Gratitude

Thoughtfood for Thursday, November 5, 2009

Gratitude

When brimming with gratitude,

one's heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love,

the finest emotion that we can ever know.
- As Bill Sees It,  p. 37

From the Big Book:

"To whom it may concern:

I have specialized in the treatment of alcoholism for many years.

In late 1934 I attended a patient who, though he had been a competent businessman of good earning capacity, was an alcoholic of a type I had come to regard as hopeless.

In the course of his third treatment he acquired certain ideas concerning a possible means of recovery.  As part of his rehabilitation he commenced to present his conceptions to other alcoholics, impressing upon them that they must do likewise with still others.  This has become the basis of a rapidly growing fellowship of these men and their families. This man and over one hundred others appear to have recovered."

c. 1939, AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, The Doctor's Opinion, p. xxiii.

Prayer for the day:

"I pray that I may be used as a channel to express the Divine Love.  I pray that I may so live as to bring God's spirit closer to the world."

c. 1975, Hazelden Foundation, Twenty-Four Hours A Day, Nov. 5.

Quote for the day:

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed.  Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude."  __Dennis Waitley (American Speaker and Author, b. 1933.)

My share:

It is with gratitude that I pass my share to Ramona today.  Be Good To You, Dave

A MEMBER SHARES:
My name is Ramona, and I am a recovering alcoholic.  Like so many things I heard around here when I was new, I had no meaningful understanding of gratitude.  Many of the words that I thought I knew the meaning to have taken on new, different and deeper meanings since coming to AA and working the Steps.  The longer I stay sober, remain teachable, and work the Steps, the more is being revealed.  Gratitude is one of those words whose meaning has changed.  It is no longer how I look to the outside world that I am most grateful for, or how much stuff I have or don't have, it is the inside stuff that is invaluable, that I am grateful for.  I didn't believe I had much to be grateful for when I got back here.  Due to my choice to drink and my choices while drinking, I suffered consequences beyond my comprehension.  I had lost everything I thought mattered, and sure didn't see anything to be grateful about.  But one thing I did have was the gift of desperation, and through prior knowledge, I knew AA was the only hope for me.  Today, I am grateful for that desperate state of being I was in when I got back here, because it was the foundation that allowed this program to work for me this time, one day at a time.  Through this program, the things I am grateful for have changed.  Today, I am most grateful for my close AA friends who never gave up on me, those who are still there for me when I am down on myself, and need to share the pain, or the truth, or just cry -- those are the friends I also share the good turns and the blessings with.  We share life's ups and downs with each other as fellow alcoholics.  They are true friends in this Fellowship, people who have loved and love me until I can love myself.  I am grateful I have new principles to live by.