Thoughts For The Day~*~Letting Go^*^*^*^*^ December 23, 2012

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

Letting go of everything at once
was both painful and terrifying. 
I could never have accomplished this alone. 
It took the help, understanding
and wonderful companionship
that was given so freely to me by my ex-alkie friends.
This and the program of recovery
embodied in the Twelve Steps.
In learning to practice these steps in my daily living,
I began to acquire faith and a philosophy to live by.
Whole new vistas were opened up for me,
new avenues of experience to be explored,
and life began to take on color and interest.
c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 311
c. 2001AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 275
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Thought to Consider . . .

The peaks and valleys of my life
have become gentle rolling hills.


*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F A I T H   = Finding Answers In The Heart.

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

Sharing

From "Aspects of Spirituality:"

"Among A.A.'s there is still a vast amount of
mix-up respecting what is material and what
is spiritual.  I prefer to believe that it is
all a matter of motive.  If we use our worldly
possessions too selfishly, then we are materialists.
But if we share these possessions in helpfulness
to others, then the material aids the spiritual."

c. 1967, As Bill Sees It, page 287

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
RECOVERY, UNITY, SERVICE

Our Twelfth Step -- carrying the message -- is the basic service that AA's Fellowship gives; this is our principal aim and the main reason for our existence.

                        THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, P.  160

I thank God for those who came before me, those who told me not to forget the Three Legacies: Recovery, Unity and Service.  In my home group, the Three Legacies were described on a sign which said: "You take a three-legged stool, try to balance it on only one leg, or two.  Our Three Legacies must be kept intact.  In Recovery, we get sober together; in Unity, we work together for the good of our Steps and Traditions; and through Service-we give away freely what has been given to us."

One of the chief gifts of my life has been to know that I will have no message to give, unless I recover in unity with A.A. principles.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
MERRY CHRISTMAS! - Random Quote - A.A.--the Lodestar

We can be grateful for every agency or method that tries to solve the problem of alcoholism--whether of medicine, religion, education, or research. We can be open-minded toward all such efforts and we can be sympathetic when the ill-advised ones fail. We can remember that A.A. itself ran for years on "trial and error."
As individuals, we can and should work with those that promise success--even a little success.
<<<>>>
Every one of the pioneers in the total field of alcoholism will generously say that had it not been for the living proof of recovery in A.A., they could not have gone on. A.A. was the lodestar of hope and help that kept them at it.

GRAPEVINE, MARCH 1958
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"...we were at Step Three, which is that we decided to turn our will
and our life over to God as we understood Him. Just what do we mean
by that, and just what do we do?

The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on
self-will can hardly be a success. On that basis we are almost
always in collision with something or somebody, even though our
motives are good. Most people try to live by self-propulsion."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 60~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

We have definitely left that dream world behind. It was only a sham. It was a world of our making and it was not the real world. We are sorry for the past, yes, but we learned a lot from it. We can put it down to experience, valuable experience, as we see it now, because it has given us the knowledge necessary to face the world as it really is. We had to become alcoholics in order to find the A.A. program. We would not have gotten it any other way. In a way, it was worth it. Do I look at my past as valuable experience?

Meditation for the Day

Shed peace, not discord, wherever you go. Try to be part of the cure of every situation, not part of the problem. Try to ignore evil, rather than to actively combat it. Always try to build up, never to tear down. Show others by your example that happiness comes from living the right way. The power of your example is greater than the power of what you say.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may try to bring something good into every situation today. I pray that I may be constructive in the way I think and speak and act today.

 

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Let Go ^*^*^*^*^ December 22, 2012

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Visit  AA Night Before Christmas 

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

If you have decided you want what we have
and are willing to go to any length to get it --
then you are ready to take certain steps.
At some of these we balked.
We thought we could find an easier, softer way.
But we could not.
With all the earnestness at our command,
we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start.
Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas
and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.
Remember we deal with alcohol -- cunning, baffling, powerful!
Without help it is too much for us.
But there is One who has all power -- that One is God.
May you find Him now!
c. 1976, 2001AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous,  p. 58
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Thought to Consider . . .

