Saturday, March 07, 2009

Thoughts For The Day~*~Obsession ^*^*^*^*^ March 7, 2009

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

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Obsession

"
Under the lash of alcoholism, we are driven to AA, and there we discover the fatal nature of our situation. Then, and only then, do we become as open-minded and as willing to listen as the dying can be. We stand ready to do anything which will lift the merciless obsession from us.


Thought to Consider . . .

The best things in life aren't things.



*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
NUTS Not Using The Steps


*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
 

Illogical
From "I Must Learn":

"'Man is ready to die for an idea, provided that idea is not quite clear to him,' Paul Eldridge wrote. That is the way the spiritual side of the A.A. program appears to me. I'm in trouble if I attempt to parse it: I don't attempt to understand it."

1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg. 101 


*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
THE KEY IS WILLINGNESS

Once we have placed the key of willingness in the lock and have the door ever so slightly open, we find that we can always open it some more.

     
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.  35

The willingness to give up my pride and self-will to a Power greater than myself has proved to be the only ingredient absolutely necessary to solve all of my problems today.  Even the smallest amount of willingness, if sincere, is sufficient to allow God to enter and take control over any problem, pain, or obsession.  My level of comfort is in direct relation to the degree of willingness I possess at any given moment to give up my self-will, and allow God's will to be manifested in my life.  With the key of willingness, my worries and fears are powerfully transformed into serenity.


Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*
~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
For Emergencies Only?

Whether we had been believers or unbelievers, we began to get over the idea that the Higher Power was a sort of bush-league pinch hitter, to be called upon only in an emergency.
The notion that we would still live our own lives, God helping a little now and then, began to evaporate. Many of us who had thought ourselves religious awoke to the limitations of this attitude. Refusing to place God first, we had deprived ourselves of His help.
But now the words "Of myself I am nothing, the Father doeth the works" began to carry bright promise and meaning.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 75
Copyright 1967 Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

*~*~*~*~*^ 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

There are two important things we have to do if we want to get sober and stay sober. First, having admitted that we're helpless before alcohol, we have to turn our alcoholic problem over to God and trust Him to take care of it for us. This means asking Him every morning for the strength to stay sober that day and thanking Him every night. it means really leaving the problem in God's hands and not reaching out and taking the problem back to ourselves. Second, having given our drink problem to God, we must cooperate with Him by doing something about it ourselves. Am I doing these two things?

Meditation for the Day

I must prepare myself by doing each day what I can to develop spiritually and to help others to do so. God tests me and trains me and bends me to His will. If I am not properly trained, I cannot meet the test when it comes. I must want God's will for me above all else. I must not expect to have what I am not prepared for. This preparation consists of quiet communion with God every day and gradually gaining the strength I need.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may really try to do God's will in all my affairs. I pray that I may do all I can to help others find God's will for them.


Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012



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Friday, March 06, 2009

Thoughts For The Day~*~Lessons ^*^*^*^*^ Mar 6, 2009

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

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Lessons

"
I
find the willingness to give thanks by contemplatingthe lessons learned from past suffering--lessons which have led to blessings I now enjoy.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 1962As Bill Sees It, p. 266
Thought to Consider . . .

Remember that we deal with alcohol --
cunning, baffling, powerful!

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
TRUST

Try Relying Upon The Steps


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

 
Self-sufficient
From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":

"At the Foundation, meanwhile, we had taken a significant action that was incorporated in these Traditions. In 1945 we wrote [our early supporters] Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and the 1940 dinner guests that we would no longer need their financial help. The book royalties could now look after Dr. Bob and me; group contributions could pay the general office expenses. If these were insufficient, the reserve accumulated out of literature sales could meet the deficit. This meant that we had finally declared for full self-support. Since that time A.A.'s Board of Trustees has steadfastly refused outside contributions."

2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pgs. 203-04


*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
THE IDEA OF FAITH

Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you.

              
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.  47

The idea of faith is a very large chunk to swallow when fear, doubt and anger abound in and around me.  Sometimes just the idea of doing something different, something I am not accustomed to doing, can eventually become an act of faith if I do it regularly, and do it without debating whether it's the right thing to do.  When a bad day comes along and everything is going wrong, a meeting or a talk with another drunk often distracts me just enough to persuade me that everything is not quite as impossible, as overwhelming as I had thought.  In the same way, going to a meeting or talking to a fellow alcoholic are acts of faith; I believe I'm arresting my disease.  These are ways I slowly move toward faith in a Higher Power.


Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*
~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Growth by the Tenth Step

In the years ahead A.A. will, of course, make mistakes. Experience has taught us that we need have no fear of doing this, providing that we always remain willing to admit our faults and to correct them promptly. Our growth as individuals has depended upon this healthy process of trial and error. So will our growth as a fellowship.
Let us always remember that any society of men and women that cannot freely correct its own faults must surely fall into decay if not into collapse. Such is the universal penalty for the failure to go on growing. Just as each A.A. must continue to take his moral inventory and act upon it, so must our whole Society if we are to survive and if we are to serve usefully and well.


A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 231
Copyright 1967 Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

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."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 87~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

In A.A. we must surrender, give up, admit that we're helpless. We surrender our lives to God and ask Him for help. When He knows that we're ready, He gives us by His grace the free gift of sobriety. And we can't take any credit for having stopped drinking, because we didn't do it by our own willpower. There's no place for pride or boasting. We can only be grateful to God for doing for us what we could never do for ourselves. Do I believe that God has made me a free gift of the strength to stay sober?

Meditation for the Day

I must work for God, with God, and through God's help. By helping to bring about a true fellowship of human beings, I am working for God. I am also working with God because this is the way God works, and He is with me when I am doing such work. I cannot do good work, however, without God's help. in the final analysis, it is through the grace of God that any real change in human personality takes place. I have to rely on God's power, and anything I accomplish is through His help.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may work for God and with God. I pray that I may be used to change human personalities through God's help.


Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012



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Thursday, March 05, 2009

Thoughts For The Day~*~Self-will ^*^*^*^*^ Mar 5, 2009

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

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Self-will

"N
o matter how one wishes to try, exactly how can he turn his own will and his own life over to the care of whatever God he thinks there is? A beginning, even the smallest, is all that is needed. Once we have placed the key of willingness in the lock and have the door ever so slightly open, we find that we can always open it some more. Though self-will may slam it shut again, as it frequently does, it will always respond the moment we again pick up the key of willingness.

"Twelve Steps and  Twelve Traditions,  p. 35As Bill Sees It, p. 35



*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
EDI not DIE Easy Does It not Does It Easy


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

Explanation
From "More about Alcoholism":

"We learned we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed.

"We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals  usually brief  were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization."

 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 30


*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
A LIFELONG TASK

       
"But just how, in these circumstances, does a fellow 'take it easy?' That's what I want to know."

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.  26

I was never known for my patience.  How many times have I asked, "Why should I wait, when I can have it all right now?"  Indeed, when I was first presented the Twelve Steps, I was like the proverbial "kid in a candy store." I couldn't wait to get to Step Twelve; it was surely just a few months' work, or so I thought!  I realize now that living the Twelve Steps of A.A. is a lifelong undertaking.


Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*
~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Search for Motives

Some of us clung to the claim that when drinking we never hurt anybody but ourselves. Our families didn't suffer, because we always paid the bills and seldom drank at home. Our business associates didn't suffer, because we were usually on the job. Our reputations didn't suffer, because we were certain few knew of our drinking. Those who did would sometimes assure us that, after all, a lively bender was only a good man's fault. What real harm, therefore, had we done? No more, surely, than we could easily mend with a few casual apologies.
This attitude, of course, is the end result of purposeful forgetting. It is an attitude which can be changed only by a deep and honest search of our motives and actions.


TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 79
Copyright 1967 Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

*~*~*~*~*^ 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."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 53~

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

Sometimes we try too hard to get this program. It is better to relax and accept it. It will be given to us, with no effort on our part, if we stop trying too hard to get it. Sobriety can be a free gift of God, which He gives us by His grace when He knows we are ready for it. But we have to be ready. Then we must relax, take it easy, and accept the gift with gratitude and humility. We must put ourselves in God's hands. We must say to God: "Here am I and here are all my troubles. I've made a mess of things and can't do anything about it. You take me and all my troubles and do anything you want with me." Do I believe that the grace of God can do for me what I could never do for myself?

