Thoughts For The Day~*~Give Thanks^*^*^*^*^ March 31, 2007

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Give Thanks

"Though I still find it difficult
to accept today's pain and anxiety
with any degree of serenity-
as those more advanced in the spiritual life
seem able to do-
I can give thanks for present pain nevertheless.
I can remember how the agonies of alcoholism,
the pain of rebellion and thwarted pride,
have often led me to God's grace,
and so to a new freedom."
Bill W., Box 1980: The AA Grapevine, March 1962
As Bill Sees It, p. 266

Thought to Consider . . .

Serenity isn't freedom from the storm; it is peace within the storm.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
HOPE
Hearing Other Peoples' Experience

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

 

Patience

From "Hope:"
 
"Hope is the key that unlocks the door of discouragement.  The program promises me that if I do not pick up the first drink today, I will always have hope.  Having come to believe that I keep what I share, every time I encourage, I receive courage.  It is with others that, with the grace of God and the Fellowship of A.A., I trudge the road of happy destiny.  May I always remember that the power within me is far greater than any fear before me.  May I always have patience, for I am on the right road."
 
c. 1990, Daily Reflections, page 70

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
NO ONE DENIED ME LOVE

On the A.A.  calendar it was Year Two .  .  .  .  A newcomer appeared at one of these groups .  .  .  .  He soon proved that his was a desperate case, and that above all he wanted to get well.  .  .  .  [He said], "Since I am the victim of another addiction even worse stigmatized than alcoholism, you may not want me among you."

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 141-42

I came to you -- a wife, mother, woman who had walked out on her husband, children, family.  I was a drunk, a pill-head, a nothing.  Yet no one denied me love, caring, a sense of belonging.  Today, by God's grace and the love of a good sponsor and a home group, I can say that -- through you in Alcoholics Anonymous -- I am a wife, a mother, a grandmother and a woman.  Sober.  Free of pills.  Responsible.

Without a Higher Power I found in the Fellowship, my life would be meaningless.  I am full of gratitude to be a member of good standing in Alcoholics Anonymous.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
To Watch Loneliness Vanish

Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness. Even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didn't quite belong. ? Either we were shy, and dared not draw near others, or we were noisy good fellows constantly craving attention and companionship, but rarely getting it. There was always that mysterious barrier we could neither surmount nor understand.
That's one reason we loved alcohol too well. But even Bacchus betrayed us; we were finally struck down and left in terrified isolation.
<<< >>>
Life takes on new meaning in A.A. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends--this is an experience not to be missed.

1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 57
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 89
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"'There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which
is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in
everlasting ignoranceâ€"that principle is contempt prior to
investigation.'"

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Appendice II, Spiritual
Experience, pg. 568~

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

Since I've been in A.A., have I made a start toward being more unselfish? Do I no longer want my own way in everything? When things go wrong and I can't have what I want, do I no longer sulk? Am I trying not to waste money on myself? And does it make me happy to see my family and my home have enough attention from me? Am I trying not to be all "get" and no "give"?

Meditation for the Day

Each day is a day of progress, steady progress forward, if you make it so. You may not see it, but God does. God does not judge by outward appearance. He judges by the heart. Let Him see in your heart a simple desire always to do His will. Though you may feel that your work has been spoiled or tarnished, God sees it as an offering for Him. When climbing a steep hill, people are often more conscious of the weakness of their stumbling feet than of the view, the grandeur, or even of the upward progress.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may persevere in all good things. I pray that I may advance each day in spite of my stumbling feet.

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

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Thoughts For The Day~*~The Past ^*^*^*^*^ March 30, 2007

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

"Showing others who suffer how we were given help
is the very thing which makes
life seem so worthwhile to us now.
Cling to the thought that, in God's hands,
the dark past is the greatest possession you have--
the key to life and happiness for others.
With it you can avert death and misery for them."
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 124

Thought to Consider . . .

Get it - Give it - Grow in it.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
PACE

Positive Attitudes Change Everything

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

 

Privacy

From "From Loneliness to Solitude":

"As the sober weeks go by, we can enjoy and treasure the few moments of solitude we are able to find in the rush and hurry of life today. When we cease to fear loneliness and begin to cherish and use our solitude to advantage, we have come a long way. We realize a little solitude is necessary to think and to try to work some of the Steps. In solitude, we take our inventories. In solitude, we admit to ourselves the exact nature of our wrongs. In solitude, our spirits seek that Power greater than we are; in solitude, we seek through prayer and meditation to be aware of God's will for us." – Houston, Texas, USA

© 1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30^th printing 2004, pg. 109

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
OUR GROUP CONSCIENCE

". . . sometimes the good is the enemy of the best."

