May

SERVICE
Being involved in service makes me feel worthwhile.
At thirty days clean, some members will tell us that what we can do best is listen.
Service is something that is our unique gift—something that no one can take away from us. We give, –Just For Today | More…

COMPLACENCY
There is one thing more than anything else that will defeat us in our recovery;
This is an attitude of indifference or intolerance toward spiritual principles.
We didn’t necessarily accept every single spiritual idea we heard.
But we started thinking, if these principles had worked for others, just maybe they’d work for us, too. For a beginning, that willingness was enough. –Just For Today | More…

THINKING
Think only about what is holy. Empty your mind
If we let our minds wander, we will come up with a lot of junk.
We cannot stop thinking, but we can choose what to think about.
The Elders say we move towards what we think about.
That’s why they say, ‘Think about what is holy, and think about good’. –Elders Meditations | More…

PROGRESS
Abandoning the old attitude of “all or nothing” we learn to settle for very gradual progress, punctuated occasionally by very heavy setbacks. –A Day at a Time | More…

FUN
In time, we can relax and enjoy the atmosphere of recovery.
We learn to lighten up in recovery.
We laugh at the absurdity of our addiction.
Our meetings—those rooms filled with the lively, happy sounds of percolating coffee, clattering chairs, and laughing addicts—are the gathering places where we first welcome our newcomers and let them know that, yes, we’re having fun now. –Just For Today | More…

CARETAKING
Every person needs to conscientiously think about how they respect the Earth.
Do we dump our garbage out of the car? Do we poison the water? Do we poison the air?
Am I taking on the responsibility of being a caretaker of the Earth?    –Elders Meditations | More…

PRESENCE
Slow down or stop – depending on how fast you’re going.
Look – see where you are, whom you’re with, what you’re doing.
Give whatever you’re doing your attention.
Listen – as much as possible, quell your anxiety, cease your mental chatter, and just listen to nature, to other people, to God, and to yourself. –52 Weeks of Conscious Contact/Melody Beattie | More…

SERVICE
The most spiritual thing you can do is to help someone
It is the way out of the prison of self, and it always sets our spirits free. –Wisdom of the Rooms | More…

SERVICE
It is our experience as alcoholics that makes us of unique value…
We can approach sufferers as no one else can. –“A United Message of Recovery,” Decatur, Georgia, May 1994/AA Grapevine

PEACE
When we are centered on our spiritual path, we can respond to our fears with peace.  And by living peaceably ourselves, we invite a spirit of peace to enter our world.  We can affect positive change by doing our best to practice the principles of our program. –Just For Today | More…

PROGRESS
All AA progress can be reckoned in terms of just two words: humility and responsibility. –Bill W., January 1966, “The Guidance of AA’s World Affairs”/The Language of the Heart

AWAKENING
If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old.
You will just keep growing. -Gail Sheehy
Native Spirituality is full of life. When we seek it we become alive.
If we look outside ourselves, we will not find life; if we look inside, we will find life.
Anytime we choose to change our lives, we only need to look inside. –Elders Meditations | More…

GROWING
To keep growing and to keep building character, we need to rehearse kindness, patience, and love.
We need to practice awareness of our Higher Power in our lives –Day by Day | More…

WILLINGNESS
Good things increase in direct proportion to my willingness to become teachable. –AA Grapevine

TEACHABLE
We have learned that it is okay to not know all the answers For then we are teachable and can learn to live our new life successfully. As recovering addicts and as human beings, we have much to learn.  Other addicts—and other humans—have much to teach us about what works and what doesn’t.  As long as we remain teachable, we can take advantage of the experience of others. –Just For Today | More…

YOUR DISEASE
Hello, I am Your Disease

I hate meetings.
I hate your higher power.
I hate anyone who has a program.

To all who come in contact with me,
I wish you suffering and death.

Allow me to introduce myself…
I am the disease of addiction.
Alcoholism, drugs and eating disorders.
I am cunning, baffling and powerful. That’s me!

I’ve killed millions and enjoyed doing it.
I love to catch you by surprise.
I love pretending I’m your friend and lover.
I’ve given you comfort.
Wasn’t I there when you were lonely?
When you wanted to die, didn’t you call on me?

I love to make you hurt.
I love to make you cry. Better yet…
I love it when I make you so numb,
You can’t hurt and you can’t cry.
You feel nothing at all.

I give you instant gratification.
All I ask for in return is long term suffering.
I’ve always been there for you.

When things were going right, you invited me back.
You said you didn’t deserve to be happy.
I agreed with you.
Together we were able to destroy your life.

People don’t take me seriously.
They take strokes seriously.
They take heart attacks seriously.
Even diabetes, they take seriously.
Yet, without my help, these things wouldn’t be possible.

I’m such a hated disease, yet I don’t come uninvited.
You choose to have me.
Many have chosen me, instead of love and peace.

I hate all of you who work a 12 step program.
Your program, your meetings, and your higher power weaken me.
I can’t function in the manner I am accustomed to.

I am your disease.
For now I must lie here quietly.
You don’t see me, but I’m growing more powerful every day.

When you settle for mere existence, I thrive.
When you feel fully alive, I weaken.
But I’m always here waiting for you.

