Thoughts For The Day~*~Foundation^*^*^ June 15, 2014

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~*~A.A. Thoughts For The D ay~*~
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Foundation
^*^*^
"There is a direct linkage among self-examination,
meditation, and prayer. 
Taken separately, these practices can bring
much relief and benefit. 
But when they are logically related and interwoven,
the result is an unshakable foundation for life. 
Now and then we may be granted a glimpse of
that ultimate reality which is God's kingdom. 
And we will be comforted and assured
that our own destiny in that realm will be secure
for so long as we try, however falteringly,
to find and do the will of our own Creator."
1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 98
^*^*^*^*^*

Thought to Consider . . .

Prayer is asking a question. 
Meditation is listening for the answer.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A S A P  =  Always Say A Prayer

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

Future

From "Heard at Meetings":

"'It is wise to pray for the future, but not to worry about it, because we can't live it until it becomes the present. The depth of our anxiety measures the distance we are from God.' - Sydney, Australia"

1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30^th printing 2004, pg. 26

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
MAKING A.A. YOUR HIGHER POWER

". . . You can . . . make A.A. itself your 'higher power.'  Here's a very large group of people who have solved their alcohol problem. . . . many members . . . have crossed the threshold just this way. . . . their faith broadened and deepened. . . . transformed, they came to believe in a Higher Power. . . "

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 27-28

No one was greater than I, at least in my eyes, when I was drinking.  Nevertheless, I couldn't smile at myself in the mirror, so I came to A.A. where, with others, I heard talk of a Higher Power.  I couldn't accept the concept of a Higher Power because I believed God was cruel and unloving.  In desperation I chose a table, a tree, then my A.A. group, as my Higher Power.  Time passed, my life improved, and I began to wonder about this Higher Power.  Gradually, with patience, humility and a lot of questions, I came to believe in God.  Now my relationship with my Higher Power gives me the strength to live a happy, sober life.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*

~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Fear No Evil

Though we of A.A. find ourselves living in a world characterized by
destructive fears as never before in history, we see great areas of faith,
and tremendous aspirations toward justice and brotherhood. Yet no prophet can presume to say whether the world outcome will be blazing destruction or the beginning, under God's intention, of the brightest era yet known to mankind.
I am sure we A.A.'s will comprehend this scene. In microcosm, we have
experienced this identical state of terrifying uncertainty, each in his own life. In no sense pridefully, we can say that we do not fear the world outcome, whichever course it may take. This is because we have been enabled to deeply feel and say, "We shall fear no evil--Thy will, not ours, be done."

GRAPEVINE, JANUARY 1962

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"For the type of alcoholic who is able and willing get well, little
charity, in the ordinary sense of the word, is need or wanted. The men
who cry for money and shelter before conquering alcohol, are on the
wrong track."

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 97

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

In A.A. we have three things: fellowship, faith, and service.
Fellowship is wonderful, but its wonder lasts just so long.
Then some gossip, disillusionment, and boredom may come in.
Worry and fear come back at times and we find that fellowship
is not the whole story. Then we need faith. When we're alone,
with no- body to pat us on the back, we must turn to God for
help. Can I say "Thy will be done" - and mean it?

Meditation for the Day

There is beauty in a God-guided life. There is wonder in the
feeling of being led by God. Try to realize God's bounty and
goodness more and more. God is planning for you. Wonderful are His ways - they are beyond your knowledge. But God's leading will enter your consciousness more and more and bring you ever more peace and joy. Your life is being planned and blessed by God. You may count all material things as losses if they prevent your winning your way to the consciousness of od's guidance.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may earn the rewards of God's power and peace.
I pray that I may develop the feeling of being led by God.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Traditions ^*^*^ June 14, 2014

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~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Traditions
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"The Twelve Traditions point straight
at many of our individual defects.
By implication they ask each of us to lay aside
pride and resentments.
They ask for personal as well as group sacrifice.
They ask us never to use the AA name
in any quest for personal power or distinction or money.
The Traditions guarantee the equality
of all members and the independence of all groups.
They show how we may best relate ourselves to each other
and to the world outside."
Bill W.,
1967AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 96
^*^*^*^*^*

Thought to Consider . . .

If you have the courage to begin,
you have the courage to succeed.

