Daily Reflection

DECEMBER 31
DAILY RESOLUTIONS
The idea of "twenty-four-hour living" applies primarily to
the emotional life of the individual. Emotionally speaking,
we must not live in yesterday, nor in tomorrow.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 284
A New Year: 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours,
525,600 minutes—a time to consider directions, goals, and
actions. I must make some plans to live a normal life, but
also I must live emotionally within a twenty-four-hour
frame, for if I do, I don't have to make New Year's
resolutions! I can make every day a New Year's day! I can
decide, "Today I will do this . . . Today I will do that."
Each day I can measure my life by trying to do a little
better, by deciding to follow God's will and by making an
effort to put the principles of our A.A. program into action

Words Of Wisdom From His Holiness Dalai Lama

Developing inner values is much like physical exercise. The more we train our abilities, the stronger they become. The difference is that, unlike the body, when it comes to training the mind, there is no limit to how far we can go.

Daily Reflection

DECEMBER 30
ANONYMITY
Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions,
ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 564
Tradition Twelve became important early in my sobriety
and, along with the Twelve Steps, it continues to be a must
in my recovery. I became aware after I joined the
Fellowship that I had personality problems, so that when I
first heard it, the Tradition's message was very clear: there
exists an immediate way for me to face, with others, my
alcoholism and attendant anger, defensiveness,
offensiveness. I saw Tradition Twelve as being a great egodeflator;
it relieved my anger and gave me a chance to
utilize the principles of the program. All of the Steps, and
this particular Tradition, have guided me over decades of
continuous sobriety. I am grateful to those who were here
when I needed them.

In The Rooms

In The Rooms Is a social network for people fighting addictions, they now have live AA and NA Video meetings everyday, The picture is a capture from tonight's meeting. Participate or just listen. Its a great format for sharing and  learning!

Daily Reflection

DECEMBER 29
THE JOY OF LIVING
. . . therefore the joy of good living is the theme of A.A.'s
Twelfth Step.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 125
A.A. is a joyful program! Even so, I occasionally balk at
taking the necessary steps to move ahead, and find myself
resisting the very actions that could bring about the joy I
want. I would not resist if those actions did not touch some
vulnerable area of my life, an area that needs hope and
fulfillment. Repeated exposure to joyfulness has a way of
softening the hard, outer edges of my ego. Therein lies the
power of joyfulness to help all members of A.A.

Daily Reflection

DECEMBER 28
SUIT UP AND SHOW UP
In A.A. we aim not only for sobriety—we try again to
become citizens of the world that we rejected, and of the
world that once rejected us. This is the ultimate
demonstration toward which Twelfth Step work is the first
but not the final step.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 21
The old line says, "Suit up and show up." That action is so
important that I like to think of it as my motto. I can choose
each day to suit up and show up, or not. Showing up at
meetings starts me toward feeling a part of that meeting, for
then I can do what I say I'll do at meetings. I can talk with
newcomers, and I can share my experience; that's what
credibility, honesty, and courtesy really are. Suiting up and
showing up are the concrete actions I take in my ongoing
return to normal living.

Daily Reflection

DECEMBER 27
PROBLEM SOLVING
"Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual
principles would solve all my problems."
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 42
Through the recovery process described in the Big Book, I
have come to realize that the same instructions that work on
my alcoholism, work on much more. Whenever I am angry
or frustrated, I consider the matter a manifestation of the
main problem within me, alcoholism. As I "walk" through
the Steps, my difficulty is usually dealt with long before I
reach the Twelfth "suggestion," and those difficulties that
persist are remedied when I make an effort to carry the
message to someone else. These principles do solve my
problems! I have not encountered an exception, and I have
been brought to a way of living which is satisfying and
useful.

Daily Reflection

DECEMBER 26
ACCEPTING SUCCESS OR FAILURE
Furthermore, how shall we come to terms with seeming
failure or success? Can we now accept and adjust to either
without despair or pride? Can we accept poverty, sickness,
loneliness, and bereavement with courage and serenity?
Can we steadfastly content ourselves with the humbler, yet
sometimes more durable, satisfactions when the brighter,
more glittering achievements are denied us?
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 112
After I found A.A. and stopped drinking, it took a while
before I understood why the First Step contained two parts:
my powerlessness over alcohol, and my life's
unmanageability. In the same way, I believed for a long
time that, in order to be in tune with the Twelve Steps, it
was enough for me "to carry this message to alcoholics."
That was rushing things. I was forgetting that there were a
total of Twelve Steps and that the Twelfth Step also had
more than one part. Eventually I learned that it was
necessary for me to "practice these principles" in all areas
of my life. In working all the Steps thoroughly, I not only
stay sober and help someone else to achieve sobriety, but
also I transform my difficulty with living into a joy of
living.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas To All! 

Have A Safe Sober Christmas!

Daily Reflection

DECEMBER 25
AT PEACE WITH LIFE
Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's
will into all of our activities "How can I best serve Thee—
Thy will (not mine) be done."
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85
I read this passage each morning, to start off my day,
because it is a continual reminder to "practice these
principles in all my affairs." When I keep God's will at the
forefront of my mind, I am able to do what I should be
doing, and that puts me at peace with life, with myself and
with God.

"An eye for an eye will make us all blind" Gandhi

Daily Reflection

DECEMBER 24
A "SANE AND HAPPY USEFULNESS"
We have come to believe He would like us to keep our heads
in the clouds with Him, but that our feet ought to be firmly
planted on earth. That is where our fellow travelers are,
and that is where our work must be done. These are the
realities for us. We have found nothing incompatible
between a powerful spiritual experience and a life of sane
and happy usefulness
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 130
All the prayer and meditation in the world will not help me
unless they are accompanied by action. Practicing the
principles in all my affairs shows me the care that God
takes in all parts of my life. God appears in my world when
I move aside, and allow Him to step into it.