Friday, October 27, 2017
Thursday, October 12, 2017
12OCT17GoodKindBridgeAAGroup
Open w/ "moment of Silence" for "Those Alcoholics still suffering on top of these bridges and those under the bridges",
... followed by the Serenity Prayer:
"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good Kind Bridge - AA Group, Bridgeville
(Mar 15 to Oct 15) Thursdays, 5 to 6 PM
- on the old bridge
- park by the Post Office
- bring a 5 gal Bucket!
... followed by the Serenity Prayer:
"
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Upper Room Reading>>>>>>>>
Why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither
toil nor spin, yet . . . even Solomon in all his
glory was not clothed like one of these. - Matthew 6:28-29 (NRSV)
When we visited Ajo, Arizona, we went on a tour of the desert south of the city. There we spotted the Ajo lily, or desert lily. It has a beautiful flower, like a smaller version of the Easter lily. It only grows in the deserts of the American Southwest and in northern Mexico. The Spanish called it the Ajo lily because the native people prepared food with its bulbs, which tasted like ajo (the Spanish word for garlic).
When I saw this beautiful plant thriving in such an arid, sandy environment, I was amazed at how God creates beauty in even the most desolate places.
God brings beauty into our lives in the same way. Even in our deserts of hurt, loneliness, and despair, God reminds us that we can thrive where we are planted and share the beauty of our faith with our neighbors. When we dedicate our lives to God, we can look past the ugliness we may see in ourselves to see God’s beauty in our lives and in the world.
When I saw this beautiful plant thriving in such an arid, sandy environment, I was amazed at how God creates beauty in even the most desolate places.
God brings beauty into our lives in the same way. Even in our deserts of hurt, loneliness, and despair, God reminds us that we can thrive where we are planted and share the beauty of our faith with our neighbors. When we dedicate our lives to God, we can look past the ugliness we may see in ourselves to see God’s beauty in our lives and in the world.
Today's Prayer
Dear Lord, remind us that where we see ugliness you see beauty; where we see fear, you see hope. Amen.
Thought for the Day
God can make love bloom anywhere in my life.
Prayer Focus > Someone who is lonely
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Living Sober Reading (http://www.aaonlinemeeting.net/uploads/7/9/4/4/79446362/living_sober.pdf):
Getting plenty of rest
For at least three reasons, people who drink heavily often cannot realize how tired they are. The reasons are three characteristics of alcohol: (1) It
is full of calories, which give instant energy; (2) it numbs the central nervous system, so that one cannot fully feel body discomfort; (3) after its
anesthetic effect wears off, it produces agitation that feels like nervous energy.
After we stop drinking, the agitating effect may persist for a while, leading to jumpiness and insomnia. Or we may suddenly become aware of
our fatigue and so feel worn-out and lethargic. Or the two conditions may alternate.
Either is a normal reaction that thousands of us have had at the very beginning of our sobriety, in degrees depending on our previous drinking
and general state of health. Both wear off sooner or later and need not cause any alarm.
But it is very important to get plenty of rest when we stop drinking, because the notion of having a drink seems to arrive from nowhere with
greater ease when we are tired.
Many of us have wondered why we suddenly feel like taking a drink, for no apparent reason. When we examine the situation, time after time we
find that we are feeling exhausted and hadn't realized it. Chances are, we have used up too much energy and have not had enough rest. Generally,
a snack of some kind or a little nap can change our feelings completely, and the idea of a drink vanishes. Even if we can't fall asleep, just a few
minutes of lying down, or relaxing in a chair or a tub, take the edge off the fatigue.
It's even better, of course, to get our lives on a healthy schedule which permits a sufficient regular rest period every 24 hours.
Not all, but thousands of us can tell stories of insomnia spells after we quit drinking. Evidently, it takes a little while for the nervous system to
learn (or usually to relearn) the habit of regular, undisturbed sleep without alcohol in the body. What may be the worst part of this is our worry
about it, because the worrying makes it even harder to get to sleep.
The first advice we commonly give each other on this point is "Don't worry. Nobody has ever died of lack of sleep. When your body is tired
enough, you'll sleep." And so it turns out.
Since insomnia was so often the excuse many of us gave ourselves for "needing a drink or two," we largely agree that a brand-new attitude
toward insomnia helps in trying not to drink. Rather than toss and turn and fret about it, some of us give in to it, get up, and get some reading and
writing done in the wee hours.
Meanwhile, it is a good idea to check out our other health habits to see whether we are in any way making sleep difficult for ourselves. Too much
caffeine in the evenings? Are we eating properly? Getting enough of the right kind of exercise? Is the digestive system functioning properly yet?
That may take some time.
Many simple, old-fashioned recipes for insomnia actually help, such as a glass of hot milk, deep breathing, a soak in a warm tub, a dull book, or
some soft music. Some prefer more exotic gimmicks. One recovered alcoholic recommends heated ginger ale with pepper in it! (To each his or
her own!) Others rely on a particular massage, yoga, or various remedies suggested in books on the subject.
Even if we do not fall asleep at once, we can rest by lying still with the eyes closed. Nobody goes to sleep pacing a room or talking all night over
coffee.
If the condition persists, it may be advisable to check with a good physician who understands alcoholism well.
One thing we have learned for sure: Sleeping medicines of any sort are not the answer for alcoholics. They almost invariably lead to drinking,
our experience repeatedly shows.
Because we know how dangerous such medicines can be, some of us have had to put up with slight discomfort for a little while, until our bodies
settled into a healthy sleep routine. Once we are past the temporary unease, when a natural sleep rhythm sets in, we can see that the price was
eminently worth it.
One more curious item about sleep after we stop drinking may be useful. Long after we have weaned ourselves from the bottle, a great many of
us are started to awaken some morning or night realizing we have just had an all-too-vivid dream about drinking.
