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Denial
(Preview)
Denial is a powerful tool. Never underestimate its ability to cloud your vision.
Be aware that, for many reasons, we have become experts at using this tool to make reality more tolerable. We have learned well how to stop the pain caused by reality - not by changing our circumstances, but by pretendi...
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Quetzal
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Daily Reflections ~ I Ask God To Decide
(Preview)
I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76 Having admitted my powerlessness and made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God, as I understand Him, I dont decide which de...
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Sobrietyspell
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Making It Happen
(Preview)
Stop trying so hard to make it happen.
Stop doing so much, if doing so much is wearing you out or not achieving the desired results. Stop thinking so much and so hard about it. Stop worrying so about it. Stop trying to force, to manipulate, to coerce, or to make it happen.
Making things happen is contr...
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Quetzal
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I'm Back!
(Preview)
Hi everyone! I have missed you and I have missed myself. I wont go on and on with all the details but I will tell you snippits.. I had a physc doc for many years and he knows me up and down and would never give me any narcotics even thoug I begged. So I fired him and found a doc who was very liberal with giving o...
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nique
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Father Leo
(Preview)
LIVING "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live." --Marcus Aurelius For years I did not live I simply existed. What many people take for granted I did not have: friends, vacations, job satisfaction, gratitude, family, communication and love of s...
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lani
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238
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Learning to Trust Again
(Preview)
Many of us have trust issues.
Some of us tried long and hard to trust untrustworthy people. Over and again, we believed lies and promises never to be kept. Some of us tried to trust people for the impossible; for instance, trusting a practicing alcoholic not to drink again.
Some of us trusted our Hi...
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Quetzal
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Father leo
(Preview)
IGNORANCE "Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance is the death of knowledge." --Alfred North Whitehead How little I understood when I was living as an alcoholic. How little I wanted to know. Ignorance was bliss in my addiction. And the real tragedy was that I was ignorant of the exten...
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lani
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3
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709
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six years!!
(Preview)
Friday, July 18th was my six year anniversary! I have been clean and sober for six years! It's only through the help and guidance of my Higher Power and the strength I got from AA that I managed to achieve these six years. It was a bittersweet day though. My sponsor never even called me to wish m...
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carolinagirl
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8
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Daily Reflections ~ A Priceless Gift
(Preview)
By this time in all probability we have gained some measure of release from our more devastating handicaps. We enjoy moments in which there is something like real peace of mind. To those of us who have hitherto known only excitement, depression, or anxietyin other words, to all of usthis newfound pea...
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Sobrietyspell
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24 Hrs a Day ~ 21st July 08
(Preview)
A.A. Thought for the Day ~ If we feel the need of saying something to put another member on the right track, we should try to say it with understanding and sympathy, not with a critical attitude. We should keep everything out in the open and aboveboard. The A.A. program is wonderful, but we must really fo...
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24 Hrs a Day ~ 20th July 08
(Preview)
A.A. Thought for the Day ~ We must be loyal to the group and to each member of it. We must never accuse members behind their backs or even to their faces. It's up to them to tell us themselves if anything is wrong. More than that, we must try not to think bad things about any members, because if we do, we're con...
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Sobrietyspell
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"Why Me"
(Preview)
Just got back from an awesome meeting... Just curious...... One gal just suffered a stroke and has weakness and slurred speech, things are very "slow" for her. She wonders, "why me, I cant figure it out" She has great sobriety and tremendous faith but we still, honestly, ask ou...
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lani
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6
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414
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Daily Reflections ~ Shortcomings Removed
(Preview)
But now the words Of myself I am nothing, the Father doeth the works began to carry bright promise and meaning. 12 & 12, p. 75 When I put the Seventh Step into action I must remember that there are no blanks to fill in. It doesnt say, Humbly asked Him to (fill in the blank) remove our shortcomings. For ye...
