Change

I knew at least that there had to be some changes made.
I tried to change the time and place and amount of my drinking.
I tried to change my environment, my place of living -- like most of us who at one time or another think that our trouble is geography rather than whiskey.
I even entertained the idea of changing wives.
I tried to change everything and everybody, except myself -- the only thing I could change.
- Experience, Strength and Hope, p. 153


Learn to change, change to learn.




We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails.
Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.
Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Spirituality

AA is a spiritual program and a spiritual way of life.
Even the first half of the First Step, "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol," is a spiritual experience. . . I began with blind faith, but the proof of truth is that it works.
I believed those who said they had suffered from alcoholism, but, through AA, were now enjoying sobriety.
So the truth was there for me to see.
- Came to Believe, p. 3

There is no materialism in AA -- just spirituality.




We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Demands

Living upon a basis of unsatisfied demands, we were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration.
Therefore, no peace was to be had unless we could find a means of reducing these demands.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 76

Once we understand ourselves, the rest of living falls in line.




We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails.
Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.
Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Merry-go-round

I began to feel like a clown juggling too many balls.
Each ball represented a problem I was keeping up in the air.
My arms were weary and I knew I couldn't keep on much longer, but I was not about to give up.
My pride and ego wouldn't let me.
Bosses, judges, co-workers, lawyers, car notes, bar tabs, loan sharks, utility
payments, landlords, my girlfriend, people I had double-crossed -- I looked to all of these as the source of my problems, while overlooking the most basic problem: my drinking and myself.
I'd known for a long time that I desperately wanted off this merry-go-round, but I had no idea how to do it.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 506

Swallowing my pride will not get me drunk.


We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

A Snake in the Brain

Alcoholism is deadly, ugly, and tough. It is also cunning, baffling, and powerful.
It wants me to consider perfection attainable. . .
It wants me to try to fix myself with the right therapist or the right religion. . .
It wants me to forget that it is a snake in the brain, hoping to catch my eye, watching, waiting.
The gritty pain of alcoholism is the traction of recovery.
I cannot afford to sell off the principles for an easier, softer way.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 3], p. 165




We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Blame

To see how erratic emotions victimized us often took a long time.
We could perceive them in others, but only slowly in ourselves. . .
Where other people were concerned, we had to drop the word "blame" from our speech and thought.
This required great willingness even to begin.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 47

A victim is a spectator in his life.


We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Staying Focused

We ask you, gracious God, to help us to become more aware of the gift of your presence.
Keep us from getting so caught up in our activities—or in our rush to accomplish things—that we lose sight of the immensity of your love and care for us.
— from A Retreat With Pope John Paul II




We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Belief

It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself.
Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning.
I saw that growth could start from that point.
Upon a foundation of complete willingness I might build what I saw in my friend.
Would I have it?
Of course I would!
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 12

I saw, I felt, I believed.


We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Divine Medicine

Simple intention is a divine medicine, a balm that soothes the powers of our soul wounded by inordinate self-expression.
It heals our actions in their secret infirmity.
It draws our strength to the hidden summit of our being, and bathes our spirit in the infinite mercy of God.
-- Thomas Merton


We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Insecurity

The most common symptoms of emotional insecurity are worry, anger, self-pity, and depression.
These stem from causes which sometimes seem to be within us, and at other times to come from without.
To take inventory in this respect we ought to consider carefully all personal relationships which bring continuous or recurring trouble.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 52

Worry is negative meditation.

We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Fear

For all its usual destructiveness, we have found that fear can be the starting point for better things.
Fear can be a stepping-stone to prudence and to a decent respect for others.
It can point the path to justice, as well as to hate.
And the more we have of respect and justice, the more we shall begin to find the love which can suffer much, and yet be freely given.
So fear need not always be destructive, because the lessons of its consequences can lead us to positive values.
- The Language of the Heart, p. 265

Situations I fear are rarely as bad as the fear itself.



