APRIL 8
AN INSIDE LOOK
We want to find exactly how, when, and where our natural
desires have warped us We wish to look squarely at the
unhappiness this has caused others and ourselves By
discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can
move toward their correction.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 43
Today I am no longer a slave to alcohol, yet in so many
ways enslavement still threatens—my self, my desires,
even my dreams. Yet without dreams I cannot exist;
without dreams there is nothing to keep me moving
forward.
I must look inside myself, to free myself. I must call
upon God's power to face the person I've feared the most,
the true me, the person God created me to be. Unless I can
or until I do, I will always be running, and never be truly
free. I ask God daily to show me such a freedom!
I'm Here Because I'm Not All There!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Daily Reflection
APRIL 7
A WIDE ARC OF GRATITUDE
And, speaking for Dr. Bob and myself, I gratefully declare
that had it not been for our wives, Anne and Lois, neither of
us could have lived to see A.A.'s beginning.
THE A.A. WAY OF LIFE, p. 67
Am I capable of such generous tribute and gratitude to my
wife, parents and friends, without whose support I might
never have survived to reach A.A.'s doors? I will work on
this and try to see the plan my Higher Power is showing me
which links our lives together.
A WIDE ARC OF GRATITUDE
And, speaking for Dr. Bob and myself, I gratefully declare
that had it not been for our wives, Anne and Lois, neither of
us could have lived to see A.A.'s beginning.
THE A.A. WAY OF LIFE, p. 67
Am I capable of such generous tribute and gratitude to my
wife, parents and friends, without whose support I might
never have survived to reach A.A.'s doors? I will work on
this and try to see the plan my Higher Power is showing me
which links our lives together.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Daily Reflection
APRIL 6
A LIFETIME PROCESS
We were having trouble with personal relationships, we
couldn't control our emotional natures, we were a prey to
misery and depression, we couldn't make a living, we had a
feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were
unhappy, we couldn't seem to be of real help to other
people. . . .
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 52
These words remind me that I have more problems than
alcohol, that alcohol is only a symptom of a more pervasive
disease. When I stopped drinking I began a lifetime process
of recovery from unruly emotions, painful relationships, and
unmanageable situations. This process is too much for most
of us without help from a Higher Power and our friends in
the Fellowship. When I began working the Steps of the A.A.
program, many of these tangled threads unraveled but, little
by little, the most broken places of my life straightened out.
One day at a time, almost imperceptibly, I healed. Like a
thermostat being turned down, my fears diminished. I began
to experience moments of contentment. My emotions
became less volatile. I am now once again a part of the
human family.
A LIFETIME PROCESS
We were having trouble with personal relationships, we
couldn't control our emotional natures, we were a prey to
misery and depression, we couldn't make a living, we had a
feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were
unhappy, we couldn't seem to be of real help to other
people. . . .
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 52
These words remind me that I have more problems than
alcohol, that alcohol is only a symptom of a more pervasive
disease. When I stopped drinking I began a lifetime process
of recovery from unruly emotions, painful relationships, and
unmanageable situations. This process is too much for most
of us without help from a Higher Power and our friends in
the Fellowship. When I began working the Steps of the A.A.
program, many of these tangled threads unraveled but, little
by little, the most broken places of my life straightened out.
One day at a time, almost imperceptibly, I healed. Like a
thermostat being turned down, my fears diminished. I began
to experience moments of contentment. My emotions
became less volatile. I am now once again a part of the
human family.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Daily Reflection
APRIL 5
TRUE BROTHERHOOD
We have not once sought to be one in a family, to be a friend
among friends, to be a worker among workers, to be a
useful member of society. Always we tried to struggle to the
top of the heap, or to hide underneath it This self-centered
behavior blocked a partnership relation with any one of
those about us. Of true brotherhood we had small
comprehension.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 53
This message contained in Step Four was the first one I
heard loud and clear; I hadn't seen myself in print before!
Prior to my coining into A.A., I knew of no place that could
teach me how to become a person among persons. From my
very first meeting, I saw people doing just that and I wanted
what they had. One of the reasons that I'm a happy, sober
alcoholic today is that I'm learning this most important
lesson.
TRUE BROTHERHOOD
We have not once sought to be one in a family, to be a friend
among friends, to be a worker among workers, to be a
useful member of society. Always we tried to struggle to the
top of the heap, or to hide underneath it This self-centered
behavior blocked a partnership relation with any one of
those about us. Of true brotherhood we had small
comprehension.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 53
This message contained in Step Four was the first one I
heard loud and clear; I hadn't seen myself in print before!
Prior to my coining into A.A., I knew of no place that could
teach me how to become a person among persons. From my
very first meeting, I saw people doing just that and I wanted
what they had. One of the reasons that I'm a happy, sober
alcoholic today is that I'm learning this most important
lesson.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Daily Reflection
APRIL 4
CRYING FOR THE MOON
"This very real feeling of inferiority is magnified by his
childish sensitivity and it is this state of affairs which
generates in him that insatiable, abnormal craving for selfapproval
and success in the eyes of the world. Still a child,
he cries for the moon. And the moon, it seems, won't have
him!"
LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 102
While drinking I seemed to vacillate between feeling totally
invisible and believing I was the center of the universe.
Searching for that elusive balance between the two has
become a major part of my recovery. The moon I constantly
cried for is, in sobriety, rarely full; it shows me instead its
many other phases, and there are lessons in them all. True
learning has often followed an eclipse, a time of darkness,
but with each cycle of my recovery, the light grows stronger
and my vision is clearer.
