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Hi guys..My name is Bob and I'm an Alcoholic. So glad to see an online meeting place here on our very own IHUB. I would love to get back to some meetings..Been a while..
Life ain't always great...But it's always better than the "old way" days.If anyone would like to talk with me, please feel free to PM me..IHUB is my second home..I'm easily found.
God willing:I'll be celebrating 12 years next month.
Thanks for listening
Bob
HITTING BOTTOM
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 STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 24
Hitting bottom opened my mind and I became willing to
try something different. What I tried was A.A. My new
life in the Fellowship was a little like learning how
to ride a bike for the first time: A.A. became my
training wheels and my supporting hand. It's not that
I wanted the help so much at the time; I simply did
not want to hurt like that again. My desire to avoid
hitting bottom again was more powerful than my desire
to drink. In the beginning that was what kept me sober.
But after a while I found myself working the Steps to
the best of my ability. I soon realized that my
attitudes and actions were changing - if ever so
slightly. One Day at a Time, I became comfortable with
myself, and others, and my hurting started to heal.
Thank God for the training wheels and supporting hand
that I choose to call Alcoholics Anonymous.
***********************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
The A.A. program is more a way of building a new life
than just a way of getting over drinking, because in A.A.
we don't just stop drinking. We did that plenty of times
in the old days when we went "on the wagon." And, of
course, we always started to drink again, because we were
only waiting for the time when we could fall off. Once
we've gotten sober through the A.A. program, we start
going uphill. In our drinking days, we were going downhill,
getting worse and worse. We either go down or up. Am I
going uphill, getting better and better?
Meditation For The Day
I will try to obey God's will day in and day out, in the
wilderness plains as well as on the mountaintops of
experience. It is in the daily strivings that perseverance
counts. I believe that God is Lord of little things, the
Divine Controller of little happenings. I will persevere
in this new way of life. I know that nothing in the day
is too small to be a part of God's scheme.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that the little stones which I put into the mosaic
of my life may make a worthwhile pattern. I pray that I
may persevere and so find harmony and beauty.
***********************************************************
As Bill Sees It
Neither Dependence nor Self-Sufficiency, p.265
When we insisted, like infants, that people protect and take care of
us or that the world owed us a living, then the result was
unfortunate. The people we most loved often pushed us aside or
perhaps deserted us entirely. Our disillusionment was hard to bear.
We failed to see that, though adult in years, we were still behaving
childishly, trying to turn everybody--friends, wives, husbands, even
the world itself--into protective parents. We refused to learn that
overdependence upon people is unsuccessful because all people
are fallible, and even the best of them will sometimes let us
down, especially when our demands for attention become
unreasonable.
********************************
We are now on a different basis: the basis of trusting and relying
upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. Just to
the extent that we do as we think He would have us do, and humbly
rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity.
1. 12 & 12, p.115
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p.68
***********************************************************
Walk In Dry Places
Material things matter
The Money Problem
Now and then we have heated discussions about the role of material things in sobriety. Someone is bound to say that money can't buy happiness and that the spiritual has to come first.
But material things do matter in our lives, and we share with others the same desire to get ahead in life. We usually like good clothes, new cars, and steady pay checks. It is somewhat hypocritical to say that money and material things don't matter when we obviously need money and would like to have more of it.
Our problem with money and material things occurred when we made a god of them, when we saw worldly success as the end-all and be-all of life. The proper function of money is to provide for smooth exchange of the goods and services we must use in order to live. Far from denouncing spiritual gifts that should be used properly, but not worshipped. More than likely, we can appreciate material things far more than we did while drinking, despite the exaggerated love we had then for worldly things.
I will neither despise material things nor make a god of them today. I will view them as part of God's plan, as things to use.
***********************************************************
Keep It Simple
Fair play is primarily not blaming others for anything that is wrong with us.---Eric Hoffer
It's tempting to blame others for our problems. Recovery asks us to answer for our actions. Admitting we are powerless over our actions. Admitting we are powerless over our alcohol and other drugs is a start.
