FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVELERS You now DO NOT NEED to quarantine and Visa On Arrival (VOA) is also available (for 23 countries), only if you fly directly to Bali. To qualify for “no quarantine” on arrival to Bali: Travelers must have full vaccination plus a booster shot. Proof of 4 nights hotel accommodation booking (in approved hotels).
Definition of Slovenliness: untidy or unclean in appearance or habits.
Synonyms for Slovenliness: sloppiness, carelessness, negligence, untidiness, neglect,
messiness.
These notes are from literature about recovery in AA and/or related 12 step programs.
Readers are encouraged to click the external link for more detail.
We hope you find them helpful.
Love in fellowship.
Many of us are all right in the main, but there are some domains in which we are slovenly. It is not a question of sin, but of the remnants of the carnal life which are apt to make us slovenly. Slovenliness is an insult to the Holy Ghost. There should be nothing slovenly, whether it be in the way we eat and drink, or in the way we worship God. –Oswald Chambers | More…
BACK TO NATURE
When we live in nature it’s like constantly being in school. We are in an environment that is always teaching. We are constantly being reminded that there are laws, Natural Laws, which are running the universe. Once we know these laws and we drift from them, we start to live our lives in a different way. Soon we become discontent, selfish, and disrespectful. Then, we get in trouble. If our lives have become this way, it can be reversed by going back to nature to be among our teachers. –Elders Meditations | More…
A JOURNEY
Sobriety is not an object that one can acquire and then put on a shelf somewhere or on the wall like a diploma. It is more of a journey in living, with each day’s march being a goal in itself. Our quest for sobriety is a lifetime journey. The quality of today’s sobriety will depend only on today’s thinking and behavior. –Walk In Dry Places | More…
LAUGHTER
Laughter is a way of accepting ourselves as human. To be human means we can make mistakes. It means we can lighten up. It also means growing up. If we can’t laugh at ourselves, we shut ourselves off from the world. We shut ourselves off from the parts of us we need to accept. –Keep It Simple | More…
ANGER
We need to accept our anger and learn to express it, honestly, openly and assertively, not aggressively. We can’t afford to hang onto anger. Repressed anger always blocks the way to a positive attitude. –Each Day a New Beginning/Karen Casey | More…
FEAR
It took years for me to realize the connection between my fears and the anger and resentment I felt. Today when I feel fear, it’s usually that I’m afraid of losing something or of not getting something I demand. Today, when I’m feeling angry or resentful, I stop and ask myself what I’m afraid of. Doing this allows me to take the mask off my fears and that always leads me to a solution. –Wisdom of the Rooms | More…
WILLINGNESS
We’re still here, so that means God is still in charge of whatever should transpire today. Our part is to be willing to listen to God’s direction and to follow it. We don’t have to know where our steps are leading us. We can simply move forward, trusting that we will end up where we need to be. What we needed to do, where we needed to go, was always under the direction of God. It still is. Let’s rejoice that our part is doable. –Keepers of the Wisdom/Ruth Casey | More…
PROGRESS
Some people bloom late. Some very late. And some, very, very late. But, they all bloom. And the longer it takes, the more spectacular it is. Quite the deal, huh? –The Universe
HAPPINESS
The only way you’ll ever be happy is to be happy with what you have.
You can be happy this very instant if you’ll simply be happy with what you have.
Being happy with what you have doesn’t prevent you from creating more.
In fact, it puts you in a powerful position to add new value to your world and your life.
When you’re happy with what you have, you’re deeply in touch with life’s abundance.
Within that abundance is every good possibility.
Be happy, and thankful, for the way life is.
It will open your eyes to the best possibilities for the way life can be.
There is great value in whatever you already have.
The way to see that value, and to make full use of it, is to be happy with what you have.
Life’s richness is yours the moment you allow it.
Be happy with what you have, and nothing can stop you from having it all. –Ralph Marston
FINANCES
Taking financial responsibility for ourselves is part of recovery. Start where you are, with what you’ve got. Acceptance and gratitude turn what we have into more. Set goals. Believe you deserve the best, financially. Believe God cares about your finances. Let go of your fear, and trust. –The Language of Letting Go/Melody Beattie | More…
LOVE
Allowing ourselves to receive love is one of the greatest challenges we face in recovery. Many of us have blocked ourselves from receiving love. Surrender to the love that is there for us, to the love that people, the Universe, and our Higher Power send our way. –The Language of Letting Go
INTERCESSION
Are we living in such a vital relationship to our fellow men that we do the work of intercession as the Spirit-taught children of God? Begin with the circumstances we are in — our homes, our business, our country, the present crisis as it touches us and others — are these things crushing us? Are they badgering us out of the presence of God and leaving us no time for worship? Then let us call a halt, and get into such living relationship with God that our relationship to others may be maintained on the line of intercession whereby God works His marvels.
