Mar 21 Rationalization - Transitions Daily Alcoholics Anonymous Recovery Readings Podcast

0:00Welcome to the Transitions Daily Podcast. Transitions Daily is an online recovery group that offers a daily distribution of popular recovery resources accompanied by a secret Facebook group for discussion. We hope you enjoy today's readings. This is Transitions Daily from March 21st, read by Kurt L. from Albuquerque in Mexico, USA. A.A. Thoughts for the Day. Rationalization. There are cases where our ancient enemy rationalization has stepped in and has justified conduct, which was really wrong. The temptation here is to imagine that we had good motives and reasons when we really didn't. We constructively criticize someone who needed it when our real motive was to win a useless argument. We sometimes hurt those we love because they need to be taught a lesson when we really want to punish. This perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one permeates human affairs from top to bottom. 12 steps and 12 traditions, page 94. Thought to consider. Recognizing someone else's human dignity cannot

1:07cost you your own. Acronyms racing. Real alcoholics centered inward meeting God. Just for today, rapture from total surrender. What has always impressed me most about the program and myself is the constant continuing challenge to try to recapturing some of the true and honest rapture I felt upon total surrender when I first came into A.A. For me, that special piece of mine has never been duplicated. Now, after all the accumulated 24-hour periods, I realize that it probably never will be. I have come close to it a few times, but it's never the same. The planes Illinois, USA, came to believe, page 29. Daily reflections. Material and spiritual well-being. Fear of economic insecurity will leave us. Alcoholics Anonymous, page 84. Having fear reduced or eliminated and having economic circumstances improve are two different things. When I was new in A.A. I had

2:12those two ideas confused. I thought fear would leave me only when I started making money. However, another line from the big book jumped off the page one day when I was chewing on my financial difficulties. For us, material well-being always followed spiritual progress. It never preceded. Page 127. I suddenly understood that this promise was a guarantee. I saw that it put priorities in the correct order. That spiritual progress would diminish that terrible fear of being destitute, just as it diminished many other fears. Today, I tried to use the talents God gave me to benefit others. I found that is what others valued all along. I tried to remember that I no longer work for myself. I only get the use of the wealth God created. I never have owned it. My life's purpose is much clearer when I just work to help, not to possess. As Bill sees it, debits in credits. Following a gossip binge, we can well ask ourselves these questions. Why did we say what we did?

3:17Were we only trying to be helpful and informative? Or were we not trying to feel superior by confessing the other's fellow sins? Or because of fear and dislike? Were we not really aiming to damage him? This would be an honest attempt to examine ourselves rather than the other fellow. Inventory taking is not always done in red ink. It's a poor day indeed when we haven't done something right. As a matter of fact, the waking hours are usually well filled with things that are constructive. Good intentions, good dots, and good acts are there for us to see. Even when we have tried hard and failed, we may chalk that up as one of the greatest credits of all. Great Vine, August 1961, 12 and 12, page 93. Big book quote. Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the road of happy destiny.

4:19Alcoholics Anonymous, a vision for you, page 164. 24 hours a day, AA thought for the day. In AA, we forget about the future. We know from experience that as time goes on, the future takes care of itself. Everything works out well as long as we stay sober. All we need to think about is today. When we get up in the morning and see the sun shining in the window, we thank God that He has given us another day to enjoy because we're sober. A day in which we may have a chance to help somebody. Do I know that this day is all I have and that with God's help I can stay sober today? Meditation for the day. All is fundamentally well. That does not mean that all as well on the surface of things, but it does mean that God's in his heaven and that he has a purpose for the world, which will eventually work out when enough human beings are willing to follow his way. Wearing the world as a loose garment means not being upset by the surface wrongness of things, but feeling deeply secure in the fundamental goodness and purpose

5:23in the universe. Prayer for the day. I pray that God may be with me in my journey through the world. I pray that I may know that God is planning that journey. Hazardin Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, Minnesota 55012. My name is Kurt L and I'm an alcoholic. We hope you enjoy today's readings. You can also receive Transitions Daily via email and discuss today's readings in our secret Facebook group. So for more information, go to dailyAAemails.com Other than the 24 hours a day reading, unless otherwise specified, all quotes copyright alcoholics anonymous World Services Inc. 1952 through 2001.