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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
 Posted - 03/15/2009 : 10:46:05 AM
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March 15, 2009
Willingness
Many of us understand God to be simply whatever force keeps us clean. The right to a God of your understanding is total and without any catches. Because we have this right, it is necessary to be honest about our belief if we are to grow spiritually.
We found that all we needed to do was try.
It says, “We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” We made the decision; it was not made for us by the drugs, our families, a probation officer, judge, therapist or doctor. We made it! For the first time since that first high, we have made a decision for ourselves.
We have only to believe that the miracle that we see working in the lives of clean addicts can happen to any addict with the desire to change.
Anonymous
The opposite of Fear is Faith
"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 - 03/16/2009 : 07:53:32 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
March 16, 2009
Insanity
I had no idea how truly insane my drinking behavior was,
and could not bear to face it when it was suggested
that I was in fact mentally ill.
However, I could not deny it when I realized
that my destructive alcoholic behavior was positive proof,
that I could not claim soundness of mind for myself.
.-Anonymous
Thought to Ponder . . .
There is only one corner of the universe I can be certain of improving,
and that's my own self.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2009 : 06:53:18 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
2009
Emotional Sobriety
If I examine every disturbance I have, great or small,
I will find at the root of it some unhealthy dependency
and its consequent unhealthy demand.
With God's help, I will continually surrender these hobbling liabilities.
Then I can be set free to live and love;
I may then be able to help myself,
as well as twelve-step others, into emotional sobriety.
Thought to Ponder . . .
We surrender to win.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Keep It Simple; Surrender.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2009 : 10:55:41 PM
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March 17, 2009
"The problem with isolating is that you get such bad advice."
By the end of my drinking and using, I was all alone. Unlike some of the stories I hear about people drinking in bars, I preferred to drink alone in my home, and after months of listening to my own best thinking I had run out of options and was at the end of my rope. By some miracle, I was able to reach out, and my journey in recovery began.
While I have worked the steps several times over the years, and worked hard to turn my character defects over to God, I still find that my default mode is to isolate. And when I do, I am cut off from others and from my Higher Power and that's when my best thinking starts again. I've learned that it never has anything good to say.
Today I do the things I learned to do early in sobriety to keep from isolating: I have a sponsor; I get commitments at meetings, and I say yes when asked to participate. In other words, I continue to take contrary action because, as they say, "An alcoholic's best thinking treats loneliness with isolating."
And when I'm isolating, the advice I get is all bad.
Meeting makers make it!!!!!
"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 - 03/18/2009 : 06:57:29 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
March 18, 2009
Truth
I began with little faith, but found proof that the truth is that it works.
I started to believe others after hearing how they suffered from their alcoholism,
because I could see them enjoying sobriety through AA.
That truth was there for me to see.
Soon I knew the same truth from my own experiences.
I was released from the compulsion to drink
and guided into a compulsion to live life!
- Anonymous
Thought to Ponder . . .
It works -- it really does.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Always Alive.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2009 : 08:12:18 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
March 19, 2009
'Pass It On'
As I read the Big Book daily, I am learning how to stay on the path
that the first one hundred members cleared for me.
Whenever I am feeling low, I think of "Bill's Story," on page 15,
when he was full of self-pity during his trying times:
"When all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic
would save the day."
- Anonymous
Thought to Ponder . . .
That light at the end of the tunnel may be you.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Hearing Othere People's Experience.
A MEMBER SHARES:
My name is Barry and I am an alcoholic. "Pass It On" is the theme that Bill W. gave us. During the first seven months of his sobriety, he tried dragging alkies out of bars and lecturing them. It did not work. None of them got sober. He was told by Dr. Silkworth it might work better if he shared his own experience with others who are suffering. And Bill tried Dr. Silkworth's suggestion: he shared his own experience with Dr. Bob, and the rest is history. We still do that 73 years later. We share about ourselves; what we have been through. I do not know what you or anyone else should or should not do, I can only tell you what worked for me -- which is the way the old timers who were here when I got to AA taught me. They shared about themselves, and I could feel that they knew what it was like for me. It meant so much to me at my first meeting, hearing others who were smiling and happy, sharing things I had never told anyone about me. I knew I was home with people who really understood where I came from. The idea of "Pass it On" is so strong in AA, that when a book was published by AA World Services about the life of Bill W., the title was "Pass it On." My sponsors taught me to pass on what I have learned, how to set up meetings, etc. We don't just tell someone to do a job here, we help them by sharing what we have learned, what the others before us had taught us. What an amazing concept! One that has worked for millions of us over the past 73 years, one day at a time. It has helped me stay clean and sober for over 29 years. Thank you for letting me share.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2009 : 08:09:42 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
March 20, 2009
The Lesson
The most important thing I've learned is this:
When I'm feeling bad emotionally, it's usually my own fault.
In nearly every case, I had made the choices that had gotten me there.
But AA never said,
"Perhaps this isn't for you. Perhaps you should go somewhere else."
They always said, "Hang in there. It will get better."
The Steps aren't about not drinking. They are about how to live sober.
- Anonymous
Thought to Ponder . . .
When all seems lost,
hanging on a little longer never fails to bring mysterious help.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Hang On! Peace Exists.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2009 : 04:40:34 AM
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March 21, 2009
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.
