The Promises:
If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be
amazed before we are half way through.
We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
We will not regret the past, nor wish to shut the door on it.
We will comprehend the word serenity,
and we will know peace.
No matter how far down the scale we have gone,
we will see how our experience can benefit others.
That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.
We will lose interest in selfish things and
gain interest in our fellows.
Self-seeking will slip away.
Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.
We will intuitively know how to handle situations
which used to baffle us.
We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us
what we could not do for ourselves.
Are these extravagant promises? We think not.
They are being fulfilled among us--
sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.
They will always materialize if we work for them.
Thanks for sharing that! I'm grateful that I am beginning to see some of the promises bear fruit in my life.
I love that!!! Thank you Rachel. It's a good reminder, especially this time of year....You and your recovery are such a huge inspiration to me.
Rachel...
Wow...When I was sharing last night, I said that my HP, whom I call God, speaks to me through so many things, people, e-mails, animals...he speaks and if I am open & willing, I hear....I've been hearing about the Promises a lot in the last few days and wasn't sure what it meant so I was going to e-mail Kat this morning and ask....thank you for posting this and thank you for sharing your recovery...I love being in recovery but most of all, I love the relationship I have with my HP today....
God bless,
Stacey
Wow...When I was sharing last night, I said that my HP, whom I call God, speaks to me through so many things, people, e-mails, animals...he speaks and if I am open & willing, I hear....I've been hearing about the Promises a lot in the last few days and wasn't sure what it meant so I was going to e-mail Kat this morning and ask....thank you for posting this and thank you for sharing your recovery...I love being in recovery but most of all, I love the relationship I have with my HP today....
God bless,
Stacey
Stacey:
Thank you for sharing your recovery openly and honestly. I love reading your posts. I love The Promises and always feel such a sense of peace when I read them.
Rachel
Thank you for sharing your recovery openly and honestly. I love reading your posts. I love The Promises and always feel such a sense of peace when I read them.
Rachel
They will always materialize if we work for them.
I need to keep hearing that line. This isn't just going to fall into my lap....
I need to keep hearing that line. This isn't just going to fall into my lap....
Boy, has this part of the Promises come true for me, especially as of late:
"We will intuitively know how to handle situations. which used to baffle us."
Love all the recovery that is going on over here on the PP site!
"We will intuitively know how to handle situations. which used to baffle us."
Love all the recovery that is going on over here on the PP site!
The Last Promise (from the BB of AA):
We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
The last Promise in the Big Book came true for me on the very first day of sobriety. God kept me sober that day, and on every other day I allowed Him to operate in my life. He gives me the strength, courage and guidance to meet my responsibilities in his life so that I am then able to reach out and help others stay sober and grow. He manifests within me, making me a channel of HIs word, thought and deed. He works with my inner self, while I produce in the outer world, for He will not do for me what I can do for myself. I must be willing to do His work, so thatt He can function through me successfully.
We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
The last Promise in the Big Book came true for me on the very first day of sobriety. God kept me sober that day, and on every other day I allowed Him to operate in my life. He gives me the strength, courage and guidance to meet my responsibilities in his life so that I am then able to reach out and help others stay sober and grow. He manifests within me, making me a channel of HIs word, thought and deed. He works with my inner self, while I produce in the outer world, for He will not do for me what I can do for myself. I must be willing to do His work, so thatt He can function through me successfully.
I was reading the big book this weekend. The thing that jumped up and grabbed me was:
God will do for us that wich we cannot do for ourselves.
He could and he would if he were sought.
I love that reminder. All we have to do is seek him.
God will do for us that wich we cannot do for ourselves.
He could and he would if he were sought.
I love that reminder. All we have to do is seek him.
I have been treading some seriously life altering waters...and I have intuitively known how to handle them. I am somewhat in awe of my intuitive abilities right now and my heavy, earthbound body and mind is struggling to grasp understanding of "how" I "knew" to do this or that. I am not sure that I am meant to understand.
Maybe the understanding is there, I just can't grasp it right now. The problem is, one of the people in my life who has always been a signifier for me is gone. It is the same "earthbound" heaviness driving my desire for understanding that is causing me to hurt so badly right now.
I am so happy that my friend is not in pain anymore...I am happy that he is united with his mother and relatives, and he is expanding into the universe...and understanding all the beautiful things we have discussed and questioned. I am so grateful that he is listening to the sacred music out of which we were created.
I am so grateful that I had time with him...I am grateful for his honesty, which required mine. I am grateful that he allowed me into his path enough to know that I too had to continually be moving toward stillness. I am grateful that through my love of him and for him, my compassion for his suffering, I reconnected with my breath, finally. Thank you for that...
He held me accountable...just by the way he lived. The day I shared my addiction with him was so liberating for me. I was so embarrassed to admit it to him...because he was the kind of man that made you want to do your best in his presence. He was proud that I had chosen to fight for my clarity and encouraged me by being gentle and being still. I am so fortunate to call him friend.
