Alcoholics Anonymous | Mar 26 2014 | DonInLondon | Step 3 “Your Higher Power” |

Comments

1. Don DonInLondon says

   March 26, 2013 at 9:26 am

   Alcoholics Anonymous | March 26 2013 | Steps In Action | Step 3 “Your
   Higher Power” All your life, you have been the best that you can be with
   what you know. Everyone everywhere is the best they can be in the moment of
   now. It does not matter whether people are being good, bad, or behaving in
   an ugly way. It is the best they can be right now, and was the best they
   could be back in the day. This applies to you too, you are the best you can
   be now. Looking back with hindsight we have all the wisdom of what happened
   and we can change the way we are one day at a time…
   Video For Today:
   Alcoholics Anonymous | March 26 2013 | Steps In Action | Step 3 “Your
   Higher Power”
   And what about the “higher power?” When does it work? And why do we feel
   that some days there is no higher power and there is only darkness? Hungry,
   angry, lonely and tired. H. A. L. T. When we feel isolated and alone,
   physically and mentally tired, we cannot feel a power greater than
   ourselves. Unless we actively seek out the company of others, so we can be
   included in something bigger than us, we have no connection to what we need
   most, “inclusion, friendship, affection and unconditional love.” My higher
   power, always works through people, is there in fellowship, can be there in
   family, can be found if we have the courage, faith and confidence to share
   the truth about what is going on and how we are feeling today…
   In the old life, where fear, pride and ego would stop me from sharing the
   truth of my situation, I could only rely on my own feeling and thinking and
   the actions which would follow would be based on my own knowledge and
   wisdom. In that life of fear, pride and ego, I could not show weakness and
   would cover up my feelings about situations and accept very often the
   unacceptable behaviour of other people so I might fit in and find some sort
   of love and friendship in relationships. It was the best I could be with
   what I knew, and the people I was with, they were doing the best they could
   with what they knew too. Communications were very poor, listening and
   developing an understanding the truth of any situation was always hampered
   by putting on a brave face and rarely being able to share the real deep of
   who I was. Today, with courage, faith and confidence I can be the person I
   was meant to be, included, being able to love, being able to receive love
   without conditions. It can still feel very awkward today…
   My higher power is working, I pick up the phone when it rings, I share with
   a friend what’s going on and how I am feeling today. They share what they
   are doing, how the higher power is working for them and we agree that the
   higher power works when we are in company, or simply asking for help to do
   something which we would like to do, the higher power in all human’s…
   Shared and included and in friendship, in family and in any relationships,
   when we are open, honest and willing to share the truth of now, we are in
   conscious contact with our higher power. The higher power works through
   people, doing the best they can today, and sometimes the best they can be
   is our worst nightmare. That’s when we wake up to realise that even when
   people are at their worst, it does not mean that we need behave like them,
   we are learning the wisdom of what we can do and what we cannot do today. I
   can change the way I behave with grace and humility, and not grovel. I
   cannot change you or how you behave today and I cannot change people,
   places and things, I can change me, my outlook and the people, places and
   things which are right for me in the moment, in the hour and in the day…
   The twelve steps, open me up, they allow me to be me, I get my freedom
   back, and my free choices. I am able to share to the best of my ability.
   What the truth is, I know my truth and can share it. And in order to get to
   a bigger truth about the real bigger picture, I need your truth and your
   outlook and your wisdom. It does not mean that your wisdom is right for me,
   what I need to be able to do is respect you, your outlook and your opinion,
   even though it may be completely different to mine. The higher power works
   through people, being open, honest and willing to keep on changing and
   adapting to the reality of now. Our spiritual connection: coping with
   reality and living a life where happiness is possible and the truth always
   aids action and happiness. Peace, serenity, happiness and respecting the
   diversity of beliefs and opinions will always open the door to a greater
   understanding of the truth, love and wisdom, the universal truth, love and
   wisdom of today is the spiritual path of life…
   If my understanding of the universal truth, love and wisdom, which is
   available in the moment of now, I can be in tune with our higher power, and
   you are part of the higher power because you have wisdom. The real power is
   always in truth, sometimes truth is acceptable because we like where we
   are, sometimes truth feels like it is unacceptable because of where we are,
   it is still the truth and that truth is greater than me. In sharing this
   morning with a friend, I feel better, I feel better equipped, to have a day
   with meaning and purpose. Because of the twelve steps, the new life with
   courage, faith and confidence, means I can face the truth, and the truth
   can be good, bad and ugly. And any combination today of everything that
   life can throw at us is better faced with openness, honesty and willingness
   to be part of the big picture, and whatever endeavour or purpose comes our
   way, we can live it and be a part of it in the ever present, imperfectly
   perfect moment of now…
   And sharing recently with a friend, they have a foundation in their faith
   and religion. And for a long time they were disconnected from their faith
   and religion. Tentative steps on their part have led to a new truth about
   what is right for them. And I respect their view, their beliefs and their
   opinions, because they share the truth of what they know and how it works
   for them. I have gratitude, a gentle reminder to me that human contact,
   being able to share without fear, less fear, than before. And that they
   will not be judged. We talked about forgiveness for the way people treated
   us, and we realised whilst we were doing the best we could with what we
   had, the same applies to everyone, everyone does the best they can with
   what they have and how they behave is based on the knowledge and wisdom
   they have learned. We learn forgiveness for the best we could be, and we
   learn forgiveness for everyone, being the best they could be whenever it
   was. And the same applies forgiveness is key, we don’t need to make it an
   issue, we practice forgiveness by what we do, and how we behave with
   ourselves and other people. One day at a time…

