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!

JUL 4, 25.. HAPPY, SAFE, SANE AND SOBER 4th OF JULY..

 Here we are! Snap your fingers and another year has slipped past us.

Thank You Ginny So Very Much For This Great Image.

With our 4th of July Greetings, we pray that all of you have a happy, safe, sane and Yes! A Sober 4th of July weekend.

JUN 25, 2025.. LET IT GO.. GET OVER IT..

It is amazing to me how critical, how extremely important, just one sentence in the AA Big Book has become for me personally. 

You will find this important sentence on page xxviii (28) in the front of the 4th Edition of the AA Big Book in The Doctor's Opinion: 

Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol.

My personal translation of the above sentence is:

Men and women drink TO CHANGE HOW THEY FEEL.

In my opinion, the purpose of our 12 Steps of Recovery is to make us feel better about ourselves. If we feel good about ourselves then we don't need to use a substance to change how we feel.

Don't ask me why, because I am not able to answer this question: Why on earth do some alcoholics drink alcohol to celebrate their team winning the Super Bowl?

For we alcoholics, that first drink will set up a desire for "just one more" and you all know what happens then!

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Thank you so very much Cindy 86403 for sharing with us the below amazing advice about helping us to feel better about ourselves.

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It's amazing how peaceful your life becomes when you realize it's not your responsibility to regulate other people's emotions, manage their insecurities, pacify their inner wars, heal their wounds, do their inner work, and be the version of you in their minds.

At some point, you have to realize that people will only change when they're ready. No amount of love, effort, or convincing can make them see what they're not willing to face.

You can support, inspire, and encourage but their growth is their responsibility. 

Release the need to fix others and focus on your own inner peace.

Once again, Thank You So Very Much Cindy 86403 for being a Guest Contributor.

JUN 10, 25.. THE 90th ANNIVERSARY OF A.A.

On June the 10th, 1935, at the Gatehouse of the Seiberling Mansion in Akron, Ohio.. 

A New York City Stockbroker Bill W met with an Akron, Ohio, Surgeon Dr. Bob.

This date and location 90 years ago, is where and when A.A. began. Yes it took time and several years, but A.A. began here on this date.

The below article from Wikipedia is extremely thorough in presenting A.A.'s history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholics_Anonymous

All of us owe an enormous debt of gratitude for our recovery in The Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.

MAY 28, 25 .. THE WISDOM IN THE PROGRAM..

We have so very, VERY, much solid wisdom at our fingertips here in our A.A. Fellowship.

All page references refer to the A.A. Big Book 4th Edition.

What we have is a Design for living that works in rough situations. p 15

God could and would if He were sought. p 60

Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. p xxviii

We drink to change how we feel.

Here are the steps we took which are suggested as a program of recovery. p 59

Working the steps changes for the better how we feel about ourselves. So we don't have to, or want to, drink alcohol to change how we feel.

How about this beauty! We pause, when agitated or doubtful.

Oh My, if only I could only always pause when I am agitated!

The problem is when we don't pause, we risk getting angry!

Visualize a nice, calm, scene.

Anger is a letter from Danger.  Add the letter D to the word Anger and you have Danger. This is an extremely valuable phrase that I heard once in a meeting.

We are not cured of alcoholism. p 85

What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.

Spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection. p 60

Relieve me of the bondage of self that I may better do Thy will. p63

Nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with others. p 90

Practice these principles in all our affairs. p 60

I picked up the next two words of AA Wisdom in various meetings over the years.

Be on guard for the unguarded moment..

Play the tape all the way through..

Have you have any of your own favorites you'd like to add here?

Please enter them as a comment.

APR 27, 25.. ALCOHOL CAUSES CANCER .. Pranoti Mandrekar.. UMASS MEDICAL SCHOOL..

Patti loves her newspaper. Unfortunately our newspapers are slowly but surely disappearing. In Anchorage, Alaska the newspaper is twice a week, on Sunday and Wednesday, and down in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, Patti can read a newspaper three days a week, on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Thanks 100% to Patti and her newspaper, she showed me that The Lake Havasu City News-Herald had an absolutely fascinating article about alcohol being a cause of cancer.

