My collection of “Gems” – quotes and sayings I’ve heard that have helped my recovery
Life isn’t supposed to be good, it’s just supposed to be
To stop you have to start.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO START
OVER AGAIN. THIS TIME, YOU ARE NOT STARTING FROM SCRATCH, YOU ARE STARTING FROM EXPERIENCE.
“WAKING UP TO WHO YOU ARE REQUIRES LETTING GO OF WHO YOU IMAGINE YOURSELF TO BE – ALAN WATTS
There comes a time in life when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. Surround yourself with people who make you laugh, forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don’t. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is part of life, getting back up is living.
Life is a series of events connected by surrenders
Commitment begins where convenience ends
I’m powerless over alcohol and my wife is unmanageable
The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence
It’s hard living with an alcoholic….and I live alone
I raised my hand and said “my name is…and I’m an alcoholic, not because I wanted to fit in, but because I finally did fit in”. I had found my tribe.
Hard Times Create Strong Men, Strong Men Create Good Times, Good Times Create Weak Men, Weak Men Create Hard Times
“Silence produces peace, and peace produces safety.” Swahili proverb.
It is impossible to understand addiction without asking what relief the addict finds, or hopes to find, in the drug or the addictive behavior.
I’m in the efforts business not the results business
If you think you’re a people pleaser, write a list of all the people you pleased
I don’t believe everything happens for a reason. But I do think it’s a good idea to respond to everything that happens with reason.
This is not my forever – Alyssa R
Sobriety is not about giving something up. It’s about taking everything back
Feelings are like children, you can’t let them drive but you can’t put them in the trunk either.
Some people never go crazy, what truly horrible lives they must lead.
Charles Bukowski
It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.
In addiction we work so hard to accomplish absolutely nothing
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” Mahatma Gandhi
And then it happens…One day you wake up and you’re in this place. You’re in this place where everything feels right. Your heart is calm. Your soul is lit. Your thoughts are positive. Your vision is clear. You’re at peace, at peace with where you’ve been, at peace with what you’ve been through and at peace with where you’re headed.
One day you will tell your story, of how you’ve overcome what you’re going through now, and it will become part of someone else’s survival guide
Forgive your younger self.
Believe in your current self.
Create your future self.
Procrastinating is like a credit card, it’s fun until you get the bill
The purpose of an AA Meeting is for the newcomer to find a message of Hope. Hope turns into faith, faith turns into courage, and courage creates a bridge between you and a power greater than yourself. The way we get across that bridge is by getting into action.
Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine.
Be stronger than your excuses
Addiction takes you over, like fire takes over a burning building
Deception looks and sounds beautiful when the truth is rejected
Accept both compliments and criticism. It takes both sun and rain for a flower to grow.
If you want something you never had, you’ve got to do something you’ve never done
YOU MUST ALWAYS BE WILLING TO TRULY CONSIDER EVIDENCE THAT CONTRADICTS YOUR BELIEFS, AND ADMIT THE POSSIBILITY THAT YOU MAY BE WRONG. INTELLIGENCE ISN’T KNOWING EVERYTHING, IT’S THE ABILITY TO CHALLENGE EVERYTHING YOU KNOW.
Never pass up an opportunity to keep your mouth shut.
Breath animates life, Love animates recovery, service animates community
Grow through what you go through
Loneliness remembers what happiness forgets
The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are! – Carl Jung
Sometimes you have to be willing to let go of something old to grab on to something new.
The truth will make you bulletproof
When we lose our tolerance for vulnerability, joy becomes foreboding
When something bad happens, you have three choices: You can let it define you, let it destroy you or you can let it strengthen you.
Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future; it comes from trying to control it
A word of encouragement during failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success
I’m one think away from a total disaster
I hope you stay sober long enough to be introduced to yourself
If you want to hide an alcoholic’s cash, hide it in their big book
Sometimes you’re the pigeon, sometimes you’re the statue
Be grateful for the uncracked molar
Stay sober on the truth or stay drunk on the lies
“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything—anger, anxiety, or possessions—we cannot be free.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
“We’re not just here for us. We’re here for others. All we’ve got is each other. We’ve got to help each other struggle through til we die and then we’re done.”
“Nothing’s as good if you don’t share it.”
“I’d rather be nowhere with her than somewhere without her.”
“Happiness is amazing. It’s so amazing it doesn’t matter if it’s yours or not.”
