Thoughts For The Day~*~Consequences ^*^*^*^*^ September 30, 2006

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
(\    ~~  /)
(   \ (AA)/   )
(_   /AA\ _)
  /AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Consequences
^*^*^*^*^
"In some circumstances we have gone out deliberately
to get drunk, feeling ourselves justified
by nervousness, anger, worry, depression,
jealousy or the like.
But even in this type of beginning we are obliged to admit
that our justification for a spree
was insanely insufficient in the light of what always happened.
We now see that when we began to drink deliberately,
instead of casually,
there was little serious or effective thought
during the period of premeditation
of what the terrific consequences might be."
c.1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 37
^*^*^*^*^

Thought to Consider . . . 

Think it over, not drink over it.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
D E A D =  Drinking Ends All Dreams

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
 

Surrender

From "Emotional Sobriety:"

 

"If we examine every disturbance we have, great or
small, we will find at the root of it some unhealthy
dependency and its consequent unhealthy demand. 
Let us, with God's help, continually surrender these
hobbling liabilities.
"Then we can be set free to live and love; we may
then be able to twelfth-step ourselves, as well as
others, into emotional sobriety."

 

c. 1967, As Bill Sees It, page 288

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
THE CIRCLE AND THE TRIANGLE

The circle stands for the whole world of A.A., and the triangle
stands for A.A.'s Three Legacies of Recovery, Unity, and Service.
Within our wonderful new world, we have found freedom from our
fatal obsession.
A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 139

Early in my A.A. life, I became employed in its services and I
found the explanation of our society's logo to be very appropriate.
First, a circle of love and service with a well-balanced triangle
inside, the base of which represents our Recovery through the
Twelve Steps. Then the other two sides, representing Unity and
Service, respectively. The three sides of the triangle are equal.
As I grew in A.A. I soon identified myself with this symbol. I
am the circle, and the sides of the triangle represent three
aspects of my personality: physical, emotional sanity,
spirituality, the latter forming the symbol's base. Taken
together, all three aspects of my personality translate into
a sober and happy life.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Compelling Love

The life of each A.A. and of each group is built around our Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. We know that the penalty for extensive disobedience to these principles is death for the individual and dissolution for the group. But an even greater force for A.A.'s unity is our compelling love for our fellow members and for our principles.

<<<>>>

You might think the people at A.A.'s headquarters in New York would surely have to have some personal authority. But, long ago, trustees and secretaries alike found they could do no more than make very mild suggestions to the A.A. groups.
They even had to coin a couple of sentences which still go into half the letters they write: "Of course you are at perfect liberty to handle this matter any way you please. But the majority experience in A.A. does seem to suggest . . ."
A.A. world headquarters is not a giver of orders. It is, instead, our largest transmitter of the lessons of experience.

1. TWELVE CONCEPTS, p. 10 - 2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, pp. 173-174
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our constant
thought of others and how we may help meet their needs."

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 20
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

There are no leaders in A.A. except as they volunteer to accept
responsibility. The work of carrying on A.A.- leading group meetings,
serving on committees, speaking before other groups, doing twelfth-step
work, spreading A.A. among the alcoholics of the community -
all these things are done on a volunteer basis. if I don't volunteer
to do something concrete for A.A., the movement is that much less
effective. I must do my fair share to carry the load. A.A. depends
on all its members to keep it alive and to keep it growing. Am I
doing my share for A.A.?

Meditation for the Day

When you look to God for strength to face responsibility and are
quiet before Him, His healing touch causes the Divine Quiet to flow
into your very being. When in weakness you cry to God, His touch
brings healing, the renewal of your courage, and the power to meet
every situation and be victorious. When you faint by the way or are
distracted by feelings of inferiority, then rely on the touch of
God's spirit to support you on your way. Then arise and go forth
with confidence.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may lay myself open today to the healing touch of God.
I pray that I may not falter or faint by the wayside, but renew my
courage through prayer.

©Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012©

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Booby Traps ^*^*^*^*^ September 29, 2006

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
(\    ~~  /)
(   \ (AA)/   )
(_   /AA\ _)
  /AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Booby Traps

"We must avoid quick-tempered criticism
and furious, power-driven argument.  
The same goes for sulking and silent scorn.  
These are emotional booby traps baited with pride
and vengefulness.  
Our first job is to sidestep the traps.  
When we are tempted by the bait,
we should train ourselves to step back and think.  
For we can neither think nor act to good purpose
until the habit of self-restraint has become automatic."
c.1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 91
^*^*^*^*^

Thought to Consider . . . 

Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
B A T H =  Behavior, Attitude, Thinking, Habits

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*

Desire

From "The Opening to the Spiritual World":

"Yes, I began with blind faith, but the proof of truth is that it works. I believed those who said they had suffered from alcoholism, but, through A.A., were now enjoying sobriety. So the truth was there for me to see. But shortly I knew the truth from my own experience. I was not only released from the compulsion to drink; I was guided toward a compulsion to live!" – El Cerrito, California

© 1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, pg. 3

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
EXACTLY ALIKE

Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright
spot of our lives.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 89

A man came to the meeting drunk, interrupted the speakers, stood
up and took his shirt off, staggered loudly back and forth for
coffee, demanded to talk, and eventually called the group's
secretary an unquotable name and walked out. I was glad he was
there--once again I saw what I still could be. I don't have to
be drunk to want to be the exception and the center of attention.
I have often felt abused and responded abusively when I was
simply being treated as a garden variety human being. The more
the man tried to insist he was different, the more I realized
that he and I were exactly alike.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Troubles of Our Own Making

Selfishness - self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt.

So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn't think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us!

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p- 62
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors,
psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitate to
take your health problems to such persons. Most of them give
freely of themselves, that their fellows may enjoy sound minds and
bodies."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 133~

*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

Having got this far, shall we pause and ask ourselves some
searching questions? We need to check up on ourselves periodically.
Just how good an A.A. am I? Am I attending meetings regularly? Am
I doing my share to carry the load? When there is something to be
done, do I volunteer? Do I speak at meetings when asked, no matter
how nervous I am? Do I accept each opportunity to do twelfth-step
work as a challenge? Do I give freely of my time and money? Am I
trying to spread A.A. wherever I go? Is my daily life a
demonstration of A.A. principles? Am I a good A.A.?

Meditation for the Day

How do I get strength to be effective and to accept responsibility?
By asking the Higher Power for the strength I need each day. It
has been proved in countless lives that for every day I live,
the necessary power shall be given me. I must face each challenge
that comes' to me during the day, sure that God will give me the
strength to face it. For every task that is given me, there is
also given me all the power necessary for the performance of that
task. I do not need to hold back.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may accept every task as a challenge. I know I cannot
wholly fail if God is with me.

©Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012©

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Meetings ^*^*^*^*^ September 28, 2006

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
(\    ~~  /)
(   \ (AA)/   )
(_   /AA\ _)
  /AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Meetings
^*^*^*^*^
"Sobriety and a plan for living that produces
a personality change and a spiritual awakening
are imperative.
Through AA, many receive the needed change and awakening
just by trying to live by AA principles
and associating with AA people.
We do this by going to many AA meetings with an open mind
and a desire to live the good-feeling life without chemicals --
liquid or otherwise."
c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 459
^*^*^*^*^

Thought to Consider . . .

The ankle-biters of everyday struggles will eat away at me
unless I go to meetings and share.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H O P E =  Hearing Other Peoples' Experience

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*

Exposure 

From "When A.A. Came of Age":

"The kind of [publicity] help we gave Jack Alexander – our organized service of public information – is the vital ingredient in our public relations that most A.A.'s [sic] have never seen. But in the St. Louis pressroom the visitors did see one aspect of it, working this time for the [1955] Convention itself. There sat A.A.'s Ralph, handling our contacts with the press. . . . Now what was he doing and why? Could this be a ballyhooed promotion stunt, something quite contrary to A.A. Traditions?

"Not a bit of it. Ralph was handling the job simply to help our friends of press, radio, and television. The whole world wanted to know . . .

"Our friends in A.A. and millions outside wanted to read and hear and see, and it was certainly up to us to help."

© 2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 36

 

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
LOVE WITHOUT STRINGS

Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 89

Sponsorship held two surprises for me.  First, that my sponsees cared about me. What I had thought was gratitude was more like love.  They wanted me to be happy, to grow and remain sober. Knowing how they felt kept me from drinking more than once.  Second, I  discovered that I was able to love someone else responsibly, with respectful and genuine concern for that person's growth.  Before that time, I had thought that my ability to care sincerely about another's well-being had atrophied from lack of use.  To learn that I can love, without greed or anxiety, has been one of the deepest gifts the program has given me. Gratitude for that gift has kept me sober many times.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
A.A. in Two Words

"All A.A. progress can be reckoned in terms of just two words: humility and responsibility. Our whole spiritual development can be accurately measured by our degree of adherence to these magnificent standards.
"Ever deepening humility, accompanied by an ever greater willingness to accept and to act upon clear-cut obligations - these are truly our touchstones for all growth in the life of the spirit. They hold up to us the very essence of right being and right doing. It is by them that we are enabled to find and to do God's will."

TALK, 1965 (PRINTED IN GRAPEVINE, JANUARY 1966)
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from
it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will
find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new
attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or
effort on our part. It just comes!"

