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Freefly
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964 Posts |
 Posted - 09/12/2008 : 07:47:37 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
September 12, 2008
Honesty
The perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one
permeates human affairs from top to bottom.
This subtle and elusive kind of self-righteousness
can underlie the smallest act or thought.
Learning daily to spot, admit, and correct these flaws
is the essence of character-building and good living.
© 1967 AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 17
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
The deception of others
is nearly always rooted in the deception of ourselves.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Choosing Honesty Allows New Growth Each Day.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
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964 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2008 : 04:38:34 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
September 13, 2008
Healing
In times of very rough going, the grateful acceptance of my blessings,
oft repeated, can also bring me some of the serenity of which our prayer speaks.
Whenever I fall under acute pressures, I lengthen my daily walks
and slowly repeat our Serenity Prayer in rhythm to my steps and breathing.
If I feel that my pain has in part been occasioned by others, I try to repeat,
"God grant me the serenity to love their best, and never fear their worst."
This benign healing process of repetition,
sometimes necessary to persist with for days, has seldom failed to restore me
to at least a workable, emotional balance and perspective.
- Bill W., March 1962
© 1988 The AA Grapevine, Inc., The Language of the Heart, pp. 271-2
Thought to Ponder . . .
Serenity isn't freedom from the storm; it is peace within the storm.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Keep It Serenely Simple.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
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800 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2008 : 09:56:35 AM
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Saturday, September 13, 2008............More Will Be Revealed
Pages 98 and 99, Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text
This is a program of total abstinence. There are times, however, such as in cases of health problems involving surgery and/or extreme physical injury, when medication may be valid. This does not constitute a license to use. There is no safe use of drugs for us. Our bodies don't know the difference between the drugs prescribed by a physician for pain and the drugs prescribed by ourselves to get high. As addicts, our skill at self-deception will be at its peak in such a situation. Often our minds will manufacture additional pain as an excuse to use. Turning it over to our Higher Power and getting the support of our sponsor and other members can prevent us from becoming our own worst enemies.
Being alone during such times would give our disease and opportunity to take over. Honest sharing can dispel our fears of relapse.
Serious illness or surgery can present particular problems for us. Physicians should have specific knowledge of our addiction. Remember that we, not our doctors, are ultimately responsible for our recovery and our decisions. To minimize the danger, there are a few specific options that we may consider. Using local anesthesia, avoiding our drug of choice, stopping drug use while we are still hurting, and spending extra days in the hospital in case withdrawal occurs are some of our options.
Whatever pain we experience will pass. Through prayer, meditation and sharing, we keep our minds off our discomfort and have the strength to keep our priorities in order. It is imperative to keep N.A. members close to us at all times, if possible. It is amazing how our minds will go back to our old ways and old thinking. You’d be surprised how much pain we can handle without medication. In this program of total abstinence, however, we need to feel no guilt after having taken a minimum amount of medication prescribed by an informed professional for extreme physical pain.
From the Basic Text of Narcotics Anonymous, Fifth Edition,
Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., Chatsworth, California
(I will write more on this chapter in my next post)
"Reach for the stars...You will at least end up among the clouds"
Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2008 : 10:02:54 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
September 14, 2008
Hope
Hope is the key that unlocks the door of discouragement.
The program promises me that if I do not pick up the first drink today,
I will always have hope.
Having come to believe that I keep what I share,
every time I encourage, I receive courage.
It is with others that, with the grace of God and the Fellowship of AA,
I trudge the road of happy destiny.
© 1990 AAWS, Daily Reflections, p. 70
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Heart Open; Please Enter.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2008 : 08:14:13 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
September 15, 2008
Threefold Answer
It finally became obvious to me that the God I thought had judged
and damned me
had done nothing of the sort.
He had been listening, and in His own good time His answer came.
His answer was threefold: the opportunity for a life of sobriety;
Twelve Steps to practice, in order to attain and maintain that life of sobriety,
fellowship within the program, ever ready to sustain and help me
each twenty-four-hour day.
I hold no illusion that I brought the AA program of recovery into my life.
I must always consider it as a gift of opportunity.
In the use of this opportunity, the onus is on me.
© 1973 AAWS, Came To Believe . . ., p. 11
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Joy is in knowing there is an answer.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2008 : 1:23:32 PM
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Monday, September 15, 2008............More Will Be Revealed (Cont'd)
Pages 97 and 98, Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text
As our recovery progressed, we became increasingly aware of ourselves and the world around us. Our needs and wants, our assets and liabilities were revealed to us. We came to realize that we had no power to change the outside world, we could only change ourselves. The Program of Narcotics Anonymous provides an opportunity for us to ease the pain of living through spiritual principles.
