Self-pity is one of the most insidious obstacles to lasting sobriety. Both Dr. Bob Smith and Bill Wilson, the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), frequently discussed the detrimental effects of self-pity on alcoholics. In the pages of the Big Book, “Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers,” and various articles in the Grapevine, they highlighted howContinue reading “Self-Pity: A Barrier to Lasting Sobriety – A.A. District 2 Alabama June 2024 By Anonymous”
Category Archives: Heroic
Fear Of Financial Insecurity Will Leave Us – Twelve & Twelve Pages 120 – 122
One of the 9th step promises can be especially elusive for many of us …”fear of economic insecurity will leave us”. I believe the Twelve & Twelve actually goes into a very useful review about how this fear leaves us. It’s important to note that the promise isn’t that economic insecurity leaves us but thatContinue reading “Fear Of Financial Insecurity Will Leave Us – Twelve & Twelve Pages 120 – 122”
Not Self-Affirmation But Self-Acceptance – Extract Chapter 44 From ‘The Courage To Be Disliked’ By Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
PHILOSOPHER: First of all, let’s look at what you were just saying, about your self-consciousness putting the brakes on and not letting you behave in an innocent way. There are probably many people who experience this trouble. So let’s go back to the source again and think about your goal. What could you be tryingContinue reading “Not Self-Affirmation But Self-Acceptance – Extract Chapter 44 From ‘The Courage To Be Disliked’ By Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga “
Finding Our Way Home As We Accept Our Brokenness – Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation February 11th 2026
The mythical wisdom of the ancients reminds us of the sense of wonder at the beginning of time when all was innocence, nothing yet wounded. The garden was tended by the woman and the man. They lived in harmony with each other and with creation. And every day they walked with God in the coolContinue reading “Finding Our Way Home As We Accept Our Brokenness – Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation February 11th 2026”
What’s My Business – Powerful Quotes From A New Pair of Glasses By Chuck C
So, my business is to go about His business, and it’s His business to take care of me. That is not my business, that’s His business. Now what is His business that I’m going about? Helping His kids do things they need to get done because I want to. (Page 105) Two verses popped throughContinue reading “What’s My Business – Powerful Quotes From A New Pair of Glasses By Chuck C”
Pain, Resistance & Suffering – Suffer Like A Marine By Arthur Brooks
His Holiness the Dalai Lama often talks to me about pain and suffering, but he doesn’t use the terms interchangeably. On the contrary, he teaches that they exist together in the following way: Suffering = pain x resistance Pain can be physical or mental, and happens to you because of an outside stimulus—you slam your hand inContinue reading “Pain, Resistance & Suffering – Suffer Like A Marine By Arthur Brooks”
An Unlikely Hero – Grapevine Article January 2001 By Hannah H.
My father passed away this year, just two months before he would have celebrated thirty years in AA. As we cleared away his desk littered with stacks of Grapevines, notes for AA meetings, and dozens of Serenity Prayers, I am painfully saddened that he didn’t live to celebrate this milestone. Up until the day heContinue reading “An Unlikely Hero – Grapevine Article January 2001 By Hannah H.”
How Can You Roll With A Punch? – As Bill Sees It #71
On the day that the calamity of Pearl Harbor fell upon our country, a great friend of A.A. was walking along a St. Louis street. Father Edward Dowling was not an alcoholic, but he had been one of the founders of the struggling A.A. group in his city. Because many of his usually sober friendsContinue reading “How Can You Roll With A Punch? – As Bill Sees It #71”
Recovery As A Heroic Journey By William White
In his classic work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell described a dominant myth pervading the world’s cultures. Campbell noted that, in spite of their myriad variations, mythic stories of the heroic adventure shared a common structure: the hero’s departure, the hero’s transformation by great trials, and the hero’s return. Campbell’s portrayal of theContinue reading “Recovery As A Heroic Journey By William White”
FEAR (Face Everything And Recover) – Touchstones January 28th Reflection
To perceive is to suffer. — Aristotle In this program, we have given up our compulsive escapes from life. Our escapes may have been through dependent relationships with others, or with money, sex, food, drugs, work, or emotional binges. But now we are learning to live without them, and this has brought us in touch withContinue reading “FEAR (Face Everything And Recover) – Touchstones January 28th Reflection”