The Way Out Podcast Blog: October 2016

Monday, October 31, 2016

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~Companionship ^^*^ November 1

~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^ (\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )(_ /AA\ _)/AA\^*^*^*^*^Companionship"Letting go of everything at once was both painful and terrifying. I could never have accomplished this alone. It took the help, understanding and wonderful companionship that was given so freely to me by my 'ex-alkie' friends. This and the program of recovery embodied in the Twelve Steps . . . Whole new vistas were opened up for me, new avenues of experience to be explored, and life began to take on color and interest."c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 311Thought to Consider . . .This is a great day to be sober, patient, tolerant, kindly and loving. *~*AACRONYMS*~*C A R E = Comforting And Reassuring Each other *~*^Just For Today!^*~* Accountable From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous": "By 1940 we had begun to see that the A.A. book should belong to our society itself. Its shares should not be forever scattered among forty-nine subscribers, Ruth Hock, Henry, and me [Bill W.]. If the Foundation could acquire these outstanding shares, the book could be placed in trust for A.A. as a whole. They could no longer kick about the book's income being used to run the A.A. office. "Trustee A. LeRoy Chipman conceived the idea of borrowing enough money from Mr. [John D., Jr.] Rockefeller, two of his sons [including then-future US Vice President Nelson], and the dinner guests to clear away certain debts and to buy all Works Publishing's shares (except Henry's and mine) from the cash subscribers at par. Every one of the cash subscribers gladly consented to this; they were happy to get out even. Mr. Chipman thereupon raised a total of $8,000 dollars, to be repaid to Mr. Rockefeller and the others out of book profits at a later date."2001 AAWS Inc.Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 189 *^Daily Reflections^*I CANNOT CHANGE THE WINDIt is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85 My first sponsor told me there were two things to say about prayer and meditation: first, I had to start and second, I had to continue. When I came to A.A. my spiritual life was bankrupt; if I considered God at all, He was to be called upon only when my self-will was incapable of a task or when overwhelming fears had eroded my ego. Today I am grateful for a new life, one in which my prayers are those of thanksgiving. My prayer time is more for listening than for talking. I know today that if I cannot change the wind, I can adjust my sail. I know the difference between superstition and spirituality. I know there is a graceful way of being right, and many ways to be wrong.Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC. *~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*From the TaprootThe principle that we shall find no enduring strength until we first admit complete defeat is the main taproot from which our whole Society has sprung and flowered.<<< >>>Every newcomer is told, and soon realizes for himself, that his humble admission of powerlessness over alcohol is his first step toward liberation from its paralyzing grip. So it is that we first see humility as a necessity. But this is the barest beginning. To get completely away from our aversion to the idea of being humble, to gain a vision of humility as the avenue to true freedom of the human spirit, to be willing to work for humility as something to be desired for itself, takes most of us a long, long time. A whole lifetime geared to self-centeredness cannot be set in reverse all at once.TWELVE AND TWELVE1. pp. 21-22 - 2. pp. 72-73*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*"If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer."Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionWe Agnostics, pg. 44*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the Day I have hope. That magic thing that I had lost or misplaced. The future looks dark no more. I do not even look at it, except when necessary to make plans. I try to let the future take care of itself. The future will be made up of todays and todays, stretching out as short as now and as long as eternity. Hope is justified by many right nows, by the rightness of the present. Nothing can happen to me that God does not will for me. I can hope for the best, as long as I have what I have and it is good. Have I hope?Meditation for the DayFaith is the messenger that bears your prayers to God. Prayer can be like incense, rising ever higher and higher. The prayer of faith is the prayer of trust that feels the presence of God which it rises to meet. It can be sure of some response from God. We can say a prayer of thanks to God every day for His grace, which has kept us on the right way and allowed us to start living the good life. So we should pray to God with faith and trust and gratitude.Prayer for the DayI pray that I may feel sure of some response to my prayers. I pray that I may be content with whatever form that response takes. Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!

from Gmail
via IFTTT

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 10/31/2016

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be either good or evil.--Hannah ArendtHow often have we found ourselves in a predicament and innocently saying, "How did I get into this?" When someone has been injured by our actions because we failed to think about them, do we take the responsibility? If a friend is unfairly treated on the job, do we take a stand for him? When we know people are starving, what do we do about it? When our loved ones say they are lonely and wish we would talk to them, how do we respond? In this program we have chosen to live by our values. We cannot sit passively and fail to live up to those values. Each situation is different, so we must think about what is called for. When we do not think about our reactions, we are in danger of adding to the evil in the world. When we act upon our principles, we feel more hopeful and wholesome.Today, I will be alert to the difference between good and evil in my actions. I pray for the strength to take a stand. You are reading from the book: Touchstones by Anonymous Touchstones ©1986, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.

from Gmail
via IFTTT

Sunday, October 30, 2016

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~ Trudging ^^*^ October 31

~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )(_ /AA\ _)/AA\^*^*^*^*^Trudging"Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny. May God bless you and keep you

from Gmail
via IFTTT

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 10/30/2016

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.--Step Seven In the Sixth and Seventh Steps of the program, we become willing to let go of our defects of character - issues, behaviors, old feelings, unresolved grief, and beliefs that are blocking us from the joy that is ours. Then we ask God to take them from us. Isn't that simple? We don't have to contort ourselves to make ourselves change. We don't have to force change. For once, we don't have to "do it ourselves." All we have to do is strive for an attitude of willingness and humility. All we have to do is ask God for what we want and need, and then trust God to do for us that which we cannot do and do not have to do for ourselves. We do not have to watch with bated breath for how and when we shall change. This is not a self-help program. In this miraculous and effective program that has brought about recovery and change for millions, we become changed by working the Steps.Today, God, help me surrender to recovery and to the process by which I become changed. Help me focus on the Step I need. Help me do my part, relax, and allow the rest to happen. You are reading from the book: The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie The Language of Letting Go © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.