   Alcoholics Anonymous | March 26 2012 | Steps In Action | Step 3 “Your
   Higher Power” | Alcoholics Anonymous Today’s AA daily reflection: “our
   learning is never over…” The quote actually reads “the teaching is never
   over.” I am not a teacher, I am a learner and I learn with you and together
   we make progress and we are not perfect or qualified beyond the moment of
   now…
   Video For Today:
   March 26 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 3 “Let Go” | 2012 | Alcoholics
   Anonymous
   Every day in recovery we trudge the road of destiny. The road of destiny
   can be guess work, can be planned, cannot be planned or the road is “what
   it is…” The saying, “the blind leading the blind” might be applicable if
   we were unable to keep learning what works today and what does not work
   today. Our emotional and spiritual path, where my emotions fit my situation
   in the moment of now offer the best opportunity to learn. If I’m sober I
   can learn more about life and living it making progress today…
   How I understand the difference between being “a learner” and being “a
   teacher” is important for me. If I say I am a teacher, I’m likely to try
   and teach you. If I am a learner, I’m likely to be learning with you. And
   this fits with my understanding of humility and having the capacity to keep
   learning life, letting go old ideas, attitudes and actions and being
   willing to listen and develop new attitudes and actions and keep changing
   and adapting as life changes every day…
   “It works if you work it, so work it you’re worth it!” This is sometimes
   added to the serenity prayer at the end of the meetings here in London UK.
   Some people are happy with the serenity prayer and do not add this
   particular sentence. Grant me the serenity, to accept the things I cannot
   change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the
   difference. And I don’t mind these days adding it works if you work it, so
   work it you’re worth it. It reminds me when I let go the old ways, I need
   to work on new ways of life in all that life offers today…
   We cannot learn and adopt new attitudes and behaviour from simply reading,
   listening and watching. Adopting new attitudes and behaviour requires
   practice, not to be perfect, simply to learn by doing, by feeling and
   engaging in living in the moment of now. Someone said recently in a
   meeting, “I had to stop thinking and start living again.” Understanding our
   feelings is crucial to coping with reality and although we might try think
   and analyse everything before doing it does lead to paralysis and no action
   if there is no practice. A bit like knowing the answer and how it should
   be: but having no practical skills to get there. Fellowship is learning as
   we go just for today…
   DonInLondon 2005-2011
   Fellowship.. similarities in experience, strength and hope develop unity
   and recovery ~ Voltaire “Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the
   experience of others?” -/- Learning by living our lives we experience what
   we can and cannot do and share wisdom to know the difference…
   “We win half the battle when we make up our minds to take the world as we
   find it, including the thorns.”- Orison Swett Marden
   I woke up, said the serenity prayer, can do, cannot do, tripped over my
   wisdom to know the difference and said it again! ~ Louis L’Amour “A body
   shouldn’t heed what might be. He’s got to do with what is” -/- Step one..
   step two.. step three and serenity, let go and let good, now I smile gently
   …
   Open To Truth, Love And Wisdom of Others [we let go having to be right,
   self-obsessed and self-medicating our lives away into oblivion and harm’s
   way]
   -/-
   AA Daily Reflection: Daily Reflections ~ THE TEACHING IS NEVER OVER Abandon
   yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your
   fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find
   and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you
   will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny. May
   God bless you and keep you – until then. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 164
   These words put a lump in my throat each time I read them. In the beginning
   it was because I felt, “Oh no! The teaching is over. Now I’m on my own. It
   will never be this new again.” Today I feel deep affection for the A.A.
   pioneers when I read this passage, realizing that it sums up all of what I
   believe in, and strive for, and that – with God’s blessing – the teaching
   is never over, I’m never on my own, and every day is brand new.
   -/-
   As Bill Sees It ~ True Independence of the Spirit The more we become
   willing to depend upon a Higher Power, the more independent we actually
   are. Therefore, dependence as A.A. practices it is really a means of
   gaining true independence of the spirit. At the level of everyday living,
   it is startling to discover how dependent we really are, and how
   unconscious of that dependence.
   Every modern house has electric wiring carrying power and light to its
   interior. By accepting with delight our dependence upon this marvel of
   science, we find ourselves personally more independent, more comfortable
   and secure. Power flows just where it is needed. Silently and surely,
   electricity, that strange energy so few people understand, meets our
   simplest daily needs. Though we readily accept this principle of healthy
   dependence in many of our temporal affairs, we often fiercely resist the
   identical principle when asked to apply it as means of growth in the life
   of the spirit. Clearly, we shall never know freedom under God until we try
   to seek His will for us. The choice is ours. TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 36
   -/-

