Created to carry the message of recovery to all addicts. Whether the addiction is alcohol, drugs, food or any other addiction the program of recovery is the same. I am a recovering alcoholic of over twenty-seven years, a day at a time of course and I believe my primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve recovery. Remember seven days without a meeting makes one weak. Sign up to get emails.This Blog is NOT IN ANY WAY affiliated to either A.A. or N.A. Help to stop drinking.
Thursday, 4 September 2025
EMMET FOX - 4th September 2025
CLAIM YOUR WINGS
To me the butterfly teaches the most important lesson that we human beings ever have to learn. You all know his story. He lived what seemed to him a very long time as a worm—what we call the humble caterpillar. Now the life of a caterpillar could be taken as the very type and symbol of restriction. He lives on a green leaf in the forest, and that is about all he knows.
Then one day the little caterpillar finds certain stirrings going o within himself. The old green leaf, for some reason, no longer seems sufficient. He becomes moody and discontented, but—and this is the vital point—it I a divine discontent. He feels the need for a bigger, finer, and more interesting life. His instinct tells him that where there is true desire there must be fulfillment.
And so the wonderful thing happens: the butterfly emerges beautiful, graceful, now endowed with wings, and instead of crawling about on a restricted leaf, he can soar above the trees, above the forest itself—free, unrestricted, his own True Self.
. . . Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the thing which God hath prepared for them that love him (Corinthians 2:9)
© 1931 by Emmet Fox
To me the butterfly teaches the most important lesson that we human beings ever have to learn. You all know his story. He lived what seemed to him a very long time as a worm—what we call the humble caterpillar. Now the life of a caterpillar could be taken as the very type and symbol of restriction. He lives on a green leaf in the forest, and that is about all he knows.
Then one day the little caterpillar finds certain stirrings going o within himself. The old green leaf, for some reason, no longer seems sufficient. He becomes moody and discontented, but—and this is the vital point—it I a divine discontent. He feels the need for a bigger, finer, and more interesting life. His instinct tells him that where there is true desire there must be fulfillment.
And so the wonderful thing happens: the butterfly emerges beautiful, graceful, now endowed with wings, and instead of crawling about on a restricted leaf, he can soar above the trees, above the forest itself—free, unrestricted, his own True Self.
. . . Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the thing which God hath prepared for them that love him (Corinthians 2:9)
© 1931 by Emmet Fox
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Daily Reflections - 4th September 2025
RECONSTRUCTION
Yes, there is a long period of reconstruction ahead
Yes, there is a long period of reconstruction ahead
. . . . . ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS , p. 83
The reconstruction of my life is the prime goal in my recovery as I avoid taking that first drink, one day at a time. The task is most successfully accomplished by working the Steps of our Fellowship. The spiritual life is not a theory; it works, but I have to live it. Step Two started me on my journey to develop a spiritual life; Step Nine allows me to move into the final phase of the initial Steps which taught me how to live a spiritual life. Without the guidance and strength of a Higher Power, it would be impossible to proceed through the various stages of reconstruction. I realize that God works for me and through me. Proof comes to me when I realize that God did for me what I could not do for myself, by removing that gnawing compulsion to drink. I must continue daily to seek God’s guidance. He grants me a daily reprieve and will provide the power I need for reconstruction. Just For Today - 4th September 2025
Cluttered Spirits
“We try to remember that when we make amends we are doing it for ourselves.”
“We try to remember that when we make amends we are doing it for ourselves.”
Basic Text p.40
As long as we still owe amends, our spirits are cluttered with things we don’t need. We’re carrying the extra load of an apology owed, a resentment held, or unexpressed remorse. It’s like having a messy house. We could leave so we don’t have to see the mess, or maybe just step over the piles of debris and pretend they aren’t there. But ignoring the disorder won’t make it disappear. In the end, the dirty dishes, the crumb-filled carpet, and the overflowing wastebaskets are still there, waiting to be cleaned up.
A cluttered spirit is just as hard to live with as a messy home. We always seem to be tripping over yesterday’s leavings. Every time we turn around and try to go somewhere, there is something blocking our path. The more we neglect our responsibility to make amends, the more cluttered our spirits become. And we can’t even hire someone to clean up. We have to do the work ourselves.
We gain a deep sense of satisfaction from making our own amends. Just as we would feel after we’ve cleaned our homes and have time to enjoy a bit of sunshine through sparkling windows, so will our spirits rejoice at our freedom to truly enjoy our recovery. And once the big mess is cleaned up, all we have to do is pick up after ourselves as we go along.
Just for today: I will clear away what’s cluttering my spirit by making the amends I owe. As long as we still owe amends, our spirits are cluttered with things we don’t need. We’re carrying the extra load of an apology owed, a resentment held, or unexpressed remorse. It’s like having a messy house. We could leave so we don’t have to see the mess, or maybe just step over the piles of debris and pretend they aren’t there. But ignoring the disorder won’t make it disappear. In the end, the dirty dishes, the crumb-filled carpet, and the overflowing wastebaskets are still there, waiting to be cleaned up.
A cluttered spirit is just as hard to live with as a messy home. We always seem to be tripping over yesterday’s leavings. Every time we turn around and try to go somewhere, there is something blocking our path. The more we neglect our responsibility to make amends, the more cluttered our spirits become. And we can’t even hire someone to clean up. We have to do the work ourselves.
We gain a deep sense of satisfaction from making our own amends. Just as we would feel after we’ve cleaned our homes and have time to enjoy a bit of sunshine through sparkling windows, so will our spirits rejoice at our freedom to truly enjoy our recovery. And once the big mess is cleaned up, all we have to do is pick up after ourselves as we go along.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day - 4th September 2025
A.A. Thought For The Day
“We must be careful never to show intolerance or hatred of drinking as an institution. Experience shows that such an attitude is no help to anyone. We are not fanatics or intolerant of people who can drink normally. Every prospect is relieved when he finds we are not witch burners. Temperate drinking is O.K., but we alcoholics can’t get away with it. And no alcoholic likes to be told about alcohol by anyone who hates it. We shall be of little use if our attitude is one of bitterness or hostility.” Do I have a tolerance for those who can drink normally?
Meditation For The Day
Do not become encumbered by petty annoyances. Never respond to emotional upsets by emotional upset. Try to keep calm in all circumstances. Try not to fight back. Call on the grace of God when you feel like retaliating. Look to God for the inner strength to drop these resentments that drag you down. If you are burdened by annoyances, you will lose your inward peace and the spirit of God will be shut out. Try to keep peaceful within.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may do the things that make for peace. I pray that I may have a mission of conciliation.
“We must be careful never to show intolerance or hatred of drinking as an institution. Experience shows that such an attitude is no help to anyone. We are not fanatics or intolerant of people who can drink normally. Every prospect is relieved when he finds we are not witch burners. Temperate drinking is O.K., but we alcoholics can’t get away with it. And no alcoholic likes to be told about alcohol by anyone who hates it. We shall be of little use if our attitude is one of bitterness or hostility.” Do I have a tolerance for those who can drink normally?
Meditation For The Day
Do not become encumbered by petty annoyances. Never respond to emotional upsets by emotional upset. Try to keep calm in all circumstances. Try not to fight back. Call on the grace of God when you feel like retaliating. Look to God for the inner strength to drop these resentments that drag you down. If you are burdened by annoyances, you will lose your inward peace and the spirit of God will be shut out. Try to keep peaceful within.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may do the things that make for peace. I pray that I may have a mission of conciliation.
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As Bill Sees It - 4th September 2025
Instinct To Live, p.246
When men and women pour so much alcohol into themselves that they destroy their lives, they commit a most unnatural act. Defying their instinctive desire for self-preservation, they seem bent upon self-destruction. They work against their own deepest instinct.
As they are progressively humbled by the terrific beating administered by alcohol, the grace of God can enter them and expel their obsession. Here their powerful instinct to live can cooperate fully with their Creator’s desire to give them new life.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“The central characteristic of the spiritual experience is that it gives the recipient a new and better motivation out of all proportion to any process of discipline, belief, or faith.
“These experiences cannot make us whole at once; they are a rebirth to a fresh and certain opportunity.”
1. 12 & 12, p.64
2. Letter, 1965
When men and women pour so much alcohol into themselves that they destroy their lives, they commit a most unnatural act. Defying their instinctive desire for self-preservation, they seem bent upon self-destruction. They work against their own deepest instinct.
As they are progressively humbled by the terrific beating administered by alcohol, the grace of God can enter them and expel their obsession. Here their powerful instinct to live can cooperate fully with their Creator’s desire to give them new life.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“The central characteristic of the spiritual experience is that it gives the recipient a new and better motivation out of all proportion to any process of discipline, belief, or faith.
“These experiences cannot make us whole at once; they are a rebirth to a fresh and certain opportunity.”
1. 12 & 12, p.64
2. Letter, 1965
Walk In Dry Places - 4th September 2025
What do We Deserve?
Good Expectations
We hear about people who snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Some of us do that even in sobriety, experiencing failure just as success seems imminent.
At times, we may just be suffering from a bad situation that is all around us. But if we do seem to be having one bad break after another, we should look more carefully within ourselves for causes. We may be punishing ourselves, or pushing away our good simply because we do not feel worth of it.