Beware of outstripping God by your very longing to do His will. We run ahead of Him in a thousand and one activities, consequently we get so burdened with persons and with difficulties that we do not worship God, we do not intercede. If once the burden and the pressure come upon us and we are not in the worshipping attitude, it will produce not only hardness toward God but despair in our own souls. –My Utmost for His Highest | More…
PASS IT ON
The habits, attitudes, and beliefs that carry the human through the trials of life are developed at a very young age. And who do we drum and sing songs to? Our children. This is how we keep it going. .–Elders Meditations | More…
STRIVING
I think we should never settle for the “good,” but always strive to attain the “best.” I learn to combine initiative with humility, responsibility with thankfulness, and thus relish the joys of living my twenty-four hour program. –Daily Reflections | More…
IDENTIFYING
The better course is to identify with the problems others have in common with us. Common factors that bind alcoholics together are emotional immaturity, a misplaced faith that alcohol solves problems, loneliness, and a tendency toward resentments. –Walk In Dry Places | More…
RELATIONSHIPS
The purity of a relationship is directly proportional to the undivided attention we both give to those shared moments, hours, experiences, to being there with one another. This communion with another is the celebration of life and God that quickens hearts and ushers in serenity. –Each Day a New Beginning| More…
LAUGHING
Laughing with others is important. Learning to laugh at our own problems, however, is even more important. A hearty laugh at all the strange situations flung our way is just the thing to help us work through what is painful and difficult. Laughter is a gift we give to ourselves. –One More Day | More…
EXPERIMENTING
Experiment. Try something new. Try stepping out. We have held ourselves back too long. Recovery does not equal abstention from life. Recovery means learning to live and learning to live fully. Recovery means exploration, investigation, and experimentation. Experiment. Try something new. Maybe you won’t like it. Maybe you’ll make a mistake. But maybe you will like it, and maybe you’ll discover something you love. –The Language of Letting Go | More…
PEACEFULNESS
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…
FORGIVENESS
A healthy mind in a healthy body is free to find God. And, with God’s help, we can learn to recognize and forgive our past mistakes, while we keep the remarkable lessons we learned from life. –Body, Mind, and Spirit | More…
SPIRIT WORLD
Our Elders know about the two Worlds, the Physical World and the Spiritual World. Many times, before we pass to the Spirit World, our relatives, who have gone there before us, will come for us and they will help us. The Spirit World, the Elders say, is a good, happy, and harmonious place. When we die, it means we have only entered another world. We will all see one another again.–Elders Meditations | More…
VALUES
The Elders say that values come from the Mother Earth. Different places and areas around the Earth have different values. If you live in harmony with the Earth, you will live a life that is full of values. We should have great respect for the Mother Earth. . –Elders Meditations | More…
DIRECTION
Our spiritual tradition shows us the way to live in harmony, balance and respect. If we do not allow spirituality to guide our lives, we will be lost, unhappy and without direction. We are spiritual beings trying to be human, not human beings trying to be spiritual. It is said, Know thyself. –Elders Meditations | More…
D00RS OF THE MIND
God never opens doors that have been closed. He opens other doors, but He reminds us that there are doors which we have shut, doors which need never have been shut, imaginations which need never have been sullied. Never be afraid when God brings back the past. Let memory have its way. It is a minister of God with its rebuke and chastisement and sorrow. God will turn the “might have been” into a wonderful culture for the future. –My Utmost for His Highest | More…
SPIRITUAL OR NOT
The abiding characteristic of a spiritual man is the interpretation of the Lord Jesus Christ to himself, and the interpretation to others of the purposes of God. The one concentrated passion of the life is Jesus Christ. Whenever you meet this note in a man, you feel he is a man after God’s own heart. Never allow anything to deflect you from insight into Jesus Christ. It is the test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you. –My Utmost for His Highest | More…
PRAYER
The reason many of us leave off praying and become hard towards God is because we have only a sentimental interest in prayer. It sounds right to say that we pray; we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial, that our minds are quieted and our souls uplifted when we pray; but Isaiah implies that God is amazed at such thoughts of prayer. Worship and intercession must go together, the one is impossible without the other. Intercession means that we rouse ourselves up to get the mind of Christ about the one for whom we pray. Too often instead of worshipping God, we construct statements as to how prayer works. When we lose sight of God we become hard and dogmatic. We hurl our own petitions at God’s throne and dictate to Him as to what we wish Him to do. We do not worship God, nor do we seek to form the mind of Christ. If we are hard towards God, we will become hard towards other people. –My Utmost for His Highest | More…
TRUTH
The only way one can keep true to God is by being ready for the Lord’s surprise visits. It is not service that matters, but intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn. This will give our life the attitude of child-wonder which He wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious (that is, using religion as a higher kind of culture) and be spiritually real. –My Utmost for His Highest | More…
FAITH
Loyalty to Jesus means I have to step out where I do not see anything (cf. Matt. 14:29); loyalty to my notions means that I clear the ground first by my intelligence. Faith is not intelligent understanding, faith is deliberate commitment to a Person where I see no way. –My Utmost for His Highest | More…
HERITAGE
What we do today will effect the children seven generations form now. How we treat the Mother Earth will affect the children yet to be born. If we poison the water today, our children’s children will be affected by the decision we made. Our children are the gateway to the future. Let us conscientiously think about the children and the seven generations to come. –Elders Meditations | More…
PRAYER
People think other things are more important than prayer, but they are mistaken. The Warrior who prays first will lead a different life from those who pray last. –Elders meditations | More…
OFF-TRACK
We know that in all creation, only the human family has strayed from the Sacred Way. How have we gotten so far off track? What has happened to us? How did it happen so quickly? Every individual needs to answer these questions for themselves. Today I will start praying. –Elders Meditations | More…
SPIRITUAL AWAKENING
