Thoughts For The Day~*~Demonstration ^*^*^*^*^ October 3, 2010

 

~*~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.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H O P E = Help Open People's Eyes

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

 

Searching for the Positives

From: "Changing Beliefs" 

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 ^*~*~*~*~*

"Another principle we observe carefully is that we do not relate
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

Thoughts For The Day~*~Amends ^*^*^*^*^ October 2, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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  /AA\
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Amends
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"Somehow, being alone with God doesn't seem so embarrassing
as facing up to another person.
Until we actually sit down and talk aloud
about what we have so long hidden,
our willingness to clean house is still largely
theoretical.
When we are honest with another person,
it confirms that we have been honest with ourselves
and with God."
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 60
Copyright 1952 by A.A.W.S. Inc.

Thought to Consider . . . 

It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes
and to make amends for them.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H O W = Honest, Open, and Willing

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

Hang Together Forever

From: "When AA Came of Age"

On Sunday morning “ the last day of the [1950 International] Convention “ I found those Twelve Traditions still on my mind. Each of them I saw is an exercise in humility that can guard us in everyday AA affairs and protect us from ourselves. If AA were really guided by the Twelve Traditions, we could not possibly be split apart by politics, religion, money, or by any old-timers who might take a notion to be big shots. With none of us throwing our weight around in public, nobody could possibly exploit AA for personal advantage, that is sure. For the first time I saw AA's anonymity for what it really is. It isn't just something to save us from alcoholic shame and stigma; its deeper purpose is actually to keep those fool egos of ours from running hog wild after money and public fame at AA's expense. It really means personal and group sacrifice for the benefit of all AA. Right then I resolved to learn our Twelve Traditions by heart, just as I had learned the Twelve Steps. If every AA did the same thing and really soaked up these principles we drunks could hang together forever. 

1985, AAWS, Inc., Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, page 43

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
"THE ACID TEST"

As we work the first nine Steps, we prepare ourselves for the
adventure of a new life. But when we approach Step Ten we commence
to put our A.A. way of living to practical use, day by day, in
fair weather or foul. Then comes the acid test: can we stay sober,
keep in emotional balance, and live to good purpose under all
conditions?
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 88

I know the Promises are being fulfilled in my life, but I want to
maintain and develop them by the daily application of Step Ten. I
have learned through this Step that if I am disturbed, there is
something wrong with me. The other person may be wrong too, but
I can only deal with my feelings. When I am hurt or upset, I have
to continually look for the cause in me, and then I have to admit
and correct my mistakes. It isn't easy, but as long as I know I
am progressing spiritually, I know that I can mark my effort up
as a job well done. I have found that pain is a friend; it lets
me know their is something wrong with my emotions, just as a
physical pain lets me know there is something wrong with my body.
When I take the appropriate action through the Twelve Steps, the
pain gradually goes away.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Recovery Through Giving

For a new prospect, outline the program of action, explaining how you made a self-appraisal, how you straightened out your past, and why you are now endeavoring to be helpful to him. It is important for him to realize that your attempt to pass this on to him plays a vital part in your own recovery. Actually, he may be helping you more than you are helping him. Make it plain that he is under no obligation to you.

<<<>>>

In the first six months of my own sobriety, I worked hard with many alcoholics. Not a one responded. Yet this work kept me sober. It wasn't a question of those alcoholics giving me anything. My stability came out of trying to give, not out of demanding that I receive.

1. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 94 - 2. GRAPEVINE, JANUARY 1958
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely,
or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take,
you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be
suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will
conquer."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 44~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought For The Day

What makes an effective talk at an A.A. meeting? It is not a fine
speech with fine choices of words and an impressive delivery. Often
a few simple words direct from the heart are more effective than
the most polished speech. There is always a temptation to speak
beyond your experience, in order to make a good impression. This
is never effective. What does not come from the heart does not
reach the heart? What comes from personal experience and a sincere
desire to help the other    person, reaches the heart.   Do I speak
for effect or with a deep desire to help?