We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Brink of Disaster

We live on the brink of disaster because we do not know how to let life alone.
We do not respect the living and fruitful contradictions and paradoxes of which true life is full.
-- Thomas Merton


We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

A Positive Force

In reality, love is a positive force, a transcendent spiritual power.
It is, in fact, the deepest creative power in human nature.
Rooted in the biological riches of our inheritance, love flowers spiritually as freedom and as a creature response to life in perfect encounter with another person.
It is a living appreciation of life as value as gift.
It responds to the full richness, the variety, the fecundity of living experience itself: it "knows" the inner mystery of life.
It enjoys life as an inexhaustible fortune.
-- Thomas Merton

We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

A Self-Sufficient Pleasure

We cannot find Him unless we know we need Him.
We forget this need when we take a self-sufficient pleasure in our own good works.
The poor and helpless are the first to find Him, Who came to seek and to save that which was lost.
-- Thomas Merton




We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Listening

Sometimes, the body can speak an eloquent language all its own.
I see and feel that at meetings. So coming to regular meetings of AA is a priceless experience for me on a great many levels --mental, spiritual, social, emotional, and now possibly physical.
Listening quietly is already a joy to me, and if it calms me down and lowers my blood pressure in the process, that's just another reason to keep coming back.
- Thank You For Sharing, p. 13






We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Born of Fear

It takes more courage than we imagine to be perfectly simple with other men.
Our frankness is often spoiled by a hidden barbarity, born of fear.
-- Thomas Merton




We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Psychic Change

Strange as may seem to those who do not understand -- once a psychic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to follow a few simple rules.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. xxix

Learn to change, change to learn.


We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Spritual Growth

Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you.
At the start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with God as we understood Him.
Afterward, we found ourselves accepting many things which then seemed entirely out of reach.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 47

Growing old is inevitable,
growing up is optional,
growing spiritually is up to me.



We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

The Gospel of Life

In the name of God: respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life!
Only in this direction will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness!
— from Meet John Paul II




We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Habits

Our drinking was connected with many habits -- big and little.
Some of the were thinking habits, or things we felt inside ourselves.
Others were doing habits -- things we did, actions we took.
In getting used to not drinking, we have found that we needed new habits
to take the place of those old ones. . .
After we spent a few months practicing these new, sober habits or ways of acting and thinking, they become almost second nature to most of us, as drinking used to be.
- Living Sober, p. 1

Habits are like cork or lead -- they tend to keep you up or hold you down.


We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

One Silence

Today, Father, this blue sky lauds you.
The delicate green and orange flowers of the tulip poplar tree praise you.
The distant blue hills praise you, together with the sweet-smelling air that is full of brilliant light.
The bickering flycatchers praise you with the lowing cattle and the quails that whistle over there.
I too, Father, praise you, with all these my brothers, and they give voice to my own heart and to my own silence.
We are all one silence, and a diversity of voices.
-- Thomas Merton


We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Recollection

We learn recollection which consists in listening for God's will, in direct and simple attention to reality.
Recollection is awareness of the unconditional.
Prayer then means yearning for the simple presence of God, for a personal understanding of his word, for knowledge of his will and for capacity to hear and obey him.
-- Thomas Merton






We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Unchangeable Fact

We try never to lose sight of the unchangeable fact of our alcoholism, but we learn not to brood or feel sorry for ourselves or talk about it all the time.
We accept it as a characteristic of our body -- like our height or our need for glasses, or like any allergies we may have.
Then we can figure out how to live comfortably -- not bitterly -- with that knowledge as long as we start out by simply avoiding that first drink (remember?) just for today.
- Living Sober, p. 9



The first drink has the last say.


B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)

We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Empty And Full

From moment to moment I remember with astonishment that
I am at the same time empty and full,
and satisfied because I am empty.
I lack nothing.
The Lord rules me.




