Thoughts For The Day~*~Action ^*^*^*^*^ January 9, 2011

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

"Then they outlined the spiritual answer
and program of action
which a hundred of them had followed successfully.
Though I had been only a nominal churchman,
their proposals were not, intellectually, hard to swallow.
But the program of action, though entirely sensible,
was pretty drastic.
It meant I would have to throw several lifelong conceptions
out of the window.
That was not easy.
But the moment I made up my mind
to go through with the process,
I had the curious feeling that my alcoholic condition
was relieved, as in fact it proved to be."
c. 1976, 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous,  p. 42
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Thought to Consider . . .

Willingness without action is fantasy.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A C T I O N =  Any Change Toward Improving One's Nature

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

From "The Housewife Who Drank at Home":

"I had problems. We all have them, and I thought a little brandy or a little wine now and then could certainly hurt no one. I don't believe, when I started, that I even had in mind the thought that I was drinking. I had to sleep. I had to clear my mind and free it from worry, and I had to relax. But from one or two drinks of an afternoon or evening, my intake mounted, and mounted fast. It wasn't long before I was drinking all day. I had to have that wine. The only incentive that I had, toward the end, for getting dressed in the morning was to get out and get 'supplies' to help me get my day started. But the only thing that got started was my drinking."

2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 296 

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
AN ACT OF PROVIDENCE

It is truly awful to admit that, glass in hand, we have warped our minds into such an obsession for destructive drinking that only an act of Providence can remove it from us.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.  21

My act of Providence, (a manifestation of divine care and direction), came as I experienced the total bankruptcy of active alcoholism -- everything meaningful in my life was gone.  I telephoned Alcoholics Anonymous and, from that instant, my life has never been the same.  When I reflect on that very special moment, I know that God was working in my life long before I was able to acknowledge and accept spiritual concepts.  The glass was put down through this one act of Providence and my journey into sobriety began.  My life continues to unfold with divine care and direction.  Step One, in which I admitted I was powerless over alcohol, that my life had become unmanageable, takes on more meaning for me -- one day at a time -- in the life-saving, life Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Group and World-Wide Community

The moment Twelfth Step work forms a group, a discovery is made - that most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group. Realization dawns on each member that he is but a small part of a great whole; that no personal sacrifice is too great for preservation of the Fellowship. He learns that the clamor of desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group.
It becomes plain that the group must survive or the individual will not.

<<<>>>

"The Lone member at sea, the A.A. at war in a far land - all these members know that they belong to A.A.'s world-wide community, that theirs is only a physical separation, that their fellows may be as near as the next port of call. Ever so importantly, they are certain that God's grace is just as much with them on the high seas or the lonely outpost as it is with them at home."

1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 130 - 2. LETTER, 1966
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"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. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is
a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual
condition."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 85~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

When we were drinking, most of us had no real faith in anything. We may have said that we believed in God, but we didn't act as though we did. We never honestly asked God to help us and we never really accepted His help. To us, faith looked like helplessness. But when we came into A.A., we began to have faith in God. And we found out that faith gave us the strength we needed to overcome drinking. Have I learned that there is strength in faith?

Meditation for the Day

I will have faith, no matter what may befall me. I will be patient, even in the midst of troubles. I will not fear the strain of life, because I believe that God knows just what I can bear. I will look to the future with confidence. I know that God will not ask me to bear anything that could overcome or destroy me.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may put this day in the hands of God. I pray for faith, so that nothing will upset me or weaken my determination to stay sober.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Change ^*^*^*^*^ January 8, 2011

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

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., April 1961
c. 1967 AAWS, As Bill Sees It,ÃÆ'‚  p. 25
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Thought to Consider . . .

Backsliding begins when knee-bending stops.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
C H A N G E =   Can Help Attract New Gifts and Energy

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

When?

Step One: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol , that our lives had become unmanageable.

"Alcoholics who still had their health, their families, their jobs … began to recognize their alcoholism.  They were spared that last ten or fifteen years of literal hell the rest of us had gone through. Since Step One requires an admission that our lives have become unmanageable, how could people such as these take this Step?

"It was obviously necessary to raise the bottom the rest of us had hit to the point where it would hit them. By going back in our own drinking histories, we could show that years before we realized it we were out of control, that our drinking even then was no mere habit, that it was indeed the beginning of a fatal progression."

1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005; Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pg. 23
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
DO I HAVE A CHOICE?

The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink.  Our so called willpower becomes practically nonexistent.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.  24

My powerlessness over alcohol does not cease when I quit drinking. In sobriety I still have no choice -  I can't drink.

The choice I do have is to pick up and use the "kit of spiritual tools" (Alcoholics Anonymous, p.  25).  When I do that, my Higher Power relieves me of my lack of choice -- and keeps me sober one more day. If I could choose not to pick up a drink today, where then would be my need for A.A. or a Higher Power?

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
A New Life

Is sobriety all that we are to expect of a spiritual awakening? No, sobriety is only a bare beginning; it is only the first gift of the first awakening. If more gifts are to be received, our awakening has to go on. As it does go on, we find that bit by bit we can discard the old life - the one that did not work - for a new life that can and does work under any conditions whatever.
Regardless of worldly success or failure, regardless of pain or joy, regardless of sickness or health or even of death itself, a new life of endless possibilities can be lived if we are willing to continue our awakening, through the practice of A.A.'s Twelve Steps.

GRAPEVINE, DECEMBER 1957
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"Yes, there is a substitute and it is vastly more than that. It is a
fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from
care, boredom and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will
mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your
existence lie ahead."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, pg. 152~

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

Everyone who comes into A.A. knows from bitter experience that he or she can't drink. I know that drinking has been the cause of all my major troubles or has made them worse. Now that I have found a way out, I will hang onto A.A. with both hands. Saint Paul once said that nothing in the world, neither powers nor principalities, life nor death, could separate him from the love of God. Once I have given my drink problem to God, should anything in the world separate me from my sobriety?

Meditation for the Day

I know that my new life will not be immune from difficulties, but I will have peace even in difficulties. I know that serenity is the result of faithful, trusting acceptance of God's will, even in the midst of difficulties. Saint Paul said: "Our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may welcome difficulties. I pray that they may test my strength and build my character.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Sponsors ^*^*^*^*^ January 7, 2011

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

Every sponsor is necessarily a leader.
The stakes are huge.
A human life, and usually the happiness of a whole family,
hangs in the balance.
What the sponsor does and says,
how well he estimates the reactions of his prospects,
how well he times and makes his presentation,
how well he handles criticisms,
and how well he leads his prospect on
by personal spiritual example ...
well, these attributes of leadership
can make all the difference,
often the difference between life and death.
Thank God that Alcoholics Anonymous is blessed
with so much leadership in each and all of its great affairs!
Bill W., April 1959
c. 1988 AA Grapevine, The Language of the Heart,  p. 292
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Thought to Consider . . .

A recovering alcoholic without a sponsor
is much like a ship without a rudder.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
S P O N S O R  = 
Sober Person Offering Newcomer Support Of Recovery

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

Eternal

From "More About Alcoholism":

"Most of us have believed that if we remained sober for a long stretch, we could thereafter drink normally. But here is a man who at fifty-five years found he was just where he had left off at thirty. We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: 'Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.'"

2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 33

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
AT THE TURNING POINT

Half measures availed us nothing.  We stood at the turning point.  We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.  59

Every day I stand at turning points.  My thoughts and actions can propel me toward growth or turn me down the road to old habits and to booze.  Sometimes turning points are beginnings, as when I decide to start praising, instead of condemning someone.  Or when I begin to ask for help instead of going it alone.  At other times turning points are endings, such as when I see clearly the need to stop festering resentments or crippling self-seeking.  Many shortcomings tempt me daily; therefore, I also have daily opportunities to become aware of them.  In one form or another, many of my character defects appear daily: self-condemnation, anger, running away, being prideful, wanting to get even, or acting out of grandiosity.

