Your Daily Reprieve: Your Daily Reprieve 12.19.19

Your Daily Reprieve for Thursday December 19 , 2019

From Jacksonville, FL

At its best, Christmas is a mirror in which
we see reflected the very best life can be.
Where we see ourselves moved by generosity,
inspired by hope, and uplifted by love,
not only for ourselves
but for the whole evolving universe.
~ Bruce Sanguin

Christmas is a necessity. There has to be

at least one day of the year

to remind us that we're here

for something else besides ourselves.

~ Eric Sevareid

Next time you think it makes sense when you hear someone say "If I am gonna be miserable sober I may as well be drunk” ... remember you can get over being miserable you may not get over being drunk. (thanks Will W.)

Today, I will ask my Higher Power for what I want and need. I will not

demand -- I will ask. Then I will let go.

--Melody Beattie

Spiritual community is created when we come together on a regular

basis with a common intention: to extend love beyond our immediate

families. Through this shared affinity, we encourage, challenge and

remind one another that nothing is impossible.

--Mary Manin Morrissey

“I have never mastered the art of self-sponsorship,

and I doubt that I ever will.”

~Grapevine: Harrisonburg, Virginia, May 1991

Big Book Quote

Many of us keep liquor in our homes. We often need it to carry green recruits through a severe hangover Some of us still serve it to our friends provided they are not alcoholic. But some of us think we
should not serve liquor to anyone. We never argue this question. We feel that each family, in the light of their own circumstances, ought to decide for themselves.

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 102~

Daily Share!

AA Speaker of the Day

JOE & CHARLIE

Big Book Comes Alive

2013

CD 10

http://bit.ly/34IExll

Wee Willie’s

Sobriety First Media

AA CD’s Literature and tapes

https://www.mediafire.com/sobrietyfirst

Celebrate Your Anniversary Here

SHOW NEWCOMERS HOW IT WORKS!!

Send your sober date to txm1@comcast.net

SOBER DATE	YOUR NAME	YOUR LOCATION	YEARS SOBER
6/10 (mo/day)	Bob S	Akron, OH	83

It will look like this :

