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.

Alcoholics Anonymous p83-84

These promises provide me with great comfort and hope.

The new freedom and new happiness is coming, albeit slowly. I have more and more moments when I do feel free and happy. I think that if I keep coming back, those moments will expand into hours and then days.

I'm already learning that my past is something that I need to understand but not fear. It has shaped me to be who I am but not all of it was bad.

I am working hard to find serenity and peace. That will come in time and as I work the steps.

My experience has benefited others, much more than I had ever imagined, through the opportunities to share thoughts at meetings, to chair meetings and to make new friends.

I believe that I am much more compassionate than I have ever been. I have been selfish in the past with focus on the wrong things.

As far as self-seeking, I'm trying to understand and take care of my self but know that I don't have to do this alone.

When I see others who are deep in their dispair and struggling, I feel empathy for them and see my own challenges and character defects in a different light.

I believe that eventually I will have a new attitude and outlook. Part of that is working within me now and helping me to see how lucky I am and how grateful I am for so many things.

When I feel most confused, I turn to prayer, my sponsor and my HP. It takes courage to work the program and I can't do it all by myself.