PEACE

Definition of Peace:
Freedom from disturbance; tranquillity.

Synonyms for Peace:
Calmness, restfulness, peacefulness, quietness, silence, stillness, 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.

It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness.

Know God;
Know peace.
No God;
No peace.

With the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. –Daily Reflections | More…
If we are to know peace we must look within ourselves. In order to do this, we must learn to be still. We must quiet the mind. We must learn to meditate.

Meditation helps us locate and find the center that is within ourselves. The center is where the Great One resides.

When we start to look for peace, we need to realize where it is within ourselves. When we experience conflict we need to pause for a moment and ask the Power within ourselves, “How do you want me to handle this?

What would you suggest I do in this situation?” By asking the Higher Power for help we find peace. –Elders Meditations/White Bison | More…

During times of conflict we need to ask the spirit to control our self-talk. Only thorough finding inner place and going there during troubled times will we ever find happiness –Elders Meditations | More…

Peace
Have I turned to a Higher Power for help?

Do I believe that this Higher Power can help me from drinking?
Do I ask God to give me the power to stay sober for each twenty-four hours?

Calmness is constructive of good.
Agitation is destructive of good.

Calmness is trust in action.
To attain spiritual things, I have to learn to attain a state of calm. –24Hours 09/05 | More…

Self-centeredness, egocentrism, and selfishness are familiar to most of us. A most important lesson for us to learn in this life is that peace is assured when we anchor ourselves to our God.

Peace, well-being, serene joy will accompany our every step when we expose our vulnerable selves to God’s care and only God’s care. We’ll no longer need to worry about the self we try to protect. It will be handled with care. –Each Day a New Beginning/Karen Casey | More…

Message of Peace
May there always be work for your hands to do;
May your purse always hold a coin or two;
May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend always be near you;
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Thinking about interior peace destroys interior peace. We all want peace of mind, but when that’s our focus, it eludes us.

True peace comes not from trying to have peace, but in trying to find God’s will and doing it. Turning our will and our life over to the care of God is the formula for inner peace.

And when we share God’s love with others, we are too pleasantly occupied to wonder if we’re happy – we just are. –In God’s Care/Karen Casey | More…
Without exception, we are all only one drink away from a drunk.
No matter how long we have been in A.A., nobody is entirely safe.

A.A. itself should be our ideal, not any particular member of it.
The inward peace that comes from trust in God truly passes all understanding.

Make it a point to allow nothing today to disturb your inner peace, your heart-calm. –24Hours | More…

No problems of the world can harm you.
Between you and all scorn and indignity from others is your trust in God.

Nothing can then have the power to spoil your inward peace.
With this inward peace, you do not need to resent the person who troubles you.

Instead, you can overcome the resentment in your own mind which may have been aroused by that person.  –24Hours | More… 
The Elders tell us the greatest gift we can seek is peace of mind; to walk in balance, to respect all things. For us to do this, we must have peace within ourselves and peace within ourselves cannot come unless we are walking the path the Creator would have us walk.

Sometimes the tests on this path are difficult, but we know that each test makes us stronger. –Elders Meditations | More…

Anything forced into manifestation through personal will is always “ill got” and has “ever bad success.” The main thrust of our recovery is to attune ourselves to God’s will, struggling no longer to impose our own.

What God wants for us at every moment is growth and happiness. When we step away from our ego and develop a selfless posture toward life, we’ll find serenity in the midst of any turmoil.

Serenity is God’s promise.
When we get in line with God’s will, we’ll find peace. –Each Day a New Beginning/Karen Casey | More…

When we make decisions or experience conflict we need to look at the greater whole. The end result we want to accomplish is peace of mind. A good question to ask ourselves is, “would I rather be right or happy?” –Elders | More…
Peace
This day I choose to spend in perfect peace.
Today, let’s be gentle and kind.

Let’s talk to ourselves with love and respect.
Let’s be gentle with others too.

Today, let’s be clear in how we think, speak, and act. And if we start to get mixed up, let’s stop thinking and listen for our Higher Power’s voice.

Today we know that we have just a small job to do.
It is to live today with love in our heart.

