought was leadership.
So false pride became the reverse side
of that ruinous coin marked 'Fear.'
We simply had to be Number One people
to cover up our deep-lying inferiorities."
1952AAWS,
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,
p. 123
^*^*^*^*^
*************************************
Thought to consider . . .
Situations I fear are rarely as bad as the fear itself.
~*~*~*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*~*~*~
F E A R =
Frantic Efforts to Appear Recovered
***************************************
~*~*~*~*~*^ Just for Today! ^*~*~*~*~*~
An Avocation
From: "Foreword"
It is important that we remain anonymous
because we are too few, at present
to handle the overwhelming number of personal appeals
which may result from this publication.
Being mostly business or professional folk,
we could not well carry on
our occupations in such an event.
We would like it understood
that our alcoholic work is an avocation.
When writing or speaking publicly about alcoholism,
we urge each of our Fellowship to omit his personal name, designating himself instead as
"a member of Alcoholics Anonymous."
Very earnestly we ask the press also,
to observe this request,
for otherwise we shall be greatly handicapped.
1989, Carry the Message, Inc.,
Alcoholics Anonymous,
[First Edition facsimile],
page vii
***********************************
IN ALL OUR AFFAIRS
. . . we tried to carry this message to alcoholics,
and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 106
I find that carrying the message of recovery to other alcoholics is easy because it helps me to stay sober and it provides me with a sense of well-being about my own recovery.
The hard part is practicing these principles in all my affairs.
It is important that I share
the benefits I receive from A.A., especially at home.
Doesn't my family deserve the same patience,
tolerance and understanding
I so readily give to the alcoholic?
When reviewing my day, I try to ask,
"Did I have a chance to be a friend today and miss it?"
"Did I have a chance to rise above
a nasty situation and avoid it?"
"Did I have a chance to say 'I'm sorry,'
and refuse to?
Just as I ask God for help with my alcoholism each day,
I ask for help in extending my recovery
to include all situations and all people!
**************************************
~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~
Random Quote –
Servant, Not Master
In A.A., we found that it did not matter too much what our material condition was, but it mattered greatly what our spiritual condition was. As we improved our spiritual outlook, money gradually became our servant and not our master.
It became a means of exchanging
love and service with those about us.
One of A.A.'s Loners is an Australian sheepman who lives two thousand miles from the nearest town, where yearly he sells his wool. In order to be paid the best prices he has to get to town during a certain month. But when he heard that a big regional A.A. meeting was to be held at a later date when wool prices would have fallen, he gladly took a heavy financial loss
in order to make his journey then.
That's how much an A.A. meeting means to him.
1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 122 –
2. A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 31
**********************************************
*~*~*~*^Twenty-Four Hours a Day^*~*~*~*
October 12
A.A. Thought for the Day
Am I still on a "free ride" in A.A.?
︎Karva 
School*
Nurse*:
Marriage*
Tears*
Conference Room*
Father*
HOSPITAL*
Smile*
Meeting*
