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November 21

Daily Reflections

A CLASSIC PRAYER

Lord, make me a channel for thy peace - that where
there is hatred, I may bring love - that where there
is wrong. I may bring the spirit of forgiveness -
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony -
that where there is error, I may bring truth -
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith -
that where there is despair, I may bring hope -
that where there are shadows, I may bring light -
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than
to be comforted - to understand, than to be
understood - to love, than to be loved. For it is
by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by
forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying
that one awakens to Eternal Life.
Amen.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 99

No matter where I am in my spiritual growth, the
St. Francis prayer helps me improve my conscious
contact with the God of my understanding. I think
that one of the great advantages of my faith in
God is that I do not understand Him, or Her, or
It. It may be that my relationship with my Higher
Power is so fruitful that I do not have to understand.
All that I am certain of is that if I work the
Eleventh Step regularly, as best I can, I will
continue to improve my conscious contact, I will
know His will for me, and I will have the power to
carry it out.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I no longer waste money, but try to put it to good
use. Like all of us, when I was drunk, I threw money
around "like a drunken sailor." It gave me a feeling
of importance--a millionaire for a day. But the
morning after, with an empty wallet and perhaps some
undecipherable checks to boot, was a sad awakening.
One of the hardest things to face is the fact of
wasted money. How could I have been such a fool? How
will I ever make it up? Thoughts like these get you
down. When we are sober, we spend our hard earned
money as it should be spent. Although some of us
could be more generous in our A.A. giving, at least
we do not throw it away. Am I making good use of my
money?

Meditation For The Day

You were meant to be at home and comfortable in the
world. Yet some people live a life of quiet
desperation. This is the opposite of being at home
and at peace with the world. Let your peace of mind
be evident to those around you. Men should see that
you are comfortable, and seeing it, know that it
springs from your trust in a higher power. The dull,
hard way of resignation is not God's way. Faith
takes the sting out of the winds of adversity and
brings peace even in the midst of struggle.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be more comfortable in my way
of living. I pray that I may feel more at home and
at peace with myself.

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As Bill Sees It

Groping Toward God, p. 323

"More than most people, I think, alcoholics want to know who they
are, what this life is about, whether they have a divine origin and an
appointed destiny, and whether there is a system of cosmic justice and
love.

"It is the experience of many of us in the early stages of drinking to
feel that we have had glimpses of the Absolute and a heightened
feeling of identification with the cosmos. While these glimpses and
feelings doubtless have a validity, they are deformed and finally swept
away in the chemical, spiritual, and emotional damage wrought by the
alcohol itself.

"In A.A., and in many religious approaches, alcoholics find a great deal
more of what they merely glimpse and felt while trying to grope their
way toward God in alcohol."

Letter, 1960

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Walk In Dry Places

Alcoholism in the workplace
Employment
Most of the personal stories in AA include troubles in the workplace. This is not surprising, because the disease itself almost guarantees that an active alcoholic is likely to make more mistakes, have higher absenteeism, and get into trouble with bosses and/or fellow employees. Who really wants a practicing alcoholic on the payroll? Who would want such a person as a manager or employer? Who wants to be treated by a doctor who is drunk or badly hung over.
If our alcoholism created problems in the workplace, we have no moral right to blame others who held us accountable for this. Far from blaming others who were critical of us, we owe personal amends for any harm we caused employers or fellow workers.
The good news is that recovery makes it possible for us to perform up to acceptable standards at work and carry out our responsibilities. In sobriety, we can write a new chapter and establish a good work history.
In my work today, I'll keep in mind the wonderful advantages I have as a result of knowing and practicing the AA principles. As a recovering alcoholic, I can be a positive force in an organization.

