ME

I am the only "me" I've got. I am unique. There are two major parts of me. There is the inside "me" and the outside "me".

The outside "me" is what you see. The way I act, the image I portray, the way I look and the things I do.

The outside "me" is very important. It is my messenger to the world and much of my outside me is what communicates with you.

I value what I have done, the way I look, and what I share with you. The inside "me" knows all my feelings, my secret ideas, and my many hopes and dreams. Sometimes I let you know a little bit about the inside "me" and sometimes it's a very private part of myself.

Even though there are an enormous number of people in this world, no one is exactly like "me". I take full responsibility for "me" and the more I learn about myself, the more responsibility I am going to take. You see, my "me" is my responsibility. As I know myself more and more, I find out that I am an OK person. I've done some good things in life because I am a good person. I have accomplished some things in my life because I am a competent person. I know some special people because I am worth knowing. I celebrate the many things I have done for myself.

I also made mistakes. I can learn from them. I have also known some people who did not appreciate me. I do not need to keep those people in my life. I've wasted some precious time. I can make new choices now. As long as I can see, hear, feel, think, change, grow and behave, I have great possibilities, and I am going to grow and love and be and celebrate. I AM WORTH IT.

Tags: Me Unique Lessons

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Just For Today

Just for today I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle all my problems at once. I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

Just for today I will be happy. This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Just for today I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires, I will take my "luck" as it comes, and fit myself to it.

Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.

Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn, and not get found out; if anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do a least two things I don't want to do--just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt; they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.

Just for today I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, keep my voice low, be courteous, criticize not one bit. I won't find fault with anything, nor try to improve or regulate anybody but myself.

Just for today I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.

Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself, and relax. During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.

Just for today I will be unafraid. Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful, and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

Tags: Just For Today Lessons

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LESSONS FROM GEESE
OR
HONK IF YOU NEED HELP
By Milton O.

As each bird flaps its' wings, it creates an uplift for geese following. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

LESSON: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because the are traveling on the thrust of one another.

Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.

LESSON: If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay with those who are headed in the direction we want to go, and be willing to accept their help as well as to give our help to the others.

When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position.

LESSON: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and share leadership. People, as well as geese, are dependent upon each other.

The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

LESSON: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging, and not something else.

When a goose gets sick or wounded or shot down it honks for help and two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help protect it. They stay with the sick goose until it is able to fly again or it dies. Then they launch out on their own, or with another formation, or catch up with the flock.

LESSON: If we have as much sense as geese, we too will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong .... and honk when we need help!

Tags: Lessons Geese Honk Need Help

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THE RULES OF BEING HUMAN

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around. You will also receive a mind, and a spirit. The same is true for them, but they differ from the body in that they can be changed. How they change depends on how well you learn your lessons.

2. You WILL learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time, informal school called LIFE. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth, intellectually and spiritually, is a process of trial and error, experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works".

4. A lesson is repeated until learned.A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.

5. The learning of lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain its' lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6. "There " is no better than "here". When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply have obtained another "there" that will again look better than "here".

7. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of yourself is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie inside yourself. The answer to all of LIFE's questions lie within you. All you need to do is LOOK, LISTEN, and TRUST.

10. YOU WILL FORGET ALL OF THIS !!

11. YOU CAN REMEMBER IT WHENEVER YOU WANT !!

12. And then, ONE DAY you will KNOW it, and not forget it, ONE DAY AT A TIME !!!

Tags: Rules Human Directions

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Why One Man Quit

"How come you don't drink any more?", a renewed acquaintance from long ago asked me the other day.

"Any more than who?"

"I mean any longer. How come you don't drink anything these days?"

""Drink? I drink coffee, milk, tea, soda pop, water, fruit juices...."

"I mean drink", he said, "You know, BOOZE."

"Oh, BOOZE. No, I don't drink booze anymore, you're right," I said, "I couldn't trust it anymore. It turned on me. Once my friend, it became my enemy."

"Maybe you got a bad batch," he said.

"No, the sauce is the same, I changed. Because I have the illness of alcoholism, my tolerance weakened. Alcoholism doesn't come in a bottle. It comes in people."

"Sounds pretty confusing," the fellow said.

"You think you're confused," I said, "you should have seen me. I drank for happiness and became unhappy; I drank for joy and became miserable; I drank to be outgoing and became self centered; I drank for sociability and became argumentative and lonely. I drank for sophistication and became crude and obnoxious; I drank for friendship and made enemies; I drank for sleep and awakened without rest; I drank to soften sorrow and wallowed in self pity. I drank for strength and felt weak; I drank to prove my masculinity and it sapped my potency; I drank medicinally and got sick; I drank because I thought my job called for it and lost my job. I drank for relaxation and got the shakes; I drank for confidence and became uncertain; I drank for courage and became afraid; I drank for assurance and became doubtful. I drank to stimulate thought and blacked out; I drank to make conversation and it tied my tongue; I drank for warmth and lost my cool; I drank for coolness and lost my warmth. I drank to feel heavenly and came to know HELL; I drank to forget and became haunted; I drank to erase problems and saw them multiply; I drank to cope with life and invited death ...or worse. I drank because I had the right and everything turned out wrong."

