Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others. —Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The primary requirement for our recovery is honesty. In order to grow in honesty we first needed to see how we had lied to others and to ourselves. This was not as easy as it first appeared. Our lies to ourselves kept us so fully in the dark that we did not know we were lying. We sometimes told "sincere" lies because we honestly did not distinguish the truth within ourselves. For so long we had preferred dishonest rationalizations, and we had come to believe them.
The spiritual life of this program is based upon experience. What we feel, what we see and hear, is what we know. When we simplify our lives and base the truth upon our experiences, we slowly cleanse ourselves of the lies we told ourselves. With this kind of honesty comes an inner peace with ourselves in whom we can say, "I know myself."
Today, I will accept my experience as a simple message of truth.
From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men©
Releasing the past
Waste Utilization
Today the world faces seemingly insurmountable problems with solid and liquid waste. Communities struggle to find solutions as waste accumulates and space for disposal sites grows scarce.
As recovering people, we have a similar problem with waste residues from our past. We don't seem to be able to bury bad memories; like the physical waste in the environment, they come back to poison us. The best answer is to use waste, not throw it away. Instead of trying to bury the past, let's keep it in view but let it be purified by the sunlight of honesty and humility. By admitting past wrongs and forgiving everyone involved.... including ourselves..... we turn waste into useful experience. Nature can do this with much physical waste, over time. we can also let our spiritual nature do that with the emotional and mental waste of our past.
Action for the Day: I'll realize that every past mistake and experience can be properly utilized today for something good and uplifting.
Above us floats a banner on which is inscribed the new symbol for AA,
a circle stands for the whole world of AA,
and the triangle stands for AA's Three Legacies of Recovery, Unity, and Service.
Within our wonderful world, we have found freedom from our fatal obsession.
That we have chosen this particular symbol is perhaps no accident.
The priests and seers of antiquity regarded the circle enclosing the triangle
as a means of warding off spirits of evil,
and AA's circle and triangle of Recovery, Unity, and Service
has certainly meant all that to us and much more.
(Bill W, speaking at 20th Anniversary AA Convention in St. Louis, July, 1955)
- Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 139
Thought to Ponder . . .
There is no strength without unity.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A's - R - U S = Alcoholics Anonymous Recovery, Unity, Service.
Daily Motivation
So do
You may not be able to get it perfect. Yet you absolutely are able to get it done, so do.
It may not be the most enjoyable or exciting way to spend your time. Still, it is what you must get done, so do.
It’s very possible that some people will criticize you for it, or even oppose your efforts. However, it is truly important to you that you make it happen, so do.
There may be a hundred perfectly reasonable excuses, and a thousand compelling distractions as well. Yet when you have a meaningful reason to make it happen, that trumps every excuse.
You may get weary and discouraged, and in your discouragement you might convince yourself that the effort is not worth the trouble. Rest for a little while, reconnect with your original purpose, then take a deep breath and keep on going.
You are absolutely capable of doing the work, and absolutely worthy of the achievement it will bring. Whatever may come, you can make the effort to make a difference, so do.
— Ralph Marston
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