Thoughts For The Day~*~Guidance ^*^*^ August 22, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Guidance
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"I am a firm believer in both guidance and prayer.
But I am fully aware, and humble enough, I hope,
to see there may be nothing infallible
about my guidance.
The minute I figure I have got a perfectly clear
pipeline to God, I have become egotistical enough
to get into real trouble.
Nobody can cause more needless grief than a power-driver
who thinks he's got it straight from God."
Bill W., Letter, 1950
1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 38
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Thought to Consider . . .

It's not making a mistake that will kill me. 
It's defending it that does the damage.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A S A P  =  Always Say A Prayer

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
 

Only One Tool

From: "Availing yourself of a sponsor" 

An AA sponsor is not a professional caseworker or counselor of any sort. A sponsor is not someone to borrow money from, nor get clothes, jobs, or food from. A sponsor is not a medical expert, nor qualified to give religious, legal, domestic or psychiatric advice, although a good sponsor is usually willing to discuss such matters confidentially, and often can suggest where the appropriate professional assistance can be obtained. 

A sponsor is simply a sober alcoholic who can help solve only one problem: how to stay sober. And the sponsor has only one tool to use - personal experience, not scientific wisdom. 

Sponsors have been there, and often have more concern, hope, compassion, and confidence for us than we have for ourselves. They certainly have had more experience. Remembering their own condition, they reach out to help, not down.

1998, AAWS, Inc., Living Sober, page 27

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
SEEKING EMOTIONAL STABILITY

When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source
of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence
upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that
it would work where nothing else would. If we really depended upon
God, we couldn't very well play God to our fellows nor would we feel
the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 116

All my life I depended on people for my emotional needs and security,
but today I cannot live that way anymore. By the grace of God, I
have admitted my powerlessness over people, places and things. I had
been a real "people addict"; wherever I went there had to be someone
who would pay some kind of attention to me. It was the kind of
attitude that could only get worse, because the more I depended on
others and demanded attention, the less I received.
I have given up believing that any human power can relieve me of
that empty feeling. Although I remain a fragile human being who
needs to work A. A. Steps to keep this particular principle before
my personality, it is only a loving God who can give me inner peace
and emotional stability.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Freed Prisoners
Letter to a prison group:

"Every A.A. has been, in a sense, a prisoner. Each of us has walled himself out of society; each has known social stigma. The lot of you folks has been even more difficult: In your case, society has also built a wall around you. But there isn't any really essential difference, a fact that practically all A.A.'s now know. "Therefore, when you members come into the world of A.A. on the outside, you can be sure that no one will care a fig that you have done time. What you are trying to be -- not what you were -- is all that counts with us."

<<<>>>

"Mental and emotional difficulties are sometimes very hard to take while we are trying to maintain sobriety. Yet we do see, in the long run, that transcendence over such problems is the real test of the A.A. way of living. Adversity gives us more opportunity to grow than does comfort or success."

1. LETTER, 1949 - 2. LETTER, 1964
*~*~*~*~*^ 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

"Those who do not recover are people who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault. They seem to be born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living that demands rigorous honesty. Their changes are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover, if they have the capacity to be honest." Am I completely honest with myself and with other people?

Meditation for the Day

You can make use of your mistakes, failures, losses, and sufferings.
It is not what happens to you so much as what use you make of it. Take
your sufferings, difficulties, and hardships and make use of them to
help some unfortunate soul who is faced with the same troubles. Then
something good will come out of your suffering and the world will be
a better place because of it. The good you do each day will live on,
after the trouble and distress have gone, after the difficulty and
the pain have passed away.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may make good use of my mistakes and failures. I pray
that some good may result from my painful experiences.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Fear ^*^*^ August 21, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Fear
^*^*^
"The practice of AA's Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
in our personal lives also brought incredible releases
from fear of every description,
despite the wide prevalence of formidable personal problems.
When fear did persist, we knew it for what it was,
and under God's grace we became able to handle it.
We began to see each adversity as a God-given
opportunity to develop the kind of courage
which is born of humility, rather than bravado.
Thus we were enabled to accept ourselves,
our circumstances, and our fellows."
Bill W., January 1962
1988AAGrapevine, The Language of the Heart, p. 268
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Thought to Consider . . .

Courage is the willingness to accept fear
and act anyway.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F E A R  =  Fools Every Alcoholic Repeatedly

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
 

Bill's Adolescent Depression

From: "Chapter One" 

With the onset of depression, his academic performance dropped. The upshot was that I failed German and, for that reason, could not graduate. Here I was, president of my senior class  and they wouldn't give me a diploma! My mother arrived, extremely angry, from Boston. A stormy scene took place in the principal's office. Still, I didn't get that diploma. 

He failed to graduate with his class (although school records now list him with the group). Following a summer of agonizing depression, he went to live with his mother near Boston and completed makeup work that qualified him for college. 

