BG Daily Post

BG Daily Post — Mar 07, 2021

March 7– Daily Reflection
THE KEY IS WILLINGNESS

Once we have placed the key of willingness in the lock and have the door ever so slightly open, we find that we can always open it some more.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 35

The willingness to give up my pride and self-will to a Power greater than myself has proved to be the only ingredient absolutely necessary to solve all of my problems today. Even the smallest amount of willingness, if sincere, is sufficient to allow God to enter and take control over my problem, pain, or obsession. My level of comfort is in direct relation to the degree of willingness I possess at any given moment to give up my self-will, and allow God’s will to be manifested in my life. With the key of willingness, my worries and fears are powerfully transformed into serenity.

March 7 — Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day

There are two important things we have to do if we want to get sober and stay sober. First, having admitted that we are helpless before alcohol, we have to turn our alcoholic problem over to God and trust Him to take care of it for us. This means asking Him every morning for the strength to stay sober for that day and thanking Him every night. It means really leaving the problem in God’s hands and not reaching out and getting the problem back to ourselves. Second, having given our drink problem to God, we must cooperate with Him by doing something about it ourselves. Am I doing these two things?

Meditation For The Day

I must prepare myself by doing each day what I can to develop spiritually and to help others to do so. God tests me and trains me and bends me to His will. If I am not properly trained, I cannot meet the test when it comes. I must want God’s will for me above all else. I must expect to have what I am not prepared for. This preparation consists of quiet communion with God every day and gradually gaining the strength I need.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may really try to do God’s will in all my affairs. I pray that I may do all I can to help others find God’s will for them.

March 7 — As Bill Sees It
For Emergencies Only?, p. 66

Whether we had been believers or unbelievers, we began to get over the idea that the Higher Power was a sort of bush-league pinch hitter, to be called upon only in an emergency.
The notion that we would still live our own lives, God helping a little now and then, began to evaporate. Many of us who had thought ourselves religious awoke to the limitations of this attitude. Refusing to place God first, we had deprived ourselves of His help.
But now the words “Of myself I am nothing, the Father doeth the works” began to carry bright promise and meaning.

12 & 12, p. 75

March 7 — Eye Opener (1950)

Do you hold some great resentment against anyone? Can you afford to keep it? Sure, I know he “done you wrong,” but why? Was there any justification for it? Could you have been a little bit wrong also? Does everyone share your dislike for him? If they like him and you don’t, how do you account for it? Is it possible they know him better than you do?
Catfish, as ugly as they are, make delicious chowder, and a skunk has a valuable fur. No person is either entirely ugly or bad. Maybe there is something wrong with your vision or maybe you haven’t gotten close enough to him to really see him

Hazelden Foundation

March 7 — Big Book Quote

“The greatest enemies of us alcoholics are resentment, jealousy, envy, frustration, and fear.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, PG. 145

March 7 — Walk In Dry Places
First things First
Order.

The struggle to bring order into our lives starts with lots of little things. One recovering person discovered that it was a good exercise simply to put the cap back on the toothpaste tube in the morning. This was a reminder that things should be put in their proper place, and the discipline helped later in organizing larger matters.
It is very easy to overlook orderly procedures in the haste to get things done, or to avoid anything that seems unpleasant or demanding. But such oversight always carries a heavy price later on. When we don’t return things to their proper place, for example, we lose them or waste hours looking for them. We may bungle a job simply because we were too lazy to look up the right information or to read directions.
That’s why “First things First” is much more than just a slogan. It’s actually a principle for living, a guide that tells us there is an orderly approach to everything. If we can find that order without becoming slavishly compulsive about it, we’ll find that it simplifies lots of things later on.

“I’ll try to do things in an orderly manner today. When I find myself taking short cuts or becoming too hurried, I’ll regain control by remembering to establish priorities.”

— Mel B.

Hazelden Foundation

Stools & Bottles — Day Seven
Seventh Daily Reminder —

We cannot overemphasize the importance of admitting “our powerlessness over alcohol” or that “our lives had become unmanageable” because of our addiction to it. Lasting sobriety demands this admission. We should attribute our illness to alcoholism (a disease), rather than to lack of will power.

Daily Inventory —

Why must we admit our alcoholism? Is this an alibi for drinking? If we must stay sober in AA, why can’t we do so through willpower?

Suggested Meditation —

AA starts working the moment we admit our alcoholism and ask for help to treat it. Admitting out need for help energizes the powerful forces of honesty and humility within us. They are the rudiments of recovery. Alcoholism is a disease which sickens our bodies and minds. We should ask God to heal our spiritual illness. We treat our bodies with medical care — not with will power.

Spiritual Contact —

Our Father, we admit our alcoholism. Help us to recover from it. We wish to co-operate. Teach us how to rebuild our lives — physically and spiritually.

Daily Physical Audit —

Probably all AA members should examined by a competent doctor to determine their liver conditions. Many have fatty livers and some have mild cirrhosis of the liver. The majority are free from this disease. We should know about our condition, however, and receive medical care when it is needed. Caught early enough, these diseases can be successfully treated.

Hazelden Foundation

BG Daily Post — Mar 06, 2021

March 6 — Daily Reflections
THE IDEA OF FAITH

Do not let any prejudice you might have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 47
The idea of faith is a very large chunk to swallow when fear, doubt and anger abound in and around me. Sometimes just the idea of doing something different, something I am not accustomed to doing, can eventually become an act of faith if I do it regularly, and do it without debating whether it’s the right thing to do. When a bad day comes along and everything is going wrong, a meeting or a talk with another drunk often distracts me just enough to persuade me that everything is not quite as impossible, as overwhelming as I had thought. In the same way, going to a meeting or talking to a fellow alcoholic are acts of faith; I believe I’m arresting my disease. These are ways I slowly move toward faith in a Higher Power.

AA World Services

March 6 — Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day

In A.A., we must surrender, give up, admit that we’re helpless. We surrender our lives to God and ask Him for help. When He knows that we’re ready, He gives us by His grace the free gift of sobriety. And we can’t take any credit for having stopped drinking, because we didn’t do it by our own willpower. There’s no place for pride or boasting. We can only be grateful to God for doing for us what we could never do for ourselves. Do I believe that God has made me a free gift of the strength to stay sober?

Meditation For The Day

I must work for God, with God and through God’s help. By doing all I can to bring about a true fellowship of human beings, I am working for God. I am also working with God, because this is the way God works, and He is with me when I am doing such work. I cannot do good work, however, without God’s help. In the final analysis, it is through the grace of God that any real change in human personality takes place. I have to rely on God’s power and anything I accomplish is through His help.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may work for God and with God. I pray that I may be used to change human personalities through God’s help.

