Alcoholic Anonymous - Daily Ponderables - Together we trudge the
Road of Happy Destiny – Saturday, 1 February 2014 - Daily Reflections “GOAL:
SANITY”
". . . Step Two gently and very gradually began to infiltrate
my life. I can't say upon what occasion or upon what day I came to believe in a
Power greater than myself, but I certainly have that belief now."--Twelve
Steps & Twelve Traditions, page 27
"I came to believe!" I gave lip service to my belief
when I felt like it or when I thought it would look good. I didn't really trust
God. I didn't believe He cared for me. I kept trying to change things I
couldn't change. Gradually, in disgust, I began to turn it all over, saying:
"You're so omnipotent, you take care of it." He did. I began to
receive answers to my deepest problems, sometimes at the most unusual times:
driving to work, eating lunch, or when I was sound asleep. I realized that I
hadn't thought of those solutions —a Power greater than myself had given them
to me. I came to believe.--From the book Daily Reflections © Copyright 1990 by
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
When we think about having a drink, we're thinking of the kick
we get out of drinking, the pleasure, the escape from boredom, the feeling of
self-importance, and the companionship of other drinkers. What we don't think
of is the letdown, the hangover, the remorse, the waste of money, and the
facing of another day. In other words, when we think about that first drink,
we're thinking of all the assets of drinking and none of the liabilities. What
has drinking really got that we haven't got in A.A.? Do I believe that the
liabilities of drinking outweigh the assets?
Meditation for the Day
I will start a new life each day. I will put the old mistakes
away and start anew each day. God always offers me a fresh start. I will not be
burdened or anxious. If God's forgiveness were only for the righteous and those
who had not sinned, where would be its need? I believe that God forgives us all
of our sins, if we are honestly trying to live today the way He wants us to
live. God forgives us much and we should be very grateful.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that my life may not be spoiled by worry and fear and
selfishness. I pray that I may have a glad, thankful, and humble heart.--From
the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day © Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Hardships--Page 33
"We felt different... Only after surrender are we able to
overcome the alienation of addiction."--Basic Text, page 22
"But you don't understand!" we spluttered, trying to
cover up. "I'm different! I've really got it rough!" We used these
lines over and over in our active addiction, either trying to escape the
consequences of our actions or avoid following the rules that applied to
everyone else. We may have cried them at our first meeting. Perhaps we've even
caught ourselves whining them recently.
So many of us feel different or unique, as addicts, we can use
almost anything to alienate ourselves. But there's no excuse for missing out on
recovery, nothing that can make us ineligible for the program- not a
life-threatening illness, not poverty, not anything. There are thousands of
addicts who have found recovery despite the real hardships they've faced.
Through working the program, their spiritual awareness has grown, in spite
of-or perhaps in response to those hardships.
Our individual circumstances and differences are irrelevant when
it comes to recovery. By letting go of our uniqueness and surrendering to this
simple way of life, we're bound to find that we feel a part of something. And
feeling a part of something gives us the strength to walk through life,
hardships and all.
Just for Today: I will let go of my uniqueness and embrace the
principles of recovery I have in common with so many others. My hardships do
not exclude me from recovery; rather, they draw me into it.--From the book Just
for Today © Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
“The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die."--Friedrich
Nietzsche (Thanks Rabbi Jenny)
It's not going to be all right until it's all right like it is
right now.
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Indulge in lust a little, and like the child it grows apace.
The wise man hates it therefore; who would take poison for food?
Every sorrow is increased and cherished by the offices of lust.
If there is no lustful desire, the risings of sorrow are not
produced, the wise man seeing the bitterness of sorrow, stamps out and destroys
the risings of desire;...-Of-Show-Hang-Stan-King'
Native American
"You can't just sit down and talk about the truth. It
doesn't work that way. You have to live it and be part of it and you might get
to know it."--Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE
We all read books that have much information in them. Often we
pick up on little sayings that we remember. Inside of us is the little owl, the
owl of knowing. It talks to us- guiding us and nurturing us. Often when we get
information, it's hard to live by, but it's easy to talk about. It's living the
Red Road that counts-Walk the Talk. If we really want freedom in our lives, if
we really want to be happy, if we really want to have peace of mind, it's the
truth we must seek.
My Creator, help me in my search for the truth today.
Keep It Simple
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could
restore us to sanity.--Step Two
The Second Step directs us to believe there is hope for us. It
may take time to believe this. Many of us had given up hope. But look around.
Hope fills our meeting rooms. We are surrounded by miracles. This Power greater
than ourselves has healed many. Listen as others tell their stories. They speak
of how powerful this Power is. At times, we will not believe. This is normal but
in recovery, "coming to believe" means opening ourselves up to
healing power found in the program.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, allow me to believe Help me to
stay open to recovery.
Action for the Day: I will list three examples of my past
insanity. I will share these examples with my group, sponsor, a program friend,
or with my Higher Power. I will remember that I'm a miracle.
Big Book
"More than most people, the alcoholic leads a double life.
He is very much the actor. To the outer world he presents his stage character.
This is the one he likes his fellows to see. He wants to enjoy a
certain reputation, but knows in his heart he doesn't deserve it."--Alcoholics
Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, page 73
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Dr. Silkworth’s Rx for Sobriety
http://silkworth.net/silkworth/rxsobriety.html
Copyright © The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., June 1945
Anyone who tried to impress a drinking alcoholic with the
approach, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too,” would probably draw a
scornful, “So what! Who wants any cake? Tony, make it a double this time.”
