Daily Recovery Readings
April 29, 2017

Daily Reflection

GROUP AUTONOMY

Some may think that we have carried the principle of group autonomy to extremes. For example, in its original “long form,” Tradition Four declares: “Any two or three gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that as a group they have no other affiliation.”* . . . But this ultra-liberty is not so risky as it looks.

— A.A. COMES OF AGE, pp. 104-05

As an active alcoholic, I abused every liberty that life afforded. How could A.A. expect me to respect the “ultra-liberty” bestowed by Tradition Four? Learning respect has become a lifetime job.

A.A. has made me fully accept the necessity of discipline and that, if I do not assert it from within, then I will pay for it. This applies to groups too. Tradition Four points me in a spiritual direction, in spite of my alcoholic inclinations.

* This is a misquote; Bill is referring to the Third Tradition.

From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Big Book Quote

“The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so called will power becomes practically nonexistent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink.”

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 24~

Keep It Simple

When you want to be something, it means you really love it.—Andy Warhol

At times, we turned to chemicals because we couldn’t love ourselves. Our addiction gave a promise of relief, but it gave us self-hate. We wanted to love, but couldn’t. What is it we really love ? Where should we put out energy ? In raising children ? In creating art ? In helping addicts who still suffer ? There’s much in this world that needs our love. We can be many things in our lives. Let’s be people we believe in. Let’s be people we can love.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, help me know myself through my inventories. My skills, talents, values, and my loves must be clear to me so I can use them to do Your will.

Action for the Day:
Today I’ll think about what I’d really love to do through my work.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

Moderating your emotions is challenging when there’s nothing to ground you. In fact, you might have better luck keeping your shifting moods to yourself today, instead of trying to manage them in conversations with others. Unfortunately, everything becomes more complicated once you express your feelings. Thankfully, you will have better luck sharing your heart once the evocative Moon shifts into your sign later tonight. Xenocrates wrote, “I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.”