in physical objects and finances I have far less than a year ago due to circumstances outside my control BUT in sobriety I have more than I know what to do with, I have to keep giving it away 
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Have a great day Mr Ed.
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I canāt believe I have not seen this thread yet. This is great. I just read the first post you had on here and man I couldnāt agree more. Thank you for this thread. 
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Quote of the Day: āHumility is one of the most misunderstood words. Most people think itās associated with humiliation, well it is not. It means to be humble which is the opposite of ego and selfishness. Itās hard to pray to God if you think that you are God yourself, and itās even harder to be an egomaniac with an inferiority complex. Less self - less problems.ā
S.C. Klane, āWisdom, Magic and Miraclesā
When we clean our side of the street, life becomes more serene. Itās exhausting always having to be right. Our insecurities compel our overwhelming desire to be right, but this has an astronomical cost to our own well-being. So often, our pride and ego drive people away, and prevent us from finding peace of mind. Pride and ego breaks or weakens our conscious contact with our Higher Power quicker than any of our other character defects. To fully reconnect back with God, we need to depress our ego, and ādo the right thing.ā Making amends and forgiving others clears our spiritual blockages and paves the way to serenity. During a conflict, the second we start arguing, we cease seeking the truth, but instead, we seek dominance over another. Many years ago, after an argument with my wife, an older woman in line at the market said to me as she saw me brooding, āDo you want to be right, or do you want to be married?ā This woman didnāt know me, but she totally knew me! I laughed and went home to make amends to my wife. This has become a guiding principle in my life, so I would encourage you to ask yourself this simple question, āDo you want to be right, or do you want to be serene and happy?ā Today, I choose to be happy. 
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Glad you found the thread Matthew, hope it helps.
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The great paradox of giving it a way to keep it. That is the way it works. Great to hear from you my friend. Wishing you a beautiful day in recovery Paul.
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Quote of the Day: āMy soul remained a mystery until my Higher Power settled inside me, appearing to me as a very real feeling of love and caring. Kindness slowly took precedence, and I became comfortable with the idea that I didnāt need a drink.ā
āFrom Rags to Riches,ā Cornwall, Ontario, January 2005, Voices of Long-Term Sobriety
Each of us has our own bottom, and for us, it was a nightmare. Emotionally, we were in a very dark place. Mentally, our self loathing thoughts dominated us. Spiritually, even if we had a God in our lives at some point, we were completely disconnected from any type of spiritual association. Despite these horrendous bottoms, many of us still seem compelled to go out and improve our stories. It would be so much easier to just stay in the program, but I understand how someone could succumb to that vulture sitting on our shoulder. A slip is always lurking in the shadows, just waiting for when we are most vulnerable. It is somewhat of an embellishment, but there is much truth to the saying, "My worst day in sobriety is better than my best day drinking.ā For most of us, our lives have become so much more enriched being in the program. Our fellowship is much more than just not drinking; itās a ticket to freedom, sanity and a peaceful way to live life. When a passing thought comes up that a drink somehow makes sense, I remind myself that the one thing that can make matters worse, would be to pick up a drink. One drink will always lead to more, and an eventual complete unraveling of my life and dignity. Today, I choose to stay out of that hell I was in, and choose rather to stay in the light of the program.
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Quote of the Day: "Iām better able to love people more when the storm of my judgmental mind settles, when I understand and empathize rather than criticize and condemn." September 2008, AA Grapevine, āThe Fine Art of Listeningā
What a great description - āthe storm of my judgmental mind.ā Before the program, I had no idea no how judgmental I was, and how debilitating this was to any hope of finding serenity. Ironically, most of what irritated me in others was actually a mirror of my own actions, but I was too self centered to see it. Once we learn to face ourselves and our shortcomings, judging others seems to fade. Who am I to judge anyone if I am honest with myself about my twisted past? It has been a complete freedom to move to a place where I donāt need to judge others. In fact, I recoil at the thought of judging others. Whose inventory are we supposed to take, right? At the very end of Appendix II in our book, it states, "There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignoranceā that principle is contempt prior to investigation.ā Quite simply, our judgmental minds keep us from experiencing love, compassion and kindness. Life is so much more fulfilling when I allow love and kindness to flow freely. If Iām living in resentment or judgment of others, Iām closing the door on my emotional and spiritual growth. Today, I will try to avoid the dreaded and judgmental 3 Cās - donāt condemn, criticize or complain.
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Quote of the Day: "Though they knew they must help other alcoholics if they would remain sober, that motive became secondary. It was transcended by the happiness they found in giving themselves to others."
Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book, p. 159
The aforementioned quote has become my favorite 12th step promise. Coming into the program, we all had a common goal of ending the alcoholic nightmare cycle. None of us came skipping into the program thinking Iām going to stop being so selfish, and dedicate my life to helping others. But as we learn the basic principle of maintaining sobriety - one alcoholic helping another - we also learn that we can gain peace and happiness that we never knew possible by simply extending our kindness to others. Committing to help others has completely changed my life and mindset. When Iām serving others, Iām not thinking about myself, and that is an amazing freedom. If Iām in my own head, chances are Iām projecting out into the unknown future or unchangeable past. They have done studies that have determined that hugs and laughter can literally change our biochemistry in a positive way, but I also firmly believe the same is true about giving to others. The feelings I get when I completely give myself to others is all pervasive and mood altering. The second I turn to help others, I immediately get relief from my own head and feel better. I value sobriety immensely, but what I value most is that sense of calm and peace that I receive today by simply serving others.
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Quote of the Day: "Gossip barbed with our anger, a polite form of murder by character assassination, has its satisfactions for us, too. Here we are not trying to help those we criticize; we are trying to proclaim our own righteousness."
12&12, p. 67
Rumor and gossip are cancerous! Sadly, human nature in normal conversation can tend to be judgmental. We judge others at work, we judge our friends and family, and we judge others in meetings. However, if someone is gossiping about another āto youā, there is a good chance they are doing the same āabout youā. I have come to see that criticizing others is just a dishonest form of self praise. When we judge and criticize others, we are basically saying we are better then you or that person. That is nothing short of a shallow and delusional existence. As the leader of a large organization, I tried to squelch gossip and rumor, because I saw how damaging it was to morale. Gossip and rumors can tear apart an organization quicker than anything else. Throughout my career, it was an uphill battle to minimize this engrained human nature that lurks in all of us. In our program, ālove and tolerance is our code,ā so we all have to make an individual commitment to refrain from rumor, gossip, and judgment of others. Why? Because we all need a safe haven of mutual trust, respect and love. I canāt imagine how bad my life would be if it had not been for the safe and comforting feeling I got in the rooms of AA.
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Quote of the Day: "I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isnāt, than live my life as if there isnāt, and die to find out there is."
Albert Camus
So many alcoholics come into the program with a spiritual void, me included. We fight the concept of a Higher Power and question the relevance to getting clean and sober. As we get sober and see how other peopleās lives are enriched through spirituality, we begin to open our hearts to a God of our own understanding. Gaining belief and faith in God is a gradual process for most, but it usually starts with God speaking through others at meetings. We may not believe at first, but we believe you believe, and your life seems to be so much better for it. Letting God into my heart has made my life so much more than I could have ever imagined, and all of it is a direct result of AA nurturing a blossoming belief and trust in God. However, my complete faith only came after years of walking through numerous life difficulties and challenges, and always discovering that Godās plan for me was always better than my own. For me, to question the existence of God and heaven is pointless and irrelevant. My life is so much better āhaving faithā that God will always be there for me. Today, I will try to stay in complete faith by practicing Godās will and practicing care and compassion in my thoughts and actions.
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Amen to that 
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Quote of the Day: A Big Book falling apart is normally an AA member that is not. Walk softly and carry a Big Book.
AA Share
Most newcomer AAās are intimidated by the Big Book, or any book for that matter. Our minds are too hazy to read and comprehend complete thoughts, let alone a book with so much depth and meaning. Many of us even question whether we have irreversible brain damage from our extensive drinking and using; I know I did. The book seems a daunting and unrealistic task, so we generally just compartmentalize this task for another day. Then we discover that it is really only the first 164 pages (you can work all 12 steps through page 103), and we can read it in bite size portions. We hear suggestions like just reading one page each day, or if we are lucky enough, we may find a sponsor willing to walk us through it line by line. We also discover that the Big Book comes alive when we read it, and we always seem to find something that we need to read right at that moment in our lives. It has always amazed me how well our book transcends time and cultures; itās as if it is a fluid living organism. The biggest mistake we can make is to take the Big Book for granted, and not read and reread it often. The Big Book is our road map to recovery, and an instruction manual to finding happiness in life. Read the book like your life depends on it, because it does!
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Quote of the Day: "We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition."
