We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. "Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?" As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 47
I was always fascinated with the study of scientific principles. I was emotionally and physically distant from people while I pursued Absolute Knowledge. God and spirituality were meaningless academic exercises. I was a modern man of science, knowledge was my Higher Power. Given the right set of equations, life was merely another problem to solve. Yet my inner self was dying from my outer man's solution to life's problems and the solution was alcohol. In spite of my intelligence, alcohol became my Higher Power. It was through the unconditional love which emanated from A.A. people and meetings that I was able to discard alcohol as my Higher Power. The great void was filled. I was no longer lonely and apart from life. I had found a true power greater than myself, I had found God's love. There is only one equation which really matters to me now: God is in A.A.
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Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain.
By drinking we escaped boredom for a while. We almost forgot our troubles. But when we sobered up, our troubles were twice as bad. Drinking had only made them worse. In A.A., we really escape boredom. Nobody's bored at an A.A. meeting. We stick around after it's over & we hate to leave. Drinking gave us a temporary feeling of importance. When we're drinking, we kid ourselves into thinking we are somebody. We tell tall stories to build ourselves up. In A.A., we don't want that kind of self-importance. We have real self-respect & honesty & humility. Have I found something much better & more satisfactory than drinking?
Meditation for the Day ~
I believe that my faith & God's power can accomplish anything in human relationships. There is no limit to what these two things can do in this field. Only believe, & anything can happen. Saint Paul said, "I can do all things through Him who strengtheneth me." All walls that divide you from other human beings can fall by your faith & God's power. These are the two essentials. Everyone can be moved by these.
Prayer for the Day ~
I pray that I may try to strengthen my faith day by day. I pray that I may rely more & more on God's power.
(Let it be a God or Higher Power of our own understanding) Danielle x
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Progress not perfection.. & Practice makes Progress!
