October 31, 2025 - Patience

Patience is my word and I have very little of it today, especially for people who do stupid things. Though I am always reminded that I have done a lot of stupid things in my past and other people had to have a lot of patience with me. 

October 30, 2025 - How Important Is It?

 How Important Is It?  If it's my sobriety, it takes precedence over everything and everybody. It has to. Because without my sobriety I would have nothing anyway. if it's something that throws me off my beam and threatens my sobriety, then I need to deal with that right away and dealing with it might mean letting go and letting God handle it.

October 29, 2025 Let Go Let God

 Let Go Let God. It's self-explanatory. An interesting way to put it because it's not about self at all. I remember hearing an old timer say whenever I did things Bob's way all I ever got was Bob's results, but when I did things God's way, the results I got were much better. (His name wasn't Bob, by the way.)

October 28, 2025 - Open Minded

 My first thought on being open-minded is about spiritual concepts. I ought to keep my thoughts and my mind open to the notion that there might be a Power greater than Bernie that can solve my problems.

Second, I need also be open-minded when it comes to others perception and conceptions of their Higher power or lack of it and maybe their sexual orientation is different from mine, or maybe they think they only need one meeting a week.

Allowing others to think, believe, and act as they see fit does not include me thinking, believing, nor acting as they do. It merely requires keeping my mind awake to the possibility that what they are doing is working for them.

October 27, 2025 - Help Others

 Help Others. I read something this morning about using humility while engaging in love and service. I'm speaking tonight so I'll try to help others by being humble.

October 26, 2025 - Responsibility

 Responsibility is my word today. I overslept and was not able to attend church like I do every Sunday. However, part of my weekly responsibility is to God, so luckily my church has a streaming service so I am attending church virtually this morning.

October 25, 2025 - Keep It Simple

 Keep It Simple is my reminder today. Always good to remember that I shouldn't over complicate things.

October 24, 2025 - Surrender

 Surrender. "The principle that we shall find no enduring strength until we first admit complete defeat...." - Twelve Steps Twelve Traditions, page 21 A paradox, to be sure.

October 23, 2025 - Sponsorship

 Sponsorship is the word today. I have a sponsor. And I am one. I reemember back when I was early in sobriety, some 28 years ago, I had not asked that guy to be my sponsor and he had not volunteered. It just worked out that way. He was talking. I was listening. Eventually, while we were taking the steps, I realized he was my sponsor. I often say that if not for him and his direction, I might not have gotten sober. And, if not for the people I sponsor now, I might not be able to stay sober. When that little johnny guy told his teacher he was having trouble with math, she gave him math homework. When I told God I was having trouble with patience and tolerance, he sent me people to sponsor.

October 22, 2025 - DENIAL.

 Denial. DENIAL. Don't Even Notice I Am Lying. Kinda says it all.

October 21, 2025 - Easy Does It...But Do It

 Easy Does It. I have a lot to do, but I should be careful not to over-burden myself. I'm not 16 anymore. But do it means I should not use easy does it as an excuse not to do anything.

October 20, 2025 - Open minded

 Open minded is my word for today. I am always reminded that the word is used when we think about spiritual concepts. That we should keep our minds open to the fact that a higher power does exist.

October 19, 2025 - Selfishness

 Selfishness. I watch out for that, for signs that I am trying to concentrate more on what Bernie thinks Bernie should do.

October 18, 2025 - Gossip

 Gossip. It's not always malicious. Sometimes we are trying to help someone who is usually not there. But if we get into the habit of talking about others, in a nice way, we are often tempted to start gossiping about them in a not so nice way. Probably better to just not do it at all.

October 17, 2025 - How Important Is It

 How Important Is It. I probably say the same thing every time I get this word. If its my sobriety, then it takes precednce over everything else, because without my sobriety I wouldn't have anything anyway. If it's one of those things that gets in between me and my sobriety, then it it has no real importance and I should get rid of it, promptly and without regret.

October 16, 2025 - Anonymity

 If I'm in Sobeys or Giant Tiger and we see each other and I'm with someone who doesn't know I'm in the program, I might pretend I don't know you. You should respect that.