When a man or woman has had a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel and believe that which he could not do so before on his unaided strength and resources alone. He has been granted a gift… he has been transformed… My life became lonely and miserable when I lived in a bottle of vodka, no room for the beautiful, the unexpected. Now sober, I take time to pause and open myself to the wonders all around me, I am in awe… Wisdom of the Rooms
EARTH MOTHER
Women are created with the ability to produce life. Women have a special tie to the Earth Mother. They have something in common. They are the source of life. The Earth Mother gives songs to the Woman to sing. These songs are about life, about beauty, about children, about love, about family, about strength, about caring, about nurturing, about forgiveness, about God. The World needs to pay attention and listen to Her. She knows. –Elders Meditations | More…
AWARENESS
We are all familiar with the Holocaust against the people. We need to seriously examine what human beings are doing to the Earth and the environment. Many species are extinct and many more will become extinct during the next 10 years. We are methodically eliminating life that will never return again. We should take time to pray real hard so we wake up before it is too late. –Elders Meditations | More…
RESURRECTION
Once I decide the heredity of sin should be identified with the death of Jesus, then the Holy Spirit invades me. –My Utmost for His Highest | More…
FREEDON FROM SELF
There is a difference between self-care and self-seeking. We can trust that self-care is always appropriate. We want to be free of self-will and self-seeking, but we are always free to take care of ourselves. –The Language of Letting Go | More…
CO-ETERNAL LIFE
We are born of God. Eternal life is not a gift from God, eternal life is the gift of God. Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost — not power as a gift from the Holy Ghost; the power is the Holy Ghost, not something which He imparts. If it is difficult to get right with God, it is because we will not decide definitely about sin. Immediately we do decide, the full life of God comes in. We have to keep letting go, and slowly and surely the great full life of God will invade us in every part –My Utmost For His Highest | More…
CONNECTING
All spiritual awakenings have some things in common. Common elements include an end to loneliness and a sense of direction in our lives. Some kinds of spiritual experiences take place when we confront something larger than we are. We suspect that forces beyond our understanding are operating. We see a fleeting glimpse of the big picture and find humility in that moment. Through our new awareness, we no longer feel isolated from the rest of the human race. We may not understand why the world is the way it is or why people sometimes treat one another so savagely. But we do understand suffering and, in recovery, we can do our best to alleviate it. When our individual contribution is combined with others, we become an essential part of a grand design. We are connected at last. –Just For Today | More…
FAITH
This sober world is a pleasant place for an alcoholic to live in. Our need is God’s opportunity. First we must recognize our need. –24Hours | More…
DEPRESSION
Overcoming depression is a monumental undertaking, but that doesn’t mean it cannot be done. Bill Wilson contended (based on personal experience), depression actually corrects itself in time. It’s human to be temporarily depressed about a terrible failure or setback. –Walk In Dry Places | More…
KINDNESS
Make yourself a blessing to someone. Someone will be helped today by our kindness. The real gift, though, is to ourselves. We are healed in our healing of others. –Each Day a New Beginning | More…
COMPULSION
When I am compulsive about something, I “have to” have it or see that it is done. I cannot adjust the world to me; I can adjust myself to what is, to reality. –Food For Thought | More…
SHARING
It’s not easy to share the intimate details of our lives. The magic in sharing our experience, strength, and hope with others is hard to define. We simply know that when we do it, we feel relieved of our burden and we help someone else feel less isolated. We have come together because we want to get well. –A Woman’s Spirit | More…
BEAUTY
Sometimes we look at something close up and it appears to be ugly. Are we focused on something ugly about ourselves, or are we looking at ourselves as a whole? We all have purpose, and we are all beautiful. –Elders Meditations | More…
JUDGEMENT
Judgment is the constant evaluation of things as right or wrong, good or bad. When you are constantly evaluating, classifying, labeling, analyzing, you create a lot of turbulence in your internal dialogue. Non-judgment creates silence in your mind. –Deepak Chopra | More…
LOVE
The greatest weapon of any Spiritual Warrior is love. Love will change minds; love will forgive; love will let go; love will cause good luck; love will heal; love will cry; love will get rid of resentments; love will overcome fear. Love loves love. Any human who is loving will be guaranteed respect. Respect loves love. We need to love and respect ourselves. –Elders Meditations | More…
FRIENDSHIP
Once, an Elder told me he made a decision to be my friend. He said this friendship wasn’t based on my behavior or how I acted; he said the friendship was based on his decision. He decided to be my friend. This friendship has happened like he said. Even if I don’t see him for a long time, or if I get mad at him, he has never changed his decision. This is true
friendship. –Elders Meditations | More…
PRINCIPLES
The Elders say there are two worlds, the Seen World and the Unseen World. To experience the Seen World we need to physically pick a flower and smell it. To experience the Unseen World we need to know about principles, laws and values; and no matter what our mind or our physical senses tell us, we must decide and act on these principles. If someone does wrong to us, we must pray for that person or persons to have peace, happiness and joy in their life. We must not get even or retaliate in any way. Only by doing this can we understand spiritual matters. –Elders Meditations | More…
RIGHT THINKING
Inner satisfaction can be found in doing the right things for the right reasons. We break the people-pleasing cycle when we stop acting merely to gain others’ approval and start acting on our Higher Power’s will for us. When we do, we may be pleasantly surprised to find that the people who really count in our lives will approve all the more of our behavior. Most importantly, though, we will approve of ourselves. –Just For Today | More…
FOCUS
Beware of the thing of which you say — “Oh, that does not matter much.” The fact that it does not matter much to you may mean that it matters a very great deal to God. Nothing is a light matter with a child of God. How much longer are some of us going to keep God trying to teach us one thing? He never loses patience. Are you protesting that your heart is right with God, and yet is there something in your life about which He has caused you to doubt? Whenever there is doubt, quit immediately, no matter what it is. Nothing is a mere detail. You are all right in the main but you are slipshod; there is a relapse on the line of concentration. You no more need a holiday from spiritual concentration than your heart needs a holiday from beating. You cannot have a moral holiday and remain moral, nor can you have a spiritual holiday and remain spiritual. Some of us expect to “clear the numberless ascensions” in about two minutes. –My Utmost for His Highest | More…
