Patcha

Warriors Anonymous Practice of the Day-
BB pg 153-
Ch- A Vision For You:

It may seem incredible that these men are to become happy, respected, and useful once more. How can they rise out of such misery, bad repute and hopelessness? The practical answer is that since these things have happened among us, they can happen with you. Should you wish them above all else, and be willing to make use of our experience, we are sure they will come. The age of miracles is still with us. Our own recovery proves that!

Our hope is that when this chip of a book is launched on the world tide of alcoholism, defeated drinkers will seize upon it, to follow its suggestions. Many, we are sure, will rise to their feet and march on. They will approach still other sick ones and fellowships of Alcoholics Anonymous may spring up in each city and hamlet, havens for those who must find a way out.

-Tom- As my sponsor and I read through these important paragraphs, a few items stood out
1- Should you wish them above ALL else, and be willing to make use of our Experience, we are sure they will come.
2. Defeated drinkers will seize upon it, to follow its suggestions.

So I have to be defeated by Alcoholism and then put my sobriety above everything else in my life, if I want to obtain and maintain my sobriety.
That’s The Deal. Anything short of that will not work for me and I suspect it will not work for you either, if you are like me.

I pray that today I have the courage to put my sobriety first, above everything else in my Life.

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Daily Reflections

OUR COMMON WELFARE COMES FIRST

The unity of Alcoholics Anonymous is the most cherished
quality our Society has. . . . We stay whole, or A.A.
dies.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 129

Our Traditions are key elements in the ego deflation
process necessary to achieve and maintain sobriety in
Alcoholics Anonymous. The First Tradition reminds me
not to take credit, or authority, for my recovery.
Placing our common welfare first reminds me not to
become a healer in this program; I am still one of
the patients. Self-effacing elders built the ward.
Without it, I doubt I would be alive. Without the
group, few alcoholics would recover. The active role
in renewed surrender of will enables me to step aside
from the need to dominate, the desire for recognition,
both of which played so great a part in my active
alcoholism. Deferring my personal desires for the
greater good of group growth contributes toward A.A.
unity that is central to all recovery. It helps me to
remember that the whole is greater than the sum of all
its parts.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Drinking cuts you off from God. No matter how you were
brought up, no matter what your religion is, no matter
if you say you believe in God, nevertheless you build
up a wall between you and God by your drinking. You know
you're not living the way God wants you to. As a result,
you have that terrible remorse. When you come into A.A.,
you begin to get right with other people and with God. A
sober life is a happy life, because by giving up drinking
we've got rid of our loneliness and remorse. Do I have real
fellowship with other people and with God?

Meditation For The Day

I believe that all sacrifice and all suffering is of value
to me. When I am in pain, I am being tested. Can I trust
God, no matter how I feel? Can I say Thy will be done, no
matter how much I am defeated? If I can, my faith is real
and practical. It works in bad times as well as in good
times. The Divine Will is working in a way that is beyond
my finite mind to understand, but I can still trust in it.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may take my suffering in my stride. I pray
that I may accept pain and defeat as part of God's plan
for my spiritual growth.

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As Bill Sees It

In God's Economy, p. 31

"In God's economy, nothing is wasted. through failure, we learn a
lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is."

<< << << >> >> >>

We did not always come closer to wisdom by reason of our virtues; our
better understanding is often rooted in the pains of our former follies.
Because this has been the essence of our individual experience, it is
also the essence of our experience as a fellowship.

1. Letter, 1942
2. Grapevine, November 1961

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Walk In Dry Places

Open-mindedness Means Growth___Facing Change

While open-mindedness is supposedly virtuous, many of us have difficulty with it. In our drinking, we continued to suffer because we were unwilling to believe that anything could relieve us of our condition. We also feared that change would diminish us.

Our great liberation came in opening up our minds to new ideas. This same process might be needed to sober living. We may have an investment in old attitudes and ideas that are keeping us from constructive growth. Without giving up our attitudes immediately, we can at least give new ideas hones consideration and study.

True open-mindedness does not mean empty-mindedness. We still can have strong convictions, consistent values, and definite opinions. But in the spirit of open-mindedness, we should continuously reexamine our views and adopt new ideas for improvement and growth.

Open-mindedness helped bring us to sobriety. It can also open the doors to other blessings that will bring enrichment and happiness.
I will be open-minded and curious today. New ideas can bring wonderful benefits to me if I am willing to consider them.

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Keep It Simple

Do not cut down the tree that gives you shade.---Arabian proverb

We need to remember what got us well. The Twelve Steps heal us. The meetings we attend heal us. Reading and listening to program tapes heals us. Talking with our sponsors heals us. The time we spend with program friends heals us. Sometimes we're pressed for time. As a result, we have to make choices about how to use our time. We may think we know enough about the program. We may feel like cutting down on meetings. These are danger signs. We only know how to stay sober One Day at a Time: by working the Steps. Let's not forget them as we grow in this program. It may seem like we've been recovering a long time, but we're all beginners.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I've found You in the program. Help me find ways to stay a "beginner" in the program.

Action for the Day: Today, I'll take time to read the Twelve Steps. I'll meditate on how much these Steps have given me.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 10 - To Employers

If you desire to help it might be well to disregard your own drinking, or lack of it. Whether you are a hard drinker, a moderate drinker or a teetotaler, you may have some pretty strong opinions, perhaps prejudices. Those who drink moderately may be more annoyed with an alcoholic than a total abstainer would be. Drinking occasionally, and understanding your own reactions, it is possible for you to become quite sure of many things which, so far as the alcoholic is concerned, are not always so. As a moderate drinker, you can take your liquor or leave it alone. Whenever you want to, you control your drinking. Of an evening, you can go on a mild bender, get up in the morning, shake your head and go to business. To you, liquor is no real problem. You cannot see why it should be to anyone else, save the spineless and stupid.

p. 139

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

ON THE MOVE - Working the A.A. program showed this alcoholic how to get from geographics to gratitude.

When I drove up to that first meeting, though, I saw that the address I had was actually a church. As a nice Jewish boy, I was not about to wander into a church; I knew that I would not be welcome. I hid on the floorboards of the car and peeked out the window, waiting for the drunks to walk by. Everyone looked normal, so I figured I might be in the wrong place. I was about to leave, but then I saw a drinking buddy of mine go by. I jumped out of my car and greeted him. Funny thing, but it was his first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous also. What a coincidence! In we walked--into a world that has turned everything in my life inside out.

p. 489

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

Right here we need to fetch ourselves up sharply. It doesn't make much sense when a real tosspot calls a kettle black. Let's remember that alcoholics are not the only ones bedeviled by sick emotions. Moreover, it is usually a fact that our behavior when drinking has aggravated the defects of others. We've repeatedly strained the patience of our best friends to a snapping point, and have brought out the very worst in those who didn't think much of us to begin with. In many instances we are really dealing with fellow sufferers, people whose woes we have increased. If we are now about to ask forgiveness for ourselves, why shouldn't we start out by forgiving them, one and all?

p. 78

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest. - Pg. 58 - How It Works