Anyone familiar with the recovery framework and 12-step programs has likely heard of AA daily reflections. These pillars of the personal recovery process are often fully integrated into formal treatment programs and aftercare communities.
Key Points
- AA Daily Reflections are daily readings from individuals who have experienced recovery. These reflections help members set their daily intentions, stay focused on recovery goals, and learn from others’ experiences.
- Engaging in daily self-reflection promotes personal growth, emotional regulation, better decision-making, self-awareness, and improved relationships. It strengthens neural pathways, much like physical exercise for the brain.
- To maximize the benefits, users should create a quiet, focused space for reflection, analyze how the daily reading applies to their life, and learn from others’ experiences in the recovery process.
What Are AA Daily Reflections?
AA daily reflections are part of the canon of AA literature associated with the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) program. Multiple books and resources exist, but the most well-known is referred to as “The Big Book ” and is taught as the primary curriculum of the AA program.
Originally published in 1939, the Big Book chronicles how the first 100 people in the AA movement achieved sobriety.[1] It has long been a testament to the success of the AA framework and a tool for those in recovery to learn from.
The AA Daily Reflections is a supplementary resource to the Big Book that focuses solely on past AA members’ reflections and their recovery experiences.[2] It’s organized as a year’s worth of readings, one for each day, and inspired by A.A. principles, themes, and concepts from the Big Book and other AA literature.
Each day, you or your loved one can start the morning with a fresh perspective that will help you set your intention for the day and remain focused on your recovery goals.
Who Wrote All of The AA Daily Reflections?
AA Daily Reflections is an official AA resource written by other program members. They’ve all been through recovery and navigated the challenging waters of sobriety. In sharing their stories, they remember their journey and inspire others to stay the course for this way of life. Their legacies live on to this day.
How Do AA Daily Reflections Help With Recovery?
Science tells us that reflection is like exercise for your brain. Like a muscle that must be trained with methodical influence and repetition as it builds new neural connections. Reflection strengthens neural pathways and is crucial for learning and adopting new habits.[3]
Daily meditation and self-reflection allow you to take life one day at a time, and they are helpful in so many ways. Documented benefits of self-reflection include:[4]
- Enhanced personal growth: Reflecting on topics and themes that matter helps you identify areas for growth and begin developing greater proficiency there.
- Greater emotional regulation: Gain a stronger understanding of your emotions to manage them more naturally.
- Improves decision-making skills: Self-reflection promotes informed and thoughtful decision-making, allowing one to better understand the impact of the past.
- Enhances self-awareness: Gain a deeper sense of self-awareness that reframes how you think and feel to better align with your values.
- Increased performance in life: When you better understand your strengths and weaknesses, you can learn to leverage them more effectively.
- Elevates empathy: Reflection allows one to develop greater empathy and understanding so that one can build better relationships with others.
How To Use AA Daily Reflections
Each reflection has a theme shared by everyone familiar with the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. For one month, the selection of daily reflections focuses on the same number in the step ideology or is aligned with the same theme. This may or may not be the step you are on, but it helps create continuity in your focus during recovery.
To get the most out of AA daily reflections, consider this approach:
- Focus: Give yourself the time and space to focus on today’s reflection. Find a quiet space and eliminate distractions as much as possible.
- Reflect: Reflect on what’s happening in your life. Allow your mind to pause, think, process, and truly absorb the content.
- Analyze: How does this reflection apply to you? AA members and others in recovery wrote these reflections. This is an opportunity to learn from what others have done or discovered during recovery.
AA Daily Reflections For Right Now
Regardless of the date, daily reflections from AA literature always share deep truths and inspirational themes. These are samples of official AA daily reflections collected directly from the source.
Listen, Share And Pray
“When working with a man and his family, you should not participate in their quarrels. You may spoil your chance of being helpful if you do.”
“When trying to help a fellow alcoholic, I’ve given in to an impulse to give advice, and perhaps that’s inevitable. But allowing others the right to be wrong reaps its own benefits. The best I can do—and it sounds easier than it is to put into practice—is to listen, share personal experiences, and pray for others.”
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 100 | AA Daily Reflections, December
A Safety Net
“Occasionally. . . . We are seized with a sickening rebellion that we simply won’t pray. When these things happen, we should not think too ill of ourselves. We should simply resume prayer as soon as possible, doing what we know to be good for us.”
Sometimes, I scream, stomp my feet, and turn my back on my Higher Power. Then, my disease tells me that I am a failure and that if I stay angry, I’ll surely get drunk. In those moments of self-will, it’s as if I’ve slipped over a cliff and am hanging by one hand. The above passage is my safety net in that it urges me to try some new behaviors, such as being kind and patient with myself. It assures me that my Higher Power will wait until I am willing once again to risk letting go, to land in the net, and to pray.”
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 105 | AA Daily Reflections, November
Round-The-Clock Faith
“Faith has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish.
The essence of my spirituality and my sobriety rests on a round-the-clock faith in a Higher Power. I need to remember and rely on the God of my understanding as I pursue all of my daily activities. How comforting for me is the concept that God works in and through people. As I pause in my day, do I recall specific concrete examples of God‘s presence? Am I amazed and uplifted by the number of times this power is evident? I am overwhelmed with gratitude for my God‘s presence in my life of recovery. Without this omnipotent force in my every activity, I would again fall into the depths of my disease—and death.”
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 16 | AA Daily Reflections, January
Where To Find More AA Daily Reflections and Resources
- Official AA Daily Reflections book: This is available at most official AA meetings or events. You can also purchase directly from AA or Amazon.
- Daily reflections online: Check it daily for the latest reflection, or choose any calendar day of the year.
- Daily reflection apps: AA does not officially offer apps, but many third-party apps share the same literature.
- AA Grapevine on YouTube: Promoted on the AA website, AA Grapevine is a digital lifeline linking one member to another globally.
Other Recovery Aides
Pursuing recovery is a lifelong holistic process that encompasses all you are and hope to be in the future. Whether you’re attending formal treatment, integrated into an AA group, or attempting to recover on your own, many other wellness practices can augment your recovery process, including:[5]
- Self-Care
- Therapy
- Community Support Groups
- Good Nutrition (low sugar)
- Physical Activity
- Smoking Cessation
Getting Help For A Loved One: Recovery Solutions
If you or a loved one are living or struggling with substance or alcohol use, there are so many resources and solutions available that can help you in your journey. Detox and formal treatment are a great place to start, followed by intensive programs, long-term community support, accountability, and life skills training. Get the help you need and reach out today.