Daily Reflections

OCTOBER 2
"THE ACID TEST"
As we work the first nine Steps, we prepare ourselves for
the adventure of a new life. But when we approach Step Ten
we commence to put our A.A. way of living to practical use,
day by day, in fair weather or foul Then comes the acid
test: can we stay sober, keep in emotional balance, and live
to good purpose under all conditions?
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 88
I know the Promises are being fulfilled in my life, but I
want to maintain and develop them by the daily application
of Step Ten. I have learned through this Step that if I am
disturbed, there is something wrong with me. The other
person may be wrong too, but I can only deal with my
feelings. When I am hurt or upset, I have to continually
look for the cause in me, and then I have to admit and
correct my mistakes. It isn't easy, but as long as I know I
am progressing spiritually, I know that I can mark my effort
up as a job well done. I have found that pain is a friend; it
lets me know there is something wrong with my emotions,
just as a physical pain lets me know there is something
wrong with my body. When I take the appropriate action
through the Twelve Steps, the pain gradually goes away.

Daily Reflection

OCTOBER 1
LEST WE BECOME COMPLACENT
It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and
rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for
alcohol is a subtle foe.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85
When I am in pain it is easy to stay close to the friends I
have found in the program. Relief from that pain is
provided in the solutions contained in A.A.'s Twelve Steps.
But when I am feeling good and things are going well, I can
become complacent. To put it simply, I become lazy and
turn into the problem instead of the solution. I need to get
into action, to take stock: where am I and where am I
going? A daily inventory will tell me what I must change to
regain spiritual balance. Admitting what I find within
myself, to God and to another human being, keeps me
honest and humble.

Daily Reflection

SEPTEMBER 30
THE CIRCLE AND THE TRIANGLE
The circle stands for the whole world of A.A., and the
triangle stands for A.A.'s Three Legacies of Recovery,
Unity, and Service. Within our wonderful new world, we
have found freedom from our fatal obsession.
A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 139
Early in my A.A. life, I became employed in its services
and I found the explanation of our society's logo to be very
appropriate. First, a circle of love and service with a wellbalanced
triangle inside, the base of which represents our
Recovery through the Twelve Steps. Then the other two
sides, representing Unity and Service, respectively. The
three sides of the triangle are equal. As I grew in A.A. I
soon identified myself with this symbol. I am the circle,
and the sides of the triangle represent three aspects of my
personality: physical, emotional sanity, spirituality, the
latter forming the symbol's base. Taken together, all three
aspects of my personality translate into a sober and happy
life.

Daily Reflection

SEPTEMBER 29
EXACTLY ALIKE
Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is
the bright spot of our lives.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 89
A man came to the meeting drunk, interrupted the speakers,
stood up and took his shirt off, staggered loudly back and
forth for coffee, demanded to talk, and eventually called
the group's secretary an unquotable name and walked out. I
was glad he was there—once again I saw what I had been
like. But I also saw what I still am, and what I still could
be. I don't have to be drunk to want to be the exception and
the center of attention. I have often felt abused and
responded abusively when I was simply being treated as a
garden variety human being. The more the man tried to
insist he was different, the more I realized that he and I
were exactly alike.

Daily Reflection

SEPTEMBER 28
LOVE WITHOUT STRINGS
Practical experience shows that nothing will so much
insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other
alcoholics.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 89
Sponsorship held two surprises for me. First, that my
sponsees cared about me. What I had thought was gratitude
was more like love. They wanted me to be happy, to grow
and remain sober. Knowing how they felt kept me from
drinking more than once. Second, I discovered that I was
able to love someone else responsibly, with respectful and
genuine concern for that person's growth. Before that time,
I had thought that my ability to care sincerely about
another's well-being had atrophied from lack of use. To
learn that I can love, without greed or anxiety, has been
one of the deepest gifts the program has given me.
Gratitude for that gift has kept me sober many times.

Daily Reflection

SEPTEMBER 27
WITHOUT RESERVATION
When brimming with gratitude, one's heartbeat must surely
result in outgoing love, . . .
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 37
While practicing service to others, if my successes give rise
to grandiosity, I must reflect on what brought me to this
point. What has been given joyfully, with love, must be
passed on without reservation and without expectation. For
as I grow, I find that no matter how much I give with love,
I receive much more in spirit.

Daily Reflection

SEPTEMBER 26
OUR CHILDREN
The alcoholic may find it hard to re-establish friendly
relations with his children. . . . In time they will see that he
is a new man and in their own way they will let him know
it. . . . From that point on, progress will be rapid.
Marvelous results often follow such a reunion.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 134
While on the road to recovery I received a gift that could
not be purchased. It was a card from my son in college,
saying, "Dad, you can't imagine how glad I am that
everything is okay. Happy Birthday, I love you." My son
had told me that he loved me before. It had been during the
previous Christmas holidays, when he had said to me,
while crying, "Dad, I love you! Can't you see what you're
doing to yourself?" I couldn't. Choked with emotion, I had
cried, but this time, when I received my son's card, my tears
were tears of joy, not desperation.

Daily Reflection

SEPTEMBER 25
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth:
Job or no job—wife or no wife—we simply do not stop
drinking so long as we place dependence upon other
people ahead of dependence on God.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 98
Before coming to A.A., I always had excuses for taking a
drink: "She said . . . ," "He said "I got fired yesterday," "I
got a great job today." No area of my life could be good if I
drank again. In sobriety my life gets better each day. I must
always remember not to drink, to trust God, and to stay
active in A.A. Am I putting anything before my sobriety,
God, and A.A. today?

Words of Wisdom from His Holiness Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

"Hardship, in forcing us to exercise greater patience and forbearance in daily life, actually makes us stronger and more robust. From the daily experience of hardship comes a greater capacity to accept difficulties without losing our sense of inner calm. Of course, I do not advocate seeking out hardship as a way of life, but merely wish to suggest that, if you relate to it constructively, it can bring greater inner strength and fortitude."

Daily Reflection

SEPTEMBER 24
VIGILANCE
We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again:
"Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic" Commencing to
drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as
bad as ever. If we are planning to stop drinking, there must
be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that
someday we will be immune to alcohol
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 33
Today I am an alcoholic. Tomorrow will be no different.
My alcoholism lives within me now and forever. I must
never forget what I am. Alcohol will surely kill me if I fail
to recognize and acknowledge my disease on a daily basis.
I am not playing a game in which a loss is a temporary
setback. I am dealing with my disease, for which there is
no cure, only daily acceptance and vigilance.

Daily Reflection

SEPTEMBER 23
"I WAS AN EXCEPTION"
He [Bill W.] said to me, gently and simply, "Do you think
that you are one of us?"
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 413
During my drinking life I was convinced I was an
exception. I thought I was beyond petty requirements and
had the right to be excused. I never realized that the dark
counterbalance of my attitude was the constant feeling that
I did not "belong." At first, in A.A., I identified with others
only as an alcoholic. What a wonderful awakening for me
it has been to realize that, if human beings were doing the
best they could, then so was I! All of the pains, confusions
and joys they feel are not exceptional, but part of my life,
just as much as anybody's.

Fall's Here.

Happy Autumnal Equinox