Meditation For The Day

"Thy will be done" must be your oft-repeated prayer. And in the
willing of God's will there should be gladness. You should delight
to do that will because when you do, all your life goes right and
everything tends to work out for you in the long run. When you are
honestly trying to do God's will and humbly accepting the results,
nothing can seriously hurt you. He who accepts the will of God in
his life may not inherit the earth, but he will inherit real peace
of mind.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may have a yielded will. I pray that my will be
attuned to the will of God.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^ Flimsy Reed ^*^*^*^ October 1, 2010

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

"We sought escape with all the desperation
of drowning men.
What seemed at first a flimsy reed,
has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God.
A new life has been given us or, if you prefer,
a 'design for living' that really works."
c.1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 28
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Thought to Consider . . . 

The task ahead of us is never as great
as the Power behind us.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
P R O G R A M  =  People Relying On God Relay A Message

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

Chronic Slipper

From: "Safe Haven" 

In Alcoholics Anonymous, I knew I had found a protective haven. But during the ensuing 4-1/2 years I fell into the category known, in AA parlance, as a "chronic slipper." I might get a good six months of sobriety under my belt, but then I would get a bottle to celebrate. 

I did all the things that were suggested for me not to do. Within my first year around AA, I made some major decisions, like getting married, renting the most expensive apartment I could find, not using my sponsor, avoiding the steps, hanging around old haunts with my old drinking pals, and talking more than listening during meetings. In short, I wasn't responding to the miracle of AA. My disease progressed and I became a regular patient in detox hospitals, intensive care units, and treatment centers. Permanent insanity was drawing near, and the gates of death were in view. 

2001, AAWS, Inc., Alcoholics Anonymous, page 455

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
LEST WE BECOME COMPLACENT

It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85

When I am in pain it is easy to stay close to the friends I have found in the program.  Relief from that pain is provided in the solutions contained in A.A.'s Twelve Steps.  But when I am feeling good and things are going well, I can become complacent.  To put it simply, I become lazy and turn into the problem instead of the solution.  I need to get into action, to take stock: where am I and where am I going?  A daily inventory will tell me what I must change to regain spiritual balance.  Admitting what I find within myself, to God and to another human being, keeps me honest and humble.

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

Going it alone in spiritual matters is dangerous. How many times have we heard well-intentioned people claim the guidance of God when it was plain that they were mistaken? Lacking both practice and humility, they had deluded themselves and so were able to justify the most arrant nonsense on the ground that this was what God had told them.
People of very high spiritual development almost always insist on checking with friends or spiritual advisers the guidance they feel they have received from God. Surely, then, a novice ought not lay himself open to the chance of making foolish, perhaps tragic, blunders. While the comment or advice of others may not be infallible, it is likely to be far more specific than any direct guidance we may receive while we are still inexperienced in establishing contact with a Power greater than ourselves.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 60
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
" I had always believed in a Power greater that myself. I had often
pondered these things. I was not an atheist. Few people really are, for
that means blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe
originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes no where."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill's Story, pg. 10~

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

A.A. will lose some of its effectiveness if I do not do my share. Where am I failing? Are there some things I do not feel like doing? Am I held back by self-consciousness or fear? Self-consciousness is a form of pride. It is a fear that something may happen to you. What happens to you is not very important. The impression you make on others does not depend so much on the kind of a job you do as on your sincerity and honesty of purpose. Am I holding back because I am afraid of not making a good impression?

Meditation for the Day

Look to God for the true power that will make you effective. See no other wholly dependable supply of strength. That is the secret of a truly effective life. And you, in your turn, will be used to help many others find effectiveness. Whatever spiritual help you need, whatever spiritual help you desire for others, look to God. Seek that God's will be done in your life and seek that your will conforms to His. Failures come from depending too much on your own strength.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may feel that nothing good is too much for me if I look to God for help. I pray that I may be effective through His guidance.

 

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Consequences ^*^*^*^*^ September 30, 2010

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Consequences
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"In some circumstances we have gone out deliberately
to get drunk, feeling ourselves justified
by nervousness, anger, worry, depression,
jealousy or the like.
But even in this type of beginning we are obliged to admit
that our justification for a spree
was insanely insufficient in the light of what always happened.
We now see that when we began to drink deliberately,
instead of casually,
there was little serious or effective thought
during the period of premeditation
of what the terrific consequences might be."
c.1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 37
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Thought to Consider . . . 

