We find that these people, although passionate, are not usually happy. How happy can a person be when all their energy is devoted to enforcing 12-step rules, as interpreted by them? C.D.A. was founded on the principle of inclusiveness, not exclusiveness. C.D.A.’s spiritual richness derives from combining the spiritual concepts of each of its member’s views.
I carry the message,
not the mess, to my group.
C.D.A. is an extraordinary organization in that there are no rules governing individual membership and no requirements imposed on groups by our area assemblies or Inter-Groups.
∼Chemically Dependent Anonymous P 96
March 6
If you stop doing the things that keep you in the program, you will go back to doing the things that brought you to the program. ~The Pocket Sponsor
“We do recover, but we are never cured,” is often heard in our fellowship. Even those who have only attended a couple of meetings realize that it is not a secret that we must continuously work a program of recovery. That is why after Steps One through Three, collectively called the surrender Steps, and Steps Four through Nine, also known as the action Steps, that we find the wondrous maintenance Steps Ten through Twelve. It is in doing our Tenth Step with eternal vigilance that ensures us that we continue to do the work of the action Steps. Step Eleven keeps our direction in alignment with our Higher Power, and Step Twelve is where we share what we have learned in the other eleven Steps. Eternal vigilance carries a small price tag compared to the price we paid when using. We know, only all too well, that being clean and sober won’t keep us clean and sober.
I keep doing what keeps me here.
Just because I've been clean and sober for a while, I can't expect that, in order to live happily ever after, it is enough to simply stop doing what I did before I came into the program.
∼Chemically Dependent Anonymous P 297
March 7
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ∼Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a very wise man and his quote is one we use often in the 12-step Fellowships. But, there are many things we have to do over and over again in order to get it through our thick heads. It’s not that we expect different results—we just expect any results! For instance, we have to read recovery literature and meditations over and over again so recovery principles will sink into our very being. We must go to meetings over and over again in order to bolster our support and continue to grow. We must call our sponsor over and over again so that we “get” what it is they need to teach us. “Over and over” again isn’t bad when we use repetition to support ourselves and grow in recovery. It is healthy when it supports the results we want, but repetition is insane when we keep getting results we don’t want.
I do what I can, let go of what I can't, and
leave the results to my Higher Power.
That is the insanity of this disease - that I could, over, and over, and over, do the same thing and expect different results, every single time. But the results were always the same, and always devastating.
~Chemically Dependent Anonymous P 238
March 8
There is only one key, and it is called willingness. ~Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Releasing our reservations about recovery is the first step to finding the keys to our own personal kingdom. And releasing our reservations is called “willingness.” None of us can claim true willingness, however, if we place conditions on what we are willing to accept in recovery. Our Higher Power may want us to delve deeper into our character than we want to, or do types of service work that we don’t like. It is acceptance of where we came from, where we are going, and what God’s will is for us—acceptance without reservation—that becomes true willingness. Willingness opens many doors in a strong recovery. It is of no use to accept God’s will in our lives if we reserve the right not to accept what we don’t like! Strength lies within willingness. Self-will lies in the reservations.
I set my reservations aside, fully accepting
God’s will, so that my “willingness” is
not actually “self-willingness.”
If I had only been willing to change my lifestyle, I could have had a life worth living so much sooner.
∼Chemically Dependent Anonymous P 362
March 9
This life’s five windows of the soul,
distorts the Heavens from pole to pole,
and leads you to believe a lie,
When you see with, not thro’, the eye.
∼William Blake
It is said that love is blind, and along those same lines, we recognize that “hate is blind,” “fear is blind,” and “anger is blind,” as well. Intense emotions obscure our sight and distort what is actually before us. Our perceptions become distorted and we suffer from a type of “mind-blindness.” When we see through the eyes of hate, we see enemies. When we see through the eyes of fear, we see danger. When we see through the eyes of anger, we see conflict. When we look through our eyes and not with our emotions, we actually stand a chance of seeing the bona fide reality. Our sponsors have the job of acting as our seeing-eye dog so that we may navigate these intense, distorted emotions. They help us see through life’s “blind spots.”
I do not allow my mind-blindness to keep me
from seeing my spiritual possibilities.
I was completely blind to life and had no idea what it was all about. I had no principles, no values. But you people loved me until I was able to establish some principles and values to use in everyday living.
~Chemically Dependent Anonymous P 370
March 10
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of them. ∼Epictetus
Life is about ten percent of what happens to us and about ninety percent of how we react to it. Knowing that, it is easy to see that if all our reactions are cast in a positive light, then only about ten percent of our world can ever be “dark.” How can we do this? The answer is a simple one: We need to see the glass half full as compared to half empty. Pollyanna received a gift of crutches instead of a doll. She could have been sad that she didn’t get a doll, but instead she was happy because she didn’t need to use the crutches. Let’s not be bummed that we don’t make more money, but rather be grateful that we have a job. Let’s not be unhappy because our partner isn’t perfect. How about being grateful that someone loves us, warts and all? We choose the way in which we see the world.
I don’t have a problem unless I think I do.
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