AUG 30, 25.. EMOTIONAL SOBRIETY..

Lately Patti and I have been reading the above Grapevine Book along with some older (1990s up to 2010) Grapevine Magazines reading many articles written by longtime members stating that there is far more to AA than just not drinking.

It all boils down to EMOTIONAL SOBRIETY.

So I decided to "Toss My Hat Into The Ring"

What is it? 

For me it is simple. Emotional Sobriety is being relatively (no we will never be perfect) happy, joyous and free.

Then I have to want this! And be willing to go to any length to achieve it.

For me it takes:

GRATITUDE.. If I can just focus on what I have to be grateful for, then I am NOT focusing on my problems and challenges. For me Gratitude is an action not merely a mind trip.

ACCEPTANCE.. Does not mean Approval. What is, IS. Period.

If I cannot accept what I am absolutely, totally unable to change, I will be out trying to change things I will never be able to change. This is a dead end road of frustration that takes me away from being relatively happy, joyous and free.

Actually using the 12 Steps of Recovery. Walk The Walk! Don't Just Talk The Talk. 

Pause When Agitated. Practice Love and Tolerance of Others. Clean my side of the street. When wrong make amends. etc.

PRAYER and MEDITATION, working together, go a long way helping me find Gratitude and Acceptance.

Good luck on your journey.

JUL 27, 25..IN A WAY.. WE HAVE NO NEW IDEAS..

 IN A WAY.. WE IN A.A. HAVE NO NEW, ORIGINAL, PRINCIPLES..

If you take a long, hard look at our principles, Trust God, Clean House, Trust Others as well as our 12 Steps and our 12 Traditions, almost all major religions as well as other spiritual seekers in many other fields of thought, have come to use the same basic spiritual principles we use.

This really leapt out at me when NATIONAL TODAY featured the below Holiday back on July the 19th.

 Across the United States, the third Saturday in July recognizes Toss Away the "Could Haves" and "Should Haves" Day. 

In short, don't go through life with regrets.

How about these concepts.

Let go of the past and live for the present. 

The first step to participating in this day is to find a pen and paper. 

Then write down your "could haves" and "should haves" on the paper. 

Finally, throw away the list. 

Once you have thrown your "could haves" and "should haves" in the trash, make the following resolution:

"From this day forward, I choose not to live in the past. The past is history that I can not change. I can do something about the present; I choose to live in the present."

Don’t dwell on the things you cannot control. We call this Acceptance and we say the Serenity Prayer!

Focus on the things that matter. You must prioritize the present and be optimistic about the future. Spend less time asking yourself questions like “why did I do that?”. Altering the past is firmly out of our control, so we must focus on the here and now. Wasting time on regrets will accomplish nothing. The idea is to live life to the fullest to have no regrets when it ends. 

To see the full NATIONAL TODAY writing just click onto the below link.

https://nationaltoday.com/toss-away-the-could-haves-and-should-haves-day/

Now here is where we do differ. It is my experience that we in A.A. work far harder and with much more diligence to practice our principles than do those in other religious and spiritual fields.

Good stuff!