A Prayer & Some Thoughts - January

[bluidkiti]

January 16

Prayer for Releasing the Past

Lord, my past is trying to consume my present. I am constantly reminded of it. It replays in my mind daily, like a broken record.

All the hurt, all the pain and all the suffering: I release it! Every grudge, the uneasy thoughts and all the negativity, I rebuke it!

All the fear, all the doubt and lack of faith, I curse it out! Every chain that binds me to my past shall be broken and I am set free.
Amen!

~ Cheryce Rampersad

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Just a Thought

The way of A.A. is the way of service.

Without that, it would not work. We have been "on the wagon" and hated it. We have taken the pledge and waited for the time to be up with impatience. We have tried in all manner of ways to help ourselves. But not until we begin to help other people do we get full relief. It is an axiom that the A.A. program has to be given away in order to be kept. A river flows into the Dead Sea and stops. A river flows into a clear pool and flows out again. We get and then we give. If we do not give, we do not keep.

So ............

Have I given up all ideas of holding A.A. for myself alone?

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Just a Contemplation

Interaction with Others

Sharing coffee with a friend or playing a game of golf with him provides a little relaxation, a little fun, and a chance to catch up on each other's lives. Such things are the meetings of life. These are relationships with other lives based on sharing time with one another.

Meetings - this sharing of time - can be with the full range of our existence. A tree, a lake, a mountain, the stars meet with us in solitude and enlarge our lives. Meeting is more than driving by. We meet a neighbor, a person walking down the sidewalk, a driver in the next car. Each meeting inspires different responses in us. With some, we may be open and receiving; with others, fearful; and yet with others, we want to exploit and use. If all life is meeting, perhaps I do not wish to meet in the way I have been. The way I meet others changes me. Maybe I am missing something. I can have more life by making more contact.

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Desire

Each day that I try to have a desire to be sober and to remember to keep an open heart, love and help flow into me. These bounties are unlimited in A.A. if we are fortunate enough to have the desire.

Came to Believe page 51

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Just a Quote

“The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.” ~ Edward John Phelps

[bluidkiti]

January 17

Let Go of Pride Prayer

Dear Lord,
I want to believe I am not a prideful person…but the truth is I still wrestle with pride. Please help me to let go of pride. I pray for a humble heart. I pray I would not see myself as better than anyone. I pray I would not hinder others from helping just so I can receive praise for doing it all myself. I pray I would not let pride motivate me to argue with others. Instead I pray humility would lead me. I pray love would be my motivation not pride.
Amen

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Just a Thought

Service to others makes the world a good place.

Civilization would cease if all of us were always and only for ourselves. We alcoholics have a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the well-being of the world. We have a common problem. We find a common answer. We are uniquely equipped to help others with the same problem. What a wonderful world it would be if everybody took his own greatest problem and found the answer to it and spent the rest of his life helping others with the same problem in his spare time. Soon we would have the right kind of a world.

So ............

Do I appreciate my unique opportunity to be of service?

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Just a Contemplation

Feelings

It's okay to have and feel our feelings - all of them. Many of us needed to shut down the emotional part of ourselves to survive certain situations. We shut down the part of us that feels anger, sadness, fear, joy, and love. We may have turned off our sexual or sensual feelings too. Many of us lived in systems with people who refused to tolerate our emotions. We were shamed or reprimanded for expressing feelings, usually by people who were taught to repress their own.

It is okay now for us to acknowledge and accept our emotions. We don't need to allow our emotions to control us; neither do we need to allow our emotions to control us; neither do we need to rigidly repress our feelings. Our emotional center is a valuable part of us. It's connected to our physical well being, our thinking, and our spirituality. Our feelings are also connected to that great gift, instinct. They enable us to give and receive love.

We are neither weak nor deficient in indulging in our feelings. It means we're becoming healthy and whole. I will allow myself to recognize and accept whatever feelings pass through me. Without shame, I will tune in to the emotional part of myself.

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Pride

Some see pride as just a minor issue. I see pride, and resistance to change, as the deadliest character flaw every alcoholic deals with on a daily basis. The only answer I've ever found in dealing with such a high level of denial, is written about in the Big Book, and can be found in action at just about any AA meeting in the world.

