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Daily Reflection: Giving it Away

GIVING IT AWAYThough they knew they must help other alcoholics if they would remain sober, that motive became secondary. It was transcended by the happiness they found in giving themselves for others.
— ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 159Those words, for me, refer to a transference of power, through which God, as I understand Him, enters my life. Through prayer and meditation, I open channels, then I establish and improve my conscious contact with God. Through action I then receive the power I need to maintain my sobriety each day. By maintaining my spiritual condition, by giving away what has been so freely given to me, I am granted a daily reprieve.
Alcohol has always been a secondary issue for me.  It is my mind and the weight of my self-loathing that drove me to do the negative things that I've done. But  the truth of today's reading applies to me as fully as it does to anyone else.
The more I pray each day to be directed by God's will, to have the courage to act on that revelation, and to approach today with  a servant's heart, the happier and more joyful I become. I always prayed for God to help me kill my ego, but the positive side effect is I am also killing my self-loathing.
This is important because it makes helping others an easier and more sincere act. I'm helping people because I feel it my vocation and my lifeline. I am alive in the Spirit through service to others.
And when I feed my spirit, when I improve my conscious contact with God, when I feel those moments of being truly moved by the Holy Spirit, I have no thoughts of drinking or using anything to alter my mental state.  I am experiencing genuine joy, contentment, and a sort of peaceful ambition that I've never known.
Sorry if it sounds cliche, but the truth is I am learning to appreciate and mabye even love this man that God created.

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 26, 2016 at 2:04 PM

    I enjoyed reading your response to today's daily reflection. This has been a bit of a hectic week for me, and there have been moments when I just wanted to have "a night for me" to just relax and do whatever I want to do. When I start to feel this way I remember that the only reason I am sober is because someone was at the meeting when I was a newcomer and I need to pay it forward. I pulled some long hours at work yesterday and when it came time to work woth my sponsor after the meeting it was already 8:30 pm. We stayed for a while and worked together. Although I was tired I needed that time of working with another alcoholic.

    My responsibility is to share my experience, strength, and hope with the alcoholic who is still struggling. In doing this, I feel at peace with my higher power. I know now that this is not about me. I am here to a be a vessel for the actions of my higher power. It is a beautiful thing.

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