CRYING FOR THE MOON
"This very real feeling of inferiority is magnified by his
childish sensitivity and it is this state of affairs which
generates in him that insatiable, abnormal craving for selfapproval
and success in the eyes of the world. Still a child,
he cries for the moon. And the moon, it seems, won't have
him!"
LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 102
While drinking I seemed to vacillate between feeling totally
invisible and believing I was the center of the universe.
Searching for that elusive balance between the two has
become a major part of my recovery. The moon I constantly
cried for is, in sobriety, rarely full; it shows me instead its
many other phases, and there are lessons in them all. True
learning has often followed an eclipse, a time of darkness,
but with each cycle of my recovery, the light grows stronger
and my vision is clearer.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Daily Reflection
APRIL 3
ACCEPTING OUR HUMANNESS
We finally saw that the inventory should be ours, not the
other man's So we admitted our wrongs honestly and
became willing to set these matters straight.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 222
Why is it that the alcoholic is so unwilling to accept
responsibility? I used to drink because of the things that
other people did to me. Once I came to A.A. I was told to
look at where I had been wrong. What did I have to do with
all these different matters? When I simply accepted that I
had a part in them, I was able to put it on paper and see it
for what it was —humanness. I am not expected to be
perfect! I have made errors before and I will make them
again. To be honest about them allows me to accept
them—and myself—and those with whom I had the
differences; from there, recovery is just a short distance
ahead.
ACCEPTING OUR HUMANNESS
We finally saw that the inventory should be ours, not the
other man's So we admitted our wrongs honestly and
became willing to set these matters straight.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 222
Why is it that the alcoholic is so unwilling to accept
responsibility? I used to drink because of the things that
other people did to me. Once I came to A.A. I was told to
look at where I had been wrong. What did I have to do with
all these different matters? When I simply accepted that I
had a part in them, I was able to put it on paper and see it
for what it was —humanness. I am not expected to be
perfect! I have made errors before and I will make them
again. To be honest about them allows me to accept
them—and myself—and those with whom I had the
differences; from there, recovery is just a short distance
ahead.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Time , David Gilmore
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say.
Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say.
Daily Reflection
APRIL 2
CHARACTER BUILDING
Demands made upon other people for too much attention,
protection, and love can only invite domination or
revulsion. . . .
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 44
When I uncovered my need for approval in the Fourth Step,
I didn't think it should rank as a character defect. I wanted
to think of it more as an asset (that is, the desire to please
people). It was quickly pointed out to me that this "need"
can be very crippling. Today I still enjoy getting the
approval of others, but I am not willing to pay the price I
used to pay to get it. I will not bend myself into a pretzel to
get others to like me. If I get your approval, that's fine; but
if I don't, I will survive without it. I am responsible for
speaking what I perceive to be the truth, not what I think
others may want to hear.
Similarly, my false pride always kept me overly
concerned about my reputation. Since being enlightened in
the A.A. program, my aim is to improve my character.
CHARACTER BUILDING
Demands made upon other people for too much attention,
protection, and love can only invite domination or
revulsion. . . .
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 44
When I uncovered my need for approval in the Fourth Step,
I didn't think it should rank as a character defect. I wanted
to think of it more as an asset (that is, the desire to please
people). It was quickly pointed out to me that this "need"
can be very crippling. Today I still enjoy getting the
approval of others, but I am not willing to pay the price I
used to pay to get it. I will not bend myself into a pretzel to
get others to like me. If I get your approval, that's fine; but
if I don't, I will survive without it. I am responsible for
speaking what I perceive to be the truth, not what I think
others may want to hear.
Similarly, my false pride always kept me overly
concerned about my reputation. Since being enlightened in
the A.A. program, my aim is to improve my character.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Daily Reflection
APRIL 1
LOOKING WITHIN
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of
ourselves.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 42
Step Four is the vigorous and painstaking effort to discover
what the liabilities in each of us have been, and are. I want
to find exactly how, when, and where my natural desires
have warped me. I wish to look squarely at the unhappiness
this has caused others and myself. By discovering what my
emotional deformities are, I can move toward their correction.
Without a willing and persistent effort to do this,
there can be little sobriety or contentment for me.
To resolve ambivalent feelings, I need to feel a strong
and helpful sense of myself. Such an awareness doesn't
happen overnight, and no one's self-awareness is
permanent. Everyone has the capacity for growth, and for
self-awareness, through an honest encounter with reality.
When I don't avoid issues but meet them directly, always
trying to resolve them, they become fewer and fewer.
LOOKING WITHIN
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of
ourselves.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 42
Step Four is the vigorous and painstaking effort to discover
what the liabilities in each of us have been, and are. I want
to find exactly how, when, and where my natural desires
have warped me. I wish to look squarely at the unhappiness
this has caused others and myself. By discovering what my
emotional deformities are, I can move toward their correction.
Without a willing and persistent effort to do this,
there can be little sobriety or contentment for me.
To resolve ambivalent feelings, I need to feel a strong
and helpful sense of myself. Such an awareness doesn't
happen overnight, and no one's self-awareness is
permanent. Everyone has the capacity for growth, and for
self-awareness, through an honest encounter with reality.
When I don't avoid issues but meet them directly, always
trying to resolve them, they become fewer and fewer.
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