From: The AA Grapevine, April 2014

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Just a Quote

"A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. " ~ C.S. Lewis

[bluidkiti]

January 18

Serenity Prayer
(Full Version)

God, grant me the Serenity
To accept the things, I cannot change...
Courage to change the things I can,
And Wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His will.
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
Amen.

~ Reinhold Niebuhr
(Research suggests that Niebuhr wrote the prayer as part of a sermon he was giving)

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Just a Thought

What am I going to do today for A.A.?

Is there someone I should call up on the telephone or someone I should go to see? Is there a letter I should write? Is there an opportunity somewhere to advance the work of A.A., which I have been putting off, or neglecting? If so, will I do it today? Will I be done with procrastination and do what I have to do today? Tomorrow may be too late. How do I know there will be a tomorrow for me? How about getting out of my easy chair and getting going?

So ............

Do I feel that A.A. depends partly on me today?

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Just a Contemplation

Feelings and Surrender

Surrender is not something we can do in our heads. It is not something we can force or control by willpower. It is a highly personal and spiritual experience.

Acceptance, or surrender, is not a tidy package. Often, it is full of hard feelings - anger, rage, and sadness, followed by release and relief. As we surrender, we experience our frustration and anger at God, at other people, at ourselves, and at life. Then we come to the core of the pain and sadness, the heavy emotional burden inside that must come out before we can feel good. Often, these emotions are connected to healing and release at a deep level.

Our fear and anxiety about the future are released when we surrender. Surrender is the process that allows us to move forward. It is how our Higher Power moves us forward. Trust in the rightness of timing, and the freedom at the other end, as you struggle humanly through this spiritual experience.

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A New Attitude

And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone - even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality - safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is our experience. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.

Alcoholics Anonymous Pages 84-85

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Just a Quote

'The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.” ~ James Allen

[bluidkiti]

January 19

Prayer When Confused

Lord, I desire to be clear-minded in a time when deceit and deception floods into my minds from so many quarters, and so I pray that you endow me with your wisdom, so that I may not be tossed about by the many winds of challenges and troubles of the world that can cause confusion, and distort the truth.
Amen

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Just a Thought

The way of faith is, of course, not confined to A.A. It is for everybody who really wants to live.

But many people can go through life without much of it. Many are doing so, to their own sorrow. The world is full of lack of faith. Many people have lost confidence in any meaning in the universe. Many are wondering if it has any meaning at all. Many are at loose ends. Life has no goal for many. They are strangers in the land. They are not at home. But for us in A.A., the way of faith is the way of life. We have proved by our past lives that we could not live without it.

So ............

Do I think I could live happily without faith?

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Just a Contemplation

Volunteering

The most precious time we will ever have we give away by doing volunteer chores to help others get more out of life. There is no material wage for this kind of work, but a host of emotional rewards.

What great humility this can bring to us, who live in a world where selfish people often insist on credit for all their deeds - often things they had nothing to do with.

All we need to do is think of all we have received without deserving it or asking for it. By taking part in the giving end of life, we find the true wealth of our own generosity.

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Fear

For all its usual destructiveness, we have found that fear can be the starting point for better things. Fear can be a stepping-stone to prudence and to a decent respect for others. It can point the path to justice, as well as to hate. And the more we have respect and justice, the more we shall begin to find the love which can suffer much, and yet be freely given. So fear need not always be destructive, because the lessons of its consequences can lead us to positive values.
~ Bill W.

The Language of the Heart, April 2014

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Just a Quote

"What goes around comes around. I will look for the opportunities to be kind and feel the results." ~ Karen Casey

[bluidkiti]

January 20

Prayer for Emotional Pain

Lord, I come to You today with distress and sadness in my soul.I feel darkness today like an oppressing cloud. I am exhausted and weary beyond belief.
Lord, I feel like You’re a thousand miles away! I feel helpless and my mind is in turmoil. I feel like I’m falling beneath the weight of everything.

Lord, I come to You for refuge, please keep me safe. When I am troubled by anxiety and fear, help me remember that You will guard me.
Bend down and listen to my plea for comfort and free me from this pain.
I cry out to You in my distress. Lord, I trust in You for protection from these fiery darts of pain and grief and hurt.

Lord, I know You hear my weeping. I thank You that You have heard my plea and that You will answer my prayer.
Amen

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Just a Thought

Strength comes from honestly telling your own experiences with drinking.

