Latest / Sober Readings / The False Comfort Of Self-Pity
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Good morning, welcome to Sober Readings, happy Monday. Today is the 13th of April. Let's begin 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 the wisdom to know the difference. Alright, let's get started with today's daily reflections for April 13th. The false comfort of self-pity. Self-pity is one of the most unhappy and consuming defects that we know. It is a bar to all spiritual progress and can cut off all effective communication with our fellows because of its inordinate demands for attention and sympathy. It is a maudlin form of martyrdom which we can ill afford. That's from As Bill Sees It, page 238. The false comfort of self-pity screens me from reality only momentarily and then demands, like a drug, that I take an ever bigger dose. If I succumb to this, it could lead to a relapse into drinking. What can I do? One certain antidote is to turn my attention, however slightly at first, toward others who are genuinely less fortunate than I, preferably other alcoholics. In the same degree that I actively demonstrate my empathy with them, I will lessen my own exaggerated suffering. Today's reading from 24 Hours, April 13, AA Thought for the Day. Having found my way into this new world by the grace of God and the help of AA, am I going to take that first drink when I know that just one drink will change my whole world? Am I deliberately going back to the suffering of that alcoholic world? Or am I going to hang on to the happiness of this sober world? Is there any doubt about the answer? So ask yourself, with God's help, am I going to hang on to AA with both hands? The Meditation for today. I will try to make the world better and happier by my presence in it. I will try to help other people find the way God wants them to live. I will try to be on the side of good, in the stream of righteousness where all things work for good. I will do my duty persistently and faithfully, not sparing myself. I will be gentle with all people. I will try to see the other person's difficulty and help him to correct it. I will always pray to God to act as interpreter between me and the other person. Today's prayer for the day. I pray that I may live in the spirit of prayer. I pray that I may depend on God for the strength I need to help me to do my part in making the world a better place. And today's final reading is from As Bill Sees It. Today we're going to page 271. AA in two words. All AA progress can be reckoned in terms of just two words, humility and responsibility. Our whole spiritual development can be accurately measured by our degree of adherence to these magnificent standards. Ever deepening humility accompanied by an ever greater willingness to accept and to act upon clear-cut obligations, these are truly our touchstones for all growth in life of the spirit. They hold up to us the very essence of right being and right doing. It is by them that we are enabled to find and to do God's will. And that is from a talk in 1965 and it was also printed in the January 1966 edition of the grapevine. And that's the end of today's readings but before I close I wanted to go back to daily reflections. It reminded me of something I heard in a meeting this morning so It talks about self-pity and unhappiness and consuming defects that we all know. And so the line that I heard at a meeting this morning is, the key to my happiness is to not worry about my happiness. And that relates to today's daily reflections reading because the line in here that says, one certain antidote is to turn my attention, however slightly at first, toward others who are genuinely less fortunate than I, preferably other alcoholics. So that line and the line, the key to my happiness is to not worry about my happiness, to me, speaks of service, of doing service, of helping others. Because when I take the attention and focus off of myself, I'm trying to help others. And that's the whole essence of ⁓ the AA program, is doing service. That's one of the pillars of the program. And so I'd love to hear your comments on... That line that I read, the key to my happiness is to not worry about my happiness. I'd love to hear your interpretation of that line. Because as you know, in the program, we go line by line and break it down word by word ⁓ and interpret it all in our own way. Everybody sees it and hears it in a different way and it has different meaning to everyone. So I would love to hear what that meaning is for you for that line. You can send me an email at soberreadingswithscott at gmail.com. You can also go to my website soberreadings.com and there's a short form you can fill out and that'll send me an email. And also if you like today's episode, click that like button and share this episode with someone who might need to hear it today. And also drop a comment. I'd love to hear them. So also if you're someone who loves to read sober literature and would like to be a guest reader on my show, I'd love to have you just shoot me an email. Again, the email address is soberreadingswithscottatgmail.com or you can go to my website soberreadings.com and fill out that form. And while you're there at the website soberreadings.com, if you'd like to drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket, just click that donate button and I truly appreciate it. So thank you so much everyone for listening. Stay sober, keep reading, and I'll see 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 and as my friend Larry says, best day ever.