AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)
March 13, 2016
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Self-pity
"Self-pity is one of the most unhappy and consuming defects that we know.
It is a bar to all spiritual progress and can cut off all effective communication with our fellows
because of its inordinate demands for attention and sympathy.
It is a maudlin form of martyrdom, which we can ill afford."
- As Bill Sees It, p. 238
Thought to Ponder . . .
Self-pity is followed by isolation is followed by a drink.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
P L O M = Poor Little Old Me.
A Member Shares:
Hello, Jenny here, an alcoholic. Self-pity was a reason I drank in the past...the "poor me's!" If you had what I had, you would drink too. Really, how sad was that? I really had a lot to be grateful for and the booze hid that. Today, in sobriety, when I get a case of the "poor me's," I am quicker to see it now, thankfully. It feels 'yucky' and I do not like that feeling now because it doesn’t feel too good to sit in. I have learned that instead of the "what I don't have or what I can't do" thinking is to turn that around to "what do I have to be grateful for? What can I actually do?" Turn-arounds are a great way to get through that crappy feeling, and self-pity is simply that...a feeling. It's part of growing up in AA. I am learning to recognize it and to do something about it; not wallow, and let it drag on. I know today that if I continue to wallow in that destructive thinking, it could lead this alkie right back to a drink. Life is so much better sober. It's not always easy or always happy, but how would I truly appreciate those happy, serene, wonderful days if I didn't have a bit of the other? I can see it today, and when I get caught up in that crappy thinking, I am closing myself off to the sunlight of my Higher Power and that is not what I want anymore. I want that pathway to my heart and soul to remain open; to be able to walk the path that God wants for me today, and it's certainly not sitting in my crappy thinking!
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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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