“A society grows great when old men plant trees, the shade of which they know they’ll never sit in.”
“Well, I think life is precious because you can’t watch it again. I mean you can believe in an afterlife if that makes you feel better but once you realize you’re not going to be around forever, I think that’s what makes life so magical.”
“I realize that everyone’s struggling and I feel like I should help the people who helped me.” That’s what life is all about.
“I thought not caring was a superpower. I was wrong. Caring about stuff, that’s what really matters. Kindness and making other people feel good. That’s the real superpower, and we’ve all got it.”
People need encouragement like plants need water, the ones who need it the most get it the least.
Live in AA and Visit the world
NO MATTER WHAT YOUR CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES ARE,IF YOU CAN IMAGINE SOMETHING BETTER FOR YOURSELF,YOU CAN CREATE IT
Addiction is like having sex with a gorilla, you’re done when the gorilla says you’re done.
Words alcoholics are familiar with … I, me, mine, more, and I’m sorry
Be who you needed when you were younger
When people are trying to bring you down they’re already below you
There’s only one thing worse for an alcoholic than bad luck, and that’s good luck
The steps is the shitty flight to Hawaii
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care –
The Love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay; love isn’t love until you give it away.
Immunity through community
If you ask an alcoholic what time is it? They’ll tell you how to build a watch.
When I relapsed I wasn’t thinking about drinking or using; but I wasn’t thinking about not drinking or using either.
If you plan your work and work your plan your plan will work
Incremental improvement is far better than postponed perfection
We have a progressive disease that requires a progressive recovery.
“Relax. Nothing’s in control” – Buddah
Love is delusional without the truth and truth is hurtful without love.
The thing about happiness is you have to learn to be happy without it.
The way you act is so loud I can’t hear what you’re saying.
What you see depends on how you view the world. To most people dirt is just dirt, to a farmer it’s potential.
There are no ducks, there is no row
Don’t be overheard complaining, even to yourself – Marcus Aurelius
You don’t know what chapter of someone’s life you walked in on
Got all my shit together once, had a big ol’ pile of shit
You never get to witness your own eulogy, but you write it every day.
Whatever is wrong, it’s all Right
Participate in your own recovery
Blackouts are witness protection for the mind
Addiction begins with pain and ends with pain
Outside solution for an internal problem
AA or NA can be like the ultimate game of telephone so it’s important that you have a good connection
I’d always found a problem for the solution
Grace is not earned, it is given
If you don’t know where you’re going every road will take you there.
Monday is gonna be different.
When you treat me special I feel normal, when you treat me normal I feel ignored
I didn’t climb out of the gutter to sit on the curb
If there’s word for it someone has already done it
Everyone has two lives, the second starts when you realize you only have one.
A happy person wants 10,000 things, a sick person just wants one thing.
Happiness happens 5 minutes at a time
Mean what you say, say what you mean, but don’t say it mean
Everything I’ve ever let go of in recovery has claw marks
Just because I’m right, doesn’t mean you’re wrong
Procrastinating snatches away each day…and denies us the present by promising the future”
Sometimes what doesn’t kill you just doesn’t kill you
I didn’t get AA, AA got me
If I keep thinking about how I’m doing, I’m not doing any doing
People who refuse to share their problems, in the mistaken belief that sharing is whining, are indulging in self-pity. – Dr. Paul O.
It doesn’t take any talent to play hard – Derek Jeter
Figuring it out is not a step
Opinions kill motherfuckers and experience saves lives
There’s someone who knows more than anyone and that’s everyone
Slow down in recovery, there are speed bumps, if you’re going too fast you’re gonna wreck yourself
Life sucks better sober
Use your mind to solve problems, not to store them
Doing the work is less work than not doing the work
Trade in I got this for we get this
Doubt kills more dreams than failure
A shortcoming is like a flat tire a character defect is like driving on it
Freedom is not getting exactly what I want; freedom is being ok with what I have
Guilt says you made a mistake, shame says you are the mistake
Sometimes what didn’t work out for you really worked out for you.
Learn to hurt
Experience is a hard Teacher because she gives the test first and the lesson afterwards.
God created time so everything wouldn’t happen at once.
Life gets better, but we want better to be better.
You need a good memory to be a good liar.
Using alcohol to treat depression is like a diabetic using sugar to treat diabetes.
Don’t be so smart that you don’t get an education.
