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October 22

Daily Reflections

TRUE TOLERANCE

Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent
emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see
what real love for our fellows actually means.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 92

The thought occurred to me that all people are emotionally ill to some extent. How could
we not be? Who among us is spiritually perfect? Who among us is physically perfect?
How could any of us be emotionally perfect? Therefore, what else are we to do but bear
with one another and treat each other as we would be treated in similar circumstances?
That is what love really is.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I am content to face the rest of my life without alcohol. I have made the great decision
once and for all. I have surrendered as gracefully as possible to the inevitable. I hope I
have no more reservations. I hope that 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. I will always be safe unless I take that first drink. Am I fully resigned to
this fact?

Meditation For The Day

Day by day we should slowly build up an unshakable faith in a Higher Power in that
Power's ability to give us all the help we need. By having these quiet times each morning,
we start each day with a renewing of our faith, until it becomes almost a part of us and is a
strong habit. We should keep furnishing the quiet places of our souls with all the furniture
of faith. We should try to fill our thoughts each day with all that is harmonious and good,
beautiful, and enduring.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may build a house in my soul for the spirit of God to dwell in. I pray that I
may come at last to an unshakable faith.

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As Bill Sees It

Rebellion Or Acceptance, p.293

All of us pass through the times when we can pray only with the
greatest exertion. Occasionally we go even further than this. We
are seized with a rebellion so sickening that we simply won't pray.
When these things happen, we should not think too ill of ourselves.
We should simply resume prayer as soon as we can, doing what we
know to be good for us.

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A man who persists in prayer finds himself in possession of great
gifts. When he has to deal with hard circumstances, he finds he can
face them. He can accept himself and the world around him.

He can do this because he now accepts a God who is All--and who
loves all. When he says, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be
Thy name," he deeply and humbly means it. When in good
meditation and thus freed from the clamors of the world, he knows
that he's in God's hands, that his own ultimate destiny is really
secure, here and hereafter, come what may.

1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 105
2. GRAPEVINE, JUNE 1958

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Walk In Dry Places

When the bath is negative
Personal relations
A member referred to getting a "negative bath" every day at work. She was talking about her boss's bad disposition and the poor attitudes of several co-workers. How does one deal with this negativity?
It's not satisfactory to say that this member created her own "negative bath" by her attitudes toward her boss and others. In fact, in many businesses, the atmosphere is negative... and dealing with it takes more than trite comment.
In such situations, we can employ detachment, as practiced in Al-Anon, and accept the things we cannot change, as stated in the Serenity Prayer.
The longer-term solution may require making a major change, such as finding a new job, but we must be careful not to exchange one negative situation for another. We will make the right decision if we're careful to avoid resentment and self-pity while being completely honest about our own motives and intentions.
I may find myself in a "negative bath" of some kind today, but I can detach from it by avoiding resentment or the tendency to blame others.

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Keep It Simple

Life is what happens to us while we’re making other plans.
---Thomas LaMance
What happened to our years of drinking and using other drugs? They seemed to pass so quickly with so little to show for them. We had plans, but we didn’t get where we wanted to go. There was always “tomorrow.”
What a difference today! Now we work a program that helps us really live each day. We’re not losing time out of our lives anymore. Now every day is full of life: sights, sounds, people, feelings---those things we used to miss out on. We have the help of a Higher Power who makes every day important.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me do Your will for me today. I place this day in Your care.
Action for the Day: Be on the lookout today for signs of life!

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Each Day a New Beginning

Children awaken you own sense of self when you see them hurting, struggling, testing; when you watch their eyes and listen to their hearts. Children are gifts, if we accept them. --Kathleen Tierney Crilly
Children look to us and their world with fresh eyes, uncynical attitudes, open hearts. They react spontaneously to the events in their lives; what they feel is who they are.
Close observation of children can help us. See how complex we have made our lives! Their simple honesty can serve us well. To look at the world, once again, with wonder, is a byproduct offered us when we live the principles of this program.
So many gifts await us when we accept the program and its principles. We dispense with the baggage of the past. We learn to live this day only. And we come to believe that there is a power greater than ourselves that has everything and us in our lives under control. Children instinctively trust those who take care of them. We can learn to trust, once again, when we apply the Steps of this program to our lives.
I will look to this day with wonder and trust. Everything is okay. I am in the care of a power greater.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Foreword To Fourth Edition

Literature has played a major role in A.A.’s growth, and a striking phenomenon of the past quarter-century has been the explosion of translations of our basic literature into many languages and dialects. In country after country where the A.A. seed was planted, it has taken root, slowly at first, then growing by leaps and bounds when literature has become available. Currently, “Alcoholics Anonymous” has been translated into forty-three languages.

p. xxiii
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

Gratitude In Action

The story of Dave B., one of the founders of A.A. in Canada in 1944.

One of the most fundamental things I have learned is to pass on our message to other alcoholics. That means I must think more about others than about myself. The most important thing is to practice these principles in all my affairs. In my opinion, that is what Alcoholics Anonymous is all about.

p. 199

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

The joy of living is the theme of A.A.'s Twelfth Step, and action is its key word. Here we turn outward toward our fellow alcoholics who are still in distress. Here we experience the kind of giving that asks no rewards. Here we begin to practice all Twelve Steps of the program in our daily lives so that we and those about us may find emotional sobriety. When the Twelfth Step is seen in its full implication, it is really talking about the kind of love that has no price tag on it.

p. 106

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With the power of God in my actions and thinking I can do all things with love and
kindness.
--Shelley

"God Loves You - even when you are not looking."

He created me to be a light of love and life. Letting go, I allow the light of Him within me
to shine forth in my life and out into my world.
--unknown

Express love through acknowledgment. Notice the good in those around you and freely
comment on it.
--Mary Manin Morrissey

The value of persistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but we will finally hear Him.
--William McGill

We are not living just to be sober; we are living to learn, to serve, and to love.

The express elevator to sobriety doesn't work - please use the Steps.

S T E P S = Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

UNITY

"This land of ours cannot be a
good place for any of us to live
in unless we make it a good
place for all of us to live in."
-- Richard Nixon

My sobriety has given me a comprehensive view of life and my neighbor. Today I believe
that we are all connected and if I hurt or am hurt, then everybody at some level is
affected. Because we are all children of God, it follows that we are all one big family ---
speaking different languages, having different customs, revealing different
physical characteristics and complexions, requiring different satisfaction (both sexual
and emotional), but we are still one big family under God.

This means I have a responsibility to all in the family and I can best exercise that
responsibility by having a healthy respect for myself. I should treat people as I would
want to be treated, allowing them the freedom and love I require in my life. I am the
key to the world's needs.

Lord, let me find my neighbor in myself.

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"Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit
among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of
God."
Colossians 1:6

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
strength."
Deuteronomy 6:5

For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule generation after generation. The
LORD is faithful in all he says; he is gracious in all he does. The LORD helps the fallen
and lifts up those bent beneath their loads. All eyes look to you for help; you give them
their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of
every living thing.
Psalm 145:13-16

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Daily Inspiration

Do not take any action until you've prayed and listened and then you will have guidance to reach the understanding necessary to complete the things you need to do. Lord, I know that there is no obstacle for You and ask that You will guide me along the right path.

Rejoice and be happy for others when they are blessed. Lord, bless me with the ability to be free of envy so that I can truly share the joy of my neighbors.