ABUNDANCE
Many of the things we enjoy so much in recovery are gained by actively participating in the Fellowship. We begin to find true companionship, friends who understand and care about us just for ourselves. We find a place where we can be useful to others. There are recovery meetings, service activities, and fellowship gatherings to fill our time and occupy our interests. The fellowship can be a mirror to reflect back to us a more accurate image of who we are. We find teachers, helpers, friends, love, care, and support. The fellowship always has more to offer us, as long as we keep coming back. –Just For Today | More…
SHORTCOMINGS
Why do we call them “shortcomings”? Perhaps they should be called “long-goings,” because that’s often what it takes for them to fade from our lives. Once we have uncovered our fear, we are able to move beyond it. We try to imagine what our lives could be like without some of our more glaring shortcomings. This gives us a feeling for what lies past our fear, providing the motivation we need to push through it. Our Higher Power offers us a new vision for our lives, free of our defects. That vision is the essence of our own best, brightest dreams for ourselves. We need not fear that vision. –Just For Today | More…
JUST TILL BEDTIME
It took me many years to realize that once I took my first drink, I started losing control of my actions. I didn’t believe that it was possible for me to stay sober forever. I shared this with an old-timer and was told to stop worrying because I only had to stay sober till bedtime! So simple and so real! I am now 80 years old and just celebrated my 37th AA birthday. At my age these three words have taken on a richer meaning. I now plan and live my life Just ‘til Bedtime. I keep a positive attitude and I keep God, my Higher Power, in my heart and in my spirit. I can handle life Just ‘til Bedtime! –Wisdom Of The Rooms | More…
ACT AS IF
Today, we seek solutions, not problems. The first time we heard that we should “act as if,” many of us exclaimed, “But that’s not honest! Each action we take in this vein brings us closer to becoming the people we were meant to be. Each positive change we make builds our self-esteem. Through acting differently, we will realize that we are beginning to think differently. We are living ourselves into right thinking by “acting as if.” –Just For Today | More…
LAZINESS
We all have moments when we feel better than our best, and we say — “I feel fit for anything; if only I could be like this always!” We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to when we do not feel like it. Never allow a feeling which was stirred in you in the high hour to evaporate. Act immediately, do something, if only because you would rather not do it. Take yourself by the scruff of the neck and shake off your incarnate laziness. Laziness is always seen in cravings for the high hour. . Never revise your decisions, but see that you make your decisions in the light of the high hour. –My Utmost for His Highest | More…
CLEANSING
How do you know if you are praying from your heart or from your head? Pray from your head and you will feel nothing; pray from your heart and you will feel feelings. When we ask for purification of our feelings, our mental mind and our physical body, the spiritual direction causes the cleansing to happen. –Elders Meditations
EXPECTATIONS
Having too high expectations is a set-up for disappointment. Having too high expectations was a familiar feeling before recovery. And it remains familiar to us. Dreams and aspirations aren’t wrong. In fact, they beckon us on to better and greater things. But dreams of what we can become through responsible choices are quite different from idle expectations of what will or should be. –Each Day A New Beginning | More…
MEETINGS
We attend meetings for a variety of reasons. Sometimes we go to meetings to share our experience, strength, and hope with newer members. Sometimes we go to see our friends. And sometimes we go just because we need a hug. Occasionally we leave a meeting and realize that we haven’t really heard a word that’s been said—but we still feel better. The atmosphere of love and joy that fills our meetings has kept us clean another day. No matter how hectic our schedule, we make meeting attendance our priority. –Just For Today | More…
ENOUGH
If you ever feel paralyzed by fear or overwhelmed with self-consciousness, know this truth: You are enough. Block out the voices—from others and ourselves—that say we need to meet unrealistic, unhealthy, unnecessary expectations. Perfection isn’t a goal. It’s a trap that leaves us exhausted, discouraged, and dissatisfied. Instead, seek authenticity. Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are. –The Gifts of Imperfection | More…
GIFTS
Mother Earth shares Her special gifts of love with the Women. Women know about bringing forth life and nurturing their offspring. Through this gift of love the Earth really makes the Woman special. Men should look upon the Woman with a Sacred Eye. She should be respected. The Woman is a role model for love. When the Woman talks, we should listen; when she shares, we should be grateful. We should all learn about each other. –Elders Meditations | More…
CRISIS
Have you ever had a crisis in which you deliberately and emphatically and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of will. You may come up to it many times externally, but it amounts to nothing. The real deep crisis of abandonment is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of external things may be an indication of being in total bondage. When we no longer seek God for His blessings, we have time to seek Him for Himself. –My Utmost Fo His Highest | More…
CLEANSING
How do you know if you are praying from your heart or from your head? Pray from your head and you will feel nothing; pray from your heart and you will feel feelings. When we ask for purification of our feelings, our mental mind and our physical body, the spiritual direction causes the cleansing to happen. –Elders Meditations | More…
THE PRESENT
Despite all evidence that we must live for today, some of us persist in trying to recapture the past. Our home is never in the past. It is in the time and place where we are today. –Walk In Dry Places | More…
ANXIETY
Fear of the unknown, often referred to as free-floating anxiety, catches up to us on occasion. Shifting our focus, from self-centered fears to another person’s needs, offers us a perspective on our own life. –Each Day a New Beginning | More…
NOW
When you enter this timeless dimension of the present, change often comes about in strange ways without the need for a great deal of doing on your part. Life becomes helpful and cooperative. –The Power of Now | More… https://books.google.fr/books?id=eKOLNeeZQFMC&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=When+you+enter+this+timeless+dimension+of+the+present&source=bl&ots=mSGuWCP8dK&sig=vAe9B916-MJwRhcPB6-6KgitqFo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IRwwVau4Fcrjau_7gdAP&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=When%20you%20enter%20this%20timeless%20dimension%20of%20the%20present&f=false
REQUESTING
Bring any request you have to God. Asking for what we want and need is taking care of ourselves. –The Language of Letting Go | More… https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/thought-for-the-day/thoughts?thoughtId=2552&searchTerm=Bring any request you have to God.
