Made A Decision
(7)
Some odds and ends today:
About Prayer:
“Most people don’t pray, they only beg.”
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About Meditation:
“There is no such thing as a bad meditation.
There are just different experiences
at different times.”
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We Are Worthy - (letter to a sponsee in early recovery):
“God don't make no junk” and God made YOU.
So to think you are not good enough, or unworthy in any way, is putting yourself ahead of God's own opinion of you.
Look in the mirror and say, out loud, "I love you."
Do it every day until you like what you see.
Do it every day until you believe it.
And until you do love you, remember
God loves you.
We in AA love you.
I love you.
Self-love comes over time when we stay on track in our recovery.
I know you listen to AA taped talks - do more of them and less of the negative stuff found on line.
Stay safe and well.
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Let us resist the proud assumption that since God has enabled
us to do well in one area we are destined to be a channel
of saving grace for everybody.
A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 232
For Those who Still Want to Drink
I’ve seen a lot of people come into AA and then leave and return to drinking.
Some of them have died drunk.
Some of them have suffered permanent brain damage from that binge.
And some make it back “into the rooms” and continue their sober journey.
Of those older, battered, and now wiser who do return, I have never once heard any of them say:
“IT WAS GREAT!”
“I LOVED DRINKiNG AGAIN.”
“MY FAMILY WAS SO PROUD OF ME FOR PICKING UP A DRINK.”
Nope, not a single one of them I’ve known personally has ever said
that - or anything like that.
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I posted the following on my Facebook Page one day:
“Some good questions to ask ourselves:
"What is trying to emerge in my life?
What is my gift to share?
What is my purpose?
Why am I here on the planet? "
And I got back this response from a fellow AA member new in recovery:
“Been fucking asking this all my life. Screaming out to god who am I and what
do you want from me?”
My response, based entirely on knowing how WE have a disease
of perception:
“Be calm. Your answers COULD be:
What is trying to emerge in my life?
Good Balanced Recovery
My gift to share? ...
Good Balanced Recovery.
Purpose? ...
To learn to love myself, and teach others how to love themselves,
and our planet.
Why am I here? ...
To love the planet, and all those on it, back to health by applying numbers 1,2, and 3, above.
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If you think you have a problem with alcohol,
you probably do.
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When we are asked to chair on a topic it's always best to
come up with our own ideas when we can,
but here are a few suggestions for when our brains
draw a blank.
1. Any of the 12 steps.
2. Gratitude
3. Service and how it keeps us sober.
4. Sponsorship
5. Any one of the slogans ... one day at a time;
first things first; keep it simple; let go and let God; etc.
6. Helping others in recovery. Reaching out to those in need.
7. What to do when we feel "stuck" in our recovery.
8. Greeting newcomers and making them feel
welcome and needed. (Especially important in
these times of zoom!)
9. AA Literature. Why we need to read it.
10. Our favorites among the AA selection of books
and brochures.
11. The many benefits of forming AA friendships.
12. Relapse. Alcohol is cunning, baffling, powerful
- and patient!
13. Dealing with grief and staying sober.
14. The healing power of laughter - especially
learning to laugh at ourselves.
15. Morbid reflection, how it leads to depression
and how to avoid it. (Gratitude! Trust God. Help others.)
... and so on.
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How do I know if my spiritual experience is real?
“... it is certain that all recipients of spiritual experiences
declare for their reality. The best evidence of that reality
is in the subsequent fruits. Those who receive these gifts
of grace are very much changed people, almost invariably
for the better. This can scarcely be said of those
who hallucinate."
From an AA talk by Dr. Bob in 1960
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"We alcoholics are sensitive people. It takes some of us
a long time to outgrow that serious handicap."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition
The Family Afterward, pg. 125
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To help each other, is to help ourselves.
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And one final thought for today:
It's easier to stay out of trouble
than to
get out of trouble.
For me, so much of my getting sober and staying sober can be summed up by my favorite slogan - I am only as sick as my secrets. I was imprisoned by what I thought was the most defective brain, dysfunctional past and a parade of terrible lies and deceptions, only to find I was in good and loving company in AA. I was finally freed! And I can make living amends to others and certainly to myself by staying honest. Yep...to thine own self be true.
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