Keep it Simple <!--102525-->
Love thy neighbor as thyself, but choose your neighbor.—Louise Beal— In our program, we learn a lot about loving ourselves. Then we start to see how this helps us love our neighbors. We learn to love ourselves honestly, seeing our strengths and our weaknesses. We learn to see others honestly. We learn how much to […]
AA Thought for the Day <!--102425-->
I have turned to a Power greater than myself. Thank God, I am no longer at the center of the universe. All the world does not revolve around me any longer. I am only one among many. I have a Father in Heaven and I am only one of His children and a small one […]
Daily Reflections <!--102425-->
“BY FAITH AND BY WORKS” On anvils of experience, the structure of our Society was hammered out. . . . Thus has it been with A.A. By faith and by works we have been able to build upon the lessons of an incredible experience. They live today in the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, which […]
Each day a new Beginning <!--102425-->
The universal human yearning [is] for something permanent, enduring, without shadow of change. —Willa Cather— The specter of change builds dread in most of us. We fear the effects on our personal lives. We lack faith that the impending change will benefit us. Only time can assure us of that. And it will, just as […]
Promise of a new Day <!--102425-->
The true use of our speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them. —Oliver Goldsmith— Learning to communicate, for little children, means squeezing huge desires into little words, like”hurt” or “cookie.” We learn early that we’re only going to get part of what we want. Some of us never recover […]
Keep it Simple <!--102425-->
Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle that fits them all.—Oliver Wendell Homes— Lying, above anything else, brings us close to getting crazy again. Lying is what addicts do. In our addiction, our whole life was a lie. Lying creates danger because it creates secrets. Secrets keep us from others. To stay […]
Keep it Simple <!--102325-->
It’s not dying faith that’s so hard, it’s living up to it.—William Makepeace Thackeray— We may ask, “Do I have to do an Eighth or Ninth Step?” “Do I really need a sponsor?” “Hmm…can I get by without going to so many meetings?” Having faith means putting our questions aside. So…what do we do? We […]
Each day a new Beginning <!--102325-->
…words are more powerful than perhaps anyone suspects, and once deeply engraved in a child’s mind, they are not easily eradicated. —May Sarton— How burdened we became, as little girls, with the labels applied by parents, teachers, even school chums. We believe about ourselves what others teach us to believe. The messages aren’t always overt. […]
Daily Reflections <!--102325-->
WHAT WE KNOW BEST “Shoemaker, stick to thy last!” . . . better do one thing supremely well than many badly. That is the central theme of this Tradition [Five]. Around it our Society gathers in unity. The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of this principle. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. […]
Promise of a new Day <!--102325-->
To wait for someone else, or to expect someone else to make my life richer, or fuller, or more satisfying, puts me in a constant state of suspension. —Kathleen Tierney Andrus— How tempting it is to make another person responsible for our happiness, and how absurd. To give such power means we’re at their mercy; […]