TOPICS – May 6
1) Daily Reflections
“HOLD BACK NOTHING”
The real tests of the situation are your own willingness to
confide and your full confidence in the one with whom you
you share your first accurate self-survey. . . . Provided
you hold back nothing, your sense of relief will mount from
minute to minute. The dammed-up emotions of years break
out of their confinement, and miraculously vanish as soon
as they are exposed. As the pain subsides, a healing
tranquility takes its place.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS p. 61-62,
2) Keep It Simple
Much of the wisdom of our program is about how to live in the middle. We learn how to pause and think before we act. We ask, “What is the best way to handle this?” We look for the smooth part of the road. Our actions tell us who we are. We listen to our actions, and we think about them. This listening and thinking takes time. This slows us down. It’s good for us. It gives us time to talk with our Higher Power. After all, we want our actions to come from the new values our Higher Power has given us. Thus, over time we act and feel wiser. The wisdom of the program becomes part of who we are.
3) EMPTY ON THE INSIDE
Luckily, I forgot that God is in charge of results. I was finally taking action, and my motives didn’t matter. I thought I’d go through the Big Book once, then “graduate” to discussion meetings, but there was a lot of laughter in that room, so I kept going. I was not one of those people who walked into meetings and said, “Thank God, I’m home.” I did not particularly want what they had; I just didn’t want what I had anymore–that was the humble beginning I needed.
-AA Big Book p. 519
4) Today, I will come back to balance with any need or want that seems
to be controlling my life. Instead of dwelling on it, I’ll give it to God
and focus on taking care of myself.
–Melody BeattieT