If there’s something you don’t know how to deal with, work on your addiction.
The only way to win is not to play.
What makes an effective AA speaker is an effective listener
Knowing what the right decision is at the time you’re making the decision is humanly impossible
Love them for who they are and forgive them for who they aren’t
It’s not what you know it’s how you live – Joe Ward
“A man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life” – Muhammad Ali
Depression tells you to wait until you feel better to do things. The remedy is to do things until you feel better
The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It’s about what you’re made of, not the circumstances.
Pressure can burst pipes or create diamonds
The reason most people fail is because they give up what they want most for what they want now.
You can’t spell listen without silence
“Hang in there. Today is the tomorrow you were so worried about yesterday. Young people, don’t give up. Just keep in there.” – Anthony Hopkins
You can’t wait for life not to be hard anymore before you decide to be happy
“Alcoholics never felt like they fit in, Drug Addicts never wanted to fit in. I’m Both” – Steve T
This isn’t what sober feels like, this is what getting sober feels like
Before you speak ask yourself three questions. Does it need to be said; does it need to be said now; does it need to be said by me.
When you are willing to feel it you can heal it
What is your “useful fiction”?
Steps 1-3 Give Up
Steps 4-6 Clean Up
Steps 7-9 Make Up
Steps 10-12 Grow Up
The more humility we think we have, the less we actually have
We either transform the pain or transmit it – Richard Rohr
Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.
Don’t look back, you’re not going that way
You never know how strong you are, until being strong is the only choice you have
I’ll never get to drink again? Turns into I never have to drink again
Abandon all hope of a better past
Ever think of all the people who quit drinking before they reached your level of alcoholism?
I am no longer performing my life, I am living it
A recovering addict without a sponsor is like a ship without a rudder
If you gaze long enough into the abyss the abyss will gaze back at you
I was a collector of injustices
Before you diagnose yourself with depression or anxiety make sure you’re not surrounded by assholes
If my higher power was small enough for me to understand it wouldn’t be big enough to handle my problems
practice won’t always make you good but it will always make you better
The point is not to master life nor endure it
Who you are becoming is more important than who you’ve been
Comparison is the thief of joy
I don’t always get it but I’ll do it
Sobriety is your superpower
How determined you are determines your outcome
Get rid of all your old ideas even the good ones
Feeling free is free
The only person you’re destined to become it the person you decide to be
Are you in The program or on the program? Would you rather be in a submarine or on it?
Can’t win a battle if you’re not honest about what you’re really up against
A mistake repeated more than once is a decision
The only thing wrong with me is this overwhelming feeling that something is wrong with me
We have a disease that has no respect for time
I am not what I want to be, and i don’t know what I’m going to be, but I thank God I don’t have to be what I used to be
Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction can end up being the biggest step of your life
Remember when you wanted what you currently have
In this fellowship we get to do things we want to do by doing things we don’t want to do
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it
When I’m alone I’m outnumbered
If youth is wasted on the young, don’t let the wisdom of experience be wasted on you
You will stop worrying about what people think of you when you realize how seldom they do
We have the rest of our lives to get this right
Discomfort is the price of admission to a meaningful life
I let the liquor do the driving and then I’d go into to booze control
Everything in life is meaningless until you assign a meaning to it
Everything in life happens for us not to us.
Elementary school is like growth in recovery some friends progress through grades quicker and mature faster than others
Fear Vs. Misery
I am my problem, you are my solution
We are Control freaks with a lack of control
You can’t be sober on yesterday’s sobriety.
Do it scared
Don’t cling to a mistake because you spent a long time making it
Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.
Live as if you were living a second time and you had acted wrongly the first time – Viktor Frankl
When we are no longer able to change a situation we are challenged to change ourselves – Viktor Frankl
Pain is only bearable if we know it will end not if we deny it exists – Viktor Frankl
When a man cannot find meaning he numbs himself with pleasure – Viktor Frankl
Man can only find meaning for his existence in something outside of himself – Viktor Frankl
An abnormal reaction to something abnormal is normal behavior – Viktor Frankl
If we take a man as he is we make him worse, but if we take him as he should be we make him capable of being what he can be – Viktor Frankl
Between stimulus and response lies a space, in that space is the freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. – Viktor Frankl
Our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose Our attitude – Viktor Frankl
I am my problem I am my solution
There are people who would love to have your bad days
Children are happy because they don’t have a file in their minds called “all the things that could go wrong”
Lying is deferral of concequences
DISCOVER, ACCEPT, DISCARD
We cannot provide desperation…we can only recognize it by someone’s willingness
Expectations are resentments under construction
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Abraham Lincoln
Drinking is just borrowing happiness from tomorrow
If you are depressed, if you’re anxious, you’re not weak you’re not crazy…you’re a human being with unmet needs.
