Thoughts For The Day~*~Resentment ^*^*^ August 4, 2007

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Resentment
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"If you have a resentment you want to be rid of,
if you will pray for the person or the thing you resent,
you will be free.
If you will ask in prayer for everything
you want for yourself to be given to them,
you will be free.
Ask for their health, their prosperity, their happiness,
and you will be free.
Even when you don't really want it for them,
and your prayers are only words
and you don't mean it, go ahead and do it anyway.
Do it every day for two weeks and you will find
you have come to mean it and to want it for them,
and you will realize that where you used to feel
bitterness and resentment and hatred,
you now feel compassionate understanding
and love."
1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 552
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Thought to Consider . . .

An expectation is a premeditated resentment.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F E A R  =  Frustration, Ego, Anxiety, Resentment

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

 Focus

From "A New Direction"

"I hear talk of the 'weak-willed' alcoholic, but I am one of the strongest-willed people on earth! I now know that my incredible strength of will is not enough to save my life. My problem is not one of 'weakness,' but rather of direction. When I, without falsely diminishing myself, accept my honest limitations and turn to God's guidance, my worst faults become my greatest assets. My strong will, rightly directed, keeps me working until the promises of the program become my daily reality."

 1990 AAWS, Inc.; Daily Reflections, pg. 195

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
SEEDS OF FAITH

Faith, to be sure, is necessary, but faith alone can avail nothing.  We can have faith, yet keep God out of our lives.                                  

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 34

As a child I constantly questioned the existence of God. To a  "scientific thinker" like me, no answer could withstand a thorough dissection, until a very patient woman finally said to me, "You must have faith." With that simple statement, the seeds of my recovery were sown!

Today, as I practice my recovery -- cutting back the weeds of alcoholism -- slowly I am letting those early seeds of faith grow and bloom.  Each day of recovery, of ardent gardening, brings the Higher Power of my understanding more fully into my life.  My God has always been with me through faith, but it is my responsibility to have the willingness to accept His presence.

I ask God to grant me the willingness to do His will.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
After the "Honeymoon"

"For most of us, the first years of A.A. are something like a honeymoon.
There is a new and potent reason to stay alive, joyful activity aplenty. For
a time, we are diverted from the main life problems. That is all to the good.
"But when the honeymoon has worn off, we are obliged to take our lumps, like other people. This is where the testing starts. Maybe the group has pushed us onto the side lines. Maybe difficulties have intensified at home, or in the world outside. Then the old behavior patterns reappear. How well we recognize and deal with them reveals the extent of our progress."

<<<>>>

The wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until
self-searching becomes a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept
what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what
is wrong.

1. LETTER, 1954 - 2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 88
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. 'Do I now
believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power
greater than myself?' As soon as a man can say that he does believe,
or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on
his way. It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this
simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be
built."

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 47
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

We in A.A. are offering a kind of psychological program as
well as a spiritual one. First, people must be mentally
able to receive it. They must have made up their minds
that they want to quit drinking, and they must be willing
to do something about it. Their confidence must be obtained.
We must show them that we are their friends and really
desire to help them. When we have their confidence, they
will listen to us. Then the A.A. fellowship is a kind of
group therapy. Newcomers need the fellowship of other
alcoholics who understand their problem because they have
had it themselves. Individuals must learn to reeducate
their minds. They must learn to think differently. Do I
do my best to give mental help?

Meditation for the Day

"And this is life eternal, that they may know Thee." It is
the flow of life eternal through spirit, mind, and body
that cleanses, heals, restores, and renews. Seek conscious
contact with God more and more each day. Make God an
abiding presence during the day. Be conscious of His spirit
helping you. All that is done without God's spirit is
passing. All that is done with God's spirit is life
eternal.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be in the stream of eternal life. I pray
that I may be cleansed and healed by the Eternal Spirit.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Vigilance ^*^*^ August 3, 2007

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Vigilance
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"Now that we're in AA and sober,
and winning back the esteem of our friends
and business associates,
we find that we still need to exercise special vigilance.
As an insurance against 'big-shot-ism'
we can often check ourselves by remembering
that we are today sober only by the grace of God
and that any success we may be having
is far more His success than ours."
1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 92
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Thought to Consider . . .

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing ...
my sobriety.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
P U T  =  Patience, Understanding, Tolerance

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
 

Change

From "A New Man":

"But the real miracle was what happened to him in the next ten years. He began helping people. I mean helping! No call has been too hard, too inconvenient, too 'hopeless.' He founded the A.A. group in his town, and he is embarrassed if you mention this to others or comment on the amount of A.A. work he is doing.

