Hi to all. Wednesday morning here 5.08am 6-4-2011 I have been blessed with another day. Here is a prayer I used early in my sobriety when I was unsure or new to prayer except for.O God never Again or If You get me out of this one. And just plain.HELP the only prayers I knew at the time plus the Lords prayer which I never used. So if it only helps one person who may be the same as I was early then its worth posting. I can only share my experience in what has help me in recovery from alcoholism.

God Bless

Lionel

A Prayer from one who is willing,
but does not yet believe


I want desperately to refrain from using alcohol and drugs.
I am willing to follow the path taken by those who are already sober.
They say I must come to believe in a Spiritual Power.
I would like to do that.
So, here I go..

Dear Spirit,
It is not for me to say there is no God, but
I do not know of your existence. Please reveal yourself to me.
I do not know your name. Please tell me what to call You.
I do not know your nature. Please help me to not worry about that right now.
I do not know your church.
Please help me not to be concerned with theology
until, if ever, You think it is important to me.

I do not know how to pray.
Please teach me.

I ask that my prejudice about things spiritual be removed.
I ask that I be willing to be willing to accept the reality that is You.
Help me to learn from those who already know You.
Above all, though, at this time, keep me sober.

May this beginning be the beginning of my knowing You.
Help me to be willing always to see and know You.
Let me see Your works.
Let me be open to Your working within me.
I invite You to be alive within me.

Please show me Your path for me.
Please help me to climb onto Your path.
Please turn me in the right direction, and
Please prod me gently to move toward You.

Help me to pray better next time, and
Let that be soon.
Thank You.

God's Cake

Sometimes we wonder, "What did I do to deserve this?" or "Why did God have to do this to me?" Here is a wonderful explanation!

A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.

Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, I love your cake."

Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers.
"Yuck" says her daughter.

"How about a couple raw eggs?"

"Gross, Mom!"

"Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?"
"Mom, those are all yucky!"

To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!

God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!

God is crazy about you. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.

Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.

I hope your day is a "piece of cake!"

God bless all Lionel

Good Morning All.
When I was in rehab in 1991 we watch a few videos Father Joe Martin a few others and a couple by Leo Buscaglia To me he's an inspirational speaker. Well after i got out of rehab i was in this second hand shop and this book just caught my eye it was called Living ,Loving Learning by Leo Buscaglia and for me who at that time had the mind span of a peanut found it easy reading with so much relating to recovery and life. i would highlight things in it that turned on a light in my head and as a result the whole book is just about highlighted i would recommend this book to anyone. In it was this poem. and i guess as a direct result I had/have changed my life i leave nothing unsaid to those i care about something I couldn't do when in the grips of my disease .Anyway here it is God Bless...

Lionel

"There was a girl who gave me (Leo Buscaglia) a poem, and she gave me permission to share it with you, and I want to do that because it explains about putting off and putting off and putting off - especially putting off caring about people we really love. She wants to remain anonymous, but she calls the poem, "THINGS YOU DIDN'T DO" and she says this":

Remember the day I borrowed your brand new car and I dented it?

I thought you'd kill me, but you didn't.

And remember the time I dragged you to the beach, and you said it would rain, and it did?

I thought you'd say, "I told you so." But you didn't.

Do you remember the time I flirted with all the guys to make you jealous, and you were?

I thought you'd leave me, but you didn't.

Do you remember the time I spilled strawberry pie all over your car rug?

I thought you'd hit me, but you didn't.

And remember the time I forgot to tell you the dance was formal and you showed up in jeans?

I thought you'd drop me, but you didn't.

Yes, there were lots of things you didn't do,

But you put up with me, and you loved me, and you protected me.

There were lots of things I wanted to make up to you when you returned from Vietnam.

But you didn't.

Hi All what a great day to be Sober.

Live and Let Live
Easy Does It
But for the Grace of God
Think THINK Think
First Things First

That the first word of each and you end up with .
Live easy but think first.

Is Prayer Good for Your Health?

Prayer is of compelling interest to Americans. Oprah talks about it on her TV show. Half a dozen books on the value of prayer and meditation have made the best-seller lists. It's good for the soul, but is it good for your health?
In a report published in the July 2000 issue of Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, researchers from Duke University Medical Center studied the survival rates of older adults. The researchers found that healthy older adults who participate in private religious activity -- prayer, meditation or bible study -- "appear to have a survival advantage over those who do not."

Much scientific research points to the health benefits of certain forms of meditation that involve repetitive prayers or mantras. When meditating, subjects sit quietly, clear their minds and repeatedly utter a silent phrase or prayer. It could be, "May the best possible outcome prevail," "May God bless my family" or "Peace."