6/10 Bob S. (Akron, OH).....84

December 2019 Miracles

12/1 Beth S. (Albuquerque, NM/Madison, NH)…..24

12/2 Wendy M. (Scottsdale, AZ)…..30

12/3 Ancil D. (Bloomington, IN)…..1

13/3 Walter S. (Jacksonville, FL)…..26

12/4 Fred E. (Stuttgart, DE)…..8

12/4 Mike K. (Floral Park, NY)…..1

12/4 Lisa B. (Trenton, MI)…..24

12/5 Sophie G. (Larchmont, NY)…..7

12/5 Bob H. ()…..35

12/5 Matt G. (Colts Neck, NJ)…..11

12/6 Dave B. (Venice, FL)…..28

12/6 Nikki G. (Flemington, NJ)…..9

12/7 Steve O. (Osteen, FL)…..27

12/7 Georgia O. (Stuart, FL)…..41

12/7 Nan G. (Los Altos, CA/Nantucket, MA)…..23

12/8 Lynne L. (Portland, OR)…..46

12/8 Ed B. (Lawrenceville, NJ)…..18

12/10 Susan M. (Mendham, NJ)…..1

12/10 Wendell M. (Bothell, WA)…..6

12/10 Paul K/ Gypsy (Nantucket MA / Anguilla)…..13

12/10 Kathy R. (Basking Ridge, NJ)…..9

12/11 Dawn K. ()…..12

12/11 Brendan B. (At Home)…..1

12/12 Mitch B. (Evanston, IL)…..33

12/12 Linda B. (marylnd, NY)…..6

12/13 Tom O. (Milwaukee WI_.....13

12/14 Linda M. (Salem, NH)…..7

12/14 Bob P. (Cullman, AL)…..29

12/15 John M. (Paros, Greece)…..17

12/15 Taleah M. (NY, N Y)…..2

12/15 Bill M. (Goodyear, AZ/Caguas, PR)…..34

12/16 Mike S. (Raleigh, NC)…..3

12/16 Carrie F. (Selinsgrove, PA)…..15

12/16 Heather V. (Nantucket, MA)…..2

12/17 Joe K. (North Port, FL)…..36

12/18 Chris V. (Nashville, TN)…..12

12/18 Kevin T. (Basking Ridge, NJ)…..27

12/18 Melissa B. (Cape Cod, MA)…..1

12/18 John K. (Stuart, FL)…..7

12/19 Autumn M. (Jacksonville, FL)…..2

12/19 Kathleen S. (Haverhill, MA)…..39

12/19 Mary F. (West Newbury, MA)…..21

12/19 Karen G. (Brooklyn, NY)…..7

12/19 Autumn M. (Jacksonville, FL)…..3

12/20 Lory W. (Winchester, UK)…..19

12/21 Bridget C. (Albany, NY)…..17

12/21 Moira N. (New Rochelle, NY)…..8

12/22 Dick McD. (New York, NY)…..42

12/23 Pete G. (Larchmont, NY)…..39

12/23 Carol H. (Amarillo, TX)…..13

12/23 Cathy B. (Princeton, NJ)…..15

12/23 Lee H. (San Francisco, CA)…..29

12/23 Dave L. ()…..2

12/24 Peter S. (Manhattan, NY)…..19

12/24 Eric O. (Kennebunkport, ME)…..5

12/25 Lynn I. (Port Charlotte, FL)…..30

12/26 Chick R. (Oak Forest, IL)…..22

12/27 Zoe R. (Kent, UK)…..1

12/28 Johanna T. (Cobleskill, NY)…..19

12/28 Chris A. (Basking Ridge, NJ)…..2

12/28 Melissa C. (Acton, MA)…..5

12/30 Rufus W. (Coppell, TX)…..46

12/31 Aussie Ian (Bangkok)…..25

12/31 Jake R. (Prattville, AL)…..44

12/31 Tabatha J. (Charlotte, NC)…..7

1136 Total Years of Sobriety

12&12

Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

Creation gave us instincts for a purpose. Without them we wouldn't be complete human beings. If men and women didn't exert themselves to be secure in their persons, made no effort to harvest food or construct shelter, there would be no survival. If they didn't reproduce, the earth wouldn't be populated. If there were no social instinct, if men cared nothing for the society of one another, there would be no society. So these desires--for the sex relation, for material and emotional security, and for companionship--are perfectly necessary and right, and surely God-given.

p. 42

Twenty-Four Hours

A.A. Thought For The Day

The skeptic and the agnostic say it is impossible for us to
find the answer to life. Many have tried and failed. But
many have put aside intellectual pride and have said to
themselves: Who am I to say there is no God? Who am I to
say there is no purpose in life? The atheist makes a
declaration: "The world originated in a cipher and aimlessly
rushes nowhere." Others live for the moment and do not even
think about why they are here or where they are going. They
might as well be clams on the bottom of the ocean, protected
by their hard shells of indifference. They do not care. Do I care
where I am going?

Meditation For The Day

We may consider the material world as the clay which the
artist works with, to make of it something beautiful or ugly.
We need not fear material things, which are neither good nor
bad in the moral sense. There seems to be no active force for
evil--outside of human beings themselves. Humans alone can
have either evil intentions--resentments, malevolence, hate and
revenge--or good intentions--love and good will. They can make
something ugly or something beautiful out of the clay of their lives.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may make something beautiful out of my life.
I pray that I may be a good artisan of the materials which
I have been given to use.

Daily Thought

^*^*^*^*^
(\ ~~ /)
( \(AA)/ )
(_ /AA\ _)
/AA\
^*^*^*^*^

Action

"But the program of action, though entirely sensible, was pretty drastic. It meant I would have to throw several lifelong conceptions out of the window. That was not easy. But the moment I made up my mind to go through with the process, I had the curious feeling that my alcoholic condition was relieved, as in fact it proved to be. Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems."
c. 1976 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 42

Thought to Consider . . .

Never mistake motion for action.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

A C T I O N
Any Change Toward Improving One's Nature

Daily Reflection

UNDERSTANDING THE MALADY

When dealing with an alcoholic, there may be a natural

annoyance that a man could be so weak, stupid and

irresponsible. Even when you understand the malady

better, you may feel this feeling rising.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 139

Having suffered from alcoholism, I should understand the

illness, but sometimes I feel annoyance, even contempt,

toward a person who cannot make it in A.A. When I feel

that way, I am satisfying my false sense of superiority and I

must remember, but for the grace of God, there go I.

Pot Luck

Gratitude Prayer that pretty well sums up my Life

Don M. - Mission Viejo California

(thanks Jim M)

Several years ago – I don’t remember when or where I heard a Gratitude Prayer that pretty well sums up my life. The prayer is:

“God,

Thank You for what You have given me.

Thank You for what You have taken away.

Thank You for what You have left me with.”

Prior to becoming an active alcoholic, I had what I always wanted.. a trophy wife , a wonderful daughter in college, two houses, three cars and a fantastic job. (Thanks for what You have given me)

Then my two best friends (Stolichnaya and Beefeaters) turned on me and became my master. Believing I could run my life all on my own, I plunged ahead. It seemed that life had become a battleground. Things like fear, shame, guilt, and remorse set in and all the things that I thought were so important were ripped away from me in what seemed to be an instant. The obsession and compulsion for alcohol and other harmful addictions has been removed. (Thanks for what You have taken away).

I never had another great paying job. One of the houses was gone. But my wife and daughter as well as my whole family stood behind me. There was a long period of reconstruction and there were times that were really gut wrenching. Forced into AA, I listened and heard people that had a common problem and they offered me a solution. I had to quit fighting. By the Grace of God, the program and fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, guidance from loving sponsors, and my own efforts, I have had a life that is far better than I could ever have hoped, and one that is supremely better than what I deserved. My God quest is never ending. Every day is an opportunity to express my gratitude by serving others both in and outside AA. I’ve been married the same wonderful woman for 51 years. I’ve been sober over half that time, and my daughter has given me two grandsons who light up my life. (Thanks for what You have left me with).

As my first sponsor was fond of saying-“ Who’d a thunk it”

Yes, November is gratitude month, but I’m going to take the time I have left on this earth and make every month in the years ahead a Gratitude month.

Don M