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE, p. 101

I think these words apply to every area of A.A.'s Three Legacies: Recovery, Unity and Service!  I want them etched in my mind and life as I "trudge the Road of Happy Destiny" (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 164).  These words, often spoken by co-founder Bill W., were appropriately said to him as the result of the group's conscience.  It brought home to Bill W. the essence of our Second Tradition: "Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern."

Just as Bill W. was originally urged to remember, I think that in our group discussions we should never settle for the "good," but always strive to attain the "best."  These common strivings are yet another example of a loving God, as we understand Him, expressing Himself through the group conscience.  Experiences such as these help me to stay on the proper path of recovery.  I learn to combine initiative with humility, responsibility with thankfulness, and thus relish the joys of living my twenty-four hour program.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Review the Day

When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest, or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life?
We must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse, or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to ourselves and to others. After making our review, we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measure should be taken.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 86
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental
defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither
he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 43~
*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

Before I met A.A., I was very unloving. From the time I went away to school, I paid very little attention to my mother and father, I was on my own and didn't even bother to keep in touch with them. After I got married, I was very unappreciative of my spouse. Many a time I would go out all by myself to have a good time. I paid too little attention to our children and didn't try to understand them or show them affection. My few friends were only drinking companions, not real friends. Have I gotten over loving nobody but my self?

Meditation for the Day

Be calm, be true, and be quiet. Do not get emotionally upset by anything that happens around you. Feel a deep, inner security in the goodness and purpose in the universe. Be true to your highest ideals. Do not let yourself slip back into the old ways of reacting. Stick to your spiritual guns. Be calm always. Do not talk back or defend yourself too much against accusation, whether false or true. Accept criticism as well as you accept praise. Only God can judge the real you.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not be upset by the judgment of others. I pray that I may let God be the judge of the real me.

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

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Housecleaning^*^*^*^*^ March 29, 2007

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

"Somehow, being alone with God
doesn't seem as embarrassing
as facing up to another person.
Until we actually sit down and talk aloud
about what we have so long hidden,
our willingness to clean house
is still largely theoretical.
When we are honest with another person,
it confirms that we have been honest
with ourselves and with God."
Bill W., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 60

Thought to Consider . . .

If we skip this vital step, we may not overcome drinking.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 72


*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
STEPS

Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety

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

 Selfless

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

"As this tidal offering of top public approval swept in, we realized that it could do us incalculable good or great harm. Everything would depend upon how it was channeled. We simply could not afford to take the chance of letting self-appointed members present themselves as messiahs representing A.A. before the whole public. The promoter instinct in us might be our undoing. If even one such person publicly got drunk or was lured into using A.A.'s name for his own purposes, the damage might be irreparable. At this altitude (press, radio, films, and television [and the internet] ), anonymity — 100 per cent anonymity — was the only possible answer. Here principles would have to come before personalities, without exception.

"These experiences taught us that anonymity is real humility at work. It is an all-pervading spiritual quality which today keynotes A.A. life everywhere."

© 2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 134

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
TRUSTED SERVANTS

They are servants.  Theirs is the sometimes thankless privilege of doing the group's chores.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 134

In Zorba the Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis describes an encounter between his principal character and an old man busily at work planting a tree.  "What is it you are doing?" Zorba asks.  The old man replies: "You can see very well what I'm doing, my son, I'm planting a tree." "But why plant a tree," Zorba asks, "if you won't be able to see it bear fruit?" And the old man answers: "I, my son, live as though I were never going to die." The response brings a faint smile to Zorba's lips and, as he walks away, he exclaims with a note of irony: "How strange -- I live as though I were going to die tomorrow!"

As a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, I have found that the Third Legacy is a fertile soil in which to plant the tree of my sobriety.  The fruits I harvest are wonderful: peace, security, understanding and twenty-four hours of eternal fulfillment; and with the soundness of mind to listen to the voice of my conscience when, in silence, it gently speaks to me, saying: You must let go in service.  There are others who must plant and harvest.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Will Power and Choice

"We A.A.'s know the futility of trying to break the drinking obsession by will power alone. However, we do know that it takes great willingness to adopt A.A.'s Twelve Steps as a way of life that can restore us to sanity.
"No matter how grievous the alcohol obsession, we happily find that other vital choices can still be made. For example, we can choose to admit that we are personally powerless over alcohol; that dependence upon a 'higher Power' is a necessity, even if this be simply dependence upon an A.A. group. Then we can choose to try for a life of honesty and humility, of selfless services to out fellows and to "God as we understand Him."
"As we continue to make these choices and so move toward these high aspirations, our sanity returns and the compulsion to drink vanishes."

