Thoughts For The Day~*~Friendship ^*^*^*^*^ May 8, 2010

 ~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
(\    ~~  /)
(   \ (AA)/   )
(_   /AA\ _)
  /AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Friendship

"We commenced to make many fast friends
and a fellowship has grown up among us
of which it is a wonderful thing to feel a part of.
The joy of living we really have,
even under pressure and difficulty.
I have seen hundreds of families set their feet
in the path that really goes somewhere;
have seen the most impossible
domestic situations righted;
feuds and bitterness of all sorts wiped out.
I have seen men come out of asylums
and resume a vital place in the lives
of their families and communities.
Business and professional men
have regained their standing.
There is scarcely any form of trouble and misery
which has not been overcome among us."
Bill W., Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 15

Thought to Consider . . .

"Most of us feel we need look no further for Utopia.
We have it with us right here and now."

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 16

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
EGO
Easing God Out

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

Psychology

From "Medicine Looks at Alcoholics Anonymous":":

"As excuse-makers and rationalizers, we drunks are champions. It is the business of the psychiatrist to get behind our excuses and to find the deeper causes for our conduct. Though uninstructed in psychiatry, we can, after a little time in A.A., see that our motives have not been what we thought they were and that we have been motivated by forces unknown to us. Therefore we ought to look with the deepest respect, interest, and profit upon the findings of psychiatry, remembering that up to now the psychiatrists have been far more tolerant of us than we have been of them. "Bill W."

2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 236
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
A RESTING PLACE

All of A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires . . . they all deflate our egos.  When it comes to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take than Five.  But scarcely any Step is more necessary to longtime sobriety and peace of mind than this one.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.  55

After writing down my character defects, I was unwilling to talk about them, and decided it was time to stop carrying this burden alone, I needed to confess those defects to someone else.  I had read -- and been told -- I could not stay sober unless I did.  Step Five provided me with a feeling of belonging, with humility and serenity when I practiced it in my daily living.  It was important to admit my defects of character in the order presented in Step Five: "to God, to ourselves and to another human being."  Admitting to God first paved the way for admission to myself and to another person.  As the taking of the Step is described, a feeling of being at one with God and my fellow man brought me to a resting place where I could prepare myself for the remaining Steps toward a full and meaningful sobriety.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Back To Work

It is possible for us to use the alleged dishonesty of other people as a plausible excuse for not meeting our own obligations.
Once, some prejudiced friends exhorted me never to go back to Wall Street. They were sure that the rampant materialism and double-dealing down there would stunt my spiritual growth. Because this sounded so high-minded, I continued to stay away from the only business that I knew.
When, finally, my household went broke, I realized I hadn't been able to face the prospect of going back to work. So I returned to Wall Street, and I have ever since been glad that I did. I needed to rediscover that there are many fine people in New York's financial district. Then, too, I needed the experience of staying sober in the very surroundings where alcohol had cut me down.
A Wall Street business trip to Akron, Ohio, first brought me face to face with Dr. Bob. So the birth of A.A. hinged on my effort to meet my bread-and-butter responsibilities.

GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961

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

"Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get
well regardless of anyone. The only condition is that he trust in
God and clean house."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 98~

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

I'm grateful that I found a program in A.A. that could keep me sober. I'm grateful that A.A. has shown me the way to faith in a Higher Power, because the renewing of that faith has changed my way of life. And I've found a happiness and contentment that I had forgotten existed, by simply believing in God and trying to live the kind of a life that I know He wants me to live. As long as I stay grateful, I'll stay sober. Am I in a grateful frame of mind?

Meditation for the Day

God can work through you better when you are not hurrying. Go very slowly, very quietly, from one duty to the next, taking time to rest and pray between. Do not be too busy. Take everything in order. Venture often into the rest of God and you will find peace. At work that results from resting with God is good work. Claim the power to work miracles in human lives. Know that you can do many things through the Higher Power. Know that you can do good things through God who rests you and gives you strength. Partake regularly of rest and prayer.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not be in too much of a hurry. I pray that I may take time out often to rest with God.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Tornado ^*^*^*^*^ May 7, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
(\    ~~  /)
(   \ (AA)/   )
(_   /AA\ _)
  /AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Tornado

"The alcoholic is like a tornado
roaring his way through the lives of others.
Hearts are broken.
Sweet relationships are dead.
Affections have been uprooted.
Selfish and inconsiderate habits
have kept the home in turmoil.
We feel a man is unthinking
when he says that sobriety is enough.
He is like the farmer who came up out of his cyclone cellar
to find his home ruined.
To his wife, he remarked,
'Don't see anything the matter here, Ma.
Ain't it grand the wind stopped blowin'?'"
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 82

Thought to Consider . . .