Until we meet again,
I wish you continued suffering and death.
Author Unknown –In The Sunlight | More…

RELAPSE
(Definition: a deterioration in someone’s state of health after a temporary improvement.)

The Top 14 Symptoms of A Relapse

1. Exhaustion: Becoming overly tired – heads up, workaholics.

2. Dishonesty: Little lies and deceits – making excuses.

3. Impatience: Things do not happen fast enough – others not doing what they should. Road rage and driving dangerously are signs also.

4. Argumentativeness: Arguing ridiculous points of view – looking for an excuse to drink, use drugs, gamble, or other “acting-out” addictions.

5. Depression: Unreasonable despair – Problems not being talked out.

6. Frustration: At people and things that may not be going your way.

7. Self-pity: Why do these things only happen to me? Why am I like I am? (Hint: Even if you do know why you are as you are – it does not change anything. You have to make changes.)

8. Over-Confident: Thinking you have got-it-made – you no longer fear your addiction – and you take risks getting involved with people, places, and things that you know are high risk.

9. Complacency: Thinking everything is ok, and “forgetting” about past negative consequences. Cruising on yesterday’s recovery.

10. Expecting too much from others: “I have changed, why hasn’t everyone else started to trust me, reward me, etc…”

11. Abuse of Over The Counter Medicines: Rather than your “drug of choice” or mood altering substances.

12. Personal expectations set too high: Setting goals that are unattainable, or that take time and effort to obtain and not willing to be patient and put in the hard work. “Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.”

13. Selective Memory: Forgetting what you were like when you were using, abusing or deep into your addiction. Learn to be grateful each day, even if the world seems a little less colorful to you – it will get better.

14. Not rewarding yourself in healthy ways: Still thinking that substance use is a reward, or something that you deserve. Most people, who have gotten to the point where their substance use could be considered abuse, or that they were or are addicted or dependent, cannot really go back to controlled use. Like it or not, for many it is a fact of life. So, to deal with thinking a drink or using a drug is a good thing – play the tape to the end and remember where it got you, and it started out by using just once. Stop the process before it gets started. Do not take chances, and remind yourself that there are so many better rewards in life when you remain clean and sober! ~By Bruce “The Gazette Guy” Huberman

ANY LENGTHS
When we used, we usually had an open mind when it came to finding ways and means to get more drugs.
If we can apply this same principle of open-mindedness to our recovery, we may surprise ourselves by how easily we begin to grasp the program.  Our best thinking, it is often said, got us into the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous.
If we are willing to go to any lengths, follow directions, and stay open-minded, we can stay clean. –Just For Today | More…

SPIRITUAL BASICS
Many of us understand God to be simply whatever force keeps us clean.
Starting over in recovery means we can start over in our spiritual life, too.   If we’re not comfortable with what we learned when we were growing up, we can try a different approach to our spirituality.
We don’t have to understand everything all at once or find the answers to all our questions right away.
Sometimes it’s enough just to know that other members believe and that their belief helps keep them clean. –Just For Today | More…

TIMING
(Definition: the choice, judgement, or control of when something should be done.)
The old ones say two things must be present for a miracle to take place.
One, the right time. Two, the right place.
This is why we need to honor our ceremonies.
Ceremonies are done in an order.  –Elders Meditations | More…

SACRED CENTER
(Definition: revered due to sanctity; connected with God or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration.)
Without a sacred center, no one knows right from wrong.
In the center of the circle is where the powers reside.
These powers are called love, principle, justice, spiritual knowledge, life, forgiveness and truth. We access these powers by being still, quieting the mind.
Only in this way do we know right from wrong. –Elders Meditations| More…

MISERY
We can implement the Serenity Prayer, accepting what we can’t change and changing what we can.
Emotional pain may call for a therapist or friend, and spiritual distress may indicate the need for more prayer and meditation, closer contact with a Higher Power.
We can accept responsibility for our feelings, become willing to go to any lengths to get well, and choose not to be miserable. –Inner Harvest/Elisabeth L | More…

APOPLECTICA
Nervous and Mental dis-ease
Of, resembling, or produced by apoplexy
Unconsciousness or incapacity resulting from a cerebral haemorrhage or stroke.
Extreme anger.
From Ancient Greek ἀποπληξία, meaning ‘a striking away’
Any sudden death that began with a sudden loss of consciousness
Apoplexy was sometimes used to refer to the symptom of sudden loss of consciousness immediately preceding death.
The state of intense and almost uncontrollable anger
Overcome with anger; furious.