In religion, they call it confession. We call it witnessing or sharing. You give a personal witness, you share your past experiences, the troubles you got into, the hospitals, the jails, the break-up of your home, the money wasted, the debts, and all the foolish things you did when you were drinking. This personal witness lets out the things you had kept hidden, brings them out into the open, and you find release and strength.

So............

Am I receiving strength from my personal witnessing?

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Just a Contemplation

Change & Security

The specter of change builds dread in most of us. We fear the effects on our personal lives. We lack faith that the impending change will benefit us.

We long for permanence, believing it guarantees security, not realizing the only real security available to us comes with our trust in God, from whom all change comes as a blessing on the growth we've attained. If we were to experience total lack of change, we'd find death. Life is a challenge, continued change, always endurable and growth enhancing. We can reflect on what's gone before, and trust that which faces us now. Changes are gifts.

Change means I am progressing.

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Unlimited Choice

Any number of alcoholics are bedeviled by the dire conviction that if they ever go near A.A. they will be pressured to conform to some particular brand of faith or theology.

They just don't realize that faith is never an imperative for A.A. membership. that sobriety can be achieved with an easily acceptable minimum of it, and that our concepts of a Higher Power and God--as we understand Him--afford everyone a nearly unlimited choice of spiritual belief and action.

As Bill Sees It Page 201

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Just a Quote

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” ~ William James

[bluidkiti]

January 21


Prayer to Accept Change

Lord, I don’t like change. I like newness, excitement and adventure; but, when it’s all said and done, I love to come home to the predictable and manageable—to my favorite chair and comfortable routines. So I need fresh grace to accept change, because there’s so much change going on everywhere I look.

Lord, I ask that your wisdom direct me to my guest for change. Help me to feel confident in the direction and make your will recognizable. Help me to have no doubt or confusion on the path I am choosing.
Amend

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Just a Thought

The identification that one alcoholic has with another is mysterious, spiritual--almost incomprehensible.

But it is there. I "feel" it. Today I feel that I can help people and that they can help me. It is a new and exciting feeling for me to care for someone; to care what they are feeling, hoping for, praying for; to know their sadness, joy, horror, sorrow, grief; to want to share those feelings so that someone can have relief. I never knew how to do this--or how to try. I never even cared.

So ............

The Fellowship of A.A., and God, are teaching me how to care about others.

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Just a Contemplation

Accepting Change

The winds of change blow through our life, sometimes gently, sometimes like a tropical storm. Yes, we have resting places - time to adjust to another level of living, time to get our balance, time to enjoy the rewards. We have time to catch our breath. But change is inevitable, and desirable.

Sometimes, when the winds of change begin to rustle, we are not certain the change is for the better. We may call it stress or a temporary condition, certain well to be restored to normal. Sometimes, we resist. We tuck our head down and buck the wind, hoping that things will quickly calm down, get back to the way things were. Is it possible we're being prepared for a new normal?

Change will sweep through our life, as needed, to take us where we're going. We can trust that our Higher Power has a plan in mind, even when we don't know where the changes are leading. We can trust that the change-taking place is good. The wind will take us where we need to go.

I will trust in God, to let go of my resistance to change. Help me be open to the process. Help me believe that the place I'll be dropped off will be better than the place where I was picked up. Help me surrender, trust, and accept, even if I don't understand.

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Freedom Through Acceptance

We admitted we couldn't lick alcohol with our own remaining resources, and so we accepted the further fact that dependence upon a Higher Power (if only our A.A. group) could do this hitherto impossible job. The moment we were able to accept these facts fully, our release from the alcohol compulsion had begun.

For most of us, this pair of acceptances had required a lot of exertion to achieve. Our whole treasured a lot of exertion to achieve. Our whole treasured philosophy of self-sufficiency had to be cast aside. This had not been done with sheer will power; it came instead as the result of developing the willingness to accept these new facts of living. We neither ran nor fought. But accept we did. And then we began to be free.

From the Grapevine March 1962

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Just a Quote

“Today I will let my Higher Power handle my worry so I can be free, I choose to be alive in this moment and not blocked by the conversations that go on over and over in my head. I will stop trying to figure everything out and will trust that I will get the right answers at the right time. “ ~ Ruth Fishel

[bluidkiti]

January 22


Obsession Prayer

Lord,
You have all the power to set me free from these chains of thoughts that obsess my mind.
I pray that this bondage which steals away my happiness and peace of mind be shattered right now.
Let Your power remove these evil thoughts and establish peace in my heart.
I commit my thoughts into Your mighty hands.
I thank You for relieving me from this obsession.
Amen

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Just a Thought

Our faith should control the whole of our life.

