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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Daily Reflection

DECEMBER 23
RECOVERY, UNITY, SERVICE
Our Twelfth Step—carrying the message—is the basic
service that AA's Fellowship gives; this is our principal aim
and the main reason for our existence.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 160
I thank God for those who came before me, those who told
me not to forget the Three Legacies: Recovery, Unity and
Service. In my home group, the Three Legacies were
described on a sign which said: "You take a three-legged
stool, try to balance it on only one leg, or two. Our Three
Legacies must be kept intact. In Recovery, we get sober
together; in Unity, we work together for the good of our
Steps and Traditions; and through Service—we give away
freely what has been given to us."
One of the chief gifts of my life has been to know that I
will have no message to give, unless I recover in unity with
A.A. principles.

Daily Reflection

DECEMBER 22
PRINCIPLES, NOT PERSONALITIES
The way our "worthy" alcoholics have sometimes tried to
judge the "less worthy" is, as we look back on it, rather
comical. Imagine, if you can, one alcoholic judging
another!
THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 37
Who am I to judge anyone? When I first entered the
Fellowship I found that I liked everyone. After all, A.A.
was going to help me to a better way of life without
alcohol. The reality was that I couldn't possibly like
everyone, nor they me. As I've grown in the Fellowship,
I've learned to love everyone just from listening to what
they had to say. That person over there, or the one right
here, may be the one God has chosen to give me the
message I need for today. I must always remember to place
principles above personalities.

Daily Reflection

DECEMBER 21
LISTEN, SHARE AND PRAY
When working with a man and his family, you should take
care not to participate in their quarrels. You may spoil
your chance of being helpful if you do.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 100
When trying to help a fellow alcoholic, I've given in to an
impulse to give advice, and perhaps that's inevitable. But
allowing others the right to be wrong reaps its own
benefits. The best I can do— and it sounds easier than it is
to put into practice— is to listen, share personal
experience, and pray for others.

Daily Reflection

DECEMBER 20
THE REWARDS OF GIVING
This is indeed the kind of giving that actually demands
nothing. He does not expect his brother sufferer to pay him,
or even to love him. And then he discovers that by the
divine paradox of this kind of giving he has found his own
reward, whether his brother has yet received anything or
not.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 109
Through experience with Twelfth Step work, I came to
understand the rewards of giving that demands nothing in
return. At first I expected recovery in others, but I soon
learned that this did not happen. Once I acquired the
humility to accept the fact that every Twelfth Step call was
not going to result in a success, then I was open to receive
the rewards of selfless giving.