Just like bees evolved to live in a hive, humans evolved to live in a tribe and we are the first humans ever to disband our tribes
We live in a machine that is designed to get us to neglect what is important about life
Your depression isn’t a malfunction it’s a signal
Don’t let the life AA gave you get in the way of your AA life
The opposite of success isn’t failure it’s quitting
The only person you should strive to be better than, is the person you were yesterday.
Just because it’s on your mind doesn’t make it interesting
An optimist views the future as uncertain
I used to think every solution had a problem
I didn’t look forward to today until today
We have a tendency to skip over the logs but trip over the toothpicks
“Trying to get lasting security teaches us a lot, because if we never try to do it we never notice it can’t be done”.
If I had just a little bit of humility I’d be perfect – Ted Turner
Using when young “it’s the beginning of bad” John M
Today’s problems were yesterday’s solutions
Gossip barbed with anger is a polite form of murder by character assassination
Know the difference between family and relatives
Faith in this fellowship comes easy with repeated experience.
If you want to do something for the right reasons don’t get caught doing it
Don’t confuse easy with simple
Winners are losers who don’t quit trying
I SOUGHT MY GOD MY GOD I COULD NOT SEE.. I SOUGHT MY MYSELF, MYSELF I COULD NOT FREE, I SOUGHT MY BROTHER I FOUND ALL THREE.
If I don’t change my sobriety date will
I didn’t pull myself out of the gutter to sit on the curb
Most people go through life trying to learn from their mistakes, in this fellowship we have the benefit of learning from the mistakes of others.
You are sitting among your family of understanding
Problems cannot be solved with the same mindset that created them
If we don’t believe in a common problem there is no common solution
Early sobriety can feel like a roller coaster but it’s better than a merry go round
You don’t have to have a lot to say to say a lot
One Day? Or Day 1
If alcohol is your Problem, you’re probably not an alcoholic
Adversity doesn’t build character it reveals it
Sobriety can be overrated if you’re not happy or at peace
It’s easy to make things difficult
Think twice speak once
I couldn’t have known what I didn’t know until I knew I didn’t know it
Every one of you is a part of me I’m getting to know
I got high from liquor stores, drug stores and hardware stores
Alcohol may temporarily numb the pain but it will ultimately make things much much worse. Sobriety may temporarily be uncomfortable but it will ultimately make things much much better.
I got the fuck, then I got the fuck it’s – Shirley
If you’ve never been a 300 hitter in your career what are the chances that you are now?
No amount of grief will change the past and no amount of anxiety will change the future
Some AA members are so successful that they turn out to be almost as good as they used to think they were when they were drinking
Resentment is like burning down your house to get rid of a rat
Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die
Sometimes we get way too much vitamin “i”
The man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes the man
There are two theories to arguing neither one works
AA is the only place you can get change for a dollar
Angry is just Sad’s bodyguard
Cooperate with the inevitable
If you leave the fridge open too long everything will rot
So what Now What
Do you dig into yesterday’s mental garbage to create today’s experiences?”– Louise Hay
You can’t change the past but you can change your future by living with intention in the present.
Earn your shower; that feeling of clean and wellbeing you get from doing the right thing
My addiction affected everyone around me, I’m gonna make sure my recovery does too.
It takes 11 days for a million seconds to pass. It takes 31 years for a billion seconds to elapse. It takes one drink or drug to relapse.
A sip is a slip
S.L.I.P. Sobriety losing its place
There are no pictures in the big book but there are a lot of mirrors.
A master has failed more times than a beginner has tried.
It’s ok to fall apart, Tacos fall apart and we still love them
chronic relapse can also be called a chronic trying
If you can’t let go and let god, Let go of playing god.
Stop worrying about what you think may happen, worry about something when there’s something to worry about.
I can work on my recovery all day long but tomorrow when I wake up tomorrow I’ll still be an alcoholic.
Be kind for everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.
I bang my head against the wall because I love how it feels when I stop.