We alcoholics were living a divided life. We had to find a way to make it whole. When we were drinking, our lives were made up of a lot of scattered and unrelated pieces. We must pick up our lives and put them together again. We do it by recovering faith in a Divine Principle in the universe, which holds us together and holds the whole universe together and gives it meaning and purpose. We surrender our disorganized lives to that Power, we get into harmony with the Divine Spirit, and our lives are made whole again.

So ............

Is my life whole again?

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Just a Contemplation

Expectations of Others

It is our job to identify our needs, and then determine a balanced way of getting those needs met. It is unreasonable to expect anyone to be able or willing to meet our every request. We are responsible for asking for what we want and need. It's the other person's responsibility to freely choose whether or not to respond to our request.

There's a difference between asking and demanding. We want love that is freely given. It is unreasonable and unhealthy to expect one person to be the source for meeting all our needs. Ultimately, we will become angry and resentful, maybe even punishing, toward that person for not supporting us as we expected. If a person cannot or will not be there for us, then we need to take responsibility for ourselves in that relationship.

The issue of expectations goes back to knowing that we are responsible for identifying our needs, believing they deserve to be met, and discovering an appropriate, satisfactory way to do that in our life.

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Growth

Growth and understanding came slowly, but they came steadily. And finally, I could feel gratitude for my sobriety -- for the saving grace of God. Now I feel totally free, because I know the truth about myself. . . I know that spiritual growth is a great, wide, beautiful thing and that I have only stepped up to the open door.

Came To Believe Page 94

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Just a Quote

"How simple it is to see that we can only be happy now, and there will never be a time when it is not now." ~ Gerald Jampolsky

[bluidkiti]

January 23


The Tolerance Prayer

Lord, give me tolerance towards those whose thoughts and ways conflict with mine. For though I would, I cannot always know what constitutes the Absolute Truth. The other person may be right, while I may be all wrong, yet unaware.

Lord, make my motives right, for only this can ease my conscience when I sometimes err.

Lord, give me tolerance, for who am I to stand in judgment on another person's mistakes? No one knows better than my inward self how many little blunders I have and can make.

Life is full of stones that somehow trip us, and meaning not, we stumble now and then.

Lord, give me tolerance, for only you are rightly fit to judge my fellow travelers.
Amen

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Just a Thought

As we look back over our drinking careers, we must realize that our lives were a mess because we were a mess inside.

The trouble was in us, not in life itself. Life itself was good enough, but we were looking at it the wrong way. We were looking at life through the bottom of a whiskey glass, and it was distorted. We could not see all the beauty and goodness and purpose in the world because our vision was blurred. We were in a house with one-way glass in the windows. People could see us but we could not look out and see them and see what life meant to them and should mean to us. We were blind then, but now we can see.

So ............

Can I now look at life as it really is?

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Just a Contemplation

Coping With Stress

Inevitably, there are times of stress in our lives. Sometimes, the stress is outside or around us, our circumstances are stressful. But sometimes, the stress is within. When the stress is external and internal, we experience our most difficult times.

Our friends and groups can help us feel more balanced and peaceful in spite of our stressful conditions. Affirming that the events taking place are a temporarily uncomfortable part of a good, solid plan can help. We can assure ourselves that we will get through. We won't be destroyed. We won't crumple or go under.

Our most important focus during times of stress is taking care of ourselves. We are better able to cope with the most irregular circumstances; we are better able to be there for others, if we're caring for ourselves. We can ask ourselves regularly: What do we need to do to take care of ourselves? What might help us feel better or more comfortable? Self-care may not come as easily during times of stress. Self-neglect may feel more comfortable. But taking care of us always works.

I will try to remember that there is no situation that can't be benefited by taking care of myself.

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New Beginning

I knew I had to have a new beginning, and this beginning had to be here. I had to let go of the past and forget the future. As long as I held on to the past with one hand and grabbed at the future with the other hand I had nothing to hold on to today with. So I had to begin here, now.