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


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

Core

From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":

"On many a day I felt like throwing the book out the window.  "I was in this anything-but-spiritual mood on the night when the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous were written. I was sore and tired clear through. I lay in bed at 182 Clinton Street with pencil in hand and with a tablet of scratch paper on my knee. I could not get my mind on the job, much less put my heart in it. But here was one of those things that had to be done. Slowly my mind came into some kind of focus.

"Since Ebby's visit to me in the fall of 1934 we had gradually evolved what we called 'the word-of-mouth program.' Most of the basic ideas had come from the Oxford Groups, William James, and Dr. Silkworth."

2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 160

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
WHEN THE GOING GETS ROUGH

It is a design for living that works in rough going.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 15

When I came to A.A., I realized that A.A. worked wonderfully to help keep me sober.  But could it work on real life problems, not concerned with drinking?  I had my doubts.  After being sober for more than two years I got my answer.  I lost my job, developed physical problems, my diabetic father lost a leg, and someone I loved left me for another -- and all of this happened during a two-week period.  Reality crashed in, yet A.A. was there to support, comfort, and strengthen me.  The principles I had learned during my early days of sobriety became a mainstay of my life for not only did I come through, but I never stopped being able to help newcomers.  A.A. taught me not to be overwhelmed, but rather to accept and understand my life as it unfolded. 

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
"Success" in Twelfth-Stepping

"We now see that in twelfth-stepping the immediate results are not so
important. Some people start out working with others and have immediate success. They are likely to get cocky. Those of us who are not so successful at first get depressed.  As a matter of fact, the successful worker differs from the unsuccessful only in being lucky about his prospects. He simply hits newcomers who are
ready and able to stop at once. Given the same prospects, the seemingly
unsuccessful person would have produced almost the same results. You have to work on a lot of newcomers before the law of averages commences to assert itself."
<<<>>>
All true communication must be founded on mutual need. We saw that each sponsor would have to admit humbly his own needs as clearly as those of his prospect.

1. LETTER, 1942
2. A.A. TODAY, P. 10
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"'My old manner of life was by no means a bad one, but I would not
exchange its best moments for the worst I have now. I would not go
back to it even if I could.'"

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 43~

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

In A.A. we have to learn that drink is our greatest enemy.
Although we used to think that liquor was our friend, the time
came when it turned against us and became our enemy. We don't know just when this happened, but we know that it did because we began to get into trouble - jails and hospitals. We realize now that liquor is our enemy. Is it still my main business to keep sober?

Meditation for the Day

It is not your circumstances that need altering so much as
yourself. After you have changed, conditions will naturally
change. Spare no effort to become all that God would have you
become. Follow every good leading of your conscience. Take each day with no backward look. Face the day's problems with God, and seek God's help and guidance as to what you should do in every situation that may arise. Never look back. Never leave until tomorrow the thing that you are guided to do today.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that God will help me to become all that He would have me
be. I pray that I may face today's problem as with good grace.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Change ^*^*^*^*^ June 13, 2014

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~*~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., Grapevine, February 1961
1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 25
^*^*^*^*^*

Thought to Consider . . .

There are only two things an alcoholic doesn't like -
the way things are, and change.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
C H A N G E  =  Choosing Honesty Allows New Growth Every day

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

Future

From "Heard at Meetings":

"'It is wise to pray for the future, but not to worry about it, because we can't live it until it becomes the present. The depth of our anxiety measures the distance we are from God.' - Sydney, Australia"

1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30^th printing 2004, pg. 26

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
LIVING OUR AMENDS

"Years of living with an alcoholic is almost sure to make any
wife or child neurotic. The entire family is to some extent,
ill."

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 122

It is important for me to realize that, as an alcoholic, I not
only hurt myself, but also those around me. Making amends to
my family, and to the families of alcoholics still suffering,
will always be important. Understanding the havoc I created
and trying to repair the destruction, will be a lifelong
endeavor. The example of my sobriety may give others hope,
and faith to help themselves.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*

~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
A Saving Principle

The practice of admitting one's defects to another person is, of course, very ancient. It has been validated in every century, and it characterizes the lives of all spiritually centered and truly religious people. But today religion is by no means the sole advocate of this saving principle. Psychiatrists and psychologists point out the deep need every human being has for practical insight and knowledge of his own personality flaws and for a discussion of them with an understanding and trustworthy person.
So far as alcoholics are concerned, A.A. would go even further. Most of us would declare that without a fearless admission of our defects to another human being, we could not stay sober. It seems plain that the grace of God will not enter to expel our destructive obsessions until we are willing to try this.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 56-57
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man,
woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured
by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form
or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and
miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as
old as man himself."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 55~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

In A.A. we have to reeducate our minds. We have to learn to
think differently. We have to take a long view of drinking
instead of a short view. We have to look through the glass
to what lies beyond it. We have to look through the night
before to the morning after. No matter how good liquor looks
from the short view, we must realize that in the long run it
is poison to us. Have I learned to look through the bottle
to the better life that lies ahead?