from Gmail
via IFTTT

Saturday, October 29, 2016

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~Principles ^^*^ October 30

To Donate Go to http://ift.tt/2eG1Umk. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )(_ /AA\ _)/AA\^*^*^*^*^Principles"Experience shows that few alcoholics will long stay away from a group just because they don't like the way it is run. Most return and adjust themselves to whatever conditions they must. Some go to a different group, or form a new one. In other words, once an alcoholic fully realizes that he cannot get well alone, he will somehow find a way to get well and stay well in the company of others."Bill W., Letter, 1943c.1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 312Thought to Consider . . . It isn't difficult to make a mountain out of a molehill - just add a little dirt. *~*AACRONYMS*~*H A L T = Honestly, Actively, Lovingly, Tolerant.*~*^Just For Today!^*~* Grim Routine From: "Chapter 7: Make it snappy" During this 17-year period [1918-1935], Dr. Bob had worked out a grim routine that permitted him to drink and somehow still maintain his medical practice. Careful never to go near the hospital while he was drinking, he would stay sober until four o'clock in the afternoon. It was really a horrible nightmare, this earning money, getting liquor, smuggling it home, getting drunk, morning jitters, taking large doses of sedatives to make it possible for me to earn more money, and so on ad nauseum, he wrote. I used to promise my wife, my friends, and my children that I would drink no more - promises which seldom kept me sober through the day, though I was very sincere when I made them. 1984 AAWS Inc."PASS IT ON", page 140 *^Daily Reflections^*LIVE AND LET LIVE Never since it began has Alcoholics Anonymous been divided by a major controversial issue. Nor has our Fellowship ever publicly taken sides on any question in an embattled world. This, however, has been no earned virtue. It could almost be said that we were born with it. . . . "So long as we don't argue these matters privately, it's a cinch we never shall publicly." TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 176 Do I remember that I have a right to my opinion but that others don't have to share it? That's the spirit of "Live and Let Live." The Serenity Prayer reminds me, with God's help, to "Accept the things I cannot change." Am I still trying to change others? When it comes to "Courage to change the things I can," do I remember that my opinions are mine, and yours are yours? Am I still afraid to be me? When it comes to "Wisdom to know the difference," do I remember that my opinions come from my experience? If I have a know-it-all attitude, aren't I being deliberately controversial? Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*Loving AdvisersHad I not been blessed with wise and loving advisers, I might have cracked up long ago. A doctor once saved me from death by alcoholism because he obliged me to face up to the deadliness of that malady. Another doctor, a psychiatrist, later on helped me save my sanity because he led me to ferret out some of my deep-lying defects. From a clergyman I acquired the truthful principles by which we A.A.'s now try to live. But these precious friends did far more than supply me with their professional skills. I learned that I could go to them with any problem whatever. Their wisdom and their integrity were mine for the asking. Many of my dearest A.A. friends have stood with me in exactly this same relation. Oftentimes they could help where others could not, simply because they were A.A.'s.GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961 *~*^Big Book Quote^*~*"The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink."Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionThere Is A Solution, pg. 24*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DayI have real friends where I had none before. My drinking companions could hardly be called my real friends, though when drunk we seemed to have the closest kind of friendship. My idea of friendship has changed. Friends are no longer people whom I can use for my own pleasure or profit. Friends are now people who understand me and I them, whom I can help and who can help me to live a better life. I have learned not to hold back and wait for friends to come to me, but to go halfway and to be met halfway, openly and freely. Does friendship have a new meaning for me?Meditation for the DayThere is a time for everything. We should learn to wait patiently until the right time comes. Easy does it. We waste our energies in trying to get things before we are ready to have them, before we have earned the right to receive them. A great lesson we have to learn is how to wait with patience. We can believe that all our life is a preparation for something better to come when we have earned the right to it. We can believe that God has a plan for our lives and that this plan will work out in the fullness of time.Prayer for the DayI pray that I may learn the lesson of waiting patiently I pray that I may not expect things until I have earned the right to have them.Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!

from Gmail
via IFTTT

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~Principles ^^*^ October 30

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 10/29/2016

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:Learn to say I amWe hear a lot about becoming whole. "Become a complete human being." "Start on the pathway to becoming whole." "You won't find romantic love until you know you're complete." Frankly, these kinds of comments often confused me. But then I decided that wholeness relates directly to the process of detaching - letting go. It's admirable to go after our dreams and know what we want to accomplish. But after we identify what it is we're after, we need to let it go. We need to know in our hearts and souls that we're okay whether we ever get what we're after or not. Another friend described it this way, "It's the old Zen Buddhist thing," he said. "When you're one with yourself, life becomes magical. You can get whatever you want." The most powerful and magical words we can say in the language of letting go are these: I am. Then we step it up one notch by learning to say, I am complete just as I am. God, help me know the power of the words I am. You are reading from the book: More Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie More Language of Letting Go © 2000 by Melody Beattie. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.

from Gmail
via IFTTT

Friday, October 28, 2016

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~Touchstones ^^*^ October 29

