Thoughts For The Day~*~Traditions^*^*^*^*^ March 24, 2007

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

"The Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous
are a distillate of our experience of living and working together.
They apply the spirit of the Twelve recovery Steps
to our group life and security.
They deal with the world outside and with each other;
they state our attitudes toward power and prestige,
toward property and money.
They would save us from tempting alliances
and major controversies;
they would elevate principles far above personal ambitions.
And as a token of this last, they request that we
maintain personal anonymity before the open public
as a protection to AA and as proof of the fact that
our society intends to practice true humility."
Bill W., The Language of the Heart, p. 96

Thought to Consider . . .

The reason they are called Principles is
because they always work.
If they didn't always work we'd just call them "good ideas."

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
WILLING

When I Live Life, I Need God

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

Rescue

From "Desperation Drinking":

"I'm fortunate because I live in an era when A.A. is available, and I'm able to take advantage of it....My drinking pattern isn't very different from the average you find in A.A. After I came in I found I wasn't an exceptional drunk. I used to think I was. I also thought I was a brilliant drunk. I have my brilliant moments yet, but whenever the boys catch me at it they tell me so very plainly."

(c) 2003, AAWS, Inc.; Experience, Strength & Hope, pg. 394

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE

Man is supposed to think, and act.  He wasn't made in God's image to be an automaton.

AS BILL SEES IT, p. 55

Before I joined A.A., I often did not think, and reacted to people and situations.  When not reacting I acted in a mechanical fashion.  After joining A.A., I started seeking daily guidance from a Power greater than myself, and learning to listen for that guidance.  Then I began to make decisions and act on them, rather than react to them.  The results have been constructive; I no longer allow others to make decisions for me and then criticize me for it.

Today -- and every day -- with a heart full of gratitude, and a desire for God's will to be done through me, my life is worth sharing, especially with my fellow alcoholics! Above all, if I do not make a religion out of anything, even A.A., then I can be an open channel for God's expression.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
WE Cannot Live Alone

All of A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires; they all deflate our egos. When it come to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take than the Fifth. Scarcely and Step is more necessary to long-time sobriety and peace of mind.
A.A. experience has taught us we cannot live alone with our pressing problems and the character defects which cause or aggravate them. If Step Four has revealed in stark relief those experiences we'd rather not remember, than the need to quit living by ourselves with those tormenting ghosts of yesterday gets more urgent than ever. We have to talk to somebody about them.
<<< >>>
We cannot wholly rely on friends to solve all our difficulties. A good adviser will never do all our thinking for us. He knows that each final choice must be ours. He will therefore help to eliminate fear, expediency, and self-deception, so enabling us to make choices which are loving, wise, and honest.

1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 55
GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"Yes, there is a substitute and it is vastly more than that. It is a
fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from
care, boredom and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will
mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your
existence lie ahead."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, pg. 152~
*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

Strength comes from honestly telling your own experiences with drinking. In religion, they call it confession. We call it witnessing or sharing. You give a personal witness, you share your past experiences, the troubles you got into, the hospitals, the jails, the break-up of your home, the money wasted, the debts, and all the foolish things you did when you were drinking. This personal witness lets out the things you had kept hidden, brings them out into the open, and you find release and strength. Am I receiving strength from my personal witnessing?

Meditation for the Day

We cannot fully understand the universe. The simple fact is that we cannot even define space or time. They are both boundless, in spite of all we can do to limit them. We live in a box of space and time, which we have manufactured by our own minds and on that depends all our so-called knowledge of the universe. The simple fact is that we can never know all things, nor are we made to know them. Much of our lives must be taken on faith.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that my faith may be based on my own experience of the power of God in my life. I pray that I may know this one thing above all else in the universe.

 Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012©

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Isolating ^*^*^*^*^ March 23, 2007

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

"The less people tolerated us,
the more we withdrew from society,
from life itself.
As we became subjects of King Alcohol,
shivering denizens of his mad realm,
the chilling vapor that is loneliness settled down.
It thickened, ever becoming blacker.
Unhappy drinkers who read this page will understand."
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 151

Thought to Consider . . .

Losers make promises;
winners make commitments.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*

KISS
Keep It Simple, Surrender

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

From "'How Do You Pray?'":

"One of the men stopped me and said, 'How do you pray?' I said that I asked God not to take her, but to take me. He then said, 'Why don't you ask that God give you the strength and courage to accept His will? Say, "Thy will, not mine, be done."'

"Yes, that was the first time in my life that I prayed for His will be done. As I look back, I see that I had always asked God to do things my way."

