Our Dark Side - Nov 17th

Every one is a moon, and has a dark side....
Mark Twain

A.A. Thought for the Day

Everyone has two personalities, a good and a bad. We are all dual personalities to some extent. When we were drinking, the bad personality was in control. We did things when we were drunk that we would never do when we were sober. When we sober up, we are different people. Then we wonder how we could have done the things we did. But we drink again, and again our bad side comes out. So we are back and forth, always in conflict with our other selves, always in a stew. This division of our selves is not good; we must somehow become unified. We do this by giving ourselves wholeheartedly to A.A. and to sobriety. Have I become unified?

My dark side expressed itself through my greed, petty cruelty, and envy. I spent a lot of energy justifying and validating anger and other destructive feelings. Only once I accepted that I have to resist the urge to act badly that I started a journey towards being whole.
~ Mike

Inner Conflict - Nov 16th

“The greatest conflicts are not between two people but between one person and himself.”
~ Garth Brooks


A.A. Thought for the Day
I have got rid of most of my inner conflicts. I was always at war with myself. I was doing things that I did not want to do. I was waking up in strange places and wondering how I got there. I was full of recklessness when I was drunk and full of remorse when I was sober. My life didn't make sense. It was full of broken resolves and frustrated hopes and plans. I was getting nowhere fast. No wonder my nerves were all shot. I was bumping up against a blank wall and I was dizzy from it. A.A. taught me how to get organized and to stop fighting against myself. Have I got rid of inner conflicts?

For years in sobriety I continued to play old tapes in my mind. The tapes where I am being told that I'm not good enough, smart enough, that I'm a quitter and am ungrateful and unloving. I had taken these toxic thought on as my own and though the words were uttered by others the replaying of those words was all my own doing. My inner conflict.
~ Mike

Commitment to AA - Sept 29th

“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.”
~ Tom Robbins

A.A. Thought for the Day

Having got this far, shall we pause and ask ourselves some searching questions? We need to check up on ourselves periodically. Just how good an A.A. am I? Am I attending meetings regularly? Am I doing my share to carry the load? When there is something to be done, do I volunteer? Do I speak at meetings when asked, no matter how nervous I am? Do I accept each opportunity to do twelfth step work as a challenge? Do I give freely of my time and money? Am I trying to spread A.A. wherever I go? Is my daily life a demonstration of A.A. principles? Am I a good A.A.?

AA is a wonderful program and fellowship and only works through the commitment of those who step up to ensure that things run smoothly. I feel most connected to AA when I am doing work for my group or for a fellow member.

~ Mike

Spiritual Experience - Sept 27th

I'm touched by the idea that when we do things that are useful and helpful - collecting these shards of spirituality - that we may be helping to bring about a healing.
~ Leonard Nimoy

A.A. Thought for the Day

Continuing the consideration of the term spiritual experience: "What often takes place in a few months could seldom have been accomplished by years of self discipline. With few exceptions, our members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource, which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves. Most of us think this awareness of a Power greater than ourselves the essence of spiritual experience. Some of us call it God consciousness. In any case, willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery." Have I tapped that inner resource which can change my life?

Awareness of and a belief in a Higher Power has been a source of comfort and inspiration in my journey in sobriety.

~ Mike

Making Amends - Sept 22nd

It is the highest form of self-respect to admit our errors and mistakes and make amends for them. To make a mistake is only an error in judgment, but to adhere to it when it is discovered shows infirmity of character.
~ Dale Turner

A.A. Thought for the Day

Step Eight is, "Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all." Step Nine is, "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others." Making restitution for the wrongs we have done is often very difficult. It hurts our pride. But the rewards are great. When we go to a person and say we are sorry, the reaction we get is almost invariably good. It takes courage to make the plunge, but the results more than justify it. A load is off your chest and often an enemy has been turned into a friend. Have I done my best to make all the restitution possible?

Making amends was one of the first things I ever tried in sobriety - long before I was ready to do it. Over time I learned that making amends was not about making myself feel better but about regretting what harm had been done to others.

~ Mike

Daily Ritual - Sept 21st

The Secret to Peace of mind is to not identify with anything other than your True Self.

~ Robert Adams

A.A. Thought for the Day

Let us continue with Steps Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Ten. In taking a personal inventory of ourselves, we have to face facts as they really are. We have to stop running away. We must face reality. We must see ourselves as we really are. We must admit our faults openly and try to correct them. We must try to see where we have been dishonest, impure, selfish, and unloving. We do not do this once and forget it. We do it every day of our lives, as long as we live. We are never done with checking up on ourselves. Am I taking a daily inventory of myself?

As I've grown to know and understand myself I have found fewer reasons to wear a mask while out in the world. 

~ Mike

Honest Inventory - Sept 20th

Begin to be now what you will be hereafter.
~ William James

A.A. Thought for the Day

Step Four is, "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves." Step Five is, "Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our, wrongs." Step Six is, "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character." Step Seven is, "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings." Step Ten is, "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it." In taking a personal inventory, we have to be absolutely honest with ourselves and with other people. Have I taken an honest inventory of myself?

Taking an honest inventory is the single most difficult thing to do in recovery. That is why it should be done more than once - the healthier I got the more honest I was able to be with myself.

~ Mike