Meditation for the Day

If you are honestly trying to live the way you believe God
wants you to live, you can get guidance from God in times of
quiet communion with Him, provided your thoughts are directed
toward God's will and all good things. The attitude of
"Thy will, not mine, be done' leads to clear guidance. Act on
this guidance and you will be led to better things. Your
impulses seem to become less your own and more the leading of God's spirit acting through your thoughts. Obeyed, they will
bring you the answers to your prayers.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may try to think God's thoughts after Him. I
pray that my thoughts may be guided by His thoughts.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Sacrifices ^*^*^*^*^ June 12, 2014

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~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Sacrifices
^*^*^
"At the beginning we sacrificed alcohol.
We had to, or it would have killed us.
But we couldn't get rid of alcohol
unless wemade other sacrifices.
Big-shotism and phony thinking had to go.
We had to toss self-justification, self-pity,
and anger right out the window.
We had to quit the crazy contest for personal prestige
and big bank balances.
We had to take personal responsibility for our sorry state
and quit blaming others for it.
Were these sacrifices?  Yes, they were.
To gain enough humility and self-respect
to stay alive at all we had to give up
what had really been our dearest possessions -
our ambitions and our illegitimate pride."
Bill W., January 1955
1988AAGrapevine, The Language of the Heart, p. 210
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Thought to Consider . . .

Sobriety is a journey, not a destination

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
S O B E R  =  Son Of a Basket, Everything's Real

*~*~*~*~*^Just FFor Today!^*~*~*~*~*
 

Core

From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":

"On many a day I felt like throwing the book out the window.

"I was in this anything-but-spiritual mood on the night when the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous were written. I was sore and tired clear through. I lay in bed at 182 Clinton Street with pencil in hand and with a tablet of scratch paper on my knee. I could not get my mind on the job, much less put my heart in it. But here was one of those things that had to be done. Slowly my mind came into some kind of focus.

"Since Ebby's visit to me in the fall of 1934 we had gradually evolved what we called 'the word-of-mouth program.' Most of the basic ideas had come from the Oxford Groups, William James, and Dr. Silkworth."

2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 160

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
FORMING TRUE PARTNERSHIPS

But it is from our twisted relations with family, friends, and society at large that many of us have suffered the most.  We have been especially stupid and stubborn about them.  The primary fact that we fail to recognize is our total inability to form a true partnership with another human being.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 53


Can these words apply to me, am I still unable to form a true partnership with another human being? What a terrible handicap that would be for me to carry into my sober life!  In my sobriety I will meditate and pray to discover how I may be a trusted friend and companion.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Release and Joy

Who can render an account of all the miseries that once were ours, and who can estimate the release and joy that the later years have brought to us? Who can possibly tell the vast consequences of what God's work through A.A. has already set in motion? And who can penetrate the deeper mystery of our wholesale deliverance from slavery, a bondage to a most hopeless and fatal obsession which for centuries possessed the minds and bodies of men and women like ourselves?
<<<>>>
We think cheerfulness and laughter make for usefulness. Outsiders are
sometimes shocked when we burst into merriment over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past. But why shouldn't we laugh? We have recovered, and have helped others to recover. What greater cause could there be for rejoicing than this?

1. A.A. COMES OF AGE, PP. 44-45
2. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 132
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"Faith without works was dead, he said. And how appallingly true for
the alcoholic! For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his
spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could
not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead. If he did not
work, he would surely drink again, and if he drank, he would surely
die. Then faith would be dead indeed. With us it is just like that."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill's Story, pg. 14~

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

When we came into A.A., we made a tremendous discovery. We
found that we were sick persons rather than moral lepers. We
were not such odd ducks as we thought we were. We found other
people who had the same illness that we had, who had been
through the same experiences that we had been through. They
had recovered. if they could do it, we could do it. Was hope
born in me the day I walked into A.A.?