Came To Believe Page 46

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Just a Quote

"Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others. " ~ John F. Kennedy

[bluidkiti]

January 24

Just Today Lord

Lord,
I come to You today asking that you open the way for a deepening of my trust in You.
I give You my worries, my burdens and fears, confident that You will make something useful of them.
I give You all my hopes and dreams. Thank You for showing me what to do to make them come true.
Amen

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Just a Thought

When we were drinking, we used to be ashamed of the past.

Remorse is terrible mental punishment: ashamed of ourselves for the things we've said and done, afraid to face people because of what they might think of us, afraid of the consequences of what we did when we were drunk. In A.A., we forget about the past. Do I believe that God has forgiven me for everything I've done in the past, no matter how black it was, provided I'm honestly trying to do the right thing today?

So ............

Am I ready to move on??

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Just a Contemplation

Control & Change

Trying to control and change the people around us creates great problems in our relationships. When people we love are expressing themselves, we're thinking about what we wish they would say, and it blocks us from hearing clearly.

We seem to be more trapped in these self-centered behaviors with the ones we are closest to. We can change ourselves by slowly releasing our security grip on others. We can focus more on understanding what others are saying to us than on changing how they think and feel. Intimacy is clearly seeing each other and knowing the differences as well as the similarities. It requires that both people be allowed to walk on separate paths.

I need to release my grip on my loved ones and turn to my Higher Power for security and serenity.

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Spirit of the Universe

I had always believed in a Power greater than myself. I had often pondered these things. I was not an atheist. Few people really are, for that means blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes nowhere. My intellectual heroes, the chemists, the astronomers, even the evolutionists, suggested vast laws and forces at work. Despite contrary indications, I had little doubt that a mighty purpose and rhythm underlay all. How could there be so much of precise and immutable law, and no intelligence? I simply had to believe in a Spirit of the Universe, who knew neither time nor limitation. But that was as far as I had gone.

Alcoholics Anonymous Page 10

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Just a Quote

“Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” ~ Tony Robbins

[bluidkiti]

January 25

Just for Today Prayer

May today there be peace within you.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities
that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received,
and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing that you are a child of God.
Let His presence settle into your bones,
and allow your soul the freedom to sing,
dance, and to bask in the sun.
It is there for each and every one of you.
Amen

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Just a Thought

We have been given a new life just because we happened to become alcoholics.

We certainly don't deserve the new life that has been given us. There is little in our past to warrant the life we have now. Many people live good lives from their youth on, not getting into serious trouble, being well adjusted to life, and yet they have not found all that we drunks have found. We had the good fortune to find Alcoholics Anonymous and with it a new life. We are among the lucky few in the world who have learned a new way to live.

So ............

Am I deeply grateful for the new life that I have learned in A.A.?

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Just a Contemplation

God's Name

It doesn't matter what name we use. No one name is ever fully adequate, and each of us has our own private way of trying to understand that which we can't ever understand fully. We give God names, which attempt to express what God means to us personally, what God does for us as individuals, and how we see ourselves in relation to God.

Could it also be true that other people can't be labeled and put into one box? Doing so limits them to one particular way of being understood, and it limits the ways we can get to know them. If we are all made in God's image, then we all deserve the freedom to be seen differently by different people.

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Self-restraint

Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen. We must avoid quick-tempered criticism and furious power-driven arguments. The same goes for silent scorn. These are emotional booby traps baited with pride and vengefulness. We can neither think nor act to good purpose until the habit of self-restraint has become automatic.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Page 91

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Just a Quote

“Just be honest with yourself. That opens the door.” ~ Vernon Howard

[bluidkiti]

January 26

Prayer For Peace & Joy
There are times, Lord, when I feel a deep sense of unrest.
Trials and tribulations beset me, and I do not know where to turn.
I pray that you will guide me in all ways and help me to make the best of the situation.
Help me to find happiness in the small things.
I pray that you bring me the peace and joy that I seek in life.
Amen


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Just a Thought

When we were drinking, we used to worry about the future.

Worry is terrible mental punishment. What's going to become of me? Where will I end up? In the gutter or the sanitarium? We can see ourselves slipping, getting worse and worse, and we wonder what the finish will be. Sometimes we get so discouraged in thinking about the future that we toy with the idea of suicide.

So ............