2. Don DonInLondon says

   March 26, 2013 at 9:28 am

   apologies voice out of synch… words are clear… :)_

3. Don DonInLondon says

   March 27, 2014 at 4:41 am

   Alcoholics Anonymous Blog & Video | March 26 2004 – 2014 | DonInLondon |
   Step 3 “Your Higher Power”

   March 26 Video

   Alcoholics Anonymous | Mar 26 2014 | DonInLondon | Step 3 “Your Higher
   Power” |

   DonInLondon March 26, 2014: step three month: “made a decision to turn our
   will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.” Turning
   my will and my life over to the care of God as we understood him. Faith and
   belief is a very personal issue which challenges every single human, every
   single moment. My challenge feels like surrendering to the truth, love and
   wisdom moment to moment. The truth moment to moment, can be very
   complicated and difficult because we often react to situations based on our
   past experience.

   I was dismayed and upset yesterday, our meeting was all about what we do
   when we are angry. And listening to my fellows reminded me that I get
   angry, just like they do. And it is easy to forget why we are angry, and to
   what extent we are justified in our anger. And here is a problem and I
   don’t know if you can help me, can we actually control the way we feel
   about situations we are in?

   Are we actually in control of our feelings? First and foremost, I needed to
   know what my feelings were, and yesterday my feelings were okay and seem to
   fit with the current situation. I got a puncture to my bicycle, and the
   outcome was very painful physically and mentally. Physically I rely on
   being able to get about on the bicycle, which is electric and I don’t need
   to peddle. And mentally my mood went down very quickly. I know it’s only a
   puncture, but in the time I had yesterday, the chemist was upset with me, I
   then became upset about the puncture, and not getting my prescriptions down
   to the medical centre. And then the world descended into chaotic darkness
   and a desire to fix everything quickly. I could not fix a thing! And I hurt
   my back, turning the bike upside down and not being able to mend the
   puncture just made me feel horrible and very powerless. I phoned my sister,
   she gave me great perspective, suggested two paracetamol and go to bed and
   rest my back.

