Daily Reflection for 3/15/07

Hard On Ourselves, Considerate Of Others, p.240

We cannot disclose anything to our wives or our parents which will hurt them and make them unhappy. We have no right to save our own skins at their expense.

Such damaging parts of our story we tell to someone else who will understand, yet be unaffected. The rule is, we must be hard on ourselves, but always considerate of others.

Good judgment will suggest that we ought to take our time in making amends to our families. It may be unwise at first to rehash certain harrowing episodes. While we may be quite willing to reveal the very worst, we must be sure to remember that we cannot buy our own peace of mind at the expense of others.

1. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 74
2. 12 & 12, p. 84

Daily Reflection for 7/26/06 - "Hangovers"...

Hangovers

When a drunk has a terrific hangover because he drank heavily yesterday, he cannot live well today.

But there is another kind of hangover which we all experience whether we are drinking or not. That is the emotional hangover, the direct result of yesterday's and sometimes today's excesses of negative emotion -- anger, fear, jealousy, and the like.

If we would live serenely today and tomorrow, we certainly need to eliminate these hangovers.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 88


Thought to Ponder . . .

Serenity is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it.


AA-related 'Alconym' . . .

N U T S = Not Using The Steps.

Daily Reflection for 7/5/06... "A NEW DIRECTION"

Our human resources, as marshalled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly. . . Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all our activities.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.45,85

I hear talk of the "weak-willed" alcoholic, but I am one of the strongest-willed people on earth! I now know that my incredible strength of will is not enough to save my life. My problem is not one of "weakness," but rather of direction. When I, without falsely diminishing myself, accept my honest limitations and turn to God's guidance, my worst faults become my greatest assets. My strong will, rightly directed, keeps me working until the promises of the program become my daily reality.

**********

I love the promises, although when I was just getting out of drug rehab I had no idea how they could ever come true. I was reminded of exactly how this morning, when I ran into a good friend's fiancee outside the coffee shop. It turns out that my friend has kept to himself the fact that he's had a 7-year old daughter living in another country (the Netherlands). Perhaps this was a reason that he'd relapsed so many times, over & over again. The mother of the girl & the daughter have actually come to visit both of these friends of mine, and while they were really shaken up & nervous at first, they now see it as an opportunity to address a situation that had previously gone ignored & neglected. What a great chance he has! Incredibly, my friend has taken it really well, and they're working through the issues that have caused so much pain for so many years. A new direction indeed!

If you want to learn more about where I went to Drug Rehab, just follow the link. If you've come to visit because of a painkiller addiction and want a new sort of treatment for drug detox, follow that link instead.

Daily Reflection for 6/30/06 "SACRIFICE = UNITY = SURVIVAL "

The unity, the effectiveness, and even the survival of A. A. will always depend upon our continued willingness to give up some of our personal ambitions and desires for the common safety and welfare. Just as sacrifice means survival for the individual alcoholic, so does sacrifice means unity and survival for the group and for A. A.'s entire Fellowship.

AS BILL SEES IT, p. 220

I have learned that I must sacrifice some of my personality traits for the good of A. A. and, as a result, I have been rewarded with many gifts. False pride can be inflated through prestige but, by living Tradition Six, I receive the gift of humility instead. Cooperation without affiliation is often deceiving. If I remain unrelated to outside interest, I am free to keep A. A. autonomous. Then the Fellowship will be here, healthy and strong for generations to come.

Daily Reflection for 6/25/06

A TWO-WAY STREET
If we ask, God will certainly forgive our derelictions. But in no case does He render us white as snow and keep us that way without our cooperation.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 65

When I prayed, I used to omit a lot of things for which I needed to be forgiven. I thought that if I didn't mention those things to God, He would never know about them. I did not know that if I had just forgiven myself for some of my past deeds, God would forgive me also. I was always taught to prepare for the journey through life, never realizing until I came to A.A. when I honestly became willing to be taught forgiveness and forgiving that life itself is the journey. The journey of life is a very happy one, as long as I am willing to accept change and responsibility.

Daily Reflection for 6/1/06 "Serenity"

I came back to my little apartment in Saigon,
ready to return to my medical work.
I was so beaten because I'd been driving and searching
and clenching my fists for almost three years. . .
I came into my apartment and suddenly collapsed on the floor.
I was breathing kind of heavily and said to myself,
"Oh, to hell with serenity, I don't care if it ever comes."
And I meant it.
And do you know what happened?
All of a sudden the craving to find serenity
utterly evaporated -- and in its place was serenity.
The trouble was the search . . . looking out there
for what was right here.
October 1995 interview with Dr. Earle M., author of "Physician, Heal Thyself"

The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 3], p. 142

Daily Reflection for 4/28/06: "No Cop-outs!"

We have to stay sober no matter how life treats us, no matter whether nonalcoholics appreciate our sobriety or not.

We have to keep our sobriety independent of anything else, not entangled with any people, and not hedged in by any possible cop-outs or conditions.

Over and over, we have found we cannot stay sober long just for the sake of wife, husband, children, lover,parents, other relative, or friend, nor for the sake of a job, nor to please a boss (or doctor or judge or creditor) -- not for anyone other than ourselves.

Living Sober, p. 64

Thought to Ponder . . .

Having a slip is not an option.
Staying sober is the solution.