[bluidkiti]

September 2

Daily Reflections

FINDING "A REASON TO BELIEVE"
The willingness to grow is the essence of all spiritual
development. As Bill Sees It, p.171

A line from a song goes, ". . . and I look to find a reason to believe .
. ." It reminds me that at one time I was not able to find a reason
to believe that my life was all right. Even though my life had been
saved by coming to A.A., three months later I went out and drank
again. Someone told me: "You don't have to believe. Aren't you
willing to believe that there is a reason for your life, even though you
may not know yourself what that reason is, or that you may not
sometimes know the right way to behave?" When I saw how
willing I was to believe there was a reason for my life, then I could
start to work on the Steps. Now when I begin with, "I am willing. .
. ," I am using the key that leads to action, honesty, and openness
to a Higher Power moving through my life.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"Outline the program of action to new prospects, explaining how you
made a self appraisal, how you straightened out your past, and
why you are now endeavoring to help them. It is important for
them to realize that your attempt to pass this on to them plays a
vital part in your recovery. The more hopeless they feel, the better.
They will be more likely to follow your suggestions. Tell them about
the fellowship of A.A. and if they show interest, lend them a copy of
the Big Book." Can I tell the A.A. story to another alcoholic?

Meditation For The Day

You should try to stand aside and let God work through you. You
should try not to block Him off by your own efforts, or prevent
His spirit working through you. God desires your obedient service
and your loyalty to the ideals of the new life you are seeking. If
you are loyal to God, He will give you protection against
mistakes. His spirit will plan for you and secure for you a
sufficiency of all spiritual help. You will have true victory and real
success, if you will put yourself in the background and let God work
through you.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may not interfere with the working of God's spirit in me
and through me. I pray that I may give it full rein.

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As Bill Sees It

Toward Maturity, p.244

Many oldsters who have put our A.A. "booze cure" to severe but
successful tests still find they often lack emotional sobriety. To
attain this, we must develop real maturity and balance (which is to
say, humility) in our relations with ourselves, with our fellows, and
with God.

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Let A.A. never be a closed corporation; let us never deny our
experience, for whatever it may be worth, to the world around us.
Let our individual members heed the call to every field of human
endeavor. Let them carry the experience and spirit of A.A. into all
these affairs, for whatever good they may accomplish. For not only
has God saved us from alcoholism; the world has received us back into
its citizenship.

1. Grapevine, January 1958
2. A.A. Comes Of Age, pp. 232-233

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Walk In Dry Places

Going with the Flow
Problem solving.
It's surprising how many problems solve themselves when we're willing to turn them over to our Higher
Power. This isn't a self-fulfilling prophecy brought about by suspicious beliefs we can actually find proof of this seemingly providential activity in our lives.
We don't have to convince anybody except ourselves that this process works. What we can prove is that some of our best opportunities come about by what we would call chance or coincidence. Indeed, the first meeting of two AA founders could be called such a chance event.
We need to believe that our Higher Power is working ceaselessly for the upward development of the human race, and Twelve Step programs can be essential forces in this upward development. In our own lives, we can go with this flow of ever-increasing good, as we continue to feel ourselves a part of it.
I will not wrestle with every problem today. Some problems will be
dealt with later and some will seem to solve themselves. I will
know that I am part of an upward development that is continuing.

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Keep It Simple

… except when to do so would injure them or others.
---Second half of Step Nine
We have to be careful when we make amends. We must think about people’s well being. Can we help heal by being direct with them? Or would it hurt them again? At times, this means not making direct amends. Sometimes, it’s better to make some other kind of amend. If you’re not sure how to make amends to someone, ask for advice from your sponsor and your group. And pray. Over time, you’ll know if making direct amends is the right thing to do. Remember, Step Nine means we’re responsible for our actions. In recovery, our actions can be healing. Healing takes place when we love ourselves and others. And love is what heals us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I’ve hurt people in the past. Please use me now to help those people heal. Give me good judgment, courage, and good timing.
Action for the Day: I will never be able to make direct amends to some people. I will think of amends I can make to them. I can pray daily for their healing.