Hazelden Foundation

March 6 — As Bill Sees It
Growth By The Tenth Step, p. 65

In the years ahead A.A. will, of course, make mistakes. Experience has taught us that we need have no fear of doing this, providing that we always remain willing to admit our faults and to correct them promptly. Our growth as individuals has depended upon this healthy process of trial and error. So will our growth as a fellowship.
Let us always remember that any society of men and women that cannot freely correct its own faults must surely fall into decay if not into collapse. Such is the universe penalty for the failure to go on growing. Just as each A.A. must continue to take his moral inventory and act upon it, so must our whole Society if we are to survive and if we are to serve usefully and well.

A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 231

AA World Services

March 6 — Eye Opener (1950)

Few of us have any real direction to our conduct. We live from day to day, taking care of our problems as they arise, and this is sound AA advice as regards our long-range thinking and planning. This does not mean that we should take this too literally and give absolutely no thought to tomorrow’s needs.
It is absolutely true that tomorrow may never be born but, on the other hand, it might and, in that event, a well-filled refrigerator will come in mighty handy.

Hazelden Foundation

March 6 — Big Book Quote

“The old pleasures were gone. They were but memories. Never could we recapture the great moments of the past. There was an insistent yearning to enjoy life as we once did and a heartbreaking obsession that some new miracle of control would enable us to do it. There was always one more attempt — and one more failure.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, PG. 151

March 6 — Walk In Dry Places
Example, not exception
Helping Others.

It’s always heady stuff when others congratulate us on our victory over alcohol. Fair-minded people will have considerable admiration for what appears to be a bootstrap effort to make a comeback from despair and defeat.
We can accept this praise with grace and modesty. At some point, however, we should emphasize that our recovery was an example of spiritual principles at work and that thousands have been able to follow in the same path. Sober AA members are not exceptions; they are examples of what the program can do in people’s lives.
It is important to emphasize that we are ordinary people. The marvelous thing about the program is that it works for ordinary people like ourselves. Many people in the fellowship have great talent and ability, but those gifts have nothing to do with staying sober. The gifted person gets sober the same way anybody does….. by admitting powerlessness over alcohol and by accepting the program.
We are also helped most by people who can serve as examples in our lives. It is always inspiring to know that we can follow in their paths and find what has been given to them.

“I want to provide a good example for others today. I will go through the day remembering that my sobriety is a gift that can be bestowed on anybody — it was not an exception just for me.”

— Mel B

Hazelden Foundation

Stools & Bottles — Day Six
Sixth Daily Reminder —

Confused and weakened by compulsive drinking, we vaguely expected AA to cure us overnight. We learned that alcoholism cannot be cured but can be arrested. We found that contented sobriety comes from the new daily habits which we form in seconds, minutes and hours of simple AA living.

Daily Inventory —

Why is a personality change necessary to our recovery? Can we recover from alcoholism overnight? We study of our AA books improve our thinking?

Suggested Meditation

Success in AA is in proportion to the 12 Step habits which we form and practice. Alcoholic thinking keeps us in rebellion and slavery. Dishonesty and reservations precede failure. Fear of a life without alcohol is an unconscious desire to control drinking. Our freedom lies in admitting these facts and in surrendering our defects to “God as we understand Him.” Our understanding starts with surrender.

Spiritual Contact —

Our Father, open our minds to AA truths. Release from our old habits and fill us with a desire to recreate new AA spiritual habits.

Daily Physical Audit —

Good physical health should not be overlooked as a requisite of alcoholic rehabilitation. Because an AA member is well enough to be out of bed does not imply that he is strong and vigorous or free from signs of disease. Too many of our fellowship become the victims of untimely death because they refuse to repair their damaged bodies and continue to draw upon their limited energy which alcoholic excesses have so nearly depleted.

Hazelden Foundation

BG Daily Post — Mar 05, 2021

March 5 — Daily Reflections
A LIFELONG TASK

“But just how, in these circumstances, does a fellow ‘take it easy?’ That’s what I want to know.”
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 26
I was never known for my patience. How many times have I asked, “Why should I wait, when I can have it all right now?” Indeed, when I was first presented the Twelve Steps, I was like the proverbial “kid in a candy store.” I couldn’t wait to get to Step Twelve; it was surely just a few months’ work, or so I thought! I realize now that living the Twelve Steps of A.A. is a lifelong undertaking.

AA World Services

March 5 — Tenty-four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day

Sometimes we try too hard to get this program. It is better to relax and accept it. It will be given to us, with no effort on our part, if we stop trying too hard to get it. Sobriety can be a free gift of God, which he gives us by His grace when He knows we are ready for it. But we have to be ready. Then we must relax, take it easy, and accept the gift with gratitude and humility. We must put ourselves in God’s hands. We must say to God: “Here I am and here are all my troubles. I’ve made a mess of things and can’t do anything about it. You take me and all my troubles and do anything you want with me.” Do I believe that the grace of God can do for me what I could never do for myself?

Meditation For The Day

Fear is the curse of the world. Many are our fears. Fear is everywhere. I must fight fear as I would a plague. I must turn it out of my life. There is no room for fear in the heart in which God dwells. Fear cannot exist where true love is or where faith abides. So I must have no fear. Fear is evil, but “perfect love casteth out all fear.” Fear destroys hope and hope is necessary for all of humanity.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may have no fear. I pray that I may cast all fear out of my life.

Hazelden Foundation

March 5 — As Bill Sees It
Search For Motives, p. 64

Some of us clung to the claim that when drinking we never hurt anybody but ourselves. Our families didn’t suffer, because we always paid the bills and seldom drank at home. Our business associates didn’t suffer, because we were usually on the job. Our reputations didn’t suffer, because we were certain few knew of our drinking. Those who did would sometimes assure us that, after all, a lively bender was only a good man’s fault. What real harm, therefore, had we done? No more, surely, than we could easily mend with a few casual apologies.
This attitude, of course, is the end result of purposeful forgetting. It is an attitude which can be changed only by a deep and honest search of our motives and actions.

12 & 12, p. 79

AA World Services

March 5 — Eye Opener (1950)

One day we were practicing alcoholics, then in 24 hours we were on the Program – arrested cases.
Was it because one day we were weak and spineless and the next day we had completely reversed our character?
No, the Power had been there all the time, but we had never before tapped it. Our best-intentioned friends had advised us to use our Willpower, not realizing that it was the stubbornness of our Willpower that made us persist in our drinking.
It takes a person of great will to continuously defy the pleas and threats of our combined worlds. No, it wasn’t Willpower we lacked; it was Won’t Power. We Won’t take that first drink.

