[bluidkiti]

November 23

Daily Reflections

HOLD YOUR FACE TO THE LIGHT

Believe more deeply. Hold your face up to the
Light, even though for the moment you do not see.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 3

One Sunday in October, during my morning meditation,
I glanced out the window at the ash tree in our
front yard. At once I was overwhelmed by its
magnificent, golden color! As I stared in awe at
God's work of art, the leaves began to fall and,
within minutes, the branches were bare. Sadness
came over me as I thought of the winter months
ahead, but just as I was reflecting on autumn's
annual process, God's message came through. Like
the trees, stripped of their leaves in the fall,
sprout new blossoms in the spring, I had had my
compulsive, selfish ways removed by God in order
for me to blossom into a sober, joyful member of
A.A. Thank you, God, for the changing seasons and
for my ever-changing life.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I no longer refuse to do anything because I cannot
do it to perfection. Many of us alcoholics use the
excuse of not being able to do something perfectly
to enable us to do nothing at all. We pretend to be
perfectionists. We are good at telling people how a
thing should be done, but when we come to the effort
of doing it ourselves, we balk. We say to ourselves:
I might make a mistake, so I'd better let the whole
thing slide. In A.A. we set our goals high, but that
does not prevent us from trying. The mere fact that
we will never fully reach these goals does not
prevent us from doing the best we can. Have I stopped
hiding behind the smoke-screen of perfectionism?

Meditation For The Day

"In the world ye shall have tribulation. But be of
good cheer. I have overcome the world." Keep an
undaunted spirit. Keep your spirit free and unconquered.
You can be undefeated and untouched by failure and all
its power, by letting your spirit overcome the world;
rise above the earth's turmoil into the secret chamber
of perfect peace and confidence. When a challenge comes
to you, remember that you have God's help and nothing
can wholly defeat you.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may have confidence and be of good cheer.
I pray that I may not fear the power of failure.

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As Bill Sees It

Humility Brings Hope, p. 325

Now that we no longer patronize bars and bordellos, now that we bring
home the pay checks, now that we are so very active in A.A., and now
that people congratulate us on these signs of progress--well, we
naturally proceed to congratulate ourselves. Of course, we are not
yet within hailing distance of humility.

<< << << >> >> >>

We ought to be willing to try humility in seeking the removal of our
other shortcomings, just as we did when we admitted that we were
powerless over alcohol, and came to believe that a Power greater than
ourselves could restore us to sanity.

If humility could enable us to find the grace by which the deadly
alcohol obsession could be banished, then there must be hope of the
same result respecting any other problem we can possibly have.

1. Grapevine, June 1961
2. 12 & 12, p. 76

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Walk In Dry Places

The only reason to drink
Staying sober
"There's only one real reason I can ever have for taking a drink, and that's because I want to."
This remark at a meeting sums up AA's position on why we drink. We never really drink because of pressures and troubles. We drink because we want to, because we feel like taking a drink.
It's true that a serious crisis, like going into bankruptcy, may make us conscious of an urger to drink. But we know that we're also likely to have such urges in the face of good fortune. The alcoholic who would drink over a bankruptcy would also probably get drunk if he or she won the lottery.
By refusing to accept all of these alleged "reasons" for drinking, AA simplified our problem so we can deal with it. We either want to drink or we don't want to drink, period. Even if we want to drink... and some members do.. AA can show us how to stay sober and eventually lose such desires.
Nothing has the power to make me drink today. It is only my own willingness that can destroy my sobriety.

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Keep It Simple

Let me listen to me and not to them. ---Gertrude Stein
Often we try to please everyone around us. But this may not make us happy, and so we get angry.
We feel taken advantage of.
We may be kind to others, but first we must love ourselves. How? By learning to listen to ourselves. To our dreams. To our higher power. By doing this we’ll be more happy. And those around us will probably be more happy too.
As our AA medallions say, “To Thine Own Self Be True.”
Prayer for the Day: I pray that I’ll listen to that gentle, loving voice inside me. Higher Power, help me make me make my “conscious contact” with You better.
Action for the Day: I will write down why I need to be true to myself.

