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Guidance
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"I am a firm believer in both guidance and prayer.
But I am fully aware, and humble enough, I hope,
to see there may be nothing infallible
about my guidance.
The minute I figure I have got a perfectly clear
pipeline to God, I have become egotistical enough
to get into real trouble.
Nobody can cause more needless grief than a power-driver
who thinks he's got it straight from God."
Bill W., Letter, 1950
1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 38
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Thought to Consider . . .
It's not making a mistake that will kill me.
It's defending it that does the damage.
A S A P = Always Say A Prayer
An AA sponsor is not a professional caseworker or counselor of any sort. A sponsor is not someone to borrow money from, nor get clothes, jobs, or food from. A sponsor is not a medical expert, nor qualified to give religious, legal, domestic or psychiatric advice, although a good sponsor is usually willing to discuss such matters confidentially, and often can suggest where the appropriate professional assistance can be obtained.
A sponsor is simply a sober alcoholic who can help solve only one problem: how to stay sober. And the sponsor has only one tool to use - personal experience, not scientific wisdom.
Sponsors have been there, and often have more concern, hope, compassion, and confidence for us than we have for ourselves. They certainly have had more experience. Remembering their own condition, they reach out to help, not down.
1998, AAWS, Inc., Living Sober, page 27
SEEKING EMOTIONAL STABILITY
When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source
of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence
upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that
it would work where nothing else would. If we really depended upon
God, we couldn't very well play God to our fellows nor would we feel
the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 116
All my life I depended on people for my emotional needs and security,
but today I cannot live that way anymore. By the grace of God, I
have admitted my powerlessness over people, places and things. I had
been a real "people addict"; wherever I went there had to be someone
who would pay some kind of attention to me. It was the kind of
attitude that could only get worse, because the more I depended on
others and demanded attention, the less I received.
I have given up believing that any human power can relieve me of
that empty feeling. Although I remain a fragile human being who
needs to work A. A. Steps to keep this particular principle before
my personality, it is only a loving God who can give me inner peace
and emotional stability.
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Freed Prisoners
Letter to a prison group:
"Every A.A. has been, in a sense, a prisoner. Each of us has walled himself out of society; each has known social stigma. The lot of you folks has been even more difficult: In your case, society has also built a wall around you. But there isn't any really essential difference, a fact that practically all A.A.'s now know. "Therefore, when you members come into the world of A.A. on the outside, you can be sure that no one will care a fig that you have done time. What you are trying to be -- not what you were -- is all that counts with us."
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"Mental and emotional difficulties are sometimes very hard to take while we are trying to maintain sobriety. Yet we do see, in the long run, that transcendence over such problems is the real test of the A.A. way of living. Adversity gives us more opportunity to grow than does comfort or success."
1. LETTER, 1949 - 2. LETTER, 1964
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family
back. This just isn't so. In some cases the wife will never come
back for one reason or another. Remind the prospect that his
recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his
relationship with God. We have seen men get well whose families have
not returned at all. We have seen others slip when the family came
back too soon."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 99~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day
"Those who do not recover are people who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault. They seem to be born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living that demands rigorous honesty. Their changes are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover, if they have the capacity to be honest." Am I completely honest with myself and with other people?
Meditation for the Day
You can make use of your mistakes, failures, losses, and sufferings.
It is not what happens to you so much as what use you make of it. Take
your sufferings, difficulties, and hardships and make use of them to
help some unfortunate soul who is faced with the same troubles. Then
something good will come out of your suffering and the world will be
a better place because of it. The good you do each day will live on,
after the trouble and distress have gone, after the difficulty and
the pain have passed away.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may make good use of my mistakes and failures. I pray
that some good may result from my painful experiences.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012
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