GUIDANCE

Definition of Guidance:
Advice or information aimed at resolving a problem or difficulty

Synonyms for Guidance:
Advice, counsel, direction, instruction, teaching, enlightenment, intelligence, etc.

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

Love in fellowship.

The principles we have set down are guides to progress. In the doing the best that we can for today, we are doing all that God asks of us. –Daily Reflections | More…

In spiritual things, you cannot rely so much on your own wisdom as on God’s guidance.
You cannot accomplish much of value in dealing with people until God knows you are ready. –24Hours | More…

We need not apologize to anyone for depending upon the Creator. The verdict of the ages is that men of faith seldom lack courage –As Bill Sees It | More… (p.129)

It is said, when we need love the most is when we deserve it the least. If I secretly hold a grudge or resentment against my brother or sister, I will be a slave to that person until I let them go. Let me remember to look at my brother in a sacred manner. –Elders Meditations | More…

The truth is that God’s purpose is to help us be more of what we ought to be, which is always something better than what we’re experiencing now. Few people are ever called to be monks, but those who do are pleased with their choice and devote themselves to it.
We must always be interested in finding God’s direction in our lives. –Walk In Dry Places/Mel B 08/07 | More…

Our best proof of God’s activity in our lives has to come from personal experience. That’s the message of the 12 Step movement: God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves.

When spiritual guidance brings answers and solutions, we don’t have to defend or justify our belief in our Higher Power. What better proof do we need than evidence that the program does work? –Walk In Dry Places/Mel B 13/07 | More…

Try to look for God’s leading in all your personal relationships, in all your dealings with other persons. God will help you to take care of all your relationships with people, if you are willing to let Him guide you.

You should feel that you are entering upon the stage of success in the proper way of living. You should not doubt that better things are ahead for you. Go forward unafraid because you feel deeply safe under God’s protection. –24Hours 14/07 | More…

While we’re on this lifeboat, trying to save ourselves and each other from alcoholism, we must be truly and sincerely helpful to each other. Carry out God’s guidance as best you can. Leave the results to Him.  –24Hours 20/07 | More…

If we go through the day with a confidence that our Higher Power is with us, events will go better than they would if we hadn’t held to this belief. This is what is meant in the Eleventh Step; “the power to carry that out.” We can learn to accept this with the same sure belief that we accept the sun’s rising and the changing of the seasons.  –Walk In Dry Places/Mel B 19/07 | More…

Guidance isn’t being told which action to take or not to take. Guidance is God’s gift of peace – from which we proceed. The peace dissolves the question, and we simply do what we do in peace. –Hugh Prather | More…

We are never, absolutely never, given more than we can handle. In fact, we are given exactly what we need, at any given time.

We have many lessons to learn. Fortunately, we have the structure of the Twelve Steps to guide us through the lessons. We need mainly to remember what we are powerless over, that there is a power greater than ourselves, and that life will become simple. –Each Day a New Beginning/Karen Casey | More…

The Elders have taught us to balance our lives emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. If I am out of control emotionally, I get angry, doubtful or erratic, I am out of balance.

If I trigger bad mental pictures of my brothers and sisters, I am out of balance. If I get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, I am out of balance physically.

If I don’t pray and talk to the Creator daily, I am out of balance spiritually. To be centered, I must be in balance.

The Creator talks to me in the quiet and still place. So if I get angry, what I should do first is to pause and get still so I can hear the guidance of the Grandfathers. –Elders Meditations | More…

It would be nearly impossible to do an accounting of the results of prayer. Sometimes there seems to be no answer , and at other times, an answer seems to be the result of coincidence.

Those of us who believe in prayer feel that it is indeed a way of communicating with our Higher Power. The best answers to prayer come in the new ways we begin to feel about ourselves and others.

If prayer brings us to a realization of being in tune with our Higher Power, we are working in the right way. The proper changes will come into our lives as needed. Our only responsibility is to pray then let God’s work take place in our lives. –Walk In Dry Places/Mel B. 28/08 | More…

The Twelve Steps offer guidance for an easier way through life. We don’t have to knock ourselves out over these Steps; all we have to do is follow the direction they give us. –Night Light/Amy E. Dean | More...

