Transcript

Step One · Sober Readings

Scott Hayes: Hey there, welcome back to Sober Readings. Today is Friday, happy Friday everyone, it is the 22nd of May. Let's begin today with a 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. Today's reading from Daily Reflections. Step 1. And underneath the title, there's one word in capital. We. and in parentheses, the first word of the first step. And that's from the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions, page 21. When I was drinking, all I could ever think about was I, I, I, or me, me, me. Such painful obsession of self, such soul sickness, such spiritual selfishness bound me to the bottle for more than half my life. The journey to find God and to do His will one day at a time began with the first word of the first step, we. There was power in numbers, there was strength in numbers, there was safety in numbers. and for an alcoholic like me there was life in numbers. If I had tried to recover alone I probably would have died. With God and another alcoholic I have a divine purpose in my life. I have become a channel for God's healing love. Today's reading from 24 Hours. May 22, AA Thought for the Day. What impresses us most at an AA meeting is the willingness to share without holding anything back. And pretty soon we find ourselves sharing also. We start telling our own experiences and by so doing, we help the other fellow. And when we've got these things off our chest, we feel a lot better. It does us a lot of good to share with some other poor unfortunate person who's in the same box that we were in. And the more we share with him, the more we have left for ourselves. So ask yourself, do I know that the more I share, the better chance I'll have to stay sober? The Meditation for the Day. Constantly claim God's strength. Once convinced of the right of a course of action, once reasonably sure of God's guidance, claim that strength now. You can claim all the strength you need to meet any situation. You can claim a new supply when your own supply is exhausted. You have a right to claim it and you should use your right. A beggar supplicates. A son appreciates. When you supplicate, you are often kept waiting. But when you appreciate God's strength and a good cause, you have it at once. In today's prayer for the day, I pray that I may claim God's strength whenever I need it. I pray that I may try to live as a child of God. For today's final reading, I'll read from As Bill Sees It, and today I'm reading from page 286. Mastering Resentments. We began to see that the world and its people had really dominated us. Under that unhappy condition, the wrongdoing of others, fancied or real, had power to actually kill us because we could be driven back to drink through resentment. We saw that these resentments must be mastered, but how? We could not wish them away. This was our course. We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick. So we ask God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. Today, we avoid retaliation or argument. We cannot treat sick people that way. If we do, we destroy our chance of being helpful. We cannot be helpful to all people, but at least God will show us how to take a kindly and tolerant view of each and every one. And that's from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, pages 66 to 67. And before I close out today, let's go back and talk about the AA thought for the day for a minute. I want to talk about sharing in meetings. I'm still impressed with people sharing at meetings, not holding anything back. The Big Book says we share in a general fashion what it was like, what happened, and what it's like now. So maybe not share specifics in a meeting. I save that for my sponsor. But I do get vulnerable at meetings. I open up a bit, because I hear other people doing the same thing, and actually feeling better, healing from it. And because, like the reading says, we feel better when we get them off our chest. And I think the reason it works in meetings is because, like this reading says, they're in the same box as we are. You know, it makes me realize that I'm not alone, that my problems, although different from other people's problems, are not unique. And so sharing, doing service in meetings, is how it works for me. And if you'd like to share with me and my listeners how sharing at a meeting and getting vulnerable and opening up ⁓ helps you in your sobriety, send me an email at soberreadingswithscott at gmail.com. And so with that, we'll close today's episode of Sober Readings. If you enjoyed the show, please do me a huge favor and hit the like button. Share this episode with someone you think might need it. and leave a comment, let me know what you thought. 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 that donate button. So again, thank you so much for listening, everyone. 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.