   Having walked far further than was good for me, and extreme pain, and a
   flat tire. And then to find that the foot pump broke, the other pump would
   not work, and a total deflation of the bike tire and me, without the help
   of my sister’s perspective, I would have reacted very badly, try to spend
   loads of money I cannot afford, by buying a new bike and a new pump, and
   trying to overcome the physical, it was a no-brainer. She was right, go to
   bed, rest up and see what I could do today. I was up at silly o’clock, got
   the tools out, the puncture outfit and repaired the bike pump. Still
   waiting to see if the flat tire now works after inflation. I don’t really
   care if it does, what I care about is getting perspective and accepting the
   limits of what I can do. I am willing to admit I was angry, because if I
   deny I was angry. I would be lying to myself.

   If I cannot understand my emotional state, if I cannot understand my
   feelings, give a name to the feelings I have, I really do not know what is
   driving me moment to moment. I would still like your opinion, do we control
   our feelings?

   And another question which I always find difficult for myself, do you know
   what your feelings are right now? It may seem like a dumb question but I
   would like to know if you do know what your feelings are right now.

   DonInLondon 2004 – 2013

   Alcoholics Anonymous | March 26 2013 | Steps In Action | Step 3 “Your
   Higher Power” All your life, you have been the best that you can be with
   what you know. Everyone everywhere is the best they can be in the moment of
   now. It does not matter whether people are being good, bad, or behaving in
   an ugly way. It is the best they can be right now, and was the best they
   could be back in the day. This applies to you too, you are the best you can
   be now. Looking back with hindsight we have all the wisdom of what happened
   and we can change the way we are one day at a time…

   And what about the “higher power?” When does it work? And why do we feel
   that some days there is no higher power and there is only darkness? Hungry,
   angry, lonely and tired. H. A. L. T. When we feel isolated and alone,
   physically and mentally tired, we cannot feel a power greater than
   ourselves. Unless we actively seek out the company of others, so we can be
   included in something bigger than us, we have no connection to what we need
   most, “inclusion, friendship, affection and unconditional love.” My higher
   power, always works through people, is there in fellowship, can be there in
   family, can be found if we have the courage, faith and confidence to share
   the truth about what is going on and how we are feeling today…

   In the old life, where fear, pride and ego would stop me from sharing the
   truth of my situation, I could only rely on my own feeling and thinking and
   the actions which would follow would be based on my own knowledge and
   wisdom. In that life of fear, pride and ego, I could not show weakness and
   would cover up my feelings about situations and accept very often the
   unacceptable behaviour of other people so I might fit in and find some sort
   of love and friendship in relationships. It was the best I could be with
   what I knew, and the people I was with, they were doing the best they could
   with what they knew too. Communications were very poor, listening and
   developing an understanding the truth of any situation was always hampered
   by putting on a brave face and rarely being able to share the real deep of
   who I was. Today, with courage, faith and confidence I can be the person I
   was meant to be, included, being able to love, being able to receive love
   without conditions. It can still feel very awkward today…

   My higher power is working, I pick up the phone when it rings, and I share
   with a friend what’s going on and how I am feeling today. They share what
   they are doing, how the higher power is working for them and we agree that
   the higher power works when we are in company, or simply asking for help to
   do something which we would like to do, the higher power in all human’s…
   Shared and included and in friendship, in family and in any relationships,
   when we are open, honest and willing to share the truth of now, we are in
   conscious contact with our higher power. The higher power works through
   people, doing the best they can today, and sometimes the best they can be
   is our worst nightmare. That’s when we wake up to realise that even when
   people are at their worst, it does not mean that we need behave like them,
   we are learning the wisdom of what we can do and what we cannot do today. I
   can change the way I behave with grace and humility, and not grovel. I
   cannot change you or how you behave today and I cannot change people,
   places and things, I can change me, my outlook and the people, places and
   things which are right for me in the moment, in the hour and in the day…