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 84~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

For the past two months we have been studying passages and steps from the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Now why not read the book itself again? It is essential that the A.A. program become part of us. We must have its essentials at our fingertips. We cannot study the Big Book too much or too often. The more we read it and study it, the better equipped we are to think A.A., act A.A., and live A.A. We cannot know too much about the program. The chances are that we will never know enough. But we can make as much of it our own as possible. How much of the Big Book have I thoroughly mastered?

Meditation for the Day

We need to accept the difficulties and disciplines of life so as to fully share the common life of other people. Many things that we must accept in life are not to be taken so much as being necessary for us personally, as to be experienced in order that we may share in the sufferings and problems of humanity. We need sympathy and understanding. We must share many of the experiences of life, in order to understand and sympathize with others. Unless we have been through the same experiences, we cannot understand other people or their makeup well enough to be able to help them.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may accept everything that comes my way as a part of life. I pray that I may make use of it in helping other people.

©Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012©

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Right Living ^*^*^*^*^ September 27, 2006

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
(\    ~~  /)
(   \ (AA)/   )
(_   /AA\ _)
  /AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Right Living

"Service, gladly rendered, obligations squarely met,
troubles well accepted or solved with God's help,
the knowledge that at home or in the world outside
we are partners in a common effort,
the well-understood fact that in God's sight
all human beings are important,
the proof that love freely given surely brings a full return,
the certainty that we are no longer isolated and alone
in self-constructed prisons,
the surety that we need no longer be
square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong
in God's scheme of things --
these are the permanent and legitimate satisfactions
of right living for which no amount of pomp and circumstance,
no heap of material possessions,
could possibly be substitutes."
c. 1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 124
^*^*^*^*^

Thought to Consider . . . 

We are not living just to be sober;
we are living to learn, to serve, and to love.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
L O V E  =  Living Our Valuable Experiences

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*

 Sabotage

From "Tightrope":

"After a few years, I was a nightly blackout drinker. My lover drank heavily as well, and I began to compare my drinking with his. I argued to myself that I could not have a problem because his drinking was worse than mine at times. In fact, I suggested that he might try A.A. When he did try this Fellowship, I did all I could to undermine his efforts to get sober – his recovery would present an obvious, if unacknowledged, threat to my drinking. Eventually, the stress became too much and we broke up, but not before I had succeeded in undermining his recovery."

© 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 361

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
WITHOUT RESERVATION

When brimming with gratitude, one's heartbeat must surely result in
outgoing love, . . . .
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 37

While practicing service to others, if my successes give rise to
grandiosity, I must reflect on what brought me to this point. What
has been given joyfully, with love, must be passed on without
reservation and without expectation? For as I grow, I find that no
matter how much I give with love, I receive much more in spirit.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Honesty and Recovery

In taking an inventory, a member might consider questions such as these:
How did my selfish pursuit of the sex relation damage other people and me? What people were hurt, and how badly? Just how did I react at the time? Did 1 burn with guilt? Or did I insist that I was the pursued and not the pursuer, and thus absolve myself?
How have I reacted to frustration in sexual matters? When denied, did I become vengeful or depressed? Did I take it out on other people? If there was rejection or coldness at home, did I use this as a reason for promiscuity?

<<<>>>

Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family back. His recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his relationship with God, however he may define Him.

1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, pp. 50-51 - 2. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 99-100
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"Some day we hope that Alcoholics Anonymous will help the public to
a better realization of the gravity of the alcoholic problem, but we
shall be of little use if our attitude is one of bitterness or
hostility. Drinkers will not stand for it.

After all, our problems were of our own making. Bottles were only a
symbol. Besides, we have stopped fighting anybody or anything. We
have to!"

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 103~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

Continuing the consideration of the term "spiritual experience":
"What often takes place in a few months could seldom have been
accomplished by years of self-discipline. With few exceptions, our
members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource
which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power
greater than themselves. Most of us think this awareness of a Power
greater than ourselves the essence of spiritual experience. Some of
us call it God-consciousness. In any case, willingness, honesty,
and open-mindedness are the essentials of recovery," Have I tapped
that inner resource that can change my life?

Meditation for the Day

God's power in your life increases as your ability to understand His
grace increases. The power of God's grace is only limited by the
understanding and will of each individual. God's miracle-working
power is only limited in each individual soul by the lack of
spiritual vision of that soul. God respects freewill, the right of
each person to accept or reject His miracle-working power. Only the
sincere desire of the soul gives Him the opportunity to bestow it.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not limit God's power by my lack of vision. I
pray that I may keep my mind open today to His influence.

©Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012©

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