In A.A., have I stopped worrying about the future?

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Just a Contemplation

Detaching with Love

Sometimes people we love do things we don't like or approve of. We react. They react. Before long, we're all reacting to each other, and the problem escalates.

When do we detach? When we're hooked into a reaction of anger, fear, guilt, or shame. When we get hooked into a power play - an attempt to control or force others to do something they don't want to do. When the way we're reacting isn't helping the other person or solving the problem. When the way we're reacting is hurting us It's time to detach when detachment appears to be the least likely, or possible, thing to do.

The first step toward detachment is understanding that reacting and controlling don't help. The next step is getting peaceful - getting centered and restoring our balance.

Take a walk. Leave the room. Take a long, hot bath. Call a friend. Call on God. Breathe deeply. Find peace. From that place of peace and centering will emerge an answer, a solution. I will surrender and trust that the answer is near.

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Pain-Healer

In every A.A. story, pain has been the price of admission into a new life. But this admission price purchased more than we expected. It led us to a measure of humility, which we soon discovered to be a healer of pain. We began to fear pain less, and desire humility more than ever.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Page 75

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Just a Quote

“Everyone wants happiness. No one wants pain. But you can't have a rainbow without a little rain." ~ Unknown Author

[bluidkiti]

January 27


Prayer to Start Today

Lord, thank you for this day.
I ask that You would guide my path today and, more specifically, my thoughts, words and actions.
Please be with me throughout the day and help me navigate whatever comes my way.
Most importantly, help me to reflect and live out my life in a way that reflects our will, not mine.
Amen

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Just a Thought

I need the A.A. principles for the development of the buried life within me, that good life, which I had misplaced, but which I found again in this fellowship.

This life within me is developing slowly but surely, with many setbacks, many mistakes, many failures, but still developing. As long as I stick close to A.A., my life will go on developing, and I cannot yet know what it will be, but I know that it will be good. That's all I want to know. It will be good.

So ............

Am I thanking God for A.A.?

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Just a Contemplation

Courage

We pray for the courage to change the things we can. Making changes requires the courage to start out on a new, unknown course. Courage does not mean the elimination of fear. Courage means acting in spite of the fact that we are afraid.

It takes courage to learn to affirm one's rights as an individual, especially if the old way was to say yes to all demands and requests, reasonable and unreasonable. It takes courage to face the truth instead of continuing to live with comfortable illusions.

Sometimes courage comes when we are pressed to a wall of failure. There is nothing to do but turn around and step out in a new direction, even though we are afraid. The courage born of desperation can produce remarkable results.

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Convinced

Practicing AA's Steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking. The average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme, doesn't care for this prospect -- unless he has to do these things in order to stay alive himself.

As Bill Sees It Page 118

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Just a Quote

"Pray not for lighter burdens but for stronger backs." ~ Theodore Roosevelt

[bluidkiti]

January 28


Assurance Prayer

Lord,
There are times when I have doubted my strength and my ability to do things.
I know that you have blessed me immensely with talent and a resilient heart.
Lord, I ask for your help as I pursue my dreams.
Multiply my confidence and help me believe that you have set me up for glory.
Amen

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Just a Thought

A.A. may be human in its organization, but it is divine in its purpose.

The purpose is to point me toward God and the good life. My feet have been set upon the right path. I feel it in the depths of my being. I am going in the right direction. The future can be safely left to God. Whatever the future holds, it cannot be too much for me to bear. I have the Divine Power with me to carry me through everything that may happen.

So ............

Am I pointed toward God and the good life?

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Just a Contemplation

Panic

If panic strikes, we do not have to allow it to control our behaviors. Behaviors controlled by panic tend to be self-defeating. No matter what the situation or circumstance, panic is usually not a good foundation. No matter what the situation or circumstance, we usually have at least a moment to breathe deeply and restore our serenity and peace.

The healthy way of life we are seeking, is built on a foundation of peace and quiet confidence - in ourselves, in our God. Do not panic. That takes us away from the path. Relax. Breathe deeply. Let peace flow through our body and mind. From this base, our Source shall supply the necessary resources.

I will treat panic as a separate issue that needs immediate attention. I will refuse to allow panicky thoughts and feelings to motivate me. Instead, I will let peace and trust motivate my feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.