Each of the Twelve Steps asks us to answer for our actions in some way. And the program shows us how to do this. Over time, we see that being responsible for our actions is the best way to live. Our self-confidence grows as we become more responsible. We start to see just how much we can do. We have gone from being drunks to being responsible people. If we can do this, then we can do anything!
Prayer for the Day: I pray to remember that I'm responsible for my actions. Blaming puts distance between me and other people. Higher Power, help me to play fair.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list four times I've blamed someone else for a problem that was really my problem.
***********************************************************
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
A VISION OF RECOVERY - A feeble prayer forged a lasting connection with a Higher Power for this Mic-Mac Indian.
I can honestly say that nothing worked for me until I joined Alcoholics Anonymous. Eventually I ended up in a treatment center, and after a twenty-eight-day program, I began attending A.A. meetings on a regular basis. The treatment center introduced me to the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, and I left there knowing that the only hope for me was the twelve Steps.
p. 498
***********************************************************
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."
If temperamentally we are on the depressive side, we are apt to be swamped with guilt and self-loathing. We wallow in this messy bog, often getting a misshapen and painful pleasure out of it. As we morbidly pursue this melancholy activity, we may sink to such a point of despair that nothing but oblivion looks possible as a solution. Here, of course, we have lost all perspective, and therefore all genuine humility. For this is pride in reverse. This is not a moral inventory at all; it is the very process by which the depressive has so often been led to the bottle and extinction.
p. 45
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"Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by traffic from both sides." --Margaret Thatcher
"Sharing what you have is more important than what you have." --Albert M. Wells, Jr.
"Oh...I listen a lot and talk less. You can't learn anything when you're talking." --Bing Crosby
Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul. --Saint Augustine
The alcoholic is in no greater peril than when he takes sobriety for granted.
F E A R = Face Everything And Recover.
***********************************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PROCRASTINATION
"You cannot build a reputation
on things you are going to do."
-- Mabel Newcomber
Procrastination is the addicts' game. I will give up alcohol tomorrow.
Soon I will take an inventory of my eating habits. Later I will talk to
him about my anger and pain. Tomorrow and tomorrow --- but it
never happens!
The tragedy is that we not only bring pain and problems into our lives
but we keep them there. Recovery requires action; sobriety and the
spiritual program demand movement.
Today I will talk about my pain.
***********************************************************
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. Psalm 146:8
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17
AN UNSUSPECTED INNER RESOURCE
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.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 569-70
From my first days in A.A., as I struggled for sobriety,
I found hope in these words from our founders. I often
pondered the phrase: "they have tapped an unsuspected
inner resource." How, I asked myself, can I find the
Power within myself, since I am so powerless? In time,
as the founders promised, it came to me: I have always
had the choice between goodness and evil, between
unselfishness and selfishness, between serenity and
fear. That Power greater than myself is an original
gift that I did not recognize until I achieved daily
sobriety through living A.A.'s Twelve Steps.
***********************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
The A.A. program is a way of life. It's a way of living
and we have to learn to live the program if we're going
to stay sober. The twelve steps in the book are like
guide posts. They point the direction in which we have to
go. But each member of the group has to find his own best
way of living the program. We don't all do it exactly
alike. Whether by quiet times in the morning, meetings,
working with others, or spreading the word, we have to
learn to live the program. Has A.A. become my regular,
natural way of living?
Meditation For The Day
I will relax and not get tense. I will have no fear,
because everything will work out in the end. I will learn
soul-balance and poise in a vacillating, changing world.
I will claim God's power and use it because if I do not
use it, it will be withdrawn. As long as I get back to God
and replenish my strength after each task, no work can be
too much.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may relax and that God's strength will be
given to me. I pray that I may subject my will to God's
will and be free from all tenseness.
