Latest / Sober Readings / Happiness Is Not The Point
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Welcome to Sober Readings, today is Sunday the 26th of April. Let's begin with the Serenity Prayer. 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, today's reading from Daily Reflections, April 26th. Happiness is not the point. I don't think happiness or unhappiness is the point. How do we meet the problems we face? How do we best learn from them and transmit what we have learned to others if they would receive the knowledge? That's from As Bill Sees It, page 306. In my search to be happy, I changed jobs, married and divorced, took geographical cures, and ran myself into debt, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. In AA, I'm learning to grow up. Instead of demanding that people, places, and things make me happy, I can ask God for self-acceptance. When a problem overwhelms me, AA's 12 steps will help me grow through the pain. The knowledge I gain can be a gift to others who suffer with the same problem. As Bill said, when pain comes, we are expected to learn from it willingly and help others to learn. When happiness comes, we accept it as a gift and thank God for it. And that last quote from Bill was from page 306 in As Bill Sees It. Today's reading from 24 Hours, April 26, AA Thought for the Day. The AA program is one of submission, release, and action. When we're drinking, we're submitting to a power greater than ourselves, liquor. Our self-wills are no use against the power of liquor. One drink and we're sunk. In AA, we stop submitting to the power of liquor. Instead, we submit to a power also greater than ourselves, which we call God. So ask yourself, Have I submitted myself to that higher power? The Meditation for the Day Ceaseless activity is not God's plan for your life. Times of withdrawal for renewed strength are always necessary. Wait for the faintest tremor of fear and stop all work, everything, and rest before God until you are strong again. Deal in the same way with all tired feelings. Then you need rest of body and renewal of spirit force. Saint Paul said, can do all things through him who strengthens me. This does not mean that you are to do all things and then rely on God to find strength. It means that you are to do the things you believe God wants you to do and only then can you rely on his supply of power. Today's prayer for the day. I pray that God's spirit may be my master always. I pray that I may learn how to rest and listen as well as how to And for today's final reading, I selected a reading from The Grapevine from September of 2022. And this one is titled Final Wipeout. I just read an issue from 2007. I'm a real fan of grapevine. I was 25 back then and living in Ventura, California. What an amazing place and time that was. That year was when I started drinking heavily. I was an avid skateboarder and drinking was part of the lifestyle. Our favorite skateboarders were known as the PSS Drunks. For years, we looked up to them. That's not the reason I'm an alcoholic. I believe it was always in me. Drinking became an everyday thing back then. I never envisioned I'd become an alcoholic. Ten years later, and wow, it was so different. Many of my friends were leading normal lives. They had kids, good jobs, and college educations, but not me. I was in and out of relationships, which I messed up a lot of the time. I bounced in and out of jobs, attempted college twice, and got six DWIs. I also suffered a horrible head injury skateboarding that left me comatose in ICU. Insane, right? The real insanity is that it took so many mistakes for me to finally give up and join AA. I'm in my mid-30s now. Looking back on those times seems so unreal. I guess what I'm trying to say is, be careful of the people and lifestyles you look up to. I know that it's hard to get through to an alcoholic about this. But I feel if this can help even one person, then writing this story is worth it. My life is so different now. I want to help as many people as I can these days. And guess what? Helping others helps me. That was written by Mitchell C. in Kansas City, Missouri. And that's it for today's reading. Before I close, I wanted to go back to the prayer of the day from today's reading in 24 hours. And it's interesting, it says, I pray that God's spirit may be my master always. And using that word, master, made me think of a friend of mine in the morning meeting that I go to, who calls God his master. And he likes to say, master, what is thy bidding? You know, kind of like, ⁓ like they say in Star Wars. And I just found that interesting because everyone has their own concept of God or a higher power. And it's not my place to judge them or to say they're wrong because none of us really know. And so I just find it really interesting that everyone has their own concept of God or a higher power or their master. And they asked, Master, what is thy bidding? And I think it's great. So if you got a story about your higher power and how you refer to it, him, he, she, they, whatever you call it, master, send me an email at sober readings with Scott at gmail.com. I'd love to hear it. And so that is it for today's episode of Sober Readings. Thanks again for listening everybody. If you enjoyed the show, please do me a huge favor and hit that like button and share this episode with someone you think might need it. Drop a comment. And if you're someone who loves reading sober literature and you'd like to be a guest reader on the show, again, send me an email at soberreadingswithscottatgmail.com or you can go to my website soberreadings.com and fill out the form. And while you're there at the website, you'd like to drop a dollar in the donation basket for today's readings, which is always very helpful, click that donate button, and I appreciate it. 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, and as my friend Larry says, best day ever.