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October 1
"Keeping a Tenth Step journal about my day-to-day life, my relations with other people, and the stuff that still roiled around in my head helped me see patterns in my thoughts and behavior, which I could discuss with my sponsor. And once I began to sit quietly, reflect on what I'd written, and pray, I began to sleep peacefully for the first time in my life." In Our Own Words Manchester, N.H., March 2001 "Peace at Last," In Our Own Words: Stories of Young AAs in Recovery ===== "We can always come up with a reason to drink. The secret is, how many reasons can we come up with to stay sober?" No Matter What Click to learn more Topeka, Kan., July 2001 An Important Secret No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety ===== "The measure of my sobriety isn't the distance between now and the last drink -- the measure of my sobriety is the distance between now and the next drink." No Matter What White Rock, British Columbia, May 2005 "Life -- It Happens" No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety ===== October 4 "We AAs have had to learn that the kinds of freedom that we must possess cannot possibly be obtained by violence. As a Fellowship, we cannot fight anybody, anywhere or at any time. This has been proved. When we had directly attacked John Barleycorn, we had lost. Booze fighting had never worked. When we quarrel too much with each other, we get drunk." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., November 1960 "Freedom Under God: |
October 5
"Each night, I think of the Tenth Step and ask myself, 'Have I, this day, helped more than I've harmed? Given more than I've taken? Created more than I've destroyed?'" Step by Step Book Minneapolis, Minn., December 1977 "It Takes Practice to Be Human," Step By Step ===== October 6 "Nothing could be sadder than to lose touch with ourselves in recovery; to have our connection to our Higher Power blocked by resentment; to be governed by old ideas we are only dimly aware of and that hold us back; or to be reduced by our fears to living sequestered from life. For the sunlight of the spirit to enter, the window must be kept clean so the light can pour through." Step by Step Book New York, N.Y., October 2010 "Safety Valve," Step By Step ===== October 7 "As of this moment I repose serenely on Cloud 9, being thankful in silent meditation. I know the grim realism of this troubled world will bring me sharply back to earth at any moment, but I pray I may make a safe, happy landing." Cincinnati, OHIO, May 1957 "Let There Be Light," Into Action ===== October 8 "I know what the temptation of fame and money really is ... I was once a breaker of anonymity myself. I thank God that years ago the voice of experience and the urging of wise friends took me out of that perilous path into which I might have led our entire Society." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., January 1955 "Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous" The Language of the Heart ===== October 9 "The slogans are simple things ... these AA tranquilizers do not solve our problems, but they can calm us down, remind us of a better way to proceed, and perhaps even put us in a mood to make better decisions." New York, N.Y., November 1958 "Using the Slogans," Into Action |
October 10
"With the clock ticking like it is, I do not have time for anger, resentment, or self-pity. Time is far too precious." Durham, N.C., April 2002 "Just an Attitude," No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety ===== October 11 "One night, in a moment of desperation, I got down on my knees and remembered a prayer an old sponsor had given me. It said, 'God, help me be of service ... to something or someone...' I knew intuitively it was the answer." Edmonton, Alberta, May 2010 "Sinking Fast," No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety ===== October 12 "The temptations of riches could sometimes be worse than the pains of poverty." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., December 1957 "The Greatest Gift of All" The Language of the Heart ===== October 13 "Seeing my defects is not enough to make them improve or go away -- the solution seems to be following awareness with action." Step by Step Book Coldwater, Mich., December 2006 "Daily Reminder," Step By Step ===== October 14 "How does one tune in to the Higher Power? The answer I have learned from AA is to recharge my spiritual battery every day -- 'you can't pull today's load with yesterday's horse.'" Joliet, Ill., July 1985 "Willingness to Grow," Into Action ===== October 15 "I found I had to exert every ounce of will and action to cut off these faulty emotional dependencies upon people, upon AA, indeed, upon any set of circumstances whatever. Then only could I be free to love." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., January 1958 "The Next Frontier: Emotional Sobriety" The Language of the Heart https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...TME7I-KkZLar9Q |