We can make our actions today part of the answer instead of the part of the problem. Let’s Keep It Simple. –Keep It Simple | More…
Do not become encumbered by petty annoyances.
Never respond to emotional upsets by emotional upset.

Try to keep calm in all circumstances.
Try not to fight back.

Call on the grace of God when you feel like retaliating. –24Hours | More…

The heart is the gateway to the Unseen World, to the Spirit World. It takes real concentration to do this.

To connect to our own heart is also a mental state.
It starts in the head and transitions to the heart.

This mental state is our inner stillness.
Be still and know.

This place of the heart is very joyous and peaceful. It is this place that we become one with God, our Creator. –Elders | More…

My life always seemed so filled with difficulty. It just didn’t seem fair. I was so wrapped up in myself and the unfairness of my difficult life that I couldn’t see that each of these harsh experiences had been opportunities for growth.

It has often been said that God doesn’t give us more than we can cope with. When I was able to open myself up fully to the lessons that I could learn from life, I became a whole person.

It was then that the promises of the program begin to be fulfilled in my life, and I began to know serenity and peace. –One Day At A Time | More…

I understand myself more than I ever did before. I have learned what was the matter with me and I know now a lot of what makes me tick.

I will never be alone again. –24Hours | More…
Self-centeredness, egocentrism, and selfishness are familiar to most of us. A most important lesson for us to learn in this life is that peace is assured when we anchor ourselves to our God.

Peace, well-being, serene joy will accompany our every step when we expose our vulnerable selves to God’s care and only God’s care. We’ll no longer need to worry about the self we try to protect. It will be handled with care. –Each Day a New Beginning/Karen Casey 06/07 | More…

Today I seek a peace that involves discussing or confronting painful situations, often making me and others uncomfortable. Serenity is a peace that is arrived at after periods of pain but a necessary pain.

In my life today I have the courage to speak out and make choices that are good for me; God is alive in my choice. –Father Leo | More…  

For years I rushed around being busy and I missed me. Today I can relax in my sobriety; indeed sobriety has enabled me to relax.

Spirituality is about taking time out for me because I am worth it. “Be still and know that I am God,” said the psalmist  –Father Leo | More…  
I no longer waste money, but try to put it to good use. You were meant to be at home and comfortable in the world.

Let your peace of mind be evident to those around you. Men should see that you are comfortable, and seeing it, know that it springs from your trust in a higher power. –24Hours | More…

The only place our minds can find peace is when our focus is on the Creator.
Daily we need to ask the Creator to direct our thinking.

When we are happy and joyful, we need to realize we are feeling the presence of the Creator. Thinking God thoughts will produce peace. — Elders | More…
When we make decisions or experience conflict we need to look at the greater whole. The end result we want to accomplish is peace of mind. If we keep this goal in mind, we will, overall, live a happy and fulfilling life. Everything in the world is constantly changing so we should not resist this change. A good question to ask ourselves is, “would I rather be right or happy?”. If we would rather be happy, then it is easier to let the little things go. If we would rather be right, we tend to look for the win/lose. –Elders Meditations | More…

When we quiet our mind, bypassing our thoughts about the hour or day before, or our fear over what may come tomorrow, we can more easily relish each moment–this moment. We forget that the power lies within us to clear our mind and to fully experience the peace of the moment. Quieting our mind requires commitment and practice. We can circumvent any thought and experience moments of peace –In God’s Care | More…

The Elders tell us the greatest gift we can seek is peace of mind; to walk in balance, to respect all things. For us to do this, we must have peace within ourselves and peace within ourselves cannot come unless we are walking the path the Creator would have us walk. Sometimes the tests on this path are difficult, but we know that each test makes us stronger. –Elders Meditations | More…

Peace is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it. –Thomas Merton

When we make decisions or experience conflict we need to look at the greater whole. The end result we want to accomplish is peace of mind. A good question to ask ourselves is, “would I rather be right or happy?” –Elders Meditations | More…

As within, as without, our present thought determines our future. If we want peace outside ourselves, we must first have peace inside ourselves. It’s not what is going on but how we are looking at what is going on. –Elders Meditations | More…