I always ask myself if my gratitude for AA has increased since I got sober on the 19 th August 1988. This was the only thing my sponsor was concerned about in my recovery. My gratitude has been expressed through service in AA, the most important of which has been attendance at meetings. Many of the people who helped me during my sickest times were old timers that just pitched up at every meeting I had gone to. They were just there. They just smiled and asked me how I was. Meetings buy me a little more insurance against a possible slip. Our family life has been centred around AA and the 12 steps of recovery, and God has been good to us. So to all of you thank you for your gratitude in my life. You are the diamonds in the path of my recovery. I pray that you remain blessed.
Thank you for those wishes. I had the same experience when I got sober, I came to AA in a small desert town where there were a lot of retired, and subsequencely, a lot of old timers, who did the same thing for me. Sadly though, I did not have much gratitude early on. I hated having to be in AA, and in a self centerd arogant fit i said to an old timer, " How long do I have to #@*#@ be here " And he just smiled and and said " untill you dont have to any more " and then walked away. I hated that guy.. He would say things to me like " hows it going? " and I would start belly aching, and he would laugh and say, " good to hear it, keep doin what your doin, you'll keep getin what your gettin. I had no gratitude @ that time. But when the Spiritual Experience from the steps started taking hold, my perseption of everything changed, I stared doin different things, and I liked what I was gettin. I saw that old man a few years after I left town and he asked me " Hows it goin?" I told him very well, told him my life was good ect....He smiled at me and said " good to hear it, keep doin what your doin, you'll keep getin what your gettin." I look back on many growing experiences like that and my heart just wells up with gratitude for men and woman like him and this beautifull gift of AA. No matter how long I live and how much I do, I will never be able to pay back what i've gotton here in AA.
-- Edited by billyjack on Monday 3rd of January 2011 12:32:34 AM
__________________
Since it cost a lot to win, and even more to loose, you and me gotta spend some time just wondering what to choose.
Thank you Gonee! Yes sometimes I am so overwhelmed by the gratitude I feel for God allowing me a choice for another shot at life when I surrendered in '84.Staying God centered and working and putting into action "spirtual principles" in all areas of our lives are just daily constant reminders of how blessed we are..With love and support from all those we share our recovery with and they with us, powered by the God of our understanding we can continue to move forward seeking to be all we were intended to be! Thanks for being in my life and continued blessings to you and your loved ones.We alone can do this, but we can't do it alone!!!
__________________
Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.
When I came to AA I had zero grattitude. It was all poor me. Then slowly but surely through the Grace of my HP whom I choose to call God, by a lot of love given me freely by AA people who loved me until I could love myself, by the aid of a good sponsor and by actually working the steps not just reading them and not just thinking about them my grattitude has gone from zero to awesome!!
Larry, ------------------------
"Gratitude unlocks the fulness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more.It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
"Gratitude unlocks the fulness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more.It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
(- Melody Beattie)
What a beautiful quote. It embodies the entire essence of life in AA. It's a grateful heart that recovers quicker than anything else. Thanks Larry, I am going to adopt this one.
