~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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/AA\
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Demonstration
"Men and women who use alcohol as an escape
are not the only ones who are afraid of life,
hostile to the world, fleeing from it into loneliness.
Millions who are not alcoholics
are living today in illusory worlds,
nurturing the basic anxieties and insecurities
of human existence
rather than face themselves with courage and humility.
To these people, AA can offer as a cure no magic potion,
no chemical formula, no powerful drug.
But it can demonstrate to them how to use the tools
of humility, honesty, devotion, and love,
which indeed are the heart of the Twelve Steps
of our recovery."
c.1957AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 279
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Thought to Consider . . .
AA Is like an adjustable wrench, it fits almost any nut.
H O P E = Help Open People's Eyes
Slowly and painfully, I became aware of myself. I began to see it wasn't true that I didn't believe in anything. Rather, I had believed in the wrong things:
I had believed I needed a drink for confidence.
I had believed I was unattractive.
I had believed I was unworthy.
I had believed no one loved me.
I had believed I never had a break.
Someone said at a closed meeting, There is good in all of us. Seek it out, nurture it, tend it, and it will flourish. So I began searching for the positives within me. I realized that my feeling of inferiority was just one aspect of ego, and the arrogance I projected was the other. I must find the center median. So I tried to act as if:
AA was giving me confidence.
I had an attractive personality, even though I was not beautiful.
I was worthy, like all others.
I loved myself and could therefore love others.
Faith was freeing me from the fear that had always gripped me.
1973, AAWS, Inc., Came to Believe, pages 103-104
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
SERENITY AFTER THE STORM
Someone who knew what he was talking about once remarked that pain was the touchstone of all spiritual progress. How heartily we A.A.'s can agree with him. . .
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 93-94
When on the roller coaster of emotional turmoil, I remember that growth is often painful. My evolution in the A.A. program has taught me that I must experience the inner change, however painful, that eventually guides me from selfishness to selflessness. If I am to have serenity, I must STEP my way past emotional turmoil and its subsequent hangover, and be grateful for continuing spiritual progress.
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
A Higher Power for Atheists
I have had many experiences with atheists, mostly good. Everybody in A.A. has the right to his own opinion. It is much better to maintain an open and tolerant society than it is to suppress any small disturbances their opinions might occasion. Actually, 1 don't know of anybody who went off and died of alcoholism because of some atheist's opinions on the cosmos.
"But I do always entreat these folks to look to a 'Higher Power' -namely, their own group. When they come in, most of their A.A. group is sober, and they are drunk. Therefore, the group is a 'Higher Power.' That's a good enough start, and most of them do progress from there. I know how they feel, because I was once that way myself."
LETTER, 1962
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
intimate experiences of another person unless we are sure he would
approve. We find it better, when possible, to stick to our own
stories. A man may criticize or laugh at himself and it will affect
others favorably, but criticism or ridicule coming from another often
produces the contrary effect."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 125
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought For The Day
How do I talk with new prospects? Am I always trying to dominate
the conversation? Do I lay down the law and tell prospects what
they will have to do? Do I judge them privately and feel that they
have small chance of making the program? Do I belittle them to
myself? Or am I willing to bare my soul so as to get them talking
about themselves? And, then, am I willing to be a good listener,
not interrupting, but hearing them out to the end? Do I feel deeply
that they are my brothers or my sisters? Will I do all I can to
help them along the path to sobriety?
Meditation For The Day
"The work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of
righteousness shall be quietness and assurance forever." Only when
the soul attains this calm, can there be true spiritual work done,
and mind and soul and body be strong to conquer and bear all things.
Peace is the result of righteousness. There is no peace in wrong
doing, but if we live the way God wants us to live, quietness and
assurance follow. Assurance is that calmness born of a deep
certainty of God's strength available to us and in His power to
love and guard us from all harm and wrong doing.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may attain a state of true calmness. I pray that I
may live in quietness and peace.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012