Thoughts For The Day~*~Change^*^*^June 21, 2008

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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(   \ (AA)/   )
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  /AA\
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Change
^*^*^
"Let us never fear needed change.
Certainly we have to discriminate between
changes for worse and changes for better.
But once a need becomes clearly apparent
in an individual, in a group, or in AA as a whole,
it has long since been found out
that we cannot stand still and look the other way.
The essence of all growth is a willingness
to change for the better
and then an unremitting willingness
to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails."
Bill W., Grapevine, July 1965
1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It,  p. 115
^*^*^*^*^*

Thought to Consider . . .

God used two people to create me;
He used a whole Fellowship to change me.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A C T I O N  =  Any Change Toward Improving One's Nature.

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

Steps

From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":

"Though subject to considerable variation, it all boiled down into a pretty consistent procedure which comprised six steps. These were approximately as follows: 

  1. "We admitted that we were licked, that we were powerless  over alcohol.

 

  2.  "We made a moral inventory of our defects or sins.

 

  3.   "We confessed or shared our shortcomings with another person in confidence.

 

  4.   "We made restitution to all those we have harmed by our drinking.

 

  5.  "We tried to help other alcoholics, with no thought of reward in money or prestige.

  6.    We prayed to whatever God we thought there was for power to practice these precepts.

"This was the substance of what, by the fall of 1938, we were telling newcomers. Several of the Oxford Groups other ideas and attitudes had been definitely rejected, including any which could involve us in theological controversy."

 2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 160

 

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^s^*~*~*~*~*
FEAR AND FAITH

The achievement of freedom from fear is a lifetime undertaking, one that can never be wholly completed.  When under heavy attack, acute illness, or in other conditions of serious insecurity, we shall all react to this emotion -- well or badly, as the case may be.  Only the self-deceived will claim perfect freedom from fear.

AS BILL SEES IT, p. 263

Fear has caused suffering when I could have had more faith.  There are times when fear suddenly tears me apart, just when I'm experiencing feelings of joy, happiness and a lightness of heart.  Faith and a feeling of self-worth toward a Higher Power -- helps me endure tragedy and ecstasy.  When I choose to give all of my fears over to my Higher Power, I will be free.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
This Matter of Honesty

"Only God can fully know what absolute honesty is. Therefore, each of us has to conceive what this great ideal may be--to the best or our ability.
"Fallible as we all are, and will be in this life, it would be presumption to
suppose that we could ever really achieve absolute honesty. The best we can do is to strive for a better quality of honesty.
"Sometimes we need to place love ahead of indiscriminate 'factual honesty.'
We cannot, under the guise of 'perfect honesty,' cruelly and unnecessarily
hurt others. Always one must ask, 'What is the best and most loving thing I
can do?' "

LETTER, 1966
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"Although financial recovery is on the way for many of us, we found
we could not place money first. For us, material well-being always
followed spiritual progress; it never preceded."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 127~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

Intelligent faith in that Power greater than ourselves can
be counted on to stabilize our emotions. It has an
incomparable capacity to help us look at life in balanced
perspective. We look up, around, and away from ourselves,
and we see that nine out of ten things that at the moment
upset us will shortly disappear. Problems solve themselves,
criticism and unkindness vanish as though they had never
been. Have I got the proper perspective toward life?

Meditation for the Day

A truly spiritual man or woman would like to have a serene
mind. The only way to keep calm in this troubled world is to
have a serene mind. The calm and sane mind sees spiritual
things as the true realities and material things as only
temporary and fleeting. That sort of mind you can never obtain
by reasoning, because your reasoning powers are limited by
space and time. That kind of a mind you can never obtain by
reading, because other minds are also limited in the same way.
You can only have that mind by an act of faith, by making the
venture of belief.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have a calm and sane mind. I pray that I may
look up, around, and away from myself.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

---

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Egomania ^*^*^ June 20, 2008

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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(   \ (AA)/   )
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  /AA\
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Egomania
^*^*^
"Our egomania digs two disastrous pitfalls.
Either we insist on dominating the people we know,
or we depend upon them far too much.
If we lean too heavily on people,
they will sooner or later fail us,
for they are human, too,
and cannot possibly meet our own incessant demands. . .
We have not once sought to be one in a family,
to be a friend among friends,
to be a worker among workers,
to be a useful member of society."
1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 53
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Thought to Consider . . .

It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes
and to make amends for them.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
E G O  =  Easing God Out

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

Staying stopped

From "A.A. Taught Him To Handle Sobriety:"

"Like most alcoholics I have known, I DID quit drinking at various times -- once for ten months on my own and during other interludes when I was hospitalized.  It's no great trick to stop drinking, the trick is to STAY stopped."