***********************************************************
As Bill Sees It
Give Thanks, p.266
Though I still find it difficult to accept today's pain and anxiety
with any great degree of serenity--as those more advanced in the
spiritual life seem able to do--I can give thanks for present pain
nevertheless.
I find the willingness to do this by contemplating the lessons
learned from past suffering--lessons which have led to the
blessings I now enjoy. I can remember how the agonies of
alcoholism, the pain of rebellion and thwarted pride, have often
led me to God's grace, and so to a new freedom.
Grapevine, March 1962
***********************************************************
Walk In Dry Places
Never too late___Self expression
Many of us lament the fact that we wasted youthful years when we should have been earning college degrees or perfecting a skill. Many of us simply do not feel we can take up something new because we missed the opportunity to try it when we were younger.
We are now learning that age is mental, not really physical. Some people seem aged and beaten at twenty-five, while others act sprightly and young at sixty. Moreover, we can find wonderful examples of people who blossom out in new activities without any thought or concern about age barriers. It is never too late for a person to study, to take up a new trade or profession, to follow a new scientific or artistic interest, or to begin other lessons.
If we are using age as a reason for not following our heart's desire, we should ask if we are really finding ways to avoid responsibility for our own performance in life. We may be seeking excuses to spare ourselves the struggle and effort tha tare always required when we do something new or challenging.
It is never too late to be the people God intended us to be.
I will give some thought today to the excuses I've been using for not making better use of my talents and opportunities.
***********************************************************
Keep It Simple
I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Don not wait for the last judgment, it takes place every day. --Albert Camus
"Later." How often have we said this? This trick help us avoid the tasks of the day. Life is full of task--many fun, some boring, others hard. Can I accept the task my Higher Power gives me, easy or hard?
When we used alcohol or other drugs, we'd avoid task, if they became hard for us. We believed we had more control than we really did. We started to believe we could control outcomes. What we really were doing was setting ourselves up for a great fall. We had to face the fact that when our Higher Power had given us a task, we said no, and turned away. Thus, we turned away from the guiding hand of our Higher
Power.
Prayer for the Day: God, help me face You and the tasks You give me. Make me a grateful student of life.
Today's Action: Today I will talk with friends. I will tell them what tasks I'm working on.
***********************************************************
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
A VISION OF RECOVERY - A feeble prayer forged a lasting connection with a Higher Power for this Mic-Mac Indian.
One evening during a party at my home, an argument led to fighting, as usual. One of my brothers stabbed me in the back with a knife, and I fell to the floor unconscious. I came to in the hospital. They told me that one lung had collapsed, and they had a drain in my lung that came out the side of my body. The very next day some friends came to visit me, bringing a bottle of liquor. I still had that pride. I was still the tough guy. I lay there in bed with tubes draining my lung and smoked cigarettes and drank liquor. Later, in A.A., I had the nerve to question Step Two and wonder why I had to be "restored to sanity."
pp. 497-498
***********************************************************
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."
Alcoholics especially should be able to see that instinct run wild in themselves is the underlying cause of their destructive drinking. We have drunk to drown feelings of fear, frustration, and depression. We have drunk to escape the guilt of passions, and then have drunk again to make more passions possible. We have drunk for vain glory--that we
might the more enjoy foolish dreams of pomp and power. This perverse soul-sickness is not pleasant to look upon. Instincts on rampage balk at investigation. The minute we make a serious attempt to probe them, we are liable to suffer severe reactions.
pp. 44-45
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What are you going through in your life right now?
Don't feel you're the only one.
Open your eyes.
Open your heart to your connections with your larger family.
Let them share their stories with you.
Let them share their strengths, hopes, fears, and joys.
Stop looking for what's different and what makes you separate and apart.
Go on an adventure of discovering your common bonds.