That we were willing participants to victimization is an awareness not easily accepted, but true nonetheless. Victims no more, we are actors, now. And since committing ourselves to this program, we have readily available a willing and very able director for our role in life. –Each Day a New Beginning/Karen Casey 19/09 | More…

The truth is that God’s purpose is to help us be more of what we ought to be, which is always something better than what we’re experiencing now. Few people are ever called to be monks, but those who do are pleased with their choice and devote themselves to it.
We must always be interested in finding God’s direction in our lives. –Walk In Dry Places/Mel B 08/07 | More…

A spiritual person needs to be careful. The more confident we are, the more likely our egos will get us into trouble.

It’s relatively easy to become self-righteous. We start to think we are teachers and others are students.

We start to judge others. We start, very subtlety at first, to play God.

After a while we really get good at it. This is very dangerous.

We need to remind ourselves, we are here to do God’s will. We need to pray every morning.

Each day we need to check in with God to see what He would have us do. At night we need to spend time with God and review our day. By doing these things, we will stay on track. –Elders Meditations/White Bison 02/12 | More…

I pray that I may not place my self-reliance above reliance of God. May I know that there is no conflict between taking responsibility for my own actions, which I have been taught is the essence of maturity, and looking to God for guidance. May I remember that if I stick to the “do-it-myself” rule, it is like refusing to ask for a road map from a tourist information bureau — and wandering around forever lost. –A Day At A Time 07/12 | More…

Before I came to The Program I drifted from crisis to crisis. Occasionally, I tried to use my will to chart a new course; however, like a rudderless ship, I inevitably foundered once again on the rocks of my own despair.

Today, in contrast, I receive guidance from my Higher Power.Sometimes, the only answer is a sense of peace or an assurance that all is well. –A Day At A Time 11/12 | More…

By listening to the inner self and following one’s instincts and intuitions, a person may be guided to safety. Be still and know.

The Medicine Wheel teaches the four directions of inner power – not personal power, but the power of God. These four directions are emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual.

As our emotions get too far out of control, we simultaneously create an equivalent mental picture, our physical body fills with stress and tension, and we become spiritually confused. When we experience these uptight feelings, the best thing to do is mentally pause, slow down our thinking, breathe slowly, or pray and ask the spirits to help.

Only when we approach the stillness of the mind do we get access to our spiritual guidance system. To be guided, let your mind be still–Elders | More…

Our Spiritual ways have carefully been given to chosen people.
Slowly, through our past generations, through past conflicts, our Elders prayed for guidance, which the Creator provided.

Then it was passed down to the next generation through culture, ceremony and oral traditions. Our Indian religion has been tested and is about how we should behave and treat other people, animals and the earth.

This knowledge is written in the heart of every person.
We can find this knowledge by looking inside ourselves. –Elders | More…

The Twelve Steps are a path to spiritual awakening. When we open our hearts wide enough to sense our Higher Power’s guidance, we feel a calm serenity. This peace is the beacon that guides us through our troubled feelings, providing clear direction when our minds are busy and confused. When we seek and follow God’s will in our lives, we find the contentment and joy that often elude us when we strike out on our own. Fear or doubt may plague us when we attempt to carry out our Higher Power’s will, but we’ve learned to trust the moment of clarity. Our greatest happiness lies in following the will of our loving God. –Just For Today | More…

It is said, when we need love the most is when we deserve it the least. If I secretly hold a grudge or resentment against my brother or sister, I will be a slave to that person until I let them go. Let me remember to look at my brother in a sacred manner. –Elders Meditations | More…

We have to be so one with God that we do not continually need to ask for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God, and the natural life of a child is obedience — until he wishes to be disobedient, then instantly there is the intuitive jar. In the spiritual domain the intuitive jar is the monition of the Spirit of God. Beware of making a fetish of consistency to your convictions instead of being devoted to God. It is easier to be a fanatic than a faithful soul, because there is something amazingly humbling, particularly to our religious conceit, in being loyal to God. –My Utmost for His Highest | More…

We receive guidance when we ask for knowledge of God’s will for us. – Each time we do this, each time we find direction amidst our confusion, our faith grows. The more we rely on our Higher Power, the easier it becomes to ask for direction. We’ve found the Power we were lacking in our addiction, a Power that is available to us at all times. To find the direction we need to live fully and grow spiritually, all we have to do is maintain contact with the God of our understanding. –Just For Today | More…