Studies show that such meditation can reduce oxygen use, increase blood flow, decrease blood pressure, relax muscles, lower secretion of stress hormones, improve brain functioning and help remedy insomnia. These health benefits often persist for several hours after meditating.

To reap the health benefits of meditative prayer, practice it regularly, says Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., a Tucson-based physician and author of "Meditation as Medicine". Instead of praying just once a day at a special time," he says, "pray throughout the day when you're in a traffic jam, playing with your children or working at the office."

Source: Kyle Roderick, Third Age Media

God Bless...

Lionel

Morning Lionel, a bit of a lazy Sunday morning for me over in the Eastern beaches. Lovely to read this morning :}

This one is a little one I keep handy...

God, I can never get over the wonder of your forgiveness to me. Help me to pass on that forgiveness to those who hurt me, and help me to pass it onto myself. You forgive graciously, not grudgingly. Help me to do the same.

G'day CM
Short and to the point.

Monday Wash Day
Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility through the week ahead.

Good morning All
Monday morning here and the weather is getting cooler and it's an overcast day. But i am blessed to be a part of it. I have won the lottery first prise another day. not a bad way to start a new day.

God bless....

Lionel

First Step Prayer
Today, I ask for help with my addiction.
Denial has kept me from seeing how
powerless I am and how my life is unmanageable.
I need to learn and remember that
I have an incurable illness and that
abstinence is the only way to deal with it.

Good morning to All
It is a beautiful cool Wednesday morning here and i am looking forward to the day ahead. I like to to start my day with some spiritual conditioning .Mainly in the form of Prayer and meditation.
i have found this has helped in my recovery ..God Bless...

Lionel

Wednesday Mending Day
O God, help me mend my ways so I will not set a bad example for others.





An 11th Step Prayer

Good Morning, GOD... Thank you for this day. As I consider my plans for this day, I ask that you direct my thinking through this day. Free me from self-pity, dishonest and self-seeking motives; let me use my mental and physical faculties with assurance. Elevate my thought-life to a higher plane.
Guard me from indecision by inspiring me to an intuitive thought or decision and free me from self-will, so that I make no requests of you for myself. I ask for myself only if others will be helped. So God, allow me through your will to relax - to take it easy - so I'm capable of doing your will.
As I go through this day, if I should become agitated or doubtful, let me pause and ask for the right thought or action. Let me practice the principle of self-forgetfulness so that I can honestly say, "THY WILL, NOT MY WILL BE DONE."

Lionel I love your prayers! :) Thank you for sharing them. :)

I had a lot of little one liner self talk in early sobriety. I wouldn't have called them prayers at the time, but guess they were a bit.

"this will pass"

"you can do it... just do it... get on with it"

Took me a few weeks to remember the Serenity Prayer off by heart, but that helped me a lot and I have it on my bathroom mirror now.

Morning Lionel, beautiful Wed morning in the City.

Thankyou for reading them Shelly .
CM hows the wind in-between the Buildings I believe that the Serenity prayer has saved my bacon a few times .I remember very early in recovery saying to my sponsor after he told me to memorize it ."I am not religious and i am not sure if i believe in God or not ." and him saying I don't care if you believe in God or not i just want you to read it and memorize it. It's a wonder i didn't sack him then and there.but like most things back then I am happy I listened.lol

God Bless...

Lionel

Good morning to All.

On a grey overcast Sat morning her in Sydney.16, Mar. 2011

Saturday Cooking Day
Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly love and serve it with clean, sweet bread of human kindness.

Recovery for me has always been about change and for some reason I have fought change even though it was for the better dont make sense thats probably one of the reasons I am here.

One of the changes I had to make was learn to smile .i was at a meeting once and sharing about how good things were at the time and after the meeting and OSM came up to me and said I know your happy but you better tell your face that.

So here is one of the ways I learnt to smile. lol

A golf club walks into a local bar and asks the barman for a pint of beer.
The barman refuses to serve him. "Why not," asks the golf club.
"You'll be driving later," replies the bartender.

God Bless

Lionel

OLD TIMER'S PRAYER
Lord, keep me from the habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion. Release me from the craving to straighten out everybody's affairs. Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details - give me wings to get to the point. I ask for the grace to listen to the tales of others pains. Help me to endure them in patience. But seal my lips on my own aches and pains - they are increasing and my love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally it is possible that I may be mistaken. Keep me reasonably sweet. I do not want to be a saint - some of them are so hard to live with - but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil. Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected people. And give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so. Make me thoughtful, but not moody; helpful, but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all - but Thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends in the end.

Good morning to All.
Sunday morning 6.40am 17 Apr. 11 here and I am looking forward to the Golden Day ahead.
God Bless
Lionel

Sunday The Lord's Day
O God, I have prepared my house for you. Please come into my heart so I may spend the day, and the rest of my life, in your presence.

