Thoughts For The Day~*~Slip^*^*^*^*^ December 30, 2006

 

Seasons Greetings from all of us ...

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Subject: Thoughts For The Day~*~Slip^*^*^*^*^ December 30, 2006

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Slip

"I had commenced to drink
as though the cocktails were ginger ale.
I now remembered what my alcoholic friends had told me,
how they prophesied that if I had an alcoholic mind,
the time and place would come --
I would drink again. . .
I knew from that moment that I had an alcoholic mind.
I saw that will power and self-knowledge
would not help in those strange mental blank spots. . .
I had never been able to understand people
who said that a problem had them hopelessly defeated.
I knew then.  It was a crushing blow."  
c. 1976, 2001AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 41-2
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Thought to Consider . . .

I have learned it's the first drink that gets me drunk.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
S L I P =  Sobriety Loses Its Priority

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

Action

From "Daily Resolutions:"

 

"A New Year: 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days,
8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes -- a time to consider
directions, goals, and actions.  I must make some plans
to live a normal life, but also I must live emotionally
within a twenty-four-hour frame, for if I do, I don't
have to make New Year's resolutions!  I can make
every day a New Year's day!   I can decide, 'Today
I will do this....Today I will do that.'  Each day I can
measure my life by trying to do a little better, by
deciding to follow God's will and by making an
effort to put the principles of our A.A. program into
action."

 

c. 1990, Daily Reflections, page 374

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
ANONYMITY

Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.  564

Tradition Twelve became important early in my sobriety and, along with the Twelve Steps, it continues to be a must in my recovery.  I became aware after I joined the Fellowship that I had personality problems, so that when I first heard it, the Tradition's message was very clear: there exists an immediate way for me to face, with others, my alcoholism and attendant anger, defensiveness, offensiveness.  I saw Tradition Twelve as being a great ego-deflator; it relieved my anger and gave me a chance to utilize the principles of the program.  All of the Steps, and this particular Tradition, have guided me over decades of continuous sobriety.  I am grateful to those who were here when I needed them.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
The Sense of Belonging

Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us. We no longer live in a completely hostile world. We are no longer lost and frightened and purposeless.
The moment we catch even a glimpse of God's will, the moment we begin to see truth, justice, and love as the real and eternal things in life, we are no longer deeply disturbed by all the seeming evidence to the contrary that surrounds us in purely human affairs. We know that God lovingly watches over us. We know that when we turn to Him, all will be well with us, here and hereafter.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 105
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the
brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal
men, but for alcoholics these things are poison."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 66~

"We alcoholics are sensitive people. It takes some of us a long time
to outgrow that serious handicap."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 125~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

To the extent that I fail in my responsibilities, A.A. fails. To the extent that I succeed, A.A. succeeds. Every failure of mine will set back A.A. work to that extent. Every success of mine will put A.A. ahead to that extent. I shall not wait to be drafted for service to others, but I shall volunteer. I shall accept every opportunity to work for A.A. as a challenge, and I shall do my best to accept every challenge and perform my task as best I can. Will I accept every challenge gladly?

Meditation for the Day

People are failures in the deepest sense when they seek to live without God's sustaining power. Many people try to be self-sufficient and seek selfish pleasure and find that it does not work too well. No matter how much material wealth they acquire, no matter how much fame and material power, the time of disillusionment and futility usually comes. Death is ahead, and they cannot take any material thing with them when they go. What does it matter if I have gained the whole world, but lost my own soul?

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I will not come empty to the end of my life. I pray that I may so live that I will not be afraid to die.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Keynotes^*^*^*^*^ December 28, 2006

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Keynotes

We can try to stop making unreasonable demands
upon those we love.
We can show kindness where we had shown none.
With those we dislike we can begin to practice
justice and courtesy,
perhaps going out of our way to understand and help them.
Whenever we fail any of these people,
we can promptly admit it -- to ourselves always,
and to them also, when the admission would be helpful.
Courtesy, kindness, justice, and love
are the keynotes by which we may come into harmony
with practically anybody. 
c. 1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 93
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Thought to Consider . . .

Let us always love the best in others --
and never fear their worst.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H E L P  =  Hope, Encouragement, Love, Patience

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

Endorsement

From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":

"A liquor trade association wanted to hire an A.A. member as an educator. Its members wanted to teach that too much grog is bad for everybody and that alcoholics cannot drink at all. So far, so good. But...they wished to stress that their educator…was a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. …The public would at once think that Alcoholics Anonymous had gone into the field of education… [T]he 'drys' would instantly hire another A.A. member for 'educational purposes.' This would land us, of course, smack in the middle of endless controversy [concerning prohibition of alcohol].

"The would-be educator…[asked] for advice. …[A]s a public relations expert and as a citizen he certainly had a perfect right to take the job. But did he think that he should advertise his A.A. membership at the same time?

"Our member got the point. He said, 'Alcoholics Anonymous saved my life. It comes first. I certainly won't be the guy to land A.A. in big-time trouble' …We saw as never before that we could not lend the A.A. name to any cause other than our own."