--Melody Beattie
"Always hold your head up, but be careful to keep your nose at a friendly level." --Max L. Forman
"Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him." --Aldous Huxley
Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God. --Diana Robinson
"What do you think of God," the teacher asked. After a pause, the young pupil replied, "He's not a think, he's a feel." --Paul Frost
I must respect the opinions of others even if I disagree with them. --Herbert Henry Lehman
***********************************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
POPULARITY
"Few people are capable of
expressing with equanimity,
opinions which differ from the
prejudices of their social
environment."
-- Albert Einstein
Part of my growth in sobriety is learning to say "no". For years as a
practicing alcoholic I tried to please every body with the result that I
pleased very few and became exhausted in the process! I have
learned that sometimes I need to be unpopular in order to remain
serene; unpopular to practice my spiritual program.
To understand the gift of God's creation requires the acceptance that
we are not the same and, as people, we will have different opinions
and attitudes. Truth has many shades. To be unpopular at times is
reality; truth is always real.
I pray that I might always say and do what I believe to be right,
regardless of public opinion.
***********************************************************
"Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105
"The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galatians 6:8-10
NO REGRETS
We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.83
Once I became sober, I began to see how wasteful my
life had been and I experienced overwhelming guilt and
feelings of regret. The program's Fourth and Fifth Steps assisted me enormously in healing those troubling
regrets. I learned that my self-centeredness and
dishonesty stemmed largely from my drinking and that
I drank because I was an alcoholic. Now I see how even
my most distasteful past experiences can turn to gold
because, as a sober alcoholic, I can share them to help
my fellow alcoholics, particularly newcomers. Sober for
several years in A.A., I no longer regret the past; I
am simply grateful to be conscious of God's love and
of the help I can give to others in the Fellowship.
***********************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When we first came into A.A., a sober life seemed
strange. We wondered what life could possibly be like
without ever taking a drink. At first, a sober life
seemed unnatural. But the longer we're in A.A., the more
natural this way of life seems. And now we know that the
life we're living in A.A., the sobriety, the fellowship,
the faith in God, and the trying to help each other, is
the most natural way we could possibly live. Do I believe
it's the way God wants me to live?
Meditation For The Day
I will learn to overcome myself, because every blow to
selfishness is used to shape the real, eternal,
unperishable me. As I overcome myself, I gain that power
which God releases in my soul. And I too will be
victorious. It is not the difficulties of life that I
have to conquer, so much as my own selfishness.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may obey God and walk with Him and listen
to Him. I pray that I may strive to overcome my own
selfishness.
***********************************************************
As Bill Sees It
Behind Our Excuses, p.267
As excuse-makers and rationalizers, we drunks are champions. It
is the business of the psychiatrist to find the deeper causes for
our conduct. Though uninstructed in psychiatry, we can, after a
little time in A.A., see that our motives have not been what we thought
they were, and that we have been motivated by forces previously
unknown to us. Therefore we ought to look, with the deepest respect,
interest, and profit, upon the example set us by psychiatry.
********************************
"Spiritual growth through the practice of A.A.'s Twelve Steps,
plus the aid of a good sponsor, can usually reveal most of the
deeper reasons for our character defects, at least to a degree that
meets our practical needs. Nevertheless, we should be grateful that
our friends in psychiatry have so strongly emphasized the necessity to
search for false and often unconscious motivations."
1. A.A. Comes Of Age, p.236
2. Letter, 1966
***********************************************************
Walk In Dry Places
If God be for us___Good Orderly Directions
Sometimes we find help and power in staying sober, yet feel naked and alone when facing other problems. It is almost as if we see our Higher Power as a "sobering-up God" who has said, "I'll help you with drinking problem, but you're on your own in everything else.
The true way to practice AA's principles in all of our affairs is to view everything as spiritual, as being under God's direction and influence. God is with us in our homes, in the shop, on the highway, or wherever we go. There is no place and no action that is beyond God's scrutiny and power.
We should reflect on this truth at times when we are frustrated or when others threaten us. We should not expect God to aid us in manipulating or dominating others. God will be with us as a protecting, guiding presence in all our activities and relationships. And when we truly understand this, we will find surprising reserves of courage in situations that used to frighten u s. This is true even when we are not ceratin of the outcome of a situation.