LIGHT
As soon as you step into the light, all fear and pain go away.
When we stand in the power, fear cannot exist.
How do we find this place of power? We pray our way into it.
When we get to that place, we will feel the fear go away. –Elders Meditations | More…

PATIENCE
Patience is needed with everyone, but first of all with ourselves.
We forget to allow ourselves to fail, even though our growth up to now has been a series of failures that we’ve learned from.
With patience, we allow ourselves to take chances we might not otherwise explore, and we widen our world of possibilities.
Life has been patient with us so far, now it’s our turn. –Today’s Gift | More…

ENTIRELY READY
Becoming entirely ready to have our defects of character removed can be a long process, often taking place over the course of a lifetime. Our state of readiness grows in direct proportion to our awareness of these defects and the destruction they cause.
As we let go of our shortcomings and find their influence waning, we’ll notice that a loving God replaces those defects with quality attributes. Where we were fearful, we find courage.
Where we were selfish, we find generosity.  Our delusions about ourselves will disappear to be replaced by self-honesty and self-acceptance. –Just for Today | More…

LETTING GO
What a relief we feel as we make sense out of our fear and begin to talk with each other.
We let go of secrets between us and work toward mutual understanding.
As we communicate, the knot in our stomach loosens and light reappears in our relationship. –The More We Find in Each Other | More…

WRITE IT DOWN
The rewards we find through the simple action of writing are many.
Clarity of thought, keys to locked places inside of us, and the voice of conscience are but a few.
Writing helps us be more honest with ourselves.
We sit down, quiet our thoughts, and listen to our hearts.
What we hear in the stillness are the truths that we put down on paper. –Just For Today | More…

TRUST
Only mutual trust can be the foundation for great love — each of us for the other, and all of us for God. –AA Co-Founder, Bill W., 1960, “Freedom Under God: The Choice Is Ours”/The Language of the Heart

LOVE
If we look closely and with love toward the people so carefully placed in our midst,
we’ll discover many hearts, like our own, searching for acceptance. –Worthy of Love | More…

ALIGNMENT
As we continue our recovery journey, we can get side-tracked by complacency, intolerance, or dishonesty.  When we do, we need to recognize the signs quickly and get back on our path—the open road to freedom and growth. –Just For Today | More…

PEACE OF MIND
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…

THOUGHTS TO CONSIDER
Don’t sweat the small stuff, and remember, it’s all small stuff.
Drinking didn’t cause my problems, living did.
The practicing alcoholic is the only person in the world who can lie in the gutter and still look down on others.
AA meetings are the jumper cables God uses to get love flowing from one alcoholic to another –My Mind is Out to Get Me | More…

AWARENESS
The Old People would gather words as they walked a sacred path across the Earth, leaving nothing behind but prayers and offerings.”
Whenever we walk on the Earth, we should pay attention to what is going on.
If we are aware as we walk, we will gather words for our lives, the lessons to help our children; we will gather feelings of interconnectedness and calmness.
When we experience this, we should say or think thoughts of gratitude. –Elders Meditations | More… 

FEAR
To stay clean, we must find the willingness to change our old ways of thinking.
What has worked for others can work for us—but we must be willing to try it.
We must trade in our old cynical doubts for new affirmations of hope.
When we do, we’ll find it’s worth the risk. –Just For Today | More…

REWARDS
The rewards of asking for help – increased humility, connection, and trust – are well worth the effort. –‘H-E-L-P,’ Phoenix, Arizona, April 2011/AA Grapevine

HARMONY
Inside every human being is a need to dance. We dance to music.
Have you ever wondered why people are moved when they hear a Drum?
The drum is the heartbeat of the Mother Earth.
The beat of the drum makes our bodies, minds, and spirits join together in harmony.
It allows us to connect to Mother Earth and to each other.
The dance aligns our minds to think spiritual thoughts.
Dancing to the drum is healthy. –Elders Meditations | More…

CARING
It’s healthy, wise, and loving to be considerate and responsive to the feelings and needs of others.
That’s different from caretaking. Caretaking is a self-defeating and a relationship defeating behavior Caretaking is a behavior that backfires and can cause us to feel resentful and victimized
Because ultimately, what we feel, want, and need will come to the surface.

We do not have to feel responsible for others.
We do not have to feel guilty about not feeling responsible for others.
We can learn to let ourselves feel good about taking responsibility for our needs and feelings. –The Language of Letting | More…

MEETINGS
In my heart, I know that meetings benefit me in all kinds of ways.
Today, I want what’s good for me.  I will attend a meeting. –Just For Today | More…

HARMONY
Our hearts work like a tuning fork.
When the heart feels completely in tune with a decision or thought or action in our lives, then we know it is the right one for us.
We can actually feel the harmony inside our bodies. –Today’s Gift | More…

SPONORSHIP
How do people with a long stretch of recovery learn to live without relapse?
Many of them mention sponsoring and being sponsored.
Sponsorship is one of the great gifts of the Twelve Step program, bearing an extraordinary power to turn a person’s life around. | More…

TEACHERS
To believe that every tree, plant, and insect can talk takes an open mind.
Go by yourself into nature and sit quietly.
Then pick up a rock and listen to your thoughts.
After a while, put that rock down and pick up another rock.
Your thoughts will change.
These are the voices and wisdom of the Stone People. –Elders Meditations | More…

PERFECTIONISM
We think that by ‘doing it right’, we will get rid of the shame,” observed psychologist Carol Travilla.

