Thought for today: We all seek prestige at times. Everyone needs to be appreciated. For compulsive debtors, the natural instincts run wild. “Instincts on rampage ball at investigation,” as Bill W. wrote in Step 4. We need to investigate these instincts, and put them back in perspective. Otherwise, we will likely debt again. DA Step […]
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Thought for today: When a DA group joins together in unity to carry its message, it attracts newcomers. If a DA group is fractious, with members publicly working against each other during meetings, it hurts the group, and DA. We must stay vigilant against becoming self-important or overbearing. DA has brought us solvency, and we must […]
Continue reading →Thought for today: Humility is something to b e sought after, if we are ever going to get over compulsive spending, debting, and underearning. A member shares: “Divorced when I came into DA, I had to pay half my income in alimony and child support. But the toughest part of the divorce was that my […]
Continue reading →Thought for today: When a person first attends a DA meeting, they may hear the concept in studying the Twelve Steps that Pride is a defect of character. How can Pride be a that? A newcomer asks: “How can Pride be bad? Isn’t it a good thing – pride of country, being proud of my accomplishments, being proud of […]
Continue reading →Thought for today: History is strewn with stories of people denying their need to change, resisting to the end. Dictators have fought to the last breath. Alcoholics sometimes need to lose everything to try recovery. What is it about denial that is so blinding? Embarrassment, spurred on by pride, keeps us in denial. It’s embarrassing to […]
Continue reading →Thought for today: The word “pride” means “deep satisfaction in our own achievements, or those of others”. It can separate “us” from “them”, making “us” come out better and “them”, worse off. In this sense, “put down” pride is destructive, and the extent to which we entertain it, we destroy peace. A member shares: “I used to believe […]
Continue reading →Thought for today: If we are underearners, we can’t harbor jealousy of people who seem to have more than us. It can lead to anger and resentment, and we’ll seek to place blame. If we can avoid it, we’ll find answers that fear kept hidden… A member shares: “My spending habits were out of control. I had a warped attitude around […]
Continue reading →Thought for today: A fearless personal inventory takes courage. During it we often discover that the motive for our actions is fear of losing something: We fear not getting enough money, sex, love, admiration of friends, society’s praises, achievement, and so on. Fear leads to character defects of pride, anger, lust, envy, laziness, greed and gluttony. We are […]
Continue reading →Thought for today: In DA we learn the difference between two kinds of pride: the appreciation kind (loving your grandkids, pride in country, gratitude for the life we have) and the arrogance kind (haughtiness, “know-it-all-ism”). The latter kind gets us in trouble, and when we are finally rebuked by the world (as is often the […]
Continue reading →Thought for today: “Got to have it. No way to be without it. One day only! Black Friday is here! Don’t miss it!…” Bombarded with ads to buy, how can you resist? Think of the romance lost and the people you let down who count on you if you don’t spend! Anyone sensitive to this […]
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