Brothers in Our Defects
We recovered alcoholics are not so much brothers in virtue as we are brothers in our defects, and in our common strivings to overcome them.

The identification that one alcoholic has with another is mysterious, spiritual–almost incomprehensible. But it is there. I “Feel” it. Today I feel that I can help people and that they can help me.

It is a new and exciting feeling for me to care for someone, to care what they are feeling, hoping for, praying for, to know their sadness, joy, horror, sorrow, grief, to want to share those feelings so that someone can have relief. I never knew how to do this–or how to try. I never even cared. The Fellowship of A.A., and God, are teaching me how to care about others.

Twenty–Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Since I’ve been putting sobriety into my life, I’ve been taking out a lot of good things. I can describe it best as a kind of quiet satisfaction. I feel good. I feel right with the world, on the right side of the fence. As long as I put sobriety into my life, almost everything I take out is good. The satisfaction you get out of living a sober life is made up of a lot of little things. You have the ambition to do things you didn’t feel like doing when you were drinking. Am I getting satisfaction out of living a sober life?

Meditation For The Day
It is a glorious way–the upward way. There are wonderful discoveries in the realm of the spirit. There are tender intimacies in the quiet times of communion with God. There is an amazing, almost incomprehensible understanding of the other person. On the upward way, you can have all the strength you need from that Higher Power. You cannot make too many demands on Him for strength. He gives you all the power you need, as long as you are moving along the upward way.

Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may see the beautiful horizons ahead on the upward way. I pray that I may keep going forward to the more abundant life.

As Bill Sees It
Trouble: Constructive or Destructive?
“There was a time when we ignored trouble, hoping it would go away. Or, in fear and in depression, we ran from it, but found it was still with us. Often, full of unreason, bitterness, and blame, we fought back. These mistaken attitudes, powered by alcohol, guaranteed our destruction, unless they were altered.

“Then came A.A. Here we learned that trouble was really a fact of life for everybody–a fact that had to be understood and dealt with. Surprisingly, we found that our troubles could, under God’s grace, be converted into unimagined blessings.”

“Indeed, that was the essence of A.A. itself: trouble accepted, trouble squarely faced with calm courage, trouble lessened and often transcended. This was the A.A. story, and we became a part of it. Such demonstrations became our stock in trade for the next sufferer. ”

Letter, 1966

Walk in Dry Places
Who pushes my buttons?
Personal Relations
A A old–timers would be mystified today to hear program members talk about people “pushing their buttons.” (They can’t get your goat if they don’t know where it is tied) This expression wasn’t around when the early AA members pulled themselves out of the swamp and began their long journey to sobriety.

But they had their buttons pushed aplenty. Dr. Bob, treating alcoholics at St. Thomas Hospital; heard snide comments from other physicians who resented giving bed space to drunks. Bill W. struggling to launch a worldwide movement, took most every alcoholic, then and now, gets some heavy kidding from the world of drinkers.

What is the real problem in these instances? Are others pushing our buttons, or do we set ourselves up for this by being sensitive and vulnerable? Nobody could push our buttons if we didn’t have buttons to push.

We no longer have to worry about button–pushers if we accept them as they are, realizing that we don’t need their approval and can’t really be hurt by anything they do or say. Our serenity in the face of such problems may actually serve to attract people to A A.

Nobody can push my buttons unless I let them. Today I’ll be serene and clam no matter what others say and do. Thanks to the program, I’ll not worry about certain individuals who try to get under my skin.

Keep It Simple
We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. Sacred ritual chant.

Good things keep happening to us. We are sober. We can think clearly. We can see progress on how we handle our problems. We have friends. We have love. We have hope.

We are starting to feel joy. Our fears are getting smaller. We are starting to trust our new way of life. Our new life brings good things to us. It brings blessings every day. We are beginning to expect them. But we’re still surprised at how good life can be. What a difference from the days before we entered our program!

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank–you for the blessings You keep on giving. And thanks for whatever today will bring.

Action for the Day: One way to give thanks for my blessings is to share them with others. How can I share my recovery today?

Time is the greatest gift of all.–Cited in Even More of…The Best of BIts & Pieces Gifts are for giving.–I an and Sylvia Tyson

“Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. ”–John Wooden

“A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes. ”–Scottish Proverb

My sponsor pointed out that now that I’ve been around the program for awhile there is no denial…there is only refusal.– Anonymous

With accepting God in my life each day, Through the trials and triumphs, I rest in comfort knowing God is leading me to Him.–Tammy B.

You’ll never plough a field by turning it over in your mind.–Irish Proverb

Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
Freedom
“Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for yourself the alternatives of choice. Without the possibility of choice and the exercise of choice a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing … ”Archibald MacLeish

Spirituality involves the freedom to change, it requires the variety of choice in order to grow.

My past addiction was a life of slavery because it removed from me creative choice and left me obsessing about drugs and alcohol. My life, conversation and thoughts revolved around the bottle, and I was oblivious to the true meaning of life. I could not “Do better ” in my life because I was addicted not only to drugs but to the destructive lifestyle that goes with them. My freedom to experience the spiritual power of God’s creativity was lost to a mindless craving for drugs; in this sense, drug addiction is slavery.

Today I am free to see God’s world in people, places and things and I make a choice to live, love and laugh.

I am growing in the awareness of Your multifaceted love for me.

Daily Inspiration
Peace is one of our greatest needs because it provides for the strength we need in times of turmoil. Lord, I turn to You because You are my source of peace.

Stand tall and smile often and it will be very difficult to be unhappy. Lord, may my disposition reflect the joy and peace that is Your Will.