Hazelden Foundation

March 5 — Big Book Quote

“This fourth edition of ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ came off the press in November 2001, at the start of a new millennium. Since the third edition was published in 1976, worldwide membership of A.A. has just about doubled, to an estimated two million or more, with nearly 100,800 groups meeting in approximately 150 countries around the world.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, PG. XXIII

March 5 — Walk In Dry Places
A vision for you
A Positive attitude —

One of the methods that helps in recovery is to see yourself as a sober person living a clean life. This is the “vision for you” that society’s founders offered in AA’s early days, and it’s still powerful today.
While being careful to avoid self-will, we can use this method with great success in living each day. Along with seeing ourselves sober, we can see ourselves living and working according to the best principles we know. We can see a business relationship improving. We can see some long-standing problems being solved. We can see a brighter side to negative situations that have persisted in spite of our best efforts to change them.
One author also talked about “seeing God on both sides of the table in any business negotiation.” We desire success, of course, but it’s also important to know that any negotiation ought to be successful for both parties. If we’re really practicing spiritual principles in all our affairs, there should be no desire to outmaneuver another person in any negotiation. There is always a price that is fair and satisfactory for both parties, and there are always terms suitable for both sides.

“I will go through this day visualizing it as I think it should be according to the highest and best principles I know. I will put aside self-will and see everybody benefiting fro any negotiations in which I am involved.”

— Mel B

Hazelden Foundation

Stools & Bottles — Day Five
Fifth Daily Reminder —

Our book states that we either kill self-centeredness or that it will kill us; that we are “extreme examples of self-will run riot” — would-be big shots, unable to run our own lives. This seems unbelievable and hard to admit yet we cannot recover until we do admit and fully believe it.

Daily Inventory —

How about self-centeredness? Will it ruin us? Do we live unstable lives? Is today the time to stop this “I” complex and start living in terms of “We”?

Suggested Meditation —

Self-centeredness opposed every spiritual principle. Alcoholics have always met defeat by defying these principles. By playing God, by drinking and bragging, “I did this – I did that – if it hadn’t been for me,” we rationalized in alcoholic bunk. We mistook insanity and slavery for power and freedom. AA will help us overcome this slavery. Our first step toward freedom, however, lies in freedom from self.

Spiritual Contact —

Our Father, forgive us our self-centeredness and the harm it has caused others. We pray for knowledge of Thy will for us. Thy will be done.

Daily Physical Audit —

Members often arrive in AA on the verge of delirium and physical exhaustion. They need hospitalization, rest, medical care and physical rebuilding by intravenous and normal feeding.

We should not forget that a narcotic as powerful as alcohol has damaged our bodies. Nature needs our help and cooperation to overcome this damage. We slow up our recovery when we ignore this fact.

Hazelden Foundation

BG Daily Post — Mar 04, 2021

March 4 – Daily Reflections
WEEDING THE GARDEN

The essence of all growth is a willingness to make a change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 115
By the time I had reached Step Three I had been freed of my dependence on alcohol, but bitter experience has shown me that continuous sobriety requires continuous effort. Every now and then I pause to take a good look at my progress. More and more of my garden is weeded each time I look, but each time I also find new weeds sprouting where I thought I had made my final pass with the blade. As I head back to get the newly sprouted weed (it’s easier when they are young), I take a moment to admire how lush the growing vegetables and flowers are, and my labors are rewarded. My sobriety grows and bears fruit.

AA World Services

March 4 — Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day

Having surrendered our lives to God and put our drink problem in His Hands doesn’t mean that we’ll never be tempted to drink. So we must build up strength for the time when temptation will come. In this quiet time, we read and pray and get our minds in the right mood for the day. Starting the day right is a great help in keeping sober. As the days go by and we get used to the sober life, it gets easier and easier. We begin to develop a deep gratitude to God for saving us from that old life. And we begin to enjoy peace and serenity and real quiet happiness. Am I trying to live the way God wants me to live?

Meditation For The Day

The elimination of selfishness is the key to happiness and can only be accomplished with God’s help. We start out with a spark of the Divine Spirit but a large amount of selfishness. As we grow and come in contact with other people, we can take one of two paths. We can become more and more selfish and practically extinguish the Divine Spark within us or we can become more unselfish and develop our spirituality until it becomes the most important thing in our lives.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may grow more and more unselfish, honest, pure and loving. I pray that I may take the right path every day.

Hazelden Foundation

March 4 — As Bill Sees It
Free Of Dependence, p. 63

I asked myself, “Why can’t the Twelve Steps work to release me from this unbearable depression?” By the hour, I stared at the St. Francis Prayer: “It is better to comfort than to be comforted.”
Suddenly I realized what the answer might be. My basic flaw had always been dependence on people or circumstances to supply me with prestige, security, and confidence. Failing to get these things according to my perfectionists dreams and specifications, I fought for them. And when defeat came, so did my depression.
Reinforced by what grace I could find in prayer, I had to exert every ounce of will and action to cut off these faulty emotional dependencies upon people and upon circumstances. Then only could I be free to love as Francis had loved.

Grapevine, January 1958

AA World Services

March 4 — Eye Opener (1950)

We have finally found a way to foil alcohol simply by refusing to look upon it as a beverage and rather as something to which we are allergic. We have found that we don’t have to drink; we have demonstrated that we can be happier without it.
Now that we are sober, how are we going to use our sobriety?
Can we sit back and bask in this new found sunshine? Forget it, kid! Better men than you have tried it. If still you don’t believe it, go back to the gutter or the jail or the jitter-joint and ask those who tried that method.

Hazelden Foundation

March 4 — Big Book Quote

“Most of us sense that real tolerance of other people’s shortcomings and viewpoints and a respect for their opinions are attitudes which make us more useful to others. Our very lives , as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, PG. 19

March 4 — Walk In Dry Places
Don’t feed the Habit
Enhancing Sobriety–

We quickly learn that it’s wrong to do anything that “feeds” a drinking habit. A recovering person would be foolish, for example, to spend time in a drinking environment simply to “be with friends.”
It’s constructive to take that same approach toward other problems we’d like to get out of our lives. If gossip has been my problem, I should not feed it by listening to gossip or even by reading gossipy articles and books. IF I have accumulated debts through overspending, I should cut off window shopping and other practices that may bring on more unnecessary debt. And if I want to rid my life of self-pity, I should not spend a single moment brooding over the bad breaks I have had in the past.
Bad habits have a life of their own. They are somewhat like rodents that have found their way into the house and have become star borders. One way to control rodents is to eliminate their food supply. That same principle applies to bad habits we want to eliminate from our own lives.