SERENITY
In the Serenity Prayer, we pray for the wisdom to know the difference between what we can change and what we cannot. When we finally see the reality clearly – that some things we face cannot be controlled by our own will or fixed by force – new possibilities open up to us. When we stop trying to move a mountain, our relationship to the mountain changes. We start to live at peace with the mountain. At the same time we can take greater responsibility for those parts of our lives that we can change. Peace of mind comes from accepting what we can do nothing about and taking responsibility for what we can. –Wisdom to Know/Anonymous
SELF-CARE
Self-care is not a spin-off of the me generation. Self-care means learning to love the person we’re responsible for taking care of – ourselves. –The Language of Letting Go
BALANCE
Sometimes, our legitimate needs and wants run amuck. Identify what you want. Then let it go. And ask God what your lesson is. –More Language Of Letting Go | More…
https://books.google.fr/books?id=0ZWug_CkTdUC&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=More+Language+Of+Letting+Go+Keep+your+balance&source=bl&ots=emhW_r6gkz&sig=JbxfQZdHt9cVeMcpcW0qi7WfSlQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SyQwVcb6Hui57gbYgYHICg&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=More%20Language%20Of%20Letting%20Go%20Keep%20your%20balance&f=false
LETTING GO
We do not have to work so hard at gaining our insights. Perhaps the lesson is to trust ourselves to live, and experience, life. –The Language of Letting Go | More…
https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/thought-for-the-day/thoughts?thoughtId=21814&searchTerm=We do not have to work so hard at gaining
Phuket, Thailand in August
SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES
Spiritual experiences transform men and women so that they can do, feel, and believe what had hitherto been impossible to them. It mattered little whether these awakenings were sudden or gradual; their variety can be almost infinite. –Grapevine: AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1953
HARMONY
With prayer and good intentions, we make our lives sacred and come into balance.
Only through prayer can we make spiritual changes that are permanent. You have told us that all life is sacred. Let me see today with a sacred eye. Let me see beauty in all things. –Elders Meditations | More…
BOTTOM
The bottom started falling out faster than I could lower my standards –-Wisdom Of The Rooms | More…
INTUITION
The Creator has a way of allowing us to see or know in the spiritual world.
This is called the Sixth Sense. The Sixth Sense is like a radar system; our personal radar system. It will help us “see” opportunities and help us avoid disaster. This Sixth Sense is controlled by God. We must learn to listen to it. We must learn to trust it. We must learn to act on it even if our head says differently. We must learn to look at things through the eyes of God. –Elders Meditations | More…
PERCEPTION
The temporary or seeming good can often be the deadly enemy of the permanent best. –Grapevine: Bill W. January 1955/Why Alcoholics Anonymous is Anonymous
TRUTH
Truth connects us to life while fear, isolation, and dishonesty alienate us from it.
We need not hide from the reality of our relations with the people, places, and things in our lives. We accept those relationships just as they are, and we own our part in them. We take time every day to ask, “Am I telling the truth about myself?” Each time we do this, we draw that much further away from the alienation that characterizes our addiction. Each time we do this, we draw that much closer to the freedom recovery can bring us.–Just For Today | More…
PERSEVERENCE
Let’s think about this.
Before coming to the Program, could we stay clean on our own? What makes us think we can now? Then there’s the disease itself to consider—the chronic self-centeredness, the obsessiveness, the compulsive behavior patterns that express themselves in so many areas of our lives.
Can we live and enjoy life without effective treatment for our disease?
No. “Ordinary” people may not have to worry about such things, but we’re not “ordinary” people—we’re addicts. We can’t pretend we don’t have a fatal, progressive illness, because we do. Without our program, we may not survive to worry about the demands of work, school, family, or anything else. Meetings give us the support and direction we need to recover from our addiction, allowing us to live the fullest lives possible. –Just For Today | More…
DECISIONS
Life is a series of decisions, actions, and consequences.
Given that, many of us have great difficulty learning to make decisions in recovery. Slowly, by working the Twelve Steps, we gain practice in making healthy decisions, ones that give positive results. Where our disease once affected our will and our lives, we ask our Higher Power to care for us. We inventory our values and our actions, check our findings with someone we trust, and ask the God of our understanding to remove our shortcomings.
In working the steps we gain freedom from the influence of our disease, and we learn principles of decision-making that can guide us in all our affairs. Today, our decisions and their consequences need not be influenced by our disease.