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Each Day a New Beginning

When you send out real love, real love will return to you. --Florence Scovel Shinn
Real love is selfless love. It expects nothing in return. It is not conditional. It doesn't keep score. It is too seldom given. Many of us came into the program hurting, feeling unloved, looking desperately for love, unable to love selflessly. But we are learning.
We are climbing the same mountain, all of us. Our particular paths will cross the paths of many others before reaching the top, where we will find full enlightenment. And any path we cross has a special contribution to make to our own progress. We can be grateful for all intersecting paths, no matter how adverse they seem at the time. We can offer all our fellow-travelers real love, and our own trip will benefit manyfold.
We need not be ashamed of our desire for love. Nor need we feel shame that we've bargained for it. But we do need to understand that the kind of love we seek can only be gained when we quit searching for it and simply offer it to all the people in our midst.
I will look into the hearts of all the people I encounter today and offer them love. I'll receive that which I give.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

BILL'S STORY

Next morning I telephoned a friend in Montreal. He had plenty of money left and thought I had better go to Canada. By the following spring we were living in our accustomed style. I felt like Napoleon returning from Elba. No St. Helena for me! But drinking caught up with me again and my generous friend had to let me go. This time we stayed broke.

p. 4

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

Our Southern Friend

Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"

I am a traveling salesman. The day is over and business has been not so good. I'll go to bed. I wish I were home with the family and not in this dingy hotel.

p. 211

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

Where the possession of money and material things was concerned, our outlook underwent the same revolutionary change. With a few exceptions, all of us had been spendthrifts. We threw money about in every direction with the purpose of pleasing ourselves and impressing other people. In our drinking time, we acted as if the money supply was inexhaustible, though between binges we'd sometimes go to the other extreme and become almost miserly. Without realizing it we were just accumulating funds for the next spree. Money was the symbol of pleasure and self-importance. When our drinking had become much worse, money was only an urgent requirement which could supply us with the next drink and the temporary comfort of oblivion it brought.

p. 120

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Silence is also a form of speech.
--West Africa Proverb

Each day comes bearing its own gifts.
Untie the ribbons.
--Ruth Ann Schabacker

Gratitude is our most direct line to God and the angels. If we take the time, no matter
how crazy and troubled we feel, we can find something to be thankful for. The more we
seek gratitude, the more reason the angels will give us for gratitude and joy to exist in
our lives.
--Terry Lynn Taylor

"Our personal dispositions are as windowpanes through which we see the world either as
rosy or dull. The way we color the glasses we wear is the way the world seems to us."
--Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you,
knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better
than your current situation."
--Brian Tracy

You will get nothing out of life unless you make the decision to go after it. Persistence is
the key to winning.
--unknown

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

MEMORIES

"History is the seed bed of the
future."
-- Leo Booth

I talk about my drinking history, remembering the incidents and losses, because I
believe "there is no gain without pain." To enjoy my sobriety I must share, on a
daily basis, the reality of my disease. My pain is rooted in my history. I must live with
my disease on a daily basis. I need to be aware of the disease process in my life.

This awareness requires a "rigorously honest" inventory of my past attitudes and
behaviors; ignorance is bliss for the disease of addiction! The acceptance and
awareness of my past is my treatment for today. The more I understand about my
yesterdays the better my recovery will be today. My life has a history and my spiritual
program demands that I understand it.

Teach me to face my past so that I can realistically live in my today.

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"The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him."
Lamentations 3:25

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Colossians 3:17

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray
for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot
be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is
saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will.
Romans 8:26 -27

Fools think they need no advice, but the wise listen to others. A fool is quick-tempered,
but a wise person stays calm when insulted. An honest witness tells the truth; a false
witness tells lies. Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring
healing. Truth stands the test of time; lies are soon exposed. Deceit fills hearts that are
plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace!
Proverbs 12:15-20

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Daily Inspiration

One of life's greatest pleasures is meeting and conquering our most difficult moments. Lord, teach me to trust myself and trust that You will never abandon me or my needs.

See opportunity in your difficulties, not difficulty in your opportunities. Lord, I will focus on the goodness today brings to me and look for the many reasons I have to feel joy.