Daily Reflection Podcast

Erin shares her experience on the concept of an unsuspected inner resource and on how she maintains her sobriety despite the challenges she faces as someone with a dual diagnosis. Erin has such an amazing vibe and a great attitude and approach to her sobriety. 

AN UNSUSPECTED INNER RESOURCE

With few exceptions our members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 569-70

From my first days in A.A., as I struggled for sobriety, I found hope in these words from our founders. I often pondered the phrase: "they have tapped an unsuspected

inner resource."  How, I asked myself, can I find the Power within myself, since I am so powerless? In time, as the founders promised, it came to me: I have always had the choice between goodness and evil, between unselfishness and selfishness, between serenity and fear. That Power greater than myself is an original gift that I did not recognize until I achieved daily sobriety through living A.A.'s Twelve Steps.

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If you’re struggling with alcohol or addiction, or wondering how to stop drinking it’s helpful to know that there’s a solution that has worked for millions of people. The Daily Reflection Podcast provides hope, and inspiration through the shared experiences of people that have found a way out. 

Lee made many attempts at controlling her drinking prior to coming into the program and she shares that she once felt so much remorse for the life she previously led. However, those things that used to cause her to feel shame have now become her greatest equity. Lee shares her powerful experience on the concept of having "No Regrets."

NO REGRETS

We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 83

Once I became sober, I began to see how wasteful my life had been and I experienced overwhelming guilt and feelings of regret. The program's Fourth and Fifth Steps assisted me enormously in healing those troubling regrets. I learned that my self-centeredness and dishonesty stemmed largely from my drinking and that I drank because I was an alcoholic. Now I see how even my most distasteful past experiences can turn to gold because, as a sober alcoholic, I can share them to help my fellow alcoholics, particularly newcomers. Sober for several years in A.A., I no longer regret the past; I am simply grateful to be conscious of God's love and of the help I can give to others in the Fellowship.

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If you’re struggling with alcohol or addiction, or wondering how to stop drinking it’s helpful to know that there’s a solution that has worked for millions of people. The Daily Reflection Podcast provides hope, and inspiration through the shared experiences of people that have found a way out. 

John has over fifteen months (as of Jan 2021) of sobriety and recently experienced the loss of his job. Without a program of recovery, he would likely have used this as an excuse to drink or fall deep into self-pity. Today, he shares how he uses the program, and his support network to view this as an opportunity for growth. John has a great program and I'm grateful to help share his story today on the concept of accepting our present circumstances.

ACCEPTING OUR PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES
Our very first problem is to accept our present circumstances as they are, ourselves as we are, and the people about us as they are. This is to adopt a realistic humility without which no genuine advance can even begin. Again and again, we shall need to return to that unflattering point of departure. This is an exercise in acceptance that we can profitably practice every day of our lives. Provided we strenuously avoid turning these realistic surveys of the facts of life into unrealistic alibis for apathy or defeatism, they can be the sure foundation upon which
increased emotional health and therefore spiritual progress can be built.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 44

When I am having a difficult time accepting people, places or events, I turn to this passage and it relieves me of many an underlying fear regarding others, or situations life presents me. The thought allows me to be human and not perfect, and to regain my peace of mind.

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If you’re struggling with alcohol or addiction, or wondering how to stop drinking it’s helpful to know that there’s a solution that has worked for millions of people. The Daily Reflection Podcast provides hope, and inspiration through the shared experiences of people that have found a way out. 

Like so many, Riley didn't realize the grave nature of his problem with drinking until it began to affect so many areas of his life... until he found himself at a turning point. Today, he also views so many moments throughout the day as opportunities or turning points where he can choose to practice the principles of the program, and when he does, he continues to experience growth, change, and amazing life in sobriety. 

AT THE TURNING POINT

Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 59

Every day I stand at turning points. My thoughts and actions can propel me toward growth or turn me down the road to old habits and to booze. Sometimes turning points are beginnings, as when I decide to start praising, instead of condemning someone. Or when I begin to ask for help instead of going it alone. At other times turning points are endings, such as when I see clearly the need to stop festering resentments or crippling self-seeking. Many shortcomings tempt me daily; therefore, I also have daily opportunities to become aware of them. In one form or another, many of my character defects appear daily: self condemnation, anger, running away, being prideful, wanting to get even, or acting out of grandiosity. Attempting half measures to eliminate these defects merely paralyzes my efforts to change. It is only when I ask God for help, with complete abandon, that I become willing—and able—to change.

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If you’re struggling with alcohol or addiction, or wondering how to stop drinking it’s helpful to know that there’s a solution that has worked for millions of people. The Daily Reflection Podcast provides hope, and inspiration through the shared experiences of people that have found a way out. 

Chris got sober at the age of 16 and credits the victory of surrender for the grace to move forward and rebuild his life. He's built a wonderful life based on the firm bedrock of personal powerlessness.

Sunlight of the Spirit - https://aavirginia.org/meetings/sunlight-of-the-spirit-4/

THE VICTORY OF SURRENDER

We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness finally turn out to be firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful lives may be built

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 21

When alcohol influenced every facet of my life, when bottles became the symbol of all my self-indulgence and permissiveness when I came to realize that, by myself, I could do nothing to overcome the power of alcohol, I realized I had no recourse except surrender. In surrender, I found victory—victory over my selfish self-indulgence, victory over my stubborn resistance to life as it was given to me. When I stopped fighting anybody or anything, I started on the path to sobriety, serenity, and peace.

Support the show

Need the Daily Reflection Book?