B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)

We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

The Spirit Of The Earth

I had assumed that the Earth, the spirit of the Earth,
noticed exceptions -- those who wantonly damage it
and those who do not.
But the Earth is wise.
It has given itself into the keeping of all,
and all are therefore accountable.
-- Alice Walker Living by the Word




B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)

We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Going to Any Length

If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it -- then you are ready to take certain steps.
At some of these we balked.
We thought we could find an easier, softer way.
But we could not.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 58




The distance is nothing; it is only the first step toward it that is difficult.



B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)

We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Martyrs Set Bad Examples

Martyrs set bad examples. -- David Russell

Sometimes we call people "martyrs."
We think of them as victims.
They suffer, but sometimes not for a cause.
They play "poor me."
They want people to notice how much they suffer.
They are afraid to really live.
These are the people who set bad examples.

True martyrs died for causes they believed in.
We remember them because they were so full of energy and spirit.

We can also live a life full of energy and spirit.
Let's go for it!

creater - thanks for giving me energy and for healing my spirit.
Help me live fully by putting my life in Your care.

Action for the Day

What kind of example do I set? Does my life reflect joy for life and recovery?

You are reading from the book:



Keep It Simple by Anonymous


B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)~~~B-)

We cannot change the directions of the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.

Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.
... B-)

Location:Aiken, SC

Realization

God began to clear my channels so that real understanding began to come...
It was realization and acknowledgement of the fact that I was full of self-pity and resentment, realization of the fact that I had not fully given my problems to God.
I was still trying to do my own fixing.
- Experience, Strength and Hope, p. 22

Reliance on God enables me to match calamity with serenity.


We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Faith

Faith, then, is not only capable of penetrating the intimate substance of God's Truth, but it is an immediately redemptive knowledge of God.
It "saves" us.
Its light is more than a ray of speculation: it confers life.
The awakening of faith not only gives light to the understanding and peace to the will: it transforms a man's whole moral being.
He becomes a new creature.
He is born again.



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Making The Most Of One's Best

Rebellion against your handicaps gets you nowhere.
Self-pity gets you nowhere.
One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world - making the most of one's best.
--Harry Emerson Fosdick

Greek philosopher Epictetus put it this way:
"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."

Today, let me not concentrate on my handicaps as much as on my abilities. I know I have been given all I need to make my life a success.

-- from The Reflecting Pond by Liane Cordes



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Nirvana

Nirvana is the wisdom of perfect love grounded in itself and shining through everything, meeting with no opposition.
The heart of brokenness is then seen for what it was: an illusion, but a persistent and invincible illusion of the isolated ego-self, setting itself up in opposition to love, demanding that its own desire be accepted as the law of the universe, and hence suffering from the fact that by its desire it is fractured in itself and cut off from the loving wisdom in which it should be grounded.
-- Thomas Mertion



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Troubles

So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making.
They arise our of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn't think so.
Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness.
We must, or it kills us!
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 62


If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light, take off all your envy, jealousy, un-forgiveness, selfishness, and fear.


A R T = Always Remain Teachable.



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Asking for Help

Putting my ego aside to ask others for help still doesn't come naturally, so I've made it a part of my Tenth Step inventory, asking, "Have I failed to ask for help when I needed it today?"
I am astonished how often the answer is yes.
Not asking, it seems, is a deeply ingrained trait, as most of my character defects are.
But the rewards of asking for help -- increased humility, connection, and trust -- are well worth the effort.
- AA Grapevine, April 2011, p. 21

Simply asking for help seems to be a help in itself.



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Infinitely Rich

Either you look at the universe as a very poor creation out of which no one can make anything, or you look at your own life and your own part in the universe as infinitely rich, full of inexhaustible interest, opening out into the infinite further possibilities for study and contemplation and interest and praise.
Beyond all and in all is God.
-- Thomas Merton



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

What Are You Bring?