October 16
"As I continue to struggle, I think of the words of an old-timer in my area. No matter what the topic, he always finishes sharing with the words, 'and I haven't had a drink today.' Remembering his words never fails to bring to my mind the words 'experience, strength, and hope.'" "Out of Work, But Not Hope," Anonymous, December 2000 No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety ===== October 17 "A new spiritual awakening can come at every meeting." Hartsdale-Ardsley, N.Y., January 1957 "Twelve Steps to a Meeting," Into Action ===== October 18 "One day leads to the next, no matter how unhappy I choose to be." Sioux Rapids, IA, January 2004 "Adult Love," No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety ===== October 19 "A leader in AA service is ... a man (or a woman) who can personally put principles, plans and policies into such dedicated and effective action that the rest of us want to back him up and help him with his job." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., April 1959 "Leadership in AA: Ever a Vital Need" The Language of the Heart ===== October 20 "First Things First. That's a real gem." New York, N.Y., November 1958 "Using the Slogans," Into Action https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...It20_t3rRhsz7F |
October 21
"Only by accepting my powerlessness over alcohol did I begin to discover the powers that alcohol had obliterated: God, health, truth, love, nature, fellowship, humor, creativity, and even simple daily kindness." Barrington, Ill., June 2007 "In Your Bones," Into Action ===== October 22 "My anger served as an iron shield, and I refused to remove it for fear God would send me still more pain." Jamaica Plain, Mass., May 1997 "The Littlest Things," No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety ===== October 23 "To be teachable, I had to be reachable." Wollstonecraft, Australia, May 1984 "The Winner's Guide to Boring Meetings," Into Action ===== October 24 "This process of identification and transmission has gone on and on. The skid rower said he was different. Even more loudly the socialite (or Park Avenue stumble bum) said the same -- so did the arts and the professions, the rich, the poor, the religious, the agnostics, the Indians and the Eskimos, the veterans and the prisoners. "But nowadays all of these, and legions more, soberly talk about how very much alike all of us alcoholics are when we all admit that the chips are finally down; when we see that it is really a question of do or die in our world wide Fellowship of 'the common suffering and the common deliverance." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1960 "AA Communication Can Cross All Barriers" The Language of the Heart ===== October 25 "I made the decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God, and then I got out of the way." Christchurch, New Zealand, March 2010 "Gimme Shelter," No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...5pc7a3HOEkDmHQ |
October 26
"The Traditions are neither rules, regulations, nor laws. No sanctions or punishments can be invoked for their infractions. Perhaps in no other area of society would these principles succeed. Yet in this Fellowship of alcoholics, the unenforceable Traditions carry a power greater than that of law." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1960 "The Language of the Heart" ===== October 27 "It's funny how life is lived forward -- and understood backward." Vail, Ariz., October 2005 "Living Life Forward," No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety ===== October 28 "In this life we shall attain nothing like perfect humility and love. So we shall have to settle, respecting most of our problems, for a very gradual progress, punctuated sometimes by heavy setbacks. Our old-time attitudes of 'all or nothing' will have to be abandoned." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., March 1962 "What Is Acceptance?" The Language of the Heart ===== October 29 "No one at the gym, at work, in my neighborhood, or even in church had ever put their hand out to me. In AA, it happened every day." Trenton, N.J., April 2005 "Falling Apart on the Inside," No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety ===== October 30 "My perception of any situation is in my control -- I have a choice about which way my mind will react. I try my best to look for positive solutions; I take my problems to my sponsor or I let my friends at a meeting know what is going on inside me." Pinellas Park, Fla, November 2006 "How the Universe Works," No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety ===== October 31 "At the end of each day ... I hope that I can say a short prayer of gratitude for another day of sobriety. Anything else good that happens is a bonus." White Rock, British Columbia, May 2005 "Life--It Happens," No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...GSqE-hWRa9GPDd |