Some of us may be motivated to perfectionism by our toxic shame
The inner message we hear is: “Shame on you! You are needy. You are human.”
It’s fake guilt; and it’s poisonous.
We don’t have to be hooked into listening to these self-defeating messages.
God wants to release us from the overwhelming burden of perfectionism.
We can forget the false shame and relax.
God knows our human needs and he accepts and likes us anyway. –NAC/Joan C, Webb | More…

HOPE
Hope is about the future.
It may be oriented to the next hour, or the next day, or the next month or year or decade.
But hope is always about anticipation.
Those of us who like to control things often find hope difficult because we do not control the future. Many of us are compulsive makers-of-plans.
We need to remind ourselves regularly, therefore, that God’s vision for the future is better than our own.

God has been clear about our future.
It is God’s intention to give us a hope and a future.
This is not a promise of a trouble-free life.
It is not a promise of immunity from struggle.
But it is a promise of hope.
God has been with us in the past.
God is with us in the present. And God will be with us in the future.

PRAYER
Thank you for paying attention to my future, Lord.
Thank you for making plans.
Help me today to rest in the thought that your plans for me include blessing.
Open my heart today to the hope and the future you have prepared for me. –NAC/D&J Ryan | More…

REALITY
We reject fantasizing and accept reality. And we find it beautiful.
For, at last, we are at peace with ourselves. And with others. And with God. –“Learning to Handle Sobriety,” Connecticut, March 1975/Grapevine

SPIRITUALITY
In working our program, we are given many indirect indications of a Higher Power’s presence in our lives. The clean feeling that comes to so many of us in taking our Fifth Step –Just For Today | More…

Caring
We care most about what we’re involved in directly. If we’re not personally involved, we’re not very enthusiastic. It’s our stake in something that makes it important. To feel more alive, we must be more alive. Caring is life and involvement is growth. –Days of Healing, Days of Joy/Earnie & Carol Larsen | More…

THE JOURNEY
If we keep showing up at meetings and staying clean, life gets… well, different.
The continual search for answers to life’s ups and downs can lead us to question all aspects of our lives.
Life isn’t always pleasant. This is when we must turn to our Higher Power with even more faith.
Sometimes all we can do is hold on tight, believing that things will get better.

In time, our faith will produce understanding.
We will begin to see the “bigger picture” of our lives.
As our relationship with our Higher Power unfolds and deepens, acceptance becomes almost second-nature.
No matter what happens as we walk through recovery, we rely on our faith in a loving Higher Power and continue onward. –Just For Today | More…

WORRY & STRESS
A cause of unnecessary stress in planning results comes from our ingrained habit of regarding ourselves as inadequate. Thus, we quit too soon and rationalize our resignation with a “Why bother to try?” attitude.

I can make plans but not plan results. I can work out my plan, one day at a time, knowing that my past performance is NOT an infallible indicator of my present or future success. I can look forward with hope, not despair. –The Reflecting Pond/Liane Cordes | More…

OPPORTUNITY
Sometimes what we think is a setback is really a setup for God to do something great –Joel Osteen

QUIET TIME
Quiet suggests a different quality of interaction with God, a quality of being that incorporates elements of solitude, silence and stillness. Elements that are interwoven in historical practices. Many of us are constantly plugged into the Internet, email and social media leading to digital addiction and an inability to be present to the here and now of our life.

QUIET TIME
If your heart is full of other things you cannot hear the voice of God –Mother Teresa

Contemplative prayer practice incorporates some degree of solitude, silence and stillness. To support your journey in contemplative spirituality, we are encouraged to explore these nine practices. Each one will vary in its degree of solitude, silence and stillness. Each practice teaches more about its history, methodology and impact –Gravity – More…

SOLITUDE, SILENCE and STILLNESS.
Do yourself a favour and make room for solitude, silence and stillness

SOLITUDE
We must learn how to be alone—how to be alone with ourselves and with God.
Scripture reveals that Jesus “often withdrew to places of solitude to pray.” (Luke 5:16) In solitude, we learn to be present. We learn to be present to our self, to God and to one another. As we let God heal our hidden neediness, anxiety and pain, we experience more authentic connection to our self, to God and to others.

SILENCE
Most of us don’t know how to be quiet. We do not truly listen. We can’t listen if we’re not quiet. And to get quiet, really quiet from the inside out, we need to practice Silence. Practicing silence helps us develop the ability to listen and discern God’s voice and leading.

STILLNESS
Practicing stillness teaches us impulse control or restraint. Restraining us from the impulses of our human nature that are secretly out of control. We may not recognize these compulsions enslave us. These unconscious impulses feed our hidden obsessive need for affirmation, control and security. And keep us from freely giving of our highest and truest self to make our world a better place.

DIGITAL ADDICTION
There are three types of digital addiction which include phone addiction, internet addiction and social media addiction. Internet, email and social media lead us to digital addiction and an inability to be present to the here and now of our life.

Why is this? The answer has to do with limbic resonance, which cannot be found in adequate supply through online interactions.

We must dare to detach from our digital appendages and deal with the anxiety it produces in us.

