March 24 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 3 "Let Go" | 2012 | Alcoholics Anonymous Today's AA daily reflection: "active not passive, man is supposed to think and act…" I don't really like the word supposed, when it comes to thinking and action. And the omission of the word emotional is not helpful to me. Humans are emotional and spiritual and we derive serenity from our ability to cope with reality...
Three words came to mind reading the daily reflections from AA this morning, "expectations, ambition and aspiration" and I know expectations are resentments under construction for me. At the same time I do have ambitions and aspirations on a daily basis. My ambition? To have a sober day and my aspiration is to cope well and enjoy and appreciate what is beautiful. My ambition is constant, to be sober and my aspirations can change in any given moment as long as I am open to change and be flexible as life changes in the moment of now…
I was never overloaded with my own expectations, indeed my expectations of life never amounted to much. And my ambitions and aspirations were always limited by my imagination or by the present state of the world. When I narrow my outlook to expectations, it really is a very small outlook. And my ambitions and aspirations can be so narrowed if all I have is expectation. Letting go expectations, opening my eyes and letting connections be made in all directions will always improve my outlook, ambitions and aspirations. Letting go and letting in the world makes anything possible as long as I see reality and not a fantasy…
At the same time, being a proper human I still have fantasies and they are good fantasies I assure you! Emotional and spiritual well-being, for complicated human beings. I need to understand my feelings, what is real and what is not real and how to cope with my situation on a daily basis. Trying to resolve all my issues on my own is very limiting, asking the help and letting go and letting the world in will always provide a broader and deeper understanding of what I can and cannot do on a daily basis…
In the United Kingdom, there seems to be a rush to increase the unit price of alcohol in order to stop disorder! Like anywhere else in the world, when a government aims to impose its will on the will of the people, the people will prove to be tenacious and resilient in their pursuit of happiness. Taxation and penalties drives behaviour underground, home brewing is where it all started for me, under the guidance of a rebellious father… The greater the limits of liberty, the greater the defiance created…
And for me as an individual in recovery some time, the restriction of liberty does not lead to a change in mindset when it comes to personal behaviour. And the question is what is the greater good? People learning from experience or people being restricted through taxation. The issues are moribund and full of prejudice. And the breadth of the problem is far too big for me, my ambition to be sober and my aspiration to enjoy what is beautiful today…
I will always aim to develop opinions and beliefs based on reality rather than a fantasy. When it comes to trying to help in the fellowship of AA, very early on rules, laws and regulations would lead to exclusion rather than inclusion. So there are no laws, rules or regulations in the fellowship of AA and everyone is included if they have a desire to stop drinking. Personal choice and making informed choices is the very essence of this emotional and spiritual Fellowship. Learning about the truth of life, how to love people and be loved back without conditions and useful in whatever capacity we can. And it works, when we work at it, just for a day…
-/-
DonInLondon 2005-2011
With challenge and support we can develop courage, faith and confidence [enough stress] , distress then fear, brave facing and ego may pull us down.. Inspired by Marilu Henner ~ "having realistic expectations helps identify where we have stress and distress, important in finding balance and to living a happy, healthy and rewarding life" ~ Expectations are resentments under construction!
-/-
AA Daily Reflection: ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE MARCH 24 Man is supposed to think, and act. He wasn’t made to God’s image to be an automaton. As Bill Sees It, p. 55
Before I joined A.A., I often did not think, and reacted to people and situations. When not reacting I acted in a mechanical fashion. After joining A.A., I started seeking daily guidance from a Power greater than myself, and learning to listen for that guidance. Then I began to make decisions and act on them, rather than react to them. The results have been constructive; I no longer allow others to make decisions for me and then criticize me for it. Today–and every day–with a heart full of gratitude, and a desire for God’s will to be done through me, my life is worth sharing, especially with my fellow alcoholics! Above all, if I do not make a religion out of anything, even A.A., then I can be an open channel for God’s expression.
-/-
As Bill sees it ~ Eternal Values
Many people will have no truck at all with absolute spiritual values. Perfectionists, they say, are either full of conceit because they fancy they have reached some impossible goal, or else they are swamped in self-condemnation because they have not done so. Yet I think that we should not hold this view. It is not the fault of great ideals that they are sometimes misused and so become shallow excuses for guilt, rebellion, and pride. On the contrary, we cannot grow very much unless we constantly try to envision that the eternal spiritual values are "Day by day, we try to move a little toward God's perfection. So we need not be consumed by maudlin guilt for failure to achieve His likeness and image by Thursday next. Progress is our aim, and His perfection is the beacon, light-years away, that draws us on."
