It’s snowing again, after a week of nearly sixty up here. The wind’s blowing pretty stiff and all these tiny snow flakes are filling the air and covering everything. And that reminded me of what we all learned as children, that no two snowflakes are alike.
We say the same thing about people. No two fingerprints are alike and no one’s DNA is like another’s. Everyone is distinct and different. Wouldn’t that be great news in an AA meeting. We could all be unique. Terminally.
The great thing I found when I came here was that we were all alike. What was wrong with us went across the board. The disease concept, spelled out by Dr. Silkworth, fits each and everyone of us. The symptoms, our personalities, our defects, are so similar that Bill W. was able to spell them out in detail. But the great news is that the solution is the same for all of us ! and it works. I see it in my own experience and can bear witness to it working in the lives of others around me everyday. If we were all different, that wouldn’t be happening. Over 70 years of men and women have found this to be a fact in each and everyone of their lives. And it goes on.
The thing about the steps we apply to our daily lives is that they take each of us and all of us on the same journey; the discovery and relationship we find with a Higher Power. This Power empowers us to undergo a transformation and a process toward healing what is wrong with all of us. No exceptions, if we commit ourselves to this simple solution. It’s amazing.
I know that we all know this. It’s not news, but it is the good news to those of us, who wake up each day and realize what has happened in our lives and are grateful for the experience. It’s comfortable. Very comfortable. It’s comforting to know this. I feel comfortable in this way of life. Tom told me years ago that when I became comfortable I would never want to drink again. He was right.
The tenth and eleventh steps are the comfort zone. We all know that…or maybe not. The tenth tells us that in any given circumstance we can stay sober, keep in emotional balance, and live to good purpose. That was not true before I came here. It is now. Like the promises tell us, I have come to know the meaning of peace and serenity. I know it’s possible to maintain that state under any and all conditions, one day at a time. It takes practice, practice, practice to practice these principles in all of my affairs.
I know this is a rehash of what we all have learned since we came in. However, this is a daily necessity, to remind myself of what I already know! . I have this defect in my mind which throws a switch and I have this talent which pops up and I begin to forget all that I have learned. It elevates fear and pride to the front of my mind and pushes all that’s positive in me to the rear. Only by the willingness to step away from these influences and tell myself that all is well, if I will but concentrate on what works.
Just thinking about the day ahead. Love, Ned
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