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Each Day a New Beginning

If I had to describe something as divine it would be what happens between people when they really get it together. There is a kind of spark that makes it all worthwhile. When you feel that spark, you get a good feeling deep in your gut. --June L. Tapp
How lucky we are, that we can experience that divine spark with one another, and with all recovering women. The program offers us the chance, every moment of our lives from this day forward, to experience divinity. All we are asked to do is be there, for one another, to share fully who we are. Vulnerability gets easier as we learn that we can trust each other, that we can share pain, that it's okay to pull and prod and follow, first you and then me and then her.
What a thrill it is to leave our competition behind! The program bonds us together, and the bond will strengthen each of us, but it can elude us, too. It often does when we forget to be there, in one another's presence, when the opportunity comes.
I need these sparks to nurture my growth, singly and collectively. I will be part of a divine experience today.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

WE AGNOSTICS

But in most fields our generation has witnessed complete liberation in thinking. Show any longshoreman a Sunday supplement describing a proposal to explore the moon by means of a rocket and he will say, “I bet they do it—maybe not so long either.” Is not our age characterized by the ease with which we discard old ideas for new, by the complete readiness with which we throw away the theory or gadget which does not work for something new which does?

p. 52

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

HE LIVED ONLY TO DRINK - "I had been preached to, analyzed, cursed, and counseled, but no one had ever said, 'I identify with what's going on with you. It happened to me and this is what I did about it.'"

The people at the meetings gathered around me in kindness in those early days, and I did not drink. But the spiritual demons of withdrawal descended on me. I was black, and these people were white. What did they know about suffering? What could they tell me? I was black and bright, and the world had consistently rejected me for it. I hated this world, its people, and its punishing God. Yet I believe the people in A.A. were sincere and whatever they believed in was working for them. I just did not believe that A.A. would work for me as a black drunk.

p. 450

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Six - "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

Self-righteous anger also can be very enjoyable. In a perverse way we can actually take satisfaction from the fact that many people annoy us, for it brings a comfortable feeling of superiority. Gossip barbed with our anger, a polite form of murder by character assassination, has its satisfactions for us, too. Here we are not trying to help those we criticize; we are trying to proclaim our own righteousness.

p. 67

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Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
--Abraham Lincoln

"The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do.
The hard part is doing it."
--General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

"I didn't learn humility with my head. I learned humility with my
heart."
--Unknown

For all my good intentions, there are days when things go wrong or I
fall into old habits. When things are not going well, when I'm grumpy
or mad, I'll realize that I've not been paying attention to my soul and
I've not been following my best routine.
--Robert Fulghum

When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and
brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.
--Jean Shinoda Bolen

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

MEMORY

"Every man's memory is his
private literature."
-- Aldous Huxley

What it was like. What happened. What it is like today. Memory. If I
am to stay sober, I need to remember. I need to remember on a daily
basis. I must never forget.

My life is reflected in my memory. The "writing on the wall" is
really in my head, but am I prepared to see it and acknowledge it?
For years I chose not to remember. I lived in a world of
make-believe. People were exaggerating the facts! With denial at
the center of my life I was able to forget the pain and drink again,
only to awake to yesterday's pain again.

My memory is the key to my recovery. Spirituality is about "seeing" --
seeing my life as it is, rather than how I imagined or hoped it would
be. My pain belongs in my life because it is mine! Alcohol always
works; but does it work for me or against me? My remembering
helps me answer that question today and hopefully tomorrow.

Thank You, God, for allowing my yesterdays to forge my tomorrows.

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The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times
of trouble.
Psalm 9:9

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1

I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give
them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them
out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than
all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father
are one."
John 10:27-30

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Daily Inspiration

Don't miss a single chance to enrich your life or the lives of others. Lord, Your blessings are countless. May I always be aware of Your presence in my life, share my blessings, and use my blessings to be a blessing to others.

Never judge. The heart of each one of us is so different, so complex, with so many different circumstances and sufferings that only God is truly able to know it. Lord, may I reach out to others with compassion when they need my support.

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NA Just For Today

Higher Powered

"Daily practice of our Twelve Step program enables us to change from what we were to people guided by a Higher Power"
Basic Text p.83

Who have we been, and who have we become? There are a couple of ways to answer this question. One is very simple:

We came to Narcotics Anonymous as addicts, our addiction killing us. In NA, we've been freed from our obsession with drugs and our compulsion to use. And our lives have changed.

