Action

My AA way of life now demands constant action -- an active self honesty and recognition of the necessity for living in day-tight compartments. Patience must be practiced. In gratitude, I must humbly come to believe every moment of every day.
- Came to Believe . . ., p. 96
Gratitude is not a word in AA. It's an action.
S W A T = Surrender, Willingness, Action, Trust.

 

 

 We aren't bad people trying to get good. We're sick people trying to get well. We don't have a problem. We have a solution witch we don't like.

"Having a resentment is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die."

"The power behind me is greater than the problem in front of me."

" The quality of your recovery is proportional to the quality of your surrender."

Instead of praying "God be with me,"
I pray "God bear with me!"

God doesn't close one door
without opening a better one
BUT
we've got to get our fingers
out of the closing door. The reason We're in pain is because we have our fingers in a door God is trying to close.

 

Remember and have no doubt! The God who can punish us for our sins is also capable in His limitless mercy of absolving us from our sins. There is no heavy sin or curse that cannot be redeemed by deeds and prayer.

It is not until you awaken and become fully present that you will realize that you have not been present. It is not until you awaken that you will realize you have been asleep, dreaming that you are awake.

A saying from the area of Chinese medicine would be appropriate to mention here: "One disease, long life; no disease, short life." In other words, those who know what's wrong with them and take care of themselves accordingly will tend to live a lot longer than those who consider themselves perfectly happy and neglect their weakness. So, in that sense at least, a Weakness of some sort can do you a big favor, if you acknowledge that it's there.

Whatever we are waiting for - peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance - it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.

A positive sense of self can bring heaven to earth. If one manifests their divine nature they can transform their inner world and cultivate a life of love and compassion. Love and wholeness will bring us rewarding new life experiences and fulfill our souls potential. Let us all nurture awareness and nourish the spirit, for by doing so we will walk the earth in friendship as we reconnect with joy.

 

Carrying the message

 

". . . we tried to carry this message to alcoholics." What message? Hope. Example. The way out. The way back. A handful of simple principles to unravel most of our snarled-up problems. A touch of humor -- not taking ourselves so damned seriously. Meetings. Availability. Talk, talk, talk. . ."Carrying the message" is all these things.

- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 2], p. 179
 In AA we carry the message ... not the mess.

E S H = Experience, Strength and Hope.

Since drug abuse and addiction have so many scopes and disturb so many aspects of an individual’s life, healing is not simple. Valuable treatment programs characteristically include many mechanisms, each going to a particular piece of the sickness and its consequences. Addiction management must assist the person to stop using drugs, sustain a drug-free way of life, and attain fruitful functioning in the family unit, at work, and in the general public. Due to the fact that substance abuse is in general a chronic disease, addicts are not able to just end the use of drugs for a short time and be cured. Most addicts need long-term or recurring episodes of care to attain the decisive goal of sustained abstinence and recovery of their lives.

Drug addiction is a multifaceted illness distinguished by powerful and, at times, unmanageable drug desire, along with uncontrollable drug in search of and use that persist even in the face of overwhelming consequences. Despite the fact that the path to drug dependence begins with the deliberate act of using drugs, as time goes by, a person’s aptitude to select not to do so gets compromised, and looking for and taking drugs becomes neurotic. This conduct results mainly from the consequences of extended drug exposure on brain performance. Craving is a brain illness that impacts multiple brain functions, as well as the ones involved in gain and enthusiasm, knowledge and memory, and inhibitory control over behavior.

A Member Shares:
Good evening, I'm Ann, and I'm an alcoholic. This weekend, I had the pleasure to go to a group's anniversary meeting. There was great food, upbeat members, and lots of great sharing from the speakers. As I listened to the story of one speaker who had over 25 years of sobriety, I was struck by the sheer miracles we are privy to in AA. From the depths of despair to lives that are rich and full of laughter and goodwill, we truly do change radically if we are willing. The speaker's story reminded me of the times in my own life when I simply did not believe that anything or anyone could help. I felt so alone and inadequate and hopeless. Then, I recall waking up one day with a “knowing” of how to solve my problem. I absolutely knew that I would and could be safe; I had somehow found the power to carry it out. Within a week, my life had changed. I had gone from hopeless to empowered, and had no way to explain what had happened. Today, I know what that was. It was the same power I found one morning to stop the insanity of alcoholism. My life has been filled with such moments of grace. I will be sure there is no solution to some problem, and then it changes. It always seems it changes in a blink. And in AA, we share our stories with others. We share honestly about that despair, our insanity, and then the miracles of how we've been transformed. Even when I was drinking, I was attending AA open meetings fairly regularly. Do you not think I wasn't hearing those miracles while secretly drinking and worrying that I might have a real problem myself? Of course, I was. I am sober by the grace of God, for sure. But the generous sharing by AA members is how God carried the message to me, even when I was still drinking. I will be eternally grateful, too. Because that morning when I personally “woke up,” I had not a shred of doubt that AA works, that I would be OK, and that I knew exactly what to do next. I still need to be constantly reminded that there is simply no problem that God cannot and will not help me through in this life. I hear your courage, wisdom, and strength and I'm reminded that I, too, can tap into that power.

Pause

Pause.

As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day.
"Thy will be done." 
         ( courtesy AAOnline.net )

- Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 87-88.

The Three "P's" -- Pause, Pray, Proceed.

P A U S E = Patience And Understanding Succeed Every time.

The grace of prayer

I have never been a writer of poet I was told to put my thoughts on paper. So I started writing my councilor said putting my thoughts on paper would help me stay clean. I am sober 140 days now, one day at a time. I hope this helps someone thanks Chase.

 

 

 

The grace of prayer.

I have lived a life of Isolation…
felt alone even in a congregation…
Fear of people places and things…
I stayed quiet so as not to be seen…
I used whiskey, rum, gin, and beer to hide my fear…
they gave false courage for a time…
but when morning came I felt only despair and grime…
on the dark side of life I have seen Love though myself un-aware…
of the feeling it brings to your soul or the songs it sings…
my dark side lives on the side of Pride….
Pride is evil for it brings false feelings anger and rage…
it has consumed me to the point I was back in a cage…
in that cell though not on my knee’s…
I prayed please end this insanity this disease…
I have the grace of a Higher Power today…
that lifts my spirit my thoughts and ways…
he brings a sense of ease to my reckless life…
and gave me Compassion to feel, wrong from right…
I once served sin but now I’m free…
I pray for Wisdom to shower my soul to be…
the thought of Peace is new you see…
not worrying what wrong is waiting for me…
Material things was my biggest fear I had to let go and let him steer…
all the material worries of what I have and what I don't…
is not important but hard to let go…
and my Lust for women and rich’s and power…
will turn to dust in that final hour…
the hour is now if you so choose…
a Higher Power will fill your shoes…
if you ask he is there Serenity awaits with only a prayer...............

 

 

Bottle

I’m really inspired to write this because I've been through and witnessed what this disease can do to people. I'm 40 years old and it destroyed my life. I turned my addiction into a positive instead of a negative. My goal is to inspire people to become sober and live a healthy, happy life.

Bottle

you see the bottle,
and don't no what to do
you want some,
but you don't know what will happen to you
your mind says go ahead,
one will be fine
but you know what happens when you cross that line
you keep trying to convince yourself that it will be alright
but you know it will take control,
no matter how hard you fight
your will becomes weaker,
and the temptations start to grow
your resentments are winning,
and your victories are low
you convince yourself its ok,
and finally give in
another loss for you, and for the bottle
another win.