Patcha

Daily Reflections

TOTAL ACCEPTANCE

He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will
be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without
it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will
be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.152

Only an alcoholic can understand the exact meaning of a
statement like this one. The double standard that held
me captive as an active alcoholic also filled me with
terror and confusion: "If I don't get a drink I'm going
to die," competed with "If I continue drinking it's
going to kill me." Both compulsive thoughts pushed me
ever closer to the bottom. That bottom produced a total
acceptance of my alcoholism - with no reservations
whatsoever - and one that was absolutely essential for
my recovery. It was a dilemma unlike anything I had
ever faced, but as I found out later on, a necessary
one if I was to succeed in this program.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Have I turned to a Higher Power for help? Do I believe
that each man or woman I see in A.A. is a demonstration
of the power of God to change a human being from a
drunkard into a sober, useful citizen? Do I believe that
this Higher Power can help me from drinking? Am I living
one day at a time? Do I ask God to give me the power to
stay sober for each twenty-four hours? Do I attend A.A.
meetings regularly?

Meditation For The Day

I believe that God's presence brings peace and that peace,
like a quiet flowing river, will cleanse all irritants
away. In these quiet times, God will teach me how to rest
my nerves. I will not be afraid. I will learn how to relax.
When I am relaxed, God's strength will flow into me. I
will be at peace.

Prayer For The Day

I pray for that peace which passes all understanding.
I pray for that peace which the world can neither give
nor take away.

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As Bill Sees It

Maintenance and Growth, p. 5

It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility
and unhappiness. To the precise extent we permit these, do we squander
the hours that might have been worthwhile. But with the alcoholic,
whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this
business of harboring resentment is infinitely grave. For then we shut
ourselves off from the sunlight of the spirit. The insanity of alcohol
returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die.

If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the
sudden rage were not for us. Anger is the dubious luxury of normal
men, but for us alcoholics it is poison.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 66
Letter, 1962

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Walk In Dry Places

The problem of Gossip____Breaking free from faults.

Our character defects hang on tenaciously because we secretly enjoy or need them. Gossip is an example of this problem. Most of us know that gossip is mean and malicious, yet we enjoy the spurious self-satisfaction and self-importance it gives us. However, this feeling of self-satisfaction and self-importance is fleeting. When we engage in GOSSIP, we feel guilty, uneasy, and ashamed. We also know the fear of being gossiped about when our own backs are turned, because those who gossip will betray their friends.

Our search for real growth in sobriety should include willingness to part company with gossip. We also should not permit ourselves to gossip indirectly; that is, by pretending to "understand" another person to induce them to share personal information, or by introducing a subject with the intention of having gossip shared with us. We can also help ourselves by turning away from gossipy news stories and magazines. We cannot grow mentally and spiritually by reading about the misbehavior and shortcomings of others.

Knowing that my true good is in keeping straight, I will go through this one day without engaging in gossip.

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Keep It Simple

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.--Chinese proverb.

Life holds so many choices now that we are sober. We'd like to go so many places. We'd like to see so many things. We have so much to do. We are slowly learning how to trust our dreams and reach for them. Our program teaches us that we live One Day at a Time. We make progress by doing First Things First. Easy Does It. Our dreams may seem very big and far away. We wonder if we'll ever get there. But our faith tells us to go for it. And we know how: one step at a time.

PRAYER: Higher Power, help me know this gentle truth: my life matters. Help me set goals that I can grow toward, one step at a time.

ACTION: Today, I'll think about one of my goals. I will list ten little steps that will help me get there.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

One more suggestion: Whether the family has spiritual convictions or not, they may do well to examine the principles by which the alcoholic member is trying to live. They can hardly fail to approve these simple principles, though the head of the house still fails somewhat in practicing them. Nothing will help the man who is off on a spiritual tangent so much as the wife who adopts a sane spiritual program, making a better practical use of it.

p. 130

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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.

Once, I was stopped because my truck was "weaving" while I was driving home from a friend's house, and they gave me a D.W.I. It meant a $300 fine and one year of probation, and I didn't think I would make it, so I decided to move back home.

p. 481

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Six - "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

Looking again at those defects we are still unwilling to give up, we ought to erase the hard-and-fast lines that we have drawn. Perhaps we shall be obliged in some cases still to say, "This I cannot give up yet...," but we should not say to ourselves, "This I will never give up!"

pp. 68-69

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

“Vision is, I think, the ability to make good estimates,” wrote Bill W., the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. “Some might feel this sort of striving to be heresy against ‘One Day At A Time.’ But that valuable principle really refers to our mental and emotional lives, and means chiefly that we are not foolishly to repine over the past nor wishfully daydream about the future.” Can I believe that “A day has a hundred pockets when one has much to put in them…”?

Today I Pray

I pray that the bright colors of this day may not be blurred by muted vagaries of the future or dulled by storm-gray remnants from the past. I pray that my Higher Power will help me to choose my actions and concerns out of the wealth of busyness that each day offers.

Today I Will Remember

I will not lose for today,
If I choose for Today.

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

In our belief any scheme of combating alcoholism which proposes to shield the sick man from temptation is doomed to failure. If the alcoholic tries to shield himself he may succeed for a time, but he usually winds up with a bigger explosion than ever. We have tried these methods. These attempts to do the impossible have always failed. - Pg. 101 - Working With Others

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Warriors Anonymous Practice of the day-
BB pg 164
Ch-A Vision For You:

Still you may say: “But I will not have the benefit of contact with you who write this book.” We cannot be sure. God will determine that, so you must remember that your real reliance is always upon Him. He will show you how to create the fellowship you crave.*

Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven’t got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us.

-Tom- at certain times in my Path of Sobriety, they were very lonely and the fear of not being able to stay sober long term hovered in the corners of my mind. I held the words in these paragraphs close to my heart and continued to Trudge and chose blind faith that they were true. Through TIME ;
T- things
I- I
M- must
E- earn
I experienced that every word was true. I have experienced great events for me and countless others, that brought me joy. All I have to do is make sure my relationship with My Higher Power is in order.

I can ask myself, “is my relationship right between me and my Higher Power?” If the answer is yes, then I continue.

If the answer is no, or I don’t know, then I need to stop, use my tools and my people in sobriety, and get it right as I can.

Then continue, one day at a time.

I pray that today I remember that my job is to stay close to my Higher Power and perform His work well. He is responsible for the Outcomes