   The twelve steps, open me up, they allow me to be me, I get my freedom
   back, and my free choices. I am able to share to the best of my ability.
   What the truth is, I know my truth and can share it. And in order to get to
   a bigger truth about the real bigger picture, I need your truth and your
   outlook and your wisdom. It does not mean that your wisdom is right for me,
   what I need to be able to do is respect you, your outlook and your opinion,
   even though it may be completely different to mine. The higher power works
   through people, being open, honest and willing to keep on changing and
   adapting to the reality of now. Our spiritual connection: coping with
   reality and living a life where happiness is possible and the truth always
   aids action and happiness. Peace, serenity, happiness and respecting the
   diversity of beliefs and opinions will always open the door to a greater
   understanding of the truth, love and wisdom, the universal truth, love and
   wisdom of today is the spiritual path of life…

   If my understanding of the universal truth, love and wisdom, which is
   available in the moment of now, I can be in tune with our higher power, and
   you are part of the higher power because you have wisdom. The real power is
   always in truth, sometimes truth is acceptable because we like where we
   are, sometimes truth feels like it is unacceptable because of where we are,
   it is still the truth and that truth is greater than me. In sharing this
   morning with a friend, I feel better, I feel better equipped, to have a day
   with meaning and purpose. Because of the twelve steps, the new life with
   courage, faith and confidence, means I can face the truth, and the truth
   can be good, bad and ugly. And any combination today of everything that
   life can throw at us is better faced with openness, honesty and willingness
   to be part of the big picture, and whatever endeavour or purpose comes our
   way, we can live it and be a part of it in the ever present, imperfectly
   perfect moment of now…

   And sharing recently with a friend, they have a foundation in their faith
   and religion. And for a long time they were disconnected from their faith
   and religion. Tentative steps on their part have led to a new truth about
   what is right for them. And I respect their view, their beliefs and their
   opinions, because they share the truth of what they know and how it works
   for them. I have gratitude, a gentle reminder to me that human contact,
   being able to share without fear, less fear, than before. And that they
   will not be judged. We talked about forgiveness for the way people treated
   us, and we realised whilst we were doing the best we could with what we
   had, the same applies to everyone, everyone does the best they can with
   what they have and how they behave is based on the knowledge and wisdom
   they have learned. We learn forgiveness for the best we could be, and we
   learn forgiveness for everyone, being the best they could be whenever it
   was. And the same applies forgiveness is key, we don’t need to make it an
   issue, we practice forgiveness by what we do, and how we behave with
   ourselves and other people. One day at a time…

   Alcoholics Anonymous | March 26 2012 | Steps In Action | Step 3 “Your
   Higher Power” | Alcoholics Anonymous Today’s AA daily reflection: “our
   learning is never over…” The quote actually reads “the teaching is never
   over.” I am not a teacher, I am a learner and I learn with you and together
   we make progress and we are not perfect or qualified beyond the moment of
   now…

   Every day in recovery we trudge the road of destiny. The road of destiny
   can be guess work, can be planned, cannot be planned or the road is “what
   it is…” The saying, “the blind leading the blind” might be applicable if
   we were unable to keep learning what works today and what does not work
   today. Our emotional and spiritual path, where my emotions fit my situation
   in the moment of now offer the best opportunity to learn. If I’m sober I
   can learn more about life and living it making progress today…

   How I understand the difference between being “a learner” and being “a
   teacher” is important for me. If I say I am a teacher, I’m likely to try
   and teach you. If I am a learner, I’m likely to be learning with you. And
   this fits with my understanding of humility and having the capacity to keep
   learning life, letting go old ideas, attitudes and actions and being
   willing to listen and develop new attitudes and actions and keep changing
   and adapting as life changes every day…