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Sobrietyspell
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796
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It's all well
(Preview)
Just thought I'd drop in, Things are going well and slow the way I like it, sometimes ppl places and things can tick us off but it's all in how u procieve it. I do now have 5 years in soberity and it feels good, I've had one of my son's friends who is 27 years of age. Come to me for advice on the program. Well my f...
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Tina
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3
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Letting Go of Resistance
(Preview)
Do not be in such a hurry to move on.
Relax. Breathe deeply. Be. Be in harmony today.
Be open. There is beauty around and in us today. There is purpose and meaning in today.
There is importance in today - not so much in what happens to us, but in how we respond.
Let today happen. We learn our lessons,...
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Quetzal
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275
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Proving It to Ourselves
(Preview)
I spent a year trying to prove to my husband how much his drinking was hurting me. When I began to recover, I realized I was the one who needed to realize how much his drinking was hurting me. -- Anonymous
I spent months trying to prove to a man I was dating how responsible and healthy I was. Then I realized...
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Quetzal
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Daily Reflections ~ False Pride
(Preview)
Many of us who had thought ourselves religious awoke to the limitations of this attitude. Refusing to place God first, we had deprived ourselves of His help. 12 & 12, p. 75 Many false notions operate in false pride. The need for direction to live a decent life is satisfied by the hope experienced in...
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24 Hrs a Day ~ 19th July 08
(Preview)
A.A. Thought for the Day ~ Gossip about or criticism of personalities has no place in an A.A. clubroom. Every man in A.A. is a brother and every woman is a sister, as long as he or she is a member of A.A. We ought not to gossip about the relationships of any man or woman in the group. And if we say about another m...
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And..."WHY" men are happier
(Preview)
Hopefully this will shed some light to us ladies out there on why men are never depressed, cause at the end of the day, men are just happier people - What do you expect from such simple (and proud of it) creatures? Your last name stays put.The garage is all yours.Wedding plans take care of themselves.Cho...
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lani
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374
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The outcome ..... God's will, I guess.....
(Preview)
Thank you, again, all for the thoughts and prayers. It's been a tough day and we're pretty much back at square one. I couldn't believe it when the judge said he could only be detained to a juvenile facility, that since he was 17 she couldn't send him to the county. All of this being said after she made a sp...
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Doll
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300
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It's today......Thoughts & prayers, please
(Preview)
I am full of fear at this moment. In just a few short hours I get to watch my son be 'carted' off to jail to be held until under suicide watch till a rehab bed becomes available...My mind is ALL over the place. I spoke to him last night & he sounded like the 'happy kid' I once I knew, therefore I've question...
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Doll
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5
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Daily Reflections ~ Grateful For What I Have
(Preview)
During this process of learning more about humility, the most profound result of all was the change in our attitude toward God. 12 & 12, p. 75 Today my prayers consist mostly of saying thank you to my Higher Power for my sobriety and for the wonder of Gods abundance, but I need also to ask for help and t...
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24 Hrs a Day ~ 18th July 08
(Preview)
A.A. Thought for the Day ~ Two things can spoil group unity - gossip and criticism. To avoid these divisive things, we must realise we're all in the same boat. We're like a group of people in a life-boat after the steamer has sunk. If we're going to be saved, we've got to pull together. It's a matter of lif...
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Sobrietyspell
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297
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Love, in Words and Actions
(Preview)
Many of us have confused notions about what it means to be loved and cared about.
Many of us were loved and cared for by people who had discrepancies between what they said and did.
We may have had a mother or father who said, "I love you" to us, and then abandoned or neglected us, giving us c...
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Quetzal
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369
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Insisting on the Best
(Preview)
We deserve the best life and love has to offer, but we are each faced with the challenge of learning to identify what that means in our life. We must each come to grips with our own understanding of what we believe we deserve, what we want, and whether we are receiving it.
There is only one place to start,...
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Quetzal
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Time to Get Angry
(Preview)
It's about time you got angry - yes, that angry.