I went on-line and found the article written by Pranoti Mandrekar of the University of Massachusetts.

Just read the below headline!

Now, if you wish to do so, you can read the entire article by clicking onto the below link.

https://theconversation.com/alcohol-causes-cancer-and-less-than-1-drink-can-increase-your-risk-a-cancer-biologist-explains-how-245528

It certainly is quite an article!

MAR 31, 25.. ACRONYMS FOR THE WORD GOD..

We were in a meeting a few days ago, and the topic and the focus of the meeting was the word God.

Of course the sharing was quite broad and wide in dimension. One member talked about his upbringing in a Roman Catholic elementary school and how badly he was treated by the Nuns.

Then, well into the meeting, one person shared about her love of a GOD acronym.

I am absolutely positive that this acronym was not new to me and that I had heard it before.

BUT it seems like I "really heard" when she said the below acronym at the meeting.

GOD.. Is The..

Great Out Doors.

GOD.. Is The..

Great Out Doors.

GOD.. Is The..

Great Out Doors.

GOD.. Is The..

Great Out Doors.

God.. Is.. A..

Gift Of Desperation.

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Two other very common and popular GOD acronyms.

GOD .. Is.. A..

Group Of Drunks. 

GOD.. Is.. 

Good Orderly Direction.

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Please feel free to "add another GOD acronym" of your own.

Smiles..

FEB 19, 25.. HAPPY 25th ANNIVERSARY PATTI ..

 

Happy Anniversary to you..

Happy Anniversary to you..

Happy 25th Anniversary Dear Patti..

Happy Anniversary to you..

Patti, all who love and support you, wish you many, MANY, more!

With Love From Your Strongest Supporter! 

I am so very proud of you my Dearest Patti!

Cap

JAN 20, 25.. ACCEPTANCE..

I quote our A.A. Big Book, page 417..

And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation -- some fact of my life -- unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.  .. .. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.

Yes indeed. In the above passage, I left out one line that is in the Big Book. 

That line is: Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God's world by mistake.

I was lucky enough to have known Doctor Paul and to have been in his home when he was alive. 

Doctor Paul told me he wishes he had never written this one line because it is the philosophy of pre-destination. God has given mankind the gift of the power of free choice. If nothing happens by mistake why try because it has been decided for you by God.

I found the below images and writings about Acceptance online, courtesy of NATIONAL TODAY / NATIONAL DAY CALENDAR..

International Day of Acceptance is observed every year on January 20 and it is the day to fill our hearts with the sublime powers of acceptance. It is important to be accepting of certain things in life.  This is a day when people all over the world come together to support and embrace the challenges that come along with life.

Acceptance is defined as the assent of a situation, process, or condition without an attempt to change it. We have all at some point in our lives experienced a situation where we were cast off or excluded from a group or a social gathering. Remember the time when you were not picked for a team or when your friends went out to a movie without you. Imagine if being excluded was just a regular part of your day-to-day life. 

In an ideal world, all individuals would be accepted just as they are, no matter how different, no matter how unique. 

Acceptance in simple terms is perceiving reality as it is, what people, places, things and events are rather than what you want them to be. That being said, acceptance doesn’t mean that you can’t work on changing things and that what you’re accepting will be that way forever.

When you learn to accept and you make peace with the way things are, you step out of your way and step forward on the growth path. The more you practice acceptance, the more you see that each moment has a purpose, a lesson to learn, a reason for unfolding the way that it does.

Respecting both similarities and differences of others is good for us. Situations in our lives keep on changing constantly. Accepting every type of situation that we might face, be it good or bad will give us lasting peace and contentment.

We are not limited by our abilities but rather by our imagination and our will to act. The truth is we are all capable of great things. Encourage the people around you to stay strong and achieve things beyond their abilities. 

You should avoid indulging yourself in making people who are different from you feel embarrassed. Try to be respectful and accept all forms of diversity.

May your New Year 2025 be filled with Acceptance.