© 1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30^th printing 2004, pg. 23

 

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
And No More Reservations
We have seen the truth again and again: "Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic."......... If we are planning to stop drinking there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol. To be gravely affected, one does not necessarily have to drink a long time nor take the quantities some of us have. This is particularly true of women. Potential female alcoholics often turn into the real thing and are gone beyond recall in a few years.
©ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Page 33

These words are underlined in my book. They are true for men and women alcoholics. On many occasions I've turned to this page and reflected on this passage. I need never fool myself by recalling my sometimes differing drinking patterns, or by believing I am "cured." I like to think that, if sobriety is God's gift to me, then my sober life is my gift to God. I hope God is as happy with His gift as I am with mine.
Page 91

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Trouble Becomes an Asset

"I think that this particular General Service Conference holds promise and has been filled with progress--because it has had trouble. And it has converted that trouble into an asset, into some growth, and into a great promise.
"A.A. was born out of trouble, one of the most serious kinds of trouble that can befall an individual, the trouble attendant upon this dark and fatal malady of alcoholism. Every single one of us approached A.A. in trouble, in impossible trouble, in hopeless trouble. And that is why we came.

"If this Conference was ruffled, if individuals were deeply disturbed--I say, 'This is fine.' What parliament , what republic, what democracy has not been disturbed? Friction of opposing viewpoints is the very modus operandi on which they proceed. Then what should we be afraid of?"

TALK, 1958
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"When you discover a prospect for Alcoholics Anonymous, find out all
you can about him. If he does not want to stop drinking, don't
waste time trying to persuade him. You may spoil a later opportunity."

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 90
*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

Strength comes from the fellowship you find when you come into A.A. just being with men and women who have found the way out gives you a feeling of security. You listen to the speakers, you talk with other members, and you absorb the atmosphere of confidence and hope that you find in the place. Am I receiving strength from the fellowship with other AA. members?

Meditation for the Day

God is with you, to bless and help you. His spirit is all around you. Waver not in your faith or in your prayers. All power is the Lord's. Say that to yourself often and steadily. Say it until your heart sings with joy for the safety and personal power that it means to you. Say it until the very force of the utterance drives back and puts to naught all the evils against you. Use it as a battle cry. All power is the Lord's. Then you will pass on to victory over all your sins and temptations, and you will begin to live a victorious life.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that with strength from God I may lead an abundant life. I pray that I may lead a life of victory.

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

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Tolerance^*^*^*^*^ March 22, 2007

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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(\  ~~~ /)
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Tolerance

"Honesty with ourselves and others gets us sober,
but it is tolerance that keeps us that way.
In other words, once an alcoholic fully realizes
that he can't get well alone,
he will somehow find a way to get well and stay well
in the company of others.
It has been that way from the beginning of AA
and probably always will be so."
Bill W., Letter, 1943
As Bill Sees It, p. 312

Thought to Consider . . .

Together we can do what we could never do alone.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
TIME
Things I Must Earn

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

Nameless

From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":

"[Tradition Eleven] represents more than a sound public relations policy. It is more than a denial of self-seeking. Tradition Eleven is certainly a constant reminder that personal ambition has no place in A.A., but it also implies that each member ought to become an active guardian of our fellowship in its relation with the general public.

"As we have seen, anonymity is the protective mantle that covers our whole society. But it is more than protection; it has another dimension, a spiritual significance. And this leads to Tradition Twelve, which reads: 'Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.'

"In my belief, the entire future of our fellowship hangs upon this vital principle. If we continue to be filled with the spirit and practice of anonymity, no shoal or reef can wreck us. If we forget this principle, the lid to Pandora's box will be off and the spirits of Money, Power, and Prestige will be loosed among us."

© 2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 131

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
NO MORE STRUGGLE...

And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone -- even alcohol.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84

When A.A. found me, I thought I was in for a struggle, and that A.A. might provide the strength I needed to beat alcohol.  Victorious in that fight, who knows what other battles I could win.  I would need to be strong, though.  All my previous experience with life proved that.  Today I do not have to struggle or exert my will.  If I take those Twelve Steps and let my Higher Power do the real work, my alcohol problem disappears all by itself.  My living problems also cease to be struggles.  I just have to ask whether acceptance -- or change -- is required.  It is not my will, but His, that needs doing.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
"Selfish"?

" I can see why you are disturbed to hear some A.A. speakers say, 'A.A. is a selfish program.' The word 'selfish' ordinarily implies that one is acquisitive, demanding, and thoughtless of the welfare of others. Of course, the A.A. way of life does not at all imply such undesirable traits.
"What do these speakers mean? Well, any theologian will tell you that the salvation of his own soul is the highest vocation that a man can have. Without salvation--however we may define this--he will have little or nothing. For us of A.A., there is even more urgency.
"If we cannot or will not achieve sobriety, then we become truly lost, right in the here and now. We are of no value to anyone, including ourselves, until we find salvation from alcohol. Therefore, our own recovery and spiritual growth have to come first--a right and necessary kind of self-concern."

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day "Thy will be done." We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves.