Phone addiction is a dependence syndrome and a clinical addiction where users are affected by smartphone overuse which impacts their daily lives in a negative way. Addiction expert and therapist Paul Hokemeyer explains that this addiction can be a result of underlying behavioral health and personality issues. Those who do suffer with this addiction could have underlying issues like depression, anxiety and a socially challenged personality, causing them to constantly use their devices for comfort. —More…

Social media addiction is easy to define. If you spend far too much time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat to the point where you document each and every aspect of your life on any/all of the platform, you could be a social media addict. Although there’s no medical recognition of social media addiction, the term itself has become subject to research and investigation within recent years and overuse of Facebook in itself has been proven to be linked to a decrease in feelings of satisfaction and happiness. —More…

Internet addiction is  defined as an impulse control disorder, also known as pathological internet use, where some may find it difficult to differentiate between the virtual world and reality. Sufferers tend to spend excessive amounts of time online, not only eating up time but also causing a higher risk of overspending by getting involved in online gambling and gaming. —More…

PRAYER
Prayer is the best answer to all of the trials that face us.
Without prayer, even if we succeed in accomplishing some great goal in the eyes of men, we have failed in our sacred responsibilities.
Thus we have failed in what is truly important.
What are our sacred responsibilities?
One is to be of maximum service to the Creator, and two is to serve the people.
In a way, it’s like the Great Spirit is the employer and we are the employees.
Working for the Creator is better than working for a human being.
Each night we can talk to the Creator and ask Him, “Well, how did I do today?”.
He answers back each night, “I’m proud of you, my child; sleep well, and in the morning I’ll give you a new set of growing experiences.”. –Elders Meditations | More…

LIVING
Learning to live means learning to manage all our daily responsibilities.
If we can’t keep our clothes clean, take out the garbage, or get up on time, how can we expect to handle promotions, marriages, and crises?
Daily effort may seem inconsequential, but our big break is the result of all our todays well lived. –Day by Day | More…

LEARNING
What we really need to learn is how to live life.
Nature is the greatest university when we want to learn about balance, harmony, the Natural Laws and how to live life.
We will never learn unless we spend time in the “living university.”
Nature will help with Medicine, knowledge, and healing. –Elders Meditations | More…

IF ONLY
Do we remember that we are fortunate just to be alive?
When we dwell in the “if onlys,” we get stuck in yesterday.
But what we have to work with today are “today’s tools,” and if we use them well, we’ll have no need for the “if onlys.” –Day by Day | More…

PATIENCE
The story of the shipwrecked Robinson family is a lesson in patience. Today might have been one of those days where we felt our prayers weren’t answered. But we need to remember our prayers are heard. Now it is up to us to Let Go and Let God. –Night Light/Amy E. Dean | More…

SERENITY
We learned the hard way that serenity comes only from working the steps.
A new car comes from showing up on the job every day and trying to “practice these principles in all our affairs,” including our employment.
Healthy relationships come as a result of lots of hard work and a new willingness to communicate.
Friendship with our sponsor comes as a result of reaching out during the good times as well as the bad.
In AA we have found the path to a better way of life.
To reach our destination, however, we must do the footwork. –Just For Today | More…

SPIRITUALITY
The Twelve Steps are given to us as a “suggested” program of recovery.
It is a program that works because it takes us out of our rigid ways.
We are continually made new. That is the vitality of the spiritual life. –Touchstones | More…

MISTAKES.
Mistakes are a very vital and important part of being human.
For particularly stubborn people (such as addicts), mistakes are often our best teachers.
There is no shame in making mistakes.
In fact, making new mistakes often shows our willingness to take risks and grow. –Just For Today | More…

STEP FIVE
As we approach this step, most of us are afraid that there is a monster inside of us that, if released, will destroy us.  We can only change what we acknowledge and understand.
Rather than continuing to fear what’s buried inside us, we can bring it out into the open.
We’ll no longer be frightened, and our recovery will flourish in the full light of self-awareness. –Just For Today | More…

SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
A religious, or spiritual experience, is the act of giving up reliance on one’s own omnipotence. –Dr. Harry Tiebout, September 1944, Comments on Wylie Ideas/The Language of the Heart

SACREDNESS
We must have respect and understanding for women and all female life.
The Woman has a powerful position in the Unseen World.
She has the special ability to bring forth life.
They told us to start showing Her respect and to look upon her in a sacred manner.
We must start this today. –Elders Meditations | More…

GOD’s PLAN
May I make no decision; engineer no change in the course of my life stream, without calling upon my Higher Power.
May I have faith that God’s plan for me is better than any scheme I could devise for myself. –A Day at a Time | More…

HP’s Will
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.
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…

FUN
How do we begin having more fun?
The first step is deciding to leave the past behind.
Having more fun is clearly a decision that is coupled with action.
Any one of us can do it as well as we want to. –Keepers of the Wisdom /Karen Casey | More…

CHANGE
The Elders tell us change occurs in two directions.
That which is built is constantly being destroyed; and that which is loose is being used to build the new.
In other words, change is constantly going on.
The Great Spirit designed people with change abilities such as visioning, imagery and imagination.
We need to learn to use these tools and then we’ll look forward to change. –Elders Meditations | More…

DIRECTION
My spirituality has a lot to do with the way I use my life energy.
The key is never let our recovery become “dead in the water.”
We keep a good direction by working the Steps.
Working the Steps tells us what we need to be doing and where we need to go in our recovery.
Our sponsor helps us with this and helps us stay on course. –God Grant Me. . . | More…