Think it over, not drink over it.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
D E A D =  Drinking Ends All Dreams

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

Traits in Common

Step Twelve: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

 But not so with alcoholics. When AA was quite young, a number of eminent psychologists and doctors made an exhaustive study of a good-sized group of so-called problem drinkers. The doctors weren't trying to find how different we were from one another; they sought to find whatever personality traits, if any, this group of alcoholics had in common. They finally came up with a conclusion that shocked the AA members of that time. These distinguished men had the nerve to say that most of the alcoholics under investigation were still childish, emotionally sensitive, and grandiose.

How we alcoholics did resent that verdict! We would not believe that our adult dreams were often truly childish. And considering the rough deal life had given us, we felt it perfectly natural that we were sensitive. As to our grandiose behavior, we insisted that we had been possessed of nothing but a high and legitimate ambition to win the battle of life.

1981, AAWS, Inc., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pages 122-123

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
THE CIRCLE AND THE TRIANGLE

The circle stands for the whole world of A.A., and the triangle
stands for A.A.'s Three Legacies of Recovery, Unity, and Service.
Within our wonderful new world, we have found freedom from our
fatal obsession.
A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 139

Early in my A.A. life, I became employed in its services and I
found the explanation of our society's logo to be very appropriate.
First, a circle of love and service with a well-balanced triangle
inside, the base of which represents our Recovery through the
Twelve Steps. Then the other two sides, representing Unity and
Service, respectively. The three sides of the triangle are equal.
As I grew in A.A. I soon identified myself with this symbol. I
am the circle, and the sides of the triangle represent three
aspects of my personality: physical, emotional sanity,
spirituality, the latter forming the symbol's base. Taken
together, all three aspects of my personality translate into
a sober and happy life.

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

The life of each A.A. and of each group is built around our Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. We know that the penalty for extensive disobedience to these principles is death for the individual and dissolution for the group. But an even greater force for A.A.'s unity is our compelling love for our fellow members and for our principles.

<<<>>>

You might think the people at A.A.'s headquarters in New York would surely have to have some personal authority. But, long ago, trustees and secretaries alike found they could do no more than make very mild suggestions to the A.A. groups.
They even had to coin a couple of sentences which still go into half the letters they write: "Of course you are at perfect liberty to handle this matter any way you please. But the majority experience in A.A. does seem to suggest . . ." A.A. world headquarters is not a giver of orders. It is, instead, our largest transmitter of the lessons of experience.

1. TWELVE CONCEPTS, p. 10 - 2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, pp. 173-174
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"In this book you read again and again that faith did for us what we
could not do for ourselves. We hope you are convinced now that God can remove whatever self-will has blocked you off from Him. If you have
already made a decision, and an inventory of your grosser handicaps,
you have made a good beginning. That being so you have swallowed and
digested some big chunks of truth about yourself."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 70~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

There are no leaders in A.A. except as they volunteer to accept
responsibility. The work of carrying on A.A.- leading group meetings,
serving on committees, speaking before other groups, doing twelfth-step work, spreading A.A. among the alcoholics of the community -
all these things are done on a volunteer basis. if I don't volunteer
to do something concrete for A.A., the movement is that much less
effective. I must do my fair share to carry the load. A.A. depends
on all its members to keep it alive and to keep it growing. Am I
doing my share for A.A.?

Meditation for the Day

When you look to God for strength to face responsibility and are
quiet before Him, His healing touch causes the Divine Quiet to flow
into your very being. When in weakness you cry to God, His touch
brings healing, the renewal of your courage, and the power to meet
every situation and be victorious. When you faint by the way or are
distracted by feelings of inferiority, then rely on the touch of
God's spirit to support you on your way. Then arise and go forth
with confidence.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may lay myself open today to the healing touch of God.
I pray that I may not falter or faint by the wayside, but renew my
courage through prayer.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012