“I’ll make a strong effort to cut off any line of thinking that feeds my bad habits, whatever they are. This might include avoiding practices that others see as harmless and trivial. However, nothing is harmless or trivial if it has become destructive in my life.”

— Mel B.

Hazelden Foundation

Stools & Bottles — Day 04
Fourth Daily Reminder —

Hopefully, yet doubtfully, we came to our first AA meeting. There we found understanding and sympathy but gained no peace of mind. Still riding in the driver’s seat, we were full of anxiety over the future. We saw AA working for others, but our case seemed hopeless. How could it work for us?

Daily Inventory —

Can loneliness and self-pity prevent AA progress? How can we overcome them? Does anxiety indicate lack of faith? Will AA work for us?

Suggested Meditation —

Loneliness gives us a strong incentive to drink. AA kills it with friendship. It’s up to us to cultivate AA friends. Anxiety blocks 12 Step living. It indicates a lack of faith in God and is a form of fear. We need moral courage to live AA — to vacate the driver’s seat and to kill self-pity and fear. It also takes courage to face another drunk. AA works if we choose the right kind of courage.

Spiritual Contact —

Our Father, we pray for faith and spiritual courage to face our problems. Grant us wisdom to know our weakness and strength to rebuild our lives.

Physical Audit —

Alcoholics suffer from dietary disturbances because they have received about one-third of their calories from alcohol which contains no proteins, vitamins or minerals. Rehabilitative life in AA affords us an opportunity to progressively replenish the deficiency with a daily, balanced diet adequate for our physical needs and well-being.

Hazelden Foundation

BG Daily Post — Mar 03, 2021

March 3 — Daily Reflections
OVERCOMING SELF-WILL

So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn’t think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us!

-ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 62

For so many years my life revolved solely around myself. I was consumed with self in all forms– self-centeredness, self-pity, self-seeking, all of which stemmed from pride. Today I have been given the gift, through the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, of practicing the Steps and Traditions, in my daily life, of my group and sponsor, and the capacity–if I so choose–to put my pride aside in all situations which arise in my life. Until I could honestly look at myself and see that I was the problem in many situations and react appropriately inside and out; until I could discard my expectations and understand that my serenity was directly proportional to them, I could not experience serenity and sound sobriety.

AA World Service

March 3 — Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day

After we’ve made a surrender, the drink problem is out of our hands and in the hands of God. The thing we have to do is to be sure that we never reach out and take the problem back into our own hands. Leave it in God’s hands. Whenever I’m tempted to take a drink, I must say to myself: “I can’t do that. I’ve made a bargain with God not to drink. I know God doesn’t want me to drink and so I won’t do it.” At the same time I say a little prayer to God for the strength needed to keep the bargain with Him. Am I going to keep my bargain with God?

Meditation For The Day

I will try to grow in this new life. I will think of spiritual things often and unconsciously I will grow. The nearer I get to the new life, the more I will see my unfitness. My sense of failure is a sure sign that I am growing in the new life. It is only struggle that hurts. In sloth–physical, mental or spiritual–there is no sense of failure or discomfort. But with struggle and effort, I am conscious not of strength but of weakness, until I am really living the new life. But in the struggle, I can always rely on the power of God to help me.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may see signs of my growth in the new life. I pray that I may always keep trying to grow.

Hazelden Foundation

March 3 — As Bill Sees It
A Different Swinging Door, p. 62

When a drunk shows up among us and says that he doesn’t like the A.A. principles, people, or service management, when he declares that he can do better somewhere else–we are not worried. We simply say, “Maybe your case really is different. Why don’t you try something else?”

If an A.A. member says he doesn’t like his own group, we are not disturbed. We simply say, “Why don’t you try another one? Or start one of your own.”

To those who wish to secede from A.A. altogether, we extend a cheerful invitation to do just that. If they can do better by other means, we are glad. If after trial they cannot do better, we know they face a choice: They can go mad or die or they can return to A.A. The decision is wholly theirs. (As a matter of fact, most of them do come back.)

Twelve Conceptions, p. 72

AA World Services

March 3 — Eye Opener (1950)

In AA, no man is the official mouthpiece of the Movement. No one person represents AA officially. Here you find a God of your own understanding; when you talk, you give only your own opinions, you give your own interpretations of the Twelve Steps and practice them as you think they should be practiced.
If you use your method and stay sober, we will admit your way is good for you. But we admit no authority on your part to tell us how to work them. Because it worked for you is no sign it might not be poison for someone else.

Hazelden Foundation

March 3 — Big Book Quote

“Assuming we are spiritually fit, we can do all sorts of things alcoholics are not supposed to do. People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes; we must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn’t think or be reminded about alcohol at all. Our experience shows that this is not necessarily so.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, PG. 100

March 3 — Walk In Dry Places
What will this change bring?
Change —

When facing change, it’s not unusual to feel both apprehension and expectancy. We are apprehensive because we know that change includes risk. We feel expectancy, however, because we know that improvement can come only through some kind of change.
The way to handle change is to see it as part of the higher plan working in our lives. If we believe that our lives are in the care and keeping of our Higher Power, we have to know that everything is in good hands. As change occurs, it is simply part of a plan that is unfolding in order to bring more good into our lives.
We should not expect change without temporary disruptions or even surprises that appear to be setbacks. All that’s necessary is to know that change is good if we maintain the right attitude toward it.
It’s also helpful to review the past changes that have been so important in our lives. Once change has occurred, we come to accept it as normal, forgetting that it involved a lot of anxiety at one time. So it is with any change that is unfolding now. It’s part of a wonderful plan that cannot fail.

“I accept change without fear or superstition. Change is built into the nature of things, and will always be part of our lives. I accept it as readily as I accept change of the seasons.”

— Mel B.

Hazelden Foundation

Stools & Bottles — Day 03
Third Daily Reminder —

Before AA, alcoholics we faced with lives of untold suffering and despair. An awesome future compared with ours — for we may choose between drinking and contented sobriety. Why we deserve the miracle of AA is a question too baffling to answer but most worthy of thought and appreciation.

Daily Inventory —

Is AA an inspired program? Are we deserving of it? Do we appreciate its health and life giving opportunities? Are we willing to work them?

Suggested Meditation —

Could God is His dealing with AA have said, “Show Me your willingness to live in sobriety and I will perform the miracle of contented sobriety in your lives. I will give you the book Alcoholics Anonymous. In it are the answers to all your alcoholic problems. You shall have a little wisdom and a little strength, and I will leave the door to your recovery ajar. I believe in you. Do not let me down!”