"Gosh," my friend exclaimed, "that must have taken a bunch of booze to get you in that shape."

"Just ONE," I told him. " The first one. For me, One is too many and a thousand aren't enough."

"So that's why you don't drink anymore?"

"Yep, I made it a rule, `I don't drink while I'm sober.'"

Tags: Quit Drink Why Too Much

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Oh, my God, Why must it hurt so?"

My child, you speak to me with words,
Because that is how you have learned to speak.
But I speak to you with feelings,
Feelings that you can recognize.

Sometimes I speak to you with Joy,
And feelings of Love and Peace and Serenity,
Of Comfort and a Knowingness about Yourself.
These feelings are those I would have you have,
As you follow My Path which I have set before you.

There are times, however,
When you set out on a path on your own,
A path that you need to travel.
But in that path that is not My Path,
I must warn you at times of your danger.

It is at those times that you know Pain,
Feelings of Aloneness, Despair and Agony.
These feelings, well, they are incomprehensible and demoralizing.
Sometimes the pain becomes very acute,
But that is the feeling that I must give you,
So that you will understand that you have strayed from My Path,
And that I wish for you to return.

You ask me why it must hurt so. Because,
MY CHILD, I'VE GOT TO GET YOU BACK
You see, I have set you the Path
And have given you the instructions,
But you have refused to SEE and to HEAR.
Let this be a lesson.
You that can see, SEE, and You that can hear, HEAR.
But,
If you can neither SEE nor HEAR, Then must you FEEL,
For,
From the FEELING of your pain,
Will be accomplished your SEEING and HEARING,
And you will UNDERSTAND that
I AM LOVE

Tags: Hurt Pain God Love

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FIRST STEP PRAYER:

Dear Lord,

I admit that I am powerless over my addiction.  I admit that my life is unmanageable when I try to control it.  Help me this day to understand the true meaning of powerlessness.  Remove from me all denial of my addiction.

SECOND STEP PRAYER:

Heavenly Father,

I know in my heart that only You can restore me to sanity.  I humbly ask that You remove all twisted  thought and addictive behavior from me this day. Heal my spirit and restore in me a clear mind.

THIRD STEP PRAYER:

God,

I offer myself to Thee.  To build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will.  Take away my difficulties.  That victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love and Thy Way of Life.  May I do Thy will always.

FOURTH STEP PRAYER:

Dear God,

It is I who has made my life a mess.  I have done it, but I cannot undo it. My mistakes are mine and I will begin a searching and fearless moral inventory.  I will write down my wrongs.  But I will also include that which is good.  I pray for the strength to complete this task.

FIFTH STEP PRAYER:

Higher Power,

My inventory has shown me who I am, yet I ask for Your help in admitting my wrongs to another person and to You.  Assure me and be with me, in this step, for without this step, I cannot progress in my recovery.  With Your help, I can do this, and I will do it.

SIXTH STEP PRAYER:

Dear God,

I am ready for Your help in removing from me the defects of character which I now realize are an obstacle to my recovery.  Help me to continue being honest with myself and guide me toward mental and spiritual health.

SEVENTH STEP PRAYER:

My Creator,

I am now willing that You have all of me, good and bad.  I pray that You now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to You and my fellows.  Grant me strength, as I go out from here to do Your bidding.

EIGHTH STEP PRAYER:

Higher Power,

I ask Your help in making my list of all those I have harmed.  I will take responsibility for my mistakes and be forgiving to others as You are forgiving to me.  Grant me the willingness to begin my restitution.  This I pray.

NINTH STEP PRAYER:

Higher Power,

I pray for the right attitude to make my amends, being ever mindful not to harm others in the process.  I ask for Your guidance in making indirect amends by staying abstinent, helping others and growing in spiritual progress.

TENTH STEP PRAYER:

Dear God,

I pray I may continue to grow in understanding and effectiveness; to take daily spot check inventories of myself; to correct mistakes when I make them; to take responsibility for my actions; to be ever aware of my negative and self-defeating attitudes and behaviors; to keep my willingfulness in check; to always remember I need Your help; to keep love and tolerance of others as my code; and to continue in daily prayer how I can best serve You.

ELEVENTH STEP PRAYER:

God, as I understand You,

I pray to keep my connection with You.  Open and clear from me the confusion of daily life.  Through my prayers and meditations I ask especially for freedom from self-will, rationalization, and wishful thinking.  I pray for the guidance of correct thought and positive action.  Your Will, not mine, be done.

TWELFTH STEP PRAYER:

Dear God,

My spiritual awakening continues to unfold.  The help I have received I shall pass on and give to others, both in and out of the fellowship.  For this opportunity I am grateful.  I pray most humbly to continue walking day by day on the road of spiritual progress.  I pray for inner strength and wisdom to practice the principles of this way of life in all I do and say.  I need You, my friends, and the Program every hour of every day.  This is a better way to live.

Tags: Prayer 12 Steps

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