A New World

 

^*^*^
"We have entered the world of the Spirit. 
Our next function is to grow in understanding
and effectiveness. 
This is not an overnight matter. 
It should continue for our lifetime. 
Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty,
resentment, and fear. 
When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. 
We discuss them with someone immediately
and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone. 
Then we resolutely turn our thoughts
to someone we can help."
1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 84
^*^*^*^*^*

Thought to Consider . . .

Within our wonderful new world,
we have found freedom from our fatal obsession.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*

F I T  =  Faith, Intuition, and Trust

Step 3

 "So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn't think so...."

That sentence says it all!. That was ME!!  I thought it was everyone else for the way I was. From the first incident that happened to me as a kid and from there out I thought everyone and everything was the reason my life was so out of control. , So many people told me so, even my boyfriend (who is my husband now). Man that made me even more angry and full of self, but but but but but HA!
After I resigned that I was an alcoholic... I thought hey now life will change... people will change towards me,  they didn't change!! dang-it!!  I wasn't drinking any more and  I was going to a lot AA meetings and they still felt ill towards me.  I so didn't get it so I relapsed.

Hello, I am your disease and I am your Friend

Hello, I am your disease

I Hate meetings...I Hate higher powers...I Hate anyone who has a program. To all who come in contact with me, I wish you death and I wish you suffering. Allow me to introduce myself, I am the disease of addiction. I Am cunning, baffling, and powerful. That's Me. I have killed millions and I am pleased.

I love to catch you with the element of surprise. I love pretending I am your friend and lover. I have given you comfort, haven't I? Wasn't I there when you were lonely? When you wanted to die, didn't you call on me? I was there, I love to make you hurt. I love to make you cry. Better yet, I Love to make you so numb you can neither hurt nor cry. When you can't feel anything at all. This is true gratification. And all that I ask from you is long term suffering. I've been there for you always.

Seeking Emotional Stability

When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would. If we really depended upon God, we couldn’t very well play God to our fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care.  12 & 12, p.116

All my life I depended on people for my emotional needs and security, but today I cannot live that way anymore. By the grace of God, I have admitted my powerlessness over people, places and things. I had been a real “people addict”; wherever I went there had to be someone who would pay some kind of attention to me. It was the kind of attitude that could only get worse, because the more I depended on others and demanded attention, the less I received. I have given up believing that any human power can relieve me of that empty feeling. Although I remain a fragile human being who needs to work A.A.’s Steps to keep this particular principle before my personality, it is only a loving God who can give me inner peace and emotional stability.

Everyday Living

Everyday Living

The A.A. emphasis on personal inventory is heavy because a great many of us have never really acquired the habit of accurate self-appraisal.

Once this healthy practice has become a habit, it will prove so interesting and profitable that the time it takes won't be missed. For these minutes and often hours spent in self-examination are bound to make all the other hours of our day better and happier. At length, our inventories become a necessity of everyday living, rather than something unusual or set apart.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, pp. 89-90

Each of my days are miracles

Each of my days are miracles. I won't waste my day; I won't throw away a miracle.
-- Kelley Vickstrom

It's so easy to forget to be grateful for our many blessings. We may take our freedom from the compulsion to drink or use for granted. Having learned to monitor our behavior and change it when necessary, we seldom treasure this skill as an asset.

The rut of complacency claims all of us at one time or another. And our complacency can lead us to the stinking thinking that's only a step away from drinking or using or some other compulsive behavior. Having sponsors point out our complacency may irritate us, but it may also save our lives.

Practicing gratitude will keep us aware of the small and large miracles that we have experienced on this recovery journey: We remember where we were last night (thanks to the clear vision of abstinence). We have reconciled with family members.

In fact, we are walking miracles, and God has a plan for the rest of our lives. Let's be ready for it.

I will try to be attentive to every moment of today, knowing that each experience is part of the miracle of my life.

~Sobriety Poem~

I came to a meeting, all sad and alone,
So sick and tired, of the life I had known.
Aching and dying, deep down inside,
And feeling the pain, from the things I must hide.

They told me they loved me, and were glad I was there,
Who are these people, and why should they care?
But the more that I listened, the more I could see,
This room full of alcoholics, were all just like me.

I started to share, trying hard not to cry,
And I no longer felt, like I wanted to die.
I wanted to live, but hadn't a clue,
Of what to say, feel, or do.

Changing

Changing

The old saying is true: You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. It's the same with addiction and recovery. People can take away our drugs and put us in treatment, but no one can make us clean and sober.
When it hurts enough, when we're scared enough, when we're sick and tired enough, when we've lost enough, then we'll begin to change. But we have to want to change. It's the key.


What am I willing to do to recover?

Higher Power, help me to want what I need; to want what is best for me.

Growth

^*^*^*^*^
(\    ~~  /)
(   \ (AA)/   )
(_   /AA\ _)
  /AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Growth ^*^*^ "Regardless of worldly success or failure,
regardless of pain or joy,
regardless of sickness or health or even of death itself,
a new life of endless possibilities can be lived
if we are willing to continue our awakening,
through the practice of AA's Twelve Steps." Bill W., AAGrapevine, December 1957
1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 8












Thought to Consider
 
. . . AA is not something you join, it's a way of life.



*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
 
G I F T S  =  Getting It From The Steps.

The Next Step - Emotional Sobriety .... February 8 -- 10, 2002

Complete the Housecleaning, p. 213

 As Bill Sees It

Complete the Housecleaning, p. 213

Time after time, newcomers have tried to keep to themselves
shoddy facts about their lives. Trying to avoid the humbling
experience of the Fifth Step, they have turned to easier methods.
Almost invariably they got drunk. Having persevered with the rest
of the program, they wondered why they fell.

We think the reason is that they never completed their housecleaning.
They took inventory all right, but hung on to some of the worst
items in stock. They only thought they had lost their egoism and
fear; they only thought they had humbled themselves. But they had
not learned enough of humility, fearlessness, and honesty, in the
sense we find it necessary, until they told someone else their
entire life story.

Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 72-73