What had caused Bill to change from high achiever to a helpless depressive? As he saw it, the major problem was the he could no longer be Number One. I could not be anybody at all. I could not win, because the adversary was death. So my life, I thought, had ended then and there.

1984, AAWS, Inc., Pass It On The story of Bill Wilson and how the AA message reached the world, pages 36-37

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
WE JUST TRY

My stability came out of trying to give, not out of demanding that I receive.

THE BEST OF BILL, p. 46-47

As long as I try, with all my heart and soul, to pass along to others what has been passed along to me, and do not demand anything in return, life is good to me. Before entering this program of Alcoholics Anonymous I was never able to give without demanding something in return. Little did I know that, once I began to give freely of myself, I would begin to receive, without ever expecting or demanding anything at all. What I receive today is the gift of "stability", as Bill did; stability in my A.A. program; within myself; but most of all, in my relationship with my Higher Power, whom I choose to call God.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Everyday Living

The A.A. emphasis on personal inventory is heavy because a great many of us have never really acquired the habit of accurate self-appraisal.
Once this healthy practice has become a habit, it will prove so interesting and profitable that the time it takes won't be missed. For these minutes and often hours spent in self-examination are bound to make all the other hours of our day better and happier. At length, our inventories become a necessity of everyday living, rather than something unusual or set apart.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, pp. 89-90
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"In dealing with resentments, we set them on paper. We listed
people, institutions or principles with whom we were angry. We asked
ourselves why we were angry. In most cases it was found that our
self-esteem, our pocketbooks, our ambitions, our personal
relationships,(including sex) were hurt or threatened."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 64~

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

"Who are you to say there is no God? This challenge comes to all of us. Are we capable of denying that there is a design and purpose in all of life as we know it? Or are we willing to admit that faith in some kind of Divine Principle is a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend? We find a great Reality deep down within us, if we face ourselves as we really are. In the last analysis, it is only there that God may be found. When we find this Reality within us, we are restored to our right minds." Have I found the great Reality?

Meditation for the Day

"Behold, I make all things new." When you change to a new way of life, you leave many things behind you. It is only the earth-bound spirit that cannot soar. Loosen somewhat the strands that tie you to the earth. It is only the earthly desires that bind you. Your new freedom will depend on your ability to rise above earthly things. Clipped wings can grow again. Broken wings can regain a strength and beauty unknown before. if you will, you can be released and free.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be freed from things that hold me down. I pray that my spirit may soar in freedom.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Newcomers ^*^*^ August 20, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Newcomers
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"Abandon yourself to God as you understand God.
Admit your faults to Him and 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.
May God bless you and keep you - until then."
1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 164
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Thought to Consider . . .

Newcomers are the lifeblood of the program. 
But our oldtimers are the arteries.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A B C  =  Acceptance, Belief, Change

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

Impatient

From: "Gutter Bravado" 

Still very impatient, I wanted the whole deal right away. That's why I related so well to the story about a wide-eyed new person and an oldtimer. When the newcomer approached the oldtimer, envying his accomplishments and many years of sobriety, the oldtimer slapped down his hand like a gavel and said, "I'll trade you even! My thirty years for your thirty days - right now!" He knew what the newcomer had yet to find out: that true happiness is found in the journey, not the destination.

2001, AAWS, Inc., Alcoholics Anonymous, pages 510-511

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
TOWARD EMOTIONAL FREEDOM

Since defective relations with other human beings have nearly always been the immediate cause of our woes, including our alcoholism, no field of investigation could yield more satisfying and valuable rewards than this one.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.80

Willingness is a peculiar thing for me in that, over a period of time, it seems to come, first with awareness, but then with a feeling of discomfort, making me want to want to take some action.  As I reflected on taking the Eighth Step, my willingness to make amends to others came as a desire for forgiveness, of others and myself.  I felt forgiveness toward others after I became aware of my part in the difficulties of relationships. I wanted to feel the peace and serenity described in the Promises.  From working the first seven Steps, I became aware of whom I had harmed and that I had been my own worst enemy.  In order to restore my relationships with my fellow human beings, I knew I would have to change.  I wanted to learn to live in harmony with myself and others so that I could also live in emotional freedom.  The beginning of the end to my isolation - from my fellows and from God - came when I wrote my Eighth Step list.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
The Value of Human Will

Many newcomers, having experienced little but constant deflation, feel a growing conviction that human will is of no value whatever. They have become persuaded, sometimes rightly so, that many problems besides alcohol will not yield to a headlong assault powered only by the individual's will. However, there are certain things which the individual alone can do. All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs to develop the quality of willingness. When he acquires willingness, he is the only one who can then make the decision to exert himself along spiritual lines. Trying to do this is actually an act of his own will. It is a right use of this faculty. Indeed, all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps require our sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to God's will.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 40
*~*~*~*~*^ 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

"When many hundreds of people are able to say that the consciousness
of the presence of God is today the most important fact of their
lives, they present a powerful reason why one should have faith.
When we see others solve their problems by simple reliance upon
some Spirit of the universe, we have to stop doubting the power of
God. Our ideas did not work, but the God-idea does. Deep down in
every man, woman, and child is the fundamental idea of God. Faith
in a Power greater than ourselves and miraculous demonstrations of
that power in our lives are facts as old as the human race." Am I
willing to rely on the Spirit of the universe?