Click here now to check out our list of Recovery Podcasts!~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )(_ /AA\ _)/AA\^*^*^*^*^Touchstones"All AA progress can be reckoned in terms of just two words: humility and responsibility. Our whole spiritual development can be accurately measured by our degree of adherence to these magnificent standards. Ever deepening humility, accompanied by an ever greater willingness to accept and act upon clear-cut obligations --these are truly our touchstones for all growth in the life of the spirit. They hold up to us the very essence of right being and right doing. It is by them that we are enabled to find and to do God's will."Bill W., Talk, 1965c.1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 271Thought to Consider . . .The solution is simple. The solution is spiritual. *~*AACRONYMS*~*S O B E R = Staying Off Booze Enjoying Recovery*~*^Just For Today!^*~* Focus From: "Acceptance Was the Answer" I can do the same thing with an AA meeting. The more I focus my mind on its defects - late start, long drunkalogs, cigarette smoke - the worse the meeting becomes. But when I try to see what I can add to the meeting, rather than what I can get out of it, and when I focus my mind on what's good about it, rather than what's wrong with it, the meeting keeps getting better and better. When I focus on what's good today, I have a good day, and when I focus on what's bad, I have a bad day. If I focus on a problem, the problem increases; if I focus on the answer, the answer increases.2001 AAWS Inc.Alcoholics Anonymous, page 419 *^Daily Reflections^*OUR SURVIVAL Since recovery from alcoholism is life itself to us, it is imperative that we preserve in full strength our means of survival. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 177 The honesty expressed by the members of A.A. in meetings has the power to open my mind. Nothing can block the flow of energy that honesty carries with it. The only obstacle to this flow of energy is inebriation, but even then, no one will find a closed door if he or she has left and chooses to return. Once he or she has received the gift of sobriety, each A.A. member is challenged on a daily basis to accept a program of honesty. My Higher Power created me for a purpose in life. I ask him to accept my honest efforts to continue on my journey in the spiritual way of life. I call on Him for strength to know and seek His will. Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*Comradeship in PerilWe A.A.'s are like the passengers of a great liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck, when camaraderie, joyousness, and democracy pervade the vessel from steerage to captain's table. Unlike the feelings of the ship's passengers, however, our joy in escape from disaster does not subside as we go our individual ways. The feeling of sharing in a common peril - relapse into alcoholism - continues to be an important element in the powerful cement which binds us of A.A. together.<<< >>>Our first woman alcoholic had been a patient of Dr. Harry Tiebout's, and he had handed her a prepublication manuscript copy of the Big Book. The first reading made her rebellious, but the second convinced her. Presently she came to a meeting held in our living room, and from there she returned to the sanitarium carrying this classic message to a fellow patient: "We aren't alone any more."1. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 172. A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 18 *~*^Big Book Quote^*~*"Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny."Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionA Vision For You, pg. 164*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DayMy relationships with my children have greatly improved. Those children who saw me drunk and were ashamed, those children who turned away in fear and even loathing have seen me sober and like me, have turned to me in confidence and trust and have forgotten the past as best they could. They have given me a chance for companionship that I had completely missed. I am their father or their mother now. Not just "that person that Mom or Dad married and God knows why." I am a part of my home now. Have I found something that I had lost? Meditation for the DayOur true measure of success in life is the measure of spiritual progress that we have revealed in our lives. Others should be able to see a demonstration of God's will in our lives. The measure of His will that those around us have seen worked out in our daily living is the measure of our true success. We can do our best to be a demonstration each day of the power of God in human lives, an example of the working out of the grace of God in the hearts of men and women. Prayer for the DayI pray that I may so live that others will see in me something of the working out of the will of God. I pray that my life may be a demonstration of what the grace of God can do. Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!

from Gmail
via IFTTT

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 10/28/2016

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:This is a simple program for complicated people.--Saying heard at meetingsNewcomerI heard a speaker with years in recovery share that she'd always done it her own way - that she met friends at bars if she felt like it, had never had a sponsor, and sometimes went for months without a meeting. I know newcomers who've done similar things. What's the big deal?SponsorSome people in recovery cling to rebellion. While they don't want to return to the horrors of active addiction, they aren't willing to surrender what they think of as individualism. They "get away with" skipping Steps and ignoring suggestions. One helps out at meetings, but keeps booze in the house. One gives advice to newcomers, but goes un-sponsored. The program doesn't ask that we give up what truly makes each of us an individual. It offers us clear guidelines, and promises that if we follow them, we won't have to risk a relapse. The program works for us, if we work it. Testing our recovery by trying to see what we can "get away with" is like playing a game of Russian roulette.Today, I feel safety and strength as I follow the principles of this program. I know that true individuality comes from the self-knowledge that recovery affords me. You are reading from the book: If You Want What We Have by Joan Larkin If You Want What We Have © 1998 by Joan Larkin. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.

from Gmail
via IFTTT

Thursday, October 27, 2016

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~Loneliness ^^*^ October 28

~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )(_ /AA\ _)/AA\^*^*^*^*^Loneliness"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 we didn't quite belong. Either we were shy, and dared not draw near others, or we were apt to be noisy good fellows craving attention and companionship, but never getting it -- at least to our way of thinking. There was always that mysterious barrier we could neither surmount nor understand. . .That's one reason we loved alcohol too well. It did let us act extemporaneously. But even Bacchus boomeranged on us; we were finally struck down and left in terrified loneliness."c.1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 57Thought to Consider . . .Isolation is a darkroom where we develop negatives. *~*AACRONYMS*~*H A L T = Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired*~*^Just For Today!^*~* Forgiveness Step Eight: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. These obstacles, however, are very real. The first, and one of the most difficult has to do with forgiveness. The moment we ponder a twisted or broken relationship with another person, our emotions go on the defensive. To escape looking at the wrongs we have done another, we resentfully focus on the wrong that he has done us. This is especially true if he has, in fact, behaved badly at all. Triumphantly we seize upon his misbehavior as the perfect excuse for minimizing or forgetting our own.1981 AAWS Inc.Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 78 *^Daily Reflections^*AN UNBROKEN TRADITION We conceive the survival and spread of Alcoholics Anonymous to be something of far greater importance than the weight we could collectively throw back of any other cause. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 177 How much it means to me that an unbroken tradition of more than half a century is a thread that connects me to Bill W. and Dr. Bob. How much more grounded I feel to be in a Fellowship whose aims are constant and unflagging. I am grateful that the energies of A.A. have never been scattered, but focused instead on our members and on individual sobriety. My beliefs are what make me human; I am free to hold any opinion, but A.A.'s purpose -- so clearly stated fifty years ago -- is for me to keep sober. That purpose has promoted round-the-clock meeting schedules, and the thousands of inter-group and central service offices, with their thousands of volunteers. Like the sun focused through a magnifying glass, A.A.'s single vision has lit a fire of faith in sobriety in millions of hearts, including mine.Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*To Rebuild SecurityIn our behavior respecting financial and emotional security, fear, greed, possessiveness, and pride have too often done their worst. Surveying his business or employment record, almost any alcoholic can ask questions like these: In addition to my drinking problem, what character defects contributed to my financial instability? Did fear and inferiority about my fitness for my job destroy my confidence and fill me with conflict? Or did I overvalue myself and play the big shot?Businesswomen in A.A. will find that these questions often apply to them, too, and the alcoholic housewife can also make the family financially insecure. Indeed, all alcoholics need to cross-examine themselves ruthlessly to determine how their own personality defects have demolished their security.TWELVE AND TWELVE, pp. 51-52 *~*^Big Book Quote^*~*"Reminding ourselves that we have decided to go to any lengths to find a spiritual experience, we ask that we be given strength and direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal consequences may be."Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionInto Action, pg. 79*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DayWhat other rewards have come to me as a result of my new way of living? Each one of us can answer this question in many ways. My relationship with my spouse or companion is on an entirely new plane. The total selfishness is gone and more cooperation has taken its place. My home is a home again. Understanding has taken the place of misunderstanding, recriminations, bickering, and resentment. A new companionship has developed which bodes well for the future. "There are homes where fires burn and there is bread, lamps are lit and prayers are said. Though people falter through the dark and nations grope, with God Himself back of these little homes, we still can hope. Have I come home?Meditation for the DayWe can bow to God's will in anticipation of the thing happening that will, in the long run, be the best for all concerned. It may not always seem the best thing at the present time, but we cannot see as far ahead as God can. We do not know how His plans are laid, we only need to believe that if we trust Him and accept whatever happens as His will in a spirit of faith, everything will work out for the best in the end.Prayer for the DayI pray that I may not ask to see the distant scene. I pray that one step may be enough for me. Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!