November 1
"No prophet can presume to say whether the world outcome will be blazing destruction or the beginning, under God's intention, of the brightest era yet known to mankind. I am sure we AAs well comprehend this scene. In microcosm, we have experienced this identical state of terrifying uncertainty, each in his own life." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., January 1962 "This Matter of Fear" The Language of the Heart ===== November 2 "In despair, I had cried out, 'Now I am willing to do anything. If there is a God, will he show himself?' And he did. This was my first conscious contact, my first awakening. I asked from the heart, and I received." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1960 "The Language of the Heart" The Language of the Heart ===== November 3 "I've got a brand new feeling, gratitude -- a feeling that has visited me more and more frequently -- sometimes with the rush of cleansing tears -- sometimes with just a serene flow of mental thank-yous for some small, God-given bonus in a routine day." Spiritual Awakenings Vol. 1 Minneapolis, Minn., April 1983 "A Rush of Gratitude," Spiritual Awakenings ===== November 4 "Regardless of what happened before or what may happen tomorrow, what is the very best thing I can possibly do, right now?" Santa Monica, Calif., May 2007 "A Life Without Problems," No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety ===== November 5 "One of the truly great gifts in this Fellowship of mutually concerned people is the gift of the art of listening ... But our need to listen goes beyond meetings and talks with friends ... We need Step Eleven and our greater conscious contact with the Divine Listener. Then will our serenity emerge; then will our help to others have quality." Spiritual Awakenings Vol. 1 Anonymous, May 1960 "Where the Words Come From," Spiritual Awakenings ===== November 6 "The Twelve Steps ... are simple in language, plain in meaning. They are also workable by any person having a sincere desire to obtain and keep sobriety. The results are the proof. Their simplicity and workability are such that no special interpretations, and certainly no reservations, have ever been necessary. And it has become increasingly clear that the degree of harmonious living which we achieve is in direct ratio to our earnest attempt to follow them literally under divine guidance to the best of our ability." Best of Grapevine Volume 2 AA Co-Founder, Dr. Bob, September 1948 "The Fundamentals in Retrospect" The Best of the Grapevine, Volume 2 ===== November 7 "Our Twelve Traditions ... represent the sum of our experience as individuals, as groups within AA, and similarly with our fellows and other organizations in the great fellowship of humanity under God throughout the world. They are all suggestions, yet the spirit in which they have been conceived merits their serious, prayerful consideration as the guideposts of AA policy for the individual, the group, and our various committees, local and national." Best of Grapevine Volume 2 AA Co-Founder, Dr. Bob, September 1948 "The Fundamentals in Retrospect" The Best of the Grapevine, Volume 2 ===== November 8 "Spiritual progress isn't what gets us sober, it's what keeps us sober." Spiritual Awakenings Vol. 1 State College, Pa.,April 1994 "Working Incognito," Spiritual Awakenings https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...G3d906hqnRX5Tg |
November 9
"Full consciousness ... implies not only the willingness to receive the love and benefits AA has to offer, but also to surrender to the equally painful experience of exposure to ourselves, and others, of ourselves." Spiritual Awakenings Vol. 1 Pleasantville, N.Y., August 1959 "The Sense of Sobriety," Spiritual Awakenings November 10 "We measure our progress in AA by two words, 'humility' and 'responsibility.' May I ever keep my eye on these yardsticks as I continue to seek only knowledge of his will for me." Spiritual Awakenings Vol. 1 Tulsa, Okla., July 1978 "The Power of the Program," Spiritual Awakenings http://www.animated-gifs.eu/religion...cross/0073.gif |
Quote:
When I do that, I stay clean. By helping new people, I don't forget where I came from, what it was like, so that I can appreciate what I have in today and be grateful for the recovery that has been given so freely to me. In order to keep it, I must give it away. More importantly, I have to have it to give. You can't give away what you don't have. I was told that I needed to top myself up and then give away the overflow. I have also found that you can't help someone unless they are truly willing to get help. There are many who need this program, but it only works for those who want it and have a willingness to live it. When I share or listen with a fellow alcoholic/addict, it is important to identify and not compare. We may not have used the same substance, but the feelings and the pain is the same. Whether I use alcohol, pills, men, relationships, food, work, gambling, etc. to fill my emptiness, it all leads to the same soul sickness. http://www.animated-gifs.eu/mammals-...-love/0012.gif |
Quote:
Acceptance is one of the spiritual principles of Step One. I was told that I had to do the first half of this step 100%, and I was warned that the second half was conditional to my spiritual connection, one day at a time. When I accepted my disease, surrendered my day to my Higher Power, got honest with me, then my life would be manageable. If I didn't have these spiritual principles, and tried to manage my own life, then it certainly would become unmanageable, and would stay so until such a time, as I could find the honest, surrender and acceptance I need to bring myself back to my essence and connected to the God of my understanding. http://www.animated-gifs.eu/mammals-...-love/0011.gif |
Quote:
For me, this is totally awesome and it gives me goosebumps. It tells me that the Steps were Divinely inspired and that when I turn my life and my will over to my Creator, that I too can get the answer, that I too can get the guidance and direction I need to stay clean and sober, one day at a time. God Bless. I don't have to be perfect, and even if I feel less than or not worthy, I can be of service to someone else. We all have a purpose and a message to carry, it is our message, although we will often hear our story told by someone else in the rooms. Even if it is just to make someone smile, feel loved, and/or feel good about themselves and let them know that "God doesn't make no junk," and He/She/It, loves them as they are. So many times we judge ourselves by our outside and forget that we are not our disease. http://www.animated-gifs.eu/religion-angels/0097.gif |
November 11 "We can't grow without giving ourselves space for silence and the voice within." I Am Responsible Greenwich Village, N.Y., December 1997 "Oh God, You Again?" I Am Responsible: The Hand of AA ===== November 12 "Our Serenity Prayer ... brings a new light to us that can dissipate our old-time and nearly fatal habit of fooling ourselves." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., March 1962 ===== November 13 "When I first started in AA, I began each day asking God to help keep me sober that day, and ended each night by thanking him for another day of sobriety. I still end each day that way, as I have done almost every night during the past forty-one years. It is a routine for me, but every once in a while I pause to reflect on what it truly means. I do it every night so that God won't change his mind, as I truly believe he helped lead me from the pits of alcoholism to the AA way of life." Voice of Long Term Sobriety Alexandria, Va., April 2002 "A Real War Story," Voices of Long-Term Sobriety ===== November 15 "We now know that we do not have to run away, nor ought we again try to overcome adversity by still another bulldozing power drive that can only push up obstacles before us faster than they can be taken down." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., March 1962 "What Is Acceptance?" ===== November 16 "Times change, alcoholism doesn't." Voice of Long Term Sobriety Marysville, Wash., September 2001 "The Same Chance I Had," Voices of Long-Term Sobriety http://www.animated-gifs.eu/phone-240x320-snow/0164.gif |
November 17 "Few of us will ever be famous, but we can all be great because we serve each other." Thank You For Sharing McAllen, TX, October 1997 "Internal Restoration," Thank You for Sharing ===== November 18 "How wonderful to be sober, to be able to think clearly (at times, at least), and to become aware of some portion of the greater wisdom concealed so deeply within myself." Voice of Long Term Sobriety Columbus, OH, April 1981 "A New Way of Looking at Life," Voices of Long-Term Sobriety ===== November 19 "The best university for me -- the best school, the best teaching -- was in analyzing mistakes that I'd made and problems I created because of these mistakes. Not my successes." AA Around the World Warsaw, Poland, October 1996 "A Smiling Man, A Happy Man," AA Around the World ===== November 20 "I'd like to develop Step Eleven further -- for the benefit of the complete doubter, the unlucky one who can't believe it has any real merit at all .... As he goes along with his process