Reflections for Every Day - December

[yukonm]

December 1

Today's Thought:

No one deserves to be abused physically or mentally by any one! The hardest part for me to forgive was all the words spoken in his fits of rage. He still tries to come into my life but I will not allow this to happen.

Submitted By:

Lorin

[yukonm]

December 2

Today's Thought:

For me, a sponsor was, and is, a good thing. I was lucky enough to get a good sponsor with the first one I picked. The key word, of course, is "good." Sometimes you need to try out a few before you find a good one.

Submitted By:

Marty

[yukonm]

December 3

Today's Thought:

God will put the people or person in my path when its time to make amends to them. Which means to me, I do not have to seek out anyone I apologize too. Thank goodness because there are people in my past I do not want to confront.

Submitted By:

Deb

[yukonm]

December 4

Today's Thought:

I would often find myself sitting in a bar half drunk wondering what the hell happened. The last decision I recalled making was to go straight home without drinking. I remembered walking into the bar, but I didn't remember deciding to do that. It was as though my brain had short-circuited (the "mental blank spot" AA's speak of) and my legs had developed a mind of their own, walking me into the bar.

Submitted By:

Larry

[yukonm]

December 5

Today's Thought:

She supplies him with all the alcohol he can handle - I worry still for his safety but I have to remember it's not my concern and he's on his own now to deal with the circumstances. I do know I did the right thing for myself.

Submitted By:

Jill

[yukonm]

December 6

Today's Thought:

I have seen people become sponsors and turn into something I consider very unattractive, thinking that the title gives them free rein to take over and control a sponsee's every move and thought. , I did get a sponsor that I was able to develop some sort of relationship with. She was there to help me understanding this stuff when I approached her.

Submitted By:

Bette

[yukonm]

December 7

Today's Thought:

My husband and I have found that the Steps, Traditions, and Concepts work very well in our relationship. We have never had a fight. That does not mean we agree on everything, but we both know that it is perfectly normal for each of us to have opinions and ideas that are different from one another.

Submitted By:

Elise

[yukonm]

December 8

Today's Thought:

Ask your wife and children if you need to quit. Ask your Mother or Father, or anyone else that loves you. You might be surprised how they view you and your 'success.'

Submitted By:

Ming

[yukonm]

December 9

Today's Thought:

This means that each day I have work to do. I can't declare myself cured and then go and live like I use to. I have decisions to make on a daily basis that sometimes I don't like, and I don't want to make them. But the fact remains that I have to.

Submitted By:

Stanette

[yukonm]

December 10

Today's Thought:

One night, it all changed. I just figuratively threw up my hands, thinking there has to more to this life than what I had at the time, and started my fourth step. I called my sponsor, and he said, "so you finally learned step three."

Submitted By:

Stanette

[yukonm]

December 11

Today's Thought:

I finally got tired of being terrorized by his fits of rage and acts of destruction and filed for divorce. I am not as scared at the idea of being able to manage financially on my own as I am by his tantrums and verbal abuse. And the first step was going to Al-Anon regularly!

Submitted By:

Dancer

[yukonm]

December 12

Today's Thought:

My 17-year=old son started using and I realized I was setting the same example for him that was set before me growing up in an alcoholic home. I wanted to help my boy. Little did I know that I had to help ME first.

Submitted By:

Deb

[yukonm]

December 13

Today's Thought:

There are a lot of people who will say that there isn't anything in the Big Book that says you have to have a sponsor. This is true. Sponsorship isn't actually part of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, (other than the need to work with others) it's part of the fellowship. I believe a sponsor is a pretty necessary part of getting sober.

Submitted By:

Elise

[yukonm]

December 14

Today's Thought:

The "x" factor was there before I took my first drink! What manifests in me as as alcoholic is that I become someone else, I lie to impress others, I spend money I don't have and do awful things that I would never do without drinking.

Submitted By:

Sam

[yukonm]

December 15

Today's Thought:

Where does it say that you are powerless over people, places, and situations in the Big Book? You are powerless over alcohol. Period. That's it. When you don't drink it you are not powerless. Power has been restored as long as you you don't take the first drink.

Submitted By:

Eakspeak

[yukonm]

December 16

Today's Thought:

When I'm feeling good about myself, I can readily admit my mistakes, make amends and move on. To hell with other people's mistakes -- quite frankly I could care less if they get 'caught' or apologize or whatever.

Submitted By:

Rose R.