from Gmail
via IFTTT

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 10/27/2016

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:The reality is that changes are coming . . .They must come. You must share in bringing them.--John HerseyChange. It's scary. It's hard. It's needed. Sometimes it feels good; other times it feels bad. But one thing is for sure: it keeps on happening.Just when our life seems settled, it changes. We can't stop life. We can't stay this age forever. The world changes. Life moves on. There are always new things to do and learn.Change means we're always beginners in some ways. We need to ask for wisdom and courage. We get it by listening, by praying, by meditating. When we ask, our Higher Power will teach us to be part of good changes.Prayer for the DayHigher Power, help me believe that Your plans call for good changes.Action for the DayToday I'll think about the changes in my life. I've lived through a lot. I'll be okay when more changes come, with God's help. I can keep on growing. You are reading from the book: Keep It Simple by Anonymous Keep It Simple © 1989 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.

from Gmail
via IFTTT

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~Humility ^^*^ October 27

~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )(_ /AA\ _)/AA\^*^*^*^*^Humility"Moved by the spirit of anonymity, we try to give up our natural desires for personal distinction as AA members both among fellow alcoholics and before the general public. As we lay aside these very human aspirations, we believe that each of us takes part in the weaving of a protective mantle which covers our whole Society and under which we may grow and work in unity. We are sure that humility, expressed by anonymity, is the greatest safeguard Alcoholics Anonymous can ever have."c.1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 187Thought to Consider . . . Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. *~*AACRONYMS*~*S W A T = Surrender, Willingness, Acceptance, Trust *~*^Just For Today!^*~* Grave Nature From: "Foreword to Second Edition" The spark that was to flare into the first AA group was struck at Akron, Ohio in June 1935, during a talk between a New York stockbroker and an Akron physician. Six months earlier, the broker had been relieved of his drink obsession by a sudden spiritual experience, following a meeting with an alcoholic friend who had been in contact with the Oxford Groups of that day. He had also been greatly helped by the late Dr. William D. Silkworth, a New York specialist in alcoholism who is now accounted no less than a medical saint by AA members, and whose story of the early days of our Society appears in the next pages. From this doctor, the broker had learned the grave nature of alcoholism. Though he could not accept all the tenets of the Oxford Groups, he was convinced of the need for moral inventory, confession of personality defects, restitution to those harmed, helpfulness to others, and the necessity of belief in and dependence upon God.2001 AAWS Inc.Alcoholics Anonymous, pages xv-xvi *^Daily Reflections^*GLOBAL SHARING The only thing that matters is that he is an alcoholic who has found a key to sobriety. These legacies of suffering and of recovery are easily passed among alcoholics, one to the other. This is our gift from God, and its bestowal upon others like us is the one aim that today animates A.A.'s all around the globe. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 151 The strength of Alcoholics Anonymous lies in the desire of each member and of each group around the world to share with other alcoholics their suffering and the steps taken to gain, and maintain, recovery. By keeping a conscious contact with my Higher Power, I make sure that I always nurture my desire to help other alcoholics, thus insuring the continuity of the wonderful fraternity of Alcoholics Anonymous.Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*People of FaithWe who have traveled a path through agnosticism or atheism beg you to lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion. We have learned that, whatever the human frailties of various faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and direction to millions. People of faith have a rational idea of what life is all about. Actually, we used to have no reasonable conception whatever. We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and practices, when we might have seen that many spiritually minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness, and usefulness that we should have sought for ourselves.ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 49 *~*^Big Book Quote^*~*"When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is or He isn't."Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionWe Agnostics, pg. 53*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DaySeventh, I can help other alcoholics. I am of some use in the world. I have a purpose in life. I am worth something at last. My life has a direction and a meaning. All that feeling of futility is gone. I can do something worthwhile. God has given me a new lease on life so that I can help other alcoholics. He has let me live through all the hazards of my alcoholic life to bring me at last to a place of real usefulness in the world. He has let me live for this. This is my opportunity and my destiny. I am worth something! Will I give as much of my life as I can to A.A.?Meditation for the DayAll of us have our own battle to win, the battle between the material view of life and the spiritual view. Something must guide our lives. Will it be wealth, pride, selfishness, and greed or will it be faith, honesty, purity, unselfishness, love, and service? Each one has a choice. We can choose good or evil. We cannot choose both. Are we going to keep striving until we win the battle? If we win the victory, we can believe that even God in His heaven will rejoice.Prayer for the DayI pray that I may choose the good and resist the evil. I pray that I will not be a loser in the battle for righteousness. Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!

from Gmail
via IFTTT

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 10/26/2016

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.--Joseph AddisonOur Program allows us to stand back from day-to-day confusion and let serenity come into our lives. Our program doesn’t take away all the struggles and problems from life, but it does let us learn a different outlook and attitude. We don’t have to get caught up in every storm that blows our way. We don’t have to live the pain of every person who crosses our path. We don’t have to right every wrong. Our recovery is a gift to us from a power greater than we are. We become more and more aware of the meaning of the words in the Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and Wisdom to know the difference.”Let me learn to see the world as it actually is, not as I want it to be. I trust that my Higher Power didn’t make a mistake in designing this world or the plans for my life. You are reading from the book: Easy Does It by Anonymous Easy Does It © 1999 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.