Being Recovered from Alcoholism is like getting a Gunshot wound. You can recover from it but it does NOT make you bulletproof. You can recover from alcoholism but it does not make you Immune from Alcohol.


If you want serenity, put your Higher Power between you & your problem.


There's a story sometimes told by members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): A mountain climber stumbles off the edge of a cliff. He manages to break his fall by grabbing a branch on a tree that overlooks the ravine. Hanging for his life, he calls up to heaven. "If there's anybody up there, help me--please!"
A thunderous voice booms from the clouds: "Let go, and I will protect you."
The man pauses for a moment to think. Finally he shouts, "Is there anyone else I can talk to?"
For many of us, the prospect of a new year calls forth pious resolutions to change our behavior. AA offers a program based on the paradox of personal change--that transformation comes only when we let go of our futile efforts to control what we cannot control. Unlike the man hanging from the tree, we can learn to accept direction from outside ourselves

Good morning to All

Tuesday morning here and i am so sore i went to a Show with my daughter and three of my granddaughters yesterday and after walking for hours my 60 year old body is having trouble keeping up with my 19 year old mine. Can anyone relate to that. But it was the best day and i know without recovery it would never have happened . So thank you God and thank you AA .

God Bless...

Lionel

Tuesday Ironing Day
Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected though the years so that I may see the beauty in others.

Staying sober requires a spiritual program of action. AA's Big Book says on page 85:



"We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all our activities."



4 Slogans For Beginners

Keep Coming Back
Even if you think it is malarky or if it is information overload at your first meetings. Come Back. We know how you feel; we felt many of the same things you are feeling. Shamed, guilty, and not sure that we were alcoholic. We even felt judged and alone in our first meetings. Come back. We did many of the same things and felt many of the same feelings. You never have to be alone again.



Dont Drink
A.A. teaches a program of abstinence. Many of us had a very difficult time stopping. We had to not drink for just today or just for this hour or minute. And go to the next meeting you can find. Some of us had to be weaned of alcohol in a hospital or treatment facility. AAs recommend a detox stay. Many of us would be dead if it was not for medical help withdrawing from alcohol. If you have made it through withdrawal, keep in mind; it is easier to stay dry than it is getting dry. AA meetings help with the drinking thinking and members will give some ideas about what to do with the time we spent drinking.


Go To Meetings
The surest way to learn how others do the sober thing is to go to meetings that have people that drank like we drank. AA members share their experience on how they drank, what happened to bring them to quitting, and what it is like now. You may be able to identify with someone or two and find common ground. We found great hope ourselves when we began to utilize tools of the sober trade gleaned from the experience of sober AAs.


Pray
We did. We now live life free of the slavery of the malady of alcoholism. The hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living called for drastic measures to change. We resorted to prayer and it worked. It has been said; there is nothing so strong as prayer. We found this to be true. When we sincerely asked for help, we got it. Even if we didnt really believe, for some reason, when we meant we wanted to stop, it worked.

All were beautiful and isn't it funny, just when you need to hear them..Loved them all, borrowed a few to print out and frame for my walls!!! Thanks for showing me the way back to my peace of mind (for today) :o))

Hello Moo
And thanks for being there. I like the peace of mind I have most days to.It's a whole lot better that the mind in pieces I used to have.

Wednesday Mending Day
O God, help me mend my ways so I will not set a bad example for others.

Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere. ~Glenn Turner



One of the things i discovered in recovery was that the mind and the body don't always have to travel together . So when those times come and i am stuck somewhere I don't want to be I take a moment to travel to a place and time where I am always happy and for me that is as a young boy on the south coast running along a beach jumping waves the sun is out there is a strong smell of the ocean I stay there for a second or two and when i come back into reality i am able to handle things so much better.

Maybe some here have a place and time as well.

THIRD STEP PRAYER
Used by Dr. Bob
Dear God,
I'm sorry about the mess I've made of my life.
I want to turn away from all the wrong things I've ever done and all the wrong things I've ever been. Please forgive me for it all.
I know You have the power to change my life and can turn me into a winner. Thank You, God for getting my attention long enough to interest me in trying it Your way.
God, please take over the management of my life and everything about me. I am making this conscious decision to turn my will and my life over to Your care and am asking You to please take over all parts of my life.
Please, God, move into my heart. However You do it is Your business, but make Yourself real inside me and fill my awful emptiness. Fill me with your love and Holy Spirit and make me know Your will for me. And now, God, help Yourself to me and keep on doing it. I'm not sure I want You to, but do it anyhow.
I rejoice that I am now a part of Your people, that my uncertainty is gone forever, and that You now have control of my will and my life. Thank You and praise Your name. Amen.