AWARENESS
The Old People would gather words as they walked a sacred path across the Earth, leaving nothing behind but prayers and offerings.”
Whenever we walk on the Earth, we should pay attention to what is going on.
If we are aware as we walk, we will gather words for our lives, the lessons to help our children; we will gather feelings of interconnectedness and calmness.
When we experience this, we should say or think thoughts of gratitude. –Elders Meditations | More…

PROGRESS
I need to remember how humiliated, confused, insecure and frightened I felt at my first meeting, and compare that to how I feel today. –“Know Thyself!” Poughkeepsie, New York, July 2011/AA Grapevine

STEP SIX
After taking the Fifth Step, one by one, we examined our character defects.
And were we entirely ready to have God remove all of them. –Just For Today | More…

THE TIME IS NOW
If not now, when? If not me. who?
You must be the person who prays and meditates.
You must be the person who will sacrifice.
You must decide to be a peaceful Warrior.
What will you decide today? –Elders Meditations | More…

MIRACLES
When the miracle happens, the wants and needs of the ego are limited and short sighted.
God’s will is vast and includes infinite possibilities for happiness and fulfilment.
By developing the faith to truly seek God’s will, I’ve been able to let go of controlling others, be of service, and to let go of expectations. –Wisdom Of The Rooms | More…

AMENDS
Making amends is simple.  We approach the person we have harmed and say, “I was wrong.”
To make effective amends, we have to keep it simple: we admit our part, and leave it at that.
After all, we were the ones in the wrong.  We have done our part; the rest is out of our hands. –Just For Today | More…

POSITIVENESS
Why dwell on what you can’t do? … Why not concentrate on what you can do and do it? –“If You Can’t Live or Die, Make Coffee!” Freeport, New York, September 1988/The Home Group: Heartbeat of AA/Grapevine

HOPE
Hope is about the future.
It may be oriented to the next hour, or the next day, or the next month or year or decade.
But hope is always about anticipation.
Those of us who like to control things often find hope difficult because we do not control the future.
Many of us are compulsive makers-of-plans.
We need to remind ourselves regularly, therefore, that God’s vision for the future is better than our own.

God has been clear about our future.
It is God’s intention to give us a hope and a future.
This is not a promise of a trouble-free life.
It is not a promise of immunity from struggle.
But it is a promise of hope.
God has been with us in the past.
God is with us in the present.
And God will be with us in the future.

PRAYER
Thank you for paying attention to my future, Lord.
Thank you for making plans.
Help me today to rest in the thought that your plans for me include blessing.
Open my heart today to the hope and the future you have prepared for me. –NAC/D&J Ryan | More…

SOBRIETY
In AA we aim not only for sobriety – we try again to become citizens of the world that we rejected, and of the world that once rejected us. –AA Co-Founder, Bill W.,/AA Grapevine

INTERCONNECTEDNESS
Pray to the East every morning.
Your mind will expand and you will experience oneness with the Great Spirit.
You’ll realize how much the Creator loves you! Just try it! –Elders Meditations | More…

RECEIVING
The gifts we receive are meant to be shared.
When I am willing to share the gifts I have received, I always have enough,
because what I give comes back to me. –Inner Harvest/Elisabeth L. | More…

FORGIVENESS
We can practice forgiveness each day.
Resentments have a way of creeping back into my psyche
When I remember that my track record is far from perfect,
I realize I could use some daily forgiveness, both from others and from myself.
I can let go of resentments and forgive.
If resentments come back, I can forgive again. –Inner Harvest/Elisabeth L. | More…

SPIRITUAL AWAKENING
The steps lead to an awakening of a spiritual nature.  This awakening is evidenced by changes in our lives.
Just as the disease of addiction is evidenced by definite symptoms, so is a spiritual awakening made manifest by certain obvious signs in a recovering addict. Such as,
Thinking and acting spontaneously, loss of interest in judging, unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment, and frequent attacks of smiling. –Just For Today | More…

INTERCONNECTEDNESS
When we lose sight of interconnectedness, separation, possessiveness and infighting results.
At an individual level, if we don’t believe we are connected to all things we get self-centered and have self-seeking motives.
We must think in harmony, balance and integrity.
We must see our relationship to the great whole and conduct ourselves accordingly. –Elders Meditations | More…

AMENDS
We want to be free of our guilt, but we don’t wish to do so at the expense of anyone else.
The Ninth Step is not about easing our guilty consciences; it’s about taking responsibility for the wrongs we’ve done.
We are not just seeking freedom from remorse—we are seeking freedom from our defects. –Just For Today | More…

WORRY
Worry is a terrible waste of the imagination
Today I use my imagination to envision my life and world as God would have it be,
Rather than worry that it might not turn out the way I would have it. –Wisdom of the Rooms | More…

THE JOURNEY
I build today the road I travel tomorrow. –“Short Takes,” Binghamton, New York, July 1967/AA Grapevine

FAITH
There is a relationship between thought and reality.
Every thought is alive, and as soon as you think it, a result occurs immediately.
This occurs because the Laws of the Great Spirit act immediately.
When you tell a lie, you immediately experience fear.
When you tell the truth, you immediately experience freedom.
To the Creator, there is no time.
For us to experience the meaning of this requires us to act on faith.
Faith is belief without evidence. –Elders Meditations | More…

