Lexington NC Sobriety Group

10/23/2026

Happy Sober Friday Sunshine! "I will face things as they are and not run away." - Twenty Four Hours a Day

10/23/2026

Daily Reflections
Friday, October 23

WHAT WE KNOW BEST

"Shoemaker, stick to thy last!" . . . better do one thing supremely well than many badly. That is the central theme of this Tradition [Five]. Around it our Society gathers in unity. The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of this principle.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 150

The survival of A.A. depends upon unity. What would happen if a group decided to become an employment agency, a treatment center or a social service agency? Too much specialization leads to no specialization, to frittering of efforts and, finally, to decline. I have the qualifications to share my sufferings and my way of recovery with the newcomer. Conformity to A.A.'s primary purpose ensures the safety of the wonderful gift of sobriety, so my responsibility is enormous. The life of millions of alcoholics is closely tied to my competence in "carrying the message to the still-suffering alcoholic."

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10/23/2026

Twenty Four Hours a Day
Friday, October 23

Thought for the Day
Third, I have learned how to be honest. What a relief! No more ducking or dodging. No more tall tales. No more pretending to be what I am not. My cards are on the table for the entire world to see. "I am what I am," as Popeye used to say in the comics. I have had an unsavory past. I am sorry, yet. But it cannot be changed now. All that is yesterday and is done. But now my life is an open book. Come and look at it, if you want to. I'm trying to do the best I can. I will fail often, but I won't make excuses. I will face things as they are and not run away. Am I really honest?

Meditation for the Day
Though it may seem a paradox, we must believe in spiritual forces, which we cannot see more than in material things which we can see, if we are going to truly live. In the last analysis, the universe consists more of thought or mathematical formulas than it does of matter, as we understand it. Between one human being and another only spiritual forces will suffice to keep them in harmony. These spiritual forces we know, because we can see their results although we cannot see them. A changed life - a new personality - results from the power of unseen spiritual forces working in us and through us.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may believe in the Unseen. I pray that I may be convinced by the results of the Unseen, which I do see.

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10/23/2026

She Recovers Every Day
Friday, October 23

Sensitivity as a Superpower

How many of us in recovery have been called "too sensitive"? I'm thinking there are more than a few of us. I certainly grew up hearing the "Don't be so sensitive" refrain from the adults around me. Crying was taboo, and I wasn't encouraged to talk about my hurt feelings. As a mother and grandmother, I can almost empathize with the adults who reacted to my emotional sensitivity as they did. I don't like to see the little ones I love cry, because it breaks my heart. But we know better today (I hope) than to shut down our loved ones' feelings. When I see my daughters lean into their sensitive feelings (one of them leans more easily than the other), it makes me think I did something right. Elizabeth Bishop, author of Conscious Service: Ten Ways to Reclaim Your Calling, Move beyond Burnout, and Make a Difference without Sacrificing Yourself, tells us that our sensitivity is our superpower, in our work and in our lives. I love her outlook, which includes an understanding that when we connect with our emotional sensitivity, we are less likely to abandon ourselves. She encourages us to listen to our sensitivity when it is present. I can do that. Can you?

We are sensitive souls, we women in recovery. Let's be gentle with ourselves and one another.

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10/23/2026

Touchstones
Friday, October 23

Self-knowledge and self-improvement are very difficult for most people. It usually needs great courage and long struggle.
Abraham Maslow

This is a simple program but it isn't easy. We cannot take the principles we learn and thereby possess them as if we were taking a class or reading a book. We need to live them. We can only get this program by participating with others who are also on the journey. Gradually we absorb it into every fiber of our being. This takes time and dedication.

The honesty required is sometimes frightening and painful. Any man who remains faithful to this program has great courage and deserves deep respect. But we do not have to wait long to begin receiving the rewards. New freedoms, good feelings, and friendships quickly develop, and we are promised in this program to continue growing and to receive more benefits throughout our lives. What rewards have come from our courage and struggle?

I will give much to my spiritual growth because it gives much to me.

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10/22/2026

Happy Sober Thankful Thursday Sunshine! "I pray that I may come at last to an unshakable faith." - Twenty Four Hours a Day

10/22/2026

Daily Reflections
Thursday, October 22

TRUE TOLERANCE

Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see what real love for our fellows actually means.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 92

The thought occurred to me that all people are emotionally ill to some extent. How could we not be? Who among us is spiritually perfect? Who among us is physically perfect? How could any of us be emotionally perfect? Therefore, what else are we to do but bear with one another and treat each other as we would be treated in similar circumstances? That is what love really is.

10/22/2026

Twenty Four Hours a Day
Thursday, October 22

Thought for the Day
Second, I am content to face the rest of my life without alcohol. I have made the great decision once and for all. I have surrendered as gracefully as possible to the inevitable. I hope I have no more reservations. I hope that nothing can happen to me now that would justify my taking a drink. No death of a dear one. No great calamity in any area of my life should justify me in drinking. Even if I were on some desert isle, far from the rest of the world, but not far from God, should I ever feel it right to drink. For me, alcohol is out - period. I will always be safe unless I take that first drink. Am I fully resigned to this fact?

Meditation for the Day
Day by day we should slowly build up an unshakable faith in a Higher Power and in that Power's ability to give us all the help we need. By having these quiet times each morning, we start each day with a renewing of our faith, until it becomes almost a part of us and is a strong habit. We should keep furnishing the quiet places of our souls with all the furniture of faith. We should try to fill our thoughts each day with all that is harmonious and good, beautiful and enduring.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may build a house in my soul for the spirit of God to dwell in. I pray that I may come at last to an unshakable faith.

10/22/2026

She Recovers Every Day
Thursday, October 22

More about Perfectionism

One of my favorite authors, Anne Wilson Schaef, once wrote, "Perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order." How powerful is that statement? Children who experience emotional neglect (well, okay, I'm talking specifically about me here) think that if we can just be perfect in all the things that we do, our parents will love and adore us. We (okay, I) strive for perfection throughout childhood and into adulthood. Some of us (me again) keep beating ourselves up with perfectionism, but others of us (pick me for this one) get to a point where we just say, "Screw it, I'm never going to be perfect enough for them. I might as well blow up my life." Please note, what precedes is my made-up psychological model; my PhD is in health care policy, so I'm not really qualified to develop social and psychological theories. The point is, I have been a person who abused myself through perfectionism. I took a break from it to become addicted to drugs for a decade but picked it up again as part of my workaholism. I try hard not to hurt myself with perfectionism anymore.

Perfectionism hurts ourselves the most; no amount of perfect is worth the pain.

10/22/2026

Touchstones
Thursday, October 22

Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us.
Eric Hoffer

A holier-than-thou attitude within us is often a sign of unconscious dishonesty. Who hasn't had the feeling of being superior to the angry outburst or the near slip of another man - and then found himself in the very same spot the next day? What we least want to admit about ourselves is what we are most likely to feel self-righteous about.

Since our blind spots and self-deception leave us vulnerable to returning to old behaviors, we must attack them vigorously. The man we feel most self-righteous toward may be the man we could learn the most from. When we stop focusing on him, we may notice he touches our most sensitive area. We're all creatures of God and equals in God's sight. The ways we create inequality are the ways we fall short of God's wisdom.

I will use my self-righteous feelings to point me to my own blind spots.