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Arrogance

I am a firm believer in both guidance and prayer. But I am fully aware, and humble enough, I hope, to see there may be nothing infallible about my guidance. The minute I figure I have got a perfectly clear pipeline to God, I have become egotistical enough to get into real trouble. Nobody can cause more needless grief than a power-driver who thinks he has got it straight from God.

As Bill Sees It Page 38

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Just a Quote

"When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was not really such a big threat after all." ~ Les Brown

[bluidkiti]

January 30


Prayer For Tough Times


Dear Lord,
Teach me to be content when I’m facing a bad day.
How easy it is to be happy when everything goes well.
How tough it is to remember my joy when one thing after another appears to defeat me.
Turn my frown into a smile. Tears into laughter.
Amen

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Just a Thought

I am content to face the rest of my life without alcohol.

I have surrendered as gracefully as possible to the inevitable. I have made the great decision once and for all. I have no more reservations. Nothing can happen to me now that would justify my taking a drink. No death of a dear one. No great calamity in any area of my life should justify me in drinking. Even if I were on some desert isle, far from the rest of the world, but not far from God, should I ever feel it right to drink. For me, alcohol is out - period.

So ............

I will always be safe unless I take that first drink. Am I fully resigned to this fact?

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Just a Contemplation

Holding Your Own

Sometimes, it is hard to stand in our own truth and trust what we know, especially when others would try to convince us otherwise. Others may be dealing with issues of guilt and shame. They may have their own agenda. They may be immersed in denial.

Believing lies is dangerous. When we stop trusting our truth, when we repress our instincts, when we tell ourselves there must be something wrong with us for feeling what we feel or believing what we believe, we deal a deadly blow to our self and our health. We discount that important part of ourselves that knows what is the truth. This does not mean that we are never wrong. But we are not always wrong.

Today, I will trust my truth, my instincts, and my ability to ground myself in reality. I will not allow myself to be swayed by bullying, manipulating, games, dishonesty, or people with peculiar agendas. Trust yourself. Trust what you know.

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Honesty

I know the biggest word for me in AA is "honesty."
I don't believe this program would work for me if I didn't get honest with myself about everything.
Honesty is the easiest word for me to understand because it is the exact opposite of what I've been doing all my life.
Therefore, it will be the hardest to work on.
But I will never be totally honest -- that would make me perfect, and none of us can claim to be perfect.
Only God is.

Experience, Strength and Hope Pages 400-401

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Just a Quote

”Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us.” ~ Eric Hoffer

[bluidkiti]

January 30


Prayer for Empathy

Lord,
May we come to recognize our own vulnerability and our longing to be healed.
As we encounter our own pain, let it deepen in us a capacity to feel for others.
Enlarge our souls, expand our minds, and soften our hearts towards all who suffer.
Amen

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Just a Thought

If we allow an alcoholic thought to lodge in our minds for any length of time, we are in danger of having a slip.

Therefore we must dispel such thoughts at once, by refusing their admittance and by immediately putting constructive thoughts in their place. Remember that alcohol is poison to you. Remember that it is impossible for you to drink normally. Remember that one drink will lead to others and you will eventually be drunk. Remember what happened to you in the past as a result of your drinking. Think of every reason you have learned in A.A. for not taking that drink. Fill your mind with constructive thoughts.

So ............

Am I keeping my thoughts constructive?

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Just a Contemplation

Beauty

So many people think that beauty is what you do to yourself; what you wear, makeup, clothes, hairstyles or expensive jewelry. Again it is so easy to get caught up in "things". Reality is not about what we wear but who we are.

The beauty that God has created comes from within. The twinkle in the eyes that says "hello". The hug that says "I love you". The gentle embrace and smile that says "I forgive you". The tear that cries "I understand".

When God said to the world, "It is good", Beauty was born. Drugs and crazy relationships only get in the way of us being what we were intended to be: beautiful for God.

I will try to put God's beauty in my actions, words and attitudes.
(From the writings of Leo Booth)

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Change

It never occurred to us that we needed to change ourselves to meet conditions, whatever they were. But in AA we slowly learned that something had to be done about our vengeful resentments, self-pity, and unwarranted pride. . . We learned that if we were seriously disturbed, our first need was to quiet that disturbance, regardless of who or what we thought caused it.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Page 47

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Just a Quote

"Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment." ~ Benjamin Franklin