© 2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 108-09

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
SUIT UP AND SHOW UP

In A.A.  we aim not only for sobriety -- we try again to become citizens of the world that we rejected, and of the world that once rejected us.  This is the ultimate demonstration toward which Twelfth Step work is the first but not the final step,

AS BILL SEES IT, p. 21

The old line says, "Suit up and show up."  That action is so important that I like to think of it as my motto.  I can choose each day to suit up and show up, or not.  Showing up at meetings starts me toward feeling a part of that meeting, for then I can do what I say I'll do at meetings.  I can talk with newcomers, and I can share my experience; that's what credibility, honesty, and courtesy really are.  Suiting up and showing up are the concrete actions I take in my ongoing return to normal living.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Back To Work

It is possible for us to use the alleged dishonesty of other people as a plausible excuse for not meeting our own obligations.
Once, some prejudiced friends exhorted me never to go back to Wall Street. They were sure that the rampant materialism and double-dealing down there would stunt my spiritual growth. Because this sounded so high-minded, I continued to stay away from the only business that I knew.
When, finally, my household went broke, I realized I hadn't been able to face the prospect of going back to work. So I returned to Wall Street, and I have ever since been glad that I did. I needed to rediscover that there are many fine people in New York's financial district. Then, too, I needed the experience of staying sober in the very surroundings where alcohol had cut me down.
A Wall Street business trip to Akron, Ohio, first brought me face to face with Dr. Bob. So the birth of A.A. hinged on my effort to meet my bread-and-butter responsibilities.

GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"Despite all we can say, many who are real alcoholics are not going
to believe they are in that class. By every form of self-deception
and experimentation, they will try to prove themselves exceptions to
the rule, therefore nonalcoholic. If anyone who is showing inability
to control his drinking can do the right-about-face and drink like a
gentleman, our hats are off to him. Heaven knows, we have tried hard
enough and long enough to drink like other people!"

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 31~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

A.A. may be human in its organization, but it is divine in its purpose. The purpose is to point me toward God and the good life. My feet have been set upon the rot path. I feel it in the depths of my being. I am going in the right direction. The future can be safely left to God. Whatever the future holds, it cannot be too much for me to bear. I have the Divine Power with me to carry me through everything that may happen. Am I pointed toward God and the good life?

Meditation for the Day

Although unseen, the Lord is always near to those who believe in Him and trust Him and depend on Him for the strength to meet the challenges of life. Although veiled from mortal sight, the Higher Power is always available to us whenever we humbly ask for it. The feeling that God is with us should not depend on any passing mood of ours; we should try to be always conscious of His power and love in the background of our lives.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may feel that God is not too far away to depend on for help. I pray that I may feel confident of His readiness to give me the power that I need.

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

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Surrender^*^*^*^*^ December 27, 2006

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Surrender

Such is the paradox of AA regeneration:
strength arising out of complete defeat and weakness,
the loss of one's old life
as a condition for finding a new one.
But we of AA do not have to understand that paradox;
we have only to be grateful for it.
Bill W.
c. 1957, 1985AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 46
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Thought to Consider . . . .

We surrender to win

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
K I S S = Keep It Simple, Surrender

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

Beginning

From "The Perpetual Quest":

"My friend suggested that we contact a man she knew who was a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, and I agreed to call him. 'Perhaps he could call you,' she said helpfully, which was the key, because by that night I was just fine and didn't need any outside help aside from a drink or two. But he kept phoning and bothering me about going to a meeting. When he told me he went to A.A. meetings three or four times a week, I thought, Poor man, he has nothing better to do. What a boring life it must be for him, running around to A.A. meetings with nothing to drink! Boring indeed: no bouncing off walls, no falling down stairs, no regular trips to hospital emergency rooms, no lost cars, and on and on."

© 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 393

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
PROBLEM SOLVING

"Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems. "

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 42

Through the recovery process described in the Big Book, I have come to realize that the same instructions that work on my alcoholism, work on much more. Whenever I am angry or frustrated, I consider the matter a manifestation of the main problem within me, alcoholism. As I "walk" through the Steps, my difficulty is usually dealt with long before I reach the Twelfth "suggestion," and those difficulties that persist are remedied when I make an effort to carry the message to someone else. These principles do solve my problems! I have not encountered an exception, and I have been brought to a way of living which is satisfying and useful.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Life Is Not a Dead End

When a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and resources alone. He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being.
He has been set on a path which tells him he is really going somewhere, that life is not a dead end, not something to be endured or mastered. In a very real sense he has been transformed, because he has laid hold of a source of strength which he had hitherto denied himself.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 106-107
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"We do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you can
quickly diagnose yourself, Step over to the nearest barroom and try
some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it
more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are
honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters
if you get a full knowledge of your condition."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 31~

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

I need the A.A. principles for the development of the buried life within me, that good life, which I had misplaced, but which I found again in this fellowship. This life within me is developing slowly but surely, with many setbacks, many mistakes, many failures, but still developing. As long as I stick close to A.A., my life will go on developing, and I cannot yet know what it will be, but I know that it will be good. That's all I want to know. It will be good. Am I thanking God for A.A.?

Meditation for the Day

Build your life on the firm foundation of true gratitude to God for all His blessings and true humility because of your unworthiness of these blessings. Build the frame of your life out of self-discipline; never let yourself get selfish or lazy or contented with yourself. Build the walls of your life out of service to others, helping them to find the way to live. Build the roof of your life out of prayer and quiet times, waiting for God's guidance from above. Build a garden around your life out of peace of mind and serenity and a sure faith.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may build my life on A.A. principles. I pray that it may be a good building when my work is finished.

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

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