^*^*^*^*^
(\ ~~~ /)
( \(AA)/ )
(_ /AA\ _)
/AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Choice
The fact is that most alcoholics,
for reasons yet obscure,
have lost the power of choice in drink.
Our so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent.
We are unable, at certain times,
to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force
the memory of the suffering and humiliation
of even a week or a month ago.
We are without defense against the first drink.
c. 1976, 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 24
^*^*^*^*^
Thought to Consider . . .
Just for today, I choose not to drink.
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A A = Absolute Abstinence
For years, whenever I reflected on Tradition Three ('The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking'), I thought it valuable only to newcomers. It was their guarantee that no one could bar them from A.A. Today I feel enduring gratitude for the spiritual development the Tradition has brought me. Charlotte, the atheist, showed me higher standards of ethics and honor; Clay, of another race, taught me patience; Winslow, who is gay, led me by example into true compassion; Young Megan says that seeing me at meetings, sober thirty years, keeps her coming back. Tradition Three insured that we would get what we need each other."
1990 AAWS, Inc.; Daily Reflections, pg. 33
ROUND-THE-CLOCK FAITH
Faith has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 16
The essence of my spirituality, and my sobriety, rests on a round-the-clock faith in a Higher Power. I need to remember and rely on the God of my understanding as I pursue all of my daily activities. How comforting for me is the concept that God works in and through people. As I pause in my day, do I recall specific concrete examples of God's presence? Am I amazed and uplifted by the number of times this power is evident? I am overwhelmed with gratitude for my God's presence in my life of recovery. Without this omnipotent force in my every activity, I would again fall into the depths of my disease -- and death.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
The Wine of Success
Disagreeable or unexpected problems are not the only ones that call for self-control. We must be quite as careful when we begin to achieve some measure of importance and material success. For no people have ever loved personal triumphs more than we have loved them; we drank of success as of a wine which could never fail to make us-feel elated. Blinded by prideful self-confidence, we were apt to play the big shot.
Now that we're in A.A. and sober, winning back the esteem of our friends and business associates, we find that we still need to exercise special vigilance. As an insurance against the dangers of 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.
TWELVE AND TWELVE, pp. 91-92
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is, or He isn't. What was our choice to be?
- Pg. 53 - We Agnostics
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day
On the foundation of sobriety, we can build a life of honesty, unselfishness, faith in God, and love of our fellow human beings. We'll never fully reach these goals, but the adventure of building that kind of a life is so much better than the merry-go-round of our old drinking life that there's no comparison. We come into A.A. to get sober, but if we stay long enough we learn a new way of living. We become honest with ourselves and with other people. We learn to think more about others and less about ourselves. And we learn to rely on the constant help of a Higher Power. Am I living the way of honesty, unselfishness, and faith?
Meditation for the Day
I believe that God had already seen my heart's needs before I cried to Him, before I was conscious of those needs myself. I believe that God was already preparing the answer. God does not have to be petitioned with sighs and tears and much speaking before he reluctantly looses the desired help. He has already anticipated my every want and need. I will try to see this, as His plans unfold in my life.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may understand my real wants and needs. I pray that my understanding of those needs and wants may help to bring the answer to them.
Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.
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