Our faith gives us the courage and direction to make good decisions and the strength to act on them. The result of that kind of decision-making is a life worth living. –Just For Today | More…
TALENT
We mistakenly think that others have talent, never ourselves, but that’s because we misunderstand what talent means. Talent is really just an inclination; it develops from a desire to pursue some activity that we then proceed to cultivate with a passion. It’s not mysterious. It doesn’t just happen. We persevere because we feel good when involved in the activity. When we define talent this way, we realize how right it is. It’s just that many of us haven’t followed our passion yet. — Keepers of the Wisdom | More…
RESPONSIBILITY
It’s sometimes hard to believe that when we’re grappling with disappointment, anger, or loss. Only when we love ourselves can we love others realistically, instead of seeing them as fantasy figures, projections of our own desire. We’re full partners in everything that we do, and taking responsibility for our actions and our desires is our first step toward being fully lovable. — The Promise of a New Day | More…
FRIENDSHIP
Friends are there for us when we’re not there for ourselves.
Friends help us gain valuable perspective on the events in our lives and our recovery. It is important that we actively cultivate friendships, for we have learned that we cannot recover alone. –Just For Today | More…
SERVICE
The individual message we carry may help a newcomer only we can reach.
There are many ways to serve our fellowship. Each of us will find that we do some things better than others, but all service work is equally important. If we are willing to serve, we’re sure to find that particular way to contribute that’s right for us. –Just For Today | More…
GRATITUDE
It is sometimes easy to get off track when times are good.
We need to remember how honourable it is each day to come into the presence of the Creator. How happy we should be to talk to the Grandfathers, to have the choice to start each day on the Sacred Spot – our place of communion with the Great Spirit. – Elders Meditations | More…
CHANGE
The more I change, the more I hope the Traditions and principles of AA don’t change –Grapevine: San Mateo, California
PRAYER
The Serenity Prayer is the handrail to grab until you can work the Steps. — My Mind is Out to Get Me
TIME
You’ve got to give time, time. — My Mind is Out to Get Me
WISDOM
The value of staying close to the Creator is the immediate help we have available to us whenever we need it. I can listen to the whisper of my heart for this is the place He communicates with me. Staying close helps me remember that we are here to serve Him and to help other people. The Grandfathers are my direct access to wisdom; He who has wisdom has everything. If we have wisdom, then we will see our lives become more effective in the areas of jobs, relationships, family, friends, and finances. –Elders Meditations | More…
ACT AS IF
As I continue to grow in awareness in recovery, I realize that “acting as though until it becomes so” is one of the great universal spiritual truths of humanity. Books like “The Secret” and others on positive attraction explain why this is, and I know through experience that it is true. Today if I want my reality to change, I simply begin acting as if.
It always works. –Wisdom of the Rooms | More…
EMOTIONS
Many of us fake emotions because our past experiences never taught us how to use boundaries when dealing with feelings. Sometimes we need to learn to “fake it till we make it.” We can learn to “act as if” – working all the time to liberate the frozen emotions of years gone by – until we actually do experience what we seek. Like new shoes, new behaviors and feelings will feel stiff and uncomfortable for a little while. Willingness to live through the “breaking in” period in necessary. — Days of Healing, Days of Joy | More…
HARMONY
If we keep everything in balance, we are in harmony with ourselves and are at peace. We need to keep ourselves in balance. We must be careful to not get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. We must know the times – time to work, time to rest, time to play, time to sleep, time to pray, time to lighten up, time to laugh, time to eat, time to exercise. We need to take care of ourselves. You cannot give away what you don’t have. –Elders Meditations | More…
DEATH
Every life has a beginning and an end.
However, when someone we love a great deal reaches the end of their life, we may have a very hard time accepting their sudden, final absence. Our grief may be so powerful that we fear it will completely overwhelm us—but it will not. Our sorrow may hurt more than anything we can remember, but it will pass. We need not run from the emotions that may arise from the death of a loved one.
Death and grieving are parts of the fullness of living “life on life’s terms.” By allowing ourselves the freedom to experience these feelings, we partake more deeply of both our living in recovery and our human nature. Sometimes the reality of another’s death makes our own mortality that much more pronounced.
We re-evaluate our priorities, appreciating the loved ones still with us all the more. We want to make the most of what’s most important while it lasts. We can accept the loss of one we love and turn to our Higher Power for the strength to accept my feelings. –Just For Today | More…
SINCERITY/INTEGRITY
The first thing that captured me at my very first meeting was the way AA members talked with one another. There was a genuineness, something real there, that I wanted… I saw they were sober and that they were honest with each other. –Grapevine: New York, New York, February 2001
CONFIDENCE
God, this is hard. Today, allow me to be a Warrior.
Let me be strong. Let Your voice be clear to me. Let me hear Your guidance. My goal today is to serve You, to develop myself to be the kind of Indian person that You would have me be. To Walk the Red Road it must sometimes be walked alone. –Elders Meditations | More…
COMPLACENCY
An old-timer spoke about the danger of becoming complacent and explained the need for the Steps in her life. ‘The way I see it,’ she said, ‘I might have gotten the monkey off my back, but the circus is still in town.’ –Grapevine: New York, New York, September 2005
FIRST THINGS FIRST
It’s been said that recovery is simple—all we’ve got to change is everything!
That can seem a pretty tall order. The enormity of the change required in our lives can be paralyzing. We know we can’t take care of all that needs to be done, not all at once. How do we start? We’ve done the first, most obvious things that needed to be done: We’ve stopped using drugs, and we’ve started going to meetings. What do we do next? Pretty much the same thing, just more of it: From where we are, we do what we can. We walk the path of recovery by picking up our feet and taking the step that’s right in front of us. Only when that’s been accomplished must we concern ourselves with what comes next. Slowly but surely, we’ll find ourselves making progress. I will walk the path of recovery by taking the step right in front of me. –Just For Today | More…
BLAME
Blame-saying is game-playing.