1976, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 554

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
RELEASE FROM FEAR

The problem of resolving fear has two aspects. We shall
have to try for all the freedom from fear that is possible
for us to attain. Then we shall need to find both the
courage and grace to deal constructively with whatever
fears remain.

AS BILL SEES IT, p. 61

Most of my decisions were based on fear. Alcohol made life
easier to face, but the time came when alcohol was no
longer an alternative to fear. One of the greatest gifts
in A. A. for me has been the courage to take action, which
I can do with God's help. After five years of sobriety I
had to deal with a heavy dose of fear. God put the people
in my life to help me do that and, through my working the
Twelve Steps, I am becoming the whole person I wish to be
and, for that, I am deeply grateful.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Dividends and Mysteries

"The A.A. preoccupation with sobriety is sometimes misunderstood. To some, this single virtue appears to be the sole dividend of our Fellowship. We are thought to be dried-up drunks who otherwise have changed little, or not at all, for the better. Such a surmise widely misses the truth. We know that permanent sobriety can be attained only by a most revolutionary change in the life and outlook of the individual--by a spiritual awakening that can banish the desire to drink."
<<<>>>
"You are asking yourself, as all of us must: 'Who am I?'...'Where am
I?'...'Whence do I go?' The process of enlightenment is usually slow. But, in
the end, our seeking always brings a finding. These great mysteries are,
after all, enshrined in completely simplicity. The willingness to grow is the
essence of all spiritual development."

1. LETTER, 1966
2. LETTER, 1955
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors,
psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitate to
take your health problems to such persons. Most of them give
freely of themselves, that their fellows may enjoy sound minds and
bodies."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 133~




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

You should be ready and willing to carry the A.A. message
when called upon to do so. live for some purpose greater
than yourself. Each day you will have something to work for.
You have received so much from this program that you should
have a vision that gives your life a direction and a
purpose that gives meaning to each new day. Let us not
slide along through life. Let us have a purpose for each
day and let us make that purpose for something greater than
just ourselves. What is my purpose for today?

Meditation for the Day

To see God with eyes of faith is to cause God's power to
manifest itself in the material world. God cannot do His
work because of unbelief. In response to your belief, God
can work a miracle in your personality. All miracles happen
in the realm of personality and all are caused by and based
on belief in God's never - failing power. But God's power
cannot manifest itself in personalities unless those
personalities make His power available by their faith.
We can only see God with the eyes of faith, but this kind
of seeing produces a great change in our way of living.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may see God with the eyes of faith. I pray
that this seeing will produce a change in my personality.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

---

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Progress ^*^*^ ^*^*^ June 19, 2008

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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  /AA\
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Progress
^*^*^
"Day by day, we try to move a little
toward God's perfection.
So we need not be consumed by maudlin guilt
for failure to achieve His likeness and image by Thursday next.
Progress is our aim,
and His perfection is the beacon, light-years away,
that draws us on."
Bill W., Letter, 1966
1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 15
^*^*^*^*^*

Thought to Consider . . .

There is no progress without change.

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

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Todday!^*~*~*~*~*
 

It keeps getting better

From "Getting Active:"

"After our first month's sobriety, many of us notice a distinct difference.  After three months, our minds seem still clearer.  And during our second year of recovery, the change is striking. More mental energy seems available to us than ever before."
       
Living Sober, page 16

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
"A.A.  REGENERATION"

Such is the paradox of A.A. regeneration: strength arising out of complete
defeat and weakness, the loss of one's old life as a condition for finding a
new one.

                                A.A.  COMES OF AGE, p. 46

A thousand beatings by John Barleycorn did not encourage me to admit defeat.  I believed it was my moral obligation to conquer my "enemy-friend."  At my first A.A. meeting I was blessed with a feeling that it was all right to
admit defeat to a disease which had nothing to do with my "moral fiber."  I
knew instinctively that I was in the presence of a great love when I entered
the doors of A.A.  With no effort on my part, I became aware that to love
myself was good and right, as God had intended.  My feelings set me free,
where my thoughts had held me in bondage.  I am grateful.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~~*~*
Whose Will?

We have seen A.A.'s ask with much earnestness and faith for God's explicit
guidance on matters ranging all the way from a shattering domestic or
financial crisis to a minor personal fault, like tardiness. A man who tries
to run his life rigidly by this kind of prayers, by this self-serving demand
of God for replies, is a particularly disconcerting individual. To any
questioning or criticism of his actions, he instantly proffers his reliance
upon prayer for guidance in all matters great or small.
He may have forgotten the possibility that his own wishful thinking and the
human tendency to rationalize have distorted his so-called guidance. With the best of intentions, he tends to force his will into all sorts of situations
and problems with the comfortable assurance that he is acting under God's
specific direction.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 103-104
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much
more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our
respective homes, occupations and affairs."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 19~

 

Humility...

