February 29 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 2 | 2012 | Today's AA daily reflection: "all about brief moments of temptation and a higher power which restores me to sanity on a daily basis." I honestly cannot recollect the last temptation to drink alcohol. Where I live I am surrounded by markets, clubs and bars and houses stuffed to the gunwales with drink… But not in my house…
In my early days of recovery, I went to meetings of the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous because I was frightened of drinking alcohol again. I would go to meetings morning noon and night. In London UK I could smell alcohol in the air. Nowadays I go to meetings because I simply like them and love the people who go. I don't keep alcohol in my house because I don't need it and I don't need be tempted, stubborn and defiant about having it around. It would be madness to think that my willpower is enough to stop me drinking. Indeed it is the very opposite, powerlessness which now provides the strength, experience and wisdom which works for one day…
I am restored to sanity on a daily basis and I know my vulnerabilities, my ego can find a thousand reasons to defy the obvious, that I'm an alcoholic in recovery and can be tempted at any time. I don't go to clubs and bars, because they are not fit for purpose, my purpose and my primary purpose to be sober and live a full life today…
The word God was never frightening to me, it is what many I encountered made God out to be for them. The God which took sides, which they heard from which they used to control me and my outlook. A bit like the bogeyman who was employed by those who wanted me to fear doing something those in power did not want me to do. Have freedom to make good and right choices for myself without imposing my will and others.
DonInLondon 2005-2011
I have found one video I made four years ago, and I will try and upload it to complete a full annual account of life in recovery one day at a time on my video blog. I'm writing this in 2012, my third leap year in recovery. What can I say about recovery over the years? That whoever we are, recovery works in the moment of now and just for today.
Our life experiences one day at a time our unique to ourselves, at the same time the twelve steps and twelve traditions are enduring principles which help me to be open, honest and willing as an individual, working with others in unity, service and recovery. And these principles are suggestions, not rules, not laws and regulations laid down to be followed in some "religious" way. Suggestions for living which make it possible to make the best choices open to me without damaging or hurting others.
It is a miracle to be alive one day at a time, whatever our circumstances because life is very fragile. So many things, people places impact on us daily and making sense of anything can be very difficult. And Scott Peck said, "life is difficult and when we accept that life is difficult it ceases to be a problem." And as they say in the Caribbean, "no problem!" We are never alone if we can ask the help, when the inner voice inside screams with fear or simply tells us we do not know something, we can always ask the help any time, anywhere and from anyone.
And I am always happy with the notion that God works through people, and I am also mindful that if God works through people, so can the devil who apparently is always in the detail…
AA Daily Reflection: ONE A.A. MIRACLE ~ Save for the brief moments of temptation the thought of drink has never returned; and at such times a great revulsion has risen up in him. Seemingly he could not drink even if he would. God had restored his sanity. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 37
The word "God" was frightening to me when I first saw it associated with A.A.'s Twelve Steps. Having tried all the means I could to stop drinking, I found that it was not possible for me to sustain that desire over a period of time. Yet, how could I believe in a "God" that had allowed me to sink to the deep despair that engulfed me--whether drinking or dry? The answer was in finally admitting that it might be possible for me to know the mercy of a Power greater than myself who could grant me sobriety contingent on my willingness to "come to believe." By finally admitting that I was one among many, and by following the example of my sponsor and other A.A. members in practicing faith I did not have, my life has been given meaning, direction and purpose.
Step 2 Reading Video Link:
"Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity"
-/-
In my early days of recovery, I went to meetings of the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous because I was frightened of drinking alcohol again. I would go to meetings morning noon and night. In London UK I could smell alcohol in the air. Nowadays I go to meetings because I simply like them and love the people who go. I don't keep alcohol in my house because I don't need it and I don't need be tempted, stubborn and defiant about having it around. It would be madness to think that my willpower is enough to stop me drinking. Indeed it is the very opposite, powerlessness which now provides the strength, experience and wisdom which works for one day…
I am restored to sanity on a daily basis and I know my vulnerabilities, my ego can find a thousand reasons to defy the obvious, that I'm an alcoholic in recovery and can be tempted at any time. I don't go to clubs and bars, because they are not fit for purpose, my purpose and my primary purpose to be sober and live a full life today…
The word God was never frightening to me, it is what many I encountered made God out to be for them. The God which took sides, which they heard from which they used to control me and my outlook. A bit like the bogeyman who was employed by those who wanted me to fear doing something those in power did not want me to do. Have freedom to make good and right choices for myself without imposing my will and others.
DonInLondon 2005-2011
I have found one video I made four years ago, and I will try and upload it to complete a full annual account of life in recovery one day at a time on my video blog. I'm writing this in 2012, my third leap year in recovery. What can I say about recovery over the years? That whoever we are, recovery works in the moment of now and just for today.
Our life experiences one day at a time our unique to ourselves, at the same time the twelve steps and twelve traditions are enduring principles which help me to be open, honest and willing as an individual, working with others in unity, service and recovery. And these principles are suggestions, not rules, not laws and regulations laid down to be followed in some "religious" way. Suggestions for living which make it possible to make the best choices open to me without damaging or hurting others.
It is a miracle to be alive one day at a time, whatever our circumstances because life is very fragile. So many things, people places impact on us daily and making sense of anything can be very difficult. And Scott Peck said, "life is difficult and when we accept that life is difficult it ceases to be a problem." And as they say in the Caribbean, "no problem!" We are never alone if we can ask the help, when the inner voice inside screams with fear or simply tells us we do not know something, we can always ask the help any time, anywhere and from anyone.
And I am always happy with the notion that God works through people, and I am also mindful that if God works through people, so can the devil who apparently is always in the detail…
AA Daily Reflection: ONE A.A. MIRACLE ~ Save for the brief moments of temptation the thought of drink has never returned; and at such times a great revulsion has risen up in him. Seemingly he could not drink even if he would. God had restored his sanity. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 37
The word "God" was frightening to me when I first saw it associated with A.A.'s Twelve Steps. Having tried all the means I could to stop drinking, I found that it was not possible for me to sustain that desire over a period of time. Yet, how could I believe in a "God" that had allowed me to sink to the deep despair that engulfed me--whether drinking or dry? The answer was in finally admitting that it might be possible for me to know the mercy of a Power greater than myself who could grant me sobriety contingent on my willingness to "come to believe." By finally admitting that I was one among many, and by following the example of my sponsor and other A.A. members in practicing faith I did not have, my life has been given meaning, direction and purpose.
Step 2 Reading Video Link:
"Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity"
-/-
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