AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)
August 24, 2014
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Making Peace with the Past
If we have come to know how wrong thinking and action have hurt us and others,
then the need to quit living by ourselves with those tormenting ghosts of yesterday gets more urgent than ever.
We have to talk to somebody about them.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 55
Thought to Ponder . . .
Fear not for the future; weep not for the past.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
P E A C E = Providing Experienced Attitude Changes Every day.
A Member Shares:
Hi everyone, I'm Lisa, an alcoholic. Making peace with the past is something that has taken me very long to work on, especially in the still of the night. Maybe because I wasn't feeling really well that day, or because my spiritual condition wasn't as strong as I would like it to be, or just because I am human. Thoughts of past behavior will creep back into my head and I will not be able to shut them off. I hurt people in ways that I would never accept myself. When I first got sober, I was mired in the depressive thinking of how people had hurt me. It was a slow process to learn that my behavior as a person under the influence actually invited others' behavior toward me. I had to fight hard to learn how to forgive myself. Although I didn't actually have a drink in me, I had been tossing my character defects around for so long that I came to live under the influence of alcohol, drunk or not. I had to admit that no one held me down and poured the booze down my throat. I began to understand that in the grand scheme of things, I am really not all that important. I was taught through you guys how to interpret the literature and look deeply within myself. I had to learn about forgiving others; dropping blame. I had to make amends where they were due. I couldn't wait until I could change the past to get sober, so when those occasional times when guilt takes hold of me I talk about it with another alcoholic. I pray for peace and I take another look at The Prayer of St. Francis [12&12, p. 99] to keep close at hand the goal of who I wish to be today. The pain of this growth has been worth more than all the money and things I used to have, more than anything I ever thought I wanted in my life, more than I ever thought I could attain, even in small part. I walk taller today because I am not that drunk I used to be. Thanks for being here and for helping me stay sober today.
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(All shares are reproduced with the kind permission of the person sharing)
Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hope in carrying the AA message.
Blessings in sobriety to all,
In love and service,
joanna b
dailythought@aa-alive.org
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