The Gift of Choice

When I am willing to do the right thing, I am rewarded with an inner peace
no amount of liquor could ever provide.
When I am unwilling to do the right thing, I become restless, irritable, and discontent. It is always my choice.
Through the Twelve Steps, I have been given the gift of choice.
I am no longer at the mercy of a disease that tells me the only answer is to drink.
If willingness is the key to unlock the gates of hell, it is action that opens those doors so that we may walk freely among the living.
-- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 317


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-)

Pickles

We are also convinced, after the countless attempts we made to prove otherwise, that alcoholism is incurable -- like some other illnesses.
It cannot be "cured" in this sense: We cannot change our body chemistry
and go back to being the normal, moderate social drinkers lots of us
seemed to be in our youth.
As some of us put it, we can no more make that change than a pickle can change itself back into a cucumber.
- Living Sober p. 8

If I don't change, my sobriety date will.



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-)

Instincts

We find that our old attitudes toward our instincts need to undergo drastic revisions. . .
We have learned that the satisfaction of instincts cannot be the sole end and aim of our lives.
If we place instincts first, we have got the cart before the horse; we shall be pulled backward into disillusionment.
-- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 114


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-)

Old Sea Parable

There's an old sea story about a ship's Captain who inspected his sailors, and afterward told the first mate that his men smelled bad.

The Captain suggested perhaps it would help if the sailors would change underwear occasionally.

The first mate responded, "Aye, aye sir, I'll see to it immediately!"

The first mate went straight to the sailors berth deck and announced, "The Captain thinks you guys smell bad and wants you to change your underwear."

He continued, "JJ you change with Jimmie, Richard you change with George and Don you change with Wayne ."

THE MORAL OF THE STORY:

Someone may come along and promise "Change",but don't count on things smelling any better.

Fear

The problem of resolving fear has two aspects.
We shall have to try for all the freedom from fear that is possible for us to attain.
Then we shall need to find the courage and the grace to deal constructively with whatever fears remain.
-- As Bill Sees It, p. 61


The power within me is far greater than any fear before 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-)

Hope

In spite of the great increase in the size and the span of this Fellowship, at its core it remains simple and personal.
Each day, somewhere in the world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic, sharing experience, strength, and hope.
-- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. xxii


Hope sees the invisible,
feels the intangible,
and achieves the impossible.



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-)

Letting Go of Old Ideas

We finally asked ourselves: Wouldn't it be more intelligent to seek out and tap a strength greater than our own rather than persist in our futile solo efforts, after they had time and again been proved ineffective?
We still don't think it is very smart to keep trying to see in the dark if you can simply switch on a lamp and use its light. . .
And the full enjoyment of living sober isn't a one-person job, either.
-- Living Sober, p. 73


Hold your face up to the Light, even though for the moment you do not see.



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-)

Circus Act!

I realized I'd been living outside myself for so long I'd almost become a walking vacancy.
I was still running a kind of circus act which had numerous, highly believable posters plastered all over the outside --
See the Spectacular Non-Drinking Person!
Watch How Movingly He Can Recite the Twelve Steps!
-- but which had nothing much going on inside the tent. I've been working hard to shut that circus down ever since with varying degrees of success.
-- The Best of the Grapevine[Vol. 3], pp. 237-238


Never become so heavenly that you're no earthly good.


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 Obituary

In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinborough, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.
A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.
From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship."

The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.
During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;

From spiritual faith to great courage;

From courage to liberty;

From liberty to abundance;

From abundance to complacency;

From complacency to apathy;

From apathy to dependence;

From dependence back into bondage."

The Obituary follows: Born 1776, Died ....


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 Steps

They are simple in language, plain in meaning.
They are also workable by any person having a sincere desire to obtain and keep sobriety.
The results are the proof.
Their simplicity and workability are such that no special interpretations, and certainly no reservations, have ever been necessary.
And it has become increasingly clear that the degree of harmonious living which we achieve is in direct ratio to our earnest attempt to follow them literally under divine guidance to the best of our ability.
-- Dr. Bob S., AA Co-founder, The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 2], p. 248


Take a walk with God. He will meet you at the Steps.


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 in meetings. So coming to 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 great reason to keep coming back.
-- Thank You For Sharing, p. 27


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-)

Expectations = Disappointments

Above all, I was suffering inner pain because my performance and my accomplishments in life failed to live up to my own expectations of myself.
I had to anesthetize that pain with alcohol. Of course, the more I drank, the more unrealistic my expectations became and the poorer my performance,
and the gap widened.
So the need to drink grew still greater.
-- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 556


My disappointments are equal to my expectations.


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-)

Humility

Humility is not about self-judgment or condemnation, but it does mean knowing, at the core of my being, who I am and owning my own strengths and limitations.
Humility is about realizing that I have everything to stay clean, sober, and have a happy life.
Humility is about knowing I don't have to do it alone, that I have a Higher Power and a support system in the rooms of AA to help me.
-- The AA Grapevine, July 2011, p. 27


Humility is not a station we arrive at; it's a way of traveling.



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-)

Humor: New definition for S.O.S.

A C-130 was lumbering along when a cocky F-16 flashed by.
The jet jockey decided to show off.


The fighter jock told the C-130 pilot, 'watch this!' and promptly went into a barrel roll followed by a steep climb..

He then finished with a sonic boom as he broke the sound barrier. The F-16 pilot asked the C-130 pilot what he thought of that?


The C-130 pilot said, 'That was impressive, but watch this!'
The C-130 droned along for about 5 minutes and then the C-130 pilot came back on and said: 'What did you think of that?'

Puzzled, the F-16 pilot asked, 'What the heck did you do?'

The C-130 pilot chuckled. 'I stood up, stretched my legs, walked to the back, took a leak, then got a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll.'

When you are young & foolish - speed & flash may seem a good thing!

When you get older & smarter - comfort & dull is not such a bad thing!

Us older folks understand this one, it's called S.O.S. ... Slower, Older and Smarter! 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-)

Humor: See Back

Ensign Montgomery was holding morning muster.
"Jackson?"
"Here!"

"KIBBEY?"
"Yo."

"STEPHENS?"
"Present, sir."

"Robbins?"
"Yo."

"SEEBACK?"
(Nothing)

"SEEBACK?!"
(Still nothing)

"DAMMIT, SEEBACK!"

The Chief quietly tells the Ensign,

"Turn the paper over, sir."


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-)

Stop Fixing Others

Dear Higher Power,

When I am overly dependent on others, I try to fix them.

I have a real talent in pinpointing what is wrong with other people.

But the very thing that enables me to see their defects most often blinds me to the same, sometimes even worse, shortcomings in myself.

Help me stop fretting about others and instead focus on correcting my own character defects.


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-)

Humor: My Favorite Animal

Our teacher asked us what our favorite animal was, and I said, "Fried chicken."

She said I wasn't funny, but she couldn't have been right, because everyone else in the class laughed.

My parents told me to always be truthful and honest, and I am.

Fried chicken is my favorite animal.

I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of PETA.
He said they love animals very much.
I do, too, especially chicken, pork and beef.

Anyway, my teacher sent me to the principal's office.

I told him what happened, and he laughed, too.
Then he told me not to do it again.

The next day in class my teacher asked me what my favorite live animal was.
I told her it was chicken.
She asked me why, just like she'd asked the other children.
So I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken.

She sent me back to the principal's office again.
He laughed, and told me not to do it again.

I don't understand.
My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn't like it when I am.

Today, my teacher asked us to tell her what famous person we admire most.
I told her, "Colonel Sanders."
Guess where I am now... B-)