If we discover that this process is working in our lives, we must begin changing these false patterns immediately. Having forgiven ourselves and others, and having made amends, we need no punishment. We will work to succeed in all of our activities, with a reasonable expectation of success most of the time. We will expect and deserve the best.
I’ll carry with me today a belief that I deserve to succeed and will take all necessary action to earn my success.
Good Expectations
We hear about people who snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Some of us do that even in sobriety, experiencing failure just as success seems imminent.
At times, we may just be suffering from a bad situation that is all around us. But if we do seem to be having one bad break after another, we should look more carefully within ourselves for causes. We may be punishing ourselves, or pushing away our good simply because we do not feel worth of it.
If we discover that this process is working in our lives, we must begin changing these false patterns immediately. Having forgiven ourselves and others, and having made amends, we need no punishment. We will work to succeed in all of our activities, with a reasonable expectation of success most of the time. We will expect and deserve the best.
I’ll carry with me today a belief that I deserve to succeed and will take all necessary action to earn my success.
Father Leo’s - 4th September 2025
HUMILITY
“Humility is to make a right estimate of one’s self.”
“Humility is to make a right estimate of one’s self.”
– Charles Haddon Spurgeon
To see yourself as a good person is part of the program of humility. To see your gifts and recognize your achievements is what it is to be a humble person. “God does not make junk.” Therefore, we should not act or behave towards ourselves in a way that would indicate anything other than that we are “special”.
All addicts and alcoholics need to accept this because for years we had felt guilty, lonely and ashamed. These attitudes helped to keep us sick.
Sobriety and serenity is recognizing our God-given uniqueness that makes us “special”. We can achieve great things as long as we continue to believe in ourselves.
A Day at a Time - 4th September 2025
Reflection for the Day
Though I have prayed at various times in my life, I realized after several months in The Program that I’d never really prayed properly. I’d always tried to make deals with God, much like a foxhole atheist; I’d always pleaded, “Grant me my wishes,” instead of, “Thy will – not mine – be done.” The result was that I remained self-deceived and was thus incapable of receiving enough grace to restore me to sanity.
Do I see that in the past, when I prayed to God, I usually asked that two and two not make four?
Today I Pray
May I look back and review how I have prayed before, for specific solutions that I from my earthly vantage felt were best. May I question, in the longer view of time, whether those solutions would have been right, had God chosen to do things my way. In retrospect, may I see that my pleas were not always so wise. May I be content to trust God.
Today I Will Remember
God may not do it my way.
Though I have prayed at various times in my life, I realized after several months in The Program that I’d never really prayed properly. I’d always tried to make deals with God, much like a foxhole atheist; I’d always pleaded, “Grant me my wishes,” instead of, “Thy will – not mine – be done.” The result was that I remained self-deceived and was thus incapable of receiving enough grace to restore me to sanity.
Do I see that in the past, when I prayed to God, I usually asked that two and two not make four?
Today I Pray
May I look back and review how I have prayed before, for specific solutions that I from my earthly vantage felt were best. May I question, in the longer view of time, whether those solutions would have been right, had God chosen to do things my way. In retrospect, may I see that my pleas were not always so wise. May I be content to trust God.
Today I Will Remember
One Day At A Time - 4th September 2025
ACTION
“Men at some time are the masters of their fates.”
–William Shakespeare
When I first approached Step Four I did so with fear. To make “a searching and fearless moral inventory” of myself seemed like an impossible task. I had so many resentments and fears I did not know where to start. I felt very overwhelmed. When I shared this with my sponsor, she sat down with me and I took a pen and paper and we started. Just seeing something down on paper gave me the courage to go on. I took the inventory person-by-person for my resentments and sex conduct, and fear-by-fear for my fear inventory. At first it was hard to see my part. I wanted to be a victim. But with the help of my sponsor I began to see my part. I began to take action.
No longer was I the victim, but I became the master of my fate for the purposes of my recovery. I chose to make a searching and fearless moral inventory. No, it wasn’t easy, but step-by-step, I completed it. It wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as I thought it would be. Step Four requires much action, and I must choose to take it.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will choose to take action in my recovery and be fearless and thorough no matter where I am on my journey.
~ Carolyn
“Men at some time are the masters of their fates.”
–William Shakespeare
When I first approached Step Four I did so with fear. To make “a searching and fearless moral inventory” of myself seemed like an impossible task. I had so many resentments and fears I did not know where to start. I felt very overwhelmed. When I shared this with my sponsor, she sat down with me and I took a pen and paper and we started. Just seeing something down on paper gave me the courage to go on. I took the inventory person-by-person for my resentments and sex conduct, and fear-by-fear for my fear inventory. At first it was hard to see my part. I wanted to be a victim. But with the help of my sponsor I began to see my part. I began to take action.
No longer was I the victim, but I became the master of my fate for the purposes of my recovery. I chose to make a searching and fearless moral inventory. No, it wasn’t easy, but step-by-step, I completed it. It wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as I thought it would be. Step Four requires much action, and I must choose to take it.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will choose to take action in my recovery and be fearless and thorough no matter where I am on my journey.
Elder’s Meditation - 4th September 2025
“Decisions that have been made for the last couple of centuries have been decisions made without the presence of a real God….from the vision, not of God, but of money.”
–Tom Porter, MOHAWK
As we view the world today, it’s easy to see the people are off track. We are no longer living in harmony. Focusing on the material only leads us from the path of the Creator.
We must now pray for ourselves and the people in a pitiful way. We must be humble and ask the Great Spirit to intervene because if we don’t, our children will continue to have troubles. They are acting out our behavior as adults.
Today is a good time to start. We need to get the spiritual way back into our lives. We need to focus on the spiritual.
Today’s Gift - 4th September 2025
Don’t be a victim
Some people refer to us as victims of our problems, but we should not accept such labelling. A better term for us is survivors.
Working in step with our Higher Power, we should view ourselves as capable of rising above all the challenges and conditions that confront us. If we call ourselves victims, we’ll soon be inviting more people and situations to victimize us. As survivors, however, we will always learn to sail through the roughest storms.
Looking at the general world situation, it does seem realistic to say that lots of people are victims. But we must always take into account the vast power that resides in every human soul. People have tremendous power to change their conditions, and when word of this finally gets around, we’ll see a worldwide spiritual awakening that will change everything for the better.
Whatever I’m facing today, I’ll know that the spirit within me also gives me the qualities I need to survive.
Walk in Dry Places by Mel B. © 1996 by Hazelden Foundation
Some people refer to us as victims of our problems, but we should not accept such labelling. A better term for us is survivors.
Working in step with our Higher Power, we should view ourselves as capable of rising above all the challenges and conditions that confront us. If we call ourselves victims, we’ll soon be inviting more people and situations to victimize us. As survivors, however, we will always learn to sail through the roughest storms.
Looking at the general world situation, it does seem realistic to say that lots of people are victims. But we must always take into account the vast power that resides in every human soul. People have tremendous power to change their conditions, and when word of this finally gets around, we’ll see a worldwide spiritual awakening that will change everything for the better.
Whatever I’m facing today, I’ll know that the spirit within me also gives me the qualities I need to survive.
From the book:
The Eye Opener - 4th September 2025
Too many of us ex-drunks expect too much when we get dried out. We, with characteristic impatience, see no reason why we can’t, overnight, regain all our lost ground and get the fifteen thousand dollar job that other sober men get.
Drying out only gives us the opportunity to realize our ambitions. Ability always has been, and always will be, a factor to be reckoned with. Getting sober won’t make a musician out of a boilermaker.
Copyright Hazelden Foundation
Drying out only gives us the opportunity to realize our ambitions. Ability always has been, and always will be, a factor to be reckoned with. Getting sober won’t make a musician out of a boilermaker.
Copyright Hazelden Foundation
Daily Tao / 246 – Tree - 4th September 2025
Did you measure to attain your height?
Did you use geometry to radiate your limbs?
Did you lament storm-torn branches?
Did you inventory your leaves for the sun?
You did none of these things, yet man in his cleverness
Cannot match your perfection.
When will we give up the artificiality of our tiresome lives and cleave instead to what is natural? All the achievements of man are only monuments to overwhelming pride. There has not been a single man-made item that has been a necessary improvement to the earth. Did we need the Great Wall of China? Did we need the pyramids of Egypt? Did we need the Colossus of Rhodes? Did we need mechanization, steam power, electricity, nuclear power, or computer technology? All our achievements have been for the sake of our exclusive comfort and gratification. We have only advanced the mad tangle of supply and demand that we call civilization.
We don’t need all this “sophistication” in order to live with Tao. Our involvement in society blinds us to this fact. We ignore the natural order of our own bodies and minds and close ourselves to the point so that only sex and drugs are stimulating enough. We lament that we are lost and alienated. Ironically, the answers are right nearby. If you just go to the nearest tree and contemplate, you will easily see the secret to natural living.
Did you use geometry to radiate your limbs?
Did you lament storm-torn branches?
Did you inventory your leaves for the sun?
You did none of these things, yet man in his cleverness
Cannot match your perfection.
When will we give up the artificiality of our tiresome lives and cleave instead to what is natural? All the achievements of man are only monuments to overwhelming pride. There has not been a single man-made item that has been a necessary improvement to the earth. Did we need the Great Wall of China? Did we need the pyramids of Egypt? Did we need the Colossus of Rhodes? Did we need mechanization, steam power, electricity, nuclear power, or computer technology? All our achievements have been for the sake of our exclusive comfort and gratification. We have only advanced the mad tangle of supply and demand that we call civilization.
