Daily Readings 01-01-2023
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Daily Readings 01-01-2023
Daily Reflections
"I AM A MIRACLE"
The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our
Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed
miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us
which we could never do by ourselves.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 25
This truly is a fact in my life today, and a real miracle. I always
believed in God, but could never put that belief meaningfully into my
life. Today, because of Alcoholics Anonymous, I now trust and rely on
God, as I understand Him; I am sober today because of that! Learning
to trust and rely on God was something I could never have done alone.
I now believe in miracles because I am one!
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When I came into A.A., was I a desperate person? Did I have a
soul-sickness? Was I so sick of myself and my way of living that I
couldn't stand looking at myself in a mirror? Was I ready for A.A.?
Was I ready to try anything that would help me to get sober and to get
over my soul-sickness? Should I ever forget the condition I was in?
Meditation For The Day
In the new year, I will live one day at a time. I will make each day one
of preparation for better things ahead. I will not dwell on the past or
the future, only on the present. I will bury every fear of the future, all
thoughts of unkindness and bitterness, all my dislikes, my resentments,
my sense of failure, my disappointments in others and in myself, my
gloom and my despondency. I will leave all these things buried and go
forward, in this new year, into a new life.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that God will guide me one day at a time in the new year. I pray
that for each day, God will supply the wisdom and the strength that I
need.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Personality Change, p. 1
"It has often been said of A.A. that we are interested only in alcoholism.
That is not true. We have to get over drinking in order to stay alive.
But anyone who knows the alcoholic personality by firsthand contact
knows that no true alky ever stops drinking permanently without
undergoing a profound personality change."
<< << << >> >> >>
We thought "conditions" drove us to drink, and when we tried to
correct these conditions and found that we couldn't do so to our entire
satisfaction, our drinking went out of hand and we became alcoholics. It
never occurred to us that we needed to change ourselves to meet
conditions, whatever they were.
1. Letter, 1940
2. 12 & 12, p. 47
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
A year to grow.
Growth.
This new year can be a time of growth in sobriety. While we have no crystal ball that tells us what luck and fortune the year will bring, we do have a program that gives us the power to make the best of this year, to grow in sobriety. We can make progress in overcoming resentment and selfishness, we can help others in their search for happy sobriety, and we can make better use of our talents and opportunities.
We can live sober, and we also can find happiness and true self-esteem in sobriety. In our drinking, a desperate search for happiness and self-esteem compelled us to drink, but we could never find our happy destiny in the bottle. No matter what came to us, things had a way of turning sour as we continued to drink and to take other harmful substances.
In our new life, we have good reason to feel confident and optimistic. We have friends who understand us; we have sponsors who will share with us their own experience and hope. We have a Higher Power who is, as the poet Tennyson said, "closer to us than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet." We face nothing alone, and in the new year all experiences can help us grow.
I face this day with confidence, courage, and optimism. I will know that my Higher Power is present in every person and situation.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol...--First part of Step One.
In Step One, we accept our powerlessness over alcohol and other drugs. But we are powerless over many parts of life. We are powerless over other people. We are powerless over what our HP has planned for us. Before recovery, we only believed in control. We tried to control everything. We fought against a basic truth, the truth that we are powerless over much of life. When we accept this truth, we begin to see what power we do have. We have the power to make choices. When we're lonely, we have the power to reach out to others. We have power over how we live our own lives.
PRAYER: HP, help me to know that it's You who is running my life. Help me to know that power comes from accepting I am powerless.
ACTION: I am powerless over much of life. Today, I'll look to see how this is true. I'll look to see what I really have control over and what I don't.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards
If the family cooperates, dad will soon see that he is suffering from a distortion of values. He will perceive that his spiritual growth is lopsided, that for an average man like himself, a spiritual life which does not include his family obligations may not be so perfect after all. If the family will appreciated that dad’s current behavior is but a phase of his development, all will be well. In the midst of an understanding and sympathetic family, these vagaries of dad’s spiritual infancy will quickly disappear.
p. 129
************************************************** **********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
BUILDING A NEW LIFE - Hallucinating and restrained by sheriff's deputies and hospital staff, this once-happy family man received an unexpected gift from God--a firm foundation in sobriety that would hold up through good times and bad.
