TOPICS 5/29/2026
DAILY REFLECTIONS
1) The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
12 AND 12, p. 139
I first heard the short form of the Third Tradition in the Preamble. When I came to A.A. I could not accept myself, my alcoholism, or a Higher Power. If there had been any physical, mental, moral, or religious requirements for membership, I would be dead today. Bill W. Said in his tape on the Traditions that the Third Tradition is a charter for individual freedom. The most impressive thing to me was the feeling of acceptance from members who were practicing the Third Tradition by tolerating and accepting me. I feel acceptance is love and love is God‘s will for us.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 148
2) When I am feeling depressed, I repeat to myself statement, such as these: “Pain is the touchstone of progress”…”Fear no evil”…”This too, shall pass”…”This experience can be turned to benefit.”
These fragments of prayer bring far more than your comfort. They keep me on the track of right acceptance; they break up my compulsive themes of guilt, depression, rebellion, and pride; and sometimes they endow me with the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
3) “The more one judges the less one loves.”-Balzac
At times we need to make judgments about people‘s behavior. We stand back and look at how their lives affect our sobriety. We have to do this to choose people whose relationships will be good for us. We have to do this before we trust someone in business. We should take a good look at the other person before we fall in love. But if we decide to trust or love someone, we have to stop judging. When we love someone, we don’t stand back. We move in close. We give them all our love can offer. We don’t just think and judge. We feel. We are on their side. We look for good in them. We don’t pick them apart. We love the whole person.
4) “It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
-Kahil Gibran