We are very fortunate to have had this program. Before, very few people recognized that addiction was a disease. Recovery was only a dream.
The responsible, productive, drug-free lives of thousands of members illustrate the effectiveness of our program. Recovery is a reality for us today. By working the steps, we are rebuilding our fractured personalities. Narcotics Anonymous is a healthy environment for growth. As a fellowship, we love and cherish one another, supporting our new way of life together.
As we grow, we come to understand humility as acceptance of both our assets and our liabilities. What we want most is to feel good about ourselves. Today we have real feelings of love, joy, hope, sadness, excitement. Our feelings are not our old drug-induced feelings.
Sometimes we find ourselves caught up in old ideas, even with time in the program. The basics are always important to recovery. We need to avoid old thinking patterns, both the old ideas and the tendency toward complacency. We cannot afford to become complacent, because our disease is with us twenty-four hours a day. If, while practicing these principles, we allow ourselves to feel superior or inferior, we isolate ourselves. We are headed for trouble if we feel apart from other addicts. Separation from the atmosphere of recovery and from the spirit of service to others slows our spiritual growth. Complacency keeps us from good will, love and compassion.
If we are unwilling to listen to others, we will deny the need for improvement. We learn to become flexible and to admit when others are right and we are wrong. As new things are revealed, we feel renewed. We need to stay open-minded and willing to do that one extra thing, go to one extra meeting, stay on the phone one extra minute, and help a newcomer stay clean one extra day. This extra effort is vital to our recovery.
We come to know ourselves for the first time. We experience new sensations: to love, to be loved, to know that people care about us and to have concern and compassion for others. We find ourselves doing and enjoying things that we never thought we would be doing. We make mistakes, and we learn how to succeed. Often we have to face some type of crisis during our recovery, such as the death of a loved one, financial difficulties or divorce. These are realities of life, and they don’t go away just because we get clean. Some of us, even after years of recovery, found ourselves jobless, homeless or penniless. We entertained the thought that staying clean was not paying off, and the old thinking stirred up self-pity, resentment and anger. No matter how painful life’s tragedies can be for us, one thing is clear, we must not use, no matter what!
From the Basic Text of Narcotics Anonymous, Fifth Edition,
Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., Chatsworth, California
(I will write more on this chapter in my next post)
"Reach for the stars...You will at least end up among the clouds"
Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2008 : 04:42:12 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
September 16, 2008
Emotional Swings
We are told in AA that we cannot afford resentments and self-pity,
so we learn to avoid these festering mental attitudes.
Similarly, we rid ourselves of guilt and remorse
as we "clean out the garbage" from our minds
through the Fourth and Fifth Steps of our recovery program.
We learn how to level out the emotional swings that got us into trouble
both when we were up and when we were down.
© 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 559
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Trust God. Clean house. Help others.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Altered Attitudes.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2008 : 11:15:37 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
September 18, 2008
Depression
I was at a dead halt -- spiritually, mentally, and physically.
Depression smothered my muffled thinking even more.
Serious illness came along, and it took me a while
to understand what was happening.
Thank God I never gave up on meetings,
so my Higher Power finally got through to me.
I realized I'd been playing the great escape act all this time. . .
There is no easier, softer way.
To bring the great escape act into sobriety is to travel with a companion
that led me to despair long ago.
© 1998 The AA Grapevine, Inc., The Best Of The Grapevine [Vol. 3], p. 320
Thought to Ponder . . .
I am worth staying sober for.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Call your sponsor,
Ask for help from your Higher Power,
Read the Big Book,
Do the Twelve Steps,
Stay active in your group.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2008 : 08:40:58 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
September 19, 2008
Possibilities
I've found that my experience can be of help to other people.
I have come to believe that hard times are not just meaningless suffering
and that something good might turn up at any moment.
That's a big change for someone who used to come to in the morning
feeling sentenced to another day of life.
When I wake up today, there are lots of possibilities.
I can hardly wait to see what's going to happen next.
I keep coming back because it works.
© 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 374
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
It works -- it really does.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2008 : 08:33:54 AM
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Saturday, September 20, 2008............More Will Be Revealed (Cont'd)
Pages 99 through 101, Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text
We grow through pain in recovery and often find that such a crisis is a gift, an opportunity to experience growth by living clean. Before recovery, we were unable to even conceive of the thought that problems brought gifts. This gift may be finding strength within ourselves or regaining the feeling of self-respect that we has lost.
