Thoughts For The Day~*~Step One ^*^*^ August 29, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Step One
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"No other kind of bankruptcy is like this one.
Alcohol, now become the rapacious creditor,
bleeds us all of self-sufficiency and all will
to resist its demands.
Once this stark fact is accepted,
our bankruptcy as going human concerns is complete.
But upon entering AA we soon take quite another view
of this absolute humiliation.
We perceive that only through utter defeat
are we able to take our first steps
toward liberation and strength.
Our admissions of personal powerlessness
finally turn out to be firm bedrock upon which
happy and purposeful lives may be built."
1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,  p. 21
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Thought to Consider . . .

Once we clear a hurdle, it doesn't seem so high.

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

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

 

Reality I Had Feared

From: "No Man Is An Island" 

I was spiritually bankrupt long before AA entered my life and long before alcoholism took over like a parasite under my skin. I had nothing, no faith at all to cling to. I had no faith in man, because along with my drinking I had lost faith in myself. I trusted no one, for others were but a mere reflection of my own self, and I could not trust me. 

I got sober in AA, and, like a miracle, the warm flood of reality I had feared for so long flowed over me, and I was no longer afraid. I began to wonder why. Along with sobriety, something new had come into my life. 

I began to have concern for others. This word concern, along with its sister consideration, was an alien thing to me. I had believed myself capable of falling in love; I had thought myself a loving mother; but these emotions, I now perceive, had been reflections of my own self-interest. Nothing penetrated beyond my self. I began, in early sobriety, to feel compassion for other drunks, then for my children, then for my ex-husband. This compassion, a feeling accompanied later by love, opened the door to a huge fortress within me which had been forever locked. 

1973, AAWS, Inc., Came to Believe, pages 118-119.

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
I CHOOSE ANONYMITY

We are sure that humility, expressed by anonymity, is the greatest safeguard that Alcoholics Anonymous can ever have.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 187

Since there are no rules in A.A. I place myself where I want to be, and so I choose anonymity.   I want my God to use me, humbly, as one of His tools in this program.   Sacrifice is the art of giving of myself freely, allowing humility to replace my ego.   With sobriety, I suppress that urge to cry out to the world,   "I am a member of A.A." and I experience inner joy and peace.   I let people see the changes in me and hope they will ask what happened to me.   I place the principles of spirituality ahead of judging, fault-finding, and criticism.   I want love and caring in my group, so I can grow.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Middle of the Road

"In some sections of A.A., anonymity is carried to the point of real
absurdity. Members are on such a poor basis of communication that they don't even know each other's last names or where each lives. It's like the cell of an underground.
"In other sections, we see exactly the reverse. It is difficult to restrain
A.A.'s from shouting too much before the whole public, by going on
spectacular 'lecture tours' to play the big shot.
"However, I know that from these extremes we slowly pull ourselves onto a middle ground. Most lecture-giving members do not last too long, and the super anonymous people are apt to come out of hiding respecting their A.A. friends, business associates, and the like. I think the long-time trend is toward the middle of the road - which is probably where we should be."

LETTER, 1959
*~*~*~*~*^ 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

"We cannot get along without prayer and meditation. on awakening, let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking. Our thought lives will be placed on a much higher plane when we start the day with prayer and meditation. We conclude this period of meditation with a prayer that we will be shown through the day what our next step is to be. The basis of all our
prayers is: Thy will be done in me and through me today." Am I sincere in my desire to do God's will today?

Meditation for the Day

Breathe in the inspiration of goodness and truth. It is the spirit of
honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love. It is readily available if we are willing to accept it wholeheartedly. God has given us two things-His spirit and the power of choice-to accept or not, as we will. We have the gift of free will. When we choose the path of selfishness and geed and pride, we are refusing to accept God's spirit. When we choose the path of love and service, we accept God's spirit and it flows into us and makes all things new.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may choose the right way. I pray that I may try to follow it to the end.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Self-appraisal ^*^*^ August 28, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Self-appraisal
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"I used to be a champ at unrealistic self-appraisal.
I wanted to look only at the part of my life
which seemed good.
Then I would greatly exaggerate whatever virtues
I supposed I had attained.
Next I would congratulate myself on the grand job
I was doing.
So my unconscious self-deception never failed
to turn my few good assets into serious liabilities.
This astonishing process was always a pleasant one. . .
I was falling straight back
into the pattern of my drinking days. . .
I shall forever regret the damage I did to people around me.
Indeed, I still tremble when I realize
what I might have done to AA and to its future."
Bill W., June 1961
1988AAGrapevine, The Language of the Heart,  pp. 256-7
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Thought to Consider . . .