I see that my preoccupation with the faults of others is a smokescreen to keep me from taking a hard look at my own. As well as a way to bolster my own failing ego. May I check out the “why’s” of my blaming. — A Day at a Time
VALUES
When we are born, we start with a beautiful empty mind ready to be given our beliefs, attitudes, habits and expectations.
Most of our true learning comes from watching the actions of others. As we watch our family or relatives, whatever their actions and values are, so will be the children’s values and acts. If we see our families living a just and peaceful way of life, so then will the children. If we see our family shouting, arguing, and hateful, so will it be for the children. The cycle of life – baby, youth, adult and Elder is all connected. If the older ones have good values, it will be connected to the children. –Elders Meditations | More…
CHOICES/THINKING
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, the odds are that my children will. They will marry and their children will follow 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…
THINKING
We become like that which we think about.
What we think about creates our vision. It’s important to be aware of what we are thinking about. As I live my vision, my children watch and live their lives the same way. –Elders Meditations | More…
RESPECT
We need to honor and respect our Mother Earth.
She is the source of all life. The sun shines life to the earth, then the earth produces life in all forms and in a balanced way. Everything is here to serve everything else. If we interrupt the flow in any way, we leave nothing for the future generations. Before every decision is made, we should ask, and answer, a final question; “If we do this, what will be the effects on the seventh generation? What will we cause our children to live with?” We need to have respect and love for all things and for all people. We need to do this for ourselves and for all the children still unborn. –Elders Meditations/White Bison | More…
HABITS
We form habits and then these habits begin to form us.
To stay clean and sober we must develop new habits, new patterns of living. We must give up old hangouts, old friends, old attitudes, and ideas. It seems this is the only way to form new habits – for example, kindness, love, and honesty – on which our program is based. –Day by Day
PATIENCE
There are no short cuts.
Every tree must grow according to the growth plan of the Creator. Every flower must grow according to the plan of God. The moon must make its trip around the earth according to God’s plan. Every human being must grow according to the plan of the Creator. Sometimes we look at ourselves and we think we are not growing but we are always growing. Because we cannot see it with our mind does not mean it is not happening. We must be patient with ourselves and let the Creator direct our growth. –Elders Meditations | More…
HONESTY
I learned that if I had the capacity to be honest, I would get better. –Grapevine: Cornwall, Ontario, January 2005
FORGIVENESS
There were many injustices done to Native people.
Sometimes I wonder; why am I connected to the past injustices done to Indian people? Why am I so angry about the past? The Elders say our ancestors are alive within each of us. Therefore, I may experience anger and resentment inside of me because of the injustice done to them. The way I get rid of these past feelings is to forgive. It may be necessary to even learn to forgive the unforgivable. –Elders Meditations | More…
THINKING
The only way I ever found to displace a thought was to put another thought in its stead. –Grapevine: Alexandria, Virginia, August 1950
HARMONY
A long time ago the Creator said to the People – You will be the keepers of the Mother Earth.
Among you I will give the wisdom about nature, about the interconnectedness of all things, about balance and about living in harmony. You will see the secrets of nature. You will live in hardship and the blessing of this is you will stay close to the Creator. The day will come when you will need to share the secrets with the other people of the earth because they will stray from their spiritual ways. The time to start sharing is today. –Elders Meditations | More…
CREATION
We are made in the image of the Great Spirit.
A long time ago He breathed life into our ancestors. He made the Indian strong. He created a Warrior. Our ancestors created more warriors. We have been tested throughout the seasons and we are still here, stronger than ever. It is good to be Indian. We are proud of ourselves and our ancestors. Mostly we are proud the Great Spirit has never forsaken us, and continues to guide us. –Elders Meditations | More…
INSIDE PATH
Everyone has to find the right path.
You can’t see it so it’s hard to find. No one can show you. Each person has to find the path by himself. Inside of everyone is the natural, built-in desire to be seeking a relationship with the Creator. We must make this journey because we want to. The path is inside of ourselves. It is inside that we must begin our search. –Elders Meditations | More…
HONESTY
Honesty is one of the fundamental principles of recovery.
We apply this principle when we finally admit our powerlessness and unmanageability. We continue to apply the principle of honesty each time we are faced with the option of either living in fantasy or living life on its own terms. Learning to be honest isn’t always easy, especially after the covering up and deception so many of us practiced in our addiction. Our voices may shake as we test our newfound honesty. But before long, the sound of the truth coming from our own mouths settles any doubts: Honesty feels good! It’s easier living the truth than living a lie. –Just For Today | More…
TEACHABLE
When you get older and you are ready, your ancestors will show up to guide you.
When we are young we sometimes think we know everything. Sometimes we do foolish things. As we get a little older, we realize we don’t know anything. This is when we become teachable. There is a saying that goes, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. We usually aren’t teachable unless we are ready. The ancestors are waiting and willing to help. When we are ready, many beautiful teachers start to come into our lives. Then we really start to grow and mature. We are ready for the spiritual lesson. –Elders Meditations | More…
CEREMONIES
The Creator told everyone of us in our tribal beginnings to look after our ceremonies, and each other.
Our ceremonies are important and each has a purpose. They teach us about the Creator and about each other. The ceremonies teach us to be humble and teach us to pray. They teach us to look inside ourselves. –Elders Meditations | More…
RESPONSIBILITY
Recovery is something that has to be worked for.