But that's only the tip of the iceberg. Who have we really been? In the past, we were people without power or direction. We felt like we had no purpose, no reason for living. Our lives didn't make any more sense to us than they did to our families, our friends, or our neighbors.

Who are we really becoming? Today, we are not merely clean addicts, but people with a sense of direction, a purpose, and a Power greater than ourselves. Through daily practice of the Twelve Steps, we've begun to understand how our addiction warped our feelings, motivations, and behavior. Gradually, the destructive force of our disease has been replaced by the life-giving force of our Higher Power.

Recovery means more than cleaning up-it means powering up. We have done more than shed some bad habits; we are becoming new people, guided by a Higher Power.

Just for today: The guidance I need to become a new person is ready at hand. Today, I will draw further away from my old and closer to my Higher Power.
pg. 256

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, the answer is blowin' in the wind. --Bob Dylan
A family is like a windchime; each member hangs in delicate balance with the others. When a problem develops for one family member, the rest of us often take on roles to try and deal with the situation. But what happens to our windchime when we're all pulling and pushing in different directions? Our balance is lost and we either all clash together or none of our chimes connect at all and there is only painful silence.
If we let go and trust in that spiritual force beyond ourselves, we discover that it is like the wind. It moves our windchime gently with a soothing breeze that allows us to relax in our places or move together as the force directs us. It brings out the beautiful harmonious notes we weren't able to produce ourselves.
How can I help us make better music together today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
A lot of what passes for depression these days is nothing more than a body saying that it needs work. --Geoffrey Norman
Exercise changes our thought patterns in beneficial ways. Often we may feel irritable or blue and see nothing we can do about the situation. Then we are amazed at what simply going for a half hour walk will do. Although our situations don't change, we are changed in how we respond to them. Exercise - whether going for a walk, working in the garden, playing ball, or scrubbing a floor - clears our minds. After some physical movement we find our thoughts getting clearer. Ideas come to mind that help us cope, and our spirit is energized.
Science has demonstrated that many serious cases of depression respond just as well to a program of vigorous daily exercise as to traditional treatment. In a sense, our Higher Power speaks to us through our muscles and bones when we move them. This spiritual experience, like many others, never comes from thinking about it, only from doing it.
Today, I will make time for physical activity.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
If I had to describe something as divine it would be what happens between people when they really get it together. There is a kind of spark that makes it all worthwhile. When you feel that spark, you get a good feeling deep in your gut. --June L. Tapp
How lucky we are, that we can experience that divine spark with one another, and with all recovering women. The program offers us the chance, every moment of our lives from this day forward, to experience divinity. All we are asked to do is be there, for one another, to share fully who we are. Vulnerability gets easier as we learn that we can trust each other, that we can share pain, that it's okay to pull and prod and follow, first you and then me and then her.
What a thrill it is to leave our competition behind! The program bonds us together, and the bond will strengthen each of us, but it can elude us, too. It often does when we forget to be there, in one another's presence, when the opportunity comes.
I need these sparks to nurture my growth, singly and collectively. I will be part of a divine experience today.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Detaching with Love with Children
It's one thing to let go of my husband and let him suffer the consequences. But how do I let go of my children? Isn't it different with children? Don't we have responsibilities as parents?
We do have different responsibilities to our children than to other adults. We are financially responsible for our children; we are responsible for providing for their material and physical needs.
Our children need to be taught how to help themselves - from tying their shoes to making social plans. They need our love and guidance. They need consistent enforcement of boundaries, once we've established limits. They need a supportive, nurturing environment in which to grow. They need help learning values.
But we are not responsible for controlling our children. Contrary to popular belief, controlling doesn't work. Discipline and nurturing do - if combined. Shame and guilt interfere with our children's learning and our parenting. We need to respond to our children in a responsible way and hold them accountable for their actions at an age appropriate level. We need only do our best.
We can let our children have their own process of living; we can have our own process. And, we can take care of ourselves during that process. Seek balance. Seek wisdom, Seek not to have control, but to own our power as people who are parents.
Today, God, help me find an appropriate balance of responsibility to my children. Help me parent through nurturing and discipline, instead of control.