We don’t need all this “sophistication” in order to live with Tao. Our involvement in society blinds us to this fact. We ignore the natural order of our own bodies and minds and close ourselves to the point so that only sex and drugs are stimulating enough. We lament that we are lost and alienated. Ironically, the answers are right nearby. If you just go to the nearest tree and contemplate, you will easily see the secret to natural living.
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DAILY ZEN - 4th September 2025
All the wealth you've acquired
from beginningless time until now
has failed to fulfill all your desires.
Cultivate therefore this wish-granting gem
of moderation, O fortunate ones.
-Milarepa, "Drinking the Mountain Stream"
from beginningless time until now
has failed to fulfill all your desires.
Cultivate therefore this wish-granting gem
of moderation, O fortunate ones.
-Milarepa, "Drinking the Mountain Stream"
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Keep It Simple - 4th September 2025
In my view, we of this world are pupils in great school of life.
Bill W.
Our addiction has taught me much. It has taught us how far we can get from ourselves, our Higher Power, and those who love us.. Hopefully, we’ve learned we can’t go it alone. Do I allow myself to learn from the bad things that happened?
Recovery has much to teach us too. We need to be students of life. We need to be open to learning. Our spirits can grow if we’re willing to do three things: First, we listen. Second, we think about what we’ve learned. Third, we turn what we’ve learned into action. Listening, combined with thought and action, will help us learn life’s best lessons.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You’ll test me so I can learn. Help me accept the tasks You give me. And help me learn from them.
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Wednesday, 3 September 2025
Daily Dose OF Emmet Fox - 3rd September 2025
GREAT POSSESSIONS
One of the saddest passages in all literature is the story of the Rich Young Man who missed one of the great opportunities of history, “. . .and went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions”. Matthew 19:22
This is really the story of mankind in general. We reject the salvation that Jesus offers us—our chance of finding God—because we "have great possessions"; not so much that we are very rich in terms of money, for indeed most people are not, but because we have great possessions in the way of preconceived ideas—confidence in our own judgment, and in the ideas with which we happen to be familiar. We have pride, born of academic distinction, sentimental or material attachment to institutions and organizations; habits of life that we have no desire to renounce, concern for human respect, or perhaps fear of public ridicule And these possessions keep us chained to the rock of suffering that is our exile from God.
The poor in spirit suffer from none of these embarrassments, either because they never had them, or because they have risen above them on the tide of spiritual understanding.
One of the saddest passages in all literature is the story of the Rich Young Man who missed one of the great opportunities of history, “. . .and went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions”. Matthew 19:22
This is really the story of mankind in general. We reject the salvation that Jesus offers us—our chance of finding God—because we "have great possessions"; not so much that we are very rich in terms of money, for indeed most people are not, but because we have great possessions in the way of preconceived ideas—confidence in our own judgment, and in the ideas with which we happen to be familiar. We have pride, born of academic distinction, sentimental or material attachment to institutions and organizations; habits of life that we have no desire to renounce, concern for human respect, or perhaps fear of public ridicule And these possessions keep us chained to the rock of suffering that is our exile from God.
The poor in spirit suffer from none of these embarrassments, either because they never had them, or because they have risen above them on the tide of spiritual understanding.
Daily Reflections - 3rd September 2025
BUILDING A NEW LIFE, p.255
We feel a man is unthinking when he says sobriety is enough.
We feel a man is unthinking when he says sobriety is enough.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p.82
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Just For Today - 3rd September 2025
Humility Expressed By Anonymity
“Humility is a by-product that allows us to grow and develop in an atmosphere of freedom and removes the fear of becoming known by our employers, families, or friends as addicts.”
“Humility is a by-product that allows us to grow and develop in an atmosphere of freedom and removes the fear of becoming known by our employers, families, or friends as addicts.”
Basic Text p.72-23
Many of us may not have understood the idea that “anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions.” We wondered how this could be. What does anonymity have to do with our spiritual life?
The answer is, plenty! By guarding and cherishing our anonymity, we earn spiritual rewards beyond comprehension. There is great virtue in doing something nice for someone and not telling anyone about it. By the same token, resisting the impulse to proudly announce our membership in NA to the world – in effect, asking everyone to acknowledge how wonderful we are – makes us value our recovery all the more.
Recovery is a gift that we’ve received from a Power greater than ourselves. Boasting about our recovery, as if it were our own doing, leads to prideful feelings and grandiosity. But keeping our anonymity leads to humility and feelings of gratitude. Recovery is its own reward; public acclaim can’t make it any more valuable than it already is.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day - 3rd September 2025
A.A. Thought For The Day
“Offer new prospects friendship and fellowship. Tell them that if they want to get well you will do anything to help. Burn the idea into the consciousness of new prospects that they can get well, regardless of anyone else. Job or no job, spouse or no spouse, they cannot stop drinking as long as they place dependence on other people ahead of dependence on God. Let no alcoholic say they cannot recover unless they have their family back. This just isn’t so. Their recovery is not dependent upon other people. It is dependent on their own relationship with God.” Can I recognize all excuses made by a prospect?
Meditation For The Day
The spiritual life depends upon the unseen. To live the spiritual life you must believe in the unseen. Try not to loose the consciousness of God’s spirit in you and in others. As a child in its mother’s arms, stay sheltered in the understanding and love of God. God will relieve you of the weight of worry and care, misery and depression, want and woe, faintness and heartache, if you will let Him. Lift up your eyes from earth’s troubles and view the glory of the unseen God. Each day try to see more good in people, more of the unseen in the seen.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may rest and abide in the presence of the unseen God. I pray that I may leave my burdens in His care.
“Offer new prospects friendship and fellowship. Tell them that if they want to get well you will do anything to help. Burn the idea into the consciousness of new prospects that they can get well, regardless of anyone else. Job or no job, spouse or no spouse, they cannot stop drinking as long as they place dependence on other people ahead of dependence on God. Let no alcoholic say they cannot recover unless they have their family back. This just isn’t so. Their recovery is not dependent upon other people. It is dependent on their own relationship with God.” Can I recognize all excuses made by a prospect?
Meditation For The Day
The spiritual life depends upon the unseen. To live the spiritual life you must believe in the unseen. Try not to loose the consciousness of God’s spirit in you and in others. As a child in its mother’s arms, stay sheltered in the understanding and love of God. God will relieve you of the weight of worry and care, misery and depression, want and woe, faintness and heartache, if you will let Him. Lift up your eyes from earth’s troubles and view the glory of the unseen God. Each day try to see more good in people, more of the unseen in the seen.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may rest and abide in the presence of the unseen God. I pray that I may leave my burdens in His care.
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As Bill Sees It - 3rd September 2025
Single-handed Combat, p.245
Few indeed are those who, assailed by the tyrant alcohol, have ever won through in single-handed combat. It is a statistical fact that alcoholics almost never recover on their personal resources alone.
********************************
‘Way up toward Point Barrow in Alaska, a couple of prospectors got themselves a cabin and a case of Scotch. The weather turned bitter, fifty below, and they got so drunk they let the fire go out. Barely escaping death by freezing, one of them woke up in time to rekindle the fire. He was prowling around outside for fuel, and he looked into an empty oil drum filled with frozen water. Down in the ice cake he saw a reddish-yellow object. When thawed out, it was seen to be an A.A. book. One of the pair read the book and sobered up. Legend has it that he became the founder of one of our farthest north groups.
1. 12 & 12, p.22
2. A.A. Comes Of Age, pp. 82-83
Few indeed are those who, assailed by the tyrant alcohol, have ever won through in single-handed combat. It is a statistical fact that alcoholics almost never recover on their personal resources alone.
********************************
‘Way up toward Point Barrow in Alaska, a couple of prospectors got themselves a cabin and a case of Scotch. The weather turned bitter, fifty below, and they got so drunk they let the fire go out. Barely escaping death by freezing, one of them woke up in time to rekindle the fire. He was prowling around outside for fuel, and he looked into an empty oil drum filled with frozen water. Down in the ice cake he saw a reddish-yellow object. When thawed out, it was seen to be an A.A. book. One of the pair read the book and sobered up. Legend has it that he became the founder of one of our farthest north groups.
1. 12 & 12, p.22
2. A.A. Comes Of Age, pp. 82-83
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Walk In Dry Places - 3rd September 2025
What is Possible?
Spiritual Power.
With God, all things are possible, goes an old saying. Yet most of us haven’t seen any evidence of doing the impossible.
But through our program, we have truly accomplished things that we had considered nearly impossible at one time. No human power could have relieved our alcoholism, we read in the AA Big Book. How many more conditions are we accepting because no human power ….. particularly ours… can relieve them?
As we grow in sobriety, we should continuously reinforce our belief that God is living and working in our lives. The impossible problems we’ll need to work on will have roots in our own habits and feelings, but even if one of these deeply rooted problems has gone on for years, we need not despair of finding an answer.
If we persist in prayer and in turning the problem over to our Higher power, and answer must come. It is never too late to find the changes we need and deserve.
Even if I haven’t solved all my problems, I’ll take the position today that correct solutions exist in the mind of God. I’ll be open to signs that changes are coming.
Spiritual Power.