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 85
āAll we have is today.ā We have heard it many times in meetings, but most of us just pay it lip service. When we let our mind take us to what we need to do tomorrow, next week or month, we are cutting off our connection with God today. Projecting our fears or wants for the future is also a spiritual disconnect that cuts us off from truly enjoying the small blessings in the here and now. After a few years, many of us start to take our sobriety for granted, which could be the biggest mistake of our lives. Life gets good, and we settle into a minimal program routine. As we let other things become a higher priority than the program and our spirituality, we see our inner peace and serenity slip away. We deplete our spiritual bank with self will and begin that beleaguered wander away from Godās will. For me, I know that it is critical to build up my spiritual bank by going to meetings, being of service, and helping others in all I do; I need to approach service as a life or death errand in order to be able to face the inevitable challenge against that first drink. There is no human defense against that first drink; a developed conscious contact with God is our only true shield of armor. The formula to stay spiritually fit is quite simple - trust God, keep your house in order (practice the steps), and be caring and compassionate to others.
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Quote of the Day: āAll I have is today, this moment, now. I can spend this moment making it the best moment yet with fearlessness, trust, courage, confidence, faith and love or I can waste it with doubt, anxiety, worry, regret, anger, fear, distress and hurt. Knowing that whichever way I choose determines the experiences I will have, I choose to use the opportunity of each moment to live my life to the fullest, always choosing love.ā
Carol A James
We come into this program with so much self loathing. We hate whom we were, and what we had become. We certainly had a love void or twisted perception of love. We would fall into toxic relationships riddled with sick dependencies that we convinced ourselves was love. It is impossible to truly love others unless you can find peace within yourself. I heard in a meeting that forgiveness is the final form of love. This may be true, but we need to forgive ourselves before we can fully forgive others. The saying, āLet us love you, until you can love yourself,ā was such an important part of my recovery, and this became a gateway for me to completely love others. I will be forever grateful to those loving members that accepted me with kindness in my reckless early sobriety. Their loving actions modeled the way to a life I never knew existed. To be loving, we must face our own truths and find a path towards being nonjudgmental of others. Love is an act of selflessness, sacrifice, and lack of expectation. When Iām thinking less of me, and more of what I can do for you, I feel the spirit of love and kindness well up throughout me. As hard as it is to get out of self and be loving at times, I often remind myself that love is never a wasted emotion.
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Quote of the Day: "You can do this thing one of two ways; The hard way or the easy way. The hard way is to do it on your own, the easy way is to know you canāt."
Chuck C.
All of us were habitual ārelapsersā long before we came to the program. I canāt count how many times I swore off alcohol. Before the program, we all thought that our drinking was some kind of character flaw or lack of willpower. We would try to stop drinking by white knuckling through periods, but it never lasted. If there is a harder way to do something, an alcoholic will find it! The obsession to drink always won, because the enemy had outposts firmly planted in our head. Coming into the program, we discovered the āweā concept that has changed our lives forever. āWeā is the first word in our steps and is mentioned in 6 of the 12 steps. āWeā is also the first word in the Doctorās Opinion, which is generally accepted as the beginning of our text. It is abundantly clear to me that āI canātā stay sober, but āwe can.ā It does not take long for us to have the next epiphany, which is the understanding that the fellowship is not only support for me to stay sober, it can help in every area of my life. I am no longer alone in any of lifeās inevitable difficulties, and all I have to do is reach my hand out to another member of our program for care and support. We never have to be alone ever again.
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Quote of the Day: "God, how grateful I am for thisā¦ No more nights in the dark, hiding alone, sucking down my 4th bottle for the nightā¦ Empty soul. Hundreds of names on my contact list, not one I can call āfriendā."
Pastor Tom
When I read this quote, it brought me right back to that incredibly dark place I was in for so long before surrendering to the program. Being alone can be isolation, but for me, it was just as bad being in a room of people and not feeling a connection with anyone. Alone in a room of people with only your feelings of self loathing, and self doubt, was sheer torture. Of course we drank; how could we not. Now, I can walk into any room of AA and feel an instant connection. This later evolved into a pervasive feeling of interconnectedness with all of Godās children. In early recovery, we are bonded by a common history of alcoholism and all the associated trash of our addiction, but as we stay in the middle of the program, our connection progresses into one based on spirituality and bettering our lives. I cherish that feeling of safety and identification I instantly get in our treasured rooms. Iām home! The friendships I have made in our fellowship, like Pastor Tom, are true, pure and whole. Today, Iām so grateful and proud to be able to say, āI love all my friends in AA.ā
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Me too!! The friendships Iāve made in AA are more authentic than any Iāve made in my entire life.
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Really well I never!!!
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Whether you like it or not, youāre my forever friend! You made getting through my early days possible and bearable. Your humor and personality are one of a kind and I love it!!
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OK Iāll let you off, weāve come a long way and itās been a pleasure.
Sorry Mr Ed, as you were sir.
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