Some people go through life trying to find out
what the world holds for them
only to find out too late that it's
what they bring to the world that really counts.
-- Lucy Maud Montgomery




We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Faith in Action

I continue to walk this journey of my faith, firmly believing that it's like any journey or trip.
It's a journey during which I'll get lost at times, but keep going because I know the destination is worth it.
— from St. Anthony Messenger Magazine



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Courage & Patience

Have courage for the great sorrows of life,
and patience for the small ones.
When you have laboriously accomplished your daily tasks,
go to sleep in peace.
God is awake.
-- Victor Hugo



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Easy Does It

The slogan "Easy Does It" is one way we AA's remind each other that many of us have tendencies at times to overdo things, to rush heedlessly along, impatient with anything that slows us down.
We find it hard to relax and savor life.
- Living Sober, p. 44

Rashness and haste make all things insecure: Take it easy!



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Fear

Fear is the knowledge of ourselves in the presence of God's holiness.
It is the knowledge of ourselves in His love, and it sees how far we are from being what His love would have us be.
It knows Who He is and who we are!
-- Thomas Merton






We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

A Winning Attitude

I will begin to lose hold of a winning attitude
if I choose to leave spiritual growth to chance.
I must make life happen,
not let it happen to me.
-- from Easy Does It by Anonymous



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

God's Promises Are Absolute

We have to remember that no one does everything right.
We are all sinners.
God speaks and we do not listen.
On the other hand, the mercy of God is constant.
It cannot be overcome.
God's promises are absolute.
-- Thomas Merton




We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Discover Fire

Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love.
Then for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire.
-- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin




We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Practice

I don't think we can do anything very well in this world unless we practice it.
And I don't believe we do AA very well unless we practice it. . . .
We should practice . . . acquiring the spirit of service.
We should attempt to acquire some faith, which isn't easily done, especially for the person who has always been very materialistic, following the standards of society today.
But I think faith can be acquired; it can be acquired slowly; it has to be cultivated.
That was not easy for me, and I assume that it is difficult for everyone else.
- Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, pp. 307-308


People of faith have a logical idea of what life is all about.



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Acceptance

Acceptance of even the worst of crosses would lead to unanticipated, wonderful experiences of God's loving goodness.
He suggested that we fully embrace our pain, present it at the foot of Christ's cross, and pray daily for a patient acceptance of his divine will.
— from Burst




We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Emotional Sobriety

My emotional sobriety has regularly been imperfect.
I've made many mistakes and behaved poorly to others. . .
I thought that once I stopped drinking all my problems would end.
It didn't occur to me that now, after almost a lifetime of drinking alcohol,
I'd have to face life without medicating. . .
I work daily on trying to rein in my impetuous temper, my obsession with reaction rather than reflection, and that silly ego that keeps rearing its ugly head. . .
Despite my shortcomings, with the help of the AA program and my brothers in AA, improvements will continue to be made.
- The AA Grapevine, April 2011, p. 17


There is only one corner of the universe I can be certain of improving,
and that's my own self.




We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

Seeds of Contemplation

Give me humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens.
And possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love for which one thing alone is necessary.
-- Thomas Merton



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)

First Five People Forgiveness Plan

When people don't forgive,
they probably shorten their lives.
--Doris Donnelly

Sometimes forgiveness seems impossible and we feel stuck in the quicksand of our own resentment.
When everything else fails, we can try the "First Five People Forgiveness Plan."
Each morning we make a decision to forgive the first five people we come in contact with who make us mad.
We forgive all five people without analyzing or deciding if they deserve to be forgiven.
We promptly forgive each one of them without exception.

This simple plan can work wonders for those of us who usually hold on to resentments and anger.
Letting go of anger and resentment lets us feel our loving side.
In learning to forgive others we can begin learning about how to forgive ourselves, too.

Today let me also remember that I, too, deserve forgiveness.

-- from Our Best Days by Nancy Hull-Mast



We cannot change the directions of the wind, but we can adjust our sails. Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise. ... B-)