Thoughts For The Day~*~Sobriety ^*^*^ September 5, 2010

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

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Sobriety
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"God willing, we members of AA may never again
have to deal with drinking,
but we have to deal with sobriety every day.
How do we do it?
By learning - through practicing the Twelve Steps
and through sharing at meetings -
how to cope with the problems
that we looked to booze to solve,
back in our drinking days."
1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 560
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Thought to Consider . . .

Sobriety is a choice and a treasure.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
B E S T =  Been Enjoying Sobriety Today?

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
 

Well Worth the Effort

From: "Having Fun Yet?" 

we aren't a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn't want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life. We try not to indulge in cynicism over the state of the nations, nor do we carry the world's troubles on our shoulders.

Alcoholics Anonymous, page 132 

When my own house is in order, I find the different parts of my life are more manageable. Stripped from the guilt and remorse that cloaked my drinking years, I am free to assume my proper role in the universe, but this condition requires maintenance. I should stop and ask myself, Am I having fun yet? If I find answering that question difficult or painful, perhaps I'm taking myself too seriously - and finding it difficult to admit that I've strayed from my practice of working the program to keep my house in order. I think the pain I experience is one way my Higher Power has to get my attention, coaxing me to take stock of my performance. The slight time and effort it takes to work the program - a spot-check inventory, for example, or the making of amends, whatever is appropriate - are well worth the effort. 

1990, AAWS, Inc., Daily Reflections, page 31

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
EMOTIONAL BALANCE

Made direct amends to such people wherever possible,. . . . .

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 83

When I survey my drinking days, I recall many people whom my life
touched casually, but whose days I troubled through my anger and
sarcasm. These people are untraceable, and direct amends to them
are not possible. The only amends I can make to those untraceable
individuals, the only "changes for the better" I can offer, are
indirect amends made to other people, whose paths briefly cross
mine. Courtesy and kindness, regularly practiced, help me to live
in emotional balance, at peace with myself.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
We Need Outside Help

It was evident that a solitary self-appraisal, and the admission of our
defects based upon that alone, wouldn't be nearly enough. We'd have to have outside help if we were surely to know and admit the truth about ourselves -- the help of God and of another human being.
Only by discussing ourselves, holding back nothing, only by being willing to take advice and accept direction could we set foot on the road to straight thinking, solid honesty, and genuine humility.

<<<>>>

If we are fooling ourselves, a competent adviser can see this quickly. And, as he skillfully guides us away from our fantasies, we are surprised to find that we have few of the usual urges to defend ourselves against unpleasant truths. In no other way can fear, pride, and ignorance be so readily melted. After a time, we realize that we are standing firm on a brand-new foundation for integrity, and we gratefully credit our sponsors, whose advice pointed the way.

1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 59 - 2. GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"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"

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 82~

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

One of the mottoes of A.A. is "First Things First." This means that
we should always keep in mind that alcohol is our number-one problem. We must never let any other problem, whether of family, business,
friends, or anything else, take precedence in our minds over our
alcoholic problem. As we go along in A.A., we learn to recognize the
things that may upset us emotionally. When we find ourselves getting
upset over something, we must realize that it's a luxury we
alcoholics can't afford. Anything that makes us forget our number-one
problem is dangerous to us. Am I keeping sobriety in first place in
my mind?

Meditation for the Day

Spiritual progress is the law of your being. Try to see around you
more and more of beauty and truth, knowledge and power. Today try to
be stronger, braver, more loving as a result of what you did yesterday.
This law of spiritual progress gives meaning and purpose to your life.
Always expect better things ahead. You can accomplish much good
through the strength of God's spirit in you. Never be too discouraged.
The world is sure to get better, in spite of setbacks of war, hate,
and greed. Be part of the cure of the world's ills, rather than part
of the disease.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may keep progressing in the better life. I pray that I
may be a part of the forces for good in the world.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Unity ^*^*^ September 4, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Unity
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"Moved by the spirit of anonymity,
we try to give up our natural desires for personal distinction
as AA members both among fellow alcoholics
and before the general public.
As we lay aside these very human aspirations,
we believe that each of us takes part
in the weaving of a protective mantle
which covers our whole Society and under which
we may grow and work in unity.
We are sure that humility, expressed by anonymity,
is the greatest safeguard  that Alcoholics Anonymous
can ever have."
1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 187
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Thought to Consider . . .

To help each other, is to help ourselves.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A A's - R - U S  =  Alcoholics Anonymous Recovery Unity Service

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

Conditional Recovery

From: "Steering clear of emotional entanglements" 

Another caution: Tying our sobriety to someone we are emotionally involved with proves flatly disastrous. "I'll stay sober if so-and-so does this or that" puts an unhealthy condition on our recovery. We have to stay sober for ourselves, no matter what other people do or fail to do. 

We should remember, too, that intense dislike also is an emotional entanglement, often a reversal of past love. We need to cool any overboard feeling, lest it flip us back into the drink. 

1998, AAWS, Inc., Living Sober, pages 61-62

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
RECONSTRUCTION

Yes, there is a long period of reconstruction ahead . . .

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS ,  p. 83

The reconstruction of my life is the prime goal in my recovery as I avoid taking that first drink, one day at a time.  The task is most successfully accomplished by working the Steps of our Fellowship.  The spiritual life is not a theory; it works, but I have to live it.  Step Two started me on my journey to develop a spiritual life; Step Nine allows me to move into the final phase of the initial Steps which taught me how to live a spiritual life.  Without the guidance and strength of a Higher Power, it would be impossible to proceed through the various stages of reconstruction.  I realize that God works for me and through me.  Proof comes to me when I realize that God did for me what I could not do for myself, by removing that gnawing compulsion to drink.  I must continue daily to seek God's guidance.  He grants me a daily reprieve and will provide the power I need for reconstruction.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Have You Experimented?

"Since open-mindedness and experimentation are supposed to be the
indispensable attributes of our 'scientific' civilization, it seems strange
that so many scientists are reluctant to try out personally the hypothesis that God came first and man afterward. They prefer to believe that man is the chance product of evolution; that God, the Creator, does not exist. "I can only report that I have experimented with both concepts and that, in my case, the God concept has proved to be a better basis for living than the man-centered one.
"Nevertheless, I would be the first to defend your right to think as you
will. I simply ask this question: 'in your own life, have you ever really
tried to think and act as though there might be a God? Have you
experimented?'"

LETTER, 1950
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"I knew from that moment that I had an alcoholic mind. I saw that will power and self-knowledge would not help in those strange mental blank spots. I had never been able to understand people who said that a problem had them hopelessly defeated. I knew then. It was a crushing blow."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 42~

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

"We must be careful never to show intolerance or hatred of drinking
as an institution. Experience shows that such an attitude is not
helpful to anyone. We are not fanatics or intolerant of people who
can drink normally. Prospects are relieved when they find we are not
witch burners. Temperate drinking is okay, but we alcoholics can't
get away with it. And no alcoholic likes to be told about alcohol
by anyone who hates it. We shall be of little use if our attitude
is one of bitterness or hostility." Do I have tolerance for those
who can drink normally?

Meditation for the Day

Do not become encumbered by petty annoyances. Never respond to
emotional upsets by emotional upset. Try to keep calm in all
circumstances. Try not to fight back. Call on the grace of God
to calm you when you feel like retaliating. Look to God for the
inner strength to drop those resentments that drag you down. if
you are burdened by annoyances, you will lose your inward peace
and the spirit of God will be shut out. Try to keep peaceful within.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may do the things that make for peace. I pray that I
may have a mission of conciliation.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Dry ^*^*^ September 3, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Dry
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"Sometimes, we become depressed.
I ought to know;
I have been a champion dry-bender case myself.
While the surface causes were a part of the picture -
trigger-events that precipitated depression -
the underlying causes, I am satisfied, ran much deeper.
Intellectually, I could accept my situation.
Emotionally, I could not.
To those problems, there are certainly no pat answers.
But part of the answer lies in the constant effort
to practice all of AA's Twelve Steps."
Bill W., Letter, 1954
1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 30
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Thought to Consider . . .

The Twelve Steps are but suggestions,
as is pulling the rip cord on a parachute.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
D R Y =   Doing Recovery Yourself

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

At Peace

From: "On the Move" 

Like everyone else I have good days and bad days. Unlike my attitude while I was still drinking, however, I rarely dread what is going to happen to me today. I have even had the chance to see my father come into A.A. We have been to numerous A.A. conventions together and have shared more with each other in the past few years than we ever had before. I think we are both at peace with our pasts and comfortable with the present.

2001, AAWS, Inc., Alcoholics Anonymous, page 493

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
BUILDING A NEW LIFE

We feel a man is unthinking when he says sobriety is enough.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 82

When I reflect on Step Nine, I see that physical sobriety must be enough for me.  I need to remember the hopelessness I felt before I found sobriety, and how I was willing to go to any lengths for it.  Physical sobriety is not enough for those around me, however, since I must see that God's gift is used to build a new life for my family and loved ones.  Just as importantly, I must be available to help others who want the A.A. way of life.
I ask God to help me share the gift of sobriety so that its benefits may be shown to those I know and love.

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

When men and women pour so much alcohol into themselves that they destroy their lives, they commit a most unnatural act. Defying their instinctive desire for self-preservation, they seem bent upon self-destruction. They work against their own deepest instinct. As they are progressively humbled by the terrific beating administered by alcohol, the grace of God can enter them and expel their obsession. Here their powerful instinct to live can cooperate fully with their Creator's desire to give them new life.

<<<>>>

"The central characteristic of the spiritual experience is that it gives the recipient a new and better motivation out of all proportion to any process of discipline, belief, or faith. "These experiences cannot make us whole at once; they are a rebirth to a fresh and certain opportunity."