"We alcoholics are undisciplined.
So we let God discipline us..."

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 88

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
BUT
Being Unconvinced Totally

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

Deadly

From "The Perpetual Quest":

"Within a dozen years, three of these five promising lawyers were dead from alcoholism, struck down at the peak of their careers. The judge is still and always has been a sober judge. And I somehow unwittingly, and even while drinking, turned into a corporate counsel and later, thankfully, became a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. The professor's kidneys gave out from one too many martinis; the exporting lawyer kept drinking until he died, despite a liver transplant; my ex-husband died in a fire on what was to be, he had said, his last drunk before doing to A.A. again, when I was ten years sober. I have been to too many premature funerals due to our good friend alcohol."

2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 388-89
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
RESPECT FOR OTHERS

Such parts of our story we tell to someone who will understand, yet be unaffected.  The rule is we must be hard on our self, but always considerate of others.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.  74

Respect for others is the lesson that I take out of this passage.  I must go to any lengths to free myself if I wish to find that peace of mind that I have sought for so long.  However, none of this must be done at another's expense.  Selfishness has no place in the A.A. way of life.

When I take the Fifth Step it's wiser to choose a person with whom I share common aims because if that person does not understand me, my spiritual progress may be delayed and I could be in danger of a relapse.  So I ask for divine guidance before choosing the man or woman whom I take into my confidence.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Persistence in Prayer

We often tend to slight serious meditation and prayer as something not really necessary. To be sure, we feel it is something that might help us to meet an occasional emergency, but at first many of us are apt to regard it as a somewhat mysterious skill of clergymen, from which we may hope to get a secondhand benefit.
<<<>>>
In A.A. we have found that the actual good results of prayer are beyond question. They are matters of knowledge and experience. All those who have persisted have found strength not ordinarily their own. They have found wisdom beyond their usual capability. And they have increasingly found a peace of mind which can stand in the face of difficult circumstances.

TWELVE AND TWELVE
1. P. 96     2. P. 104

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family
back. This just isn't so. In some cases the wife will never come
back for one reason or another. Remind the prospect that his
recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his
relationship with God. We have seen men get well whose families have not returned at all. We have seen others slip when the family came back too soon."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 99~

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

It's very important to keep in a grateful frame of mind, if we want to stay sober. We should be grateful that we're living in a day and age when alcoholics aren't treated as they often used to be treated before Alcoholics Anonymous was started. In the old days, every town had its town drunk who was regarded with scorn and ridiculed by the rest of the townspeople. We have come into A.A. and found all the sympathy, understanding, and fellowship that we could ask for. There's no other group like A.A. in the world. Am I grateful?

Meditation for the Day

God takes our efforts for good and blesses them. God needs our efforts. We need God's blessing. Together, they mean spiritual success. Our efforts are necessary. We cannot merely relax and drift with the tide. We must often direct our efforts against the tide of materialism around us. When difficulties come, our efforts are needed to surmount them. But God directs our efforts into the right channels and God's power is necessary to help us choose the right.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may choose the right. I pray that I may have God's blessing and direction in all my efforts for good.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Control ^*^*^*^*^ May 6, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
(\    ~~  /)
(   \ (AA)/   )
(_   /AA\ _)
  /AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Control

"Most of us have been unwilling to admit
we were real alcoholics.
No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally
different from his fellows.
Therefore, it is not surprising
that our drinking careers have been characterized
by countless vain attempts to prove
we could drink like other people.
The idea that somehow, someday he will control
and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession
of every abnormal drinker.
The persistence of this illusion is astonishing.
Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death."
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 30

Thought to Consider . . .

When a person tries to control their drinking
they have already lost control.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
STEPS
Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety

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

Honesty 

From "Our Survival:"

 

"The HONESTY expressed by the members of A.A. in meetings has the power to open my mind.  Nothing can block the flow of energy that HONESTY carries with it.  The only obstacle to this flow of energy is inebriation, but even then, no one will find a closed door if he or she has left and chooses to return.  Once he or she has received the gift of sobriety, each A.A. member is challenged on a daily basis to accept a program of HONESTY."