All my needs are being met easily and effortlessly today. I simply turn them over to my Higher Power and do the footwork. --Ruth Fishel

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Journey To The Heart

Listen to the Voice of the Soul

Listen to your soul. It speaks quietly, yet clearly, about what it wants, what it needs, what it’s learning, what it yearns for. It speaks of its fears and dreams, its hopes and needs.

Learn to listen to the souls of others,too. Listen not only to the way people chatter and exchange ideas. Learn to listen to what they’re really saying.

“My son is nineteen. He’s moved away from home. He talks all the time about wanting to be grown up, wanting his independence. So my husband and I have really tried to give him his freedom,” one woman said. “Yet recently, when he had a crisis, I heard for the first time what he was really saying. Don’t go too far. Call me often. Be there for me. Let me know you’re there.Let me know you still care. Now I try to call him every day, just to tell him I love him and to let him know I’m close by. The crisis he had wasn’t the issue. Not really. What he was really saying was he needed us.”

Go beyond what you hear with your ears. Learn to hear what you’re really saying, and what others are really saying to you.

Souls do talk. Listen quietly. Listen to your own. Learn to hear the voice of others. A little soul talk goes a long way.

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more language of letting go
Coping devices

We may do less-than-logical things to cope with tragic events. We don't do these things because we're silly. We do them because it's the only way we know to survive.

One of the silliest things we do to cope with life is devaluing ourselves when bad things happen to us.

We might have experienced a lot of pain while we were growing up. So as a child we looked around and said, "Yup. This must be my fault. There's something wrong with me." Or, "I know if I would have kept my room cleaner, my daddy wouldn't have gone away."

Low self-esteem-- and all the ways it manifests-- becomes a way of coping with painful events. We look around and see all the people who don't appear to have our level of problems, so we may conclude. "There's something wrong with me." Although adapting a posture of low self-esteem might have been a way of surviving pain, that time has passed. It's time to replace low self-esteem with new perspectives.

Stop coping with events bt devaluing yourself. Instead, respond to life by loving and taking care of yourself.

Love yourself just as you are.


God, help me love myself for who I am now.

Activity: Do a review of your self-esteem. Go back over past events from your childhood, teenage, and adult years. What painful events occurred? Did you give away your self-esteem to certain people? Now is a time to claim your self-esteem and take it back. Write down positive areas of your life. Write down what you friends and family members appreciate about you.

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Let Your Confidence Shine
Our Insecurities

We all have insecurities, what we think we see about another person is usually what they want us to notice.

At some point in our life there may come a time when we feel insecure about ourselves. We might judge our ability to do something or feel self-conscious about the way we look. It does not matter how this feeling manifests in our life, but it is important to be aware of our thoughts and how they impact our view of ourselves. Once we remember that insecurities are a normal part of life for everyone—even those who appear to be extremely self-assured—we may find it easier to step back from the uncertainty that lies within and take a more realistic look at ourselves.

The desire to improve or better ourselves is a natural response that arises when we begin to compare our lives to those of other people. It might seem, for example, that we do not have nearly as much going for us as our neighbor, best friend, or coworker. In truth, what we think we see about another person is usually what they want us to notice. They may be putting on a mask, trying to make things in their lives seem better than they are. If we were to look at their lives a little more closely, we would also realize that they are human, full of glorious imperfections that make them who they are. Recognizing this may take some time at first. Should we, however, feel our uncertainties begin to surface, taking deep breaths while at the same time acknowledging each one of our gifts will help us become more centered. Doing this allows us to see the wonders that lie within and lets our inner beauty shine forth into the world all the more brightly.

When we hold up such a detailed mirror to our lives and weigh ourselves against others, we are not able to see the things that make us truly unique. Giving ourselves permission to appreciate all the universe has given us, however, will make us feel more secure about ourselves and more able to use our gifts to their fullest. Published with permission from Daily OM

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

When I wake up, I’ll think quietly about the twenty-four hours ahead. I’ll ask God to direct my thinking, especially asking that it be free from self-pity and from dishonest or self seeking motives. If I have to determine which of several courses to take, I’ll ask God for inspiration, for an intuitive thought, or a decision. Then I’ll relax and take it easy, confident that all will be well. Can I believe that when I give up my “rights” of expectations, I’ll know freedom?

Today I Pray

I praise God for being able to praise God, to choose the times when I will seek Him, to find my own words when I talk to Him, to address Him in the way that seems most right to me. May I expect that He in turn must be free of my expectations, to affect my life as He sees fit.