With God, all things are possible, goes an old saying. Yet most of us haven’t seen any evidence of doing the impossible.
But through our program, we have truly accomplished things that we had considered nearly impossible at one time. No human power could have relieved our alcoholism, we read in the AA Big Book. How many more conditions are we accepting because no human power ….. particularly ours… can relieve them?
As we grow in sobriety, we should continuously reinforce our belief that God is living and working in our lives. The impossible problems we’ll need to work on will have roots in our own habits and feelings, but even if one of these deeply rooted problems has gone on for years, we need not despair of finding an answer.
If we persist in prayer and in turning the problem over to our Higher power, and answer must come. It is never too late to find the changes we need and deserve.
Even if I haven’t solved all my problems, I’ll take the position today that correct solutions exist in the mind of God. I’ll be open to signs that changes are coming.
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A Day At A Time - 3rd September 2025
Refection For The Day
Sometimes, even when friends in and outside of The Program tell us how well we’re doing, we know deep down that we’re really not doing well enough. We still have trouble handling life and facing reality on reality’s terms. We suspect, at those times, that there must be a serious flaw in our spiritual practice and development. Chances are strong that our trouble lies in either misunderstanding or neglect of Step Eleven — prayer, meditation, and the guidance of God. The other Steps can keep most of us clean and sober, free from other addictions, and functioning. But Step Eleven can keep us growing — so long as we try hard and work at it continuously. Do I trust infinite God rather than my finite self?
Today I Pray
I pray for a deepness of my spiritual awareness, for a stronger faith in the Unseen, for a closer communion with God. May I realize that my growth in The Program depends on my spiritual development. May I give over more of my trust to God’s eternal wisdom.
Today I Will Remember
I will not give in or give up, but give over to the power of God.
Sometimes, even when friends in and outside of The Program tell us how well we’re doing, we know deep down that we’re really not doing well enough. We still have trouble handling life and facing reality on reality’s terms. We suspect, at those times, that there must be a serious flaw in our spiritual practice and development. Chances are strong that our trouble lies in either misunderstanding or neglect of Step Eleven — prayer, meditation, and the guidance of God. The other Steps can keep most of us clean and sober, free from other addictions, and functioning. But Step Eleven can keep us growing — so long as we try hard and work at it continuously. Do I trust infinite God rather than my finite self?
Today I Pray
I pray for a deepness of my spiritual awareness, for a stronger faith in the Unseen, for a closer communion with God. May I realize that my growth in The Program depends on my spiritual development. May I give over more of my trust to God’s eternal wisdom.
Today I Will Remember
I will not give in or give up, but give over to the power of God.
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A Day At A Time - 3rd September 2025
Refection For The Day
Sometimes, even when friends in and outside of The Program tell us how well we’re doing, we know deep down that we’re really not doing well enough. We still have trouble handling life and facing reality on reality’s terms. We suspect, at those times, that there must be a serious flaw in our spiritual practice and development. Chances are strong that our trouble lies in either misunderstanding or neglect of Step Eleven — prayer, meditation, and the guidance of God. The other Steps can keep most of us clean and sober, free from other addictions, and functioning. But Step Eleven can keep us growing — so long as we try hard and work at it continuously. Do I trust infinite God rather than my finite self?
Today I Pray
I pray for a deepness of my spiritual awareness, for a stronger faith in the Unseen, for a closer communion with God. May I realize that my growth in The Program depends on my spiritual development. May I give over more of my trust to God’s eternal wisdom.
Today I Will Remember
I will not give in or give up, but give over to the power of God.
Sometimes, even when friends in and outside of The Program tell us how well we’re doing, we know deep down that we’re really not doing well enough. We still have trouble handling life and facing reality on reality’s terms. We suspect, at those times, that there must be a serious flaw in our spiritual practice and development. Chances are strong that our trouble lies in either misunderstanding or neglect of Step Eleven — prayer, meditation, and the guidance of God. The other Steps can keep most of us clean and sober, free from other addictions, and functioning. But Step Eleven can keep us growing — so long as we try hard and work at it continuously. Do I trust infinite God rather than my finite self?
Today I Pray
I pray for a deepness of my spiritual awareness, for a stronger faith in the Unseen, for a closer communion with God. May I realize that my growth in The Program depends on my spiritual development. May I give over more of my trust to God’s eternal wisdom.
Today I Will Remember
I will not give in or give up, but give over to the power of God.
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One Day At A Time - 3rd September 2025
SPIRITUAL GROWTH
“I have defined love as the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one’s own and another’s spiritual growth.”
“I have defined love as the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one’s own and another’s spiritual growth.”
–Scott Peck From ‘The Road Less Traveled’
In my disease I had this terrible need to control everything and everyone in my path. Like the actor in the AA Big Book, I was forever arranging things the way I thought they should be, only to find that when I was done, I had ripped through the area like a tornado on the plains.
Often I would claim that my actions were done out of a spirit of love. When I didn’t get my way, I would announce to the world that I was not loved and would head for the solitude of my binge foods.
Today as I work my program, I find that by taking the Third Step, I am truly extending myself for not only my own growth, but for those around me as well. When I decide to turn my will and my life over to the God of my understanding, I don’t have to be the director of the world! As I once heard in a meeting, “The position of God is filled. They did not ask for resumes, they did not take applications, there was no ad in the classifieds. So what makes you think you can apply for the job?” By not extending myself into God’s role, I am extending love.
One Day at a Time . . .
I pray that I may stay out of my Higher Power’s way, and by doing so, extend myself for spiritual growth.
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Elder’s Meditation - 3rd September 2025
“Once you have achieved this oneness, when you talk, God talks; when you act, God acts.”
–Chuck Ross, LAKOTA
In my innermost self, I know this to be true. I know of this oneness. The more I am free of doubt, jealousy, judgment, selfishness, anger, the closer I am to this oneness.
When I am right with the Creator, nothing can touch me. When I am right with the Creator I always say the right things. When I am right with the Creator, my thoughts are always good. When I am right with the Creator, my actions are always good.
Great Spirit, remove from me those things that block me from You. Allow me this day to experience the oneness.
–Chuck Ross, LAKOTA
In my innermost self, I know this to be true. I know of this oneness. The more I am free of doubt, jealousy, judgment, selfishness, anger, the closer I am to this oneness.
When I am right with the Creator, nothing can touch me. When I am right with the Creator I always say the right things. When I am right with the Creator, my thoughts are always good. When I am right with the Creator, my actions are always good.
Great Spirit, remove from me those things that block me from You. Allow me this day to experience the oneness.
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Today's Gift - 3rd September 2025
We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.
— Eric Hoffer
When we’re not honest with others, we’re not being honest with ourselves. In recovery, we’re taught how to heal our hearts. We admit we’re wrong, and we do it quickly. We let our spirit speak out. We listen to our spirit. We let our spirit have the loudest voice. This way, lies lose power over us. We find a way to be true to our spirit.
Prayer for the Day
Higher Power, You have a soft, quiet voice inside of me. Help me, through meditation, to hear You better. Yours is the voice I want to follow.
Action for the Day
I’ll listen to my Higher Power. I’ll list any lies I’ve been telling myself and others lately. Then I’ll find someone I trust and tell that person what I’ve lied about.
Keep It Simple © 1989 by Hazelden Foundation
— Eric Hoffer
When we’re not honest with others, we’re not being honest with ourselves. In recovery, we’re taught how to heal our hearts. We admit we’re wrong, and we do it quickly. We let our spirit speak out. We listen to our spirit. We let our spirit have the loudest voice. This way, lies lose power over us. We find a way to be true to our spirit.
Prayer for the Day
Higher Power, You have a soft, quiet voice inside of me. Help me, through meditation, to hear You better. Yours is the voice I want to follow.
Action for the Day
I’ll listen to my Higher Power. I’ll list any lies I’ve been telling myself and others lately. Then I’ll find someone I trust and tell that person what I’ve lied about.
From the book:
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The Eye Opener - 3rd September 2025
Faith is probably the first natural virtue that the human being acquires. A baby’s reaction to its mother is different from earliest infancy. It is an instinctive faith that this one person, above all others, can and will supply all its needs. This faith in mother decreases as the child develops and becomes more self-reliant. He loses faith in the parent as he develops faith in himself. Finally he arrives at a point where he depends upon himself entirely. When Alcoholism develops and he begins to lose faith in himself, he feels completely helpless.
He must then start rebuilding faith, first in the Group or his Sponsor, then in the Program itself, and finally in God. When this is accomplished, then faith returns in himself.
Copyright Hazelden Foundation
He must then start rebuilding faith, first in the Group or his Sponsor, then in the Program itself, and finally in God. When this is accomplished, then faith returns in himself.
Copyright Hazelden Foundation
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Daily Tao / 246 – Tree - 3rd September 2025
Did you measure to attain your height?
Did you use geometry to radiate your limbs?
Did you lament storm-torn branches?
Did you inventory your leaves for the sun?
You did none of these things, yet man in his cleverness
Cannot match your perfection.
When will we give up the artificiality of our tiresome lives and cleave instead to what is natural? All the achievements of man are only monuments to overwhelming pride. There has not been a single man-made item that has been a necessary improvement to the earth. Did we need the Great Wall of China? Did we need the pyramids of Egypt? Did we need the Colossus of Rhodes? Did we need mechanization, steam power, electricity, nuclear power, or computer technology? All our achievements have been for the sake of our exclusive comfort and gratification. We have only advanced the mad tangle of supply and demand that we call civilization.
