Your Daily Reprieve 03.23.26

 

Your Daily Reprieve for Monday March 23, 2026   From Ponte Vedra, FL

A more peaceful way to live is to decide consciously which battles are worth fighting and which are better left alone.   Is it really important that you confront someone  simply because he or she has made a minor mistake?  Does a small scratch on your car really warrant a suit in small claims court?  These and thousands of other small things are what many people spend their lives fighting about.   If you don't want to "sweat the small stuff," it's critical that you choose your battles wisely. ~Richard Carlson     As you teach, you learn. --Jewish Proverb       Those who seek friends without faults stay forever without friends. ~unattributed     The true way and the sure way to friendship  is through humility-being open to each other, accepting each other just as we are, knowing each other. ~Mother Teresa

BIG BOOK QUOTE   We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs.   P19

Daily Share!     AA Speaker of the Day     SHELDON F. Serenity Improvement Group 09.25.21     https://bit.ly/4bphhfB         ZOOM Loose Garment Group https://us02web.zoom.us/j/238977518 Saturday & Sunday….Pot Luck…0900 ID: 238 977 518 PW: 004 394

Celebrate Your Anniversary Here SHOW NEWCOMERS HOW IT WORKS!!   MARCH 2026 Miracles   3/1 Rich W. (Astoria, NY)…..11 3/2 Biancy M. (Fort Thomas, KY)…..38 3/3 Kelly T. (Newmarket, NH)…..35 3/3 Heather S. (Wildwood, FL)…..1 3/3 Craig K. (Boiling Springs, SC)…..5 3/4 Jennifer B. (Normandy, FR)…..11 3/4 Adam L. (NY, NY/Soma, NJ)…..12 ¾ Ron H. (San Diego, CA)…..42 3/5 Suzanne S. (Wayne, PA)…..48 3/5 Eric S. (Wayne, PA)…..48 3/5 Tom M. (The Fourth Dimension)…..32 3/6 Nora M. (Jacksonville, FL)…..8 3/7 Dave G. (Vancouver, Canada)…..23 3/7 Diane C. (Larkspur, CA)…..52 3/7 Gregory S. (Fort Pierce, FL)…..41 3/7 George H. (Milwaukee, WI)…..18 3/9 Patty K. (Baiting Hollow, NY)…..42 3/9 Danny S. (Narragansett, RI)…..26 3/9 Andy W. (Long Beach, NY)…..39 3/10 Craig M. (Woodbine, GA)…..5 3/10 Rob H. (Punta Gorda, FL)…..2 3/11 Crystal H. (Richmond BC)…..8 3/11 John M. (Vero Beach, FL)…..17 3/11 Ken S. (Austin, TX)…..20 3/12 Ned W. (Melbourne, FL)…..29 3/13 Andy G. (Flemington, NJ)…..22 3/13 Tom V. (Morris Plains, NJ)…..19 3/13 Matt H. (Huntersville, NC)…..39 3/15 Vivian R. aka Lady V. (Queens, NY)…..42 3/16 Suzan B. (Bunnell, FL)…..2 3/16 Mark B. (Bradenton, FL)…..3 3/16 Billy I, (Chatham, MA)…..41 3/16 Deborah B.(Amelia Island, FL) …..35 3/17 Dan D. (Indialantic, FL)…..47 3/19 Mike B. (Purchase, NY)…..26 3/19 Mike J. (Kingston, NH)…..18 3/20 Michelle O. (Los Angeles, CA)…..27 3/21 Johnetta W.  (Amelia Island, FL)…..18 3/21 Pamela B. (Clinton, NJ)…..43 3/21 Kate A. (Nyack, NY)…..38 3/22 Tim F. (Greenbrier, TN)…..11 3/24 Amy BS. (New York, New York) …..38 3/24 Trey B.(Austin, TX)…..20 3/25 Buffy H. (Gambier, OH/Nantucket)…..34 3/25 Drue A. (Yulee, FL)…..20 3/26 Fred H. (Amelia Island, FL)…..50 3/26 Walter O’. (Miramichi, NB, Canada)…..56 3/27 Sylvia A. (West Ossipee, NH)…..3 3/28 Steven S. (Summit, NJ)…..16 3/28 Terry A. (Nashville, TN)…..11 3/28 Christian B. (Wycoff, NJ)…..10 3/29 Toni Y. Austin, TX)…..21 3/30 Wendy B. (Wanaque, NJ) …..36 3/30 Soteros C. (Melbourne, FL)…..31 3/31 Beth V. (Hackettstown, NJ)…..22 3/31 Loretta H. (Basking Ridge, NJ)…..18   1430 Total Years of Recovery     Drop a Buck in the Basket? PayPal paypal.me/TomMurphy Venmo @Tom-Murphy-160