Spiritual Contact —

Our Father, we realize that our recovery from alcoholism depends upon our physical and spiritual conditions. Help us to improve them daily.

Physical Audit —

The Big Book tells us to remember that compulsive drinking has damaged us physically–that our health us usually bad upon entering AA. It recommends “hospitalization for the alcoholic who is very jittery or befogged,” to clear his mind so that he may comprehend the recovery program which AA offers him. Sponsors should endeavor to follow this policy whenever possible.

Hazelden Foundation

BG Daily Post — Mar 02, 2021

March 2 — Daily Reflections
HOPE

Do not be discouraged.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 60
Few experiences are of less value to me than fast sobriety. Too many times discouragement has been the bonus for unrealistic expectations, not to mention self-pity or fatigue from my wanting to change the world by the weekend. Discouragement is a warning signal that I may have wandered across the God line. The secret of fulfilling my potential is in acknowledging my limitations and believing that time is a gift, not a threat.
Hope is the key that unlocks the door of discouragement. The program promises me that if I do not pick up the first drink today, I will always have hope. Having come to believe that I keep what I share, every time I encourage, I receive courage. It is with others that, with the grace of God and the Fellowship of A.A., I trudge the road of happy destiny. May I always remember that the power within me is far greater than any fear before me. May I always have patience, for I am on the right road.

AA World Services

March 2 — Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day

Over a period of drinking years, we’ve proved to ourselves and to everybody else that we can’t stop drinking by our own willpower. We have been proved helpless before the power of alcohol. So the only way we could stop drinking was by turning to a Power greater than ourselves. We call that Power God. The time that you really get this program is when you get down on your knees and surrender yourself to God, as you understand Him. Surrender means putting your life into God’s hands. Have I made a promise to God that I will try to live the way He wants me to live?

Meditation For The Day

Spirit-power comes from communication with God in prayer and times of quiet meditation. I must constantly seek spirit-communication with God. This is a matter directly between me and God. Those who seek it through the medium of the church do not always get the joy and the wonder of spirit communication with God. From this communication comes life, joy, peace, and healing. Many people do not realize the power that can come to them from direct spirit-communication.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may feel that God’s power is mine. I pray that I may be able to face anything through that power.

Hazelden Foundation

March 2 — As Bill Sees It
Resolving Fear, p. 61

Fear somehow touched about every aspect of our lives. It was an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it. It set in motion trains of circumstances which brought us misfortune we felt we didn’t deserve. But did we not often set the ball rolling ourselves?

The problem of resolving fear has two aspects. We shall have to try for all the freedom from fear that is possible for us to attain. Then we shall need to find both the courage and the grace to deal constructively with whatever fears remain.

1. Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 67-68
2. Grapevine, January 1962

March 2 — Eye Opener (1950)

Life is too short even if we live the whole of it to its fullest, but we alcoholics have wasted so many years of our lives that we must now double our efforts if we hope to do any living at all. Truly, for us, it is later than we think.
There is one consolation, however. and that is that it is possible to use a single moment to produce an eternity of benefits for humanity. Much time has been frittered away, but there is still ample time to do good.
Life is not measured by its length but by its width and its depth.

Hazelden Foundation

March 2 — Big Book Quote

“If you are an alcoholic who wants to get over it, you may already be asking — ‘What do I have to do?’
It is the purpose of this book to answer such questions specifically. We shall tell you what we have done.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, PG. 20

March 2 — Walk In Dry Places
Do we need some Fear?
Courage

It’s easy to get into an argument about the role of fear in our lives. Some say that we need some fear…. It helps us get out of the path of an oncoming truck.
Is that really true? If it is, it’s still not like the fear that was present with alcoholism. This fear was more likely to make us freeze and lose all power of action in the face of a threat. It was the sort of fear that paralyzes us, making us unable to move out of the way when the truck is bearing down on us.
Fear is even more destructive when it keeps us from doing the simple things we need to function in our lives. Fear certainly can’t be helpful when it makes us unable to face a new customer or ride in an airplane for necessary business travel. Some people even put off medical exams simply because they fear bad news… and thus delay treatment, so that their condition becomes worse.
We might not need to get rid of all fear, but we do need to dispose of the unhealthy kind that keeps us from necessary actions on our own behalf.

“A really strong sense of the program can help me deal with fear today. One good idea for coping with fear is to remember that if God is for us, nobody can really be against us. Keeping that thought in mind can help stabilize our feelings in the face of threatening situations.” — Mel B

Hazelden Foundation

Stools & Bottles — Day 02
Second Daily Reminder –

Sick — Desperate — Hopeless, we call upon AA. Help came. Not later, but that very day. That is how AA works, day by day. With yesterday as “water over the dam: our tomorrow can become a happy, sober one — if we willingly live the AA program today.

Daily Inventory –

Does false pride keep us from admitting our alcoholism? Shall we clean yesterday’s slate? Shall we start a new life in AA today?

Suggested Meditation –

The sad failures which plague our lives today are not the results of chance. They did not occur overnight. We earned them. They are our payoff for a thousand drunken yesterdays. But — they are not the end. We can rebuild new, happy sober lives upon their costly ruins. Twenty-four hour drinking has made us ill. Twenty-four hour AA living will make us well. Our drinking time has about run out. Perhaps we should start living the AA program today.

Spiritual Contact –

Our Father, direct our thinking. Teach us to make right decisions. Start us rebuilding our unstable lives day by day. Grant us the power to do this.

Daily Physical Audits –

Years of hard drinking have robbed us of body building nutrition, minerals and needed vitamins. It will take time to replace then. AA cannot do this. We must design our physical recovery around a systematic daily intake of nutritious, healthy building foods and regular periods of relaxation. Health is essential to our recovery — we should consider it each day.

Hazelden Foundation

BG Daily Post — Mar 01, 2021

March 1 — Daily Reflections
IT WORKS

It works — it really does.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 88
When I got sober I initially had faith only in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. Desperation and fear kept me sober (and maybe a caring and/or tough sponsor helped!). Faith in a Higher Power came much later. This faith came slowly at first, after I began listening to others share at meetings about their experiences — experiences that I had never faced sober, but that they were facing with strength from a Higher Power. Out of their sharing came hope that I too would — and could — “get” a Higher Power. In time, I learned that a Higher Power — a faith that works under all conditions — is possible. Today this faith, plus the honesty, open-mindedness and willingness to work the Steps of the program, gives me the serenity that I seek. It works — it really does.

AA World Sevices

March 1 — Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day

When I find myself thinking about taking a drink, I say to myself. “Don’t reach out and take that problem back. You’ve given it to God and there’s nothing you can do about it.” So I forget about the drink. One of the most important parts of the A.A. program is to give our drink problem to God honestly and fully and never to reach out and take the problem back to ourselves. If we let God have it and keep it for good and then cooperate with Him, we’ll stay sober. Have I determined not to take the drink problem back to myself?