   “It works if you work it, so work it you’re worth it!” This is sometimes
   added to the serenity prayer at the end of the meetings here in London UK.
   Some people are happy with the serenity prayer and do not add this
   particular sentence. Grant me the serenity, to accept the things I cannot
   change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the
   difference. And I don’t mind these days adding it works if you work it, so
   work it you’re worth it. It reminds me when I let go the old ways, I need
   to work on new ways of life in all that life offers today…

   We cannot learn and adopt new attitudes and behaviour from simply reading,
   listening and watching. Adopting new attitudes and behaviour requires
   practice, not to be perfect, simply to learn by doing, by feeling and
   engaging in living in the moment of now. Someone said recently in a
   meeting, “I had to stop thinking and start living again.” Understanding our
   feelings is crucial to coping with reality and although we might try think
   and analyse everything before doing it does lead to paralysis and no action
   if there is no practice. A bit like knowing the answer and how it should
   be: but having no practical skills to get there. Fellowship is learning as
   we go just for today…

   DonInLondon 2005-2011

   Fellowship… similarities in experience, strength and hope develop unity
   and recovery ~ Voltaire “Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the
   experience of others?” -/- Learning by living our lives we experience what
   we can and cannot do and share wisdom to know the difference…

   “We win half the battle when we make up our minds to take the world as we
   find it, including the thorns.”- Orison Swett Marden

   I woke up, said the serenity prayer, can do, cannot do, tripped over my
   wisdom to know the difference and said it again! ~ Louis L’Amour “A body
   shouldn’t heed what might be. He’s got to do with what is” -/- Step one…
   step two… step three and serenity, let go and let good, now I smile
   gently …

   Open To Truth, Love And Wisdom of Others [we let go having to be right,
   self-obsessed and self-medicating our lives away into oblivion and harm’s
   way]

   -/-

   AA Daily Reflection: Daily Reflections ~ THE TEACHING IS NEVER OVER Abandon
   yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your
   fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find
   and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you
   will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny. May
   God bless you and keep you – until then. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 164

   These words put a lump in my throat each time I read them. In the beginning
   it was because I felt, “Oh no! The teaching is over. Now I’m on my own. It
   will never be this new again.” Today I feel deep affection for the A.A.
   pioneers when I read this passage, realizing that it sums up all of what I
   believe in, and strive for, and that – with God’s blessing – the teaching
   is never over, I’m never on my own, and every day is brand new.
   -/-

   As Bill Sees It ~ True Independence of the Spirit: The more we become
   willing to depend upon a Higher Power, the more independent we actually
   are. Therefore, dependence as A.A. practices it is really a means of
   gaining true independence of the spirit. At the level of everyday living,
   it is startling to discover how dependent we really are, and how
   unconscious of that dependence.

   Every modern house has electric wiring carrying power and light to its
   interior. By accepting with delight our dependence upon this marvel of
   science, we find ourselves personally more independent, more comfortable
   and secure. Power flows just where it is needed. Silently and surely,
   electricity, that strange energy so few people understand, meets our
   simplest daily needs. Though we readily accept this principle of healthy
   dependence in many of our temporal affairs, we often fiercely resist the
   identical principle when asked to apply it as means of growth in the life
   of the spirit. Clearly, we shall never know freedom under God until we try
   to seek His will for us. The choice is ours. TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 36
   -/-

   Step Three Video 12 And 12
   Alcoholics Anonymous | Step 3 Reading 12 & 12 |

   Step Two Video 12 And 12
   Alcoholics Anonymous | Step 2 Reading 12 & 12 | DonInLondon |

   Step One Video 12 And 12
   Alcoholics Anonymous | Step 1 Reading 12 & 12 | DonInLondon

   AA Big Book Video | Chapter 5 | How It Works |
   AA Big Book Video | Chapter 5 How It Works |

   Alcoholics Anonymous Videos, AA is for Alcoholics, AA 12 Steps, Addiction
   And Recovery, DonInLondon, Don Oddy,