|
|
The Magic of Gratitude and Acceptance
(Preview)
Gratitude and acceptance are two magic tricks available to us in recovery. No matter who we are, where we are, or what we have, gratitude and acceptance work.
We may eventually become so happy that we realize our present circumstances are good. Or we master our present circumstances and then move f...
|
Quetzal
|
0
|
256
|
|
|
|
|
Hard to keep my hands off!!!!!
(Preview)
Just went out and got all the ingredients for the Thanksgiving Feast next week..... I SOOOOOOOO want to pop a pan of stuffing and a pumpkin pie in the oven RIGHT NOW!!! LOL Hope everyone celebrating enjoys the holiday, sober.... and with a terrific meal and gratitude to spare.... :o)
|
jonijoni1
|
5
|
344
|
|
|
|
|
Allowing Ourselves to be Nurtured
(Preview)
Let yourself be nurtured and loved. Let people be there for you. Allow yourself to be held when it would feel good. Let someone listen to you, support and encourage you when you need that. Receive comfort from someone's physical presence when you need that. Allow yourself to be supported emotionally...
|
Quetzal
|
2
|
302
|
|
|
|
|
My Daily Cluster%#@%
(Preview)
ARGH....... got stuck with this construction container here in my driveway, the buttheads who pulled down my garage did not PAY the container co. for the second one, so they did not come and get it. (It was the workers' responsibility, and included in the estimate!!). God love em'. They are in AA and we...
|
jonijoni1
|
3
|
293
|
|
|
|
|
Financial Fears
(Preview)
I sat in the car, looking at the sign on the door of the food shelf office: "Closed until Friday." It was Wednesday. I had two hungry children and myself; I had no money.
I laid my head on the steering wheel. I couldn't take it anymore.
I had been so strong, so brave, so trusting for so long. I...
|
Quetzal
|
1
|
270
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Reflections ~ Serving My Brother
(Preview)
The member talks to the newcomer not in a spirit of power but in a spirit of humility and weakness. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE p. 279 As the days pass in A.A., I ask God to guide my thoughts and the words that I speak. In this labor of continuous participation in the Fellowship, I have numerous oppor...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
0
|
1052
|
|
|
|
|
Living back at home
(Preview)
Hi guys....and gals! After I was "found out" of being an alcoholic, I also moved back home with my dad. He wanted me to stay with him for a few weeks, just until we were sure I was not going to have seizures often. Now that I have become sober and am dealing with the real world , I have realize...
|
cramcj01
|
2
|
377
|
|
|
|
|
Still sober, but marriage is no better
(Preview)
Greetings! I have over six years of sobriety (except for a one time slip over a year ago), and my marriage of 15 years is just as bad and getting worse. I have a fantastic sponser, am currently on Step 8, but keep making the same mistakes with my wife. It all comes down to still being so selfish. I don't show t...
|
Curtis
|
13
|
3458
|
|
|
|
|
Honesty
(Preview)
Last night's book study was "Our Souther Friend" and it was GOOD. It was so candid and straight forward. I was the one to read the last few paragraphs. The last sentence is: "I learn that honesty is truth and that the truth shall set you free." My voice rang throughout the room a...
|
tlcate
|
2
|
313
|
|
|
|
|
Luck, Choices, Anger, Sobriety
(Preview)
I am one of the lucky ones. Before AA, I never made more than feeble attempts to quit drinking on my own, mostly just a week or two of not drinking to recover from a particularly bad hangover, or to try and stick to a diet. There was never an intention to give up alcohol long term. And when I came to my first...
|
barisax
|
2
|
318
|
|
|
|
|
Having trouble 'connecting' with God
(Preview)
Some of you may have read my post about my marriage problems. Thnaks for all the nice replies. After talking to a friend in the program last nite, it is clear that my problem is not my wife, marriage, or anything else... my problem is my spiritual life. It just does not seem to be taking off. I keep trying to...
|
Curtis
|
6
|
1053
|
|
|
|
|
SNOW and DESTRUCTION here at home
(Preview)
Not THAT kind of destruction.... lol the kind where you get something torn down. An old garage at my house that was in horrible shape, they finally came today to tear the thing down. Good riddance!! What an eye sore!! Thing is, the nincompoops put the construction container on my NEIGHBOR'S LAWN!!!!!...
|
jonijoni1
|
14
|
679
|
|
|
|
|
What a total jerk....