Meditation for the Day

You should not dwell too much on the mistakes, faults, and failures
of the past. Be done with shame and remorse and contempt for
yourself. With God's help, develop a new self-respect. Unless you
respect yourself, others will not respect you. You ran a race, you
stumbled and fell, you have risen again, and now you press on
toward the goal of a better life. Do not stay to examine the spot
where you fell, only feel sorry for the delay, the shortsightedness
that prevented you from seeing the real goal sooner.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not look back. I pray that I may keep picking
myself up and making a fresh start each day.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Progress ^*^*^ August 19, 2010

 ~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Progress
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"Many of us exclaimed,
'What an order!  I can't go through with it.'
Do not be discouraged.
No one among us has been able to maintain
anything like perfect adherence to these principles.
We are not saints.
The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines.
The principles we have set down are guides to progress.
We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection."
1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 60
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Thought to Consider . . .

Progress always involves risk.
You can't steal second base with your foot on first.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
S T E P S  =  Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety

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

Things We Dreamed

Tradition Six: An AA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the AA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

Here are some of the things we dreamed. Hospitals didn't like alcoholics, so we thought we'd build a hospital chain of our own. People needed to be told what alcoholism was, so we'd educate the public, even rewrite school and medical textbooks. We'd gather up derelicts from skid rows, sort out those who could get well, and make it possible for the rest to earn their livelihood in a kind of quarantined confinement. Maybe these places would make large sums of money to carry on our other good works. We seriously thought of rewriting the laws of the land, and having it declared that alcoholics are sick people. No more would they be jailed; judges would parole them in our custody. We'd spill AA into the dark regions of dope addiction and criminality. We'd form groups of depressive and paranoid folks; the deeper the neurosis, the better we'd like it. It stood to reason that if alcoholism could be licked, so could any problem.

1981, AAWS, Inc., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pages 155-156

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
A FRAME OF REFERENCE

Referring to our list [inventory] again. Putting out of our minds the wrongs others had done, we resolutely looked for our own mistakes. Where had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking  and frightened?

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 67

There is a wonderful freedom in not needing constant approval from colleagues at work or from the people I love.  I wish I had know about this Step before, because once I developed a frame of reference, I felt able to do the next right thing, knowing that the action fit the situation and this it was the correct thing to do.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Privileged to Communicate

Everyone must agree that we A.A.'s are unbelievably fortunate people;
fortunate that we have suffered so much; fortunate that we can know,
understand, and love each other so supremely well.
These attributes and virtues are scarcely of the earned variety. Indeed, most of us are well aware that these are rare gifts which have their true origin in our kinship born of a common suffering and a common deliverance by the grace of God. Thereby we are privileged to communicate with each other to a degree and in a manner not very often surpassed among our nonalcoholic friends in the world around us.
<<<>>>

"I used to be ashamed of my condition and so didn't talk about it. But
nowadays I freely confess I am a depressive, and this has attracted other depressives to me. Working with them has helped a great deal."

1. GRAPEVINE, OCTOBER 1959 - 2. LETTER, 1954 - * Bill added that he had no
depression after 1955.
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has
to be smashed."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, Page 30~

"Perhaps there is a better way--we think so. For we are now on a
different basis; the basis of trusting and relying upon God. We
trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. We are in the
world to play the role He assigns. Just to the extent that we do as
we think He would have us, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 68~

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

"People of faith have a logical idea of what life is au about.
There is a wide variation in the way each one of us approaches and
conceives of the Power greater than ourselves. Whether we agree with
a particular approach or conception seems to make little difference.
There are questions for each of us to settle for ourselves. But in
each case the belief in a Higher Power has accomplished the
miraculous, the humanly impossible. There has come a revolutionary
change in their way of living and thinking." Has there been a
revolutionary change in me?

Meditation for the Day

Worship is consciousness of God's divine majesty. As you pause to
worship, God will help you to raise your humanity to His divinity.
The earth is a material temple to enclose God's divinity. God brings
to those who worship Him a divine power, a divine love, and a divine
healing. You only have to open your mind to Him and try to absorb
some of His divine spirit. Pausing quietly in the spirit of worship,
turn your inward thoughts upward and realize that His divine power
may be yours, that you can experience His love and healing.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may worship God by sensing the eternal Spirit. I pray
that I may experience a new power in my life.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012