LETTER, 1966
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep
and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our
whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God's
universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute
certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a
way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 25~
*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

Before I met A.A., I was very dishonest. I lied to my spouse constantly about where I had been and what I'd been doing. I took time off from my work and pretended I'd been sick or gave some other dishonest excuse. I was dishonest with myself, as well as with other people. I would never face myself as I really was or admit when I was wrong. I pretended to myself that I was as good as the next person, although I suspected I wasn't. Am I now really honest?

Meditation for the Day

I must live in the world and yet live apart with God. I can go forth from my secret times of communion with God to the work of the world. To get the spiritual strength I need, my inner life must be lived apart from the world. I must wear the world as a loose garment. Nothing in the world should seriously upset me, as long as my inner life is lived with God. All successful living arises from this inner life.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may live my inner life with God. I pray that nothing shall invade or destroy that secret place of peace.

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

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Unity ^*^*^*^*^ March 28, 2007

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

"The unity of Alcoholics Anonymous is
the most cherished quality our Society has.
Our lives, the lives of all to come,
depend squarely upon it.
We stay whole, or AA dies.
Without unity, the heart of AA would cease to beat;
our world arteries would no longer carry
the life-giving grace of God;
His gift to us would be spent aimlessly.
Back again in their caves,
alcoholics would reproach us and say,
'What a great thing AA might have been!'"
Bill W., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 130

Thought to Consider . . .

I am responsible.
when anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help,
I want the hand of AA always to be there.
And for that:
I am responsible

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
ABC
Acceptance, Belief, Change

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

Illness

From "Twice Gifted":

"A series of circumstances brought me to a new doctor. I had to see a doctor because once again I had become fearfully ill, and I was unable to work. My stomach was distended, and my ankles were swollen nearly twice their normal size due to fluid retention. The whites of my eyes had yellowed from jaundice, I had spidery broken veins all over my body, my skin itched all over and took on an eerie greenish-gray appearance. My blood had apparently thinned, because the lightest touch would cause a terrible bruise and even a small scratch would bleed for a very long time. Dark marks appeared on my face and arms, my hair began to fall out, and because I had no appetite at all, I was very weak and extremely fatigued. The new physician took one look at my appearance and my blood test results, and asked if I drank. I said that I used to but had abstained for quite a while. This was a blatant lie.

"In reality the only person who was being fooled was me."

© 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pgs. 472-473

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

        Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism.  Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover.  Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity.  Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 565

Prior to A.A., I often felt that I didn't "fit in" with the people around me.  Usually "they" had more/less money than I did, and my points of view didn't jibe with "theirs."  The amount of prejudice I had experienced in society only proved to me just how phony some self-righteous people were.  After joining A.A., I found the way of life I had been searching for.  In A.A. no member is better than any other member; we're just alcoholics trying to recover from alcoholism.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Keystone of the Arch

Faced with alcoholic destruction, we became open-minded on spiritual matters. In this respect alcohol was great persuader. It finally beat us into a state of reasonableness.
<<< >>>
We had to quit playing God. It didn't work. We decided that hereafter, in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director. He would be the Principal; we, His agents.
Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new triumphal arch through which we passed to freedom.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS 1.P. 48 2. P. 62
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"We know that while the alcoholic keeps away from drink, as he may do
for months or years, he reacts much like other men. We are equally
positive that once he takes any alcohol whatever into his system,
something happens, both in the bodily and mental sense, which makes
it virtually impossible for him to stop. The experience of any
alcoholic will abundantly confirm this."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 22~
*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

When you come into an A.A. meeting, you're not just coming into a meeting, you're coming into a new life. I'm always impressed by the change I see in people after they've been in A.A. for a while. I sometimes take an inventory of myself, to see whether I have changed, and if so, in what way. Before I met A.A., I was very selfish. I wanted my own way in everything. I don't believe I ever grew up. When things went wrong, I sulked like a spoiled child and often went out and got drunk. Am I still all "get" and no "give"?

Meditation for the Day

There are two things that we must have if we are going to change our way of life. One is faith, the confidence in things unseen, the fundamental goodness and purpose in the universe. The other is obedience: that is, living according to our faith, living each day as we believe that God wants us to live, with gratitude, humility, honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love. Faith and obedience, these two, will give us all the strength we need to overcome sin and temptation and to live a new and more abundant life.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have more faith and obedience. I pray that I may live a more abundant life as a result of these things.

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

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