(Preview)
I got up to get a drink last night and the whole house had that smell like moths burning in a lamp- earlier it was the sulphur smell. I immediately knew that my Jerkwad roommate relapsed (he's not AA, is supposedly sober). He hid in his room all night (I assume), I put a chair against my door and tried to slee...
|
TLH
|
19
|
1779
|
|
|
|
|
Wants and Needs
(Preview)
So many of us have been brainwashed to think that we can't have what we want in life. That is the belief of the martyr. It is born of deprivation and fear.
Identifying what we want and need, then writing it down, sets in motion a powerful chain of events. It indicates that we are taking responsibility fo...
|
Quetzal
|
0
|
199
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Reflections ~ "I Was Slipping Fast"
(Preview)
We A.A.s are active folk, enjoying the satisfactions of dealing with the realities of life, . . . . So it isnt surprising that we often tend to slight serious meditation and prayer as something not really necessary. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 96 I had been slipping away from the program for...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
1
|
1083
|
|
|
|
|
24 Hrs a Day ~ 19th Nov 08
(Preview)
A.A. Thought for the Day In A.A. we do not speak much of sex. And yet putting sex in its proper place in our lives is one of the rewards that have come to us as a result of our new way of living. The Big Book says that many of us needed an overhauling there. It also says that we subjected each sex relation to this t...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
0
|
235
|
|
|
|
|
Not a rollercoaster, more like a pogo stick
(Preview)
Geeesh.... one day I am abundantly blessed with energy and motivation, the next I am in a complete coma and cannot do anything but sleep (thank God I do work, or I would probably sleep 24/7 on certain days). Just really really REALLLLLYYYY sick and tired of feeling half-sick all the time in the past 6 mon...
|
jonijoni1
|
8
|
491
|
|
|
|
|
1 Year Today.... :o)
(Preview)
Well, it is not the first time I have managed to stay sober for a Year, but this is proving to be a very special anniversary indeed. In my plight to ultra-concentrate my recovery on the "staying sober for TODAY" thing, I had forgotten about my anniversary and gone to work. I was sitting here at...
|
jonijoni1
|
10
|
430
|
|
|
|
|
Accepting Our Feelings
(Preview)
Why do we struggle so with our feelings? Why do we work so hard to deny our emotions, especially concerning other people? They are only feelings!
In the course of a day, we may deny we feel frustrated in reaction to someone who is selling us a service.
We may deny that we feel frustrated, angry, or hur...
|
Quetzal
|
1
|
302
|
|
|
|
|
Accident
(Preview)
My hubby could use some prayers right this minute. And some gratitude prayers, too. He was working on a tow, and a hydraulic line blew up in his face, spraying pressurized oil into his eyes. He was temporarily blinded, and thank God there were paramedics there already working on the accident he was tow...
|
jonijoni1
|
10
|
408
|
|
|
|
|
Pluck Yew -- a fairy tale
(Preview)
The 'Car Talk' show (on NPR) with Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, have a feature called the 'Puzzler'. Their most recent "Puzzler" was about the Battle of Agincourt. The French, who were overwhelmingly favored to win the battle, threatened to cut a certain body part off of all captu...
|
Doll
|
4
|
513
|
|
|
|
|
Meditation
(Preview)
I always had preconceptions of what meditation was (and wasn't) and dabbled in it for quite some time. Steps 2, 3 and of course 11 rely on a higher power and I love meditation for this. I've come to the conclusion, with much humility I might add, that having proper instruction is the way to go. For any that...
|
eastcoastscott
|
5
|
383
|
|
|
|
|
3rd Meeting
(Preview)
Today i started training for my second job. I'm bound and determined to be outta debt by next year! plus it helps give me something to do in the morning so i don't go out at night. tonight i went to my third meeting. last thursday I had gone to the same womens meeting and was met warmly. i enjoyed it entirely....
|
CriscoJones
|
9
|
395
|
|
|
|
|
Yourself...............................................
(Preview)
Cool stuff I found in one of my online meditations for today. Think I will be answering these tonight. It is good to remind ourselves of what life and recovery teaches us. At times when I feel super-duper-pooper low, I can look and see what lessons life has granted me thus far. what have I learned from fai...
|
jonijoni1
|
7
|
334
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Reflections ~ Overcoming Loneliness
(Preview)
Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness. Even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didnt quite belong. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 90 The agonies and the void that I often felt inside occur less and less frequently in my...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
1
|
812
|
|
|
|
|
Im giving up on everything!
