06/17 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY
Readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the very spirit of Step Nine.  A casual apology, on the one hand, will rarely suffice in making amends to one we have harmed; a true change of attitude, in contrast, can do wonders to make up for past unkindnesses.  If I've deprived anyone of any material thing, I'll acknowledge the debt and pay it as soon as I'm able.  WILL I SWALLOW MY PRIDE AND MAKE THE FIRST OVERTURES TOWARD RECONCILIATION?

TODAY I PRAY
God, show me the best ways to make "direct amends."  Sometimes simply admitting and unload my own simmering guilt.  Other times restitution may take some creative thought.  May I be wholly aware that I cannot take this Ninth Step unless I develop some caring, some real concern about how others feel, along with changes in my behavior.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
First I care, then I apologize.

Hi,

I think your team are looking out for your best interests.

My question is why are you even persuing a RNY bypass after having the failure with the band when there is a procedure with much better long term results???

I know that if I had a band or a RNY I would eventually be a failure as I would regain the weight.  I don't HAVE to have surgery to LOOSE weight my problem is KEEPING it off.  Hence I have applied to have the DS.

But I'm just a newbie so I may not understand.

Becky (waiting) in NC

Congrats and cheers to 41+ more!!

Hey Leslie -

My name is Sean and I am an alcoholic.  It have been 16 years since I have had me last drink.  I was an alcoholic and sober before I was legal!! I substituted food for my lack of alcohol which put me to morbid obesity.  I have since kicked that and taken up guns!!! That has become my new passion though...

I saw that we are surgery twins, im just 2 years older!  I had mine June 25 2007.

Keep it up!!!

06/15 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY
Learning how to live in peace, partnership and brotherhood -- with all men and women -- is a fascinating and often very moving adventure.  But each of us in The Program has found that we're not able to make much headway in our new adventure of living until we first take the time to make an accurate and unsparing survey of the human wreckage we've left in our wake.  HAVE I MADE A LIST OF ALL PERSONS I HAVE HARMED, AS STEP EIGHT SUGGESTS, AND BECOME WILLING TO MAKE AMENDS TO THEM ALL?

TODAY I PRAY
May God give me the honesty I need, not only to look inside myself and discover what is really there, but to see the ways that my sick and irresponsible behavior has affected those around me.  May I understand that my addiction is not -- as I used to think -- a loner's disease, that, no matter how alone I felt, my lies and fabrications spread out around me in widening circles of hurt.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Lies spread to infinity.