January 25 | AA 12 Steps In Action | 2012 | AA Fellowship basics: as an individual to be open honest and willing one day to time. In fellowship to be steadfast in unity, service and recovery, and again one day to time. And if we are diligent we make progress and do not seek perfection. Attraction, what you see is what you get "WYSIWYG" rather than promotion which is a guarantee or a fix and is impossible one day at a time…
Nobody is perfect and on a daily basis it is very difficult to be perfect in our open honest and willing behaviour. Indeed a BBC news bulletin suggests based on broad studies that the individual is less honest because there is a lack of role models in all walks of life, in particular in politics and industry, community and religious leaders. I have learned it is not what others do, it is what I do today…
Tradition three: the principal of inclusion rather than exclusion from fellowship. The only requirement a desire to stop drinking means the door is always open to anyone with a desire to quit, and that we are all equal in fellowship. There is no hierarchy and we will speak with an equal voice in our group conscience. This is what kept me coming back to share and listen to experience strength and hope, learning what I can do and cannot do today…
Contingent on my asking for help, my spiritual condition "being able to cope with reality" is likely to be more balanced than reverting to old behaviour. Step six, defects of character and old behaviour can emerge in the blink of an eye when things are difficult. Step seven, my shortcomings of courage and faith and confidence in doing the next right thing can improve if I pause, reflect and then respond rather than reacting as I might have in the old days… Every day I can be at sixes and sevens with life…
I have learned the difference between "isolation" and "solitude." Isolation from the world when I'm hurt and fearful makes me want to shut down and ignore the reality of now. Solitude on the other hand, is time on my own where I enjoy reflection and meditation, or simply reading a book or watching a film or TV. Isolation can be me in the grip of fear or depression. Solitude enjoying individual pastimes when opportunity arises…
DonInLondon 2005-2011
"Needs and Wants," acceptance is learning the difference, needs met wants forgotten? ~ Gail Sheehy "Would that there were an award for people who come to understand the concept of enough. Good enough. Successful enough. Thin enough. Rich enough. Socially responsible enough. When you have self-respect, you have enough." -/- Humility is essential in learning life every day and just for today...
Step One "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable"
AA Daily: WHAT WE NEED – EACH OTHER ~ JANUARY 25, A.A. is really saying to every serious drinker, “You are an A.A. member if you say so . . . nobody can keep you out.” TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 139
For years, whenever I reflected on Tradition Three (“The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking”), I thought it valuable only to newcomers. It was their guarantee that no one could bar them from A.A. Today I feel enduring gratitude for the spiritual development the Tradition has brought me. I don’t seek out people obviously different from myself. Tradition Three, concentrating on the one way I am similar to others, brought me to know and help every kind of alcoholic, just as they have helped me. Charlotte, the atheist, showed me higher standards of ethics and honour; Clay, of another race, taught me patience; Winslow, who is gay, led me by example into true compassion; Young Megan says that seeing me at meetings, sober thirty years, keeps her coming back. Tradition Three insured that we would get what we need – each other.
-/-
Nobody is perfect and on a daily basis it is very difficult to be perfect in our open honest and willing behaviour. Indeed a BBC news bulletin suggests based on broad studies that the individual is less honest because there is a lack of role models in all walks of life, in particular in politics and industry, community and religious leaders. I have learned it is not what others do, it is what I do today…
Tradition three: the principal of inclusion rather than exclusion from fellowship. The only requirement a desire to stop drinking means the door is always open to anyone with a desire to quit, and that we are all equal in fellowship. There is no hierarchy and we will speak with an equal voice in our group conscience. This is what kept me coming back to share and listen to experience strength and hope, learning what I can do and cannot do today…
Contingent on my asking for help, my spiritual condition "being able to cope with reality" is likely to be more balanced than reverting to old behaviour. Step six, defects of character and old behaviour can emerge in the blink of an eye when things are difficult. Step seven, my shortcomings of courage and faith and confidence in doing the next right thing can improve if I pause, reflect and then respond rather than reacting as I might have in the old days… Every day I can be at sixes and sevens with life…
I have learned the difference between "isolation" and "solitude." Isolation from the world when I'm hurt and fearful makes me want to shut down and ignore the reality of now. Solitude on the other hand, is time on my own where I enjoy reflection and meditation, or simply reading a book or watching a film or TV. Isolation can be me in the grip of fear or depression. Solitude enjoying individual pastimes when opportunity arises…
DonInLondon 2005-2011
"Needs and Wants," acceptance is learning the difference, needs met wants forgotten? ~ Gail Sheehy "Would that there were an award for people who come to understand the concept of enough. Good enough. Successful enough. Thin enough. Rich enough. Socially responsible enough. When you have self-respect, you have enough." -/- Humility is essential in learning life every day and just for today...
Step One "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable"
AA Daily: WHAT WE NEED – EACH OTHER ~ JANUARY 25, A.A. is really saying to every serious drinker, “You are an A.A. member if you say so . . . nobody can keep you out.” TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 139
For years, whenever I reflected on Tradition Three (“The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking”), I thought it valuable only to newcomers. It was their guarantee that no one could bar them from A.A. Today I feel enduring gratitude for the spiritual development the Tradition has brought me. I don’t seek out people obviously different from myself. Tradition Three, concentrating on the one way I am similar to others, brought me to know and help every kind of alcoholic, just as they have helped me. Charlotte, the atheist, showed me higher standards of ethics and honour; Clay, of another race, taught me patience; Winslow, who is gay, led me by example into true compassion; Young Megan says that seeing me at meetings, sober thirty years, keeps her coming back. Tradition Three insured that we would get what we need – each other.
-/-
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