CHOICES

Definition of Choices:
A range of possibilities from which one or more may be chosen.

Synonyms for Choices:
Option, alternative, possibility, selection, choice, pick, etc.

These notes are from recovery in AA and/or other 12 step programs.
Readers are encouraged to click the external link for more detail.
We hope you find them helpful.

Love in fellowship.

Today I’ll work at being responsible for my choices.
I’ll see myself as one of the lucky ones. –Keep it Simple | More…

Never be too busy to pray. –Unknown
Choice, not chance, determines destiny. –Aristotle | More…

Every choice makes a difference in our lives, some choices make us happy, and some bring trouble. –Keep it Simple | More…

There is always a three-part process in any reaction;
first, the other person’s behavior;

Second, a moment of choosing a response; and third, our reaction.
There is liberation in noticing the choice stage. –Touchstones | More…

I realized I had the right to make choices in my life
And the inner dictatorship of habits slowly lost its grip. –Daily Reflections | More…

We have choices, more choices than we let ourselves see.
We may feel trapped in our relationships, our jobs, our life.

Feeling trapped is a symptom of codependency.
That sense of being trapped is an illusion.

Recovery is not about behaving perfectly or according to anyone else’s rules. More than anything else, recovery is about knowing we have choices and giving ourselves the freedom to choose. –The Language of Letting Go/Melody Beattie | More…

Looking back we
see that our freedom to choose badly was not, after all, a very real freedom. When we chose because we “must,” this was not a free choice either. But it got us started in the right direction.

When we chose because we “ought to” we were really doing better. This time we were earning some freedom, making ourselves ready for more. –The Language of the Heart  p.302

I can look at things from down, by lying back and waiting for someone to rescue me. Or I can stand tall and look at the way things are as the way they’re meant to be. –Attitude Adjustment, AA Grapevine

We have this choice every day of our lives.
We can take the path that leads to insanity and death.

Or we can take the path that leads to a reasonably happy and useful life.
The choice is ours each day of our lives.

Your real work in life is to grow spiritually.
To do this you must follow the path of diligently seeking good.

Work on the material plane should be secondary to your real life’s work. The material things that you need most are those that help you to attain the spiritual. –24Hours | More…

It is so important for us to see that we create our destiny.
We create our futures in the choices we initiate today.

Today I am able to point myself in the direction I want to go.
Addiction made me powerless. Sobriety puts me in touch with my God-given power. –Father Leo | More…

Sometimes we may repeatedly engage in self-defeating behaviors. The direction of our behavior changes when we see what our needs are and that they are the same for everyone. We all need love, compassion, and the opportunity to love others, and we can satisfy those needs in healthy ways. –One More Day | More…

We are constantly faced with choices, and often we are tempted to follow the way of least resistance. The problem with taking the easy way is that it usually ends up being harder in the long run.

Although choosing the hard right is difficult, it is by exercising our ethical muscles that we become strong and gain self-respect. –Food For Thought | More…

Destiny is not a matter of chance;  it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for;  it is a thing to be achieved. Recovery comes only when I make the choice and do the work needed to attain it. –One Day At A Time | More…

Destiny is not a matter of chance;  it is a matter of choice. I have often wished that my life were easier. Wallowing in self-pity has taken me nowhere.

Often I find myself slipping down the emotional slide into the depths of depression.
Recovery comes only when I make the choice and do the work needed to attain it. –One Day At A Time | More…

We can make good choices. We can control our actions. We can start by having control in little ways: follow the law, pay the rent, and make the bed every day.

These choices put order in our lives.
Eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep.

These choices make us strong enough to live each day to the fullest. These kinds of choices set us free. –Keep It Simple | More…

It is not what one does that is wrong, but what one becomes as a consequence of it. We admit our wrongs and re-establish our self-respect. –Touchstones | More…

It is important that we practice thinking about consequences before we make decisions about choices. Every choice I make is like setting up dominos one after the other that produce consequences.

Not just for me but also for my children and for the children that are unborn. My choices and decision today will have consequences for seven generations.

For example, if I work on my own spiritual development and I walk the Red Road, the odds are that my children will. They will marry and their children will follow the Red Road and so will my grandchildren even up to the seventh generation.

This will happen because of the choices and decisions that I make today. –Elders Meditations | More…

Learn to distinguish what is important in life and what is not.
Look closely at your life. Decide what’s really important to you.

