Transcript

Our Children · Sober Readings

Scott Hayes: Welcome back to Silver Readings, everyone. Thanks for joining me. Today is Saturday, the 26th of September. Today we're gonna get into daily reflections, 24 hours a day, and as Bill sees it. And then, of course, you're gonna get my take on the question of the day from 24 hours a day. So let's get started 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. Our Children. The alcoholic may find it hard to reestablish friendly relations with his children. In time, they will see that he is a new man, and in their own way, they will let him know it. From that point on, progress will be rapid. Marvelous results often follow such a reunion. That's from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, page one three, four. While on the road to recovery, I received a gift that could not be purchased. It was a card from my son in college saying, Dad, you can't imagine how glad I am that everything is okay. Happy birthday, I love you. My son had told me that he loved me before. It had been during the previous Christmas holidays. When he had said to me while crying, Dad, I love you. Can't you see what you're doing to yourself? I couldn't. Choked with emotion, I had cried But this time when I received my son's card, my tears were tears of joy, not desperation. Today's reading from 24 hours a day. September 26, AA Thought for the Day. Continuing the consideration of the term spiritual experience, the acquiring of an immediate and overwhelming God consciousness resulting in a dramatic transformation, though frequent, is by no means the rule. Most of our spiritual experiences are of the educational variety, and they develop slowly over a period of time. Quite often friends of newcomers are aware of the difference long before they are themselves. They finally realize that they have undergone a profound alteration in their reaction to life, and that such a change could hardly have been brought about by themselves alone. So the question of the day is my outlook on life changing for the better? Meditation for the day. Look at the world as your father's house. Think of all people you meet as guests in your father's house, to be treated with love and consideration. Look at yourself as a servant in your father's house, as a servant of all. Think of no work as beneath you. Be ever ready to do all you can for others who need your help. There is gladness in God's service. There is much satisfaction in serving the highest that you know. Express your love for God and service to all who are living with you in your father's house. And the prayer for the day. I pray that I may serve others out of gratitude to God. I pray that my work may be a small repayment for his grace so freely given me. And today's final reading is from as Bill Sees It, we're going to page two one. Citizens Alone. Each of us in turn, that is, the member who gets the most out of the program, spends a very large amount of time on twelve-step work in the early years. That was my case, and perhaps I should not have stayed sober with less work. However, sooner or later most of us are presented with other obligations and To family, friends, and country. As you will remember, the twelfth step also refers to practicing these principles in all our affairs. Therefore, I think your choice of whether to take a particular twelve step job is to be found in your own conscience. No one else can tell you for certain what you ought to do at a particular time. I just know that you are expected at some point to do more than carry the message of AA to other alcoholics. In AA is We aim not only for sobriety, we try again to become citizens of the world that we rejected, and of the world that once rejected us. This is the ultimate demonstration toward which twelve step work is the first but not the final step. That was written in a letter in nineteen fifty nine. And that's it for today's readings. As I mentioned, let's go back to twenty four hours a day to that question Is my outlook on life changing for the better? When I ask myself, is my life changing for the better? I can look at a lot of things that have improved since getting sober. Relationships, responsibilities, opportunities, ambition, my physical health, my spiritual life, all of those things matter. But one of the greatest changes has been something much simpler. I don't have to live in the insanity anymore. I don't have to wake up wondering what I did the night before, who I talked to, what I said, or what damage I might have caused. I don't have to make promises to myself in the morning that I know I might break by that evening. I don't have to spend my days thinking about when I can drink or use again, how much I have left, or how I'm going to get more. That kind of life was exhausting. And for a long time, I didn't even realize how exhausting it was because it had become normal to me. Sobriety has given me freedom from that insanity. That doesn't mean my life suddenly became easy or that every day is good. I still have stress, disappointment, loneliness, fear, and problems that I don't know how to solve. The difference is that today I can actually face those things instead of trying to escape from them. I can wake up with a clear head and deal with life as it comes. And maybe that's one of the best ways for me to answer today's question Is my life changing for the better? Absolutely. But not because everything around me is getting better. It's changing for the better because I'm learning how to live without needing alcohol or drugs to change the way I feel. That is a kind of freedom I never had when I was drinking and using. And I would love to hear your thoughts and your comments on how your life is changing for the better in sobriety. If you'd like to come on the show and discuss it with me, that would be great. There's a couple ways to do that. There's a link down in the show notes to my email address. Or you can navigate over to sobereadings.com and click the page that says be a guest. And there's a little form to fill out that will come straight to me. And also if you'd like to drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket for today's readings, just click on the support page and there's a button that says drop a dollar in the basket. So I really appreciate you guys listening today. Thank you so much. Remember, as always, 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.