There was only fighting at home, and I finally moved out so the kids wouldn't see me drunk. Now I can really drink, I thought. My wife went on welfare, and I even stopped contributing after a while. I had to have enough to drink. I continued to work construction, but I wasn't very dependable. I'd work okay for three or four weeks, and then I wouldn't want to get up in the morning. I'll get another job, I would think, but I always got fired.
p. 480
************************************************** **********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Six - "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."
When gluttony is less than ruinous, we have a milder word for that, too; we call it "taking our comfort." We live in a world riddled with envy. To a greater or less degree, everybody is infected with it. From this defect we must surely get a warped yet definite satisfaction. Else why would we consume such great amounts of time wishing for what we have not, rather than working for it, or angrily looking for attributes we shall never have, instead of adjusting to the fact, and accepting it? And how often we work hard with no better motive than to be secure and slothful later on-- only we call that "retiring." Consider, too, our talents for procrastination, which is really sloth in five syllables. Nearly anyone could submit a good list of such defects as these, and few of us would seriously think of giving them up, at least until they cause us excessive misery.
p. 67
************************************************** *********
A Day at a Time
Reflection for the Day
In the old days, I saw everything in terms of forever. Endless hours were spent rehashing old mistakes. I tried to take comfort in the forlorn hope that tomorrow “would be different.” As a result, I lived a fantasy life in which happiness was all but nonexistent. No wonder I rarely smiled and hardly ever laughed aloud.
Do I still think in terms of “forever?”
Today I Pray
May I set my goals for the New Year not at the year-long mark, but one day at a time. My traditional New Year’s resolutions have been so grandly stated and so soon broken. Let me not weaken my resolve by stretching it to cover “forever” – or even one long year. May I reapply it firmly each new day. May I learn not to stamp my past mistakes with that indelible word “forever.” Instead, may each single day in each New Year be freshened by my new-found hope.
Today I Will Remember
Happy New Day.
*****************************************
AA ‘Big Book’ – Quote
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
… If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it – then you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked. We thought we could find and easier, softer way. But we could not. – Pg. 58 – How It Works
"I AM A MIRACLE"
The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our
Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed
miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us
which we could never do by ourselves.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 25
This truly is a fact in my life today, and a real miracle. I always
believed in God, but could never put that belief meaningfully into my
life. Today, because of Alcoholics Anonymous, I now trust and rely on
God, as I understand Him; I am sober today because of that! Learning
to trust and rely on God was something I could never have done alone.
I now believe in miracles because I am one!
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When I came into A.A., was I a desperate person? Did I have a
soul-sickness? Was I so sick of myself and my way of living that I
couldn't stand looking at myself in a mirror? Was I ready for A.A.?
Was I ready to try anything that would help me to get sober and to get
over my soul-sickness? Should I ever forget the condition I was in?
Meditation For The Day
In the new year, I will live one day at a time. I will make each day one
of preparation for better things ahead. I will not dwell on the past or
the future, only on the present. I will bury every fear of the future, all
thoughts of unkindness and bitterness, all my dislikes, my resentments,
my sense of failure, my disappointments in others and in myself, my
gloom and my despondency. I will leave all these things buried and go
forward, in this new year, into a new life.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that God will guide me one day at a time in the new year. I pray
that for each day, God will supply the wisdom and the strength that I
need.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Personality Change, p. 1
"It has often been said of A.A. that we are interested only in alcoholism.
That is not true. We have to get over drinking in order to stay alive.
But anyone who knows the alcoholic personality by firsthand contact
knows that no true alky ever stops drinking permanently without
undergoing a profound personality change."
<< << << >> >> >>
We thought "conditions" drove us to drink, and when we tried to
correct these conditions and found that we couldn't do so to our entire
satisfaction, our drinking went out of hand and we became alcoholics. It
never occurred to us that we needed to change ourselves to meet
conditions, whatever they were.
1. Letter, 1940
2. 12 & 12, p. 47
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
A year to grow.
Growth.
This new year can be a time of growth in sobriety. While we have no crystal ball that tells us what luck and fortune the year will bring, we do have a program that gives us the power to make the best of this year, to grow in sobriety. We can make progress in overcoming resentment and selfishness, we can help others in their search for happy sobriety, and we can make better use of our talents and opportunities.