from Gmail
via IFTTT

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~Concepts ^^*^ October 26

~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )(_ /AA\ _)/AA\^*^*^*^*^Concepts"The word God still aroused a certain antipathy. When the thought was expressed that there might be a God personal to me this feeling was intensified. I didn't like the idea. . . My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea. He said, 'Why don't you choose your own conception of God?' That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years. I stood in the sunlight at last."Bill W.,c.1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 12Thought to Consider . . . God seldom becomes a reality until God becomes a necessity. *~*AACRONYMS*~*G I F T = God Is Forever There*~*^Just For Today!^*~* Force From "Faith in People": "In the whole measure of my life, the benefits of the A.A. experience have far outweighed the damages of active alcoholism. What was it that overcame my pride (for the moment) and made me reachable? The best answer I can find is what my father used to call 'the life force.' It is in all of us, I believe; it animates all living things; it keeps the galaxies wheeling. New York, New York USA"1973 AAWS, Inc. Came to Believe30th printing 2004, pgs. 84-85 *^Daily Reflections^*ONE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 132 When I am chosen to carry some small responsibility for my fellows, I ask that God grant me the patience, open-mindedness, and willingness to listen to those I would lead. I must remind myself that I am the trusted servant of others, not their "governor," "teacher," or "instructor." God guides my words and my actions, and my responsibility is to heed His suggestions. Trust is my watchword, I trust others who lead. In the Fellowship of A.A., I entrust God with the ultimate authority of "running the show." Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC. *~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*Anonymity and SobrietyAs the A.A. groups multiplied, so did anonymity problems. Enthusiastic over the spectacular recovery of a brother alcoholic, we'd sometimes discuss those intimate and harrowing aspects of his case meant for his sponsor's ear alone. The aggrieved victim would then rightly declare that his trust had been broken. When such stories got into circulation outside of A.A., the loss of confidence in our anonymity promise was severe. It frequently turned people from us. Clearly, every A.A. member's name - and story, too - had to be confidential, if he wished.<<< >>>We now fully realize that 100 per cent personal anonymity before the public is just as vital to the life of A.A. as 100 per cent sobriety is to the life of each and every member. This is not the counsel of fear; it is the prudent voice of long experience.1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 1852. A.A COMES OF AGE, p. 293 *~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~* "...we have ceased fighting anything or anyone even alcohol."Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionInto Action, pg. 84*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DaySixth, I have A.A. meetings to go to, thank God.Where would I go without them? Where would I be without them? Where would I find the sympathy, the understanding, the fellowship, the companionship? Nowhere else in the world. I have come home. I have found the place where I belong. I no longer wander alone over the face of the earth. I am at peace and at rest. What a great gift has been given me by A.A.! I do not deserve it. But it is nevertheless mine. I have a home at last. I am content. Do I thank God every day for the A.A. fellowship?Meditation for the DayWalk all the way with another person and with God. Do not go part of the way and then stop. Do not push God so far into the background that He has no effect on your life. Walk all the way with Him. Make a good companion of God, by praying to Him often during the day. Do not let your contact with Him be broken for too long a period. Work all the way with God and with other people, along the path of life, wherever it may lead you.Prayer for the DayI pray that I may walk in companionship with God along the way. I pray that I may keep my feet upon the path that leads upward.Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!

from Gmail
via IFTTT

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 10/25/2016

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:Looking for beautyIt is important that we look for beauty. There are beautiful things in the world each and every day, if we only know how to see. In recovery, in serenity, beauty is everywhere – even in pain and suffering – if we only know how to see.Higher Power, help me to use my recovery, my new vision, to see beauty. You are reading from the book: Day by Day - Second Edition by Anonymous Day by Day © 1974, 1998 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.

from Gmail
via IFTTT

Monday, October 24, 2016

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~The Group ^^*^ October 25

~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )(_ /AA\ _)/AA\^*^*^*^*^The Group"Over the years, every conceivable deviation from our Twelve Steps and Traditions have been tried. That was sure to be, since we are so largely a band of ego-driven individuals. Children of chaos, we have defiantly played with every brand of fire, only to emerge unharmed and, we think, wiser. These very deviations created a vast process of trial and error, which, under the grace of God, has brought us to where we stand today. . .We saw that the group, exactly like the individual, must eventually conform to whatever tested principles would guarantee survival."c.1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 146Thought to Consider . . . Working with alcoholics in committees is like trying to herd cats.*~*AACRONYMS*~*EGO = Easing God Out *~*^Just For Today!^*~*Business From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous": "When they heard that the book was making money, some of the cash subscribers, including even Charlie Towns, began to get restless. They wanted to know why all of the profits of the book were being spent to finance a Headquarters for A.A. We replied that there was not any other way; would they like to see all those pleas for help thrown in the wastebasket? But a few still insisted on getting their money back, and something had to be done. "Therefore Ruth and I set about making Works Publishing's first report to its stockholders. We outlined the history of the book project and painted a rosy picture for the future. From the mass of check stubs, old bills, and receipts we made an approximate accounting. As I remember, the publishing company had shown a profit of about $3,000, which had all been spent on A.A. work at the office."2001 AAWS, Inc.Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 188 *^Daily Reflections^*A.A.'s HEARTBEAT Without unity, the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; . . . AS BILL SEES IT, p. 125 Without unity I would be unable to recover in A.A. on a daily basis. By practicing unity within my group, with other A.A. members and at all levels of this great Fellowship, I receive a pronounced feeling of knowing that I am a part of a miracle that was divinely inspired. The ability of Bill W. and Dr. Bob, working together and passing it on to other members, tells me that to give it away is to keep it. Unity is oneness and yet the whole Fellowship is for all of us.Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*A Mighty BeginningEven the newest of newcomers finds undreamed rewards as he tries to help his brother alcoholic, the one who is even blinder than he. This is indeed the kind of giving that actually demands nothing. He does not expect his brother sufferer to pay him, or even to love him. And then he discovers that through the divine paradox of this kind of giving he has found his own reward, whether or not his brother has yet received anything. His own character may still be gravely defective, but he somehow knows that God has enabled him to make a mighty beginning, and he senses that he stands at the edge of new mysteries, joys, and experiences of which he had never before dreamed.TWELVE AND TWELVE, pp. 109-110*~*^Big Book Quote^*~* "We have begun to comprehend their futility and their fatality. We have commenced to see their terrible destructiveness. We have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will toward all men, even our enemies, for we look on them as sick people."Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionHow It Works, Pg. 70 *^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DayFifth, I have learned to live one day at a time. I have finally realized the great fact that all I have is now. This sweeps away all vain regret and it makes my thoughts of the future free of fear. Now is mine. I can do what I want with it. I own it, for better or worse. What I do now, in this present moment, is what makes up my life. My whole life is only a succession of nows. I will take this moment, which has been given to me by the grace of God, and I will do something with it. What I do with each now will make me or break me. Am I living in the now? Meditation for the DayWe should work at overcoming ourselves, our selfish desires and our self-centeredness. This can never be fully accomplished. We can never become entirely unselfish. But we can come to realize that we are not at the center of the universe and that everything does not revolve around us at the center. I am only one cell in a vast network of human cells. I can at least make the effort to conquer the self-life and seek daily to obtain more and more of this self-conquest. "He that overcomes himself is greater than he who conquers a city." Prayer for the DayI pray that I may strive to overcome my selfishness. I pray that I may achieve the right perspective of my position in the world.Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!