Not all of us have such dreams. But enough have for us to know that they are common, and harmless.
AA is not a program of dream interpretation, so we cannot point out the hidden meanings, if any, that such dreams have, as psychoanalysts and
other dream interpreters do. We can report only that such dreams may occur, so don't be too surprised. Among the most common is a dream that
one finds oneself drunk, and horrified about it, but has no memory at all of taking a drink. We may even awaken with chills, shakes, and other
classic hangover jitters—when, of course, we haven't touched a drop in months. It was all just a bad dream. And it may come out of the blue,
long, long after our last drink.
Probably, it's a good thing that we find ourselves shook up and miserable at the notion of drinking, even in a dream. Maybe this means we are
really beginning to get the idea, deep down in our bones, that drinking is no good for us. Sobriety is better, even to dream about.
The beauty of sober sleep, once it is achieved, is the sheer pleasure of waking up—no real hangover, no worries about what may have happened
in last night's blackout. Instead, it means facing the new day refreshed, hopeful, and grateful.
For at least three reasons, people who drink heavily often cannot realize how tired they are. The reasons are three characteristics of alcohol: (1) It
is full of calories, which give instant energy; (2) it numbs the central nervous system, so that one cannot fully feel body discomfort; (3) after its
anesthetic effect wears off, it produces agitation that feels like nervous energy.
After we stop drinking, the agitating effect may persist for a while, leading to jumpiness and insomnia. Or we may suddenly become aware of
our fatigue and so feel worn-out and lethargic. Or the two conditions may alternate.
Either is a normal reaction that thousands of us have had at the very beginning of our sobriety, in degrees depending on our previous drinking
and general state of health. Both wear off sooner or later and need not cause any alarm.
But it is very important to get plenty of rest when we stop drinking, because the notion of having a drink seems to arrive from nowhere with
greater ease when we are tired.
Many of us have wondered why we suddenly feel like taking a drink, for no apparent reason. When we examine the situation, time after time we
find that we are feeling exhausted and hadn't realized it. Chances are, we have used up too much energy and have not had enough rest. Generally,
a snack of some kind or a little nap can change our feelings completely, and the idea of a drink vanishes. Even if we can't fall asleep, just a few
minutes of lying down, or relaxing in a chair or a tub, take the edge off the fatigue.
It's even better, of course, to get our lives on a healthy schedule which permits a sufficient regular rest period every 24 hours.
Not all, but thousands of us can tell stories of insomnia spells after we quit drinking. Evidently, it takes a little while for the nervous system to
learn (or usually to relearn) the habit of regular, undisturbed sleep without alcohol in the body. What may be the worst part of this is our worry
about it, because the worrying makes it even harder to get to sleep.
The first advice we commonly give each other on this point is "Don't worry. Nobody has ever died of lack of sleep. When your body is tired
enough, you'll sleep." And so it turns out.
Since insomnia was so often the excuse many of us gave ourselves for "needing a drink or two," we largely agree that a brand-new attitude
toward insomnia helps in trying not to drink. Rather than toss and turn and fret about it, some of us give in to it, get up, and get some reading and
writing done in the wee hours.
Meanwhile, it is a good idea to check out our other health habits to see whether we are in any way making sleep difficult for ourselves. Too much
caffeine in the evenings? Are we eating properly? Getting enough of the right kind of exercise? Is the digestive system functioning properly yet?
That may take some time.
Many simple, old-fashioned recipes for insomnia actually help, such as a glass of hot milk, deep breathing, a soak in a warm tub, a dull book, or
some soft music. Some prefer more exotic gimmicks. One recovered alcoholic recommends heated ginger ale with pepper in it! (To each his or
her own!) Others rely on a particular massage, yoga, or various remedies suggested in books on the subject.
Even if we do not fall asleep at once, we can rest by lying still with the eyes closed. Nobody goes to sleep pacing a room or talking all night over
coffee.
If the condition persists, it may be advisable to check with a good physician who understands alcoholism well.
One thing we have learned for sure: Sleeping medicines of any sort are not the answer for alcoholics. They almost invariably lead to drinking,
our experience repeatedly shows.
Because we know how dangerous such medicines can be, some of us have had to put up with slight discomfort for a little while, until our bodies
settled into a healthy sleep routine. Once we are past the temporary unease, when a natural sleep rhythm sets in, we can see that the price was
eminently worth it.
One more curious item about sleep after we stop drinking may be useful. Long after we have weaned ourselves from the bottle, a great many of
us are started to awaken some morning or night realizing we have just had an all-too-vivid dream about drinking.
Not all of us have such dreams. But enough have for us to know that they are common, and harmless.
AA is not a program of dream interpretation, so we cannot point out the hidden meanings, if any, that such dreams have, as psychoanalysts and
other dream interpreters do. We can report only that such dreams may occur, so don't be too surprised. Among the most common is a dream that
one finds oneself drunk, and horrified about it, but has no memory at all of taking a drink. We may even awaken with chills, shakes, and other
classic hangover jitters—when, of course, we haven't touched a drop in months. It was all just a bad dream. And it may come out of the blue,
long, long after our last drink.
Probably, it's a good thing that we find ourselves shook up and miserable at the notion of drinking, even in a dream. Maybe this means we are
really beginning to get the idea, deep down in our bones, that drinking is no good for us. Sobriety is better, even to dream about.
The beauty of sober sleep, once it is achieved, is the sheer pleasure of waking up—no real hangover, no worries about what may have happened
in last night's blackout. Instead, it means facing the new day refreshed, hopeful, and grateful.
(Mar 15 to Oct 15) Thursdays, 5 to 6 PM
- on the old bridge
- park by the Post Office
- bring a 5 gal Bucket!
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