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The Gift
"Perhaps there is a better way - we think so. For
we are now on a different basis of trusting and relying upon God. We
trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. We are in the world to
play the role He assigns. Just to the extent that we do as we think He would
have us, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity
with serenity."
c.1976 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p.
68
Thought
to Consider . . .
What I am is God's gift to me. What I make
of myself is my gift to Him.
Clothing Drop Box
From: "My Bottle, My Resentments and Me"
By this time I was so wild-eyed and filthy,
people would shy away from me. I hated the look of fear on their faces when they
saw me. They looked at me as if I were not human, and maybe I wasn't. In one
large city I took to sleeping on the grates with a piece of plastic over me so I
wouldn't freeze. One night I found a clothing drop box I could get into; it made
a nice warm place to sleep and I could get new clothes in the morning. In the
middle of the night someone threw in more clothes. I opened the top, looked out
and shouted, "Thanks!" That woman threw up her hands and ran away screaming,
"Lordy, Lordy!" She jumped in her car and screeched
off.
2001 AAWS Inc.
Alcoholics Anonymous, page
441
*^Daily
Reflections^*
MY CHECKLIST, NOT YOURS
Gossip barbed with our
anger, a polite form of murder by character assassination, has its satisfactions
for us, too. Here we are not trying to help those we criticize; we are
trying to proclaim our own righteousness.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS,
p.67
Sometimes I don't realize that I gossiped
about someone until the end of the day, when I take an inventory of the day's
activities, and then, my gossiping appears like a blemish in my beautiful
day. How could I have said something like that? Gossip shows its
ugly head during a coffee break or lunch with business associates, or I may
gossip during the evening, when I'm tired from the day's activities, and feel
justified in bolstering my ego at the expense of someone else.
Character
defects like gossip sneak into my life when I am not making a constant effort to
work the Twelve Steps of recovery. I need to remind myself that my
uniqueness is the blessing of my being, and that applies equally to everyone who
crosses my path in life's journey. Today the only inventory I need to take is my
own. I'll leave judgement of others to the Final Judge - Divine
Providence.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES,
INC.
*~*^As
Bill
Sees
It^*~*
Emotional Sobriety
If we
examine every disturbance we have, great or small, we will find at the root of
it some unhealthy dependency and its consequent unhealthy demand. Let us, with
God's help, continually surrender these hobbling liabilities. Then we can be
set free to live and love; we may then be able to twelfth-step ourselves, as
well as others, into emotional sobriety.
GRAPEVINE, JANUARY
1958
*~*^Big
Book
Quote^*~*
"Once more: The alcoholic at
certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink.
Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide
such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher
Power."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition
More About
Alcoholism, pg. 43
*^Twenty
Four
Hours A
Day^*
A.A. Thought for the Day
Am I deeply grateful to A.A. for what it has done for me in
regaining my sobriety and opening up an entirely new life for me? A.A.
has made it possible for me to carry on other interests in business and in
various other associations with people. It has made a full life possible for
me. It would perhaps be wrong if all my activities were limited to A.A.
work. It has made a well-rounded life possible for me in work, in play, and
in hobbies of various kinds. But will I desert A.A. because of this? Will I
accept a diploma and become a graduate of A.A.? Do I realize that I could
have nothing worthwhile without A.A.?
Meditation for the
Day
There is only one way to get full satisfaction from life and that is
to live the way you believe God wants you to live. Live with God in that
secret place of the spirit and you will have a feeling of being on the right
road. You will have a deep sense of satisfaction. The world will have
meaning and you will have a place in the world, work to do that counts in
the eternal order of things. Many things will work for you and with you, as
long as you feel you are on God's side.
Prayer for
the Day
I pray that I may have a sense of the
eternal value of the work I do. I pray that I may not only work for now, but
also for eternity.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center
City, MN 55012