from Gmail
via IFTTT

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 10/24/2016

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:Program friendships are specialUntil we came into the program we may have thought that friendships were all alike. We counted on friends to socialize and gossip with, maybe to share a secret with. But when we were really scared about our lives and the future, we felt too vulnerable to let anyone else know our innermost thoughts.What relief the program has brought us and what good friends! No problem seems as terrifying now that we are no longer shouldering it alone. Having to make a decision no longer overwhelms us when we have other people to discuss it with. Letting ourselves be deeply cared for, with all our faults, is a new experience too. All these gifts come automatically to us within the fellowship. All that is asked of us is that we be a friend too.I will extend my heart in friendship today, and my concerns will be lightened. You are reading from the book: A Life of My Own by Karen Casey A Life of My Own by Karen Casey. © 1993 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.

from Gmail
via IFTTT

Sunday, October 23, 2016

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~Traditions ^^*^ October 24

~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~ ^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )( /AA\ )/AA\ ^*^*^*^*^Traditions"The Twelve Traditions point straight at many of our individual defects. By implication they ask each of us to lay aside pride and resentment. They ask for personal as well as group sacrifice. They ask us never to use the AA name in any quest for personal power or distinction or money. The Traditions guarantee the equality of all members and the independence of all groups. They show how we may best relate to each other and to the world outside. They indicate how we can best function in harmony as a great whole."c.1957AAWS Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 96Thought to Consider . . . AA is not something you join, it's a way of life. *~*AACRONYMS*~*A B C = Acceptance, Belief, Change *~*^Just For Today!^*~* How to Live From: "Stars Don't Fall" AA taught me how not to drink. And also, on the twenty-four hour plan, it taught me how to live. I know I do not have to be queen of them all to salve a frightened ego. Through going to meetings and listening, and occasionally speaking, through doing Twelve Step work, whereby in helping others you are both the teacher and the student, by making many wonderful AA friends, I have been taught all the things in life that are worth having. I am no longer interested in living in a palace, because palace living was not the answer for me. Nor were those impossible dreams I used to have the things I really wanted. 2003 AAWS Inc.Experience, Strength & Hope, pages 362-363 *^Daily Reflections^*"BY FAITH AND BY WORKS" On anvils of experience, the structure of our Society was hammered out. . . . Thus has it been with A.A. By faith and by works we have been able to build upon the lessons of an incredible experience. They live today in the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, which -- God willing -- shall sustain us in unity for so long as He may need us. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 131 God has allowed me the right to be wrong in order for our Fellowship to exist as it does today. If I place God's will first in my life, it is very likely that A.A. as I know it today will remain as it is.Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*A Vision of the Whole"Though many of us have had to struggle for sobriety, never yet has this Fellowship had to struggle for lost unity. Consequently, we sometimes take this one great gift for granted. We forget that, should we lose our unity, the millions of alcoholics who still 'do not know' might never get their chance."<<< >>>"We used to be skeptical about large A.A. gatherings like conventions, thinking they might prove too exhibitionistic. But, on balance, their benefit is huge. While each A.A.'s interest should center principally in those about him and upon his own group, it is both necessary and desirable that we all get a larger vision of the whole."The General Service Conference in New York also produces this effect upon those who attend. It is a vision-stretching process."1. LETTER, 19492. LETTER, 1956*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*"Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends - this is an experience you must not miss."Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionWorking With Others, pg. 89*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DayFourth, I have turned to a Power greater than myself. Thank God, I am no longer at the center of the universe. All the world does not revolve around me any longer. I am only one among many. I have a Father in heaven and I am only one of His children and a small one at that. But I can depend on Him to show me what to do and to give me the strength to do it. I am on the Way and the whole power of the universe is behind me when I do the right thing. I do not have to depend entirely on myself any longer. With God, I can face anything. Is my life in the hands of God? Meditation for the DayThe grace of God is an assurance against all evil. It holds out security to the believing soul. The grace of God means safety in the midst of evil. You can be kept unspotted by the world through the power of His grace. You can have a new life of power. But only in close contact with the grace of God is its power realized. In order to renew it and benefit from it, you must have daily quiet communion with God, so that the power of His grace will come unhindered into your soul. Prayer for the Day I pray that I may be kept from evil by the grace of God. I pray that henceforth I will try to keep myself more unspotted by the world.Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!

from Gmail
via IFTTT

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 10/23/2016

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:As a sponsor, remember you can carry the word, but not the person.***** When alcoholics are ready, you can't keep the program from them; when they're not, you can't give the program away.***** I didn't get what I wanted from AA; I got what I needed.***** It's a lot easier to stay sober than to get sober.***** F.E.A.R. False Evidence Appearing Real You are reading from the book: 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact by Melody Beattie 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact © 2003 by Melody Beattie. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.

