Growing Up
The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails. As Bill sees it . Sometimes when I’ve become willing to do what I should have been doing all along, I want praise and recognition.I don’t realize that the more I’m willing to act differently, the more exciting my life is. The more I am willing to help others, the more rewards I receive. That’s what practicing the principles means to me. Fun and benefits for me are in the willingness to do the actions, not to get immediate results. Being a little kinder, a little slower to anger, a little more loving makes my life better–day by day.

Twenty–Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When I came into A.A., I came into a new world. A sober world. A world of sobriety, peace, serenity, and happiness. But I know that if I take just one drink, I’ll go right back into that old world. That alcoholic world. That world of drunkenness, conflict, and misery. That alcoholic world is not a pleasant place for an alcoholic to live in. Looking at the world through the bottom of a whiskey glass is no fun after you’ve become an alcoholic. Do I want to go back to that alcoholic world?

Meditation For The Day
Pride stands sentinel at the door of the heart and shuts out the love of God. God can only dwell with the humble and the obedient. Obedience to God’s will is the key unlocking the door to God ’s kingdom. You cannot obey God to the best of your ability without in time realizing God’s love and responding to that love. The rough stone steps of obedience lead up to where the mosaic floor of love and joy is laid. Where God’s spirit is, there is your home. There is heaven for you.

Prayer For The Day
I pray that God may make His home in my humble and obedient heart. I pray that I may obey His guidance to the best of my ability.

As Bill Sees
It The Forgotten Mountain
When I was a child, I acquired some of the traits that had a lot to do with my insatiable craving for alcohol. I was brought up in a little town in Vermont, under the shadow of Mount Aeolus. An early recollection is that of looking up at this vast and mysterious mountain, wondering what it meant and whether I could ever climb that high. But I was presently distracted by my aunt who, as a fourth–birthday present, made me a plate of fudge. For the next thirty–five years I pursued the fudge of life and quite forgot about the mountain.

When self–indulgence is less than ruinous, we have a milder word for it. We call it “taking our comfort.”

Walk in Dry Places
Protecting Sobriety
Though AA members never criticize drinking customs, we do tell newcomers that it’s wise to avoid situations involving alcohol. Even this is not an absolute, because we also concede that it’s sometimes necessary to attend a cocktail reception or to lunch with a friend in a bar. So how do we distinguish between what’s safe and what’s likely to lead to trouble. The litmus test is always to look at our own motives and spiritual guidance. A drink has no power over us unless we want to take the drink. If we are not deliberately seeking out drinking situations, our motives are probably good. If our spiritual house is in order, our Higher Power will also protect us in any situation.

Wherever we go, however, we should also make our sobriety the first priority of business. Whatever the importance of any social event, it is insignificant compared with the importance of sobriety. Keep sobriety at the top of your list, and the other decisions will follow in proper order. We should hole the additional thought that“walking in dry places” is really thinking of our selves as always being in dry places under God’s guidance. ..Today I will focus on the sober world I want to enjoy and share. The world of drinking has nothing for me. I may encounter situations involving casual drinking today, but I will not be part of them in mind and spirit. I will think and walk in dry places.

Keep It Simple
You cannot prevent the birds of sadness from passing over your head, but you can prevent their making their nest in your head.–Chinese proverb.

Life is full of feelings. We can be happy, sad, mad, scared. These feelings can come and go quickly. Or we may hang on to them. As recovering addicts, we used to hang on to feelings that made us feel bad. We let them make “nest” in our hair. We used our feelings as excuse to drink or use other drugs. Now we’re learning to hang on to our good feelings. We can let go of anger, hurt, and fear. We can shoo away the birds of sadness and welcome the birds of happiness.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me become a “bird watcher.” Help me learn from my feelings. And help me let go of the bad one so I can be happy.

Action For the Day: If I need to get rid of the sadness or anger that I’m hanging on to, I’ll get help from my sponsor, a counsellor, or a clergy person.

May I look at my experiences, not as trouble, but as a way to use my experience to help others.– SweetyZee

When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.– Eric Hoffer

Life is like a mirror. If you frown at it, it frowns back. If you smile, it returns the greeting.“One of the greatest gifts you can give to anyone is the gift of attention.“– Jim Rohn

“Develop a benevolent world view; look for the good in the people and circumstances around you.“– Brian Tracy

Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
TODAY
“Real generosity towards the future consists in giving all to what is present.”–Albert Camus Much of the gratitude that I talk about needs to be cantered in what I do with today; I need to focus on the present, rather than procrastinate for the future. As a sick alcoholic I lived either in the guilt of yesterday or the fear of tomorrow – missing the reality of the present. The present moment is all that I have and through this “moment” I live and breathe and have my existence! My understanding of prayer is cantered in the present moment because any understanding of relationship and communication, especially with God, must begin from where one is, rather than where one would like to be. Spirituality is the reality of the moment. Master, thank You for the life that is experienced in the moment.

Daily Inspiration
Let life’s lessons grow into wisdom so that you may be the light for someone else’s darkness. Lord, help me put to good use that which today brings so that I am better prepared for tomorrow. To know someone doesn’t mean to know every detail of that person’s life. It means to feel affection, confidence and to believe in that person. Lord, may I really know You and have it reflect in how I treat others.