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A A  =  Altered Attitudes

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
 

Tornado Technique

From: "When AA Came of Age" 

Still another famous early itinerant was Irwin M., a Cleveland AA who had become a champion salesman of Venetian blinds to department stores in the deep South. He used to range a territory bounded by Atlanta and Jacksonville on one side and Indianapolis, Birmingham, and New Orleans on the other. Irwin weighed 250 pounds and was full of energy and gusto. The prospect of Irwin, as a missionary, scared us rather badly. At the New York Headquarters we had on file a long list of topers in many a Southern city and town, people who had not been personally visited. Irwin had long since broken all the rules of caution and discreet approach to newcomers, so it was with reluctance that we gave him the list. Then we waited - but not for long. Irwin ran them down, every single one, with his home-crashing tornado technique. Day and night, besides, he wrote letters to his prospects and got them to writing each other. 

Stunned but happy Southerners began to send their thanks to Headquarters. As Irwin himself reported, many a first family of the South had been an easy pushover. He had cracked the territory wide open and had started or stimulated many an original group.

1985, AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, page 25

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
LIGHTENING THE BURDEN

showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now. . . . the dark past is . . . the key to life and happiness for others.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 124

Since I have been sober, I have been healed of many pains: deceiving my
partner, deserting my best friend, and spoiling my mother's hopes for my life.   In each case someone in the program told me of a similar problem, and I was able to share what happened to me.   When my story was told, both of us got up with lighter hearts.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Hard on Ourselves, Considerate of Others

We cannot disclose anything to our wives or our parents which will hurt them and make them unhappy. We have no right to save our own skins at their expense. Such damaging parts of our story we tell to someone else who will understand, yet be unaffected. The rule is, we must be hard on ourselves, but always considerate of others.

<<<>>>

Good judgment will suggest that we ought to take our time in making amends to our families. It may be unwise at first to rehash certain harrowing episodes. While we may be quite willing to reveal the very worst, we must be sure to remember that we cannot buy our own peace of mind at the expense of others.

1. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 74 - 2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 84
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"Everybody knows that those in bad health, and those who seldom play,
do not laugh much. So let each family play together or separately as
much as their circumstances warrant. We are sure God wants us to be
happy, joyous, and free."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 132~

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

"We must continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along. We should grow in understanding and
effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter; it should continue for our lifetime. Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and
fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We must not rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve, contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition." Am I checking my spiritual condition daily?

Meditation for the Day

Happiness cannot be sought directly; it is a byproduct of love and service. Service is a law of our being. With love in your heart, there is always some service to other people. A life of power and joy and satisfaction is built on love and service. Persons who hate or are selfish are going against the law of their own being. They are cutting themselves off from God and other people. little acts of love and encouragement, of service and help, erase the
rough places of fife and help to make the path smooth. If we do these things, we cannot help having our share of happiness.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may give my share of love and service. I pray that I may not
grow weary in my attempts to do the right thing.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Vision ^*^*^ August 27, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Vision
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"Vision is, I think, the ability to make good estimates,
both for the immediate and for the more distant future.
Some might feel this sort of striving to be a sort of heresy,
because we AA's are constantly telling ourselves,
'One day at a time.'
But that valuable principle really refers to our
mental and emotional lives and means chiefly
that we are not foolishly to repine over the past
nor wishfully to day-dream about the future. . .
Vision is therefore the very essence of prudence,
an essential virtue if ever there was one."
Bill W., 1962
1962AAWS, Twelve Concepts for World Service, 26th Printing, p. 40
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Thought to Consider . . .

The road to recovery is always under construction.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
O D A A T  =  One Day At A Time

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

All I Could Think Of

From: "A Vision of Recovery" 

While in a juvenile detention center about 500 miles from my home, I received word that my mother was dying of cancer. I was able to get a pass and return home to spend time with her. One evening my family asked me if I would stay home with my mother and give her the medicine she was required to take. I had already had a few drinks and was anxious to get out and party with my friends, but I reluctantly agreed to stay. Self-pity set in, and all I could think of was the good time I could have been having. I got very impatient with my mother, and when she refused to take her medicine, I almost forced it into her mouth; then I left to join my friends. The next morning I woke up in county jail, about 100 miles from home. I had attempted a break-and-enter, and was caught by the police. 

That very evening, as I sat in jail, my mother died.

2001, AAWS, Inc., Alcoholics Anonymous, page 495-496

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
CENTERING OUR THOUGHTS

When World War II broke out, our A.A. dependence on a Higher Power had its first major test.   A.A.'s entered the services and were scattered all over the world.   Would they be able to take the discipline, stand up under fire, and endure . . . ?
                                        
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 200


I will center my thoughts on a Higher Power.   I will surrender all to this
power within me. I will become a soldier for this power, feeling the might of the spiritual army as it exists in my life today.   I will allow a wave of spiritual union to connect me through my gratitude, obedience and discipline to this Higher Power.   Let me allow this power to lead me through the orders of the day.   May the steps I take today strengthen my words and deeds, may I know that the message I carry is mine to share, given freely by this power greater than myself.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
When and How to Give

