Alcoholic Anonymous – Daily Ponderables –
Together We Trudge the Road of Happy Destiny – Thursday, 28 November 2013 –
Happy Thanksgiving 2013!
Daily Reflections
ATTRACTION NOT PROMOTION
Through many painful experiences, we
think we have arrived at what that policy ought to be. It is the opposite in
many ways of usual promotional practice. We found that we had to rely upon the
principle of attraction rather than of promotion.(TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE
TRADITIONS, pages 180-81)
While I was drinking I reacted with
anger, self-pity and defiance against anyone who wanted to change me. All I
wanted then was to be accepted by another human simply as I was and, curiously,
that is what I found in A.A. I became the custodian of this concept of
attraction, which is the principle of our Fellowship's public relations. It is
by attraction that I can best reach the alcoholic who still suffers.
I thank God for having given me the
attraction of a well-planned and established program of Steps and Traditions.
Through humility and the support of my fellow sober members, I have been able
to practice the A.A. way of life through attraction, not promotion.(From the
book Daily Reflections © Copyright 1990
by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.)
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
The A.A. way is the way of sobriety. A.A.
is known everywhere as a method that has been successful with alcoholics.
Doctors, psychiatrists, and the clergy have had some success. Some men and
women have gotten sober all by themselves. We believe that A.A. is the most
successful and happiest way to sobriety. And yet A.A. is, of course, not wholly
successful. Some are unable to achieve sobriety and some slip back into alcoholism
after they have had some measure of sobriety. Am I deeply grateful to have
found A.A.?
Meditation for the Day
Gratitude to God is the theme of
Thanksgiving Day. The pilgrims gathered to give thanks to God for their harvest
which was pitifully small. When we look around at all the things we have today,
how can we help being grateful to God? Our families, our homes, our friends, our
A.A. fellowship: all these things are free gifts of God to us. "But for
the grace of God," we would not have them.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be very grateful today.
I pray that I may not forget where I might be but for the grace of God.(From
the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day © Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation)
NA - Just for Today
Being Ourselves
"To be truly humble is to accept and
honestly try to be ourselves."(Basic Text page 35)
Humility is a puzzling concept. We know a
lot about humiliation, but humility is a new idea. It sounds suspiciously like
groveling, bowing, and scraping. But that's not what humility is at all. True
humility is, simply, acceptance of who we are.
By the time we reach a step that uses the
word "humbly;" we have already started to put this principle into
practice. The Fourth Step gives us an opportunity to examine who we really are,
and the Fifth Step helps us accept that knowledge.
The practice of humility involves
accepting our true nature, honestly being ourselves. We don't have to grovel or
abase ourselves, nor must we try to appear smarter, wealthier, or happier than
we really are. Humility simply means we drop all pretense and live as honestly
as we can.
Just for today: I will allow knowledge of
my true nature to guide my actions. Today, I will face the world as myself.((page
346)From the book Just for Today © Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous
World Services, Inc.)
Thought for Today
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of
life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into
acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a
feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."(Melody Beattie)
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
In a controversy, the instant we feel
anger, we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving
for ourselves.
Native American
"People say that crisis changes
people and turns ordinary people into wiser or more responsible ones." (Wilma
Mankiller, CHEROKEE)
There is a saying, conflict precedes
clarity. The Medicine Wheel teachings say, in order for something to change it
must first go through a struggle. When a crisis enters our lives, other powers
are there to help us. We will learn some lessons. Will I honor and respect the
next crisis?
Great Spirit, if a crisis occurs today,
let me learn the lessons of wisdom.
Keep It Simple
The purpose of freedom is to create it
for others.(Bernard Malamud)
Sobriety is freedom. With this freedom,
we have a responsibility to help other addicts who still suffer. The program
tells us this in Step Twelve. We do this by telling our stories and offering
hope.
We must be ready to care, to give
ourselves. This is what spirituality is about. When we help others, we prepare
the road for those who enter the program after us.
Tradition Five of the Twelve Traditions
says, “Each group has but one primary purpose---to carry its message to the
alcoholic who still suffers.” It means we get better by helping others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me
create more freedom. Bring me to where I’m needed. Help me carry the message
well.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll think of
ways I can help the addict who still suffers. Then I’ll choose one way I can be
of help. I’ll talk with my sponsor about it, and I’ll follow through with my
plan.
Big Book
"Though we work out our solution on
the spiritual as well as an altruistic plane, we favor hospitalization for the
alcoholic who is very jittery or befogged. More often than not, it is
imperative that a man's brain be cleared before he is approached, as he has
then a better chance of understanding and accepting what we have to
offer."(Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Doctor's Opinion, page
xxvi)
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The Knots Prayer
Dear God,
Please untie the knots that are in my
mind, my heart and my life.
Remove the have nots, the can nots and
the do nots that I have in my mind.
Erase the will nots, may nots, and might
nots that find a home in my heart.
Release me from the could nots, would
nots and should nots that obstruct my life.
And most of all, dear God, I ask that you
remove from my mind, my heart and my life all of the am nots that I have
allowed to hold me back, especially the thought that I am not good enough.
Amen!
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If you're not enjoying your sobriety it's
your own damn fault
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