from Gmail
via IFTTT

Saturday, October 22, 2016

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~Discipline ^^*^ October 23

To Donate Go to http://ift.tt/2eG1Umk. Thoughts For The Day~ ^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )( /AA\ )/AA\ ^*^*^*^*^Discipline"Unless each AA member follows to the best of his ability our suggested Twelve Steps to recovery, he almost certainly signs his own death warrant. His drunkenness and dissolution are not penalties inflicted by people in authority; they result from his personal disobedience to spiritual principles. . .Great suffering and great love are AA's disciplinarians; we need no others."c.1952AAWSTwelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 174Thought to Consider . . . "We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us . . ."*~*AACRONYMS*~*C A R D S = Call your sponsor, Ask for help from your Higher Power, Read the Big Book, Do the Twelve Steps, Stay active in your group. *~*^Just For Today!^*~* No Spiritual Angle From: "AA and St. Thomas Hospital" In later years, the AA ward opened into the gallery of the chapel, which patients could visit at any time in hospital attire. What could be more conducive to the regeneration of the whole person spiritually, mentally, and morally than five to seven days spent in an institution where the spiritual atmosphere prevails? Sister Ignatia said. She naturally put more emphasis on the spiritual than many others. However, she felt that Dr. Bob shared her views on this emphasis. There was one thing that always irritated Doctor, she said. Some people who were on the program for a length of time would come up to him and say, I don't get the spiritual angle. I heard him say time and again, There is no spiritual angle. It's a spiritual program.1980 AAWS Inc.DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, page 194 *^Daily Reflections^*WHAT WE KNOW BEST "Shoemaker, stick to thy last!" . . . better do one thing supremely well than many badly. That is the central theme of this Tradition [Five]. Around it our Society gathers in unity. The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of this principle. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 150 The survival of A.A. depends upon unity. What would happen if a group decided to become an employment agency, a treatment center or a social service agency? Too much specialization leads to no specialization, to frittering of efforts and, finally, to decline. I have the qualifications to share my sufferings and my way of recovery with the newcomer. Conformity to A.A.'s primary purpose insures the safety of the wonderful gift of sobriety, so my responsibility is enormous. The life of millions of alcoholics is closely tied to my competence in "carrying the message to the still-suffering alcoholic."Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*Daily InventoryOften, as we review each day, only the closest scrutiny will reveal what our true motives were. There are cases where our ancient enemy rationalization has stepped in and has justified conduct which was really wrong. The temptation here is to imagine that we had good motives and reasons when we really hadn't. We "constructively criticized" someone who needed it, when our real motive was to win a useless argument. Or, the person concerned not being present, we thought we were helping others to understand him, when in actuality our true motive was to feel superior by pulling him down. We hurt those we loved because they needed to be "taught a lesson," but we really wanted to punish. We were depressed and complained we felt bad, when in fact we were mainly asking for sympathy and attention.TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 94*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*"...the actual or potential alcoholic, with hardly an exception, will be absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of self knowledge. This is a point we wish to emphasize and re-emphasize, to smash home upon our alcoholic readers as it has been revealed to us out of bitter experience."Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionMore About Alcoholism, pg. 39*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DayThird, I have learned how to be honest. What a relies No more ducking or dodging. No more tall tales. No more pretending to be what I am not. My cards are on the table for all the world to see. "I am what I am," as Popeye used to say in the comics. I have had an unsavory past. I am sorry, yet. But it cannot be changed now. All that is yesterday and is done. But now my life is an open book. Come and look at it, if you want to. I'm trying to do the best I can. I will fail often, but I won't make excuses. I will face things as they are and not run away. Am I really honest?Meditation for the DayThough it may seem a paradox, we must believe in spiritual forces which we cannot see more than in material things which we can see, if we are going to truly live. In the last analysis, the universe consists more of thought or mathematical formulas than it does of matter as we understand it. Between one human being and another only spiritual forces will suffice to keep them in harmony. These spiritual forces we know, because we can see their results although we cannot see them. A changed life-a new personality-results from the power of unseen spiritual forces working in us and through us.Prayer for the Day I pray that I may believe in the Unseen. I pray that I may be convinced by the results of the Unseen which I do see.Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!

from Gmail
via IFTTT

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 10/22/2016

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:It doesn't happen all at once.... You become. It takes a long time.--Margery WilliamsOur spiritual awakening is partly a process of becoming real. We're moving from the external controls of image and others' opinions to the internal controls of honesty, listening to our inner voice, and having true relationships. We are shedding the games that maintained our old style of life - "macho" or "hero" or "poor me." In place of the old phony surface, we are developing a real relationship with ourselves. We are becoming more aware - of emotions, of need for rest, of violations of our values. Sometimes change comes in a flash of insight or a moment of sudden, piercing awareness, but more often it comes a little bit at a time. As we work the Steps, as we are true to our inner voice, as we keep returning to conscious contact with our Higher Power, as we get closer to our friends, we become more real to ourselves.As I grow, I see that I was always real. I was just looking at the outside. You are reading from the book: Touchstones by Anonymous Touchstones ©1986, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.

from Gmail
via IFTTT

Friday, October 21, 2016

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~Amends ^^*^ October 22

Click here now to check out our list of Recovery Podcasts! ~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^ (\ ~~ /)( \(AA/ )( /AA\ )/AA\ ^*^*^*^*^Amends"This is a very large order. It is a task which we may perform with increasing skill, but we never really finish. Learning how to live in the greatest peace, partnership, and brotherhood with all men and women, of whatever description, is a moving and fascinating adventure. Every AA has found that he can make little headway in this new adventure of living until he first backtracks and really makes an accurate and unsparing survey of the human wreckage he has left in his wake."c.1952AAWSTwelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 77Thought to Consider . . . It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them. *~*AACRONYMS*~*T I M E = Things I Must Earn*~*^Just For Today!^*~* Message that Transcends From: "Window of Opportunity" I was fortunate to have an opportunity to spend time abroad during law school. That was something I had dreamed of doing while drinking, but when push came to shove, I drank. Now sober, I have been in meetings in probably a dozen countries and have always been amazed at the message that transcends all linguistic and cultural differences. There is a solution. Together, we can live soberly, joyously, and freely. 2001 AAWS Inc.Alcoholics Anonymous, page 430 *^Daily Reflections^*TRUE TOLERANCE Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see what real love for our fellows actually means. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 92 The thought occurred to me that all people are emotionally ill to some extent. How could we not be? Who among us is spiritually perfect? Who among us is physically perfect? How could any of us be emotionally perfect? Therefore, what else are we to do but bear with one another and treat each other as we would be treated in similar circumstances? That is what love really is.Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*Praying RightlyWe thought we had been deeply serious about religious practices. However, upon honest appraisal we found that we had been most superficial. Or sometimes, going to extremes, we had wallowed in emotionalism and had also mistaken this for true religious feeling. In both cases, we had been asking something for nothing. We had not prayed rightly. We had always said, "Grant me my wishes," instead of "Thy will be done." The love of God and man we understood not at all. Therefore we remained self-deceived, and so incapable of receiving enough grace to restore us to sanity.TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 32*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*"We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: 'Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.' Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever."Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionMore About Alcoholism, pg. 33*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DaySecond, I am content to face the rest of my life without alcohol. I have made the great decision once and for all. I have surrendered as gracefully as possible to the inevitable. I hope I have no more reservations. I hope that nothing can happen to me now that would justify my taking a drink. No death of a dear one. No great calamity in any area of my life should justify me in drinking. Even if I were on some desert isle, far from the rest of the world, but not far from God, should I ever feel it right to drink. For me, alcohol is out-period. I will always be safe unless I take that first drink. Am I fully resigned to this fact? Meditation for the DayDay by day we should slowly build up an unshakable faith in a Higher Power and in that Power's ability to give us all the help we need. By having these quiet times each morning, we start each day with a renewing of our faith, until it becomes almost a part of us and is a strong habit. We should keep furnishing the quiet places of our souls with all the furniture of faith. We should try to fill our thoughts each day with all that is harmonious and good, beautiful and enduring. Prayer for the DayI pray that I may build a house in my soul for the spirit of God to dwell in. I pray that I may come at last to an unshakable faith.Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!

