And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone- even alcohol. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.84
When AA found me I thought I was in for a struggle, and that AA might provide me the strength I needed to beat alcohol. Victorious in that fight, who knows what other battles I could win. I would need to be strong, though. All my previous expirence with life proved that. Today I do not have to struggle or exert my will. If I take those Twelve Steps and let my Higher Power do the real work, my alcohol problem disappears all by itself. My living problems also cease to be struggles. I just have to ask whether acceptance-or change-is required. It is not my will, but his, that needs doing
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Unfortunately I have not yet come to the place where I do not get caught up in the struggles of life – my life. I need to let go and let god!
This is a challenge, because I live with – am married to a hoarder. Hoarding is a debilitating disease not just for the hoarder but family.
Pray that I can learn to surrender to God and let God lead me. I liked the part of the reading where their ” living problems also cease to be struggles.” I will follow the program and grow spiritually so that I too can echo the authors words, ” I just have to ask whether acceptance-or change-is required. It is not my will, but his, that needs doing.” So be it! Thank you god of my understanding.
Nothing in our experience can really prepare us for the reality of absolute surrender; it’s why we have to hit bottom before we’re really willing to let go. As long as I think I still have resources to manage, I might let God take part, but I won’t let him take control. But when I’ve exhausted all my resources and have come to the end of my rope, I realize that if I let go, God is already there to catch me. The first time takes trust we don’t have and blind faith in a God we don’t understand, but the fellowship assures us through experience, strength and hope that surrender will work when all other plans have failed.
Thank you Bob for your honest sharing; your language of the heart has reached in and touched my “secret” and Providence has used you to remind me that God already knows (everybody in my household knows, too) so hiding will no longer work. This morning in the shower was the first time I have prayed for help with my sense of being overwhelmed by the stuff in my life. So often around the tables I’ve gotten the idea that change = action and acceptance = inaction; I am learning that my matrix is backwards: change comes from my higher power and usually requires me to quit getting in the way (alanon slogan – don’t just do something, sit there), acceptance requires boots on the ground actions every moment of every day to stay on the path. I am grateful that I have the 12-steps to guide me to the spiritual truths at the core of all my self-made problems today….there are so many folks out there who don’t qualify for membership and don’t have the benefit of the fellowship to find their way through. I was told so many years ago “You don’t have to live this way one more day,” and that holds true for me today. Thank you for being an instrument of God’s will in my life….I can hear from a “stranger” around the tables what I couldn’t stand to hear from my best friend.
This was the exact reflection that I needed today. I usually start my day with a meeting, but my sleep has been really lacking and I did a little “first things first” as sober mindedness involves being rested for me.
I have to remember to turn things over on a regular basis, I am slowly getting better with it, and that I control nothing, and HP will always provide answers if I ask for them.
“I’m ready to put the plug in the Jug”
When I do the next right thing everything else takes care of itself. It feels good, the fruits of my labor. To give back what was so freely given to me. Incredibly, the struggle of alcoholism has come to be my greatest strength.To listen and see, what does not kill us makes us stronger. It helps me keep growing with a significant other or get involved with this amazing process.