We don’t need all this “sophistication” in order to live with Tao. Our involvement in society blinds us to this fact. We ignore the natural order of our own bodies and minds and close ourselves to the point so that only sex and drugs are stimulating enough. We lament that we are lost and alienated. Ironically, the answers are right nearby. If you just go to the nearest tree and contemplate, you will easily see the secret to natural living.
Did you use geometry to radiate your limbs?
Did you lament storm-torn branches?
Did you inventory your leaves for the sun?
You did none of these things, yet man in his cleverness
Cannot match your perfection.
When will we give up the artificiality of our tiresome lives and cleave instead to what is natural? All the achievements of man are only monuments to overwhelming pride. There has not been a single man-made item that has been a necessary improvement to the earth. Did we need the Great Wall of China? Did we need the pyramids of Egypt? Did we need the Colossus of Rhodes? Did we need mechanization, steam power, electricity, nuclear power, or computer technology? All our achievements have been for the sake of our exclusive comfort and gratification. We have only advanced the mad tangle of supply and demand that we call civilization.
We don’t need all this “sophistication” in order to live with Tao. Our involvement in society blinds us to this fact. We ignore the natural order of our own bodies and minds and close ourselves to the point so that only sex and drugs are stimulating enough. We lament that we are lost and alienated. Ironically, the answers are right nearby. If you just go to the nearest tree and contemplate, you will easily see the secret to natural living.
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Daily Zen - 3rd September 2025
Abandon wrongdoing. It can be done. If there were no likelihood, I would not ask you to do it. But since it is possible and since it brings blessing and happiness, I do ask of you: abandon wrongdoing.
Cultivate doing good. It can be done. If it brought deprivation and sorrow, I would not ask you to do it. But since it brings blessing and happiness, I do ask of you: cultivate doing good.
-Anguttara Nikaya
Cultivate doing good. It can be done. If it brought deprivation and sorrow, I would not ask you to do it. But since it brings blessing and happiness, I do ask of you: cultivate doing good.
-Anguttara Nikaya
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Tuesday, 2 September 2025
Emmet Fox - 2nd September 2025
“Prayer is the one thing that can make change in your life. It matters not what your religion may be, or whether you adhere to none. If you will go direct to God in simple, affirmative prayer, you can heal your body, bring peace and harmony into your life, enlarge your social contacts, and make prosperity a reality.”
Emmet Fox (Persistence Brings Results).
I am guided by God’s wisdom & enfolded in divine love! Daily Reflections - 2nd September 2025
FINDING “A REASON TO BELIEVE”
The willingness to grow is the essence of all spiritual development.
The willingness to grow is the essence of all spiritual development.
As Bill Sees It, p.171
A line from a song goes, “. . . and I look to find a reason to believe . . .” It reminds me that at one time I was not able to find a reason to believe that my life was all right. Even though my life had been saved by coming to A.A., three months later I went out and drank again. Someone told me: “You don’t have to believe. Aren’t you willing to believe that there is a reason for your life, even though you may not know yourself what that reason is, or that you may not sometimes know the right way to behave?” When I saw how willing I was to believe there was a reason for my life, then I could start to work on the Steps. Now when I begin with, “I am willing. . . ,” I am using the key that leads to action, honesty, and openness to a Higher Power moving through my life. Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
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Just For Today - 2nd September 2025
Higher Powered
“Daily practice of our Twelve Step program enables us to change from what we were to people guided by a Higher Power”
“Daily practice of our Twelve Step program enables us to change from what we were to people guided by a Higher Power”
Basic Text p.83
Who have we been, and who have we become? There are a couple of ways to answer this question. One is very simple:
We came to Narcotics Anonymous as addicts, our addiction killing us. In NA, we’ve been freed from our obsession with drugs and our compulsion to use. And our lives have changed.
But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Who have we really been? In the past, we were people without power or direction. We felt like we had no purpose, no reason for living. Our lives didn’t make any more sense to us than they did to our families, our friends, or our neighbors.
Who are we really becoming? Today, we are not merely clean addicts, but people with a sense of direction, a purpose, and a Power greater than ourselves. Through daily practice of the Twelve Steps, we’ve begun to understand how our addiction warped our feelings, motivations, and behavior. Gradually, the destructive force of our disease has been replaced by the life-giving force of our Higher Power.
Recovery means more than cleaning up-it means powering up. We have done more than shed some bad habits; we are becoming new people, guided by a Higher Power.
Just for today: The guidance I need to become a new person is ready at hand. Today, I will draw further away from my old and closer to my Higher Power. Who have we been, and who have we become? There are a couple of ways to answer this question. One is very simple:
We came to Narcotics Anonymous as addicts, our addiction killing us. In NA, we’ve been freed from our obsession with drugs and our compulsion to use. And our lives have changed.
But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Who have we really been? In the past, we were people without power or direction. We felt like we had no purpose, no reason for living. Our lives didn’t make any more sense to us than they did to our families, our friends, or our neighbors.
Who are we really becoming? Today, we are not merely clean addicts, but people with a sense of direction, a purpose, and a Power greater than ourselves. Through daily practice of the Twelve Steps, we’ve begun to understand how our addiction warped our feelings, motivations, and behavior. Gradually, the destructive force of our disease has been replaced by the life-giving force of our Higher Power.
Recovery means more than cleaning up-it means powering up. We have done more than shed some bad habits; we are becoming new people, guided by a Higher Power.
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Twenty-Four Hours a Day - 2nd September 2025
AA Thought for the Day
“Outline the program of action to new prospects, explaining how you made a self-appraisal, how you straightened out your past, and why you are now endeavouring to help them. It is important for them to realize that your attempt to pass this on to them plays a vital part in your own recovery. The more hopeless they feel, the better. They will be more likely to follow your suggestions. Tell them about the fellowship of AA and, if they show interest, lend them a copy of the book.”
Can I get over the AA story to another alcoholic?
Meditation for the Day
You should try to stand aside and let God work through you. You should try not to block Him off by your own efforts, or prevent His spirit working through you. God desires your obedient service and your loyalty to the ideals of the new life you are seeking. If you are loyal to God, He will give you protection against mistakes. His spirit will plan for you and secure for you a sufficiency of all spiritual help. You will have true victory and real success, if you will put yourself in the background and let God work through you.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not interfere with the working of God’s spirit in me and through me. I pray that I may give it full rein.
Copyright Hazelden Foundation
“Outline the program of action to new prospects, explaining how you made a self-appraisal, how you straightened out your past, and why you are now endeavouring to help them. It is important for them to realize that your attempt to pass this on to them plays a vital part in your own recovery. The more hopeless they feel, the better. They will be more likely to follow your suggestions. Tell them about the fellowship of AA and, if they show interest, lend them a copy of the book.”
Can I get over the AA story to another alcoholic?
Meditation for the Day
You should try to stand aside and let God work through you. You should try not to block Him off by your own efforts, or prevent His spirit working through you. God desires your obedient service and your loyalty to the ideals of the new life you are seeking. If you are loyal to God, He will give you protection against mistakes. His spirit will plan for you and secure for you a sufficiency of all spiritual help. You will have true victory and real success, if you will put yourself in the background and let God work through you.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not interfere with the working of God’s spirit in me and through me. I pray that I may give it full rein.
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As Bill Sees It - 2nd September 2025
Toward Maturity, p.244
Many oldsters who have put our A.A. “booze cure” to severe but successful tests still find they often lack emotional sobriety. To attain this, we must develop real maturity and balance (which is to say, humility) in our relations with ourselves, with our fellows, and with God.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Let A.A. never be a closed corporation; let us never deny our experience, for whatever it may be worth, to the world around us. Let our individual members heed the call to every field of human endeavor. Let them carry the experience and spirit of A.A. into all these affairs, for whatever good they may accomplish. For not only has God saved us from alcoholism; the world has received us back into its citizenship.
1. Grapevine, January 1958
2. A.A. Comes Of Age, pp. 232-233
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Walk In Dry Places - 2nd September 2025
Going with the Flow
Problem solving.
It’s surprising how many problems solve themselves when we’re willing to turn them over to our Higher
Power. This isn’t a self-fulfilling prophecy brought about by suspicious beliefs we can actually find proof of this seemingly providential activity in our lives.
We don’t have to convince anybody except ourselves that this process works. What we can prove is that some of our best opportunities come about by what we would call chance or coincidence. Indeed, the first meeting of two AA founders could be called such a chance event.
We need to believe that our Higher Power is working ceaselessly for the upward development of the human race, and Twelve Step programs can be essential forces in this upward development. In our own lives, we can go with this flow of ever-increasing good, as we continue to feel ourselves a part of it.
I will not wrestle with every problem today. Some problems will be dealt with later and some will seem to solve themselves. I will know that I am part of an upward development that is continuing.
Problem solving.
It’s surprising how many problems solve themselves when we’re willing to turn them over to our Higher
Power. This isn’t a self-fulfilling prophecy brought about by suspicious beliefs we can actually find proof of this seemingly providential activity in our lives.
We don’t have to convince anybody except ourselves that this process works. What we can prove is that some of our best opportunities come about by what we would call chance or coincidence. Indeed, the first meeting of two AA founders could be called such a chance event.