Spiritual growth, love, and compassion are idle potentials until shared with a fellow addict. By giving unconditional love in the Fellowship, we become more loving, and by sharing spiritual growth we become more spiritual.
By carrying this message to another addict, we are reminded of our own beginnings. Having had an opportunity to remember old feelings and behaviors, we are able to see our own personal and spiritual growth. In the process of answering the questions of another, our own thinking becomes clearer. Newer members are a constant source of hope, ever reminding us that the program works. We have the opportunity to live the knowledge acquired by staying clean, when we work with newcomers.
We have learned to value the respect of others. We are pleased when people depend on us. For the first time in our lives, we may be asked to serve in positions of responsibility in community organizations outside of N.A. Our opinions are sought and valued by non-addicts in areas other than addiction and recovery. We can enjoy our families in a new way and may become a credit to them instead of an embarrassment or a burden. They can be proud of us today. Our individual interests can broaden to include social or even political issues. Hobbies and recreation give us new pleasure. It gives us good feelings to know that aside from our value to others as recovering addicts, we are also of value as human beings.
The reinforcement received by sponsorship is limitless. We spent years taking from others in every conceivable way. Words cannot describe the sense of spiritual awareness that we receive when we have given something, no matter how small, to another person.
We are each other’s eyes and ears. When we do something wrong, our fellow addicts help us by showing us what we cannot see. We sometimes find ourselves caught up in old ideas. We need to constantly review our feelings and thoughts if we are to stay enthusiastic and grow spiritually. This enthusiasm will aid our ongoing recovery.
Today we have the freedom of choice. As we work the program to the best of our ability, the obsession with self is removed. Much of our loneliness and fear is replaced by the love and security of the Fellowship. Helping a suffering addict is one of the greatest experiences life has to offer. We are willing to help. We have had similar experiences and understand fellow addicts as no one else can. We offer hope, for we know that a better way of life is now real for us, and we give love because it was given so freely to us. New frontiers are open to us as we learn how to love. Love can be the flow of life energy from one person to another. By caring, sharing and praying for others, we become a part of them. Through empathy, we allow addicts to become part of us.
As we do this, we undergo a vital spiritual experience and are changed. On a practical level, changes occur because what’s appropriate to one phase of recovery may not be for another. We constantly let go of what has served its purpose, and let God guide us through the current phase with what works here and now.
As we become more God-reliant and gain more self-respect, we realize that we don’t need to feel superior or inferior to anyone. Our real value is in being ourselves. Our egos, once so large and dominant, now take a back seat because we are in harmony with a loving God. We find that we lead richer, happier and much fuller lives when we lose self-will.
From the Basic Text of Narcotics Anonymous, Fifth Edition,
Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., Chatsworth, California
(I will write more on this chapter in my next post)
"Reach for the stars...You will at least end up among the clouds"
Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2008 : 09:04:05 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
September 20, 2008
Online Meetings
AA members with computers can participate in meetings online,
sharing with fellow alcoholics across the country or around the world.
In any meeting, anywhere, AA's share experience, strength and hope
with each other in order to stay sober and help other alcoholics
Modem-to-modem or face-to-face, AA's speak the language of the heart
in all its power and simplicity.
Reprinted from Alcoholics Anonymous, (Foreword to the Fourth Edition), Page xxiv, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder....
The ankle-biters of everyday struggles will eat away at me
unless I go to meetings and share.
Recovery Related Acronym
Always Awesome.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 09/21/2008 : 08:36:03 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
September 21, 2008
Indignation
The positive value of righteous indignation is theoretical
-- especially for alcoholics.
It leaves every one of us open to the rationalization
that we may be as angry as we like
provided we can claim to be righteous about it.
Reprinted from As Bill Sees It, Page 58, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder....
Anger is the wind that blows out the light of reason.
Recovery Related Acronym
Avoid Anger.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 09/22/2008 : 11:50:48 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
September 22, 2008
Change
My feelings of fear and guilt were slowly being replaced
by feelings of hope and self-respect.
And most important, that which had been impossible before
-- a trust in something or someone other than myself --
had now become possible.
In other words, I had been undergoing a spiritual experience without knowing it.
© 1986 The AA Grapevine, Inc., The Best Of The Grapevine [Vol. 2], p. 193
Thought to Ponder . . .
When I change the way I look at things, the things I look at change.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Keeping It Simple, Spiritually.
As Always
Sending angels,
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 09/22/2008 : 3:53:39 PM
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Monday, September 22, 2008............More Will Be Revealed (Cont'd)
Pages 101 through 103, Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text
As we become more God-reliant and gain more self-respect, we realize that we don’t need to feel superior or inferior to anyone. Our real value is in being ourselves. Our egos, once so large and dominant, now take a back seat because we are in harmony with a loving God. We find that we lead richer, happier and much fuller lives when we lose self-will.
