A.A. experience has taught us we cannot live alone with our pressing problems and the character defects which cause or aggravate them. If we have swept the searchlight of Step Four back and forth over our careers, and it has revealed in stark relief those experiences we'd rather not remember, if we have come to know how wrong thinking and action have hurt us and others, then the need to quit living by ourselves with those tormenting ghosts of yesterday gets more urgent than ever. We have to talk to somebody about them.
c. 1952 AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve
Traditions, p. 55
Thought
to Consider . . .
Trust
God. Clean house. Help others.
*~*AACRONYMS*~*
Y A N A You Are Not
Alone *~*^Just
For
Today!^*~*
Unity
Tradition One: Our
common welfare should come first;
personal recovery
depends upon A.A. unity.
"Most individuals cannot recover unless there IS a
group. Realization dawns that he is but a small part of a great whole; that no
personal sacrifice is too great for preservation of the Fellowship. He learns
that the clamor of desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever
these could damage the group. It becomes plain that the group must survive or
the individual will not." 1981, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,
page 130
*^Daily
Reflections^*
FREEDOM FROM GUILT
Where other people
were concerned, we had to drop the word "blame" from our speech and thought.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.
47
When I become willing to accept my own powerlessness, I
begin to realize that blaming myself for all the trouble in my life can be an
ego trip back into hopelessness. Asking for help and listening deeply to
the messages inherent in the Steps and Traditions of the program make it
possible to change those attitudes which delay my recovery. Before joining
A.A., I had such a desire for approval from people in powerful positions that I
was willing to sacrifice myself, and others, to gain a foothold in the
world. I invariably came to grief.
In the program I find true
friends who love, understand, and care to help me learn the truth about
myself. With the help of the Twelve Steps, I am able to build a better
life, free of guilt and the need for self-justification. Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES,
INC.
*~*^As
Bill
Sees
It^*~*
Daily Reprieve
"We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really
have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual
condition." <<< >>> "We of A.A. obey spiritual
principles, at first because we must, then because we ought to, and ultimately
because we love the kind of life such obedience brings. Great suffering and
great love are A.A.'s disciplinarians; we need no
others." 1.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85 2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 174
*~*^Big
Book
Quote^*~*
"We alcoholics are
sensitive people. It takes some of us a long time to outgrow that serious
handicap." Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition The Family Afterward, pg.
125
*^Twenty
Four
Hours A
Day^* A.A. Thought for the Day
Alcoholics carry an awful load around with them. What a load
lying puts on your shoulders! Drinking makes liars out of all of us alcoholics.
In order to get the liquor we want, we have to lie all the time. We have to lie
about where we've been and what we've been doing. When you are lying you are
only half alive, because of the fear of being found out. When you come into
A.A., and get honest with yourself and with other people, that terrible load of
lying falls off your shoulders. Have I gotten rid of that load of lying?
Meditation for the Day
I believe that in the spiritual
world, as in the material world, there is no empty space. As fears and worries
and resentments depart out of my life, the things of the spirit come in to take
their places. Calm comes after a storm. As soon as I am rid of fears and hates
and selfishness, God's love and peace and calm can come
in.
Prayer
for the Day
I pray that I may rid myself of all fears and
resentments, so that peace and serenity may take their place. I pray that I may
sweep my life clean of evil, so that good may come in.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN
55012
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