Men who cry for money and shelter as a condition of their sobriety are on the wrong track. Yet we sometimes do provide a new prospect with these very things -- when it becomes clear that he is willing to place his recovery first. It is not whether we shall give that is the question, but when and how to give. Whenever we put our work on a material plane, the alcoholic commences to rely upon alms rather than upon a Higher Power and the AA group. He continues to insist that he cannot master alcohol until his material needs are cared for. Nonsense! Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: that, job or no job, wife or no wife, we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place material dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 98
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect
produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they
admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the
true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only
normal one. They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless
they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes
at once by taking a few drinks, drinks which they see others
taking with impunity."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Doctor's Opinion, pg. xxviii~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

"We must be willing to make amends to all the people we have harmed. We must do the best we can to repair the damage done in the past. When we make amends, when we say: 'I'm sorry,' the person is sure at least to be impressed by our sincere desire to set right the wrong. Sometimes people we are making amends to admit there own fault, so feuds of long standing melt away. Our most ruthless creditors win sometimes surprise us. in general, we must be willing to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences may be for us." Have I made a sincere effort to make amends to the people I have harmed?

Meditation for the Day

The grace of God cures disharmony and disorder in human relationships. Directly you put your affairs, with their confusion and their difficulties, into God's hands. He begins to effect a cure of all the disharmony and disorder. You can believe that He will cause you no more pain in the doing of it than a physician who knows how to effect a cure would cause a patient. You can have faith that God will do all that is necessary as painlessly as possible. But you must be wining to submit to His treatment, even if you cannot now see the meaning or purpose of it.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may willingly submit to whatever spiritual discipline is
necessary. I pray that I may accept whatever it takes to live a better Me.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Change ^*^*^ August 26, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Change
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"How many of us would presume to declare,
'Well, I'm sober and I'm happy.  What more can I want or do?
I'm fine the way I am.'
We know that the price of such self-satisfaction
is an inevitable backslide,
punctuated at some point by a very rude awakening.
We have to grow or else deteriorate.
For us, the status quo can only be for today,
never for tomorrow.
Change we must; we cannot stand still."
Bill W., AAGrapevine, February 1961
As Bill Sees It, p. 25
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Thought to Consider . . .

There is no progress without change.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
P A C E  =  Positive Attitudes Change Everything

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

Didn't Look Good

Tradition Five: Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.

I was soon sitting beside a big hulk of a man. Decidedly unfriendly, he stared at me out of eyes which were slits in his red and swollen face. I had to agree with the doctor - he certainly didn't look good. But I told him my own story. I explained what a wonderful Fellowship we had, how well we understood each other. I bore down hard on the hopelessness of the drunk's dilemma. I insisted that few drunks could ever get well on their own steam, but that in our groups we could do together what we could not do separately. He interrupted to scoff at this and asserted he'd fix his wife, his partner, and his alcoholism by himself.

1981, AAWS, Inc., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 152

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
GIVING IT AWAY

Though they know they must help other alcoholics if they would remain sober, that motive became secondary.   It was transcended by the happiness they found in giving themselves to others.                               
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 159

Those words, for me, refer to a transference of power, through which God, as I understand Him, enters my life.   Through prayer and meditation, I open channels, then I establish and improve my conscious contact with God.   Through action I then receive the power I need to maintain my sobriety each day.   By maintaining my spiritual condition, by giving away what has been so freely given to me, I am granted a daily reprieve.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Maudlin Martyrdom

"Self-pity is one of the most unhappy and consuming defects that we know. It is a bar to all spiritual progress and can cut off all effective
communication with our fellows because of its inordinate demands for
attention and sympathy. It is a maudlin form of martyrdom, which we can ill afford.
"The remedy? Well, let's have a hard look at ourselves, and a still harder one at A.A.'s Twelve Steps to recovery. When we see how many of our fellow A.A.'s have used the Steps to transcend great pain and adversity, we shall be inspired to try these life-giving principles for ourselves."

LETTER, 1966
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"For the type of alcoholic who is able and willing to get well,
little charity, in the ordinary sense of the word, is needed or
wanted. The men who cry for money and shelter before conquering
alcohol, are on the wrong track."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 97~

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

"If we are still clinging to something that we will not let go, we must
sincerely ask God to help us to be willing to let even that go, too. We
cannot divide our lives into compartments and keep some for ourselves. We must give all the compartments to God. We must say: 'My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my friends."' Am I still clinging to something that I will not let go?

Meditation for the Day

The laws of nature cannot be changed and must be obeyed if you are to stay healthy. No exceptions will be made in your case. Submit to the laws of nature or they will finally break you. And in the realm of the spirit, in all human relationships, submit to the moral laws and to the will of God. If you continue to break the laws of honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love, you will be broken to some extent yourself. The moral and spiritual laws of God, like the laws of nature, are unbreakable without some disaster. if you are dishonest, impure, selfish, and unloving, you will not be living according to
the laws of the spirit and you will suffer the consequences.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may submit to the laws of nature and to the laws of God. I pray that I may live in harmony with all the laws of life.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012