We need to believe that our Higher Power is working ceaselessly for the upward development of the human race, and Twelve Step programs can be essential forces in this upward development. In our own lives, we can go with this flow of ever-increasing good, as we continue to feel ourselves a part of it.
I will not wrestle with every problem today. Some problems will be dealt with later and some will seem to solve themselves. I will know that I am part of an upward development that is continuing.
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Father Leo’s - 2nd September 2025
MEMORY
“Every man’s memory is his private literature.”
“Every man’s memory is his private literature.”
– Aldous Huxley
What it was like. What happened. What it is like today. Memory. If I am to stay sober, I need to remember. I need to remember on a daily basis. I must never forget.
My life is reflected in my memory. The “writing on the wall” is really in my head, but am I prepared to see it and acknowledge it? For years I chose not to remember. I lived in a world of make-believe. People were exaggerating the facts! With denial at the center of my life I was able to forget the pain and drink again, only to awake to yesterday’s pain again.
My memory is the key to my recovery. Spirituality is about “seeing” — seeing my life as it is, rather than how I imagined or hoped it would be. My pain belongs in my life because it is mine! Alcohol always works; but does it work for me or against me? My remembering helps me answer that question today and hopefully tomorrow.
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One Day At A Time - 2nd September 2025
ISOLATION
“A great hope fell, you heard no noise,
The ruin was within.
Oh, cunning wreck that, told no tale
And let no witness in!”
Emily Dickinson
When I was young, I was unable to negotiate situations that were too big for me to understand. I went within and hid. I lost hope and was filled with despair. I soothed myself with food that was always there for me. In time, I felt so isolated that I felt completely separate from the human race.
As I recover, it is important for me to use the tools of the program which reconnect me with other people. This connection tells me that I am okay. I always have a choice to isolate or connect. Today I choose to connect.
One Day at a Time . . .
I ask my Higher Power for the ability and courage to reach out and connect to others by using the tools of the program.
~ Melissa S.
“A great hope fell, you heard no noise,
The ruin was within.
Oh, cunning wreck that, told no tale
And let no witness in!”
Emily Dickinson
When I was young, I was unable to negotiate situations that were too big for me to understand. I went within and hid. I lost hope and was filled with despair. I soothed myself with food that was always there for me. In time, I felt so isolated that I felt completely separate from the human race.
As I recover, it is important for me to use the tools of the program which reconnect me with other people. This connection tells me that I am okay. I always have a choice to isolate or connect. Today I choose to connect.
One Day at a Time . . .
I ask my Higher Power for the ability and courage to reach out and connect to others by using the tools of the program.
~ Melissa S.
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A Day At A Time - 2nd September 2025
Reflection For The Day
When I wake up, I’ll think quietly about the twenty-four hours ahead. I’ll ask God to direct my thinking, especially asking that it be free from self-pity and from dishonest or self seeking motives. If I have to determine which of several courses to take, I’ll ask God for inspiration, for an intuitive thought, or a decision. Then I’ll relax and take it easy, confident that all will be well. Can I believe that when I give up my “rights” of expectations, I’ll know freedom?
Today I Pray
I praise God for being able to praise God, to choose the times when I will seek Him, to find my own words when I talk to Him, to address Him in the way that seems most right to me. May I expect that He in turn must be free of my expectations, to affect my life as He sees fit.
Today I Will Remember
Who am I to try to tell God what to do?
When I wake up, I’ll think quietly about the twenty-four hours ahead. I’ll ask God to direct my thinking, especially asking that it be free from self-pity and from dishonest or self seeking motives. If I have to determine which of several courses to take, I’ll ask God for inspiration, for an intuitive thought, or a decision. Then I’ll relax and take it easy, confident that all will be well. Can I believe that when I give up my “rights” of expectations, I’ll know freedom?
Today I Pray
I praise God for being able to praise God, to choose the times when I will seek Him, to find my own words when I talk to Him, to address Him in the way that seems most right to me. May I expect that He in turn must be free of my expectations, to affect my life as He sees fit.
Today I Will Remember
Who am I to try to tell God what to do?
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Elder’s Meditation - 2nd September 2025
“I remember Dawson (No Horse) said, “Once you say your prayers, don’t worry about them. If you worry about them, they’ll just fade away.”
–Chuck Ross, LAKOTA
Today I need to remember You are everywhere. I need to remember how much You love me. I need to know, Grandfathers, that You are always listening. Today I need to know how much You care. Today I will remember the advice of the Elders. “Say your prayers and then don’t worry – know that the Great One has heard you.” It’s so much easier to do this, Grandfather, when I feel connected to You.
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Today’s Gift - 2nd September 2025
Many people think they can’t paint, but I think everyone has artistic ability of some kind.
— Eva Wines
Many of us probably don’t agree with Eva, particularly if we haven’t tried to paint or weave or write or throw pots. 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 Eva is. It’s just that many of us haven’t followed our passion yet.
Coming to understand that we do, indeed, have talent, that it has simply lain dormant until now, is perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of our lives presently. If we haven’t yet realized this, dare to believe it now. It will change every minute of the rest of your life.
Today is a good day to pursue one of my dreams.
Keepers of the Wisdom by Karen Casey
— Eva Wines
Many of us probably don’t agree with Eva, particularly if we haven’t tried to paint or weave or write or throw pots. 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 Eva is. It’s just that many of us haven’t followed our passion yet.
Coming to understand that we do, indeed, have talent, that it has simply lain dormant until now, is perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of our lives presently. If we haven’t yet realized this, dare to believe it now. It will change every minute of the rest of your life.
Today is a good day to pursue one of my dreams.
From the book:
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The Eye Opener - 2nd September 2025
The secret of cutting any tree down, regardless of size, is to hew it one chip at a time.
Men are not put in a position to do great things until they have established the reputation for doing many small things well.
If you have the great ambition to bring happiness to a whole world, a good starting point is within your own undershirt.
Copyright Hazelden Foundation
Men are not put in a position to do great things until they have established the reputation for doing many small things well.
If you have the great ambition to bring happiness to a whole world, a good starting point is within your own undershirt.
Copyright Hazelden Foundation
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Daily Tao / 245 – Garden - 2nd September 2025
Blinding heat divides day from night,
Brands short shadows into fecund soil.
Green tendrils, heavy with beans,
Coil around rustic bamboo racks.
Violet flowers gape erotically among velvet leaves :
A single gourd contains the entire world’s dream.
There is a great comfort in growing your own food. You are close to the soil. You use the basic elements — water, sunlight, earth, air, and plants — for your work, your sustenance, and your pleasure. You nurture your garden from seedlings to mature plants, tending, pruning, weeding. Year after year, you see cycles come and go, from sprouting to harvest to withering, to seeding again. You eat your plants to live. You don’t mind and they don’t mind. Some day, you will fall back to this earth, back into the sun-baked dirt, and you will become food for the plants. It’s the way of all life, and it’s all very agreeable.
Those who follow Tao say that all reality is like a series of nesting circles : microcosms within macrocosms. What is close at hand is a microcosm of what is far away. Why search all over for Tao? It is all contained in the seeds of the gourd growing in your garden.
Brands short shadows into fecund soil.
Green tendrils, heavy with beans,
Coil around rustic bamboo racks.
Violet flowers gape erotically among velvet leaves :
A single gourd contains the entire world’s dream.
There is a great comfort in growing your own food. You are close to the soil. You use the basic elements — water, sunlight, earth, air, and plants — for your work, your sustenance, and your pleasure. You nurture your garden from seedlings to mature plants, tending, pruning, weeding. Year after year, you see cycles come and go, from sprouting to harvest to withering, to seeding again. You eat your plants to live. You don’t mind and they don’t mind. Some day, you will fall back to this earth, back into the sun-baked dirt, and you will become food for the plants. It’s the way of all life, and it’s all very agreeable.
Those who follow Tao say that all reality is like a series of nesting circles : microcosms within macrocosms. What is close at hand is a microcosm of what is far away. Why search all over for Tao? It is all contained in the seeds of the gourd growing in your garden.
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Daily Zen - 2nd September 2025
When you try to stop activity to achieve quietude,
your very effort fills you with activity.
As long as you remain attached to one extreme or another
you will never know Oneness.
Those who do not live in the Single Way
cannot be free in either activity or quietude,
in assertion or denial.
your very effort fills you with activity.
As long as you remain attached to one extreme or another
you will never know Oneness.
Those who do not live in the Single Way
cannot be free in either activity or quietude,
in assertion or denial.
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Monday, 1 September 2025
Emmet Fox - 1 st September 2025
REINCARNATION
Have you ever asked yourself why there should be such a difference between one human lot and another? Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be so happy and fortunate in their lives, while others appear to undergo so much undeserved suffering? To the honest and fearless soul, the problem of the inequality of human lives is one that clamors for solution.
Men and women are not born free and equal. They are created free and equal, but they are not born free and equal. They start this life like horses in a handicap race—no two bearing an equal burden. Now, why should this be, if indeed God is Love, and if God is just, and if God is all-powerful?