It isn’t going to be handed to us on a silver platter, nor can we expect our friends or our sponsor to be responsible for the work we must do ourselves. We recover by making our own decisions, doing our own service, and working our own steps. By doing it for ourselves, we receive the rewards. –Just For Today | More…
SURRENDER
When it hurts enough, when we’re scared enough, when we’re sick and tired enough, when we’ve lost enough, then we’ll begin to change.
But we have to want to change. That is the key. — Day by Day | More…
DREAMS
Thunder demands our attention.
From the ear-splitting boom overhead to the faint rumble in the distance, it is an impressive part of nature. Yet, it is the lightning that discharges electricity from one cloud to another, or to the earth. We are sometimes like thunder. We may shout our intentions to others, or quietly tell our dreams to friends. No matter how we say it, it is the ability to follow through that is most important. When we’ve completed what we’ve set out to do, we will feel a sense of satisfaction and energy. With this energy, and the knowledge we can finish what we set out to do, we will make our dreams come true. –Today’s Gift | More…
GUIDANCE
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…
FORGIVENESS
Forgiveness seems to depend more on the love of the one who does the forgiving than on the lovability of the one being forgiven. –Grapevine: West Henrietta, New York, September 1997
GROWTH
Today I can only keep changing and keep growing if I stay on the train of recovery.
As long as I continue to grow along spiritual lines, I know that things will change and things will get better. –Wisdom Of The Rooms | More…
GRATITUDE LIST
It’s easy to be grateful when everything runs smoothly.
But when we find ourselves becoming obsessed with the things that are wrong, we can use a gratitude list. Whatever we have that we are grateful for goes on the Gratitude List. We have literally hundreds of things in our lives that inspire our gratitude. Those of us who are suffering from an illness or who have lost all material wealth will find blessings of a spiritual nature for which we can be thankful. An awakening of the spirit is the most valuable gift we can receive. –Just For Today | More…
ANONYMITY
Anonymity and humility are almost the same thing.
They are devoid of prestige; they demand nothing; they don’t ask to be ‘right’; They simply suggest that the icy egocentric elements in all of us retire into the background and that we wear the warm cloak of anonymity and humility and therefore, spirituality. –Grapevine: Walnut Creek, California, March 2000
SPIRITUALITY
Spirituality is not based on logic, it is faith-driven.
Faith makes the impossible possible. –Grapevine: Sacramento, California, September 2005
SECRETS
We’re as sick as our secrets.” What do we keep secret, and why?
We keep secret those things that cause us shame. We may hold onto such things because we don’t want to surrender them. Some of us hold onto the things that cause us shame for another reason. It’s not that we don’t want to be rid of them; we just don’t believe we can be rid of them. We need to remember who we are: recovering addicts. Only when our secrets stop being secret can we begin to find relief from those things that cause us shame. –Just For Today | More… http://www.jftna.org/pages/8-4.htm
LIVE AND LET LIVE
“Live and Let Live” can be extremely helpful when we are having trouble tolerating other people’s behavior.
We know for certain that nobody’s behavior – no matter how offensive, distasteful or vicious – is worth the price of a relapse. Our own recovery is primary, and while we must be unafraid of walking away from people or situations that cause us discomfort, we must also make a special effort to try to understand other people – especially those who rub us the wrong way. — A Day at a Time | More…
FREEDOM
By shaping our thoughts with spiritual ideals, we are freed to become who we want to be. Denial is counteracted by admission, secretiveness by honesty, isolation by fellowship, and despair by faith in a loving Higher Power. The spiritual ideals we find in recovery are restoring the shape of our thoughts and our lives to their natural condition. –Just For Today | More…
DETACHMENT
Other people’s actions need not affect us.
Part of the problem is our desire to be liked. The anger or criticism that’s directed at us hurts. But we can change – we can learn detachment. Daily we can work at letting whatever someone else says or does roll off us. In time, detachment will become our nature. — A Life of My Own | More…
STRUGGLING
It is a paradox that in our desire for peace we must willingly give ourselves to struggle. The Grandfathers have taught us about sacrifice. We have been taught to pray for the people in a pitiful way. Struggle and conflict is neither good nor bad, it just is. Everything that grows experiences conflict. When the deer is born it is through conflict. When the seed first grows, it is through conflict. Conflict precedes clarity. Everything has the seasons of growth. Recognize – acknowledge – forgive and change. All of these things are done through conflict.–Elders Meditations | More…
AUTHENTICITY
How important it is for us to support one another?
How important it is for us to know our culture and to share our experiences with one another? How powerful it is to be authentic? How important it is to hold no secrets? I am as sick as my secrets –Elders Meditations | More…
INVENTORY
“searching and fearless” means complete honesty about who and what we really are. Difficult as it is to be fully honest, it’s made easier when we remind ourselves that it’s all for our own recovery. We benefit in proportion to the amount of honesty we bring to our inventory. If it’s searching and fearless, the results will be far-reaching and substantial. –Walk in Dry Places | More…
PRINCIPLES
All our choices and decisions will reflect on our people.
We need to assume the accountability of honouring people. We must remember to conduct ourselves in a sacred way. We must remember we have the assistance of the Spirit World, and we have the principles and values by which we should live, written in our hearts. The Creator will help us develop into a strong people if we just learn to depend upon Him. –Elders Meditations | More…
HIGHER POWER
I think my Higher Power stepped in and started leading me out of the alcoholic life, as I seemed incapable of doing it on my own. –Grapevine: Alexandria, Virginia, April 2002
MORNING HELPERS 