Grant me the strength to remain true – especially when all around me think I am still lying
Sunday, January 27, 2008
A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth - Aesop
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Any idiot can face a crisis - its day to day living that wears you out. - Anton Chekhov
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The journey is the reward. - Chinese Proverb
The first step on my journey included the realization that sobriety was not the destination. It is the path.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up. -Jesse Jackson
Let us not judge each other but embrace each other and accept the strength fellowship brings each of us - whether we are "up" or we are "down".
Thursday, January 10, 2008
If nothing changes, nothing changes - Ernie Larson
Please let me remember what the time proven definition of insanity is – doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result
Through prayer, I can sense my inner strength, my inner purpose, my inner joy, my capacity to love - Ruth Brin
SAA suggests a bubble as an appropriate, poetic metaphor that expresses the radical nature of the addict’s isolation. We thought we were strong, happy, loved and loving when we were in the bubble acting out. Unfortunately the secret world of our own creation where we sought thrills and pleasure was also a world of shame and guilt when the bubble burst and we reentered the real world. There is an alternative to the bubble. It is a simple option really. But like most things for addicts, it is the simple things that are the hardest for us to do. How many times were we told “Just don’t do it.” In recovery we have been given a tool to help us find peace. If we pray daily to our Higher Power, not to fix our lives or to create a different life for us, but to pray just for insight and knowledge of the life our Higher Power has planned for us, we will discover true strength, joy and happiness. As long as we remember that our Higher Power will show us this life when He wants us to see it and not when we demand to see it, can our dreams come true. And that will be much more rewarding and satisfying than any acting out behavior ever was or could ever be.
G-d, for today grant me the patience to hear your voice and see your path as you want me to, and not how I want it to be.
How are miracles possible? We make them possible. - Rabbi Menachem Mendel Morgensztern
Just for today I will keep my eyes open for any miracles my Higher Power sends my way.
Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right. - Henry Ford
To many of us, this simple statement sounds all too familiar. We have spent most of our lives making a commitment to our family, our friends, and ourselves to not act out after we are caught or the bubble bursts and we have to face reality. We are sincere in our promise. For a few days or even a few years, we do not act out. We think we can stay sober without the Program and we do--for awhile. But the addict in each of us continually reminds us that we have failed before and we will fail again. We go back to our old way of thinking. We rationalize. We cajole. We often simply delude ourselves. Many of us have a hole in our souls where our strength and resolve is pulled away. The simple concept of staying sober gets overwhelmed. We doubt our resolve. And as soon as that happens, our addict gets a foot into the door of our minds and we inevitably fail. There is one option available to us to keep the thoughts of failure at bay: work the Program. The Program is elegant in its simplicity. It places no unwieldy demands upon us. There is no religion, politics or topics that could lead to dissention. As simple as the Program is, the addict in us can make it the hardest thing we have ever had to do. Keep it simple and you can succeed.
A simple thought is inevitably made complex when an addict gets a hold of it.