Latest / Sober Readings / A Unique Program
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- Scott Hayes: Welcome back to Sober Readings. Today is the last day of August. August 31st. It's a Monday. Happy Monday, everyone. I cannot believe it's the last day of August already. We're going into September. Alright, let's get started 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. Today's reading from Daily Reflections. A unique program. Alcoholics Anonymous will never have a professional class. We have gained some understanding of the ancient words freely ye have received, freely give. We have discovered that at the point of professionalism, money and spirituality do not mix. And that's on page one hundred sixty six of Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. I believe that Alcoholics Anonymous stands alone in the treatment of alcoholism because it is based solely on the principle of one alcoholic sharing with another alcoholic. This is what makes the program unique. When I decided that I wanted to stay sober, I called a woman who I knew was a sober member of AA, and she carried the message of Alcoholics Anonymous to me. She received no monetary compensation, but rather was paid by staying sober another day herself. Today I could ask for no payment other than another day free from alcohol. So in that respect, I am generously paid for my labor. Today's reading from 24 hours a day. August 31, AA Thought for the Day. Call on new prospects while they are still jittery. They may be more receptive when depressed. See them alone if possible. Tell them enough of your drinking habits and experience to encourage them to speak of themselves. If they wish to talk, let them do so. If they are not communicative, talk about the troubles liquor has caused you, being careful not to moralize or lecture. When they see you know all about the drinking game, Commence to describe yourself as an alcoholic and tell them how you learned you were sick. Am I ready to talk about myself to new prospects? meditation for the day. Try not to give way to criticism, blame, scorn, or judgment of others when you're trying to help them. Effectiveness in helping others depends on controlling yourself. You may be swept away by a temporary natural urge to criticize or blame, unless you keep a tight rein on your emotions. You should have a firm foundation of spiritual living which makes you truly humble if you are going to really help other people. Go easy on them and be hard on yourself. That is the way you can be used most to uplift a despairing spirit, and seek no personal recognition for what you are used by God to accomplish. The prayer for the day. I pray that I may try to avoid judgment and criticism. I pray that I may always try to build up others instead of tearing them down. Today's meditation from Touchstone. In the world to come they will not ask me, Why were you not Moses? They will ask me, Why were you not Zusiah? That's a quote from Zusiah of Hannapoli. We grow in the direction of the choices we make. That growth depends as much on how we make decisions as on which ones we make. Often in the past, we tried to model ourselves after someone we admired. Our self-confidence was poor, so we depended on others to let us know if our decisions were correct. Or we modeled our decisions on how we thought others would decide. Now we see that we can never become exactly like someone else. And we need not try. To each of us, God gives a creative task and a problem, to take our special abilities and limitations and become whole men. We use standards for our choices based on our best ideas of right and wrong, of what fits with our inner feelings, and of what our higher power is guiding us toward. Unfinished and imperfect as we are, we become more peaceful as we become more fully ourselves. May I be true to myself in the choices I make today. I am becoming the man that I admire. And for today's final reading, let's go to As Bill sees it. Today we're reading from page five Maintenance and Growth. It is plain that a life which includes deep resentments leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these do we squander the hours that might have been worthwhile. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of harboring resentment is infinitely grave. For then we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die. If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the sudden rage were not for us. Anger is the dubious luxury of normal men, but for us alcoholics, it is poison. And that's on page 66 of the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous. And that's gonna do it for today's readings. But I do want to comment on this last reading from As Bill Sees It. It's actually the very last line. Anger is the dubious luxury of normal men, but for us alcoholics, it is poison. That reminds me that I can't afford to hold on to resentment the way I once did. Anger itself is a normal human emotion, but the danger comes when I feed it, replay it in my mind, justify it, and allow it to grow into a resentment. For me, that kind of thinking can slowly separate me from gratitude, acceptance, other people, and ultimately my recovery. I may feel completely justified in being angry, but being right doesn't necessarily make the anger safe. Sobriety has taught me that I need to recognize anger when it comes, talk about it with someone I trust, look honestly at my own part, and work toward letting it go. The other person may never change, apologize, or even realize that they hurt me. But I'm the one who has to live with the resentment. That's why anger can become poison for an alcoholic. If I keep drinking the poison long enough, eventually I may start thinking that taking a drink is the cure. You know, I go to a lot of meetings at least at least once a day, usually twice a day, ⁓ and I hear a lot about anger. I hear a lot of people talking about anger. It seems to be one of the most popular topics in an AA meeting. And so I'd love to hear your take on anger and how you deal with anger in sobriety. You can send me an email at sober readings with Scott at gmail dot com and in that email request to be a guest reader if you'd like to come on my show and talk about anger with me. That'd be great. So that's gonna do it for today's episode of Sober Readings. Thank you so much for listening. Hey, if you'd like to drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket for today's reading, just go to my website, soberreadings.com, scroll down a bit, and find that donate button. 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, everyone, and as my friend Larry says, best day ever.