QUOTES (Hour to hour)

Definition of Quote:
Repeat of words or a text by another person.

Synonyms of Quote:
Recite, repeat, reproduce, restate, echo, reiterate, excerpt, 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.

Only time will remove your constant thoughts of drinking, but it does pass.

Did you really listen to the last person that tried to help you? You know that people are going to feel sorry for you. However, there is a fine line between compassion and pity. Compassion is laced with understanding while pity reflects a diminished picture of yourself.

The diversity and complexity of people seeking recovery is extraordinary. Whether a 40 year old pimp, an young gang member, a woman with grandchildren, or a teen with attitude, we must remember: as cancer is no respecter of victims, neither is addiction.

It is easier for us to blame others (parents, spouses, friends) for our addiction then it is to look at self. We must never forget that we drank that drink.

It can be difficult to accept the truth, but eventually most of it will make sense. If there is someone weaker than you, be kind to them. If there is someone stronger than you, be kind to yourself.

One of the things you will notice about our fellowship is that we hug a lot. Often this makes newcomers uncomfortable because they are not used to being given love and attention without serious strings attached. There are no strings, we just simply love you.

Sometimes reality slaps us right in the face. We may be out of money, facing jail, losing a loved one, or hating our circumstances. However, right this hour we have only one true reality: SOBRIETY. Without sobriety all the above only gets worse!

Slogans seem silly but they are important tools.  They embody important principles necessary to our path of recovery.

Whatever upset you right now, whether a feeling of terror, someone is frustrating you, you are angry or bored–try living in the solution, not the problem. Pick up your program book, close your eyes and leaf through. Run your finger down the page and where ever you stop, read the next three paragraphs. It’s a random solution but often guided by Divine Presence.

Whatever you are feeling now that disturbs you, whatever thoughts or situations plague you, remember that it will pass. Sometimes when emotions are strong, we feel they will never end. But they do and whatever you are feeling now, you won’t be feeling tomorrow. We promise.

If you have one hand in the program and one hand in your Higher Power’s, you won’t have a hand to pick up with. When you are troubled, comfort someone more troubled, when lonely, reach out to one that is lonelier and when unsure, give encouragement to the weary. To care for another makes us forget our own sorrows.

We hear so much about spiritual principles. What are they? A spiritual principle is a standard of conduct by which we remain right with the world. Some of these are: honesty, integrity, kindness, accountability, service to others, and good humour.

We have many worries: economic, marital, parental, employment, religious, and legal. We mustn’t see our recovery as connected to a good marriage, job, or socialization. We know it isn’t true.

Occasionally we get a glimpse of how others have truly seen us. It is a dreadful experience and if it weren’t for the loving attitude of our fellowship, we sometimes could not bear it. But the growth process is worth the pain as we slowly transform into the people we have always pretended to be.

Learning to let go does not mean to stop caring. It means that you cannot do it for someone else. Only you can listen, go to meetings, follow the steps.

Everyone has the right to be wrong!  Doubts can be a good thing. It shows we’re still thinking.

In our new recovery, we continue to welcome with open arms, those now newer than us. This is your second chance in life and although the suggestions are easy, the footwork is not.

Putting pen to paper can be a pain, reading new material can be frustrating, making numerous phone calls can be an annoyance, getting to a lot of meetings can seem boring, BUT this is the way we start.

To insist stubbornly on holding to old relationships, when they are basically alcohol oriented relationships is sabotaging our recovery process.

Are we remembering the so-called ‘good times’ right now? We use this hour to REALLY think about what got us to this fight for sobriety.

Addiction is the great solvent that equalizes all people. We are equal in our addiction and equal in our program of recovery.
Although with each passing day of sobriety we get clearer, we are only one fix, pill, drink, smoke, or snort away from a binge–at 18 days or 18 years!

The most important thing to know about Step Three, turning our will over to a Higher Power, is that all we can do is DECIDE to do it. When intense cravings for our drug of choice overwhelm us, we immediately talk to another person in recovery, no matter the time.

There is a certain universality to the truths taught in our 12 step program. They are nothing new. These principles are derived from eons of experience and spirituality.

The natural anger, fear, and sadness that accompanies your life during early recovery can cause confusion, short temperdness, and a tendency to neglect your own needs. Now is the time to get into action and into the solution and stop being a part of your problem! Do this by remembering your last high, your last run, your last hopeless desperation.

Living life on life’s terms, just what does this mean to us? It simply means life can be tough and we can still stay sober if we chose to live by principle. Our thoughts have a powerful effect on our bodies.

It may be your family, friends, or co-workers that support you now or they all may have abandoned you. You may be surprised by who you can count on. Try not to blame the ones that fall short and be grateful for the ones who go the extra mile.

Stick with the winners and hang with the gods’ and you’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sticking with the winners means to only associate with clean and sober people in the program and going to meetings is hanging with the gods.

We may be asked to make many difficult decisions about our new life, facing divorce, jail time, loss of our children. Not all of the results will be perfect. We gather the information that we can, ask for advice from professionals, practice principles as best we can and then trust in the process.

Nothing comes easy for us right now. A lot of energy goes into just staying put and accepting this new way of life.

It is easy to ‘beat ourselves up’ when we are lonely, scared, and feeling rejected by those we love. But if we go to meetings every day, find a sponsor and use him/her, read our literature, and follow the suggestions being given to us now, we really don’t have much time to dwell on ‘lonely, scared, and rejected.’

The most basic thing you can do right now is to understand the basics. Don’t drink, pop pills, shoot dope, snort coke, smoke crack AND listen to the people you came to for help.

We always wanted our image to be so good, yet we always seemed to come off bad.
One of the things you can learn right now is that it is OK not to have all of the answers.

Nothing comes easy for us right now.  A lot of energy goes into just staying put and accepting this new way of life.

Fragments of our addiction never stop calling, ‘Hey, just one won’t hurt; look, what’s so wrong with going to that party; it’s disloyal to stop seeing old friends.’ But those of us who’ve been around awhile recognize the ‘callings’ for what they are. Give the ‘calls’ an inch and we KNOW addiction takes a mile.

Every day of sobriety is a high degree of attainment.  On this early day of sobriety, we have attained another day of dignity, another day with no new regrets, and another day to hold our head up high.

In the first days and months of recovery we must practice a strict adherence to our program suggestions.  We are vulnerable to our addiction calling us back.

Don’t ever think you have it made, because you haven’t. You are only one drink away from a drunk.  Staying in your program and close to the fellowship is your best bet right now. Do not be afraid to tell someone, anyone when you feel like taking a drink
KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. We are not suggesting you are stupid, but your disease is.

NB: Quotes are accredited © Hour to Hour, and are contributed by individual program members