Meditation For The Day

Constant effort is necessary if I am to grow spiritually and develop my spiritual life. I must keep the spiritual rules persistently, perseveringly, lovingly, patiently, and hopefully. By keeping them, every mountain of difficulty shall be laid low, the rough places of poverty of spirit shall be made smooth, and all who know me shall know that God is the Lord of all my ways. To get close to the spirit of God is to find life and healing and strength.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that God’s spirit may be everything to my soul. I pray that God’s spirit may grow within me.

Hazelden Foundation

March 1 — As Bill Sees It
Brain Power Alone?, p. 60

To the intellectually self-sufficient man or woman, many A.A.’s can say, “Yes, we were like you–far too smart for our own good. We loved to have people call us precocious. We used our education to blow ourselves up into prideful balloons, though we were careful to hide this from others. Secretly, we felt we could float above the rest of the folks on our brain power alone.
“Scientific progress told us there was nothing man couldn’t do. Knowledge was all powerful. Intellect could conquer nature. Since we were brighter than most folks (so we thought), the spoils of victory would be ours for the thinking. The god of intellect displaced God of our fathers.
“But John Barleycorn had other ideas. We who had won so handsomely in a walk turned into all-time losers. We saw that we had to reconsider or die.”

12 & 12, pp. 29-30

March 1 — Eye Opener (1950)

The door of living that opened upon our advent into AA is also able to close upon those years of daily dying that are behind us. That door opened into a long hall that stretched out to a vanishing point; our eye could not perceive its end. We should not be content to just pass through this portal and close the door upon the past, but we should move on, for our happiness is up that hall, and we must constantly advance to attain our happy goal.

Hazelden Foundation

March 1 — Big Book Quote

“We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, PG. 19

March 1 — Walk In Dry Places
Danger in excitement
Mood alterations

The lure of excitement is hard to understand. While we may think of ourselves as sensible, practical people, the hard truth is that many alcoholics have a strong need to feel excited. This excitement can take many forms, and some of them are dangerous.
One lure of excitement comes through the impulsive need for change. Some of us have had weird habits of suddenly quitting jobs and pulling up stakes for no reason other than being bored. An even more destructive attraction is the belief that a new romance can restore our zest for living and bring new joys and happiness.
The sober truth is that nobody can live sensibly and sanely by seeking continuous excitement and stimulation. We are better off with steady growth in the patterns we know best than with seeking excitement that finally leads to destruction.
At the same time, we should not belittle the pleasures and joys we get through ordinary living. If we earn those pleasures and joys through responsible actions, they will give us far more happiness than momentary feelings of excitement.

“In quietness and confidence is our strength. I do not need to be excited in any way today. I am more effective and more in control when I am not being swayed by feverish emotion that distorts my judgment.” — Mel B.

Hazelden Foundation

Stools & Bottles — Day 01
First Daily Reminder –

Let’s be honest today. Let’s face facts. Alcohol is a beverage for most people but a drug for alcoholics. Our uncontrolled use of this narcotic has made us sick in body, mind and spirit. We are powerless over it. It threatens our lives and sanity.

Daily Inventory –

How alcoholic are we? Do we drink sanely? Are we all through fighting booze? Have we really hit bottom? Will we accept AA?

Suggested Meditation –

As sick alcoholics, we should join AA. As members, we should recall daily that we are arresting an incurable illness. That we are sick — not plain crazy. Our uncontrollable drinking has placed us in a very bad spot. To take it or leave it alone — that is the question. Drinking alcoholics can do neither — that is our problem. To live sanely, we must leave it alone — that is a act. Without AA this is impossible. AA is the best solution to our drinking problem.

Spiritual Contact –

Our Father, give us an understanding of our illness. Strengthen our efforts to overcome it. Lead us in the paths of contented sobriety.

Daily Physical Audit –

AA is made up of the persons who are attempting to compensate for a lifetime of mistakes. That is the premise upon which our recovery program is based. Through study and honest endeavor, we arrest our mental and physical illness. The baffling part of alcoholism is our disregard for health. We depend too much upon curing the disease when we should be building up healthy bodies to prevent it.

Hazelden Foundation

BG Daily Post — Feb 28, 2021

February 28 — Daily Reflections
WHAT? NO PRESIDENT?

When told that our Society has no president having authority to govern it, no treasurer who can compel the payment of any dues … our friends gasp and exclaim, “This simply can’t be … ”
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 132

When I finally made my way to A.A., I could not believe that there was no treasurer to “compel the payment of dues.” I could not imagine an organization that didn’t require monetary contributions in return for a service. It was my first and, thus far, only experience with getting “something for nothing.” Because I did not feel used or conned by those in A.A., I was able to approach the program free from bias and with an open mind. They wanted nothing from me. What could I lose? I thank God for the wisdom of the early founders who knew so well the alcoholic’s disdain for being manipulated.

February 28 — Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day

We should be free from alcohol for good. It’s out of our hands and in the hands of God, so we don’t need to worry about it or even think about it any more. But if we haven’t done this honestly and fully, the chances are that it will become our problem again. Since we don’t trust God to take care of our problem for us, we reach out and take the problem back to ourselves. Then it’s our problem again and we’re in the same old mess we were in before. Do I trust God to take care of the problem for me?

Meditation For The Day

No work is of value without preparation. Every spiritual work must have behind it much spiritual preparation. Cut short times of prayer and times of spiritual preparation and many hours of work may be profitless. From the point of view of God, one poor tool working all the time, but doing bad work because of lack of preparation, is of small value compared with a sharp, keen, perfect instrument working only for a short time, but that turns out perfect work because of long hours of spiritual preparation.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may spend more time alone with God. I pray that I may get more strength and joy from such times, so that they will add much to my work.

February 28 — As Bill Sees It
Conviction and Compromise, p. 59

One qualification for a useful life is give-and-take, the ability to compromise cheerfully. Compromise comes hard to us “all or nothing” drunks. Nevertheless, we must never lose sight of the fact that progress is nearly always characterized by a series of improving compromises.
Of course, we cannot always compromise. There are circumstances in which it is necessary to stick flat-footed to one’s convictions until the issue is resolved. Deciding when to compromise and when not to compromise always calls for the most careful discrimination.

Twelve Concepts, pp. 39-40

February 28 — Eye Opener (1950)

Many of us would have been ready to do something about our drinking problem years before we did, except for the obstinate determination not to allow the wife, mother or boss to tell us what to do.