I will know that God is with me in all of my affairs today, in all that I think, say, or do.
***********************************************************
Keep It Simple
If you play with a thing long enough, you will surely break it.---Anonymous
Some things shouldn't be played with. Our recovery program is one these things. When we play with our program, we're taking a risk. We play with the program by missing meetings. Or by not calling our sponsors. Or by skipping the Steps we think are too hard. It's okay to play. But it's not okay to play with our program, we risk our lives.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know that I must work this program with care and respect.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll make two lists. On one list, I'll write ways I work on my program. On the other list, I'll write ways I play with my program. And I'll put my energy into working the program.
***********************************************************
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
A VISION OF RECOVERY - A feeble prayer forged a lasting connection with a Higher Power for this Mic-Mac Indian.
I can certainly identify with out co-founder Bill W. when he says on page 4 of the Big Book: " . . . the old fierce determination to win came back." I would take a drink, and then I knew everything was going to be all right. I was going to clean up my act; everything was going to change--you'll see. It didn't; nothing changed. I tried so many ways of beating the game; I went to church and took a pledge; I went to a Native sweat lodge; I would do something so I would be put in jail; I vowed to stay away from hard liquor. Nothing worked. Then came the pills to stop the shakes and get off the sauce for a while.
p. 497
***********************************************************
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."
But that is not all of the danger. Every time a person imposes his instincts unreasonably upon others, unhappiness follows. If the pursuit of wealth tramples upon people who happen to be in the way, then anger, jealousy, and revenge are likely to be aroused. If sex runs riot, there is a similar uproar. Demands made upon other people for too much attention, protection, and love can only invite domination or revulsion in the protectors themselves--two emotions quite as unhealthy as the demands which evoked them. When an individual's desire for prestige becomes uncontrollable, whether in the sewing circle or at the international conference table, other people suffer and often revolt. This collision of instincts can produce anything from a cold snub to a blazing revolution. In these ways we are set in conflict not only with ourselves, but with other people who have instincts, too.
p. 44
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You cannot think your way into sober living. You live your way into sober thinking.
I embrace the beauty of life, and depend deeply upon God. --Shelley
"You Can't Change The Wind, But You Can Adjust Your Sails..." Make This Day Shine. --Carol Anne
Without Gods inner source of enlightenment and refreshment, I would soon stagnate and feel despair. --Shelley
God is my constant companion and comfort. --JReid51546
I faithfully, trustfully, have acceptance for God's will, and I therefore find serenity. --Shelley
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
RESPONSIBILITY
"The fault is in us."
-- Hannah Arendt
As a drunk I would blame everybody for my problems: My family was
too controlling. I did not have people around who understood me. I worked too hard and the people were too demanding. The weather was awful!
Today I accept my involvement with my past predicament. Bad things happened to me because I created them in my life. And this means that good and creative things can also happen in my life if I create them. I need not remain the problem. I can be the solution!
Let me discover Your answer in my response to life.
***********************************************************
"As servants of God, live as free people." 1 Peter 1:16
"Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces." Isaiah 25:8
"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
***********************************************************
Daily Inspiration
Home should be the happiest place to be. Fill it with love, laughter and good conversation. Lord, give us Your peace and teach us to share it.
Faith grows by speaking daily with God. Lord, You teach me Your promises when times are good so that I will be able to trust in You when times are hard.
One of my favorite quotes! God has been good to me, I am 2 blocks from the beach, in constant contact with newcomers, the ability to work and be a part of life, my health, and even some amazing penny stocks lately...
This is the short list.
I hope you had a good Thanksgiving, I skateboarded in a 9 ft. pool, spent time with family and went to work. I somehow did'nt feel the need to get drunk. lol
Gotta go, I work at a Rehab also, I need to be there in 10 minutes. It took a while to get the discipline of trading stocks beaten into me so I have worked alot lately, pretty cool - I drive a bus, go to the beach or gym sometimes with the clients, not a bad gig.
