March 19 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 3 "Let Go" | 2012 | Today's AA daily reflection: "prayer and meditation works…" We may not be in the company of others, at the same time we are never alone. We have an inner voice which is continually sharing what is going on, how we feel about it and what we can do. That inner voice is prayer and meditation for me, it can be random and unfocused, or through practice a way of looking at what we are giving to the world and our part in it…
In my final drinking days, night and day had merged and all the voice inside me said, "where is my next drink and when will this end?" Today the inner voice wakes up with me and starts with immediate clarity on how I am feeling. I can feel good or bad, joyful or sad and as I collect my "self" I can become more focused on what is good for me in the moment and just for now. I try remind myself briefly of steps one, two and three and the serenity prayer. Concluding on what I can and cannot do today…
Even when I focus, pray and meditate, that inner voice may still be confused, fearful and make me feel like isolating and hiding away. And I need to let go my feeling and thinking about doing this alone. And conscious contact with others helps me find balance in what I can and cannot do. This is not a defect of character. The defects of character are thinking I need to do it on my own and become a failure if I cannot show you I am free and independent because I am not. I am interdependent today…
Long ago in the organisation's I worked in, teamwork was an absolute necessity. And sometimes a person would be a leader, sometimes a doer and sometimes anything that need be required to get the job done. And life is like that in all that we do in family, community and society. Yet shame and guilt will lead us into the realms of endarkenment, rather than the enlightenment which comes as we share our truth of how life is today… Prayer and meditation are key in being open, honest and willing to live life on life's terms today…
We give away our experience strength and hope of recovery in order to keep it. It becomes an attitude of mind which impacts on all aspects of living inside fellowship, family and community, work and society. Prayer and meditation helped me see how I can be included day-to-day, my contribution and how it fits with others. We often hear when a person is rewarded with an honour, "I would like to thank the following people" and many include God in their gratitude. And why not? As God works through people in my understanding of a higher power, the honour and the award is always shared and never owned by a single individual… I am alive today with gratitude to every power who helps me share a message in the moment of now…
-/-
DonInLondon 2005-2011
I try emphasise always I speak for myself and not for AA. I may share how AA works in my life, not how AA works for anyone else. In AA what you see is what you get on any given day. You see and hear the experience, strength and hope of many and how sobriety is working just for today. People living sober today...
Open to life and new living, we stop hanging on to old fears, let go and open the door ~ Phillips Brooks "A prayer in its simplest definition is merely a wish turned Godward." -/- As we come to believe it may be Godward and or Goodward. Courage, faith, prayer and meditation develops our choices and personal beliefs..
These days I know sober there is only one safe option from this list ~ Frank Sinatra ~ "Basically, I'm for anything that gets you through the night - be it prayer, tranquilizers or a bottle of Jack Daniels." -/- Prayer, we all pray, sometimes we don't know it, or realise how to focus, seems like it works with a good conscience and knowing life is always on life's terms..
Life on lifes terms, sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes the answer is no ~ Mary Baker Eddy "Experience teaches us that we do not always receive the blessings we ask for in prayer." Spiritual is being able to cope with reality, fixing we live in a world of our own, fantasy..
As we reflect on daily activities, life works whatever the outcome ~ Marianne Williamson "I deepen my experience of God through prayer, meditation, and forgiveness." -/- Our attitude and behaviour changes with wisdom, life always our teacher
-/-
AA Daily Reflection: PRAYER: IT WORKS It has been well said that “almost the only scoffers at prayer are those who never tried it enough.” TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 97
Having grown up in an agnostic household, I felt somewhat foolish when I first tried praying. I knew there was a Higher Power working in my life — how else was I staying sober? — but I certainly wasn’t convinced he/she/it wanted to hear my prayers. People who had what I wanted said prayer was an important part of practicing the program, so I persevered. With a commitment to daily prayer, I was amazed to find myself becoming more serene and comfortable with my place in the world. In other words, life became easier and less of a struggle. I’m still not sure who, or what, listens to my prayers, but I’d never stop saying them for the simple reason that they work.