"He is not the same man I was trying to twelfth-step. I failed in all my efforts to help the man I knew. And then Someone else provided a new man. - Bernardsville, New Jersey, USA"

© 1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30^th printing 2004, pg. 15

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
. . .TO BE OF SERVICE

Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us.                   
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 77

It is clear that God's plan for me is expressed through love.  God loved me enough to take me from alleys and jails so that I could be made a useful participant in His world.  My response is to love all of His children through service and by example.  I ask God to help me imitate His love for me through my love for others.

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

There are those in A.A. whom we call "destructive" critics. They power-drive, they are "politickers," they make accusations to gain their ends -- all for
the good of A.A., of course! But we have learned that these folks need not be really destructive.
We ought to listen carefully to what they say. Sometimes they are telling the
whole truth; at other times, a little truth. If we are within their range,
the whole truth, the half-truth, or no truth at all can prove equally
unpleasant to us. If they have got the whole truth, or even a little truth,
then we had better thank them and get on with our respective inventories,
admitting we were wrong. If they are talking nonsense, we can ignore it, or
else try to persuade them. Failing this, we can be sorry they are too sick to
listen, and we can try to forget the whole business.
There are few better means of self-survey and of developing patience than the workouts these usually well-meaning but erratic members so often afford us.

TWELVE CONCEPTS, p. 41
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
 

"Life will take on new meaning. 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 you
must not miss."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 89~

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

We in A.A. must remember that we are offering something intangible. We are
offering a psychological and spiritual program. We are not offering a medical program. If people need medical treatment, we call in a doctor. If they need
a medical prescription, we let the doctor prescribe for them. if they need
hospital treatment, we let the hospital take care of them. Our vital A.A.
work begins when a person is physically able to receive it. Am I willing to
leave medical care to the doctors?

Meditation for the Day

Each moment of your day which you devote to this new way of life is a gift to God. The gift of the moments. Even when your desire to serve God is sincere, it is not an easy thing to give Him many of these moments: the daily things you had planned to do, given, up gladly so that you can perform a good service or say a kind word. If you can see Gods purpose in many situations, it will be easier to give Him many moments of your day. Every situation has two interpretations -- your own and God's. Try to handle each situation in the way you believe God would have it handled.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may make my day count somewhat for God. I pray that I may not
spend it all selfishly.

©Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Responsibility ^*^*^ August 2, 2007

 ~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Responsibility
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"Our spiritual way of life is safe for future generations if,
as a Society, we resist the temptation to receive money
from the outside world.
But this leaves us with a responsibility -
one that every member ought to understand.
We cannot skimp when the treasurer of our group
passes the hat.
Our groups, our areas, and AA as a whole
will not function unless our services are sufficient
and their bills are paid.
When we meet and defeat the temptation to take large gifts,
we are only being prudent.
But when we are generous with the hat
we give a token that we are grateful for our blessings
and evidence that we are eager to share what we have found with all those who
still suffer."
Bill W., November 1957
©1988AAGrapevine, The Language of the Heart, p. 221
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Thought to Consider . . .

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H O P E  =  Happy Our Program Exists

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

Name

From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":

"The Akron and New York groups had been voting for months on possible titles [for the Big Book]. This had become an after-the-meeting form of amusement and interest. The title 'Alcoholics Anonymous' had appeared very early in the discussion, probably in October, 1938. We do not know who first used these words. After we New Yorkers had left the Oxford Groups in 1937 we often described ourselves as a 'nameless bunch of alcoholics.' From this phrase it was only a step to the idea of 'Alcoholics Anonymous.' This was its actual derivation."

© 2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 165

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
WE BECOME WILLING. . .

At the moment we are trying to put our lives in order. But this is not an end in itself.                        
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 77

How easily I can become misdirected in approaching the Eighth Step!  I wish to be free, somehow transformed by my Sixth and Seventh Step work.  Now, more than ever, I am vulnerable to my own self-interest and hidden agenda.  I am careful to remember that self-satisfaction, which sometimes comes through the spoken forgiveness of those I have harmed, is not my true objective.  I become willing to make amends, knowing that through this process I am mended and made fit to move forward, to know and desire God's will for me.

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

In my teens, I had to be an athlete because I was not an athlete. I had to be
a musician because I could not carry a tune. I had to be the president of my
class in boarding school. I had to be first in everything because m my
perverse heart I felt myself the least of God's creatures. I could not accept
my deep sense of inferiority, and so I strove to become captain of the
baseball team, and I did learn to play the fiddle. Lead I must -- or else.
This was the "all or nothing" kind of demand that later did me in.
<<<>>>

"I'm glad you are going to try that new job. But make sure that you are only
going to 'try.' If you approach the project in the attitude that 'I must
succeed, I must not fail, I cannot fail,' then you practically guarantee the
flop which in turn will guarantee a drinking relapse. But if you look at the
venture as a constructive experiment only, then all should go well."

