Gratitude is not a passive response to something we have been given, gratitude arises from paying attention, from being awake in the presence of everything that lives within and without and beside us. Gratitude is not necessarily something that is shown after the event, it is the deep, a-priori state of attention that shows weContinue reading “Gratitude – Consolations By David Whyte”
Category Archives: Gratitude
Some Longtime Views – Grapevine Article March 1984 By P.O.
MAY A SPECIAL shaft of serenity shine upon some alcoholic who thought up and shared that pleasant word “long-timer” instead of “old-timer.” I must reciprocate with some long-time views! One month ago, I shared my thirty-fifth AA birthday on a Sunday night at a meeting in Rondebosch. There was no banquet, no bells, not evenContinue reading “Some Longtime Views – Grapevine Article March 1984 By P.O.”
Keeping The Gift – Just For Today September 22nd
“Life takes on a new meaning when we open ourselves to this gift.” Basic Text, p. 107 ❖ Neglecting our recovery is like neglecting any other gift we’ve been given. Suppose someone gave you a new car. Would you let it sit in the driveway until the tires rotted? Would you just drive it, ignoringContinue reading “Keeping The Gift – Just For Today September 22nd”
For A New Beginning – Recovery Poem By John O’Donohue
For me , this short poem is full of hope about the limitless expansion (BB p.275) of this new ‘design for living’(BB p.25) the program offers us. Bill W describes it this way in the Twelve £ Twelve (p.15) “A.A.’s Twelve Steps are a group of principles, spiritual in their nature, which, if practiced asContinue reading “For A New Beginning – Recovery Poem By John O’Donohue”
Don’t Drink, and Change the Rest of Your Life – Grapevine Article December 1995 By Anonymous
STEP 12: Having bad a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. “There are only two things you have to do to stay sober,” the old-timer with the gravel voice told me. “Don’t drink one day atContinue reading “Don’t Drink, and Change the Rest of Your Life – Grapevine Article December 1995 By Anonymous”
The Olive Branch – Grapevine Article September 2025 By Charlene P
Repairing relationships is an amazing thing. But the amends this mother experienced was to “dye” for Today I sit here at an AA women’s retreat full of gratitude. Sometimes, trying to find gratitude when you’re lonely and have no contact with family can be challenging. I have six years and almost eight months of sobriety,Continue reading “The Olive Branch – Grapevine Article September 2025 By Charlene P”
Editorial By Bill – Grapevine Article November 1958 By Bill W
THIS is Thanksgiving time; our gratitude should certainly be boundless. Twenty-four years ago this month, I landed in a hospital for the last time. Then and there I received the gift of sobriety. Like all who have since joined AA’s ranks, I was given a chance to choose what I would do with my newContinue reading “Editorial By Bill – Grapevine Article November 1958 By Bill W”
Finite & Infinite – Breath; Wake Up To Life By Prem Rawat
I love the reflections on breath from this book. When first sober and very defiant in my agnosticism, I was able to find a way of relating to a Power greater than myself as breath. I knew my breath was absolutely essential to my life yet something I was being given each moment of everyContinue reading “Finite & Infinite – Breath; Wake Up To Life By Prem Rawat”
You Are Not Your Mind – The Power Of Now By Eckhart Tolle
Chapter 1 Extract – THE GREATEST OBSTACLE TO ENLIGHTENMENT Enlightenment — what is that? A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by. “Spare some change?” mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his old baseball cap. “I have nothing to give you,” saidContinue reading “You Are Not Your Mind – The Power Of Now By Eckhart Tolle”
Accepting Ourselves As Works In Progress – A Spiritual Principle A Day August 8th
“A spiritual understanding of self-acceptance is knowing that it is all right to find ourselves in pain, to have made mistakes, and to know that we are not perfect.” IP #19, Self-Acceptance, “The Twelve Steps are the solution” “Change is a process, not an event,” we often say–because we find it to be true! TheContinue reading “Accepting Ourselves As Works In Progress – A Spiritual Principle A Day August 8th”