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Support the Podcast:

- On Patreon: https://patreon.com/dailyreflection

- On PayPal: https://paypal.me/dailyreflection

If you’re struggling with alcohol or addiction, or wondering how to stop drinking it’s helpful to know that there’s a solution that has worked for millions of people. The Daily Reflection Podcast provides hope, and inspiration through the shared experiences of people that have found a way out. 

Kevin P. Joins us from Jacksonville Beach, FL where he's a Professional Therapist. Kevin shares on the topic of beginning where you are... Starting with the elimination of alcohol - that's merely the ticket to the show. The real challenge comes when we face the challenges of daily life. 

BEGIN WHERE YOU ARE

We feel that the elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations, and affairs.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 19

It's usually pretty easy for me to be pleasant to the people in an A.A. setting. While I'm working to stay sober, I'm celebrating with my fellow A.A.S our common release from the hell of drinking. It's often not so hard to spread glad tidings to my old and new friends in the program. At home or at work, though, it can be a different story. It is in situations arising in both of those areas that the little day-to-day frustrations are most evident, and where it can be tough to smile or reach out with a kind word or an attentive ear. It's outside of the A.A. rooms that I face the real test of the effectiveness of my walk through A.A.'s Twelve Steps.

Support the show

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Support the Podcast:

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- On PayPal: https://paypal.me/dailyreflection

If you’re struggling with alcohol or addiction, or wondering how to stop drinking it’s helpful to know that there’s a solution that has worked for millions of people. The Daily Reflection Podcast provides hope, and inspiration through the shared experiences of people that have found a way out. 

Louie L. shares on the daily reflection for this, New Years Day - January, 1st entitled "I am a Miracle".

"I AM A MIRACLE"

The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 25

This truly is a fact in my life today, and a real miracle. I always believed in God, but could never put that belief meaningfully into my life. Today, because of Alcoholics Anonymous, I now trust and rely on God, as I understand Him; I am sober today because of that! Learning to trust and rely on God was something I could never have done alone. I now believe in miracles because I am one!

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Support the Podcast:

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If you’re struggling with alcohol or addiction, or wondering how to stop drinking it’s helpful to know that there’s a solution that has worked for millions of people. The Daily Reflection Podcast provides hope, and inspiration through the shared experiences of people that have found a way out. 

Join us as Tom Hilton, from Jacksonville Beach, FL, shares his experience, strength, and hope around today's Daily Reflection, The Joy of Living. 

THE JOY OF LIVING

. . . therefore the joy of good living is the theme of A.A.'s Twelfth Step.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 125

A.A. is a joyful program! Even so, I occasionally balk at taking the necessary steps to move ahead, and find myself resisting the very actions that could bring about the joy I want. I would not resist if those actions did not touch some vulnerable area of my life, an area that needs hope and fulfillment. Repeated exposure to joyfulness has a way of softening the hard, outer edges of my ego. Therein lies the power of joyfulness to help all members of A.A.

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

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Support the Podcast:

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If you’re struggling with alcohol or addiction, or wondering how to stop drinking it’s helpful to know that there’s a solution that has worked for millions of people. The Daily Reflection Podcast provides hope, and inspiration through the shared experiences of people that have found a way out. 

Join us as Joel Gough, from Leesburg, VA, shares his experience, strength, and hope around today's Daily Reflection, Accepting Success or Failure.

ACCEPTING SUCCESS OR FAILURE

Furthermore, how shall we come to terms with seeming failure or success? Can we now accept and adjust to either without despair or pride? Can we accept poverty, sickness, loneliness, and bereavement with courage and serenity? Can we steadfastly content ourselves with the humbler, yet sometimes more durable, satisfactions when the brighter, more glittering achievements are denied us?

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 112

After I found A.A. and stopped drinking, it took a while before I understood why the First Step contained two parts: my powerlessness over alcohol, and my life's unmanageability. In the same way, I believed for a long time that, in order to be in tune with the Twelve Steps, it was enough for me "to carry this message to alcoholics." That was rushing things. I was forgetting that there were a total of Twelve Steps and that the Twelfth Step also had more than one part. Eventually I learned that it was necessary for me to "practice these principles" in all areas of my life. In working all the Steps thoroughly, I not only stay sober and help someone else to achieve sobriety, but also I transform my difficulty with living into a joy of living.

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

Support the show

Need the Daily Reflection Book?

Visit our web site

Read about Recovery on our Blog

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Support the Podcast:

- On Patreon: https://patreon.com/dailyreflection

- On PayPal: https://paypal.me/dailyreflection

If you’re struggling with alcohol or addiction, or wondering how to stop drinking it’s helpful to know that there’s a solution that has worked for millions of people. The Daily Reflection Podcast provides hope, and inspiration through the shared experiences of people that have found a way out. 

Max E. from Chicago returns to the show to share his experience around today's Daily Reflection entitled A Sane and Happy Usefulness. 

A "SANE AND HAPPY USEFULNESS"

We have come to believe He would like us to keep our heads in the clouds with Him, but that our feet ought to be firmly planted on earth. That is where our fellow travelers are, and that is where our work must be done. These are the realities for us. We have found nothing incompatible between a powerful spiritual experience and a life of sane and happy usefulness

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 130

All the prayer and meditation in the world will not help me unless they are accompanied by action. Practicing the principles in all my affairs shows me the care that God takes in all parts of my life. God appears in my world when I move aside, and allow Him to step into it.

Support the show

Need the Daily Reflection Book?

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Read about Recovery on our Blog

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Support the Podcast:

- On Patreon: https://patreon.com/dailyreflection

- On PayPal: https://paypal.me/dailyreflection

If you’re struggling with alcohol or addiction, or wondering how to stop drinking it’s helpful to know that there’s a solution that has worked for millions of people. The Daily Reflection Podcast provides hope, and inspiration through the shared experiences of people that have found a way out.