Today I Will Remember

Who am I to try to tell God what to do?

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One More Day

My coat and I live comfortably together. It has assumed all my wrinkles, does not hurt me anywhere, has molded itself on my deformities, and is complacent to all my movements. I only feel its presence because it keeps me warm.
– Victor Hugo

The anticipation of school beginning each fall is fueled by youngsters’ love of newness – new clothes, new shoes, new books, new teachers. We still enjoy newness, but we also find comfort in what is old and reliable. No afghan comforts quite as well as the one that was knitted with loving hands many years ago. We may have a favorite mug or chair. Over years we have developed trusting and dependable relationships. While we remain open to change, we also feel comfortable with what is old and familiar.

I’m glad I can find comfort in the old and familiar, and excitement in the new and unfamiliar.

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Food For Thought

Stop Overeating, Start Living

Physical abstinence is just the beginning of the new life OA offers to us. When our Higher Power controls our life, we become free of the mental obsession with food. Then we are able to get down to the business of living, which we avoided with our illness.

Rather than reaching out with both hands to grab and hold on to all we can get, we begin to think in terms of giving and serving. We may start by sharing what OA has done for us with newcomers to the program. It is the newcomer who is our reminder of who we were and where we came from.

We find that though we can never eat spontaneously, we can live much more spontaneously than before. Because we feel less guilt and fear, we can experience the joy of acting from the center of our being. Knowing that our Higher Power is in control, we have trust and faith that the results of our actions will be okay. Each day becomes less of a trial and more of an opportunity.

Today, may I experience the spontaneity that comes with Your control.

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One Day At A Time

ISOLATION
“A great hope fell, you heard no noise,
The ruin was within.
Oh, cunning wreck that, told no tale
And let no witness in!”
Emily Dickinson

When I was young, I was unable to negotiate situations that were too big for me to understand. I went within and hid. I lost hope and was filled with despair. I soothed myself with food that was always there for me. In time, I felt so isolated that I felt completely separate from the human race.

As I recover, it is important for me to use the tools of the program which reconnect me with other people. This connection tells me that I am okay. I always have a choice to isolate or connect. Today I choose to connect.

One Day at a Time . . .
I ask my Higher Power for the ability and courage to reach out and connect to others by using the tools of the program.
~ Melissa S.

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Having persevered with the rest of the program, they wondered why they fell. We think the reason is that they never completed their housecleaning. They took inventory all right, but hung on to some of the worst items in stock. They only THOUGHT they had lost their egoism and fear; they only THOUGHT they had humbled themselves. But they had not learned enough of humility, fearlessness and honesty, in the sense we find it necessary, until they told someone else ALL their life story. - Pg. 73 - Into Action

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

At this time many people will get on our nerves. This is normal during early recovery. How we see others is often a mirror of our feelings--thus we are not so much upset by the actions of others as we are upset with ourselves.

Help me see that my feelings are often displaced and projected into anothers behavior when it may really come from within me.

Prayer

I will pray today. I will not try to do anything without God 's help whether it's finding something in a cupboard, figuring out what to have for breakfast or curing my life. I will allow God into each and every intimate detail in my life trusting that God's love is all pervasive, all knowing and cannot be used up. I understand that God's reach extends as I allow it to imbue my life with a sense of being alive and in constant, constant contact. It is not about being deserving, God and I are meant to be one in the same. It is not about being good enough, God is with me always, It is I who stray from God, not God who strays from me. Today I will allow God's presence to fill me and guide and hold my life. There is no such thing as poverty or lack when I live in God's eternal love and presence.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Recovery is not an event; it is a process. The disease of addiction affects all three aspects of our physical, mental, and spiritual selves by changing our behavior (to self-destruction), thinking (to self-serving), and allegiance (to no purpose). It was a slow debilitating process. Recovery is the same slow process in reverse.

I am in the process of changing my behavior to self-construction, my thoughts to service, and my allegiance from 'no purpose' to a higher purpose.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

We don't care why you're here, it's why you stay.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

All my needs are being met easily and effortlessly today.
I simply turn them over to my Higher Power and do the footwork.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

This too shall pass...Like a gallstone. - Anon.