"LET'S KEEP IT SIMPLE"

A few hours later I took my leave of Dr. Bob. . . . The wonderful, old, broad smile was on his face as he said almost jokingly. "Remember, Bill, let's not louse this thing up. Let's keep it simple!" I turned away, unable to say a word. That was the last time I ever saw him.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE, p. 214

After years of sobriety I occasionally asked myself: "Can it be this simple?" Then, at meetings, I see former cynics and skeptics who have walked the A.A. path out of hell by packaging their lives, without alcohol, into twenty-four hour segments, during which they practice a few principles to the best of their individual abilities. And then I know again that, while it isn't always easy, if I keep it simple, it works.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought for the Day
In the beginning, you want to get sober, but you're helpless, so you turn to a Power greater than yourself and by trusting in that Power, you get the strength to stop drinking. From then on, you want to keep sober, and that's a matter of reeducating your mind. After a while, you get so that you really enjoy simple, healthy, normal living. You really get a kick out of life without the artificial stimulus of alcohol. All you have to do is to look around at the members of any A.A. group and you will see how their outlook has changed. Is my outlook on life changing?
Meditation for the Day
I will never forget to say thank you to God, even on the grayest days. My attitude will be one of humility and gratitude. Saying thank you to God is a daily practice that is absolutely necessary. If a day is not one of thankfulness, the practice has to be repeated until it becomes so. Gratitude is a necessity for those who seek to live a better life.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that gratitude will bring humility. I pray that humility will bring me to live a better life.
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NA - Just for Today
The school of recovery
“This is a program for learning.”
Basic Text, p. 16
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Learning in recovery is hard work. The things we most need to know are often the hardest to learn. We study recovery to prepare ourselves for the experiences life will give us. As we listen to others share in meetings, we take mental notes we can refer to later. To be prepared, we study our notes and literature between “lessons.” Just as students have the opportunity to apply their knowledge during tests, so do we have the opportunity to apply our recovery during times of crisis.
As always, we have a choice in how we will approach life’s challenges. We can dread and avoid them as threats to our serenity, or we can gratefully accept them as opportunities for growth. By confirming the principles we’ve learned in recovery, life’s challenges give us increased strength. Without such challenges, however, we could forget what we’ve learned and begin to stagnate. These are the opportunities that prod us to new spiritual awakenings.
We will find that there is often a period of rest after each crisis, giving us time to get accustomed to our new skills. Once we’ve reflected on our experience, we are called on to share our knowledge with someone who is studying what we’ve just learned. In the school of recovery, all of us are teachers as well as students.
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Just for today: I will be a student of recovery. I will welcome challenges, confident in what I’ve learned and eager to share it with others.
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Thought for Today

"Times of stress and difficulty are
seasons of opportunity when the seeds
of progress are sown."

--Thomas IF. Woodblock

You only live temporarily by what you take, but you live forever by what you give. (thanks Wendy A.)

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Buddha/Zen Thoughts

Trust has nothing to do with moral courage. It occurs when we have nowhere else to turn, when we reach the end of our need to control.

-Rodney Smith, "Lessons from the Dying"

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Native American

"The first factor in the revolution of consciousness is the mystic death of the ego- the death of negative thinking, negative personalities. We must purify the soul of the inner enemies. Every time a defect manifests- envy, gluttony, anger, lust, whatever-that impulse to the heart. Ask, `Do I really need to invoke this?' And then honor the heart."
--Willaru Huayta, QUECHAU NATION, PERU
Our egos have character defects. These character defects we sometimes act out and they invariably bring results to our lives that we might not want. If we continue to use these character defects, we will continue to have undesirable results in our lives. How do we change ourselves or get rid of a character defect We can go to the heart-ask a question, make a decision-then honor the heart. For example, say I get angry today. I would go to the heart and ask, would I rather be right or would I rather be happy? How we answer this question can have an enormous impact on how our day goes. Once we decide the answer to this question, we need to honor the heart by saying, "Thank you for the power of changing my thoughts. I choose to be happy and to experience peace of mind."
Great Spirit, today, let me teach only love and learn only love.
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Keep It Simple

Go often to the house of your friend: for weeds soon choke up the unused path. --- Scandinavian proverb.

Our program has two parts: the Steps, and the fellowship. Both keep us sober. We can't stay sober if we go it alone. We need to work the Steps. We also need people--the help of our friends daily
Recovery is about relationships. We get new friends. We get involved. We give. We get. In times of need, we may not want to ask our new friends for help. Maybe we don't want to "burden them."
"Maybe we're afraid to ask for help." Well, go ahead. Make that call. Ask your new friend to spend time with you. You deserve and need it. They deserve it; they need it.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to get help from my friends as if my life depends on it.

Action for the Day: Today, I'll see or call two program friends and let them know how I'm doing.

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If we have emotional sobriety, then thank God for it; and to keep it, we must give it away.

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