Attempting half measures to eliminate these defects merely paralyzes my efforts to change.  It is only when I ask God for help, with complete abandon, that I become willing -- and able -- to change.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
The Realm of the Spirit

In ancient times material progress was painfully slow. The spirit of modern scientific inquiry, research, and invention was almost unknown.
In the realm of the material, men's minds were lettered by superstition, tradition, and all sorts of fixed ideas. Some of the contemporaries of Columbus thought a round earth preposterous. Others came near putting Galileo to death for his astronomical heresies.
Are not some of us just as biased and unreasonable about the realm of the spirit as were the ancients about the realm of the material?

<<<>>>

We have found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the realm of spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive, never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS - 1. p. 51 - 2. p. 46
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"When you discover a prospect for Alcoholics Anonymous, find out all
you can about him. If he does not want to stop drinking, don't
waste time trying to persuade him. You may spoil a later opportunity."

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 90

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

When temptation comes, as it does sometimes to all of us, I will say to myself.- "No, my whole life depends on not taking that drink and nothing in the world can make me do it." Besides, I have promised that Higher Power that I wouldn't do it. I know that God doesn't want me to drink and I won't break my promise to, God. I've given up my right to drink and it's not my decision any longer. Have I made the choice once and for all, so that there's no going back on it?

Meditation for the Day

In silence comes God's meaning to the heart. I cannot judge when it enters the heart. I can only judge by results. Go6s word is spoken to the secret places of my heart and, in some hour of temptation, I find that word and realize its value for the first time. when I need it, I find it there. "Thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly."

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may see God's meaning in my life. I pray that I may gladly accept what God has to teach me.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

Thoughts For The Day~*~Insecurity ^*^*^*^*^ January 6, 2011

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

The achievement of freedom from fear
is a lifetime undertaking,
one that can never be wholly completed.
When under heavy attack, acute illness,
or in other conditions of serious insecurity,
we shall all react, well or badly, as the case may be.
Only the vainglorious claim perfect freedom from fear,
though their very grandiosity is really rooted
in the fears they have temporarily forgotten.
Bill W., January 1962
c. 1988 AA Grapevine, The Language of the Heart,  p. 265
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Thought to Consider . . .

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

 

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
T R U S T  =  Try Relying Upon Steps and Traditions

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

Action

From "The Shared Gift:"

"A.A. is more than a set of principles;
it is a society of alcoholics in action. 
We must carry the message, else we
ourselves can wither and those who
haven't been given the truth may die."

 

c. 1967, As Bill Sees It, page 13

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
THE VICTORY OF SURRENDER

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.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.  21

When alcohol influenced every facet of my life, when bottles became the symbol of all my self-indulgence and permissiveness, when I came to realize that, by myself, I could do nothing to overcome the power of alcohol, I realized I had no recourse except surrender.  In surrender I found victory -- victory over my selfish self-indulgence, victory over my stubborn resistance to life as it was given to me.  When I stopped fighting anybody or anything, I started on the path to sobriety, serenity and peace.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
All or Nothing?

Acceptance and faith are capable of producing 100 per cent sobriety. In fact, they usually do; and they must, else we could have no life at all. But the moment we carry these attitudes into our emotional problems, we find that only relative results are possible. Nobody can, for example, become completely free from fear, anger, and pride.
Hence, in this life we shall attain nothing like perfect humility and love. So we shall have to settle, respecting most of our problems, for a very gradual progress, punctuated sometimes by very heavy setbacks. Our oldtime attitude of "all or nothing" will have to be abandoned.

GRAPEVINE, MARCH 1962
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation
of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to
alcohol."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 33~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

Keeping sober is the most important thing in my life. The most important decision I ever made was my decision to give up drinking. I am convinced that my whole life depends on not taking that first drink. Nothing in the world is as important to me as my own sobriety. Everything I have, my whole life, depends on that one thing. Can I afford ever to forget this, even for one minute?

Meditation for the Day

I will discipline myself. I will do this disciplining now. I will turn out all useless thoughts. I know that the goodness of my life is a necessary foundation for its usefulness. I will welcome this training, for without it God cannot give me His power. I believe that this power is a mighty power when it is used in the right way.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may face and accept whatever discipline is necessary. I pray that I may be fit to receive God's power in my life.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012