 

1990, Daily Reflections, page 311

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
"HOLD BACK NOTHING"

The real tests of the situation are your own willingness to confide and your full confidence in the one with whom you share your first accurate self-survey.  .  .  .  Provided you hold back nothing, your sense of relief will mount from minute to minute.  The dammed-up emotions of years break out of their confinement, and miraculously vanish as soon as they are exposed.  As the pain subsides, a healing tranquility takes its place.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.  61-62

A tiny kernel of locked-in feelings began to unfold when I first attended A.A. meetings and self-knowledge then became a learning task for me.  This new self-understanding brought about a change in my responses to life's situations.  I realized I had the right to make choices in my life, and the inner dictatorship of habits slowly lost its grip.

I believe that if I seek God I can find a better way to live and I ask Him daily to assist me in living a sober life.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
"Admitted to God . . . "

Provided you hold back nothing in taking the Fifth Step, your sense of relief will mount from minute to minute. The dammed-up emotions of years break out of their confinement, and miraculously vanish as soon as they are exposed. As the pain subsides, a healing tranquility takes its place. And when humility and serenity are so combined, something else of great moment is apt to occur.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 62

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

"We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and
express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than
ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 46~

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

I've noticed that the ones who do the most for A.A. are not in the habit of boasting about it. The danger of building myself up too much is that, if I do, I'm in danger of having a fall. That pattern of thought goes with drinking. If one side of a boat gets too far up out of the water, it's liable to tip over. Building myself up and drinking go together. One leads to the other. So if I'm going to stay sober, I've got to keep small. Have I got the right perspective on myself?

Meditation for the Day

The way sometimes seems long and weary. So many people today are weary. The weariness of others must often be shared by me. The weary and the heavy laden, when they come to me, should be helped to find the rest that I have found. There is only one sure cure for world-weariness and that is turning to spiritual things. In order to help bring about the turning of the weary world to God, I must dare to suffer, dare to conquer selfishness in myself, and dare to be filled with spiritual peace in the face of all the weariness of the world.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be a help to discouraged people. I pray that I may have the courage to help bring about what the weary world needs but does not know how to get.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Power ^*^*^*^*^ May 5, 2010

 ~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
(\    ~~  /)
(   \ (AA)/   )
(_   /AA\ _)
  /AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Power

"We could wish to be moral,
we could wish to be philosophically comforted,
in fact, we could will these things with all our might,
but the needed power wasn't there.
Our human resources,
as marshalled by the will, were not sufficient;
they failed utterly.
Lack of power, that was our dilemma.
We had to find a power by which we could live,
and it had to be a
Power greater than ourselves."
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 45

Thought to Consider . . .

Willpower ... our will-ingness to use a Higher Power.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
FAITH
For An Instant Trust Him

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

 

Destiny

"A Vision For You"

"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."

2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 164
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
THE FOREST AND THE TREES

.  .  .  what comes to us alone may be garbled by our own rationalization and wishful thinking.  The benefit of talking to another person is that we can get his direct comment and counsel on our situation.  .  .  .

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.  60

I cannot count the times when I have been angry and frustrated and said to myself, "I can't see the forest for the trees!" I finally realized that what I needed when I was in such pain was someone who could guide me in separating the forest and the trees; who could suggest a better path to follow; who could assist me in putting out fires; and help me avoid the rocks and pitfalls.

I ask God, when I'm in the forest, to give me the courage to call upon a member of A.A.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Look Beyond the Horizon

My workshop stands on a hill back of our home. Looking over the valley, I see the village community house where our local group meets. Beyond the circle of my horizon lies the whole world of A.A.
<<<>>>
The unity of A.A. is the most cherished quality our Society has. Our lives, the lives of all to come, depend squarely upon it. Without unity, the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; our world arteries would no longer carry the life-giving grace of God.

1. A.A. TODAY, P. 7
2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 129

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

"Some drinkers have excuses with which they are satisfied part of the
time. But in their hearts they really do not know why they do it.
Once this malady has a real hold, they are a baffled lot. There is
the obsession that somehow, someday, they will beat the game. But
they often suspect they are down for the count."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 23~

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

I had to show off and boast so that people would think I amounted to something, when, of course, both they and I knew that I really didn't amount to anything. I didn't fool anybody. Although I've been sober for quite a while, the old habit of building myself up is still with me. I still have a tendency to think too well of myself and to pretend to be more than I really am. Am I always in danger of becoming conceited just because I'm sober?

Meditation for the Day

I cannot ascertain the spiritual with my intellect. I can only do it by my own faith and spiritual faculties. I must think of God more with my heart than with my head. I can breathe in God's very spirit in the life around me. I can keep my eyes turned toward the good things in the world. I am shut up in a box of space and time, but I can open a window in that box by faith. I can empty my mind of all the limitations of material things. I can sense the Eternal.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that whatever is good I may have. I pray that I may leave to God the choice of what good will come to me.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012