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Keep It Simple

To love others, we must first learn to love ourselves.---Anonymous
Sometimes we think our life would be fine if that dream person showed up. But loving someone isn’t easy. Our bad habits cause problems. We have to change. Sometimes we aren’t ready to have on especial person. We have to have a group of people---our recovery group---to love and help us get healthy. We must learn to trust, to be honest, to give help, and to love others. The truth is, no one person can make our life wonderful---except us. We hold happiness inside of us. It’s in our spirit. Look no further.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me love myself
Action for the Day: I’ll list five ways I will love myself today.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Continuous effort--not strength or intelligence--is the key to unlocking our potential. --Liane Cordes
Perseverance may well be our greatest asset. As we forge ahead on a project, it loses its power over us. Our confidence and abilities grow in concert with our progress on the project, preparing us to tackle the next one too.
We have something special, uniquely our own to offer in this life. And we also have the potential to offer it successfully. However, we don't always realize our potential. Many of us stifled our development with fears of failure, low self-worth, assumed inadequacies. The past need plague us no longer.
Help is readily available for us to discover our capacities for success. Abilities stand ready to be tapped, goals and projects await our recognition. Any commitment we make to a task that draws our interest will be reinforced by God's commitment to our efforts. We have a partner. Our efforts are always doubled when we make them--truly make them.
I will not back away from a project today. I will persevere and find completion. I'll feel completed.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

BILL'S STORY

In 1929 I contracted golf fever. We went at once to the country, my wife to applaud while I started out to overtake Walter Hagen. Liquor caught up with me much faster than I came up behind Walter. I began to be jittery in the morning. Golf permitted drinking every day and every night. It was fun to carom around the exclusive course which had inspired such awe in me as a lad. I acquired the impeccable coat of tan one sees upon the well-to-do. The local banker watched me whirl fat checks in and out of his till with amused skepticism.

pp. 3-4

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

Our Southern Friend

Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"

I am examined for the draft and pass the physical exam. What a dirty deal! Drafted! The shame of it. I am to go to camp on November 13th. The Armistice is signed on the 11th and the draft is called off. Never in the service! The war leaves me with a pair of blankets, a toilet kit, a sweater knit by my sister, and a still greater inferiority.

p. 210

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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."

A.A. has many single alcoholics who wish to marry and are in a position to do so. Some marry fellow A.A.'s. How do they come out? On the whole these marriages are very good ones. Their common suffering as drinkers, their common interest in A.A. and spiritual things, often enhance such unions. It is only where "boy meets girl on A.A. campus," and love follows at first sight, that difficulties may develop. The prospective partners need to be solid A.A.'s and long enough acquainted to know that their compatibility at spiritual, mental, and emotional levels is a fact and not wishful thinking. They need to be as sure as possible that no deep-lying emotional handicap in either will be likely to rise up under later pressures to cripple them. The considerations are equally true and important for the A.A.'s who marry "outside" A.A. With clear understanding and right, grown-up attitudes, very happy results do follow.

pp. 119-120

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Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful.
--Annette Funicello

Happiness is an inside job.
--unknown

"People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges."
--Joseph Fort Newton

AA is not something you join, it's a way of life.
--unknown

I trust God's plan for me today.
I know that I am being guided at all times.
I know all I need to know in any given moment.
--Ruth Fishel

Don't stare at the steps of success - step up the stairs.
--American Proverb

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

HEROES

"Self-trust is the essence of
heroism."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

In my recovery I have become my hero. It sounds egotistical but it is part of my
program of self-love. I have many other heroes but today I respect myself. Today I
believe that God is involved in my life; an aspect of divinity exists within me. I trust
me with my life, and I am proud of the daily choices I make for my sobriety.

Spirituality allows me to be my hero today because it is with my respect of self that I
can truly respect others; the awareness of my dignity affords dignity to others; my
personal healing brings healing to others.

Today I am the center of my universe.

Thank You for the awareness of the achievements and successes in my life; today I am
my own winner.

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"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give
glory to your Father who is in Heaven."
Matthew 5:16

"As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
Psalm 103:12

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the
beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
2 John 1:6

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:17-18

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Daily Inspiration

Don't spoil what you already have by using up your time wanting what you don't have. Lord, may I live with gratitude and take back my life because my life is not and never will be in the hands of fate.

When you feel anger, allow yourself no more than 5 minutes because after that, anger is self-indulging and turns quickly to hatred and rage. Lord, You are a forgiving God. Heal my hurts.