From drunk driving and poverty to a bus driver and the stock market- only in sobriety.. lol
A UNIVERSAL SEARCH
November 24, 2007
Be quick to see where religious people are right.
Make use of what they offer.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 87
I do not claim to have all the answers in spiritual
matters, any more than I claim to have all the
answers about alcoholism. There are others who are
also engaged in a spiritual search. If I keep an
open mind about what others have to say, I have much
to gain. My sobriety is greatly enriched, and my
practice of the Eleventh Step more fruitful, when I
use both the literature and practices of my
Judeo-Christian tradition, and the resources of other
religions. Thus, I receive support from many sources
in staying away from the first drink.
***********************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Instead of being pretended perfectionists, in A.A. we
are content if we are making progress. The main thing
is to be growing. We realize that perfectionism is
only a result of false pride and an excuse to save our
faces. In A.A. we are willing to make mistakes and to
stumble, provided we are always stumbling forward. We
are not so interested in what we are as in what we are
becoming. We are on the way, not at the goal. And we
will be on the way as long as we live. No A.A. has ever
"arrived." But we are getting better. Am I making
progress?
Meditation For The Day
Each new day brings an opportunity to do some little
thing that will help to make a better world, that will
bring God's kingdom a little nearer to being realized
on earth. Take each day's happenings as opportunities
for something you can do for God. In that spirit, a
blessing will attend all that you do. Offering this
day's service to God, you are sharing in His work. You
do not have to do great things.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that today I may do the next thing, the unselfish thing,
the loving thing. I pray that I may be content with doing
small things as long as they are right.
***********************************************************
As Bill Sees It
Forgiveness, p. 318
Through the vital Fifth Step, we began to get the feeling that we could
be forgiven, no matter what we had thought or done.
Often it was while working on this Step with our sponsors or spiritual
advisers that we first felt truly able to forgive others, no matter how
deeply we felt they had wronged us.
Our moral inventory had persuaded us that all-round forgiveness was
desirable, but it was only when we resolutely tackled Step Five that
we inwardly knew we'd be able to receive forgiveness and give it, too.
12 & 12, pp. 57-58
***********************************************************
Walk In Dry Places
Are there better paths to sobriety?
Self-honesty
Now that alcoholism recovery has been well established, alternatives to the AA program are being developed. These are designed to appeal to those who either will not or cannot accept AA.
Nobody in AA should feel threatened by these new programs. We should, in fact, be delighted if ways are found to reach those whom we are unable to help. The need is so great that we should welcome anything that helps alcoholics.
The only real test for any program is that it works. More important, it must work for us. No program is useful to us if we cannot apply it in our own lives.
If we have found sobriety in AA, we have no need to look further. If AA was able to help us in our hour of desperate need, it can help us as the days unfold into the future.
I'll be thankful today for the sobriety AA has given me. I'll also remember that my need for help in maintaining sobriety will never end.
***********************************************************
Keep It Simple
Freedom is not enough.---Lyndon B. Johnson
We are free of alcohol and other drugs. We’ve been given a second chance or third chance.
For that, we thank our Higher Power. We’ve started a new life. But to keep this life, we need to change. We need new friends. We need to let a Higher Power guide our hearts, minds, and bodies. We need new friends. We need to let a Higher Power guide our hearts, and bodies. We need to learn new values and how to stand up for them. We need to learn how to give and receive.
Freedom from dependence is not enough. We also want to be happy, and to do something with our lives. So each day we keep learning, we keep growing. Each day without alcohol or other drugs is a gift, a gift from God.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You set me free. Now teach me to stay free. Guide me, for keeping my freedom is a big task
Action for the Day: I will meditate on my freedom. I will take time to list all the ways I am now free.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
BUILDING A NEW LIFE - Hallucinating and restrained by sheriff's deputies and hospital staff, this once-happy family man received an unexpected gift from God--a firm foundation in sobriety that would hold up through good times and bad.
