How should one live? Live welcoming to all.—Mechthild of Magdeburg Welcoming is a spiritual practice we met when we came to this program. We may recall our first meetings and how welcome we felt in this group of fellow sufferers. The group gave us hope when we felt desperate and continues to provide us withContinue reading “Practicing Principles Of Hospitality & Welcoming – Touchstone Reflection July 18th”
Category Archives: Unworthiness
Doing A Thorough 4th Step – Practice These Principles By Ray A.
Step 4 is not only about what we did, but about what we are. It is not only about the wrongs we did to others, but about the wrongs that are in us. Though most of these are tied to things we did, some may also be significantly tied to things that others did. InContinue reading “Doing A Thorough 4th Step – Practice These Principles By Ray A.”
A Circle Of Friends – Grapevine Article December 1992 By Jim D.
I was a loner all my life. I was always scared and ashamed. I was poor, I lived in a dilapidated house, and my alcoholic father put my family through hell. I never had any friends. I despised alcohol for dealing me such a rotten break in life. As an adult, I vowed never toContinue reading “A Circle Of Friends – Grapevine Article December 1992 By Jim D.”
Boomerang – As Bill Sees It #185
When I was ten, I was tall and gawky, and smaller kids could push me around in quarrels. I remember being very depressed for a year or more, and then I began to develop a fierce resolve to win. One day, my grandfather came along with a book about Australia and told me, “This bookContinue reading “Boomerang – As Bill Sees It #185”
Persist Or Let Go – Touchstone Reflection July 3rd
Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist but in the ability to start over.—F. Scott Fitzgerald Many situations require fierce persistence, but in others we need to start over. Early in recovery, most of us haven’t had a good way of knowing the difference. Perhaps with every challenge we tried harder and heldContinue reading “Persist Or Let Go – Touchstone Reflection July 3rd”
Our Secrets Keep Us Stuck – Each Day A New Beginning June 30th
. . . in silence might be the privilege of the strong, but it was certainly a danger to the weak. For the things I was prompted to keep silent about were nearly always the things I was ashamed of, which would have been far better aired . . . –Joanna Field It has beenContinue reading “Our Secrets Keep Us Stuck – Each Day A New Beginning June 30th”
Connections Between The Four Agreements & Recovery June 2022 By Mark S.
Recently I found myself returning to a book I had read many years ago – The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz. As I reflected on his thoughts about these “Four Agreements,” I began to see connections with our efforts to achieve and maintain sobriety. In this article, I hope to show youContinue reading “Connections Between The Four Agreements & Recovery June 2022 By Mark S.”
What We Magnify Grows – Touchstone Reflection June 13th
You must fight off a “bad luck” way of thinking as if you were dealing with an invasion of hostile forces—for that is precisely what you are dealing with.—Maxwell Maltz Life is an ongoing experience with two opposing forces. One force is constantly building up, and the other is constantly tearing down. We have successesContinue reading “What We Magnify Grows – Touchstone Reflection June 13th”
Bright Promise – Grapevine Article July 1956 By Anonymous
THREE years ago an official prognosis for rehabilitation in my case would have read “hopeless.” An alcoholic who could not hold a job, divorced, estranged from my parents, I came and went through prison gates like an official–except that I remained behind the walls a longer period of time. After my fourth conviction I wasContinue reading “Bright Promise – Grapevine Article July 1956 By Anonymous”
A New Way Of Looking At Life – Grapevine Article April 1981 By D.J.
ONE AFTERNOON a few months ago, I found myself reviewing the story of AA co-founder Bill W.’s encounter with cosmic consciousness in Towns Hospital. I had come across a well-detailed account of the incident and had not proceeded far into it before I began to experience feelings of envy. After all, I reasoned, why shouldn’tContinue reading “A New Way Of Looking At Life – Grapevine Article April 1981 By D.J.”