“Don’t Complain about The Results you Are Not Getting from The Work you are not doing” — Kevin D.
Sometimes medicine tastes bad
The length doesn’t determine the strength
Pressure can burst pipes or create diamonds
You can give up everything to have that one thing or you can give up that one thing and have everything
If nothing changes, nothing changes
There is nothing wrong with sobriety in moderation
Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion
You may not be able to control someone’s negative behavior but you can control how long you participate in it
When you replace the I In illness with we you get wellness
The world record for sobriety is 24 hours
Was it a bad day or a bad 5 minutes that you milked all day
I have not failed I just haven’t figured out how to get it right yet – Edison
Abraham Lincoln ran for office 28 times before he won
Failure is the tuition we pay for success
If you can stay sober in AA you can stay sober anywhere
The slogans are the bannisters to the steps
I wanted to be a boxer until I fought someone who really wanted to be a boxer
Recovery delivers on the promise addiction could never keep
When you’re hysterical it’s historical
It’s never too late to be what you might have been.
People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily
“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” – Muhammad Ali
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford
It can take years to build a building but seconds to destroy it
Pretend they didn’t say it because they shouldn’t have
Courage is the ability to act in the face of something difficult or scary
Comparison is the thief of joy
You are valuable despite your imperfections
Maybe just May be a powerful way to think
I want to find out what will happen next
Am I functioning like a weak fan is a functioning fan
Watch your thoughts, for they become words, Watch your words, for they become actions, Watch your actions, for they become habits, Watch your habits, for they become your character, Watch your character, because it becomes your destiny.
Didn’t cause it can’t cure it.
Talk about how you’re feeling if you don’t say you’re sad you will not get compassion, if you’re angry you will not get understanding why would we shortchange ourselves by saying we’re fine.
We’re all in this same boat so throw each other life preservers NOT anvils.
Car on a full tank will not remain full once it’s driving.
Whatever you think about the most is your higher power.
It’s ok to be dragged kicking and screaming into happiness.
We can’t all be having a bad day at the same time.
Life isn’t all rainbows and orgasms.
I don’t say what I need to, and I say what I don’t need to.
A year from now you’ll wish you started today.
Once you lose your excuses you will find your results
Nobody stays recovered unless the life they’ve created is more rewarding than the life you left behind.
I can guarantee that you will fail at sobriety 100% of times you never try.
The greatest three words of comfort I heard coming into AA were, “Yeah. Me too.”
Grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, The courage to change the one I can, And the wisdom to know it’s me
Alcohol gave me wings to fly and then it took away the sky
AA is where total strangers get together to reminisce.
If I could drink responsibly I would drink every day
Audrey Kishline, the founder of Moderation Management, (the alternative to the total abstinence of AA), killed a father and his twelve-year-old daughter driving in a blackout, spent three years in prison for manslaughter and later committed suicide.
I only know one answer that works for the question, “Am I an alcoholic?” The answer, if your life gets better when you stop drinking, chances are good that you are.
It’s said that Eskimo’s have 50+ words for snow and hundreds more to describe it. Alcoholics have so many different words for alcohol; booze, sauce, nightcap, cocktail and so on. The words for drunk; soused, plastered, shit-faced, three sheets to the wind, tipsy, etc., but the one that resonates with me looking back is wasted. So much of my life, time and my life’s energy was wasted in an alcoholic haze. I try to look back without regret but it’s hard not to when I think of all I might have been, all that I could have accomplished, all the irreplaceable years gone, all the damage caused and potential lost. But not for good
Your sponsor holds the flashlight. You dig.
The mind that created the problem is not necessarily the mind that can solve the problem.
If we stay in the rooms long enough, we will hear someone say for us what we are unable to say ourselves.
AA doesn’t promise things are going to get better. It only promises if you don’t drink you’ll be able to handle things better.
Obsession has a mind of its own
National Geographic should be photographing our meetings. We are a tribe of sorts, we have a metaphorical campfire exchanging stories we all understand in our own language, we share a common physiology, characteristics and we sure as hell have a common enemy.
We are isolators with a herd instinct.
I can let go of defending myself, sobriety is gracious, gentle And forgiving.
Why is drinking 8 glasses of beer so east but drinking 8 glasses of water a day so daunting?
When I was drinking/using I surrounded myself with people that served to reinforce my belief that what I was doing was normal
MORE IS YET TO BE REVEALED
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