1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 64 - 2. LETTER, 1965
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider
another's conception of God. Our own conception, however inadequate,
was sufficient to make the approach and to effect a contact with
Him. As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative
Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe underlying the totality of
things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and
direction, provided we took other simple steps."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 46~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

"Offer new prospects friendship and fellowship. Tell them that if they want to get well you will do anything to help. Bum the idea into the consciousness of new prospects that they can get well, regardless of anyone else. job or no job, spouse or no spouse, they cannot stop drinking as long as they place dependence on other people ahead of dependence on God. Let no alcoholic say they cannot recover unless they have their family back. This just isn't so. Their recovery is not dependent upon other people. It is dependent on their
own relationship to God." Can I recognize all excuses made by a prospect?

Meditation for the Day

The spiritual life depends upon the Unseen. To live the spiritual life, you must believe in the Unseen. Try not to lose the consciousness of God's spirit in you and in others. As a child in its mother's arms, stay sheltered in the understanding and love of God. God will relieve you of the weight of worry and care, misery and depression, want and woe, faintness and heartache, if you will let Him. Lift up your eyes from earth's troubles and view the glory of the unseen God. Each day try to see more good in people, more of the Unseen in the seen.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may rest and abide in the presence of the unseen God. I pray that I may leave my burdens in His care.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Grudges ^*^*^*^*^ September 2, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Grudges
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"We had to see that every time we played the big shot,
we turned people against us.
We had to see that when we harbored grudges
and planned revenge for such defeats,
we were really hitting ourselves with the club of anger
we had intended to use on others.
We learned that if we were seriously disturbed,
our first need was to quiet that disturbance,
regardless of who or what we thought caused it.."

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 47
Copyright  1952 A.A.W.S. Inc.
Thought to Consider . . .

Anger is the hot wind that extinguishes the light of reason.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A N G E R = Any No Good Energy Rising.

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

The Right to be Wrong Tradition Four:

Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole. 

This meant, of course, that we had been given the courage to declare each A.A. group an individual entity, strictly reliant on its own conscience as a guide to action. In charting this enormous expanse of freedom, we found it necessary to post only two storm signals: A group ought not do anything which would greatly injure A.A. as a whole, nor ought it affiliate itself with anything or anybody else. There would be real danger should we commence to call some groups "wet," others "dry," still others "Republican" or "Communist," and yet others "Catholic" or "Protestant." The A.A. group would have to stick to its course or be hopelessly lost. Sobriety had to be its sole objective. In all other respects there was perfect freedom of will and action. Every group had the right to be wrong. 

1981, AAWS, Inc., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 147

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
FINDING "A REASON TO BELIEVE"

The willingness to grow is the essence of all spiritual development.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 171

A line from a song goes, " . . . . and I look to find a reason to
believe . . . " It reminds me that at one time I was not able to
find a reason to believe that my life was all right. Even though
my life had been saved by my coming to A. A., three moths later I
went out and drank again. Someone told me: "You don't have to
believe. Aren't you willing to believe that there is a reason for
your life, even though you may not know yourself what that reason
is, or that you may not sometimes know the right way to behave?"
When I saw how willing I was to believe there was a reason for my
life, then I could start to work on the Steps. Now when I begin
with, "I am willing. . . .," I am using the key that leads to
action, honesty, and an openness to a Higher Power moving through
my life.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Single-handed Combat

Few indeed are those who, assailed by the tyrant alcohol, have ever won
through in single-handed combat. It is a statistical fact that alcoholics
almost never recover on their personal resources alone.

<<<>>>

'Way up toward Point Barrow in Alaska, a couple of prospectors got themselves a cabin and a case of Scotch. The weather turned bitter, fifty below, and they got so drunk they let the fire go out. Barely escaping death by freezing, one of them woke up in time to rekindle the fire. He was prowling around outside for fuel, and he looked into an empty oil drum filled with frozen water. Down in the ice cake he saw a reddish-yellow object. When thawed out, it was seen to be an A.A. book. One of the pair read the book and sobered up. Legend has it that he became the founder of one of our farthest north groups.

1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 22 - 2. A.A. COMES OF AGE, pp. 82-83
*~*~*~*~*^ 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

"Outline the program of action to new prospects, explaining how you
made a self-appraisal, how you straightened out your past, and why
you are now endeavoring to help them. It is important for them to
realize that your attempt to pass this on to them plays a vital part
in your own recovery. The more hopeless they feel, the better. They
will be more likely to follow your suggestions. Tell them about the
fellowship of A.A. and if they show interest, lend them a copy of
the Big Book." Can I tell the A.A. story to another alcoholic?

Meditation for the Day

You should try to stand aside and let God work through you. You
should try not to block Him off by your own efforts, or prevent
His spirit working through you. God desires your obedient service
and your loyalty to the ideals of the new life you are seeking. If
you are loyal to God, He will give you protection against mistakes.
His spirit will plan for you and secure for you a sufficiency of
all spiritual help. You will have true victory and ml success, if
you will put yourself in the background and let God work through
you.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not interfere with the working of God's spirit in
me and through me. I pray that I may give it full rein.

 

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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