from Gmail
via IFTTT

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 10/21/2016

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:"We admitted we were powerless..."Accepting that we cannot control other people's behavior is a huge step. We want what is best for them, don't we? Can't they see that? What we didn't understand before finding this program was that each individual is on a unique journey. What appears to us the best course to follow may not provide the lessons another person is here to learn. And it may be dawning on us that one of our key lessons is how to give up trying to control someone else. Sometimes we believe we can control others because our goading or shaming gets them to give in and go along with our demands. However, we're really not in control. We are still powerless over them, and any time they want to make that clear, they will. Accepting our powerlessness isn't a hopeless feeling at all, once we understand it. It offers us profound relief from the burden of responsibility for another person's life. In time this freedom will make us joyful.Being in charge of only me today makes my day seem so much easier. You are reading from the book: A Life of My Own by Karen Casey A Life of My Own by Karen Casey. © 1993 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.

from Gmail
via IFTTT

Thursday, October 20, 2016

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~~Humility ^^*^ October 21

~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )(_ /AA\ _)/AA\^*^*^*^*^Humility"The attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of AA's Twelve Steps. For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all. Nearly all AA's have found, too, that unless they develop much more of this precious quality than may be required just for sobriety, they still haven't much chance of becoming truly happy. Without it, they cannot live to much useful purpose, or, in adversity, be able to summon the faith that can meet any emergency."c.1952AAWSTwelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 70Thought to Consider . . . I didn't learn humility with my head. I learned humility with my heart. *~*AACRONYMS*~*T R U S T = Try Relying Upon Steps and Traditions*~*^Just For Today!^*~* Forthright and Generous Step Nine: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. As soon as we begin to feel confident in our new way of life and have begun, by our behavior and example, to convince those about us that we are indeed changing for the better, it is usually safe to talk in complete frankness with those who have been seriously affected, even those who may be only a little or not at all aware of what we have done to them. The only exceptions we will make will be cases where our disclosure would cause actual harm. These conversations can begin in a casual or natural way. But if no such opportunity presents itself, at some point we will want to summon all our courage, head straight for the person concerned, and lay our cards on the table. We needn't wallow in excessive remorse before those we have harmed, but amends at this level should always be forthright and generous. 1981 AAWS Inc.Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pages 85-86 *^Daily Reflections^*NOTHING GROWS IN THE DARKWe will want the good that is in us all, even in the worst of us, to flower and to grow.AS BILL SEES IT, p. 10With the self-discipline and insight gained from practicing Step Ten, I begin to know the gratifications of sobriety -- not as mere abstinence from alcohol, but as recovery in every department of my life.I renew hope, regenerate faith, and regain the dignity of self-respect. I discover the word "and" in the phrase "and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it."Reassured that I am no longer always wrong, I learn to accept myself as I am, with a new sense of the miracles of sobriety and serenity.Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*Love + Rationality = Growth"It seems to me that the primary object of any human being is to grow, as God intended, that being the nature of all growing things. "Our search must be for what reality we can find, which includes the best definition and feeling of love that we can acquire. If the capability of loving is in the human being, then it must surely be in his Creator.<<<< >>>>"Theology helps me in that many of its concepts cause me to believe that I live in a rational universe under a loving God, and that my own irrationality can be chipped away, little by little. This is, I suppose, the process of growth for which we are intended."LETTER, 1958*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*"To be gravely affected, one does not necessarily have to drink a long time nor take the quantities some of us have. This is particularly true of women. Potential female alcoholics often turn into the real thing and are gone beyond recall in a few years." Alcoholics Anonymous 4th EditionMore About Alcoholism, pg. 33*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DayNow that we have considered the obligations of real, working members of A.A., let us examine what the rewards are that have come to us as a result of our new way of living. First, I understand myself more than I ever did before. I have learned what was the matter with me and I know now a lot of what makes me tick. I will never be alone again. I am just one of many who have the illness of alcoholism and one of many who have learned what to do about it. I am not an odd fish or a square peg in a round hole. I seem to have found my right place in the world. Am I beginning to understand myself?Meditation for the Day"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will remain with him and him with me." The knocking of God's spirit, asking to come into your life, is due to no merit of yours, though it is in response to the longing of your heart. Keep a listening ear, an ear bent to catch the sound of the gentle knocking at the door of your heart by the spirit of God. Then open the door of your heart and let God's spirit come in.Prayer for the DayI pray that I may let God's spirit come into my heart. I pray that it may fill me with an abiding peace.Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!

from Gmail
via IFTTT

New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 10/20/2016

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:Self-knowledge and self-improvement are very difficult for most people. It usually needs great courage and long struggle.--Abraham MaslowThis is a simple program but it isn't easy. We cannot take the principles we learn and thereby possess them as if we were taking a class or reading a book. We need to live them. We can only get this program by participating with others who are also on the journey. Gradually we absorb it into every fiber of our being. This takes time and dedication.The honesty required is sometimes frightening and painful. Anyone who remains faithful to this program has great courage and deserves deep respect. But we do not have to wait long to begin receiving the rewards. New freedoms, good feelings, and friendships quickly develop, and we are promised in this program to continue growing and to receive more benefits throughout our lives. What rewards have come from our courage and struggle?I will give much to my spiritual growth because it gives much to me. You are reading from the book: Touchstones by Anonymous Touchstones ©1986, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.

from Gmail
via IFTTT