Meditation for the Day

Fear is the curse of the world. Many are our fears. Fear is everywhere. I must fight fear as I would a plague. I must turn it out of my life. There is no room for fear in the heart in which God dwells. Fear cannot exist where true love is or where faith abides. So I must have no fear. Fear is evil, but "perfect love casteth out all fear." Fear destroys hope and hope is necessary for all of humanity.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have no fear. I pray that I may cast all fear out of my life.


Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012



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Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Thoughts For The Day~*~Motives ^*^*^*^*^ Mar 4, 2009

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

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Motives

"
Suppose we fall short of the chosen ideal and stumble? Does this mean we are going to get drunk? Some people tell us so. But this is only a half-truth. It depends on us and our motives. If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson. If we are not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink.

"Alcoholics Anonymous,  p. 70 

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*

TRUST Try Relying Upon The Steps

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Fear
From "Fear of Fear":

"Many women who have reached the stage that I had reached in my drinking have lost husbands, children, homes, everything they hold dear. I have been very fortunate in many ways. The important thing I lost was my own self-respect. I could feel fear coming into my life. I couldn't face people. I couldn't look them straight in the eyes, although I had always been a self-possessed, brazen person. I'd brazen anything out. I lied like a trooper to get out of many scrapes.

"But I felt a fear coming into my life, and I couldn't cope with it. I got so that I hid quite a bit of the time, wouldn't answer the phone, and stayed by myself as much as I could. I noticed that I was avoiding all my social friends, except for my bridge club. I couldn't keep up with many of my other friends, and I wouldn't go to anyone's house unless I knew they drank as heavily as I did. I never knew it was the first drink that did it. I thought I was losing my mind when I realized that I couldn't stop drinking. That frightened me terribly."

2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pgs. 291-92 

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
WEEDING THE GARDEN

The essence of all growth is a willingness to make a change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails.

AS BILL SEES IT, p.  115

By the time I had reached Step Three I had been freed of my dependence on alcohol, but bitter experience has shown me that continuous sobriety requires continuous effort.

Every now and then I pause to take a good look at my progress.  More and more of my garden is weeded each time I look, but each time I also find new weeds sprouting where I thought I had made my final pass with the blade.  As I head back to get the newly sprouted weed (it's easier when they are young), I take a moment to admire how lush the growing vegetables and flowers are, and my labors are rewarded.  My sobriety grows and bears fruit.


Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*
~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Free of Dependence

I asked myself, "Why can't the Twelve Steps work to release me from this unbearable depression?" By the hour, I stared at the St. Francis Prayer: "It is better to comfort than to be comforted ."
Suddenly I realized what the answer might be. My basic flaw had always been dependence on people or circumstances to supply me with prestige, security, and confidence. Failing to get these things according to my perfectionist dreams and specifications, I fought for them. And when defeat came, so did my depression.
Reinforced by what grace 1 could find in prayer, I had to exert every ounce of will and action to cut off these faulty emotional dependencies upon people and upon circumstances. Then only could I be free to love as Francis had loved.


GRAPEVINE, JANUARY 1958
Copyright 1967 Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*


"We have no monopoly on God; we merely have an approach that worked with us."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 95~

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

Having surrendered our lives to God and put our drink problem in His hands doesn't mean that we'll never be tempted to drink. So we must build up strength for the time when temptation will come. In this quiet time, we read and pray and get our minds in the right mood for the day. Starting the day right is a great help in keeping sober. As the days go by and we get used to the sober life, it gets easier and easier. We begin to develop a deep gratitude to God for saving us from that old life. And we begin to enjoy peace and serenity and quiet happiness. Am I trying to live the way God wants me to live?

Meditation for the Day

The elimination of selfishness is the key to happiness and can only be accomplished with God's help. We start out with a spark of the Divine Spirit but a large amount of selfishness. As we grow and come in contact with other people, we can take one of two paths. We can become more and more selfish and practically extinguish the Divine Spark within us, or we can become more unselfish and develop our spirituality until it becomes the most important thing in our lives.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may grow more and more unselfish, honest, pure, and loving. I pray that I may take the right path every day.


Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012



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