Hazelden Foundation

February 28 — Big Book Quote

“Though they knew they must help other alcoholics if they would remain sober, that motive became secondary. It was transcended by the happiness they found in giving themselves for others.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, PG.159

February 28 — Walk In Dry Places
SEEKING EXCITEMENT
Seeking Serenity —

“I haven’t found anything to replace the excitement I felt while drinking,” a member complained. “Sure, I’m grateful to be sober. But sometimes it’s so darned boring!”
Let’s talk about that need for excitement, or “high.” For many of us, it was an important part of our drinking. At times, our drinking was exciting—it came with celebrations, graduations, marriage receptions, engagements, and just about anything else out of the ordinary. Along with it, we wanted other excitement: exciting love affairs, exciting experiences, exciting stories.
For us, however, excitement always ended with a crash, often a terrible one. Waking up after an exciting binge was a horrible moment. It stretched out to become more horrible. It never seemed to have a happy ending.
We can take this addiction to excitement in hand by recognizing it as a component of our alcoholism. We’ll still be able to be excited at times, but it must be a type of excitement that brings neither crash nor hangover.

“I will not let boredom push me into actions that I know will be destructive in the long run. I do not want thrills at the expense of my self-respect and sense of well-being.”
— Mel B

Hazelden Foundation

Stools & Bottles — Day 28
Twenty-Eighth Daily Reminder–

A few AA members and their wives were assembled at the home of another member for a weekly AA meeting. The host arrived too late to hold his meeting. When questioned about his absence he shouted, “What in h–l is all this bellyaching about — I’m here and sober, isn’t that enough?”

Daily Inventory —

Is sullen and surly sobriety enough? How far off the beam dare we get? Is it possible to benefit from or add to AA meetings in an angry, sullen mood?

Suggested Meditation —

It is remarkable that a few months of sobriety will allow us to forget the mental binge always precedes the physical drunk. Members who are physically dry and mentally wet do not stay that way. We must either improve our sobriety or vainly try to suppress our alcoholism. Suppression is not our answer. It only leads to drinking. It lets us drift back, like washed pigs, to wallow in the alcoholic mire.

Spiritual Contact —

Our Father, help us to stay put with our group. Fill us with enthusiasm for the AA program. We pray for willingness to improve upon our sobriety.

Daily Physical Audit —

Relaxation and sleep are not only good health practices, they are vital essentials of life itself. We cannot miss them for any great length of time and live healthy lives. Nature’s rules for the upkeep of the body are definite and exacting. Alcoholics require systematic daily rest periods to relieve mental fatigue. Our body tissues need sleep to overcome the chemical changes caused by work during the day.

Hazelden Foundation

BG Daily Post — Feb 27, 2021

February 27 — Daily Reflections
A UNIQUE STABILITY

Where does A.A. get its direction? These practical folk then read Tradition Two, and learn that the sole authority in A.A. is a loving God as He may express Himself in the group conscience. The elder statesman is the one who sees the wisdom of the group’s decision, who holds no resentment over his reduced status, whose judgment, fortified by considerable experience, is sound, and who is willing to sit quietly on the sidelines patiently awaiting developments.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 132, 135

Into the fabric of recovery from alcoholism are woven the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions. As my recovery progressed, I realized that the new mantle was tailor made for me. The elders of the group gently offered suggestions when change seemed impossible. Everyone’s shared experiences became the substance for treasured friendships. I know that the Fellowship is ready and equipped to aid each suffering alcoholic at all crossroads in life. In a world beset by many problems, I find this assurance a unique stability. I cherish the gift of sobriety. I offer my gratitude for the strength I receive in a Fellowship that truly exists for the good of all members.

February 27 — Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day

When we first came into A.A., the first thing we did was to admit that we couldn’t do anything about our drinking. We admitted that alcohol had us licked and that we were helpless against it. We never could decide whether or not to take a drink. We always took the drink. And since we couldn’t do anything about it ourselves, we put our whole drink problem into the hands of God. We turned the whole thing over to that Power greater than ourselves. And we have nothing more to do about it, except to trust God to take care of the problem for us. Have I done this honestly and fully?

Meditation For The Day

This is the time for my spirit to touch the spirit of God. I know that the feeling of the spirit-touch is more important than all the sensations of material things. I must seek a silence of spirit-touching with God. Just a moment’s contact and all the fever of life leaves me. Then I am well, whole, calm and able to arise and minister to others. God’s touch is a potent healer. I must feel that touch and sense God’s presence.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that the fever of resentment, worry and fear may melt into nothingness. I pray that joy, peace and serenity may take its place.

February 27 — As Bill Sees It
Who Is To Blame?, p. 222

At Step Four we resolutely looked for our own mistakes. Where had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking, and frightened? Though a given situation had not been entirely our fault, we often tried to cast the whole blame on the other person involved.
We finally saw that the inventory should be ours, not the other man’s. So we admitted our wrongs honestly and became willing to set these matters straight.

Page 67

February 27 — Eye Opener (1950)

We know from past experiences that we actually invited all our troubles to enter our lives. We left the door wide open for them. Getting sober does not necessarily mean we have closed all the doors, for some of us have only closed the front door and left the back door wide open.
The chances are that you are not only vulnerable through the door marked Alcohol. As you advance to the front, watch well both flanks and the rear.

Hazelden Foundation

February 27 — Big Book Quote

“God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitate to take your health problems to such persons.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, PG.133

February 27 — Walk In Dry Places
SELLING MYSELF
Personal Relations —

Thoughtful people tell us that every person has t “sell” himself or herself in daily work. As alcoholics, we can find that threatening. Uncertainty and the fear of rejection or failure put us under stress.
We can avoid this stress and tension by putting all responsibility for results in God’s hands. While it is true that we want to succeed and to be accepted, we can never be sure that our idea of success is the right one. There are times when our strong determination to succeed at all costs makes us overbearing and demanding in our approach. We may be so anxious to appear competent and knowledgeable that we overreach ourselves and make stupid blunders.
God can show us how to handle each day’s affairs in an orderly, reasonable way. It is not necessary to win every argument or to make every sale. We can sell ourselves more effectively when we go through the day calmly and take a genuine interest in the ideas and concerns of others.

“I will look upon my customers as fellow workers and allies. I do not have to bludgeon every person into accepting my point of view.
— Mel B

Hazelden Foundation

Stools & Bottles — Day 27
Twenty-Seventh Daily Reminder —

An AA veteran, the main speaker at an anniversary meeting, sat waiting for almost two hours while other speakers dramatized many subjects — some of them foreign to AA. Finally he was introduced. He spoke for thirty minutes, inspiring us with the humble virtues of AA. His subject? Love and service.