CONNECTION
The night time is full of life, full of song, and full of beauty.
At night all our senses change their roles.
Because we can’t see, our hearing is much stronger, our smell is even more enhanced, our sight is different.
We can close our eyes and experience interconnectedness in a different way. –Elders Meditations | More…

DREAMS
We will still have daydreams … But they will be constructive dreams, rather than mere flights of fancy. –New York, NY, August 1948./Grapevine

INTERCONNECTEDNESS
The most relaxing activities may be the ones in which we do absolutely nothing.
If we can do nothing amid the sounds of nature – birds chirping, water bubbling in a brook, the wind rustling in the trees – so much the better.
The point is to slow down, to hear our own thoughts.
When we remember nature, we remember – our bodies remember – that we are a part of nature, part of something greater than ourselves. –Body, Mind, and Spirit | More…

LESSONS
Attaching value judgments to our emotional reactions ties us to our old ways of thinking.
We can change the way we think about the incidents of everyday life, viewing them as opportunities for growth.
We can search for lessons rather than assigning value. When we do this, we learn something from each day.
Our daily Tenth Step is an excellent tool for evaluating the day’s events and learning from both success and failure. –Just For Today | More…

VISION
You move toward and become like that which you think about.
If we think about secret things, these secret things will come to pass.
Our visions are very powerful. Visions determine our direction, our lives.
We should think about our visions to make sure they include the Great Spirit in every area. –Elders Meditations | More…

CEREMONIES
Hidden in ceremonies are many truths, principles, guidelines for living — access to the Unseen World, healing and visions.
We need to go to the Elders and learn the ceremonies so we can pass them on to our children. –Elders Meditations | More…

CHARACTERISTICS
Simplicity, devotion, steadfastness, and loyalty; these, were the hallmarks of character which Dr. Bob had well implanted in so many of us. –Bill W., September 1950/”We Came of Age,”/The Language of the Heart

LOVE
When we concentrate on loving those we think are unlovable, we find out how expansive love is. –North Hollywood, California, September 1988/Grapevine

UNITY
There is a concept that says you move toward and become that which you think about.
We all need to pray and meditate on this.
We need to understand the property of unity. –Elders Meditations | More…

HONESTY
Happiness in recovery and in society depends on our honesty. There is no such thing as too much honesty.
When we practice honesty in all our affairs, we discover the reason for being honest is not because it is expected of us, but because we find that honesty avoids problems and makes our life happier. –Easy Does It | More…

TWELVE STEPS
In the Twelve Steps, AA offers an historical record of how more than 25,000 [now over 2,000,000] alcoholics achieved sobriety.–“A Way of Life,” Chicago, Illinois, July 1946/Grapevine

BEING OURSELF
We examined our lives and discovered who we really are.
To be truly humble is to accept and honestly try to be ourselves.|
Once we began our recovery, we entered a new and different life.
We couldn’t be ourselves because we didn’t know who we were anymore.
The Twelve Steps give us a simple method for finding out who we really are
The real healing begins when we understand that if our Higher Power created us this way, it must be okay to be who we really are.
By working the steps we can experience the freedom to be ourselves, the person our Higher Power intended us to be. –Just For Today | More…

HIGHER POWER
The spirit world is sometimes hard to believe in because we can’t see it.
We need to believe that the Unseen World exists and the Unseen World is guided by principles, laws, and values.
If we have doubts, we can pray to the Great Spirit to remove the doubt.
He’s always ready to help us during our doubtful times.
We are lucky to have such an understanding and helpful Father.–Elders Meditations | More…

HELP
The best help we can get or give is that which enables us to do things without it.
Only when we are each strong enough to stand on our own can we really share the kind of help, which allows both the helped and the helper to be independent. –Today’s Gift | More…

CHALLENGES
We’ve found the tools we need to successfully meet any challenge.
We’ve taken action to improve our conscious contact with a Higher Power, through the steps
Each day, we are faced with new challenges.
And each day, through working our program of recovery, we are given the grace to meet those challenges. –Just For Today | More…

PRINCIPLES
Human beings come and go, but principles go on and on. –‘People and Principles,’ Jackson, Michigan, October 1971/Grapevine

FEAR
When I’m in fear, maybe I should get a bigger God. –“A Bigger God,” Los Angeles, Calif., March 2002/Beginners’ Book: Getting and Staying Sober/Grapevine

HAPPINESS
Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are;
1, something to do,
2, something to love,
3, something to hope for.
Happiness is our birth-right so long as we live fully and love truly. –Worthy of Love/Karen Casey | More…

DECISIONS
Today, we are too greedy and selfish. We are cheating our children, grandchildren, and the children unborn.
The Creator made the Earth to support life so that life would continue to reproduce, everything would support one another, and future generations would have the same benefits of supply and beauty as the generations the proceeded them.
This cycle will only continue to the degree that we make choices and decisions for the future generations. –Elders Meditations | More…

DETACHMENT
Changing ourselves, allowing ourselves to grow while others seek their own path, is how we have the most beneficial impact on people we love. –The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie | More…

