Latest / Sober Readings / Character Building
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Welcome to Sober Readings, today is Thursday, April 2nd. Today's reading from Daily Reflections. Character Building. Demands made upon other people for too much attention, protection, and love can only invite domination or revulsion. When I uncovered my need for approval in the fourth step, I didn't think it should rank as a character defect. I wanted to think of it more as an asset, that is the desire to please people. It was quickly pointed out to me that this need can be very crippling. Today, I still enjoy getting the approval of others, but I am not willing to pay the price I used to pay to get it. I will not bend myself into a pretzel to get others to like me. If I get your approval, that's fine, but if I don't, I will survive without it. I am responsible for speaking what I perceive to be the truth, not what I think others may want to hear. Similarly, my false pride always kept me overly concerned about my reputation. Since being enlightened in the AA program, my aim is to improve my character. Today's reading from 24 Hours. April 2, AA Thought for the Day. Since I've been in AA, have I made a start towards becoming more loving to my family and friends? Do I visit my parents? Am I more appreciative of my wife than I was before? Am I grateful to her for putting up with me all these years? Have I found a real companionship with my children? Do I feel that the friends I've found in AA are real friends? Do I believe that they are always ready to help me And do I want to help them if I can? Ask yourself today, do I really care now about other people? The meditation for the day. Not what you do so much as what you are, that is the miracle-working power. You can be a force for good with the help of God. God is here to help you and to bless you, here to company with you. You can be a worker with God. Changed by God's grace, you shed one garment of the Spirit for a better one. In time, you throw that one aside for a yet finer one. And so from character to character, you are gradually transformed. in today's prayer for the day. I pray that I may accept every challenge. I pray that each acceptance of a challenge may make me grow into a better man. And for today's final reading, we'll go back to the grapevine for this month, April of 2026. This one's titled, See to Believe. I sobered up in Bailey, Colorado. The group there was very kind to me, even though I did not really feel like I fit in. After several months of going to meetings, our only local bar called one of our members. They said they had a young lady there who was very drunk and causing problems. Three people from our group left the meeting and returned with a loud woman with a black eye who looked like she had not bathed in weeks. The woman kept coming to the meetings and after a few weeks she told the group that her husband and children allowed her to come back home. After several months, Her clothes were washed, her face had healed, and she was smiling. I barely recognized her from the woman I had seen a few months earlier. At the time, I was not working the program. I had no sponsor and still had not figured out if I was really an alcoholic. But by watching this woman, this ugly duckling turning into a beautiful swan over a few months time, I realized that I too belonged. Everything fell into place. I started working the program. and came to believe. That was written by Jim Gee in Indianapolis, Indiana. So that's it for today's episode of Sober Readings. If you enjoyed the show, please do me a huge favor. Hit that like button, share this episode with someone who might need it, drop a comment and let me know what you thought. Or you can send me an email at soberreadingswithscott at gmail dot com and make sure you're following or subscribing so you never miss an episode. And if you're someone who loves reading sober literature and you would like to be a guest reader on the show, would love to have you just shoot me an email and we can make that happen. If you'd like to drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket, just go to sober readings.com and click the donate button. So thank you so much for listening. Stay sober, keep reading, and I'll see you in the next episode. Until then, don't drink, go to a meeting and keep coming back. Have a great day. And as my friend Larry says, best day ever.