Daily Reflections

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HAPPINESS COMES QUIETLY

Daily Reflections – January 17

HITTING BOTTOM

Daily Reflections – January 16

Why all this insistence that every A.A. must hit bottom first? The answer is that few people will sincerely try to practice the A.A. program unless they have hit bottom. For practicing A. A. 's remaining eleven Steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 24

AN UNSUSPECTED INNER RESOURCE

Daily Reflections – January 15

With few exceptions our members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves. ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS, pp. 569-70

NO REGRETS

Daily Reflections – January 14

We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS, p. 83

IT DOESN'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT

Daily Reflections – January 13

We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS, p. 85

THE 100% STEP

Daily Reflections – January 11

Only Step One, where we made the 100 percent admission we were powerless over alcohol can be practiced with absolute perfection. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 68

UNITED WE STAND

Daily Reflections – January 10

We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed. ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS, p. 30

AN ACT OF PROVIDENCE

Daily Reflections – January 9

It is truly awful to admit that, glass in hand, we have warped our minds into such an obsession for destructive drinking that only an act of Providence can remove it from us. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 21

DO I HAVE A CHOICE?

Daily Reflections – January 8

The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent. ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS, p. 24

AT THE TURNING POINT

Daily Reflections – January 7

Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon. ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS, p. 59

THE VICTORY OF SURRENDER

Daily Reflections – January 6

We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness finally turn out to be firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful lives may be built. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 21

TOTAL ACCEPTANCE

Daily Reflections – January 5

He cannot picture life without alcohol Some day he will be unable to imagine life either  with alcohol  or without  it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 152

 

BEGIN WHERE YOU ARE

Daily Reflections – January 4

We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs. ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS, p. 19

POWERLESS

Daily Reflections – January 3

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 21

FIRST, THE FOUNDATION

Daily Reflections – January 2

Is sobriety all that we can expect of a spiritual awakening? No, sobriety is only a bare beginning. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 8

"I AM A MIRACLE"

Daily Reflections – January 1

The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves. ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS, p. 25

DAILY RESOLUTIONS

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 31

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

ANONYMITY

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 30

Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities. ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS, p. 564

THE JOY OF LIVING

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 29

. . . therefore the joy of good living is the theme of A.A.'s Twelfth Step. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 125

SUIT UP AND SHOW UP

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 28

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

PROBLEM SOLVING

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 27

"Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems." ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS, p. 42

ACCEPTING SUCCESS OR FAILURE

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 26

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 AND TWELVE, p. 112

AT PEACE WITH LIFE

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 25

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."
ALCOHOLIC 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.

A "SANE AND HAPPY USEFULNESS"

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 24

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. ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS, p. 130

RECOVERY, UNITY, SERVICE

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 23

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

PRINCIPLES, NOT PERSONALITIES

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 22

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

LISTEN, SHARE AND PRAY

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 21

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. ALCOHOLIC 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.

THE REWARDS OF GIVING

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 20

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 AND TWELVE, p. 109

UNDERSTANDING THE MALADY

Daily reflections - DECEMBER 19

When dealing with an alcoholic, there may be a natural annoyance that a man could be so weak, stupid and irresponsible.   Even  when  you  understand  the  malady better, you may feel this feeling rising.  ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS, p. 139

Having suffered from alcoholism, I should understand the illness, but sometimes I feel annoyance, even contempt, toward a person who cannot make it in A.A. When I feel that way, I am satisfying my false sense of superiority and I must remember, but for the grace of God, there go I.
 

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