new behavior

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for a newfound ability to just live and let live. People seem to challenge me on this constantly but I've become so much better at not reacting in a negative way.

for step 3 (as it applies to the above concept)

for steps 6 & 7 (as they apply to the above concept)

that my friend Zane celebrates his birthday today (we're having dinner tonight)

for my 3 cats who provide with with unending enjoyment, even when they're asleep


Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.
Small people always do that,
but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
- Mark Twain

A very old advert

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for step 6, step 6 and step 6

that once I became entirely willing to stop drinking, it happened (and not a minute before)

that simplicity is often in the mind of the beholder

that I still enjoy posting to this little blog/website every day. The dynamics have changed over the years. We used to have a much more close-knit group of recovery bloggers who supported each other through our comments. It was common for me to receive 10-15 comments every day. Some of us even travelled and got to know each other. Most of those guys and gals have stopped blogging. My daily recovery misses them. Today I rarely get more than 1 or 2 comments and really don't feel the closeness that I used to. But that doesn't stop me because I do this for me. If anyone reads it, great.

If anyone comments, so much the better. Feedback is good.


Life isn't about finding yourself.
Life is about creating yourself.
- George Bernard Shaw

Habitually mine

If something is truly important to you, make it a daily habit. If healthy eating is important, make it a daily habit. If exercise is important, do it daily. If prayer is important, do it daily.

What you don't do daily, you probably won't do weekly either. What you make a habit of putting off just keeps getting pushed away again and again.

If something is important to you, attend to it immediately, and regularly. If something is not really important to you, that's great also - just scratch it off your to-do list forever, and never worry about it again. Choose how you invest your time, and honor your choices.


todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that to be happily sober, I had to change some old habits -- and I did!

that when I stopped smoking, more old habits just disappeared. Things that I thought would keep me from being able to stop smoking, such as what to do with my hands, how could I possibly not smoke after eating? etc...

for my lifelong habit of waking up early, ready to face the day. Even at the height of my drinking, this was always the case. It has served me well.

for Steps 6 & 7 which are terrific aids in my recovery from bad habits


We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
- Will Durant (commonly attributed to Aristotle)

Step 6

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for this paragraph from Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions .......

Self-righteous anger also can be very enjoyable. In a perverse way we can actually take satisfaction from the fact that many people annoy us, for it brings a comfortable feeling of superiority. Gossip barbed with our anger, a polite form of murder by character assassination, has its satisfactions for us, too. Here we are not trying to help those we criticize; we are trying to proclaim our own righteousness.

I have so much to learn

that I'm willing to learn all I can


Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Step 7

I'll post some great! photos of Halloween pumpkins this weekend. Drop by and see 'em.

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for those days when I remember to actively practice Steps 6 & 7. We read and discussed Step 7 yesterday. Here's a few of my favorite parts ......

... the attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of A.A.'s Twelve Steps. for without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all.

... never was there enough of what we thought we wanted

... we never thought of making honesty, tolerance, and true love of man and God the daily basis of living.

... The chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear, primarily fear that we would lose something we already possessed or would fail to get something we demanded.

the quote below. My kind of humor.

In order to fly, all one must do is simply miss the ground.
- Douglas Adams

tidbits

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I get to hear so much wisdom on a daily basis

for Step 6 - "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

that when I'm "entirely ready" my life seems to run a lot smoother

for having the proper attitude -- it allows many good things to happen


A good life isn't measured in material goods. There is no quicker path to misery than coveting your neighbors' stuff.
~~ anonymous

room for two

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I woke up sober this morning, no hangover or anything

that I don't have to wonder about how much of a fool I made of myself last night. I remember everything.

that my less than pure thoughts don't turn into actions or bad behavior (usually)

that I am more open about sharing about my sarcasm and smart-ass-ness than I used to be. That doesn't mean I have any intention of curtailing such behavior. I believe this is covered in the steps.


No man who is occupied in doing a very difficult thing, and doing it very well, ever loses his self-respect.
- George Bernard Shaw

Step Seven

"Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

The literature tells me that the attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of the steps. Bill W. defines humility as a clear recognition of what and who we really are, followed by a sincere attempt to become what we could be.
I ask for this every morning in my attempt at an early conscious contact with my HP.

If I am practicing Step 6 as suggested and then forget or just don't practice this step, I've done little to improve myself. Character building is imperative if I am to grow spiritually. This doesn't seem to happen by osmosis or by inaction. And I can't seem to do it by myself.
I need my HP, AA and you guys to show me and guide me and remind me.


todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for a really good discussion meeting about Step 6 on the same morning I blog-posted about Step 6.

for Step 3 and the chance to use it throughout my day - every day

that my HP puts people in front of me who can use my listening ears; it often requires me to put my compassion to work, but I always learn something, both about others and myself


You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
- Dale Carnegie

Step Six "Were entirely ready ...

...to have God remove all these defects of character."

During my first year of being sober, I heard somone with many years relate the following...
"It's been my observation that just about everyone I know who has relapsed has done so as a result of NOT working Step 6."
Well, that was just what I needed to hear! In other words, my defects will take me out. It's that simple.