The answer is that this life that you are living today is not the only life, and that it cannot be understood or judged by itself. You have lived before, in different ages and in different civilizations. Some of those who are at the bottom of the social ladder today have walked the earth as kings, and generals, and high priests; and some who now sit in the seats of the mighty have toiled as peasants, or worn the chains of the slave. And you, yourself, in future ages, will very likely return to this earth planet and live out another life. The conditions under which you start that life will be the outcome of the lives you have already lived; but most particularly will they be the outcome of the life that you are living at the present. What is customarily called a lifetime is really but a comparatively brief day in a long, long life, and the circumstances into which you were born are the natural outcome of the way in which you have lived and comported yourself in your former lives. You are reaping today the results of the seeds that you have sown during these many previous lives.
“He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” 2 Corinthians 9:6
Have you ever asked yourself why there should be such a difference between one human lot and another? Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be so happy and fortunate in their lives, while others appear to undergo so much undeserved suffering? To the honest and fearless soul, the problem of the inequality of human lives is one that clamors for solution.
Men and women are not born free and equal. They are created free and equal, but they are not born free and equal. They start this life like horses in a handicap race—no two bearing an equal burden. Now, why should this be, if indeed God is Love, and if God is just, and if God is all-powerful?
The answer is that this life that you are living today is not the only life, and that it cannot be understood or judged by itself. You have lived before, in different ages and in different civilizations. Some of those who are at the bottom of the social ladder today have walked the earth as kings, and generals, and high priests; and some who now sit in the seats of the mighty have toiled as peasants, or worn the chains of the slave. And you, yourself, in future ages, will very likely return to this earth planet and live out another life. The conditions under which you start that life will be the outcome of the lives you have already lived; but most particularly will they be the outcome of the life that you are living at the present. What is customarily called a lifetime is really but a comparatively brief day in a long, long life, and the circumstances into which you were born are the natural outcome of the way in which you have lived and comported yourself in your former lives. You are reaping today the results of the seeds that you have sown during these many previous lives.
“He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” 2 Corinthians 9:6
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Daily Reflections - 1 st September 2025
If more gifts are to be received, our awakening has to go on.
As Bill Sees It, p.8
Sobriety fills the painful “hole in the soul” that my alcoholism created. Often I feel so physically well that I believe my work is done. However, joy is not just the absence of pain; it is the gift of continued spiritual awakening. Joy comes from ongoing and active study, as well as application of the principles of recovery in my everyday life, and from sharing that experience with others. My Higher Power presents many opportunities for deeper spiritual awakening. I need only to bring into my recovery the willingness to grow. Today I am ready to grow. Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
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Just For Today - 1 st September 2025
Real Values
“We become able to make wise and loving decisions based on principles and ideals that have real value in our lives.”
“We become able to make wise and loving decisions based on principles and ideals that have real value in our lives.”
Basic Text, pg. 101
Addiction gave us a certain set of values, principles we applied in our lives. “You pushed me” one of those values told us, “so I pushed back, hard.” “It’s mine” was another value generated by our disease. “Well, okay, maybe it wasn’t mine to start with, but I liked it, so I made it mine.” Those values were hardly values at all – more like rationalizations – and they certainly didn’t help us make wise and loving decisions. In fact, they served primarily to dig us deeper and deeper into the grave we’d already dug for ourselves.
The Twelve Steps give us a strong dose of real values, the kind that help us live in harmony with ourselves and those around us. We place our faith not in ourselves, our families, or our communities, but in a Higher Power – and in doing so, we grow secure enough to be able to trust our communities, our families, and even ourselves. We learn to be honest, no matter what-and we learn to refrain from doing things we might want to hide. We learn to accept responsibility for our actions. “It’s mine” is replaced with a spirit of selflessness. These are the kind of values that help us become a responsible, productive part of the life around us. Rather than digging us deeper into a grave, these values restore us to the world of the living.
Just for today: I am grateful for the values I've developed. I am thankful for the ability they give me to make wise, loving decisions as a responsible, productive member of my community.Addiction gave us a certain set of values, principles we applied in our lives. “You pushed me” one of those values told us, “so I pushed back, hard.” “It’s mine” was another value generated by our disease. “Well, okay, maybe it wasn’t mine to start with, but I liked it, so I made it mine.” Those values were hardly values at all – more like rationalizations – and they certainly didn’t help us make wise and loving decisions. In fact, they served primarily to dig us deeper and deeper into the grave we’d already dug for ourselves.
The Twelve Steps give us a strong dose of real values, the kind that help us live in harmony with ourselves and those around us. We place our faith not in ourselves, our families, or our communities, but in a Higher Power – and in doing so, we grow secure enough to be able to trust our communities, our families, and even ourselves. We learn to be honest, no matter what-and we learn to refrain from doing things we might want to hide. We learn to accept responsibility for our actions. “It’s mine” is replaced with a spirit of selflessness. These are the kind of values that help us become a responsible, productive part of the life around us. Rather than digging us deeper into a grave, these values restore us to the world of the living.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day - 1 st September 2025
A.A. Thought For The Day
Be careful not to brand new prospects as alcoholics. Let them draw their own conclusion. But talk to them about the hopelessness of alcoholism. Tell them exactly what happened to you and how you recovered. Stress the spiritual feature freely. If they are agnostics or atheists, make it emphatic that they do not have to agree with your concept of God. They can choose any concept they like, provided it makes sense to them. The main thing is that they be willing to believe in a power greater than themselves and that they live by spiritual principles.” Do I hold back too much in speaking of the spiritual principles of the program?
Meditation For The Day
“I will never leave or forsake thee.” Down through the centuries, thousands have believed in God’s constancy, untiringness, and unfailing love. God has love. Then forever you are sure of His love. God has power. Then forever you are sure, in every difficulty and temptation, of His strength. God has patience. Then always there is One who can never tire. God has understanding. Then always you will understand and be understood. Unless you want Him to go, God will never leave you. He is always ready with power.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may feel that God’s love will never fail. I pray that I may have confidence in His unfailing power.
Be careful not to brand new prospects as alcoholics. Let them draw their own conclusion. But talk to them about the hopelessness of alcoholism. Tell them exactly what happened to you and how you recovered. Stress the spiritual feature freely. If they are agnostics or atheists, make it emphatic that they do not have to agree with your concept of God. They can choose any concept they like, provided it makes sense to them. The main thing is that they be willing to believe in a power greater than themselves and that they live by spiritual principles.” Do I hold back too much in speaking of the spiritual principles of the program?
Meditation For The Day
“I will never leave or forsake thee.” Down through the centuries, thousands have believed in God’s constancy, untiringness, and unfailing love. God has love. Then forever you are sure of His love. God has power. Then forever you are sure, in every difficulty and temptation, of His strength. God has patience. Then always there is One who can never tire. God has understanding. Then always you will understand and be understood. Unless you want Him to go, God will never leave you. He is always ready with power.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may feel that God’s love will never fail. I pray that I may have confidence in His unfailing power.
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As Bill Sees It - 1 st September 2025
On awakening, let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity and from dishonest or self-seeking motives. Free of these, we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be on a higher plane when our thinking begins to be cleared of wrong motives.
If we have determined which of two courses to take, we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought, or a decision. Then we relax and take it easy, and we are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while.
We usually conclude our meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, asking especially for freedom from damaging self-will.
Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 86-87
If we have determined which of two courses to take, we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought, or a decision. Then we relax and take it easy, and we are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while.
We usually conclude our meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, asking especially for freedom from damaging self-will.
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Walk In Dry Places - 1 st September 2025
Are we victimizing ourselves?
Finding the New Happiness
Some believe that people create their own trouble by attracting the wrong conditions and people in their lives. This may not be entirely true, but we can find that some element of it was at work with us.
Time and time again during our drinking, we set ourselves up for abuse and rejection, though our motives seemed right. Why did we do this? Supposedly to punish ourselves, the theory has it.
If this is true, then we should now call a halt to the process immediately. If we've emerged from the terrors of alcoholism, we've had all the punishment anybody needs.
We can change our bad patterns by looking carefully at the people and situations we seem to attract. Without resentment or condemnation, we can part company with any problems these have been bringing us. We can start building new relationships and attracting better conditions that will be immensely successful in terms of happiness and well-being.
I’ll remember today that in the new life I'm seeking, there’s no need for punishment. I will not go out of my way to attract people or conditions that create problems in my life.
Finding the New Happiness
Some believe that people create their own trouble by attracting the wrong conditions and people in their lives. This may not be entirely true, but we can find that some element of it was at work with us.
Time and time again during our drinking, we set ourselves up for abuse and rejection, though our motives seemed right. Why did we do this? Supposedly to punish ourselves, the theory has it.
If this is true, then we should now call a halt to the process immediately. If we've emerged from the terrors of alcoholism, we've had all the punishment anybody needs.
We can change our bad patterns by looking carefully at the people and situations we seem to attract. Without resentment or condemnation, we can part company with any problems these have been bringing us. We can start building new relationships and attracting better conditions that will be immensely successful in terms of happiness and well-being.
I’ll remember today that in the new life I'm seeking, there’s no need for punishment. I will not go out of my way to attract people or conditions that create problems in my life.
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Keep It Simple - 1 st September 2025
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible . . .
—First half of Step Nine
In our illness, we harmed people. In Step Nine, we are to make amends. Making amends is about asking people we have harmed what we need to do to set things right. But making amends is more than saying, “I’m sorry.” If you ran a store and someone had stolen five dollars, you wouldn’t want them to just say, ”I’m sorry.” You’d want the person to pay back the money. The same is true with amends.