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

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H O P E =  Heart Open; Please Enter

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

Safe

From "Good Housekeeping" article, 1954:

 

"When you stand outside a room where a group of Alcoholics Anonymous is meeting, the most frequent sound you hear is laughter.  Mellow laughter, which can come only from people who have looked destruction and catastrophe in the face, not once but continuously over long years, and now are free and unafraid.  The laughter, in short, of people who hold God's hand and feel safe."

c. Letter to a Woman Alcoholic (A.A. Pamphlet P-14) 

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
PRINCIPLES, NOT PERSONALITIES

The way our "worthy" alcoholics have sometimes tried to judge the "less worthy" is, as we look back on it, rather comical.  Imagine, if you can, one alcoholic judging another!

THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 37

Who am I to judge anyone?  When I first entered the Fellowship I found that I liked everyone.  After all, A.A. was going to help me to a better way of life without alcohol.  The reality was that I couldn't possibly like everyone, nor they me.  As I've grown in the Fellowship, I've learned to love everyone just from listening to what they had to say.  That person over there, or the one right here, may be the one God has chosen to give me the message I need for today.  I must always remember to place principles above personalities.

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 ^*~*~*~*~*
"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

As we look back over our drinking careers, we must realize that our lives were a mess because we were a mess inside. The trouble was in us, not in life itself. life itself was good enough, but we were looking at it the wrong way. We were looking at life through the bottom of a whiskey glass, and it was distorted. We could not see all the beauty and goodness and purpose in the world because our vision was blurred. We were in a house with one-way glass in the windows. People could see us but we could not look out and see them and see what life meant to them and should mean to us. We were blind then, but now we can see. Can I now look at life as it really is?

Meditation for the Day

Fear no evil, because the power of God can conquer evil. Evil has power to seriously hurt only those who do not place themselves under the protection of the Higher Power. This is not a question of feeling, it is an assured fact of our experience. Say to yourself with assurance that whatever it is, no evil can seriously harm you as long as you depend on the Higher Power. Be sure of the protection of God's grace.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that fear of evil will not get me down. I pray that I may try to place myself today under the protection of God's grace.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Freedom ^*^*^*^*^ December 21, 2012

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Visit   AA Night Before Christmas

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Freedom
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"Through AA, we can experience freedom from self.
After all, it was self ( you, me ) that stood in our own way,
that ran the show and ran ourselves into bankruptcy,
that hurt the ones we loved.
All Twelve Steps of AA are designed to kill the old self
( deflate the old ego )
and build a new, free self."
1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 459
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Thought to Consider . . .

Within our wonderful new world,
we have found freedom from our fatal obsession.

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

Honesty

From "Inner Voice":

"Long before nagging and pressures from others concerning my excessive use of alcohol made any impression on me, the nagging voice of conscience my own inner voice of truth and right apprised me of the irrevocable fact that I had lost control of alcohol, that I was powerless. I know now that the inner voice was God, as I understand Him, speaking. For, as I had been taught from earliest memory and as A.A. has emphasized, God or good emanates from within each of us.   "Lakewood, Ohio, USA"

1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30^th printing 2004, pg. 83

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
LISTEN, SHARE AND PRAY

When working with a man and his family, you should take care not to participate in their quarrels. You may spoil your chance of being helpful if you do.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 100

When trying to help a fellow alcoholic, I've given in to an impulse to give advice, and perhaps that's inevitable.  But allowing others the right to be wrong reaps its own benefits.  The best I can do -- and it sounds easier than it is to put into practice -- is to listen, share personal experience, and pray for others.

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 A.A. 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 ^*~*~*~*~*

"...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."

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

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

Have I ceased being inwardly defeated, at war with myself Have I given myself freely to A.A. and to the Higher Power? Have I gotten over being sick inside? Am I still wandering mentally or am I "on the beam"? I can face anything if I am sure I am on the way. When I am sure, I should bet my life on A.A. I have learned how the program works. Now will I follow it with all I have, with all I can give, with all my might, with all my life? Am I going to let A.A. principles guide the rest of my life?

Meditation for the Day

In this time of quiet meditation, follow the pressure of the Lord's leading. in all decisions to be made today, yield to the gentle pressure of your conscience. Stay or go as that pressure indicates. Take the events of today as part of God's planning and ordering. He may lead you to a right decision. Wait quietly until you have an inner urge, a leading, a feeling that a thing is right, a pressure on your will by the spirit of God.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that today I may try to follow the inner pressure of God's leading. I pray that I may try to follow my conscience and do what seems right today.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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