Humility... is a perpetual quietness of heart.  It is to have no trouble.  It
is never to be fretted or vexed, irritable or sore; to wonder at nothing that
is done to me, to feel nothing against.  It is to have a blessed home in
myself where I can go in, shut the door, and kneel to my Higher Power in
secret.  Where I can be at peace, as in a deep sea of calmness, when all
around and about is seeming trouble.

--  Inscription on Dr. Bob's desk . . .

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

We have this choice every day of our lives. We can take the
path that leads to insanity and death. And remember, our
next drunk could be our last one. Or we can take the path
that leads to a reasonably happy and useful life. The choice
is ours each day of our lives. God grant that we take the
right path. Have I made my choice today?

Meditation for the Day

Your real work in life is to grow spiritually. To do this you
must follow the path of diligently seeking good. The hidden
spiritual wonders are revealed to those who diligently seek
this treasure. From one point to the next, you have to follow
the way of obedience to God's will until finally you reach
greater and greater spiritual heights. Work on the material
plane should be secondary to your real life's work. The
material things that you need most are those that help you
to attain the spiritual.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may keep growing spiritually. I pray that I
may make this my real life's work.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

---

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Resentment^*^*^ June 18, 2008

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
(\    ~~  /)
(   \ (AA)/   )
(_   /AA\ _)
  /AA\
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Resentment
^*^*^
"Resentment is the 'number one' offender.
It destroys more alcoholics than anything else.
From it stem all forms of spiritual disease,
for we have been not only mentally and physically ill,
we have been spiritually sick.
When the spiritual malady is overcome,
we straighten out mentally and physically."
1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 64
^*^*^*^*^*

Thought to Consider . . .

We are prisoners of our own resentments.
Forgiveness unlocks the door and sets us free.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F A I L U R E =
Fearful, Arrogant, Insecure, Lonely, Uncertain, Resentful, Empty.

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

Service and Support

From "The Joys of Service:"

"In Denver in 1975 at the International Convention, I heard many great things, but one that stands out is: 'The key to happiness is not to concentrate on yourself, but to lose yourself in others.'  I liked what Carl W. told our group when he ended his talk with these words for new people: 'Let us love you until you can learn to love yourselves.'"

1993, The Home Group: Heartbeat of AA, page 51

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
A FELLOWSHIP OF FREEDOM

. . . if only men were granted absolute liberty, and were compelled to obey no one, they would then voluntarily associate themselves in the common interest

AS BILL SEES IT, p. 50

When I no longer live under the dictates of another or of alcohol, I live in a new freedom.  When I release the past and all the excess baggage I have carried for so very long, I come to know freedom.  I have been introduced into a life and a fellowship of freedom.  The Steps are a "recommended" way of finding a new life, there are no commands or dictates in A.A.  I am free to serve from desire rather than decree.  There is the understanding that I will benefit from the growth of other members and I take what I learn and bring it back to the group.  The "common welfare" finds room to grow in the society of personal freedom

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Learning Never Ends

"My experience as an old-timer has to some degree paralleled your own and
that of many others. We all find that the time comes when we are not allowed to manage and conduct the functional affairs of groups, areas, or, in my case, A.A. as a whole. In the end we can only be worth as much as our
spiritual example has justified. To that extent, we become useful
symbols--and that's just about it."
<<<>>>
"I have become a pupil of the A.A. movement rather than the teacher I once
thought I was."

1. LETTER, 1964
2. LETTER, 1949

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"...we tried to shape a sane and sound ideal for our future sex life.
We subjected each relation to this test - was it selfish or not? We
asked God to mold our ideals and help us to live up to them. We
remembered always that our sex powers were God-given and therefore
good, neither to be used lightly or selfishly nor to be despised and
loathed."

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 69

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

The A.A. way of living is not an easy one. But its an adventure
in living that is really worthwhile. And it's so much better
than our old drunken way of living that there's no comparison.
Our lives without A.A. would be worth nothing. With A.A., we
have a chance to live reasonably good lives. It's worth the
battle, no matter how tough the going is from day to day.
Isn't it worth the battle?

Meditation for the Day

The spiritual life has two parts. One is the life apart, the
life of prayer and quiet communion with God. You spend this
part of your life apart with God. Every day your mind can be
set in the right direction so that your thoughts will be of
the right kind. The other is the life impart - imparting to
others what you have learned from your own meditative experience.
The victories you have won over yourself through the help of God
can be shared with others. You can help them by imparting to
them some of the victory and security that you have gained in
your life apart.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may grow strong from my times apart with God.
I pray that I may pass on some of this strength to others.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

---

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