Meditation for the Day

"He that heareth these sayings and doeth them is like unto a
man who built his house upon a rock and the rain descended and
the floods came and the wind blew and beat upon that house and
it fell not for it was founded upon a rock." When your life is
built upon obedience to God and upon doing His will as you
understand it, you will be steadfast and unmovable even in the
midst of storms. The serene, steadfast, unmovable life - the
rock home - is laid stone by stone - foundation, walls, and
roof - by acts of obedience to the heavenly vision. The daily
following of God's guidance and the daily doing of His will
shall build your house upon a rock.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that my life may be founded upon the rock of faith.
I pray that I may be obedient to the heavenly vision.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Gratitude^*^*^*^*^ June 11, 2014

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~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Gratitude
^*^*^
"Another exercise that I practice
is to try for a full inventory of my blessings
and then for a right acceptance of the many gifts that are mine -
both temporal and spiritual.
Here I try to achieve a state of joyful gratitude.
When such a brand of gratitude is repeatedly affirmed
and pondered,
it can finally displace the natural tendency
to congratulate myself on whatever progress
I may have been enabled to make in some areas of living.
I try hard to hold fast to the truth
that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits.
When brimming with gratitude,
one's heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love,
the finest emotion that we can ever know."
Bill W., March 1962
1988AAGrapevine, The Language of the Heart, p. 271
^*^*^*^*^*

Thought to Consider . . .

I have learned what a heart full of gratitude feels like.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
T H I N K  =  The Happiness I Never Knew

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

Illness

From "Building a New Life":

"That year I went to an alcohol treatment program twice. The first time I was in treatment, I was shaving at the mirror in the bathroom and it seemed to me that my beard was growing back in as fast as I could shave it off. Even though I was in a hospital gown, I escaped, running down the streets and jumping up and over fences. I was on the porch of a woman's house banging on the door for her to let me in when the police arrived. I tried to convince them she was my wife and my children were inside, but they saw the hospital bracelet on my wrist, and they took me back to the program. "The doctor told me that if I went into D.T.'s like that again I might not come out."

2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 482

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
FAMILY OBLIGATIONS

. . . a spiritual life which does not include . . . family obligations may not be so perfect after all.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS  p. 129

I can be doing great in the program -- applying it at meetings, at work, and in service activities -- and find that things have gone to pieces at home.  I expect my loved ones to understand, but they cannot.  I expect them to see and value my progress, but they don't -- unless I show them.  Do I neglect their needs and desires for my attention and concern?  When I'm around them, am I irritable or boring?  Are my "amends" a mumbled "Sorry," or do they take the form of patience and tolerance?  Do I preach to them, trying to reform or "fix" them?  Have I ever really cleaned house with them?  "The spiritual life is not a theory.  We have to live it"

(Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 83).
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
"Let's Keep It simple"

"We need to distinguish sharply between spiritual simplicity and functional simplicity. "When we say that A.A. advocates no theological proposition except God as we understand Him, we greatly simplify A.A. life by avoiding conflict and exclusiveness. "But when we get into questions of action by groups, by areas, and by A.A. as a whole, we find that we must to some extent organize to carry the
message--or else face chaos. And chaos is not simplicity."
<<<>>>
I learned that the temporary or seeming good can often be the deadly enemy of the permanent best. When it comes to survival for A.A., nothing short of our very best will be good enough.

1. LETTER, 1966
2. A.A. COMES OF AGE, P. 294
*~*~*~*~*^ 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

We alcoholics have to believe in some Power greater than
ourselves. Yes, we have to believe in God. Not to believe in
a Higher Power drives us to atheism. Atheism, it has been
said before, is blind faith in the strange proposition that
this universe originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes
nowhere. That's practically impossible to believe. So we turn
to that Divine Principle in the universe that we call God.
Have I stopped trying to run my own life?

Meditation for the Day

"Lord, we thank Thee for the great gift of peace, that peace
which passeth all understanding, that peace which the world
can neither give nor take away." That is the peace that only
God can give in the midst of a restless world and surrounded
by trouble and difficulty. To know that peace is to have
received the stamp of the kingdom of God. When you have earned that peace, you are fit to judge between true and false values, between the values of the kingdom of God and the values of all that the world has to offer.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that today I may have inner peace. I pray that today I
may be at peace with myself.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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