I did a lot of drinking on the job. Carpenters worked in shorts and had coolers of beer. There were beer cans all around the job site. I would go to the allnight store early every morning to buy a bottle of wine for my thermos, to keep me going until lunch. Then I'd buy wine at lunch for the afternoon. And on my way home I'd buy a six-pack of beer and a bottle of wine for my evening. That was the cycle of my life.
p. 481
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step One - "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had become unmanageable."
Who cares to admit complete defeat? Practically no one, of course. Every natural instinct cries out against the idea of personal powerlessness. 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.
p. 21
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You cannot do a kindness too soon, because you never know how soon it will be too late.
--Cited in The Best of BITS & PIECES
A light heart lives long.
--Irish Proverb
People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but
when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within.
--Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness.
--Marguerite Gardiner Blessington
Seven days without a meeting makes one weak.
--unknown
It takes only a moment to be kind, but the result can last a lifetime.
--unknown
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
SHAME
"If we are not ashamed to think
it, we should not be ashamed to
say it."
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero
I was afraid to tell you what I was thinking. I was afraid to speak or be noticed. I sat for
hours silent and at times I wished I could vanish into the furniture. I was afraid of my
shadow.
This reveals not only my lack of confidence but my low self-esteem. I did not think I
had anything to say, anything to offer, anything that might be considered interesting.
I would laugh at stupid things to please people.
Today I speak out. I do not hide what I am thinking. I believe I have something to
offer in the celebration of life. And it feels good. My spiritual growth is proportionate
to my willingness to let you know who I am and what I think.
I celebrate my joy in living by sharing it.
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Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love
does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong,
but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things. Love never ends...
I Corinthians 13
"Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory
to your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:16
"For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through
all generations."
Psalm 100:5
"Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us."
Ephesians 5:2
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Daily Inspiration
Much time is spent fearing that which isn't really there in the first place. Lord, help me conquer my fears and overcome my difficulties as they happen rather than giving up and letting my difficulties overcome me.
Our thoughts have a powerful effect on our bodies. Lord, may my thoughts be wholesome and loving and bear good results on me and my life.
OVERCOMING LONELINESS
Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by
loneliness. Even before our drinking got bad and people
began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the
feeling that we didn't quite belong.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 90
The agonies and the void that I often felt inside occur
less and less frequently in my life today. I have
learned to cope with solitude. It is only when I am
alone and calm that I am able to communicate with God,
for He cannot reach me when I am in turmoil. It is good
to maintain contact with God at all times, but it is
absolutely essential that, when everything seems to go
wrong, I maintain that contact through prayer and
meditation.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Everyone has two personalities, a good and a bad. We
are all dual personalities to some extent. When we were
drinking, the bad personality was in control. We did
things when we were drunk that we would never do when
we were sober. When we sober up, we are different people.
Then we wonder how we could have done the things we did.
But we drink again, and again our bad side comes out.
So we are back and forth, always in conflict with our
other selves, always in a stew. This division of our
selves is not good; we must somehow become unified. We
do this by giving ourselves wholeheartedly to A.A. and
to sobriety. Have I become unified?
Meditation For The Day
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into
the joy of Thy Lord." These words are for many ordinary
people whom the world may pass by, unrecognizing. Not
to the world-famed, the proud, the wealthy, are these
words spoken, but to the quiet followers who serve God
unobtrusively yet faithfully, who bear their crosses
bravely and put a smiling face to the world. "Enter into
the joy of Thy Lord." Pass into that fuller spiritual
life, which is a life of joy and peace.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may not desire the world's applause.
I pray that I may not seek rewards for doing what I
believe is right.