All I know to do is continue to love him. Apparently, love is all there is.
Maybe the understanding is there, I just can't grasp it right now. The problem is, one of the people in my life who has always been a signifier for me is gone. It is the same "earthbound" heaviness driving my desire for understanding that is causing me to hurt so badly right now.
I am so happy that my friend is not in pain anymore...I am happy that he is united with his mother and relatives, and he is expanding into the universe...and understanding all the beautiful things we have discussed and questioned. I am so grateful that he is listening to the sacred music out of which we were created.
I am so grateful that I had time with him...I am grateful for his honesty, which required mine. I am grateful that he allowed me into his path enough to know that I too had to continually be moving toward stillness. I am grateful that through my love of him and for him, my compassion for his suffering, I reconnected with my breath, finally. Thank you for that...
He held me accountable...just by the way he lived. The day I shared my addiction with him was so liberating for me. I was so embarrassed to admit it to him...because he was the kind of man that made you want to do your best in his presence. He was proud that I had chosen to fight for my clarity and encouraged me by being gentle and being still. I am so fortunate to call him friend.
All I know to do is continue to love him. Apparently, love is all there is.
Adding on to how the Promises are working in my life:
"Are these extragavant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us-sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them." (BB of AA, pg 84)
One of the most important things AA has given me, in addition to freedom from booze (and drugs), is the ability to take "right action". It says the Promises will always materialize if I work for them. Fantasizing about them, debating them, preaching about them and faking them just won't work. I'll remain a miserable, rationalizing dry drunk/addict. By taking action and working the Twelve Steps in all my affairs, I'll have a life beyond my wildest dreams.
"Are these extragavant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us-sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them." (BB of AA, pg 84)
One of the most important things AA has given me, in addition to freedom from booze (and drugs), is the ability to take "right action". It says the Promises will always materialize if I work for them. Fantasizing about them, debating them, preaching about them and faking them just won't work. I'll remain a miserable, rationalizing dry drunk/addict. By taking action and working the Twelve Steps in all my affairs, I'll have a life beyond my wildest dreams.
hey rach ~
i just love to log on a read the promises on recovery boards and thank you for sharing these. wow - what hope they bring. i know we hear these particular promises read at meetings and i'm sure you know, but others may not that promises are sprinkled throughout the entire big book.
here's a link that if anyone is interested that name promises of recovery and where they can be found in the big book:
http://www.serenityfound.org/promises.html
i got the biggest bang when i discovered the promises associated with other steps than those with step 9. what an amazing book the big book is and i'm grateful to you for getting me thinking about all it has to offer.
hugs to you ~
sammy
i just love to log on a read the promises on recovery boards and thank you for sharing these. wow - what hope they bring. i know we hear these particular promises read at meetings and i'm sure you know, but others may not that promises are sprinkled throughout the entire big book.
here's a link that if anyone is interested that name promises of recovery and where they can be found in the big book:
http://www.serenityfound.org/promises.html
i got the biggest bang when i discovered the promises associated with other steps than those with step 9. what an amazing book the big book is and i'm grateful to you for getting me thinking about all it has to offer.
hugs to you ~
sammy
Hi Sammy:
Thank you for that link. I have heard this before but never had it outlined in such a concise and informative manner. I do think I have been rocketed into the fourth dimension. (Smile) Here is one that I found that I just love:
In the face of collapse and despair, in the face of the total failure of their human resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction flowed into them.
Again, thank you for sharing your recovery message. You are a beautiful lady inside and out.
Namaste,
~Rachel
Thank you for that link. I have heard this before but never had it outlined in such a concise and informative manner. I do think I have been rocketed into the fourth dimension. (Smile) Here is one that I found that I just love:
In the face of collapse and despair, in the face of the total failure of their human resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction flowed into them.
Again, thank you for sharing your recovery message. You are a beautiful lady inside and out.
Namaste,
~Rachel
thank you for posting this site sammy and thank you to rachel.........
look what i found.........
thumper
look what i found.........
thumper
Sammy, thanks so much for the link, I will be printing it out...it will definitely be very useful not only to me, but to any of the other young ladies I will take through the book....I just love sharing messages of recovery with all of you!
I love reading these...
Me too Rachel...and what an amazing thing when this happens...it is truly like living in a whole other dimension of life and today, I am so grateful that I have crossed over....
Thank you....
xoxo
Thank you....
xoxo
We neither ran nor fought. But accept we did. And then we began to be free.
From As Bill Sees It
From As Bill Sees It
Ah..acceptance. I hate that part.
~~bump~~
I love this post...again, thank you Rachel for sharing......
xoxo
I love this post...again, thank you Rachel for sharing......
xoxo
