Interview with Don Ellis, a Pentagon staffer awarded the Medal of Valor, discusses the devastation witnessed at Ground Zero, honor the sacrifices of victims, survivors, and heroes.

Where were you on September 11, 2001?

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Thought to Consider…

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one that I can, and the wisdom to know that person is me.”
I stood in the sunlight at last.
Honesty is the absence of the intent to deceive
The solution is simple. The solution is spiritual.
Take a walk with God. He will meet you at the Steps.

AACRONYMS

A S A P = Always Say A Prayer
C A R E = Comforting And Reassuring Each other

“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance that principle is contempt prior to investigation.”

Delusion

“We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we were like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed.”

Sobriety

“God willing, we members of A.A. may never again have to deal with drinking, but we have to deal with sobriety every day. How do we do it? By learning – through practicing the Twelve Steps and through sharing at meetings – how to cope with the problems that we looked to booze to solve, back in our drinking days.”

We aren’t a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn’t want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life. We try not to indulge in cynicism over the state of the nations, nor do we carry the world’s troubles on our shoulders.

Step Nine

Made direct amends wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

“The alcoholic is like a tornado roaring his way through the lives of others. Hearts are broken. Sweet relationships are dead. Affections have been uprooted. Selfish and inconsiderate habits have kept the home in turmoil. We feel a man is unthinking when he says that sobriety is enough”

One of the mottoes of A.A. is “First Things First.” This means that we should always keep in mind that alcohol is our number-one problem. We must never let any other problem, whether of family, business, friends, or anything else, take precedence in our minds over our alcoholic problem. As we go along in A.A., we learn to recognize the things that may upset us emotionally. When we find ourselves getting upset over something, we must realize that it’s a luxury we alcoholics can’t afford. Anything that makes us forget our number-one problem is dangerous to us.

Another of the mottoes of A.A. is “But for the Grace of God.” Once we have fully accepted the program, we become humble about our achievement. We do not take too much credit for our sobriety. When we see another suffering alcoholic in the throes of alcoholism, we say to ourselves: “But for the grace of God, there go I.” We do not forget the kind of people we were. We remember those we left behind us. And we are very grateful to the grace of God which has given us another chance.

Dianne