At long last, you have come to realize that service to others is all you have to offer in this life!
The feeling of having shared in a common peril is one element in the powerful cement which binds us. But that in itself would never have held us together as we are now joined. The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which we can join in brotherly and harmonious action.
For the last four years I lived alone in a small house. The ceiling of one room had collapsed, and plaster dust was everywhere, coating the garbage and newspapers that littered the floor. Empty food cartons, beer cans, bottles, and dirty clothes lay where they were tossed. I had gotten a cat because the mice were out of control. But I was not conscientious about cleaning up after the cat. It is not surprising that I had few visitors and neighbors tended to avoid me.
And, most importantly, I know who I am. I know my goals, dreams, values, and boundaries, and I know how to protect, nurture, and validate them. Those are the true rewards of sobriety, and they’re what I was looking for all along.
But she said if you had to control something, it was out of control.
To me sobriety is a gift from God to me. If I drank, it would be giving the gift back.
Most of us need some significance and importance in the eyes of others. We must have some meaning, be it only to one other person.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.
Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers. Victor Hugo.
When one is a stranger to oneself then one is estranged from others too. Anne Morrow Lindberg.
One of the most common precursors to relapse is insufficient attendance at OA meetings.
How do we react when we don’t get our own way? How do we react when people disagree with us? Are we intolerant of differences? Do we try to smooth stormy waters, or are we troublemakers? Have we insisted on being the center of attention? Have we acted offensively just to be noticed? Are we afraid that we won’t be recognized or respected or loved? Do we fear that we won’t get our share.
What is the point in having a mind unless you can change it?
When you see a person who has been given more than you in money and beauty, then look to those who have been given less.
Amidst the mists and coldest frosts he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
They say the sea is actually black and that it merely reflects the blue sky above. So it was with me. I allowed you to admire yourself in my eyes. I provided a service. I listened and listened and listened. You stored yourself in me.
Hurt people hurt people more skillfully. An expert heartbreaker knows the effect of each incision. The blade slips in barely noticed, the pain and the apology delivered at the same time.
Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane? Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting? He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength, and charges into the fray. He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; he does not shy away from the sword. The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance. In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
We lose ourselves in books. We find ourselves there too.
Someone once told me the definition of hell; on your last day on earth, the person you could have become will meet the person you became.