of prayer, he begins to add up the results. If he persists, he will almost surely find more serenity, more tolerance, less fear, and less anger. He will acquire a quiet courage, the kind that doesn't strain him. He can look at so-called failure and success for what they really are. Problems and calamity will begin to mean instruction, instead of destruction. He will feel freer and saner ... His sense of purpose and of direction will increase. His tensions and anxieties will commence to fade. His physical health is likely to improve. Wonderful and unaccountable things will start to happen. Twisted relations in his family and on the outside will unaccountably improve. "Even if few of these things happen, he will still find himself in possession of great gifts. When he has to deal with hard circumstances he can face them and accept them. He can now accept himself and the world around him." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., June 1958 "Take Step Eleven" The Language of the Heart ===== November 21 "Until today, at least, I am getting further away from that first drink, which is the one that inevitably leads me to complete disaster." AA Around the World Caracas, Venezuela, May 1971 "My Name Is Adolfo," http://www.animated-gifs.eu/phone-240x320-snow/0162.gif |
November 22 "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 of 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." Celebrating The Language of the Heart AA Co-Founder, Bill W., January 1962 "This Matter of Fear" The Language of the Heart ===== November 23 "The Twelve Steps are deceptively simple but provide limitless spiritual growth for anyone with the patience to stay the course." Voice of Long Term Sobriety Riverside, Ill., September 2007 "It Works for Me," Voices of Long-Term Sobriety ===== November 24 "We sense that here in AA this shared darkness has become a shared light." Spiritual Awakenings Vol. 1 Pleasantville, N.Y., August 1959 "The Sense of Sobriety" Spiritual Awakenings ===== November 25 "I ask the newcomer to help me wash the coffeepot, or put chairs away, because service was, and still is, my key to belonging." I Am Responsible Manchester, New Hampshire, September 2000 "The Key to Belonging," I Am Responsible: The Hand of AA ===== November 26 "I was amazed at the things I was grateful for: those painful situations that served to show me my character defects; the ability to accept and share my pain with others; the opportunities to do things I was afraid to do which gave me strength and confidence." Spiritual Awakenings Vol. 1 State College, Pa., April 1994 "Working Incognito," Spiritual Awakenings ===== November 27 "To be happily sober, we must be active -- and this does not necessarily mean group activity. The Loner is part of a much larger group of people in far distant places, all members of AA with the same problems, fears, and happiness to be shared ... I may not be in face-to-face contact with other AA members, but my real friends in AA are too many to enumerate, and I find there aren't enough hours in the day to do all I should." AA Around the World Salisbury, Rhodesia, February 1970 "Alone? Not This Loner!" ===== November 28 "Recovery is giving it away. If you don't give it away you can't have it ... Be part of the pipeline." I Am Responsible Greenwich Village, N.Y., December 1997 "Oh God, You Again?" I Am Responsible: The Hand of AA ===== November 29 "Difficult times bring us to new degrees of acceptance and humility because we learn on a deeper level how close we really are to our next drink. If we hang on, we learn how the grace of the Fellowship and the principles of the program carry us through the tough spots as well as the times of joy." Voice of Long Term Sobriety Providence, R.I., March 2009 "The Bottom of the Glass," Voices of Long-Term Sobriety http://www.animated-gifs.eu/phone-240x320-snow/0163.gif |
November 30 "I began to find ... a more centered, purposeful life, at least in the sense that my body, mind, emotions, and soul were all more or less heading in the same direction. I was riding one horse instead of four." Spiritual Awakenings Vol. 1 La Canada, Calif., November 1989 ===== December 1 "The greatest promise in the program is the one in the Twelfth Step. It tells me I will have a spiritual awakening as the result of the Steps. I know I need that awakening to have a chance to stay sober" White Rock, British Columbia, May 2005 "Life -- It Happens" No Matter What: Dealing with Adversity in Sobriety ===== December 2 "I sabotage myself if I attach my sobriety to people, places, or things." Spiritual Awakenings Vol. 1 Carbondale, Ill., August 1988 "It's Always Dark at the Beginning," https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...crWo_wEJwM4Uvv |
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