Thursday 8 March 2012

March 8 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 3 | 2012 | Alcoholics Anonymous

March 8 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 3 "Let Go" | 2012 | Today's AA daily reflection: "turning our lives over to the care, protection, and guidance of?" From powerless and unmanageable to being restored to sanity and then letting go our old ways of coping is all about being open to new wisdom from wherever it comes. "Not invented here, or by me." Humility to learn and be vulnerable, try new ideas and actions is all part of setting ourselves free each and every day…



Thinking we know the answers today closes our minds to what other people can do to help us and guide us. "I need and I want and it's obvious," is not helpful when we are interdependent and must rely on the cooperation of others in our daily lives. Knowing is simply a starting point, what counts is putting our thinking into practical actions. And when our thinking is out of date, the actions will not work in today's living. We still need to find the right help in the right places about the right things…



Living to good principles, for example: truth, love and wisdom. Good principles remain constant and the idea of living truthfully, learning how to love and be loved back and developing wisdom are key to me in my recovery. At the same time truth about living keeps on changing, how we love people and how people love us back keeps changing and so does wisdom as a consequence… I learn what is good for me today, and may be a foundation to build upon for tomorrow…



When I turned my life over to the care, protection and guidance of others, which includes God if God works through people, I still need to pay attention. Sometimes I need recognise that my own ability to care, protect and guide others is limited and flawed, and that applies to everyone. Many can guide us back onto the highway of life, and equally there are many who will consciously or through ignorance, "lead us up the garden path." The road to hell is paved with good intent…



Common sense is often very uncommon…





DonInLondon 2005-2011



Every man and woman who has joined A.A. and intends to stick has, without realizing it, made a beginning on Step Three. Isn't it true that in all matters touching upon alcohol, each of them has decided to turn his or her life over to the care, protection, and guidance of Alcoholics Anonymous?



Happy or sad we will find our path and serenity in loving our fellows ~ Wayne Dyer "A mind at peace, a mind centered and not focused on harming others, is stronger than any physical force in the universe." Hurt people tend to hurt people, as we let go self harm we find harmony inside and harmony outside..



Give with generosity of heart, and our generosity to ourselves grows with each moment, cherish always ~ Maya Angelou "I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver." -/- Give without condition or expectation, always..



Every element and feeling we live has purpose, light and dark, every moment is our spiritual connection to life and now.. ~ Thomas Jefferson "Friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine." Life is a balance elemental, emotional and spiritual..



If we hold a prejudice insides us about another, we hold a prejudice against ourselves, if we hold another on a pedestal we will knock them down.. ~ Albert Einstein "Everyone need be respected as an individual, but no one idolized." We can set ourselves and others for a fall, forgive and resent no one, or we waste time and perish in bitterness..



AA Daily Reflection: TURNING IT OVER ~ MARCH 8, Every man and woman who has joined A.A. and intends to stick has, without realizing it, made a beginning on Step Three. Isn’t it true that in all matters touching upon alcohol, each of them has decided to turn his or her life over to the care, protection, and guidance of Alcoholics Anonymous? . . . Any willing newcomer feels sure A.A. is the only safe harbor for the foundering vessel he has become. Now if this is not turning one’s will and life over to a newfound Providence, then what is it? TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 35



Submission to God was the first step to my recovery. I believe our Fellowship seeks a spirituality open to a new kinship with God. As I exert myself to follow the path of the Steps, I sense a freedom that gives me the ability to think for myself. My addiction confined me without any release and hindered my ability to be released from my self-confinement, but A.A. assures me of a way to go forward. Mutual sharing, concern and caring for others is our natural gift to each other and mine is strengthened as my attitude toward God changes. I learn to submit to God’s will in my life, to have self-respect, and to keep both of these attitudes by giving away what I receive.



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"



-/-

No comments: