Few experiences are of less value than fast sobriety.
Too many times discouragement has been the bonus for unrealistic expectations.
. . . The secret of fulfilling my potential is in acknowledging my limitations
and believing that time is a gift, not a threat.
~ Daily Reflections, p. 70
In those days I had no one to whom I might take my troubles.
Today I have.
Today I have Someone who will always hear me;
I have a warm fellowship among men who understand my problems;
I have tasks to do and am glad to do them,
to see others who are alcoholics
and to help them in any way I can to become sober men.
I took my last drink in 1937.
~ Jim S., Akron, Ohio, early member~
- Experience, Strength and Hope, pp. 276-77
If you really listen (not just hear) what is being said, you may find the person talking has quietly slipped inside your head and seems to be describing the landscape there -- the shifting shapes of nameless fears, the color and chill of impending doom -- if not the actual events and words stored in your brain.
- Living Sober, p. 85
We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free.
We cannot subscribe to the belief that this life is vale of tears, though it was just that for many of us.
But it is clear that we made our own misery.
God didn't do it.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 133
The only thing worse than being unhappy is being happy and not knowing it.
So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making.
They arise out 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! God makes that possible.
-- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 62
These are actual comments made by South Carolina Troopers that were taken off their car videos:
1. "You know, stop lights don't come any redder than the one you just went through."
2. "Relax, the handcuffs are tight because they're new. They'll stretch after you wear them awhile."
3. "If you take your hands off the car, I'll make your birth certificate a worthless document." (My Favorite)
4. "If you run, you'll only go to jail tired."
5. "Can you run faster than 1200 feet per second? Because that's the speed of the bullet that'll be chasing you."
(LOVE IT)
6. "You don't know how fast you were going? I guess that means I can write anything I want to on the ticket, huh?"
7. "Yes, sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don't think it will help. Oh, did I mention that I'm the shift supervisor?"
8. "Warning! You want a warning? O.K, I'm warning you not to do that again or I'll give you another ticket."
9. "The answer to this last question will determine whether you are drunk or not. Was Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?"
10. "Fair? You want me to be fair? Listen, fair is a place where you go to ride on rides, eat cotton candy and corn dogs and step in monkey poop."
11. "Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster oven."
12. "In God we trust; all others we run through NCIC." ( National Crime Information Center )
13. "Just how big were those 'two beers' you say you had?"
14. "No sir, we don't have quotas anymore. We used to, but now we're allowed to write as many tickets as we can."
15. "I'm glad to hear that the Chief (of Police) is a personal friend of yours. So you know someone who can post your bail."
AND THE WINNER IS....
16. "You didn't think we give pretty women tickets? You're right, we don't. Sign here."
May I set my goals for the New Year not at the year-long mark, but one day at a time.
My traditional New Year's resolutions have been so grandly stated and so soon broken.
Let me not weaken my resolve by stretching it to cover "forever" - or even one long year.
May I reapply it firmly each new day.
May I learn not to stamp my past mistakes with that indelible word, "forever."
Instead, may each single day in each New Year be freshened by my new-found hope.