12&12   Tradition Nine - "A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve." At this juncture, we can hear a churchman exclaim, "They are making disobedience a virtue!" He is joined by a psychiatrist who says, "Defiant brats! They won't grow up and conform to social usage!" The man in the street say, "I don't understand it. They must be nuts!" But all these observers have overlooked something unique in Alcoholics Anonymous. Unless each A.A. member follows to the best of his ability our suggested Twelve Steps to recovery, he almost certainly signs his own death warrant. His drunkenness and dissolution are not penalties inflicted by people in authority; they result from his personal disobedience to spiritual principles. p. 174

Twenty-Four Hours     A.A. Thought For The Day Strength comes from the fellowship you find when you come into A.A. Just being with men and women who have found the way out gives you a feeling of security. You listen to the speakers, you talk with other members, and you absorb the atmosphere of confidence and hope that you find in the place. Am I receiving strength from the fellowship with other A.A. members? Meditation For The Day God is with you, to bless and help you. His spirit is all around you. Waver not in your faith or in your prayers. All power is the Lord's. Say that to yourself often and steadily. Say it until your heart sings with joy for the safety and personal power that it means to you. Say it until the very force of the utterance drives back and puts to naught all the evils against you. Use it as a battle cry. All power is the Lord's. Then you will pass on to victory over all your sins and temptations and you will begin to live a victorious life. Prayer For The Day I pray that with strength from God I may lead an abundant life. I pray that I may lead a life of victory.

Daily Thought ^*^*^*^*^ (\    ~~    /) (    \(AA)/    ) (_ /AA\ _) / AA \ ^*^*^*^*^   Action   "Then they outlined the spiritual answer and program of action which a hundred of them had followed successfully. Though I had been only a nominal churchman, their proposals were not, intellectually, hard to swallow. 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." c. 1976, 2001 AAWS Alcoholics Anonymous p. 42      Thought to Consider . . .  Willingness without action is fantasy.   *~*AACRONYMS*~* S P O N S O R Sober Person Offering Newcomers Suggestions On Recovery

DAILY REFLECTIONS   . . . AND NO MORE RESERVATIONS We have seen the truth again and again: "Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.". . . If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol. . . . To be gravely affected, one does not necessarily have to drink a long time nor take the quantities some of us have. This is particularly true of women. Potential female alcoholics often turn into the real thing and are gone beyond recall in a few years. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 33   These words are underlined in my book. They are true for men and women alcoholics. On many occasions I've turned to this page and reflected on this passage. I need never fool myself by recalling my sometimes differing drinking patterns, or by believing I am "cured." I like to think that, if sobriety is God's gift to me, then my sober life is my gift to God. I hope God is as happy with His gift as I am with mine.

POT LUCK   I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig.  You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it. ~Cyrus Ching   Today's Meditation: There are so many ways that I can think of this image, but the one that leaps to mind every time I read these words is the idea of arguing with someone who's done something hurtful to try to get them to see how damaging their actions are.  In my experience, people who are willing to hurt others aren't usually interested in knowing just what kind of harm they've done--they want to continue to feel the self-righteousness that allowed them to do something mean and inconsiderate in the first place. I see the idea of wrestling with a pig as similar to a conflict with just such a person.  These people will reduce logic to a shambles, because logic doesn't matter to them.  They'll stand there and say "So?" when you point out just how much damage they've caused.  Just like wrestling with a pig, we can spend tons of energy trying to reason with such people, never reaching any sort of satisfactory conclusion.  And as they watch you try to reason with them, they're enjoying the discomfort you're experiencing because of their unwillingness to respond to logic. Am I calling such people pigs?  I don't know--I certainly wouldn't call anyone a pig in the generally negative way we tend to use the term.  But I do know that the analogy fits--expending lots of energy to accomplish the unaccomplishable (I know--it's not really a word), and adding to the enjoyment of someone else who doesn't really deserve to be enjoying a situation.  So I don't do it any more.  It's called "choosing your battles," and some types of battles simply aren't worth choosing.  If you need a pig to do something, go find someone who knows how to make pigs do things, for you don't necessarily need to do everything yourself.  And don't give the pigs the enjoyment of watching you get yourself dirty due to frustration and annoyance.  Let the pigs be pigs, and choose more logical battles.