Learn to distinguish between the essential and that which you don’t really need. –More Language Of Letting Go/Melodie Beattie | More…

Many of us didn’t understand the changing variables in being human. Every day, especially this one facing us, our choices and decisions will be many. There is only one solution to any problem, and that’s the one our higher power guides us to. –Each Day a New Beginning/Karen Casey | More…

When I was new, I was taught that I could not be in fear and in faith at the same time. I have a choice between the two. –Wisdom Of The Rooms  | More…

I am beginning to understand that I was the only real enemy in my life. With my new understanding of God I have the power of choice back in my life.

I do not have to place myself in destructive relationships or in fearful situations. God is alive in my life and I am discovering the spiritual power of choice. –Father Leo’s Meditations | More…

I can help other alcoholics. I am of some use in the world. I have a purpose in life. Something must guide our lives.

Will it be wealth, pride, selfishness, greed or will it be faith, honesty, purity, unselfishness, love and service? Each one has a choice. We can choose good or evil. We cannot choose both.

Are we going to keep striving until we win the battle? If we win the victory, we can believe that even God in His heaven will rejoice. –24Hours | More…

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Perceiving our challenges as opportunities for positive growth rather than stumbling blocks in our path to success is a choice readily available.

What is inevitable–a matter over which we have no choice–is that difficult times, painful experiences will visit us. No circumstance demands suffering.

Every circumstance has a silver lining. Prayer and meditation, guidance from our higher power, can help us make the right choice every time. –Each Day A New Beginning/Karen Casey | More…

Each day we choose to stay sober, we teach ourselves how to make better choices. Life is about choice. To be spiritual people, we must make spiritual choices.

Honesty is a spiritual choice. And working the Steps is a spiritual choice. Our life is the sum total of our choices. –Keep It Simple | More…

The immediate object of our quest is sobriety. Paradoxically, though, we can achieve no liberation from the alcohol obsession until we become willing to deal with those character defects which have landed us in that helpless condition.

In this freedom quest, we are always given three choices.

1), A rebellious refusal to work upon our glaring defects can be an almost certain ticket to destruction.

2), Or, perhaps for a time, we can stay sober with a minimum of self-improvement and settle ourselves into a comfortable but often dangerous mediocrity.

3), Or, finally, we can continuously try hard for those sterling qualities that can add up to fineness of spirit and action—true and lasting freedom under God. –As Bill Sees It | More… (p.327)

The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice. I never used to realize that I do have choices in life. I have choices in most things that I do.

I can choose to have a more positive attitude today, instead of focusing on all the negatives. I do not have to react to life’s adversities with destructive behaviors.

I can choose to be active in my life rather than being reactive. I can choose to seize life with both hands and live it the best I know how. –One Day At A Time | More…

Our routines can become so rote that we’re unaware of making choices. Suddenly, we realize we haven’t done many of the things which matter most to us.

With this realization comes another: sometimes making no choice is, in fact a choice in the same things, saying the same words, living a copy of the day before —  we have chosen to live safely.

We don’t have to completely change our lives in order to make better choices for ourselves. All we have to do is see all the choices open to us. –One More Day | More…

With the illness, sorrows, and pain have come joy, delight, and happiness. We would not have wanted to see into the future, but now that we are here, we all want to live life as well as we are able.

The need to deal as best we can with our burdens advances us toward positive actions and thoughts. What good or bad things happen to us do not determine a life’s story as much as the choices we make. –One More Day | More…

Many of us didn’t understand the changing variables in being human. Every day, especially this one facing us, our choices and decisions will be many.There is only one solution to any problem, and that’s the one our higher power guides us to. –Each Day a New Beginning | More…

It is important that we practice thinking about consequences before we make decisions about choices. Every choice I make is like setting up dominos one after the other that produce consequences. Not just for me but also for my children and for the children that are unborn. My choices and decision today will have consequences for seven generations. For example, if I work on my own spiritual development and I walk the Red Road, the odds are that my children will. They will marry and their children will follow the Red Road and so will my grandchildren even up to the seventh generation. This will happen because of the choices and decisions that I make today. –Elders Meditations | More…

My life is run by choices and decisions. Every choice I make today will carry with it the consequences of that choice. Every decision I make today will carry with it the consequences of that decision. The question I will ask myself today is, “Do I want to be happy or do I want to be right?” Whichever one I choose will have a lot to do with the consequences I will experience today. If today was the last day of my life, what choices and what decisions would I make? –Elders Meditations | More…

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. –Viktor E. Frankl