(Preview)
I keep fucking up.. And Its my fault. I feel like my emotions are on a rollercoaster and Its just always depressed.. Today, I found out.. My bf is still in like with his fuckin ex.. I mean.. My x holds a place in my heart too.. But, to find pictures still like ones that parents wouldnt like to see there little...
|
Star_shadow16
|
6
|
971
|
|
|
|
|
24 Hrs a Day ~ 17th Nov 08
(Preview)
A.A. Thought for the Day Everyone has two personalities, a good and a bad. We are all dual personalities to some extent. When we were drinking, the bad personality was in control. We did things when we were drunk that we would never do when we were sober. When we sober up, we are different people. Then we w...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
0
|
247
|
|
|
|
|
When do the harsh lessons end ?
(Preview)
Please pray for me as I am about to do 1 of the hardest things I have ever done. Somehow when she left me, she found enough civility to leave me Buddy, or Boo as many have come to know and love. A feisty 11 year old Parson Russell Terrier, that I, and my son simply adore. With his hearing gone now, and only sligh...
|
mstrmsn66
|
9
|
471
|
|
|
|
|
Should we go easy on the "God stuff"?
(Preview)
This was on the cover of a grapevine a few years ago and the topic raged for a few months in my home group. I don't post very much, but I visit this site daily and I've noticed the god question alot lately. As a non-christian, I find it difficult when members share religious dogma in meetings. I also realize...
|
cheri
|
16
|
1393
|
|
|
|
|
should I be offended?
(Preview)
I have a very good girlfriend who actually saw me thru the worst times of my drinking. She is proud of and supports my sobriety. But she does drink, and often, after going to a party or having a family event, she tells me about the drinks they had in detail- ie; "Manhatten's with sour cherries imp...
|
beachgirl
|
12
|
537
|
|
|
|
|
Grief and Action
(Preview)
Trust in God and do something. -- Mary Lyon
It's important to let ourselves grieve as a passage between yesterday and tomorrow. But we do not have to be controlled unduly by our grief, or our pain.
There are times when we have grieved, surrendered to the heaviness, tiredness, and weariness of a cir...
|
Quetzal
|
0
|
331
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Reflections ~ A Daily Reprieve
(Preview)
What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85 Maintaining my spiritual condition is like working out every day, planning for the marathon, swimming laps, jogging. Its staying in good shape spiritually, and that requ...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
0
|
276
|
|
|
|
|
The Victim Trap
(Preview)
The belief that life has to be hard and difficult is the belief that makes a martyr.
We can change our negative beliefs about life, and whether we have the power to stop our pain and take care of ourselves.
We aren't helpless. We can solve our problems. We do have power - not to change or control others...
|
Quetzal
|
2
|
411
|
|
|
|
|
24 Hrs a Day ~ 15th Nov 08
(Preview)
A.A. Thought for the Day I am less sensitive and my feelings are less easily hurt. I no longer take myself so seriously. It didn't used to take much to insult me, to feel that I had been slighted or left on the outside. What happens to me now is not so important. One cause of our drinking was that we couldn't t...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
0
|
307
|
|
|
|
|
Benefits of Recovery
(Preview)
There are two benefits from recovery: we have short-term gains and long-term gains.
The short-term gains are the things we can do today that help us feel better immediately.
We can wake up in the morning, read for a few minutes in our meditation book, and feel lifted. We can work a Step and often not...
|
Quetzal
|
0
|
278
|
|
|
|
|
Im just a loser.. :(
(Preview)
I fucked up bad.. Im just a loser I think right now.. I stopped drinking for 7 whole daze and I know thats not a LOT of daze but, for me it Is.. but, Recently I started smoking weed with my boyfriend too get rid of the urges.. And I find myself. Wanting both even worse than, normal. And Im a fucking failure....
|
Star_shadow16
|
27
|
1671
|
|
|
|
|
Back from the Blueridge
(Preview)
Just got back from my last NC trip of the year. Flew up Tuesday, finished building another deck, closed up for the winter and drove back to FL today. Pretty busy around here, no one knew that I was gone. Dean
|
StPeteDean
|
15
|
540
|
|
|
|
|
Seasonal Reminders....