-/-
Step 3 "Let Go" Reading Video Link:
"Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him"
-/-
In my final drinking days, night and day had merged and all the voice inside me said, "where is my next drink and when will this end?" Today the inner voice wakes up with me and starts with immediate clarity on how I am feeling. I can feel good or bad, joyful or sad and as I collect my "self" I can become more focused on what is good for me in the moment and just for now. I try remind myself briefly of steps one, two and three and the serenity prayer. Concluding on what I can and cannot do today…
Even when I focus, pray and meditate, that inner voice may still be confused, fearful and make me feel like isolating and hiding away. And I need to let go my feeling and thinking about doing this alone. And conscious contact with others helps me find balance in what I can and cannot do. This is not a defect of character. The defects of character are thinking I need to do it on my own and become a failure if I cannot show you I am free and independent because I am not. I am interdependent today…
Long ago in the organisation's I worked in, teamwork was an absolute necessity. And sometimes a person would be a leader, sometimes a doer and sometimes anything that need be required to get the job done. And life is like that in all that we do in family, community and society. Yet shame and guilt will lead us into the realms of endarkenment, rather than the enlightenment which comes as we share our truth of how life is today… Prayer and meditation are key in being open, honest and willing to live life on life's terms today…
We give away our experience strength and hope of recovery in order to keep it. It becomes an attitude of mind which impacts on all aspects of living inside fellowship, family and community, work and society. Prayer and meditation helped me see how I can be included day-to-day, my contribution and how it fits with others. We often hear when a person is rewarded with an honour, "I would like to thank the following people" and many include God in their gratitude. And why not? As God works through people in my understanding of a higher power, the honour and the award is always shared and never owned by a single individual… I am alive today with gratitude to every power who helps me share a message in the moment of now…
-/-
DonInLondon 2005-2011
I try emphasise always I speak for myself and not for AA. I may share how AA works in my life, not how AA works for anyone else. In AA what you see is what you get on any given day. You see and hear the experience, strength and hope of many and how sobriety is working just for today. People living sober today...
Open to life and new living, we stop hanging on to old fears, let go and open the door ~ Phillips Brooks "A prayer in its simplest definition is merely a wish turned Godward." -/- As we come to believe it may be Godward and or Goodward. Courage, faith, prayer and meditation develops our choices and personal beliefs..
These days I know sober there is only one safe option from this list ~ Frank Sinatra ~ "Basically, I'm for anything that gets you through the night - be it prayer, tranquilizers or a bottle of Jack Daniels." -/- Prayer, we all pray, sometimes we don't know it, or realise how to focus, seems like it works with a good conscience and knowing life is always on life's terms..
Life on lifes terms, sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes the answer is no ~ Mary Baker Eddy "Experience teaches us that we do not always receive the blessings we ask for in prayer." Spiritual is being able to cope with reality, fixing we live in a world of our own, fantasy..
As we reflect on daily activities, life works whatever the outcome ~ Marianne Williamson "I deepen my experience of God through prayer, meditation, and forgiveness." -/- Our attitude and behaviour changes with wisdom, life always our teacher
-/-
AA Daily Reflection: PRAYER: IT WORKS It has been well said that “almost the only scoffers at prayer are those who never tried it enough.” TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 97
Having grown up in an agnostic household, I felt somewhat foolish when I first tried praying. I knew there was a Higher Power working in my life — how else was I staying sober? — but I certainly wasn’t convinced he/she/it wanted to hear my prayers. People who had what I wanted said prayer was an important part of practicing the program, so I persevered. With a commitment to daily prayer, I was amazed to find myself becoming more serene and comfortable with my place in the world. In other words, life became easier and less of a struggle. I’m still not sure who, or what, listens to my prayers, but I’d never stop saying them for the simple reason that they work.
-/-
Step 3 "Let Go" Reading Video Link:
"Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him"
-/-
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