September 17

In Alcoholics Anonymous, they talk about “the promises.” They are as follows: “If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.” They even end with “Are these extravagant promises? We think not… They will always materialize if we work for them.” And though these “promises” may sound extravagant to the suffering addict/alcoholic, those with some time in recovery know the truth of it, and “we think not.”

Reflections

Much like anything in life, these things result from your active, “painstaking” phase of your development.

Daily Challenge

Keep going. It gets… uhm… different.