HONESTY
Letting go and letting God does not mean that I do not have to put any effort into the Program.
It is up to me to work the Twelve Steps, to learn what may be an entirely new thing with me – honesty. –A Day at a Time | More…

RISK
By opening ourselves to others, we risk becoming vulnerable, but that risk is well worth the rewards.
With the help of others, we learn how to express our feelings honestly and openly.
In turn, we become nourished and encouraged by the unconditional love of our companions.
As we practice spiritual principles, we find strength and freedom, both in ourselves and in those around us.
We are set free to be ourselves and to enjoy the company of our fellows. –Just For Today | More…

MEETINGS
Meetings offer us identification with where we’ve been and where we can go—identification we can’t do without and can’t get anywhere else.  That keeps us coming back. –Just For Today | More…

WILL
Mother Teresa turned her life and will over to God, and her work was what she believed to be God’s will for her.
Because of this, she was devoted to the task itself, not to the completion of it. –Days of Healing, Days of Joy | More…

CARE
We believe that our Higher Power will take care of us.
As we progress in our recovery, we are sure to greet the difficult times with a sense of hope, despite the pain we may be in.
We need not despair, for we know that our Higher Power’s care will carry us through when we can’t walk on our own. –Just For Today | More…

TRADITION FIVE
Whatever strengthens the spirituality of the group strengthens my spirituality, and vice versa. –“Tradition Five: What a Group ‘Ought’ to Be,” May 2006/Grapevine

HUMILITY
Two definitions of humility are; one, being aware of one’s own defects of character, and two, giving credit where credit is due.
This means if you do something and are successful because God gave you certain talents, give credit to God when someone tells you how well you did; this is being humble.
If you are successful at something, but had help from friends, spouse, neighbours, give credit to those who helped you; this is being humble.
If you have done a task and you alone accomplished it, give credit to yourself; this is being humble. –Elders Meditation | More…

ANGER
Anger as a response to injustice is spiritually healthy.
A theology of anger invites us to shake off the shackles of denial, resignation, and nihilism.
It can help us construct healthy boundaries.–Barbara Holmes

POWER
The East, South, West, and North are the powers of the four directions.
The Creator makes these powers available to do things.
We pray to the Creator to give us the power to do these things.
Often, we are given these powers for a while, then these powers disappear.
Power is given and taken from us by the Great Spirit, the source of power.
During the time we have this power, we should be responsible and use the power in a good way.
Many good things can be accomplished when we realize where this power really comes from. –Elders Meditations | More…

EARTH
The White Man’s way is to possess, control, and divide.
It has always been difficult for Indian people to understand this.
There are certain things we cannot own that must be shared.
The Land is one of these things.
We do not own the Earth; the Earth owns us.
Today, let us ponder the true relationship between the Earth and ourselves. –Elders Meditations | More…

PROCRASTINATION
Procrastination is the thief of time. When we have a problem and put things off, we add to our troubles
Whether we are putting off an important task or letting little undone jobs accumulate, we can ask ourselves for the spiritual message in our actions.
Perhaps we need some quiet time to do absolutely nothing. Maybe our perfectionism is paralyzing us.
Is an “all or nothing” attitude telling us if we can’t do the whole job right away, there is no point in beginning?
Unexpressed anger may be blocking us from doing what we need to do.
When we find ourselves doing things that seem irrational we can ask, “What is the message from my Higher Power in this behavior?”
This question will carry us much further toward spiritual growth than the mental criticism we are tempted to do. –Touchstones | More…

UNITY
I pray I may continue to grow in unselfishness, enough to care about the lives of all alcoholics, wherever they may be — those that are with us and those yet to come. –“You Call This Unity!” Piscataway, New Jersey, January 1992/AA Grapevine

FIRST THINGS FIRST
When we stop living in the here and now, our problems become magnified unreasonably.
We don’t have to fix everything at once. Solving a single problem seems possible, so we take them one at a time.
We take care of each moment as it comes, and then take care of the next moment as it comes.
We learn to stay clean just for today, and we approach our problems the same way.
When we live life in each moment, it’s not such a terrifying prospect.  One breath at a time, we can stay clean and learn to live. –Just For Today | More…

SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
Truly transforming spiritual experiences are nearly always founded on calamity and collapse. –AA Co-Founder, Bill W., August 1957, “The Physicians”/The Language of the Heart

WISDOM
We need to be careful about judging the old ones when we talk.
When they speak, listen very carefully.
Often it will take weeks or maybe even years before we understand what they are really saying.
This is the way of Wisdom.
We need to listen, listen, listen. –Elders Meditations | More…

LAWS
There is no power greater than the Natural Laws.
These powers were set up by the Great Spirit in such a way that the human being has no access to it, except by obeying.
If we choose not to follow the Natural Laws, our lives will be filled with confusion, tension, anxiety and stress.
If we poison the Earth, we poison ourselves. If we poison the Water of the Earth, we poison ourselves.
As we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves and our children, even the children unborn. –Elders Meditations | More…

LESSONS
What we are destined to learn in this life will keep presenting itself until “contact” has been made.
The Steps coach us through every situation
And they never shame us for needing reminders of our lessons. –A Woman’s Spirit/Karen Casey | More…