INTUITION AND INSPIRATION
November 14, 2007 |
. . . . we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don’t struggle. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 86
I invest my time in what I truly love. Step Eleven is a discipline that allows me and my Higher Power to be together, reminding me that, with God’s help, intuition and inspiration are possible. Practice of the Step brings on self-love. In a consistent attempt to improve my conscious contact with a Higher Power, I am subtly reminded of my unhealthy past, with its patterns of grandiose thinking and false feeling of omnipotence. When I ask for the power to carry out God’s will for me, I am made aware of my powerlessness. Humility and a healthy self-love are compatible, a direct result of working Step Eleven.
MORNING THOUGHTS
Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the
man who is still sick.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 164
For many years I pondered over God's will for me, believing that perhaps a great destiny had been ordained for my life. After all, having been born into a specific faith, hadn't I been told early that I was "chosen"? It finally occurred to me, as I considered the above passage, that God's will for me was simply that I practice Step Twelve on a daily basis. Furthermore, I realized I should do this to the best of my ability. I soon learned that the practice aids me in keeping my life in the context of the day at hand.
Come by the Pincher Plays board and have a look. Lots of good pix posted there, not just posted by me, but others that stop by. The link is in my signature below.
It's all good, I marked you also. If you know of any penny stock picks then please let me know. Still sober and still enjoying life, waiting for the next good swell and the next big runner!
It really good to see your post. Thanks. And yes we do..never surfed California, but always wanted to. I am going to mark you, hope that is alright.
We have a lot in common, both friends of Bill W., surfing, stocks, food industry. Surfed Cotton's Point last week on a clean overhead South swell...surfed it sober of course. Good job on the new board, I was reluctant to post, some areas of my life I try to keep my anonymity.
I've been sober 17 years, a new life awaits anyone who wants it and is willing to go to any length to get it.
A SENSE OF BELONGING
Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105
That's what it is -- belonging! After a session of meditation I knew that the feeling I was experiencing was a sense of belonging because I was so relaxed. I felt quieter inside, more willing to discard little irritations. I appreciated my sense of humor. What I also experience in my daily practice is the sheer pleasure of belonging to the creative flow of God's world. How propitious for us that prayer and meditation are written right into our A.A. way of life
STEPPING INTO THE SUNLIGHT
But first of all we shall want sunlight; nothing much
can grow in the dark. Meditation is our step out into
the sun.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 10
Sometimes I think I don't have time for prayer and
meditation, forgetting that I always found the time
to drink. It is possible to make time for anything
I want to do if I want it badly enough. When I start
the routine of prayer and meditation, it's a good idea
to plan to devote a small amount of time to it. I read
a page from our Fellowship's books in the morning, and
say "Thank You, God." when I go to bed at night. As
prayer becomes a habit, I will increase the time spent
on it, without even noticing the foray it makes into
my busy day. If I have trouble praying, I just repeat
the Lord's Prayer because it really covers everything.
Then I think of what I can be grateful for and say a
word of thanks. I don't need to shut myself in a closet
to pray. It can be done even in a room full of people.
I just remove myself mentally for an instant. As the
practice of prayer continues, I will find I don't need
words, for God can, and does, hear my thoughts through
silence.
AN INDIVIDUAL ADVENTURE
Meditation is something which can always be further developed. It has no boundaries,
either of width or height. Aided by such instruction and example as we can find, it is
essentially an individual adventure, something which each one of us works out in his own way.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 101
My spiritual growth is with God as I understand Him. With Him I find my true inner self.
Daily meditation and prayer strengthen and renew my source of
well-being. I receive then the openness to accept all that He has to offer. With God I have the reassurance that my
journey will be as He wants for me, and for that I am grateful to have God in my life.
My name is Ken and I am an alcoholic. I used drugs and alcohol throughout my life and am now 36, clean and sober. I have created this board in order to attract the message to those that are still suffering on iHub. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the program, and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. The rules for this board are simple. This is solely a board that is used to help those that are still suffering, and want to get sober, as well as those that are in recovery and want to stay sober. Anything off topic will be subject to deletion. Thanks and have a great day.
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