[yukonm]

December 17

Today's Thought:

I have let all my close friends know I am in recovery. One of them could not deal with it. I tried to explain, but they just could not accept it and responded by staying on the attack. I have detached from them as much as it pains me.

Submitted By:

Grace

[yukonm]

December 18

Today's Thought:

I too blamed myself and thought, oh if only I'd done things differently, blah blah blah. Someone at an Al-Anon meeting said she treated all her relationships like "please let me fix you so then you can fill the hole in me." Bingo, that was me, in addition to the fact that I was dealing with a sociopath.

Submitted By:

Molly

[yukonm]

December 19

Today's Thought:

Quite the interesting dynamic when it's kids who need help. I chose my boyfriend; chose to marry him. But the kids? I "made" them. Oh yikes, talk about guilt! Al-Anon was there for me and I surely am grateful for that.

Submitted By:

Rose R.

[yukonm]

December 20

Today's Thought:

From what I've seen over many years, I truly believe there is just so much more to sobriety than "putting the plug in the jug." Without changes in attitude, activities, friends, etc., all you have is a "dry drunk" - still got the same problems and coping skills, just doing life without booze.

Submitted By:

Rose R.

[yukonm]

December 21

Today's Thought:

Even though the drinking is not the main problem, we are not going to see solutions to the problems in our lives if we are constantly drunk. Sobriety has to come first along with a sincere desire to clean up our life and find that direction we want the rest of it to take. First you get sober, then you get better.

Submitted By:

Neal

[yukonm]

December 22

Today's Thought:

My wife and I were able to save our marriage of nine years when I got sober. It has taken alot of work, from both of us, but the rewards we have been blessed with cannot be counted. The most important thing we needed was honesty. We are honest with each other today, and are rebuilding the trust that was once lost.

Submitted By:

Jon

[yukonm]

December 23

Today's Thought:

Learning to enjoy my own company is a first for me. I always thought that lonesome hours had to be filled with something or someone. In the past, when everything was calm, I usually felt uncomfortable, waiting for something bad to happen.

Submitted By:

Grace

[yukonm]

December 24

Today's Thought:

Eventually, he realized that what I was doing was a good thing. He saw me change. He saw me taking an interest in life and in him. He was glad that I was getting better, and stopped resenting AA and my friends. He even went to a few open meetings and for coffee after. He saw what these people meant to me.

Submitted By:

Libby

[yukonm]

December 25

Today's Thought:

It will be a rough road, but already the children and myself are happier. There is no tension in the house, no fighting and there is a sense of hope. People who have seen me say there is no fear in my eyes anymore. Al-Anon has also really helped me and so has my faith.

Submitted By:

Nancy

[yukonm]

December 26

Today's Thought:

It took more pain and heartache and a very close call with a relapse to convince me that I needed to quit the debate and "just do it." I learned that I really did need to "clean house" and the experience was incredibly freeing.
I could either burden myself with all of that baggage from the past or burdon myself with this intellectual nit picking discussion of the details of the program. Both were standing in the way of true freedom and happiness and a very full and complete new life. That's the best deal I have ever been offered.

Submitted By:

TEXT

[yukonm]

December 27

Today's Thought:

I developed certain "defects" in my character, the biggest of these being the "poor me" syndrome. When my head started to clear, I became to quickly realize these defects were with me before alcohol became a problem. Booze just magnified it. I learned about gratitude and it put much of the "Poor me why don't I have this ... why is my life so miserable ...." thoughts aside.

Submitted By:

Walt

[yukonm]

December 28

Today's Thought:

I always thought I could just hang in there because someday he would see how he was contaminating the marriage. Well you know what? That day never came. I said enough is enough. It was like taking care of another child.

Submitted By:

Deanna

[yukonm]

December 29

Today's Thought:

Al-Anon is the greatest program ever but it does have its limitations. I've looked for help in other places than Al-Anon because, to me, my recovery is my most important asset towards living a healthy life.

Submitted By:

Rose R.

[yukonm]

December 30

Today's Thought:

AA was never intended to be the be-all and end-all of your search for recovery tools. If the voice inside you is saying it is time to investigate further, then you would probably do well to listen. Balance of our practices is one of the greatest gifts we can learn from any recovery program.

Submitted By:

MizzT

[yukonm]

December 31

Today's Thought:

I had a therapist when I was first in recovery. Then I found a wonderful sponsor. It was amazing how different I felt when I shared with the sponsor. I had shared it all with the counselor... but there was something very special about the 5th step with a sponsor.

Submitted By:

Step Gal