(Preview)
Just wanted to take the time to acknowledeg what a difficult time this can be for recovering alcoholics. For those of us up North, it is cold, the days are dark and very short, and it is a real chore to sometimes to muster up the energy to take care of our recovery through a meeting. In addition, the holiday...
|
jonijoni1
|
7
|
406
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Reflections ~ Intuition & Inspiration
(Preview)
. . . . we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We dont struggle. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 86 I invest my time in what I truly love. Step Eleven is a discipline that allows me and my Higher Power to be together, reminding me that, with Gods help, intuition a...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
0
|
1505
|
|
|
|
|
24 Hrs a Day ~ 14th Nov 08
(Preview)
A.A. Thought for the Day A better way than judging people is to look for all the good in them. If you look hard enough and long enough, you ought to be able to find some good in every person. In A.A. I learned that my job was to try to bring out the good, not criticize the bad. Every alcoholic is used to being jud...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
0
|
267
|
|
|
|
|
Hhmmm
(Preview)
So, I like to get on here and read all of the posts and comments that others are leaving. And, I became a little confused about the higher power. I sure hope that my belief doesn't have to be the same as others to keep me sober. I do believe in a higher power. But, that higher power resides in my heart and mi...
|
cramcj01
|
11
|
420
|
|
|
|
|
24 Hrs a Day ~ 13th Nov 08
(Preview)
A.A. Thought for the Day Who am I to judge other people? Have I proved by my great success in life that I know all the answers? Exactly the opposite. Until I came into A.A., my life could be called a failure. I made all the mistakes one could make. I took all the wrong roads there were to take. On the basis of my...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
1
|
292
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Reflections ~ Looking Outward
(Preview)
We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no requests for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped. We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 87 As an active alcoholic, I allowed selfishness to run ram...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
0
|
340
|
|
|
|
|
Walk in dry places
(Preview)
Walk In Dry Places The Boredom battle Acceptance and Patience. All of us have times when we don't enjoy our sobriety as much as we feel we should. Thought we're still grateful, we sometimes feel bored and depressed. What we have to remember at such times is our bleak history of using alcohol as a quick...
|
lani
|
1
|
262
|
|
|
|
|
maintenance
(Preview)
Walk In Dry Places The importance of maintenance. Fortitude In praising their success with AA, people sometimes overlook the importance of maintenance. AA not only helps us achieve sobriety, but it can also help us maintain our sobriety for a lifetime. Members often touch on this matter when the...
|
lani
|
4
|
314
|
|
|
|
|
Getting Honest
(Preview)
Hello All, This is my first time posting. A little history. I used and drank for 15+ years. Went to rehab, got out, used again and then went back for a refresher and then moved into a 3/4 house for 8 months. That was 2 1/2 years ago. I am now married and have a 3 1/2 month old son. I have been "pretend...
|
muffet
|
7
|
397
|
|
|
|
|
Taking Care of Ourselves
(Preview)
We do not have to wait for others to come to our aid. We are not victims. We are not helpless.
Letting go of faulty thinking means we realize there are no knights on white horses, no magical grandmothers in the sky watching, waiting to rescue us.
Teachers may come our way, but they will not rescue. The...
|
Quetzal
|
0
|
269
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Reflections ~ Morning Thoughts
(Preview)
Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 164 For many years I pondered over Gods will for me, believing that perhaps a great destiny had been ordained for my life. After all, having been born into a specific faith, hadnt I been told...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
0
|
292
|
|
|
|
|
24 Hrs a Day ~ 12th Nov 08
(Preview)
A.A. Thought for the Day I am less critical of other people, inside and outside of A.A. I used to run people down all the time. I realize now that it was because I wanted unconsciously to build myself up. I was envious of people who lived normal lives. I couldn't understand why I couldn't be like them. And s...
|
Sobrietyspell
|
0
|
251
|
|
|
|
|
Timing
(Preview)
Wait until the time is right. It is self-defeating to postpone or procrastinate; it is also self-defeating to act too soon, before the time is right.
Sometimes, we panic and take action out of fear. Sometimes, we take untimely action for revenge or because we want to punish someone. We act or speak t...
|
Quetzal
|
1
|
332
|
|
|