Alcoholics Anonymous Serenity Prayer - A Prayer for All Seasons

"The power of the Serenity Prayer is
overwhelming in that its simple beauty parallels
the A.A. Fellowship.  There are times when I
get stuck while reciting it, but if I examine
the section which is troubling me, I find the
answer to my problem....By accepting life as
it is, I gain serenity.  By taking action, I
gain courage and I thank God for the ability
to distinguish between those situations I can
work on, and those I must turn over.  All that
I have now is a gift from God: my life, my
usefulness, my contentment, and this program. 

     

"Alcoholics Anonymous IS the easier,
softer way."

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Alcoholism and Addiction Treatment Center 

A.A. Thought for the Day: Courage

Courage

When fear persisted, we knew it for what it was,
and we became able to handle it.
We began to see each adversity
as a God-given opportunity to develop the kind of courage
which is born of humility, rather than bravado. 

 

Thought to Ponder . . .

Courage is fear in action.

 

Prayer for today:  I pray that I may warmly welcome all who come to me for help. I pray that I
may make them fell that I really care.

Recovery Tool - Alcoholics Anonymous Advice

Each day when I get up, the first things that happens is that my mind races to overdrive with all the things I want to accomplish before I go to work.  So I have been making a conscious effort to slow down each morning and take the time I need to pray and meditate before I start racing around.  I wish I could say the I have noticed an immediate effect but I can not.  What I can say is that I plan to continue to act as if and it will help me.

 

My tool for  today is  Maintain your conscious contact with God or your higher power.

 

 

Quotable Chinese Proverb

If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.
-  Chinese Proverb

For help with drug addiction or alcoholism, contact our network of drug rehab facilities in Southern California.

Helen Keller Quote and Recovery Tool - Accept Lmitations

Four things to learn in life:
To think clearly without hurry or confusion;
To love everybody sincerely;
To act in everything with the highest motives;
To trust God unhesitatingly.
 - Helen Keller

I hear talk of the "weak willed" alcoholic, but I am one of the strongest-willed people on earth! I now
know that my incredible strength of will is not enough to save my life. My problem is not one of
"weakness," but rather of direction. When I, without falsely diminishing myself, accept my honest
limitations and turn to God's guidance, my worst faults become my greatest assets. My strong will,
rightly directed, keeps me working until the promises of the program become my daily reality. 
From Daily Reflections

Honesty in Recovery from Bill W.

"Why all this insistence that every AA must hit bottom first? 
The answer is that few people will sincerely
try to practice the AA program unless they have hit bottom. 
For practicing AA's remaining eleven Steps means
the adoption of attitudes and actions
that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking
can dream of taking.
Who wishes to be rigorously honest and tolerant?
The average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme,
doesn't care for this prospect -
unless he has to do these things
in order to stay alive himself." - Bill W.

New Alcoholic Recovery "Tool"

Today's Tool:

Today's tool:  accept my limitations and seek help from God
A NEW DIRECTION
Our human resources, as marshaled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly. . . . Every
day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all our activities.
 - from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

I hear talk of the "weak willed" alcoholic, but I am one of the strongest-willed people on earth! I now
know that my incredible strength of will is not enough to save my life. My problem is not one of
"weakness," but rather of direction. When I, without falsely diminishing myself, accept my honest
limitations and turn to God's guidance, my worst faults become my greatest assets. My strong will,
rightly directed, keeps me working until the prom ises of the program become my daily reality.
From "Daily Reflections"

"Once more: The alcoholic at certain
times has no effective mental defense
against the first drink.  Except in a few
rare cases, neither he nor any other human
being can provide such a defense.  His
defense must come from a Higher Power."

-  For help with alcoholism visit our rehab facilities website.

From "As Bill Sees It"

"In God's economy, nothing is wasted.  Through failure, we learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is.

"We did not always come closer to wisdom by reason of our virtues; our better understanding is often rooted in the pains of our former follies.  Because this has been the essence of our individual experience, it is also the essence of our experience as a fellowship."

I have a tendency to believe that I can't do anything or say anything until I am sure I will do or say it perfectly.  As a result, I deprive myself of the opportunities for growth that come from making mistakes and learning from them.  While pausing and praying prior to acting is certainly not a bad thing, if the end result is paralysis then there's a good chance I've taken it too far.  So, the tool that I'm going to use today is:

Don't react, but do act.

Our Side of the Street - Making Amends

From "Our Side of the Street":

 

"I made amends to my dad soon after I quit drinking.
My words fell on deaf ears since I had blamed him for
my troubles. Several months later I made amends to my
dad again. This time I wrote a letter in which I did not
blame him or mention his faults. It worked, and at last I
understood! My side of the street is all that I'm responsible
for and –thanks to God and A.A. – it's clean for today."

 

© 1990 AAWS, Inc.; Daily Reflections, pg. 259

 

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