" QUOTES"
" I was a senior citizen when I got to AA,
now I am more of a senior citizen because I go to AA". anon
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DAILY
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory
and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
We can try to stop making unreasonable demands
upon those we love. We can show kindness where
we had shown none. With those we dislike we can
begin to practice justice and courtesy, perhaps
going out of our way to understand and help them.
Whenever we fail any of these people, we can promptly
admit it–to ourselves always, and to them also,
when the admission would be helpful. Courtesy,
kindness, justice, and love are the keynotes by
which we may come into harmony with practically
anybody. When in doubt we can always pause,
saying, "Not my will, but Thine, be done."
And we can often ask ourselves, "
Am I doing to others as I would have them do to me–today?"
p. 93
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AL-ANON (related)
SPONSORSHIP
Lois W.
1967 Conference Digest
Good evening everybody! There seem to be
more young faces here today than at any previous
Conference – younger, gayer, and happier.
Let’s hope we’ll accomplish just as much
or more than any
Conference so far! Sue asked me to say a
few words on sponsorship.
The practice of sponsorship has been greatly
neglected in Al-Anon. Its importance in the
approach to newcomers should not be
overlooked by us. When an older member
takes a newcomer
under her wing and gives her friendship
and understanding, the new member can
respond to the
program more quickly and many a doubtful
prospect can be encouraged to continue her
interest in Al-Anon who otherwise might go
away disheartened.
In the old days of AA to which I am always
harking back, members often took a prospect into
their homes and not only helped him to live
the program but gave him bed, board, clothing,
carfare –nursing him in a thousand ways.
But that kind of sponsorship was never feasible
in Al-Anon and I’m not sure that it was a good
practice anyway –
except for the AAs that were doing the sponsoring. It
was good for them.
However, it would be very helpful if Al-Anon
adopted many of the present day AA sponsors’
customs. To make sure that all newcomers are
well received, the group appoints a special
committee
which not only greets all new arrivals but sees
that they each have an appropriate, understanding
sponsor, one who appeals to the new member.
Some Al-Anon groups do this now, of course,
and it would be fun to see in how many of your
home groups this kind of sponsorship is practiced.
(Calls for raise of hands) There must be a at least
fifteen hands raised. That’s very encouraging.
The initial Al-Anon contact is sometimes the one
most suited to undertake the responsibility of
sponsorship. This includes befriending the beginner,
accompanying her to meetings, calling her during
the week, and listening to her story, perhaps over
and over again, thus making oneself a sounding board
against which the new member can pour out her pent
up emotions. When the beginner has this outlet,
she is not so apt to want to spill over at meetings,
which, we all know, is undesirable. The sponsor’s
example can also be of great help to the recent arrival
who thus learns what to do and what not to do.
When the new member is ready, the sponsor should
explain how gratitude can be expressed in
service, the life-blood of Al-Anon. She can show how
the phrase, “Keep it simple” really relates to the
program, reminding us not to “fancy it up”, but does
not refer to the service structure as it is sometimes
interpreted to do. A service structure is necessary
if there is to be any order or efficiency in “carrying
the message”. It does not complicate but simplifies
the whole fabric of the fellowship, doing so
particularly in relation to one of Al-Anon’s most
important responsibilities, the practice of the Twelfth
Step all over the world.
There is another phrase the sponsor should explain
if necessary, but not use, as it gives the
wrong impression — “This is a selfish program.”
Our program, of course, is not a selfish one.
Generally what the users of this phrase are trying
to say is that the program is one of self-development
and improvement, in order to be of more use to others.
So when we try to sponsor newcomers, aiding them to
live by the Al-Anon program, we are not
only benefiting them but strengthening ourselves as
well. Thank you very much.
============
ABRAHAM
1. Get out more - and just clean up your life as it comes
We don’t want any of you to overwork the processes.
In other words, let life come to you as it comes and, from the life that comes, just keep cleaning it up and finding something that’s better.
In other words, there are a lot of people who work too hard at this - it’s like you want to hole up and just write in your book of positive aspects.
And we say, that’s really not what we’re talking about because you want to get out in life and be stimulated - that’s where you are collecting the data.