Many people we’ve harmed ask only that we don’t repeat our mistakes. Respect their wishes. Step Nine has healed many wounds. Step Nine allows us to grow up. Step Nine help us regain faith in ourselves. Remember, the best amend we make to all is to stay sober.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, give me courage. Help me face the trouble caused by my disease. Make me ready to help other heals from the harm I’ve caused.
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Father Leo’s - 1 st September 2025
OPTIMISM
“Optimism is a kind of heart stimulant — the digitalis of failure.”
“Optimism is a kind of heart stimulant — the digitalis of failure.”
– Elbert Hubbard
Today I am an optimist. I believe in life, and more importantly, I believe in me. I know that God cares and this brings me hope.
But when I was drinking I had a negative and destructive attitude in all areas of life; nothing pleased me, people were not to be trusted, everybody had a price, God seemed to be “out for lunch” and life had lost its meaning. I was a sad man. I was a lonely man. I was an angry man.
When I was told to put down the drink and follow some new directions, I halfheartedly agreed. I met people who laughed, shared their pain and lived in the realistic “now”. I began to listen. Slowly I changed. Peace was within my grasp.
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A Day At A Time - 1 st September 2025
Reflection For The Day
Based on their collective experience, The Program’s founders suggested a prayer to be said when taking the #Third #Step – and making a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. “God, I offer myself to Thee, to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy power, Thy Love, and Thy way of life. May I do Thy will always!” Have I abandoned myself to God as I understood Him?
Today I pray
I praise my Higher Power for my freedom to find my own understanding of God. May my life be God’s whether i think of Him as a Father whose hand and spirit I can touch with an upward reach of my own, or as a universal Spirit that I can merge with as the hard outlines of my “self”begin to melt, or as a core of Divine and absolute goodness inside myself. May I know Him well, whether I find Him within me, without me or in all things everywhere.
Today I Will Remember
I thank God, as I understand Him, for my understanding of Him.
Based on their collective experience, The Program’s founders suggested a prayer to be said when taking the #Third #Step – and making a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. “God, I offer myself to Thee, to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy power, Thy Love, and Thy way of life. May I do Thy will always!” Have I abandoned myself to God as I understood Him?
Today I pray
I praise my Higher Power for my freedom to find my own understanding of God. May my life be God’s whether i think of Him as a Father whose hand and spirit I can touch with an upward reach of my own, or as a universal Spirit that I can merge with as the hard outlines of my “self”begin to melt, or as a core of Divine and absolute goodness inside myself. May I know Him well, whether I find Him within me, without me or in all things everywhere.
Today I Will Remember
I thank God, as I understand Him, for my understanding of Him.
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One Day At A Time - 1 st September 2025
SELF-KNOWLEDGE
“The world we have created is a product of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
–Albert Einstein
The world I created before finding the Twelve Steps of recovery was a world in which I had no responsibility. Everything bad in my life was someone else’s fault: my parents’, my husband’s, society’s, and, when there was no one else to blame, it was God’s fault.
As I worked Step 4, I learned that I had been a part of all of these things for which I blamed others. I learned that I had defects of character that kept me from taking part in my life. As I recognized these defects, I asked my Higher Power to remove them, and that gradually happened.
One of the things I had tried to do for many years was bury my feelings of grief and pain. I seemed to have managed that fairly well, but in doing so, I had also buried all the other emotion. I no longer took enjoyment in anything. My child’s smile evoked no feeling and I felt no pride in anything I did. I felt none of the love that others gave to me. As I started dealing with the painful feelings, the positive emotions emerged as well.
The promise the Big Book speaks of became true for me: I no longer regretted the past nor wished to shut the door on it. I was able to feel my hurt and grief. Now I am also able to feel love and happiness. I have learned how to change my thinking through the process of working these wonderful Steps.
One Day at a Time . . .
I do a daily 10th, 11th and 12th Step and am reminded that it is my responsibility to listen to my Higher Power and do my part in creating the world around me.
~ Nancy
“The world we have created is a product of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
–Albert Einstein
The world I created before finding the Twelve Steps of recovery was a world in which I had no responsibility. Everything bad in my life was someone else’s fault: my parents’, my husband’s, society’s, and, when there was no one else to blame, it was God’s fault.
As I worked Step 4, I learned that I had been a part of all of these things for which I blamed others. I learned that I had defects of character that kept me from taking part in my life. As I recognized these defects, I asked my Higher Power to remove them, and that gradually happened.
One of the things I had tried to do for many years was bury my feelings of grief and pain. I seemed to have managed that fairly well, but in doing so, I had also buried all the other emotion. I no longer took enjoyment in anything. My child’s smile evoked no feeling and I felt no pride in anything I did. I felt none of the love that others gave to me. As I started dealing with the painful feelings, the positive emotions emerged as well.
The promise the Big Book speaks of became true for me: I no longer regretted the past nor wished to shut the door on it. I was able to feel my hurt and grief. Now I am also able to feel love and happiness. I have learned how to change my thinking through the process of working these wonderful Steps.
One Day at a Time . . .
I do a daily 10th, 11th and 12th Step and am reminded that it is my responsibility to listen to my Higher Power and do my part in creating the world around me.
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Elder’s Meditation - 1 st September 2025
“Everyone has a song. God gives us each a song. That’s how we know who we are. Our song tells us who we are.”
–Charlie Knight, UTE
As we start to walk the Red Road and as we develop ourselves as Warriors, a song will come to us. This song is given to each of us from the Great Spirit. Whenever we sing this song, we will receive courage and strength not only for ourselves but if we sing this song for others, it will also help them. The song will give us power and make us feel really good. The song will make us see life in a sacred way. If you don’t have your song yet, ask the Creator in prayer if He will give you your song. With the song comes a responsibility – the responsibility to act and conduct oneself as a Warrior according to your song.
Oh my Creator, let me live my song. Let my song honor Your way of life. Let me sing my song each day. At the end of today, let my song tell people who I am. I am a beautiful child of the Creator.
–Charlie Knight, UTE
As we start to walk the Red Road and as we develop ourselves as Warriors, a song will come to us. This song is given to each of us from the Great Spirit. Whenever we sing this song, we will receive courage and strength not only for ourselves but if we sing this song for others, it will also help them. The song will give us power and make us feel really good. The song will make us see life in a sacred way. If you don’t have your song yet, ask the Creator in prayer if He will give you your song. With the song comes a responsibility – the responsibility to act and conduct oneself as a Warrior according to your song.
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Today’s Gift - 1 st September 2025
A.A. Thought for the Day
Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burden of those two awful eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives us mad. It is the remorse or bitterness from something that happened yesterday or the dread of what tomorrow may bring. Am I living one day at a time?
Meditation for the Day
I give God the gift of a thankful heart. When life seems hard, I look for some reasons for thankfulness. If I seek diligently for something to be glad and thankful about, I will acquire in time the habit of being constantly grateful for all God’s blessings.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be constantly reminded of causes for sincere gratitude.
Twenty-Four Hours a Day for Teens © 2004 by Hazelden Foundation
Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burden of those two awful eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives us mad. It is the remorse or bitterness from something that happened yesterday or the dread of what tomorrow may bring. Am I living one day at a time?
Meditation for the Day
I give God the gift of a thankful heart. When life seems hard, I look for some reasons for thankfulness. If I seek diligently for something to be glad and thankful about, I will acquire in time the habit of being constantly grateful for all God’s blessings.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be constantly reminded of causes for sincere gratitude.
From the book:
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The Eye Opener - 1 st September 2025
The alcoholic is usually conscious of his shortcomings, but he resents any well-meant attempt to discuss the matter with him. He knows that he has no defense. Logic is against him; lying frequently backfires on him and is therefore unreliable. He has but one avenue of escape, and that is the bottle – the very thing the well-intentioned friend is trying to avoid.
Our only approach that makes sense to him is the visible evidence that we are doing it, and acquainting him with the fact that it can be done.
Hazelden Foundation
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Daily Tao / 244 – Farmers - 1 st September 2025
Plain country folk with rounded bodies,
Skin turning to bronze in the valley heat.
Why talk to them about Tao?
They eat when they are hungry,
They sleep when they are sleepy.
Even a sage with infinite permutations
Could not match their simplicity.
Do you want to know about simplicity? Go live with farmers. Their daily activities are coordinated with the seasons, they are close to the earth, and they do not spend their time figuring out how to attain status. They are honest and plain. They make no distinction between who they are as individuals and who they are as farmers.
Those of us who live in cities would be hard pressed to equal the farmer in simplicity. Simplicity, after all, is what Tao most celebrates. Who needs to know all the digits of pi? Who needs to engineer a new monetary policy? Who needs to strive for political office? None of these things is necessary to be a human being.
Give up unnecessary things.
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Daily Zen 1 st September 2025
According to his doctrine,
Non-doing is reality,
Emptiness is the truth,
And the ultimate meaning
Of things is vast and
Immovable.
He taught that human nature
In its beginning
As well as in the end
Is thoroughly good,
For it has its root
In that which is serene.
- Liu Tsung-yuan
Non-doing is reality,
Emptiness is the truth,
And the ultimate meaning
Of things is vast and
Immovable.
He taught that human nature
In its beginning
As well as in the end
Is thoroughly good,
For it has its root
In that which is serene.
- Liu Tsung-yuan
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