Anger can be such a potent, frightening emotion. It can also be a feeling that guides us to important decisions, sometimes decisions difficult to make. It can signal other people's problems, our problems, or simply problems we need to address.
We d...
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Quetzal
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Daily reflection/24 hrs day
(Preview)
July 17, 2008 Daily Reflections SURRENDER AND SELF-EXAMINATION My stability came out of trying to give, not out of demanding that I receive. Thus I think it can work out with emotional sobriety. If we examine every disturbance we have, great or small, we will find at the root of it some unhealthy depen...
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lani
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0
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273
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Oh good gravy... now what!
(Preview)
Things coming outta left field... Don't think I'm not equipped or ready for any of this... In my circle of HG winners that I surround myself with, there's a guy that I've always gotten along with moreso than any of the other men, always been able to talk to about my son and he's always available when I've...
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Doll
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9
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713
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Family Members
(Preview)
I was thirty five years old the first time I spoke up to my mother and refused to buy into her games and manipulation. I was terribly frightened and almost couldn't believe I was doing this. I found I didn't have to be mean. I didn't have to start an argument. But I could say what I wanted and needed to say to t...
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Quetzal
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2
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302
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Mandating my son.......and don't want to drink!
(Preview)
On Thursday my 17 yr old will be remanded to the county jail where he will be detained until a bed in a inpatient rehab becomes available.....This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life up to this point. And the miracle is I don't want to drink! Someone once said to me, "give him to God an...
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Doll
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4
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341
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keep it simple
(Preview)
Keep It Simple Let there be spaces in your togetherness.---Kahil Gilran We all need time alone. Then we can get to know our Higher Power better too. When we were using chemicals, we were afraid of being alone. We didn't want to think too much. So we got high. Now we know we're never totally alone. Our Hig...
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lani
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12 Steps
(Preview)
Hello everyone, Haven't been posting much, but I've been stopping by about everyday. Always great words of wisdom on this site. Anyway, I've been doing my first sponsorship in a loooooonnnnnnngggggg time and it's been a blast "rediscovering" the 12 Steps. So much so, I wrote a poem abo...
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Dave Harm
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327
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Screwed up as a Christmas turkey.....and LOVING it!
(Preview)
"The idea that somehow, some day, he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death." AA BB pg. 30 How blessed I am today the obsession has been removed...
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Doll
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5
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Off to the mountains again
(Preview)
Well no rest for the wicked. Another 6 days of work on my house. Maybe I'll figure out how to use brighthouses dial up and I won't be gone so long. If not, see you in a week. Dean
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StPeteDean
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Sharing some Experience, Strength and Hope
(Preview)
Hi Everyone, its been awhile since I last posted but here I am still an alcoholic and drug addict, grateful for my recovery and it does get better and better each day. I love this board and I love going to meetings. We are all in the same lifeboat and Ive got a hold of my oar, when you get tired, Ill take my tu...
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FindingFreedom
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Daily Reflections - Humility Is A Gift
(Preview)
As long as we placed self-reliance first, a genuine reliance upon a Higher Power was out of the question. That basic ingredient of all humility, a desire to seek and do Gods will, was missing. 12 & 12, p.72 When I first came to A.A., I wanted to find some of the elusive quality called humility. I didnt...
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Sobrietyspell
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24 Hrs a Day - 13th July 08
(Preview)
A.A. Thought for the Day - Before alcoholics come into A.A., they are "flying blind." But A.A. gives them a directed beam in the A.A. program. As long as they keep on this beam, the signal of sobriety keeps coming through. If they have a slip, the signal is broken. If they swing off course into...
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Sobrietyspell
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728
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Daily Reflections - Giving Up Centre Stage
(Preview)
For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all.. . Without it, they cannot live to much useful purpose, or, in adversity, be able to summon the faith that can meet any emergency. 12 & 12, p.70 Why do I balk at the word humility? I am not humbling myself toward other people, but...