We can live sober, and we also can find happiness and true self-esteem in sobriety. In our drinking, a desperate search for happiness and self-esteem compelled us to drink, but we could never find our happy destiny in the bottle. No matter what came to us, things had a way of turning sour as we continued to drink and to take other harmful substances.
In our new life, we have good reason to feel confident and optimistic. We have friends who understand us; we have sponsors who will share with us their own experience and hope. We have a Higher Power who is, as the poet Tennyson said, "closer to us than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet." We face nothing alone, and in the new year all experiences can help us grow.
I face this day with confidence, courage, and optimism. I will know that my Higher Power is present in every person and situation.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol...--First part of Step One.
In Step One, we accept our powerlessness over alcohol and other drugs. But we are powerless over many parts of life. We are powerless over other people. We are powerless over what our HP has planned for us. Before recovery, we only believed in control. We tried to control everything. We fought against a basic truth, the truth that we are powerless over much of life. When we accept this truth, we begin to see what power we do have. We have the power to make choices. When we're lonely, we have the power to reach out to others. We have power over how we live our own lives.
PRAYER: HP, help me to know that it's You who is running my life. Help me to know that power comes from accepting I am powerless.
ACTION: I am powerless over much of life. Today, I'll look to see how this is true. I'll look to see what I really have control over and what I don't.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards
If the family cooperates, dad will soon see that he is suffering from a distortion of values. He will perceive that his spiritual growth is lopsided, that for an average man like himself, a spiritual life which does not include his family obligations may not be so perfect after all. If the family will appreciated that dad’s current behavior is but a phase of his development, all will be well. In the midst of an understanding and sympathetic family, these vagaries of dad’s spiritual infancy will quickly disappear.
p. 129
************************************************** **********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
BUILDING A NEW LIFE - Hallucinating and restrained by sheriff's deputies and hospital staff, this once-happy family man received an unexpected gift from God--a firm foundation in sobriety that would hold up through good times and bad.
There was only fighting at home, and I finally moved out so the kids wouldn't see me drunk. Now I can really drink, I thought. My wife went on welfare, and I even stopped contributing after a while. I had to have enough to drink. I continued to work construction, but I wasn't very dependable. I'd work okay for three or four weeks, and then I wouldn't want to get up in the morning. I'll get another job, I would think, but I always got fired.
p. 480
************************************************** **********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Six - "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."
When gluttony is less than ruinous, we have a milder word for that, too; we call it "taking our comfort." We live in a world riddled with envy. To a greater or less degree, everybody is infected with it. From this defect we must surely get a warped yet definite satisfaction. Else why would we consume such great amounts of time wishing for what we have not, rather than working for it, or angrily looking for attributes we shall never have, instead of adjusting to the fact, and accepting it? And how often we work hard with no better motive than to be secure and slothful later on-- only we call that "retiring." Consider, too, our talents for procrastination, which is really sloth in five syllables. Nearly anyone could submit a good list of such defects as these, and few of us would seriously think of giving them up, at least until they cause us excessive misery.
p. 67
************************************************** *********
A Day at a Time
Reflection for the Day
In the old days, I saw everything in terms of forever. Endless hours were spent rehashing old mistakes. I tried to take comfort in the forlorn hope that tomorrow “would be different.” As a result, I lived a fantasy life in which happiness was all but nonexistent. No wonder I rarely smiled and hardly ever laughed aloud.
Do I still think in terms of “forever?”
Today I Pray
May I set my goals for the New Year not at the year-long mark, but one day at a time. My traditional New Year’s resolutions have been so grandly stated and so soon broken. Let me not weaken my resolve by stretching it to cover “forever” – or even one long year. May I reapply it firmly each new day. May I learn not to stamp my past mistakes with that indelible word “forever.” Instead, may each single day in each New Year be freshened by my new-found hope.
Today I Will Remember
Happy New Day.
*****************************************
AA ‘Big Book’ – Quote
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
… If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it – then you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked. We thought we could find and easier, softer way. But we could not. – Pg. 58 – How It Works
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