From the monthly archives: December 2009

Daily resolutions.

On December 31, 2009 By

A New Year: 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes—a time to consider directions, goals, and actions. I must make some plans to live a normal life, but also I must live emotionally within a twenty-four-hour frame, for if I do, I don’t have to make New Year’s resolutions! I can make [...]

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Bill Wilson’s spiritual experience.

On December 30, 2009 By

In December 1934, I appeared at Towns Hospital, New York. My old friend, Dr. William Silkworth shook his head. Soon free of my sedation and alcohol I felt horribly depressed. My friend Ebby turned up and although glad to see him, I shrank a little as I feared evangelism, but nothing of the sort happened. [...]

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Anonymity.

On December 30, 2009 By

Tradition Twelve became important early in my sobriety and, along with the Twelve Steps, it continues to be a must in my recovery. I became aware after I joined the Fellowship that I had personality problems, so that when I first heard it, the Tradition’s message was very clear: there exists an immediate way for [...]

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The joy of living.

On December 29, 2009 By

AA is a joyful program! Even so, I occasionally balk at taking the necessary steps to move ahead, and find myself resisting the very actions that could bring about the joy I want. I would not resist if those actions did not touch some vulnerable area of my life, an area that needs hope and [...]

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Suit up and show up.

On December 28, 2009 By

The old line says, “Suit up and show up.” That action is so important that I like to think of it as my motto. I can choose each day to suit up and show up, or not. Showing up at meetings starts me toward feeling a part of that meeting, for then I can do [...]

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Problem solving.

On December 27, 2009 By

Through the recovery process described in the Big Book, I have come to realize that the same instructions that work on my alcoholism, work on much more. Whenever I am angry or frustrated, I consider the matter a manifestation of the main problem within me, alcoholism. As I “walk” through the Steps, my difficulty is [...]

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Carrying this message.

On December 10, 2009 By

To renounce the alcoholic world is not to abandon it, but to act upon principles I have come to love and cherish, and to restore in others who still suffer the serenity I have come to know. When I am truly committed to this purpose, it matters little what clothes I wear or how I [...]

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Love with no pricetag.

On December 9, 2009 By

In order for me to start working the Twelfth Step, I had to work on sincerity, honesty, and to learn to act with humility. Carrying the message is a gift of my self, no matter how many years of sobriety I may have accumulated. My dreams can become reality. I solidify my sobriety by sharing [...]

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Children never lie.

On December 9, 2009 By

“I once knew a woman who was crying before a meeting. She was approached by a five-year-old girl who told her, “You do not have to cry here. This is a good place. They took my daddy and they made him better.”

That is exactly what AA did for me; it took me and made [...]

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True ambition.

On December 7, 2009 By

During my drinking years, my one and only concern was to have my fellow man think highly of me. My ambition in everything I did was to have the power to be at the top. My inner self kept telling me something else but I couldn’t accept it. I didn’t even allow myself to realize [...]

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