Thoughts For The Day~*~Self-will ^*^*^ October 6
TransitionsDaily
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Self-will
"The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success. On that basis we are almost always in collision with something or somebody, even though our motives are good. Most people try to live by self-propulsion. Each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show; is forever trying to arrange the lights, the ballet, the scenery and the rest of the players in his own way. If his arrangements would only stay put, if only people would do as he wished, the show would be great. Everybody, including himself, would be pleased. Life would be wonderful."
c.1976 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 60-61
Thought to Consider . . .
Rule 62: "Don't take yourself too damn seriously."
*~*AACRONYMS*~*
P R I D E
Pretty Ridiculous Individual Directing Everything
*~*^Just For Today!^*~*
Your man has probably been trying to conceal a number of scrapes,
perhaps pretty messy ones. They may be disgusting. You may be at a loss to
understand how such a seemingly above-board chap could be so involved. But these
scrapes can generally be charged, no matter how bad, to the abnormal action of
alcohol on his mind. When drinking, or getting over a bout, an alcoholic,
sometimes the model of honesty when normal, will do incredible things.
Afterward, his revulsion will be terrible. Nearly always, these antics indicate
nothing more than temporary conditions.
2001, AAWS, Inc.
Alcoholics Anonymous, pages
140-141
*^Daily
Reflections^*
FACING OURSELVES
. . . and Fear says, "You dare not look!"
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 49
How often I avoided a task in my drinking days, just
because it appeared so large! Is it any wonder even if I have been sober for
some time, that I will act that same way when faced with what appears to
be a monumental job, such as a searching and fearless moral inventory of
myself? What I discover after I have arrived at the other side - when my
inventory is completed - is that the illusion was greater than the reality.
The fear of facing myself kept me at a standstill and, until I became
willing to put pencil to paper, I was arresting my growth based on an
intangible.
Copyright
1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*^As
Bill
Sees
It^*~*
The Fine Art of Alibis
"The majority of
A.A. members have suffered severely from self-justification during their
drinking days. For most of us, self-justification was the maker of excuses for
drinking and for all kinds of crazy and damaging conduct. We had made the
invention of alibis a fine art. We had to drink because times were hard or
times were good. We had to drink because at home we were smothered with love or
got none at all. We had to drink because at work we were great successes or
dismal failures. We had to drink because our nation had won a war or lost a
peace. And so it went, ad infinitum."
<<< >>>
"To see how our own
erratic emotions victimized us often took a long time. Where other people were
concerned, we had to drop the word 'blame' from our speech and thought."
TWELVE AND
TWELVE 1. pp. 46-47 - 2. p. 47
*~*^Big
Book
Quote^*~*
"We
know that while the alcoholic keeps away from drink, as he may do for months
or years, he reacts much like other men. We are equally positive that once he
takes any alcohol whatever into his system, something happens, both in the
bodily and mental sense, which makes it virtually impossible for him to stop.
The experience of any alcoholic will abundantly confirm
this."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition
There Is A Solution, pg. 22
*^Twenty
Four
Hours A
Day^*
A.A. Thought For The Day
Is it my desire to be a big shot in A.A.? Do I always want to be
up front in the limelight? Do I feel that nobody else can do as good a
job as I can? Or am I willing to take a seat in the back row once in a while
and let somebody else carry the ball? Part of the effectiveness of any A.A.
group is the development of new members to carry on, to take over, from the
older members. Am I reluctant to give up authority? Do I try to carry the
load for the whole group? If so, I am not being fair to the newer members.
Do I realize that no one person is essential? Do I know that
A.A. could carry on without me, if it had to?
Meditation For The Day
The Unseen God can help to make
us truly grateful and humble. Since we cannot see God, we must believe in
Him without seeing. What we can see clearly is the change in a human being,
when he sincerely asks God for the strength to change. We should cling
to faith in God and in His power to change our faith in God and in His
power to change our ways. Our faith in all Unseen God will be rewarded by a
useful and serviceable life. God will not fail to show us the way we should
live. When in real gratitude and true humility we turn to Him.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may believe that God can
change me. I pray that I may be always willing to be changed for the
better.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City MN
55012
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