An Open Mind

10 18Reading: Good morning and welcome to Sober Readings. Today's Sunday, the eighteenth of October. Let's begin today's episode with the Serenity Prayer. God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference. Today's reading from Daily Reflections, an open mind. True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith. And that's from the twelve steps and twelve traditions. My alcoholic thinking led me to believe that I could control my drinking, but I couldn't. When I came to AA, I realized that God was speaking to me through my group. My mind was open just enough to know that I needed his help. A real, honest acceptance of AA took more time, but with it came humility. And the last sentence in this reading says the new sober me is a much better person than I ever could have been without AA. And I skip to that last sentence because to me that's the most important sentence in that reading. The person I am today, because of sobriety and alcoholics anonymous, is a far better version of myself than I ever could have imagined becoming on my own. AA hasn't just taught me how to live without alcohol, it's taught me how to live with honesty, humility, gratitude, and a sense of purpose. I'm still far from perfect, and I still have plenty of work to do. But today I can recognize my shortcomings, take responsibility for my actions, and make an honest effort to become a better person. The old me was consumed by selfishness, fear, resentment, while the sober me is learning to think of others, be of service, and find peace in things I once tried to control. I may have come into AA simply wanting to stop drinking. But what I received was an opportunity to become a version of myself that I never thought possible. My friend Vince always said, if I got what I wanted, I would have been selling myself way short. Today's reading from twenty four hours, the AA Thought for the Day. Have I got over most of my sensitiveness, my feelings that are too easily hurt, and my just plain laziness and self satisfaction? Is my own comfort more important to me than doing the things that need to be done? Can I face up to things that are embarrassing or uncomfortable if they are the right things to do for the good of AA? And finally, am I willing to give all of myself whenever necessary? Today's meditation for the day. Not until you have failed can you learn true humility. Humility arises from a deep sense of gratitude to God for giving you the strength to rise above past failures. Humility is not inconsistent with self-respect. The true person has self-respect and the respect of others and yet is humble. The humble person is tolerant of others' failings. And does not have a critical attitude toward the foibles of others. Humble people are hard on themselves and easy on others. And in today's prayer for the day, I'm praying that I may be truly humble and yet have self-respect, and that I may see the good in myself as well as the bad. And my thoughts on this reading, I don't believe I can ever learn true humility. Until I'm willing to accept failure as part of life and personal growth. For much of my life, I looked at failure as a weakness, something to be ashamed of, or something I needed to make excuses for, rather than an opportunity to learn. AA has taught me that humility isn't about thinking less of myself, but about being honest with myself, recognizing my limitations, and accepting that I won't always get things right. When I can admit my mistakes, accept responsibility without blaming others, and learn from my failures, I become a little more humble and a little more willing to grow. True humility isn't found in never falling short, but in having the courage to admit what I do and the willingness to keep trying to become a better person. For today's final reading, let's go to Keep It Simple: Daily Meditations for Twelve-Step Beginnings and Renewal. And today's reading begins with a quote from Frederick Nietzsche. Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal. Many of our problems are caused by taking an unwise stand. We end up being stubborn. We need the courage to know when to take a stand, and the wisdom to know when not to. Our program has taught us not to stand up to our drinking and other drug use, but to walk away from it. It beats us every time we stay around it. Step 10 can help us learn when and where not to take a stand. If we take a stand just to be stubborn, We must surrender and admit this is wrong. And today's action for the day. Today I'll list the ways I typically get stubborn. I'll list what steps help me to surrender to my higher power and to the program. And this reading reminds me that surrendering my will to my higher power doesn't mean giving up responsibility for my life. It means letting go of my need to control everything, trusting God's guidance. And becoming willing to accept that his plan may be different from mine. Here are five things I can practice in my sobriety to help me surrender my will. one begin each day with prayer and meditation. Before making plans or worrying about what lies ahead, I can ask my higher power for guidance and the willingness to follow it rather than asking him to make things turn out the way I want. And these are related to steps three and eleven. Number two, practice acceptance when things don't go my way. Instead of becoming angry, resentful, or frustrated when life doesn't meet my expectations, I can remind myself that I don't control people, places, or things. I can control my attitude and my response. And this is related to steps one and three. Number three, recognize my shortcomings and ask for help removing them. When pride, ego, fear, or selfishness begin influencing my decisions, I can acknowledge these defects and humbly ask my higher power to help me change. These this is steps six and seven. Number four, I can take a daily inventory and admit when I'm wrong. At the end of each day I can examine my thoughts, my actions, and my motives to see where I allowed self will to take over. When I recognize my mistakes, I can promptly admit them. And work to correct them. This is obviously step ten. And number five, be of service without expecting anything in return. When I stop focusing entirely on what I want and begin asking how I can help someone else, I move away from selfishness and closer to living according to my higher powers will. And that is obviously step twelve. And so the most important steps for surrendering my will are steps three and eleven. Step three is where I make the decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God as I understand him, while step eleven helps me practice that decision every day through prayer and meditation. That's all for today's episode of Sober Readings. Thank you so much for listening. I hope something I said today, something you heard in the readings, helps you along your way today. If you'd like to be a guest on Sober Readings and share your experience, strength, and hope, or share your take on any of the readings, there's a link in the show notes below to send me an email. You'll also find a link in the show notes to my website, soberreadings.com, where you can learn more about the show, and also if you'd like to drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket, click on the support page and find the button that says drop a dollar in the basket. So thank you for spending a few minutes of your day with me. Be good to yourselves, be good to others, and remember we only have to do this one day at a time. So just for today, don't drink, go to a meeting, and keep coming back. Have a great day everyone, and as my friend Larry says, best day ever.