The same idea expressed as, “You can’t have your bottle and
drink it too,” might get his attention because to a drinking alcoholic a fresh
unopened bottle, brimming brightly with abundance, is a symbol of good things
to come. He knows well enough, of course, that he can’t drink it and still have
it, but he blocks his mind to the inevitability of that horrible moment when
the last bottle will be empty.
The untapped bottle remains a symbol to the non-drinking
alcoholic, at least to the alcoholic who has dried up in A.A. So long as it
stands unopened it represents drinks he has not taken, and the good things of
life he has found by not drinking.
Yet now and then a persevering soul tries to have both the
figurative and the liquid contents of the bottle. He tries to make an
impossible compromise.
In the opinion of a man who has administered personally to at
least 10,000 alcoholics, the attempt to make this kind of compromise is one of
the most common causes of failure to get a safe hold on A.A.
Dr. W.D. Silkworth, genial and beloved little patriarch at Towns
Hospital, New York, for twelve years and now (1945) also in charge of the new
A.A. ward at Knickerbocker, also New York, defines it as the “alcoholic
double-cross.”
“The majority who slip after periods of sobriety,” says Dr.
Silkworth, “having double-crossed themselves into thinking that somehow they
can have the unopened bottle and drink it, too. Even though they have been in
A.A. and going to meetings, and following parts of the program, they have
accepted it with reservations somewhere. They actually have been one step ahead
of a drink. Then they began playing around with the notion they can drink a
little and still have the good things of A.A. The outcome is an inevitable as
the bottle becoming empty once it has been opened by the alcoholic.”
When Dr. Silkworth discusses A.A. “slips” his usually cheerful
face becomes serious even a little grim. Through his long years of practice in
the field, he has become increasingly sympathetic, but not case-hardened, to
alcoholics. He understands what they experience. Having been one of the first
in his profession to support A.A. and having guided scores of alcoholics into
A.A., he also appreciates the fact that a “slip” for an A.A. involves an extra
degree of remorse and misery.
Dr. Silkworth is particularly emphatic on one point.
“Slips are not the fault of A.A. I have heard patients complain,
when brought in for another drying out, that A.A. failed them. The truth, of
course, is that they failed A.A.
But this mental maneuvering to transfer the blame is obviously
another indication of fallacious thinking. It is another symptom of the
disease.”
A quick way to get Dr. Silkworth’s appraisal of A.A. is to ask
him how he thinks “slips” can be prevented.
“First,” he explains, “let’s remember the cause. The A.A. who
“slips” has not accepted the A.A. program in its entirety. He has a
reservation, or reservations. He’s tried to make a compromise. Frequently, of
course, he will say he doesn’t know why he reverted to a drink. He means that
sincerely and, as a matter of fact, he may not be aware of any reason. But if
his thoughts can be probed deeply enough a reason can usually be found in the
form of a reservation.”
“The preventive, therefore, is acceptance of the A.A. program
and A.A. principles without any reservations. This brings us to what I call the
moral issue and to what I have always believed from the first to be the essence
of A.A."
“Why does this moral issue and belief in a power greater than
oneself appear to be the essential principle of A.A.? First, an important
comparison is found in the fact that all other plans involving psychoanalysis,
will-power, restraint and other ingenious ideas have failed in 95 per cent of
the cases. A second is that all movements of reform minus a moral issue have
passed into oblivion.”
“Whatever may be the opinions one professes in the matter of
philosophy -whether one is a spiritualist or a scientific materialist - one
should recognize the reciprocal influence which the moral and physical exert
upon each other.
Alcoholism is a mental and physical issue. Physically a man has
developed an illness. He cannot use alcohol in moderation, at least not for a
period of enduring length. If the alcoholic starts to drink, he sooner or later
develops the phenomenon of craving.”
“Mentally, this same alcoholic develops an obsessive type of
thinking which, in itself a neurosis, offers an unfavorable prognosis through
former plans of treatment. Physically - science does not know why - a man
cannot drink in moderation. But through moral psychology - a new interpretation
of an old idea - A.A. has been able to solve his former mental obsession. It is
the vital principle of A.A., without which A.A. would have failed even as other
forms of treatment have failed."
“To be sure, A.A. offers a number of highly useful tools or
props. Its group therapy is very effective. I have seen countless
demonstrations of how well your ‘24-hour plan’ operates. The principle of
working with other alcoholics has a sound psychological basis. All of these
features of the program are extremely important.”
“But, in my opinion, the key principle which makes A.A. work
where other plans have proved inadequate is the way of life it proposes based
upon the belief of the individual in a Power greater than himself and the faith
that this Power is all sufficient to destroy the obsession which possessed him
and was destroying him mentally and physically.”
“For many years I faced this alcoholic problem being sure of one
scientific fact - that detoxication by medical treatment must precede any
psychiatric approach. I have tried many of these orthodox psychiatric
approaches and invented some new ones of my own. With some patients I would be
coldly analytical, if they were of the so-called ‘scientific’ type who is apt
to have a superior attitude toward anything emotional or spiritual. With
others, I would try the ‘scare’ method, telling them that if they continued to
drink they would kill themselves. With still others, I would attempt the
emotional appeal, working both the patient and myself into lather. He might be
moved to the point of shaking hands dramatically and telling me, with tears
streaming down his face, that he was never going to take another drink. And I
knew that the probability was he would be drunk again within two weeks or
less.”
“Since I have been working with A.A. the comparative percentage
of successful results has increased to an amazing extent.”
“The percentage of success that A.A. has scored leaves no doubt
that it has something more than we as doctors can offer. It is, I am convinced,
your second step. Once the A.A. alcoholic has grasped that, he will have no
more “slips.”
Copyright © the A.A. Grapevine, Inc., June 1945
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If you're not enjoying your sobriety it's your own damn fault
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