We become able to make wise and loving decisions, base on principles and ideals that have real value in our lives. By shaping our thoughts with spiritual ideals, we are freed to become who we want to be. What we had feared, we can now overcome through our dependence on a loving God. Faith has replaced our fear and given us freedom from ourselves.
In recovery, we also strive for gratitude. We feel grateful for ongoing God-consciousness. Whenever we confront a difficulty that we do not think we can handle, we ask God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
A spiritual awakening is an ongoing process. We experience a wider view of reality as we grow spiritually. An opening of our minds to new spiritual and physical experiences is the key to better awareness. As we grow spiritually we become attuned to our feelings and our purpose in life.
By loving ourselves, we become able to truly love others. This is a spiritual awakening that comes as a result of living this program. We find ourselves daring to care and love!
Higher mental and emotional functions, such as conscience and the ability to love, were sharply affected by our drug use. Living skills were reduced to the animal level. Our spirit was broken. The capacity to feel human was lost. This seems extreme, but many of us have been in this state.
In time, through recovery, our dreams come true. We don’t mean that we necessarily become rich or famous. However, by realizing the will of our Higher Power, dreams do come true in recovery.
One of the continuing miracles of recovery is becoming a productive, responsible member of society. We need to tread carefully into areas that expose us to ego-inflating experience, prestige and manipulation that may be difficult for us. We have found that the way to remain a productive, responsible member of society is to put our recovery first. N.A. can survive without us, but we cannot survive without N.A.
Narcotics Anonymous offers only one promise and that is freedom from active addiction, the solution that eluded us for so long. We will be freed from our self-made prisons.
Living just for today, we have no way of knowing what will happen to us. We are often amazed at how things work out for us. We are recovering in the here and now and the future becomes an exciting journey. If we had written down our list of expectations when we came to the program, we would have been cheating ourselves. Hopeless living problems have become joyously changed. Our disease has been arrested, and now anything is possible.
We become increasingly open-minded and open to new ideas in all areas of our lives. Through active listening, we hear things that work for us. This ability to listen is a gift and grows as we grow spiritually. Life takes on a new meaning when we open ourselves to this gift. In order to receive, we must be willing to give.
In recovery, our ideas of fun change. We are now free to enjoy the simple things in life, like fellowship and living in harmony with nature. We now have become free to develop a new understanding of life. As we look back, we are grateful for our new life. It is so unlike the events that brought us here.
While using, we thought that we had fun and that non-users were deprived of it. Spirituality enables us to live life to its fullest, feeling grateful for who we are and for what we have done in life. Since the beginning of our recovery, we have found that joy doesn’t come from material things, but from within ourselves. We find that when we lose self-obsession, we are able to understand what it means to be happy, joyous, and free. Indescribable joy comes from sharing from the heart, we no longer need to lie to gain acceptance.
Narcotics Anonymous offers addicts a program of recovery that is more than just a life without drugs. Not only is this way of life better than the hell we lived, it is better than any life that we have ever known.
We have found a way out, and we see it work for others. Each day more will be revealed.
From the Basic Text of Narcotics Anonymous, Fifth Edition,
Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., Chatsworth, California
(End of Chapter 10)
"Reach for the stars...You will at least end up among the clouds"
Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2008 : 07:13:30 AM
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September 23, 2008
"Recovery isn't for people who need it; it's for people who want it."
After I was sober a while I started thinking about all the people I knew who could really benefit from, and in fact really needed, the recovery I had found in the program. This was especially true of the newcomers who kept relapsing. "They really need this program," I'd say to my sponsor. "Why can't they get it?"
And that's when he told me that this program isn't for people who need it; it's for people who want it. He said that if everyone who needed this attended meetings we'd have to rent out stadiums, not rooms and dining halls. He told me that only the desperate can become willing enough to do what we do to get what we have. And that's when I thought about my own journey.
For years I needed recovery, but I still had better ideas. It wasn't until I had hit bottom and was willing to abandon myself to this program that I began to recover. I now understand when someone says to a newcomer, "I wish you desperation," because it is only by hitting bottom that one can go from needing this to wanting it.
Today I realize that everyone is on their own journey, and that although many may need recovery, until they want it, they won't be able to get it.
From the web site Wisdom Of The Rooms
www.wisdomoftherooms.com
Nothing grows in the darkness except defects!
"Reach for the stars...You will at least end up among the clouds"
Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!
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