The hard part (for me) is becoming ready and staying willing to have all these defects removed. It really is a daily challenge. I do my best. I'm not perfect; none of us are.
Awareness. Willingness.


todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for a drama-less weekend and that means s-e-r-e-n-i-t-y for me!

that Troy B. shared his AA story Saturday night

that I went to a baseball game with a sponsee who was celebrating 2 years of continuous sobriety -- my our Astros won 6-3


If you find in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.
- Maya Angelou

Workin' it ...

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for some emphasis on Step 6 -- "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

that I can read Step 6 in the Twelve & Twelve and disregard the religous tone in which much of it is written

that I have (hopefully) learned to not say never

that I've learned to be content with patient improvement of my progress

that I sometimes find the willingness required of me to practive Step 6

that someone actually asked me to meet them at Starbucks for some of my Experience, Strength and Hope


To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.
- Henri Bergson

No Smoking on this blog

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I experience the freedom and happiness that comes from surrender -- every day

for Step 6 and those moments that I am entirely willing to give up any particular defect of character; this is big because that plays a big part in why I haven't started drinking or smoking again

for the intelligent order of the Twelve Steps and the ways in which they are all connected; this has become clearer as I continue in recovery

for my attitude (usually)


The world was made round so that we would never be able to see too far down the road.
- Isak Dinesen

and this brings us to Step Three ...

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that there is only one key, and it is called willingness

that I made a decision to surrender my obsessive, alcoholic drinking over to the care of my HP

that the practice of Step 3 enables me to put Steps 6 and 7 into action


Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.
- Sally Koch

The Steps

This ladder seems like a pretty cool invention.









todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I heard some of the experience, strength and hope of a fellow member of Alcoholics Anonymous Saturday night. A man with 14 years of sobriety with whom I can really relate.

that I'm currently working on Steps 1, 6 and 7 with 3 different sponsee's

for a Saturday afternoon spent at home, by myself, being happy and productive

that I'm part of the Houston Roundup this year (again) - I really enjoy being involved

that Pam's computer is well

that I told you this guy was to good to be true


Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of.
~~ unknown

italics & parentheses

todAAy i AAM grAAteful & thAAnkful

for Step 6 and the awareness it gives me (when I think about it)

for so many opportunities to help others (almost always in little ways, but it's enough to make a difference to them and me)

that I enjoy doing the things that are necessary for me to take care of myself (except eating the proper diet)

Scott W emailed this video clip from Britain's Got Talent (the UK version of American Idol). It's 7 minutes long but well worth watching.


Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.
-Brendan Francis

Nothing awesome here, but ...

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for the plethora of recent meetings in which spirituality was the main topic

that I don't have to be perfect today no matter how much I may want to be

for Steps 6 & 7 and their potential in my life

that God could and would if he were sought

for the following words ...

One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody, everything, every night before you go to bed.
-Bernard M. Baruch

2 more weeks

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for a drama-free Monday

for the design for living offered me by the Twelve Steps of Alcoholic Anonymous

that when I truly practice Steps 6 & 7, I tend to come up short of my goals less often

for my hot tub on cool mornings

for the Chamber of Commerce weather we've had in Houston recently (you younguns may not know that term, so google it)

that two weeks from today, the election should finally be finished

Tough times never last, tough people do.
-Robert Schuller

the tube

The easy way to convert your analog TV ...




todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that staying sober gives me the awareness of so many details

that I have the desire to want to be entirely ready for my HP to remove my character defects - just for today (I have to renew this readiness each day)

that I seem to have developed patience where there used to be mental chaos

for some recovery of the stock markets

Fill in the blank (on the comment section)...................
that if you took a spiritual x-ray of me, you would find ____________

If you find in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.
-Maya Angelou

Staying grateful

Claustrophobic?
Check THIS out!




todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for constant reminders (in meetings) about the importance of practicing Step 6 in my life at all times

that honesty plays such a significant part of my day

that I don't believe the crap I hear from any of the media, just because it fits my agenda

for the concept of contempt after investigation

Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.
~~ unknown

just for today ...

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for the possibilities in self-improvement that Step 6 offers me

that lying never got me anywhere except in trouble

that a new friend made it back after a 1 day slip

COURAGE


"All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them."
- Walt Disney

"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others."
-- Sir Winston Churchill

"If there is one thing upon this earth that mankind love and admire better than another, it is a brave man, -- it is the man who dares to look the devil in the face and tell him he is a devil."
-- James A. Garfield

"Courage is the thing. All goes if courage goes."
-- J.M. Barrie

Pride & Awareness

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I KNOW I must practice Step 6 throughout every day

that I am aware of so many more things around me these days

that I am driving the convertible with Mr & Miss Lambda Center in the Gay Pride Parade tomorrow night; there are typically 200K-300K people (many straight families) lining the parade route

for another (hopefully) productive meeting with the builder/contractor of the new house. I called my builder's agent a f_ _ king cu_ t and had to make a little apology. I won't call him that again (even though it's a very apt description). LOL

that I'm not in denial (I don't think)

that I'm attending the Astros-Red Sox baseball game tonight; it's the first ever meeting between those 2 teams. Last night, I called our friend JJ (click here) to let her know I would be there. I'll wave at ya, JJ!!

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.
-Hodding Carter