Daily Inventory —

Have we ever visualized the power of true humility? Do we seek contented sobriety or AA recognition? Are our efforts inspired by love and service?

Suggested Meditation —

The truly great members of AA are all humble members. They give freely of their talent but seek no praise. The publicity seeker is different. He lacks humility but never seems to feel small about it. We can be either great or small about in AA, but as we sacrifice our vanities upon the alter of AA service we will rise and grow in stature and gain recognition without seeking it.

Spiritual Contact —

Our Father, knowing the weakness of our vanity, we pray for the strength of humility. Reveal our need for love and service. Makes us worthy AA servants.

Daily Physical Audit —

Alcohol does not contribute to diabetes, but diabetes can contribute to relapses. We find verification of this fact in the lives of our diabetics who, suffering from complications of their primary illness, go on a mental spree and end up drunk. AA diabetics have two incurable diseases to arrest. They should adhere strictly to their diet. Undue physical and mental effort must be avoided. Infection and neglect may lead to gangrene, blindness and death.

Hazelden Foundation

BG Daily Post — Feb 26, 2021

February 26 — Daily Reflections
NO ORDINARY SUCCESS STORY

A.A. is no success story in the ordinary sense of the word. It is a story of suffering transmuted, under grace, into spiritual progress.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 35

Upon entering A.A. I listened to others talk about the reality of their drinking: loneliness, terror and pain. As I listened further, I soon heard a description of a very different kind–the reality of sobriety. It is a reality of freedom and happiness, of purpose and direction, and of serenity and peace with God, ourselves and others. By attending meetings, I am reintroduced to that reality, over and over. I see it in the eyes and hear it in the voices of those around me. By working the program I find the direction and strength with which to make it mine. The joy of A.A. is that this new reality is available to me.

February 26 — Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day

When we came into A.A., we came to believe in a Power greater than ourselves. We came to believe in that Divine Principle in the universe which we call God, and to whom we could turn for help. Each morning we have a quiet time. We ask God for the power to stay sober for the next twenty-four hours. And each night we thank Him for helping us to keep sober for that day. Do I believe that each man or woman I see in A.A. is a demonstration of the power of God to change a human being from a drunkard to a sober person?

Meditation For The Day

I should pray for more faith as a thirsty man prays for water in a desert. Do I know what it means to feel sure that God will never fail me? Am I sure of this as I am sure that I still breathe? I should pray daily and most diligently that my faith may increase. There is nothing lacking in my life because really all I need is mine, only I lack the faith to know it. I am a king’s son who sits in rags and yet all around me are stores of all I could desire.

Prayer For The Day

I pray for the realization that God has everything I need. I pray that I may know that His power is always available.

February 26 — As Bill Sees It
One Fellowship–Many Faiths, p.223

As a society, we must never become so vain as to suppose that we are authors and inventors of a new religion. We will humbly reflect that every one of A.A.’s principles has been borrowed from ancient sources.

A minister in Thailand wrote, “We took A.A.’s Twelve Steps to the largest Buddhist monastery in this province, and the head priest said, “Why, these Steps are fine! For us as Buddhists, it might be slightly more acceptable if you had inserted the word ‘good’ in your Steps instead of ‘God.’ Nevertheless, you say that it is God as you understand Him, and that must certainly include the good. Yes, A.A.’s Twelve Steps will surely be accepted by the Buddhists around here.’”

St. Louis old-timers recall how Father Edward Dowling helped start their group; it turned out to be largely Protestant, but this fazed him not a bit.

A.A. Comes Of Age
1. p. 231
2. p. 81
3. p. 37

February 26 — Eye Opener (1950)

Frequently we are asked, “Why waste your money on that guy? He’s a phony if ever I saw one.” We have all heard this and often it was true but, after all, the monetary loss each month was way below our old whiskey bills. Every once in a while, the long shot does come in and the payoff is tremendous.
It is simply a case of betting on people instead of horses. These bets on people can’t lose, for if the phony abuses your generosity, the fault is his, not yours, and he is debited and you are credited by the Great Bookkeeper who has charge of the Treasury where “neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal.”

Hazelden Foundation

February 26 — Big Book Quote

“THERE IS A SOLUTION. Almost none of us like the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, PG.25

February 26 — Walk In Dry Places
THE FIX THAT NEVER WAS
Recovery —

In all of the despair and defeat that went along with drinking, most of us held to the ideal of a “fantastic fix”—a drinking experience so fulfilling and complete that it would solve our problems and leave us searching no more.
Compulsive disorders, like alcoholism, seem to include this delusion. The gambler looks for the big score, the overeater seeks the total enjoyment of food, and the sex junkie searches for the perfect partner. But the search never ends, because our compulsions always drive us to seek stronger wine and greater excitement.
The only fix that will ever work has to be rooted in sobriety and right living. When we think and live properly, free from alcohol, we find a fix that really works. We find continuous satisfaction instead of soaring excitement, sound relationships with other people instead of ego-gratifying encounters, and purpose instead of drifting.
The peak experience we had been seeking is a fix that never can be. We can be truly “fixed” only by staying sober.

“I will live calmly and gratefully today, forgetting the drive for excitement that was destroying me. My Higher Power knows who I am and what I should be doing.”
— Mel B

Hazelden Foundation

Stools & Bottles — Day 26
Twenty-Sixth Daily Reminder —

A dirty middle-aged alcoholic lay dying on an old couch in the slums of a Midwestern city. Sick, helpless and broke he called upon AA for help. Sympathetic members responded, placed him in a hospital. He recovered and later joined AA where he stayed and served with credit to his group.

Daily Inventory —

What are the requirements for AA membership? Are we interested in both low and high bottom drunks? How do we handle those who refuse to believe in God?

Suggested Meditation —

“The only requirement for membership is an honest desire to stop drinking.” It is not within our province to refuse AA to an alcoholic who asks for help. God has a way of handling those who do not believe in Him. AA does not demand belief in God, yet the newcomer soon learns that contented sobriety demands it. There can be no satisfactory personality change in a member who refuses spiritual help.

Spiritual Contact —

Our Father, prevent us from passing judgment upon anyone. Grant us wisdom to discern between tolerance and indulgence. Let us live and give AA.

Daily Physical Audit —

Common sense governs the rules of healthful living. Good health does not result from a single act but is the result of many daily practices which eventually becomes habits of self-preservation. They keep us from “digging our grave with our own teeth.” There are detours to be observed on the road of Wellville which circumvent fast eating, overeating, gulping food down with liquids and eating when over-fatigued.

Hazelden Foundation