- Pg 87-88 - Into Action
*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

We're all looking for the power to overcome drinking. When we alcoholics come into A.A., our first question is: "How do I get the strength to quit?" At first it seems to us that we will never get the necessary strength. We see older members who have found the power we are looking for, but we don't know the process by which they got it. This necessary strength comes in many ways. Have I found all the strength I need?

Meditation for the Day

You cannot have a spiritual need that God cannot supply. Your fundamental need is a spiritual need, the need for power to live the good life. The best spiritual supply is received by you when you want it to pass on to other people. You get it largely by giving it away. God gives you strength as you pass it on to another person. That strength means increased health; increased health means more good work, and more good work means more people helped. And so it goes on, a constant supply to meet all spiritual needs.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that my every spiritual need will be supplied by God. I pray that I may use the power I receive to help others.

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

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Rationalization ^*^*^*^*^ March 21, 2007

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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(\  ~~~ /)
(   \(AA)/  )
(_   /AA\ _)
  /AA\
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Rationalization

"There are cases where our ancient enemy, rationalization, has stepped in and has justified conduct which was really wrong. The temptation here is to imagine that we had good motives and reasons when we really didn't. We 'constructively criticized' someone who needed it, when our real motive was to win a useless argument. We sometimes hurt those we love because they' need to be taught a lesson, 'when we really want to punish. This perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one, permeates human affairs from top to bottom.

"Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 94

Thought to Consider . . .

Recognizing someone else's human dignity cannot cost you your own.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
PUSH
Pray Until Something Happens

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

Beliefs

From "The Missing Link":

"I knew … I needed to be open-minded toward what people suggested for recovery. However, when it came to spirituality, I fought it nearly every step of the way. Although raised in an ethnic and religious Jewish household, I was agnostic and very resistant to anyone and anything that I perceived to be imposing religious beliefs. To my surprise, Alcoholics Anonymous suggested something different.

"The idea that religion and spirituality were not one and the same was a new notion. My sponsor asked that I merely remain open-minded to the possibility that there was a Power greater than myself, one of my own understanding. He assured me that no person was going to impose a belief system on me, that it was a personal matter. Reluctantly, I opened my mind to the fact that maybe, just maybe, there was something to this spiritual lifestyle. Slowly but surely, I realized that there was a Power greater than myself, and I soon found myself with a full-time God in my life and following a spiritual path that didn't conflict with my personal religious convictions."

© 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 287

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

MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING

Fear .  .  .  of economic insecurity will leave us.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84

Having fear reduced or eliminated and having economic circumstances improve, are two different things.  When I was new in A.A., I had those two ideas confused.  I thought fear would leave me only when I started making money.  However, another line from the Big Book jumped off the page one day when I was chewing on my financial difficulties: "For us, material well-being always followed spiritual progress; it never preceded." (p. 127). I suddenly understood that this promise was a guarantee.  I saw that it put priorities in the correct order, that spiritual progress would diminish that terrible fear of being destitute, just as it diminished many other fears.

Today I try to use the talents God gave me to benefit others.  I've found that is what others valued all along.  I try to remember that I no longer work for myself.  I only get the use of the wealth God created, I never have "owned" it.  My life's purpose is much clearer when I just work to help, not to possess.

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

Following a gossip binge, we can well ask ourselves these questions: "Why did we say what we did? Were we only trying to be helpful and informative? Or were we not trying to feel superior by confessing the other fellow's sins? Or, because of fear and dislike, were we not really aiming to damage him?"
This would be an honest attempt to examine ourselves, rather than the other fellow.
<<< >>>
Inventory-taking is not always done in red ink. It's a poor day indeed when we haven't done something right. As a matter of fact, the waking hours are usually filled with things that are constructive. Good intentions, good thoughts, and good acts are there for us to see.
Even when we have tried hard and failed, we may chalk that up as one of the greatest credits of all.

1. GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961
2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p.93
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to
Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give
freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the
Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you
trudge the Road of Happy Destiny."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, pg. 164~
*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

In A.A. we forget about the future. We know from experience that as time goes on, the future takes care of itself. Everything works out well, as long as we stay sober. All we need to think about is today. When we get up in the morning and see the sun shining in the window, we thank God that He has given us another day to enjoy because we're sober, a day in which we may have a chance to help somebody. Do I know that this day is all I have and that with God's help I can stay sober today?

Meditation for the Day

All is fundamentally well. That does not mean that all is well on the surface of things. But it does mean that God's in His heaven and that He has a purpose for the World, which will eventually work out when enough human beings are willing to follow His way. "Wearing the world as a loose garment" means not being upset by the surface wrongness of things, but feeling deeply secure in the fundamental goodness and purpose in the universe.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that God may be with me in my journey through the world. I pray that I may know that God is planning that journey.

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

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