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 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.
Anonymous
N.A. Offers addicts a program of recovery that is more than just a life without drugs.
Better than the hell we lived, better than any life we have ever known.
"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 - 03/21/2009 : 08:20:55 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
March 21, 2009
An Open Gate
The Fellowship of AA has said that no matter what was out there,
they would stand by me and help me through.
More importantly, a Higher Power of my own understanding
would be there with me,
and they could show me the way to tap into that power.
They were holding that gate open,
but I was going to have to take the action and step across.
- Anonymous
Thought to Ponder . . .
The power within me is far greater than any fear before me.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Accountable Actions.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2009 : 09:32:23 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
March 22, 2009
Procrastination
I wanted to rest on my laurels after my first attempt at making amends.
I was relieved, and thought my task was finished.
I was tempted to skip the more humiliating meetings that remained,
and to find plausible excuses for dodging certain issues.
I wanted to procrastinate, telling myself the time is not yet,
but I was really passing up many good chances to right serious wrongs.
In AA, I've learned not to talk prudence while practicing evasion.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Procrastination is really sloth in five syllables.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Fighting Ego Against Reality.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2009 : 08:53:59 AM
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AA Thought for the Day*
March 23, 2009
The Solution
I wanted to stop drinking, but I did not like the self-searching
and the leveling of my pride, which was a requirement.
However, I saw that it really worked in others,
so I accepted their suggestion to pick up the simple toolkit
that they laid at my feet.
I was rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence
of which I had never dreamed. I had found the solution.
Thought to Ponder . . .
While it isn't always easy, if I keep it simple, it works.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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| Information in this forum is not monitored or provided by a medical professional. The information reflects member opinions only. Do not act on advice from these forums without first consulting a qualified medical professional. All content is copyrighted and protected by Aelius Group. |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2009 : 11:44:24 AM
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March 23, 2009
"Worry is a terrible waste of the imagination."
Before recovery, I was addicted to so many things - alcohol, drugs, food, sex - anything that I could use to escape I abused as I sought a way out of the impending doom I always felt. When I entered the program and began putting these vices and distractions down, I found I had been addicted to something else as well - worry.
It took a long time for my emotions to become stable and for my thoughts to become clear, but once they did, I was amazed by how much time and energy I spent worrying. I worried about my health, my job, my relationships, my future and even my past. When I shared this with my sponsor, he explained that worry was caused by excessive self-will and that I hadn't fully surrendered to my Higher Power.
After years of working the steps, turning my will and life over to God, and spending more and more time looking for and trying to follow His will, I find that I worry less and less. Today my mind is focused on what God would have me do and be, and from that place I've learned to take the next indicated action and to turn the results over to Him.
Today I use my imagination to envision my life and world as God would have it be, rather than worry that it might not turn out the way I would have it.
- Anonymous
Grant me the serenity to except the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
the wisdom to know the difference!!!!!
"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 - 03/24/2009 : 06:47:59 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
March 24, 2009
Trading
I traded dependence on puny self for dependence on God.
I traded resentment for understanding, fear for trust, selfishness for love.
I traded dissatisfaction for hope, dishonesty for truth.
I traded retaliation for amendment, taking for giving.
I traded sectarian bigotry for tolerance.
Sobriety has become for me an all-inclusive term.
It means everything from not taking the first drink
to enjoying the present twenty-four hours.
Thought to Ponder . . .
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Try Relying Upon Steps and Traditions.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2009 : 07:30:13 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
March 25, 2009
Fellowship
I felt confused, dispirited, alone and afraid.
I found my way up and out, into a sobriety that is strong enough
to meet the adversities of life itself.
When I joined the Fellowship of AA, I learned that together
we could do that which we could never do alone --
the joy of living sober.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Sobriety is the adventure of a lifetime.
And it begins the moment we ask AA for help.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
F E L L O W S H I P =
Faith, Empathy, Learning, Love, Openness, Wisdom,
Self-worth, Hope, Identification, People.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2009 : 07:36:15 AM
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March 26, 2009........................................................Step One
Surrender means not having to fight anymore. We accept our addiction and life the way it is. We become willing to do “whatever” is necessary to stay clean, even the things we don't like doing.
Until we took Step One, we were full of fear and doubt. At this point many of us felt lost and confused. We felt different. Only after surrender are we able to overcome the alienation of addiction. Help for addicts begins only when we are able to admit complete defeat. This can be frightening, but it is the foundation on which we built our lives.
Step One means that we do not have to use, and this is a great freedom. It took a while for some of us to realize that our lives had become unmanageable. For others, the unmanageability of their lives was the only thing that was clear. We knew in our hearts that drugs had the power to change us into someone that we didn't want to be.
Being clean and working this step, we are released from our chains. However, none of the steps work by magic. We do not just say the words of this step; we learn to live them. We see for ourselves that the program has something to offer us.
We have found hope. We can learn to function in the world in which we live. We can find meaning and purpose in life and be rescued from insanity, depravity and death.
- Anonymous
We admit our powerlessness and inability to manage our own lives.
We open the door for a Power greater than ourselves to help us.
It's not where we were that counts, but where we are going!!!!
Surrender!!!
"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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