Latest / Sober Readings / Willingness To Grow
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Hey, good morning everyone. Welcome to Sober Readings. Today is Tuesday, the 1st of September. Let's get started today with the Serenity Prayer. God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference. Today's reading from Daily Reflections: Willingness to Grow. If more gifts are to be received, our awakening has to go on. That's from page eight of As Bill Sees It. Sobriety fills the painful hole in the soul that my alcoholism created. Often I feel so physically well that I believe my work is done. However, joy is not just the absence of pain, it is the gift of continued spiritual awakening. Joy comes from ongoing and active study, as well as application of the principles of recovery in my everyday life, and from sharing that experience with others. My higher power presents many opportunities for deeper spiritual awakening. I need only to bring into my recovery the willingness to grow. Today I am ready to grow. Today's reading from 24 hours a day. September 1, AA Thought for the Day. Be careful not to brand new prospects as alcoholics. Let them draw their own conclusion, but talk to them about the hopelessness of alcoholism. Tell them exactly what happened to you and how you recovered. Stress the spiritual feature freely. If they are agnostics or atheists, make it emphatic. That they do not have to agree with your conception of God. They can choose any conception they like, provided it makes sense to them. The main thing is that they be willing to believe in a power greater than themselves, and that they live by spiritual principles. Today's question is: Do I hold back too much in speaking of the spiritual principles of the program? Meditation for this. I will never leave nor forsake thee. Down through the centuries thousands have believed in God's constancy, untiringness, and unfailing love. God has love. Then forever you are sure of His love. God has power. Then forever you are sure in every difficulty and temptation of His strength. God has patience. Then always there is one who can never tire. God has understanding. Then always you will understand and be understood. Unless you want him to go, God will never leave you. He is always ready with power. Prayer for the day. I pray that I may feel that God's love will never fail. I pray that I may have confidence in His unfailing power. Today's reading from Keep It Simple. Daily Meditations for 12 step beginnings and renewal. And the first page of September says the ninth step, which is made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. And that is step nine from Alcoholics Anonymous. And today's reading made direct amends to such people wherever possible. First half of step nine. In our illness, we harmed people. In step nine, we are to make amends. Making amends is about asking people we have harmed what we need to do to set things right. But making amends is more than saying, I'm sorry. If you ran a store and someone had stolen five dollars, you wouldn't want them to just say, I'm sorry. You'd want the person to pay back the money. The same is true with amends. Many people we've harmed ask only that we don't repeat our mistakes. Respect their wishes. Step nine has healed many wounds. Step nine allows us to grow up. Step nine helps us regain faith in ourselves. Remember, the best amend we can make to all is to stay sober. And the prayer for the day in this book. Higher power, give me courage. Help me to face the trouble caused by my disease. Make me ready to help others heal from the harm I've caused. And the action for the day. Today I'll pray that those I've harmed will heal. I will be responsible for my actions. And today's final reading is from As Bill Sees It. Today we're on page six. All or nothing. Acceptance and faith are capable of producing 100% sobriety. In fact, they usually do, and they must, else we could have no life at all. But the moment we carry these attitudes into our emotional problems, we find that only relative results are possible. Nobody can, for example, become completely free from fear, anger, and pride. Hence, in this life we shall attain nothing like perfect humility and love. So we shall have to settle, respecting most of our problems, for a very gradual progress, punctuated sometimes by heavy setbacks. Our old time attitude of all or nothing will have to be abandoned. And that's from an article written in the Grapevine from March of nineteen sixty two. And that's it for today's readings. I'd like to make a comment on step nine, since that was the reading in Keep It Simple, and also today is September first, the ninth month, so we're dealing with the ninth step. Step nine made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Can have a powerful impact on my recovery because it asked me to stop simply feeling sorry for the harm I've caused and begin taking responsibility for it. For me, making amends is more than apologizing. It means acknowledging where I was wrong and whenever possible. Changing my behavior so I don't continue causing the same harm. There's a line in recovery that says, If I do what I always did, I get what I always got. Carrying guilt, shame, and unresolved resentment can become dangerous baggage in sobriety. And step nine gives me a way to begin putting some of that weight down. I may not be forgiven by everyone, and I can't undo the past, but I can clean up my side of the street. And live differently today. Each amend becomes another opportunity to rebuild trust, practice humility, and prove through my actions that recovery is changing not only whether I drink, but also the kind of person I am becoming. So, how has step nine impacted your recovery? I'd love to hear your thoughts and your comments. I'd love to have you come on and talk with me about step nine, and if you'd like, Help me read step nine out of the twelve and twelve book. That would be amazing. So send me your thoughts and your comments on step nine, and if you'd like to be a guest reader, send me an email at soberreadings with Scott at gmail.com and we can certainly make that happen. If you enjoyed today's show, please help me pass along the message by clicking the like and the share button. And if you'd like to drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket for today's readings, just go to my website, soberreadings.com, and click the donate button. So thank you so much for listening. Stay sober, keep reading, and I'll catch you in the next episode. Until then, take care of yourselves and each other. And remember, just for today, don't drink, go to a meeting, and keep coming back. Have a great day, everyone, and as my friend Larry says, best day ever.