**NEW** Excellent Resource Blogs, Audio and Video Articles   https://takethe12.org/   *****   "AA Recovery Interviews" Podcast https://aarecoveryinterviews.com   Blog http://todaysreprieve.blogspot.com/     Wee Willie’s Sobriety First Media AA CD’s Literature and tapes https://www.mediafire.com/sobrietyfirst     AA Membership Survey 2022 Alcoholics Anonymous 2022 Membership Survey | Alcoholics Anonymous     Committee Consideration from the 73rd General Service Conference In response to a Committee Consideration from the 73rd General Service Conference regarding any possible future changes to literature written by A.A.’s founders,  that committee agreed it would be beneficial to gather shared experience from the Fellowship regarding this topic. Questionaire   How Should We Treat A.A. Founders' Writings?  https://bit.ly/3uhEPBK       DR. PAUL O. There is More to Quitting Drinking Than Quitting Drinking (Audio Book) Introduction http://bit.ly/1IlFBbp Part I http://bit.ly/1MPV5Za Part II http://bit.ly/1Ksd9eA Part III http://bit.ly/1GQCGGE Part IV http://bit.ly/1Ip0hn8 AA CDs Literature and tapes https://www.mediafire.com/sobrietyfirst       ZOOM MEETINGS   Loose Garment Group https://us02web.zoom.us/j/238977518 Saturday & Sunday….Pot Luck…0900 ID: 238 977 518 PW: 004 394       ARCHIVES     AA World Service Board Meeting Highlights October 2023  https://bit.ly/3GlcOvE       A New Pair of Glasses in PDF (download) is available at: https://bit.ly/4bUr0Js     Bill Schaberg Writing The Big Book Video Readings https://www.youtube.com/@billschaberg8911/videos   BIG BOOK for DUMMIES https://bigbookfordummies.com/       *Angel Force USA www.AngelForceUSA.com   Angel Force USA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. OUR MISSION STOP SUISILENCE The avoidance of discussion about suicide Our goal is to raise awareness of the military suicide epidemic.       RICHMOND WALKER & THE TWENTY-FOUR HOUR BOOK Glenn C. (South Bend, Indiana) Talk given at the 8th Annual National A.A. Archives Workshop, Fort Lauderdale, Florida Sept. 27, 2003 https://www.prestongroup.org/aa_docs/24_hours_a_day.txt       MEDITATIONS http://www.11thstepmeditation.org/   Loving Kindness Meditations   With Music   http://www.excelatlife.com/mp3/direct_download.php?file=lovingkindnessmusic.mp3     Voice only http://www.excelatlife.com/mp3/direct_download.php?file=lovingkindness.mp3   ***** Free Guided Meditations http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22 Resources   Great Minds Quotes https://twitter.com/GreatestQuotes       MOOJI GUIDED Meditation http://bit.ly/2Ogwe9v     **Podcasts** https://boiledowlaa.org/ https://www.aagrapevine.org/podcast     12 Step Meditations  www.stepmeditation.com   These are 12 meditations, each about 12 minutes long and the content (other than the meditation instructions) are straight from the text of the big book and 12 & 12 (created by Matt H.)     Speaker Recordings   Wee Willie’s Sobriety First Media AA CD’s Literature and tapes https://www.mediafire.com/sobrietyfirst *****   The Lights are On http://xa-speakers.org/     Recovery Speakers http://recoveryspeakers.com/   Miscellaneous Sources Living Life Fully http://www.livinglifefully.com/     Twenty Four Hours a Day Since 1954, Twenty-Four Hours a Day has become a stable force in the recovery of many alcoholics throughout the world. With over nine million copies in print (the original text has been revised), this "little black book" offers daily thoughts, meditations, and prayers for living a clean and sober life. A spiritual resource with practical applications to fit our daily lives. Copyright 1975 Hazeleden Foundation   Tammy’s recovery links http://www.bluidkiti.com/forums/   AA Photo Archives http://www.rewritables.net/cybriety/aa_photos.htm   Heard at A Meeting https://twitter.com/heardinameeting   Breast Cancer Site Take a minute and click to provide free mammograms https://thebreastcancersite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/bcs/home   MEN FIGHTING CANCER TOGETHER America’s largest volunteer men’s cancer support group and advocacy national nonprofit organization. http://malecare.org/     Prayables http://prayables.org/     Daily Thought http://groups.google.com/group/TransitionsDaily   Speaker Recordings Stories of Recovery - A 12-Step Collection https://storiesofrecovery.org/index.html