-/-
Step 3 "Let Go" Reading Video Link:
Step 3 "Let Go" Reading Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIJM_JUs0fM
"Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him"
-/-
Three words came to mind reading the daily reflections from AA this morning, "expectations, ambition and aspiration" and I know expectations are resentments under construction for me. At the same time I do have ambitions and aspirations on a daily basis. My ambition? To have a sober day and my aspiration is to cope well and enjoy and appreciate what is beautiful. My ambition is constant, to be sober and my aspirations can change in any given moment as long as I am open to change and be flexible as life changes in the moment of now…
I was never overloaded with my own expectations, indeed my expectations of life never amounted to much. And my ambitions and aspirations were always limited by my imagination or by the present state of the world. When I narrow my outlook to expectations, it really is a very small outlook. And my ambitions and aspirations can be so narrowed if all I have is expectation. Letting go expectations, opening my eyes and letting connections be made in all directions will always improve my outlook, ambitions and aspirations. Letting go and letting in the world makes anything possible as long as I see reality and not a fantasy…
At the same time, being a proper human I still have fantasies and they are good fantasies I assure you! Emotional and spiritual well-being, for complicated human beings. I need to understand my feelings, what is real and what is not real and how to cope with my situation on a daily basis. Trying to resolve all my issues on my own is very limiting, asking the help and letting go and letting the world in will always provide a broader and deeper understanding of what I can and cannot do on a daily basis…
In the United Kingdom, there seems to be a rush to increase the unit price of alcohol in order to stop disorder! Like anywhere else in the world, when a government aims to impose its will on the will of the people, the people will prove to be tenacious and resilient in their pursuit of happiness. Taxation and penalties drives behaviour underground, home brewing is where it all started for me, under the guidance of a rebellious father… The greater the limits of liberty, the greater the defiance created…
And for me as an individual in recovery some time, the restriction of liberty does not lead to a change in mindset when it comes to personal behaviour. And the question is what is the greater good? People learning from experience or people being restricted through taxation. The issues are moribund and full of prejudice. And the breadth of the problem is far too big for me, my ambition to be sober and my aspiration to enjoy what is beautiful today…
I will always aim to develop opinions and beliefs based on reality rather than a fantasy. When it comes to trying to help in the fellowship of AA, very early on rules, laws and regulations would lead to exclusion rather than inclusion. So there are no laws, rules or regulations in the fellowship of AA and everyone is included if they have a desire to stop drinking. Personal choice and making informed choices is the very essence of this emotional and spiritual Fellowship. Learning about the truth of life, how to love people and be loved back without conditions and useful in whatever capacity we can. And it works, when we work at it, just for a day…
-/-
DonInLondon 2005-2011
With challenge and support we can develop courage, faith and confidence [enough stress] , distress then fear, brave facing and ego may pull us down.. Inspired by Marilu Henner ~ "having realistic expectations helps identify where we have stress and distress, important in finding balance and to living a happy, healthy and rewarding life" ~ Expectations are resentments under construction!
-/-
AA Daily Reflection: ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE MARCH 24 Man is supposed to think, and act. He wasn’t made to God’s image to be an automaton. As Bill Sees It, p. 55
Before I joined A.A., I often did not think, and reacted to people and situations. When not reacting I acted in a mechanical fashion. After joining A.A., I started seeking daily guidance from a Power greater than myself, and learning to listen for that guidance. Then I began to make decisions and act on them, rather than react to them. The results have been constructive; I no longer allow others to make decisions for me and then criticize me for it. Today–and every day–with a heart full of gratitude, and a desire for God’s will to be done through me, my life is worth sharing, especially with my fellow alcoholics! Above all, if I do not make a religion out of anything, even A.A., then I can be an open channel for God’s expression.
-/-
As Bill sees it ~ Eternal Values
Many people will have no truck at all with absolute spiritual values. Perfectionists, they say, are either full of conceit because they fancy they have reached some impossible goal, or else they are swamped in self-condemnation because they have not done so. Yet I think that we should not hold this view. It is not the fault of great ideals that they are sometimes misused and so become shallow excuses for guilt, rebellion, and pride. On the contrary, we cannot grow very much unless we constantly try to envision that the eternal spiritual values are "Day by day, we try to move a little toward God's perfection. So we need not be consumed by maudlin guilt for failure to achieve His likeness and image by Thursday next. Progress is our aim, and His perfection is the beacon, light-years away, that draws us on."
-/-
Step 3 "Let Go" Reading Video Link:
Step 3 "Let Go" Reading Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIJM_JUs0fM
"Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him"
-/-
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