Topics 5/16/2025
1 WE FORGIVE . . .
Often it was while working on this Step with our sponsors or spiritual advisers that we first felt truly able to forgive others, no matter how deeply we felt they had wronged us. Our moral inventory had persuaded us that all-round forgiveness was desirable, but it was only when we resolutely tackled Step Five that we inwardly knew we’d be able to receive forgiveness and give it, too.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 58
2 RELEASING EXPECTATIONS…
My serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations. The higher my expectations of other people are, the lower is my serenity. I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations. But then my ‘rights’ try to move in, and they, too, can force my serenity level down. I have to discard my ‘rights,’ as well as my expectations, by asking myself, ‘How important is it, really? How important is it compared to my serenity, my emotional sobriety?’
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, p. 420
3 RESPONSIBILITY
Today I am responsible for my life. No longer can I say I do not know; no longer can I blame others for my disease; no longer can I manipulate in the “playground of denial.”
The spiritual program requires a maturity of lifestyle that involves responsibility – but the joys are immense.
F.L. DAILY MEDITATION
4 THE LESSON
When you replace “Why is this happening to me?” with “What is this trying to teach me?”, everything shifts.
Anonymous