October 15, 2015 - Tolerance

 Tolerance is my word today. It teaches me that everyone is different and that though I may not approve of or even like the way a person is living their life, it's their life not mine.

October 13, 2025 Forgiveness

 St Francis Prayer says it is by forgiving others that we ourselves are forgiven and in the Lords Prayer it says Forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who tresspass against us.

October 12, 2025 - Easy Does It.....But Do It

 This slogan reminds me not to take on more than I can handle, but also not to use that as an excuse to not do anything at all.

October 11, 2025 - Gratitude

 Gratitude. Looking for gratitude in situations is much better than focusing on the negative in them.

October 10, 2025 - Service

 Service. Love in action. Galatians 5:13 says, “Serve one another humbly in love. Some of the service I do for God is by being of service to my fellow man. I have heard it said, in AA, that service is anything that makes it possible to help a new person. I'm going to do a few things today to make that possible.

October 9, 2025 - Keep It Simple

 Keep It Simple. I went to bed at 1030 pm and slept until 8 am I had a good rest so I'm hoping to face today successfully. If I remember to keep things simple it should be okay.

October 8, 2025 - Insanity

 Insanity is knowing what to do, and not doing it.

October 7, 2025 - Anger

 My word today is Anger. It doesn't mean I am experiencing anger. I don't think I am. There was something that was said last night that irked me a little but I tried to disregard it. Getting angry about something that is how someone else views life and not how I view it, is just wasting my time really.

October 6, 2025 - Into Action

 I remember what my AA sponsor said to me years ago. Step One tells me what my problem is - a lack of power. Step two offers me a solution to my problem - power. In Step Three I am given the opportunity to choose between the problem or the solution. It's a no-brainer, really. Once I have decided to stay here and try to live my life on a spiritual basis, then I have to do the work necessary to apply the solution to the problem. Steps 4,5,6,7,8, and 9. The action steps. Whenever I think about going into action I think about taking the steps. Luckily, I took mine in 1998. I get to revisit the steps every time I sponsor a new person and sometimes I even learn something new about myself during the process.

October 5, 2025 - Love

The word today is Love. The sermon at church this morning was about communion and how being servants to each other is an expression of God's love. Faith without works is dead but the work is not to list the good things we do but to just do them. Just do the service we do  and do it from a perspective of love.

October 4, 2025

 One day at a time reminds me that life does not happen to me all at once and that I shouldn't treat it as though it did. When I decfided I wanted to stop drinking, my fears were what will I do this New Year's Eve, if I'm not drinking? What will I do on my birthday, if I'm not drinking? But, really, I don't have any control over things that have not happened yet just as the same as I cannot change things that have already happened. All I really have control over are the events happening right now and not even those are things I can control. I can only control how I respond to them, today. So, I tried just not drinking for one day, today. It's true that I have been doing that for just over 10,000 days but who's counting.

October 3, 2025 - Keep It Simple

 Keep It Simple. When I wake up, the first thing I do is remind myself I'm still an alcoholic and I might still need help getting through the day. That's simple enough for me.

October 2, 2025 - Expectations

 It's difficult not to place expectations on people. We expect them to show up for scheduled appointments or we expect them to treat us with respect or not to gossip about us. But, they, like ourselves, are also human and they will make mistakes. They may not live up to our expectations of them. We then have choices. We can be disappointed with them or we can accept that they made a human error and forgive them for doing or for not doing what we expected from them. A better choice would be not to place an expectation on them in the first place and then we would not need to worry about disappointment. Maybe you didn't expect that from me?

October 1, 2025 - Tolerance

 Tolerance. The AI dictionary tells me that Tolerance is the ability or willingness to accept the existence of opinions, behaviors, or beliefs that differ from one's own. It’s a cornerstone of peaceful coexistence and mutual respect in diverse societies. I looked the word up years ago before we had google and the dictionary then told me that tolerance was the readiness to allow others to think, believe and act as they see fit. It doesn't say I have to like it or even that I have to agree with it or start thinking feeling or acting that way. Just that I acknowledge that my way isn't the only way.