Alaska Cruise 2008, CD 5
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Vernon Howard’s SECRETS OF LIFE
"Practice these principles with no concern for results, for a
planted seed is quite capable of developing in the dark."
Secrets for Higher Success, p. 164
====================
SEEDS FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR MIND
Love should never be a conditional emotion.
It should be a gift where you expect nothing in return.
–unknown
Take the program seriously, not yourself.
–unknown
We all have within us the capacity to be happy and to suffer. It all
depends on which one our mind chooses to feed.
–unknown
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be
changed until it is faced."
–James Baldwin
"There is no greater treasure than
the respect and love of a true friend."
–Anonymous
"Until you make peace with who you are,
you’ll never be content with what you have."
–unknown
The Daily Guru
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A SCATTERING OF SEEDS
We spend our first forty years making mistakes,
and our next forty years making more mistakes.
Dad’s Henry J
Dad and we three boys rode to the farm and back
in our 1950 Henry J "
created by Kaiser-Frazer
during their waning years.
It had three speeds
more or less forward.
Reverse required expertise
lest the gearshift lever
do a free-fall all the way
over to the left.
Dad’s black Henry J
had tail fins for sport,
two doors, and a sloping
but hatchless back.
Holes gradually rusted
through the floorboard.
It was a piece of junk
that somehow got loved
and joked about
and used every day.
Its oil pressure light
was never not on unless
the ignition was turned off,
but the engine forgave us
since we gave it oil every
two or three days.
Back seat sitting was
decidedly disergonomic,
but two of us sat there.
We might be snuggling
against a chain saw
or some fertilizer sacks
or old combine parts.
We three boys devised
subterfuges to achieve
riding in the front seat.
We’d hang back so as
to be the last one in.
But Dad was onto us–
if we dallied, he’d tell us
to come on and get in.
We’d spend hot hours
cutting weeds, Dad with
tractor (lucky cuss got
to sit down all day) and
we with reluctant hoes
ritually file-sharpened
each humid morning.
After a too-long day
we’d "knock off"
(Dad’s phrase) and
maneuver for our seat
in the Henry J
by ever so politely
letting others go first.
Four cylinders,
sometimes only three,
pulled four weedkillers
back into town
where we lived.
A rain might splot
the windshield’s dust
and be smeared around
by the one wiper
that had a blade.
Dad would never stop
at that last stop sign
before our house–
said it wasn’t worth
the extra wear and tear
on the Henry J.
Out we would pile,
wary of hidden saw blades,
and the Henry J’s doors
would close with a clunk
plus extra little sounds.
Dad bought our Henry J
for $200 from a local man
aptly nicknamed Bargain Art,
and after about fifteen years
of his nursing the car with oil,
makeshift parts, and patience,
it completely quit.
Then for another ten years
it stood in our farmyard,
tombstone to itself,
until Dad finally sold it
to a collector while
preparing himself
to die.
Alan Harris
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HUMOR
On my 77th birthday, I got a gift certificate from my wife. The
certificate paid for a visit to a medicine man living on a nearby reservation who was rumored to have a wonderful cure for erectile dysfunction. After being persuaded, I drove to the reservation, handed my ticket to the medicine man and wondered what would happen next.
The old man slowly, methodically produced a potion, handed it to me, and with a grip on my shoulder, warned, "This is powerful medicine and it must be respected. You take only a teaspoonful and then say ‘1-2-3′. When you do that, you will become more manly than you have ever been in your life and you can perform as long as you want."
I was encouraged.. As I walked away, I turned and asked, "How do I stop the medicine from working?" "Your partner must say ‘1-2-3-4,’ ", he responded. "But when she does, the medicine will not work again until the next full moon."
I was very eager to see if it worked so I went home, showered, shaved, took a spoonful of the medicine, and then invited my wife to join me in the bedroom. When she came in, I took off my clothes and said, "1-2-3!"
Immediately, I was the manliest of men. My wife was excited and began throwing off her clothes. And then she asked, "What was the 1-2-3 for?"
And that, boys and girls, is why we should never end our sentences with a preposition!
ONE COULD END UP WITH A DANGLING PARTICIPLE!!
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