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Sobrietyspell
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24 Hrs a Day - 12th July 08
(Preview)
A.A. Thought for the Day - Today is ours. Let us live today, as we believe God wants us to live. Each day will have a new pattern, which we cannot foresee. But we can open each day with a quiet period in which we say a little prayer, asking God to help us through the day. Personal contact with God, as we underst...
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Sobrietyspell
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Came to believe
(Preview)
Dolls posts made me think today of where I was a few short months ago. I could never in my life imagine a life without drinking! How could I pay the bills, go to a party, interact with people, deal with stress or unhappiness.......without drinking! Today I cannot imagine a life with drinking! Ive posted...
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lani
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260
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Father Leo
(Preview)
Today is July 12, 2008 A Great Day for Recovery! VIOLENCE "Violence is counter-productive and produces changes of a sort you don't want. It is a very dangerous instrument and can destroy those who wield it." --John Gardner I believed I wasn't violent when I drank but that is not true; I wasn...
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lani
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256
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I am very new to this, well admiting it.
(Preview)
I am 31 and have not been happy about my drinking for atleast the past 3 years. Three years ago I found out I had a brain tumor the doctors did not know if it was cancer for three months (november thru January) I had my surgery the day after my daughters first Birthday. I was very lucky it was not cancer, but I...
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sweatpea
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3
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384
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Getting to know Reverend Leo Booth
(Preview)
Dynamic, challenging, insightful and witty, Reverend Leo Booth is a minister cut from a very different cloth. He says you don't have to be religious to be spiritual. He's as likely to quote from the Beatles, The Velveteen Rabbit, or Oscar Wilde, as he is from the Bible. His passion is to help people dis...
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Doll
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What was the turning point that made you WANT/READY to change? (very long and babbling)
(Preview)
I haven't been happy with my drinking FOR YEARS. I'm unhappy in my personal life and my drinking has progressed.. not blaming him... just blaming my unhappiness and ability to cope. I am ASHAMED how much I drink and the frequency. My health is deteriorating (bp is skyhigh!). I have 2 boys that are t...
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Dublin
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Bring Any Request to God
(Preview)
Bring any request you have to God.
No request is too large; none too small or insignificant.
How often we limit God by not bringing to God everything we want and need.
Do we need help getting our balance? Getting through the day?
Do we need help in a particular relationship? With a particular ch...
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Quetzal
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Father leo
(Preview)
CHANGE "The foolish and the dead never change their opinion." --James Russell Lowell Part of my understanding of spirituality is that I will change. I will change my mind, my attitude and my opinion. My understanding of sobriety is that I will grow, grow in an understanding of myself, gr...
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lani
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Daily Reflections - Toward Peace & Serenity
(Preview)
. . . when we have taken a square look at some of these defects, have discussed them with another, and have become willing to have them removed, our thinking about humility commences to have a wider meaning. 12 & 12, p.74 When situations arise which destroy my serenity, pain often motivates me to as...
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Sobrietyspell
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24 hours a day-7/10
(Preview)
Thursday, July 10, 2008 You are reading from the book Twenty Four Hours a Day Hardcover (24 Hours) A.A. Thought for the Day We in Alcoholics Anonymous do not enter into theological discussions, but in carrying our message we attempt to explain the simple "how" of the spiritual life...
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lani
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Who'd a belived it!!!!!
(Preview)
Hi all... My vacation is going fabulously and Ive had such a ball! FINALLY, did my 4th and 5th step!!!!!!!! It went great and I feel sooo much better having done it! Put it off, made excuses and the time was finally right and its done for today!!!!! Had a few new AA friends over for a cookout and we had fun eat...
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lani
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5
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Father Leo
(Preview)
Father Leo's Daily Meditation PESSIMISM "There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist." --Mark Twain I meet so many young people who have "aged" because of their drug addiction. They have lost that "spark" of youth that is both creative and hopeful. They reveal...
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lani
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