daredevil

“The miracle is around the corner.” Is it?
“It’s simple, but not easy.” Okay, then.
“My life is beyond my wildest dreams.” Really?
“One day at a time.” How else?

wildflower70

"I can do anything sober."

Can I? (yep)

biminiblue

When I was newly sober the phrases sort of grated on me, too. Well, everything grated on me.

In time I understood them and how meaningful they really are, so, "Take what you like and leave the rest," obviously.

daredevil

That's one I actually like!

andyh

keep coming back bim

Buckley3

something something 4th dimension something something

Berrybean

platitude

ˈplatɪtjuːd/

noun

a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful.

You know, I don't think any of the above can be uninteresting or seem thoughtless to me nowadays, but when I first was in AA they seemed so for some time. Thing is, now they've (over time) proved themselves to be simple truths to live by, that isn't the case for me personally any more.

"The miracle is around the corner.” Is it?
Yes, it was. Round the corner, out of sight perhaps, but not too far away - and to get to it and I needed to go ahead and act in faith that what my sponsor and others told me was their truth could turn out to be mine as well.

“It’s simple, but not easy.” Okay, then.
Again. Completely true. Trouble was that my own way was always complicated to think about but involved little action(so very easy, but ineffective). I needed to learn to keep it simple and skip looking for an easy option, and accept that sometimes it WAS going to be tough.

“My life is beyond my wildest dreams.” Really?
Abso-bloody-lutely. I never for one moment thought it was possible that those promises could ever come true for me. The fact that they have means I'm living a life beyond my wildest dreams. Strait up!

“One day at a time.” How else?
You say 'What else' as if you're the one person on the planet who has perfected mindfulness so you've got this malarky cracked. This is something most people struggle with, and I suspect that your flippancy about it comes from a lack of understanding rather than you being constantly 'in the day'.

Personally I think the real reason people get peeved with these statements is because they can be misunderstood and misquoted, so lose a lot of their value as people bandy them about. Doesn't take the intrinsic value from them though. Although it's worth asking people to explain what they mean when they do shoot them at you rather than engaging in proper conversation. I don't think they should be used as a lazy option when trying to help someone or explain something in a share. But they're good as self-reminders.

BB

Dee74

I wasn't one for platitudes either but the years have humbled me

There's a lot of wisdom in amongst the pith.

D

tomsteve

staying sober one day at a time was way too much for me some days so one hour at a time was what else.
some days that was too much so one minute at a time was what else.
some days that was too much for me so one second at a time was what else.

thanks for helpin me learn something,DD and BB. i didnt know what a platitude is.

daredevil

Cracking malarky through mindfulness. I'm going to try that BB.

Babescake

I hate platitudes as well, but try to understand the deeper meaning. I don't treat the BB as my Bible and respect everyone's individual journey to recovery. However, there's a lot of wisdom in the sayings, and they have certainly worked for many so who am I to judge?

daredevil

I was referring to recovery platitudes, in general (not specific to any method).

Carlotta

Not a big one on slogans and such but if they help some people, that's cool.
The only one I object to is Keep It Simple Stupid as I find it demeaning and abusive otherwise...well Live and Let Live

Babescake

Oh I know. As AA is my main method, but I don't follow it exclusively (which can get me in trouble according to their requirement about success and failure and I just failed...) so I commented that way.

Angeloflight

Courage is not about being fearless, it’s about feeling the fear and doing it anyways

Gottalife

" (which can get me in trouble according to their experience about success and failure"

Just changed one word in that sentence as AA does not have requirements about success but lots of experience about what works and what doesn't . Your own experience, it seems, is quite similar to the general AA experience. Maybe there is something to be learned from that?

Gottalife

Re platitudes and cliches, context is important. I once heard an old timer whose share was almost all platitudes. It lacked "depth and weight" to say the least, which means it probably wasn't that helpful to the newcomer.

There are three oft misapplied platitudes in the Big Book. First things first, Easy does it, and Live and let live. They appear at the end of "The Family Afterward" as guidance for how the family and the newly recovered alcholic might deal with one another.

I have favourite passages from the book. "On awakening, let us think about the 24 hours ahead".....How to live life one day at a time.

Carlotta

Actually Mike, your post reminded me that there is one "slogan" that I do use
Nothing changes if nothing changes... and for some reason, I find myself using it mainly when I post on the Friends and Family forum LOL

soberlicious

I'm not very fond of "everything happens for a reason". I also have a particular distaste for "stinkin' thinkin'". I just don't find rhyming phrases that could mean just about anything to anyone to be particularly profound. I mean linguistically speaking, it's hella fun to say, but so is "the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain".

I do like the phrase "Do or do not, there is no try"

Carlotta

My Stinkin' Thinking
Got me hiking
Without an umbrella
In the Iberian Peninsula
Do or do not, there is no try
Now, I am wet and cry:
The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plain!!