1. A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 53 - 2. LETTER, 1958

*~*~*~*~*^ 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

Alcoholics Anonymous has no quarrel with medicine, psychiatry, or religion.
We have great respect for the methods of each.  And we are glad for any
success they may have had with
alcoholics. We are desirous always of cooperating with them
in every way. The more doctors, the more psychiatrists, the
more clergy and rabbis we can get to work with us, the better
we like it. We have many who take a real interest in our
program and we would like many more. Am I ready to cooperate
with those who take a sincere interest in A.A.?

Meditation for the Day

God is always ready to pour His blessings into our hearts in
generous measure. But like the seed-sowing, the ground must
be prepared before the seed is dropped in. It is our task to
prepare the soil. It is God's to drop the seed.
This preparation of the soil means many days of right living,
choosing the right and avoiding the wrong. As you go along,
each day you are better prepared for God's planting, until
you reach the time of harvest. Then you share the harvest
with God -- the harvest of a useful and more abundant life.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that my way of living may be properly prepared day by
day. I pray that I may strive to make myself ready for the
harvest which God has planted in my heart.

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

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Wonders ^*^*^ August 1, 2007

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Wonders
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"Out of every season of grief or suffering,
when the hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust,
new lessons for living were learned,
new resources of courage were uncovered,
and that finally, inescapably,
the conviction came that God does
'move in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.' "
©1953AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 105
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Thought to Consider . . .

Joy is the infallible presence of God.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
G O D  =  Good Orderly Direction

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

Affect

From "My Bottle, My Resentments, and Me":

"My sponsor told me if I wanted to form a relationship with my Higher Power, it would be necessary for me to change. At a meeting one night a member said, 'It's not how much you drink, it's what drinking does to you.' That statement changed my whole attitude. Of course I had to surrender and accept I was an alcoholic."

© 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 443

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
 LIVING IT

The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it.                 

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 83

When new in the program, I couldn't comprehend living the spiritual aspect of the program, but now that I'm sober, I can't comprehend living without it. Spirituality was what I had been seeking.  God, as I understand Him, has given me answers to the whys that kept me drinking for twenty years.  By living a spiritual life, by asking God for help, I have learned to love, care for and feel compassion for all my fellow men, and to feel joy in a world where, before, I felt only fear.

Alcoholics Anonymous is the easier, softer way.

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

Time after time, newcomers have tried to keep to themselves shoddy facts
about their lives. Trying to avoid the humbling experience of the Fifth Step,
they have turned to easier methods. Almost invariably they got drunk. Having persevered with the rest of the program, they wondered why they fell. We think the reason is that they never completed their housecleaning. They took inventory all right, but hung on to some of the worst items in stock. They only thought they had lost their egoism and fear; they only thought they had humbled themselves. But they had not learned enough of humility, fearlessness, and honesty, in the sense we find it necessary, until they told someone else their entire life story.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 72-73 

One of the new thinking habits a recovering alcoholic can develop is a calm
view of himself or herself as someone who needs to avoid chemicals (alcohol and other drugs that are substitutes for it) if he or she wants to maintain good health. We have as evidence our own drinking days, a total of hundreds of thousands of man-or woman-years of a whale of a lot of drinking. We know that, as the drinking years went by, our problems related to drinking continually worsened. Alcoholism is progressive.

Living Sober p. 7,8
*~*~*~*~*^ 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

The Alcoholics Anonymous program has borrowed from
medicine, psychiatry, and religion. It has taken from
these what it wanted and combined them into the program
which it considers best suited to the alcoholic mind and
which will best help the alcoholic to recover. The
results have been very satisfactory. We do not try to
improve on the A.A. program. Its value has been proved
by the success it has had in helping thousands of
alcoholics to recover. It has everything we alcoholics
need to arrest our illness. Do I try to follow the A.A.
program just as it is?

Meditation for the Day

You should strive for a union between your purposes in
life and the purposes of the Divine Principle directing
the universe. There is no bond of union on earth to
compare with the union between a human soul and God.
Priceless beyond all earth's rewards is that union. In
merging your heart and mind with the heart and mind of
the Higher Power, a oneness of purpose results, which
only those who experience it can even dimly realize.
That oneness of purpose puts you in harmony with God and
with all others who are trying to do His will.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may become attuned to the will of God. I
pray that I may be in harmony with the music of the
spheres.

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

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