~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Be A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 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.
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Work The Steps*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Twenty-Four Hours A Day by Hazelden / December 3rd
A.A. Thought for the Day
There is some alcoholic thought, conscious or unconscious, that comes before every slip. As long as we live, we must be on the lookout for such thoughts and guard against them. In fact, our A.A. training is mostly to prepare us, to make us ready to recognize such thoughts at once and to reject them at once. The slip comes when we allow such thoughts to remain in our minds, even before we actually go through the motions of lifting the glass to our lips. The A.A. program is largely one of mental training. How well is my mind prepared?
Meditation for the Day
Fret not your mind with puzzles that you cannot solve. The solutions may never be shown to you until you have left this life. The loss of dear ones, the inequality of life, the deformed and the maimed, and many other puzzling things may not be known to you until you reach the life beyond. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." Only step by step, stage by stage, can you proceed in your journey into greater knowledge and understanding.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be content that things that I now see darkly will some day be made clear. I pray that I may have faith that someday I will see face to face.
I'm probably going to get ripped to pieces for this, but I don't believe in any god and only have a very slim belief in a higher power. we all got ourselves into this problem, why should we try to off load it on to a higher power or a god to sort it out. Surely we should accept responsibility for own actions and deal with it.
Thats it as my rant for today, all comments welcome, positve or negative.
Well it's another sober one for me in England. I've a party going on here, but it's 05:07 and only a few die hards are left. Two of us sober, me and my partner Julie. The first big test since my sobriety date of 77 days ago.
I'm now able to have a good time without a drink, would not have believed it back then. It's been a good night.
Hope you all have a good day tomorrow / today. No hangovers for us! ha ha (smug grin). Best wishes to you all, and Phil, how's it going? keep your chin up and think happy thoughts, it's the best way!
Bye for now.
Chris.
-- Edited by Cabbageheadchris at 07:20, 2004-12-05
__________________
"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." -- Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989"
Any chance you are overlooking a miracle there Chris?
77 days sober and you just made it through a party at your own house? Well Done!
There would have been very little chance of me doing that at 77 days... it took a while for me to take stock of things and get fearless. Good on you!
I might share on step two.. here's my take on it.
Recognising something greater than ourselves, is not just about asking for help, and definately not about looking to blame... I think it's our introduction to humility. As a drunk I was an all powerful, super charged idiot who sauntered about being smug and pretending I knew the answers to universal questions and denying everything I ballsed up... when I stopped drinking I had to admit that wasn't very real and if I wanted to stay sober, I had to start dealing with life on lifes terms - admitting my weaknesses, learning from my mistakes and offering my abilities as potentially useful, rather than the solution.
There was only one thing that would undo me and send me back to the bottle - my conscience. My conscience is greater than me... it can turn me inside out and transform me in seconds if I go against what is real and what is right inside. It was my conscience that I was trying to avoid, drown out, fight and escape when I drank. So I started with that. It's a lot easier to stay sober when you keep a clear conscience, and you aren't travelling through the world hurting yourself and others.
After a while I started looking for miracles. That's how I came to believe. My sponsor suggested I start counting the miracles (some call them blessings - same thing) and it was pretty hard to debate that there hadn't been something watching over me... some call it luck - but it feels a lot safer than just luck. Luck doesn't have quite the same odds. My life has been full of miracles. How I never killed myself or someone else in the drinking days is a miracle. How I never ended up in prison is a miracle. How my kids managed to end up such nice people is a miracle. How my partner came to wander in to my life was a miracle.... it goes on and on. Miracle after miracle. When I think about this stuff, I had no choice but to come to believe in something greater than me.
Giving that power a name is entirely optional. We aren't at AA for a religion. That's not why we dragged ourselves through the door. It doesn't matter what you call it. I have known members who have turned to the Ocean, the Universe, Mother Nature, The Statue of Liberty, The Internet, Electricity... whatever...anything they recognised as bigger than them, and believed could help restore them sanity. It's all okay if it works and they can put their faith in it. It's about being restored to sanity... seeing things as they really are....getting humble and getting back to our real size.
We are just people, doing the best we can with what we've got. We aren't saints or superhumans, we are just people who make mistakes, but have the courage to learn from them.
...Kinda sets you free, doesn't it...
You are responsible. I am responsible - but if there is one thing that AA teaches us, it is that we are never EVER really alone. We have lots of people to thank for having a hand in our miracles. We didn't make them happen on our own.
Chris, the alcohol was my higher power before I came into AA. Before the alcohol, I was my own higher power and you can guess where that got me! I'll take God anyday! In the beginning, I focused on the power of the Universe.
I only know that my cup runneth over with God in my life.... many good changes, the ability to deal with life on life's terms (without the need for a drink), many things to be grateful for, many miracles.
I wish the same for you. Love having you here, Chris. Keep on with your sobriety, no matter what!
Nic, I think I understand what you are saying about miracles feeling a lot safer than luck. I've been in some bad situations up big mountains where things could have gone wrong in a very serious way. Always (so far) I've been sure that it would turn out ok, and it has done. So yes, I may well be overlooking a miracle. I think it's just going to take me a while to accept stuff like that.
Alice. I definatly know what yoy are saying about alcohol being the higher power, and I would not want to go down that road again. I may not have a belief in God, but God is a better option than than going back!
Hope both of you (and everyone else here) are having a good and sober day.
Best wishes.
Chris.
__________________
"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." -- Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989"
