Thoughts For The Day~*~Freedom ^*^*^*^*^ December 21, 2014

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~*~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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Thoughts For The Day~*~Choices ^*^*^*^*^ December 20, 2014

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

Looking back we see that our freedom to choose badly
was not, after all, a very real freedom.
When we chose because we "must,"
this was not a free choice either.
But it got us started in the right direction.
When we chose because we "ought to"
we were really doing better.
This time we were earning some freedom,
making ourselves ready for more.
But when, now and then, we could gladly make
right choices without rebellion, holdout, or conflict,
then we had our first glimpse of what perfect freedom
under God's will could be like.    
Bill W., May 1960
c. 1988AAGrapevine, The Language of the Heart,  p. 302
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Thought to Consider . . .
Sobriety is a choice and a treasure.

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

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

Compensation

From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":

"Shortly after the financial investigation episode, Father Ed Dowling, our Jesuit friend from St. Louis, turned up in New York. Still puzzled, I put the case up to him. He asked, 'Do you think A.A. requires your full-time efforts?' I replied, 'Yes, I think it does, perhaps indefinitely.' Then he inquired, 'Could you become a paid therapist, taking money for Twelfth Step work?' I told him that this issue had been settled long since. Most emphatically I could not, regardless of the consequences, nor could any other A.A. member.

"This meant that Dr. Bob and I must certainly never accept money for Twelfth Step work but that we could be recompensed for special services. We both accepted Father Ed's down-the-middle advice and have stuck by it ever since, and I am glad to say this status for Dr. Bob and me was later accepted as correct in principle by our entire fellowship."

2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 195

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
THE REWARDS OF GIVING

This is indeed the kind of giving that actually demands nothing.  He does not expect his brother sufferer to pay him, or even to love him.  And then he discovers that by the divine paradox of this kind of giving he has found his own reward, whether his brother has yet received anything or not.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 109

Through experience with Twelfth Step work, I came to understand the rewards of giving that demands nothing in return.  At first I expected recovery in others, but I soon learned that this did not happen.  Once I acquired the humility to accept the fact that every Twelfth Step call was not going to result in a success, then I was open to receive the rewards of selfless giving.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Random Quote - The Reality of Spiritual Experiences

"Perhaps you raise the question of hallucination verses the divine imagery of a genuine spiritual experience. I doubt if anyone has authoritatively defined what an hallucination really is. However, it is certain that all recipients of spiritual experiences declare for their reality. The best evidence of that reality is in the subsequent fruits. Those who receive these gifts of grace are very much changed people, almost invariably for the better. This can scarcely be said of those who hallucinate.
"Some might think me presumptuous when I say that my own experience is real. Nevertheless, I can surely report that in my own life and in the lives of countless others, the fruits of that experience have been real, and the benefactions beyond reckoning."

TALK, 1960
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"We know that while the alcoholic keeps away from drink, as he may do
for months or years, he reacts much like other men. We are equally
positive that once he takes any alcohol whatever into his system,
something happens, both in the bodily and mental sense, which makes
it virtually impossible for him to stop. The experience of any
alcoholic will abundantly confirm this."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 22~

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

Our faith should control the whole of our life. We alcoholics were living a divided life. We had to find a way to make it whole. When we were drinking, our lives were made up of a lot of scattered and unrelated pieces. We must pick up our lives and put them together again. We do it by recovering faith in a Divine Principle in the universe that holds us together and holds the whole universe together and gives it meaning and purpose. We surrender our disorganized lives to that Power, we get into harmony with the Divine Spirit, and our lives are made whole again. Is my life whole again?

Meditation for the Day

Avoid fear as you would a plague. Fear, even the smallest fear, is a hacking at the cords of faith that bind you to God. However small the fraying, in time those cords will wear thin, and then one disappointment or shock will make them snap. But for the little fears, the cords of faith would have held firm. Avoid depression, which is allied to fear. Remember that all fear is disloyalty to God. it is a denial of His care and protection.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have such trust in God today that I will not fear anything too greatly. I pray that I may have assurance that God will take care of me in the long run.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Alternatives ^*^*^*^*^ December 19, 2014

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

If you are as seriously alcoholic as we were,
we believe there is no middle-of-the-road solution.
We were in a position where life was becoming impossible,
and if we had passed into the region
from which there is no return through human aid,
we had but two alternatives.
One was to go on to the bitter end,
blotting out the consciousness of our intolerable situation
as best we could, and the other,
to accept spiritual help.
This we did because we honestly wanted to,
and were willing to make the effort.    
c. 1976, 2001AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous,  pp. 25-6
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Thought to Consider . . .

If you always do what you've always done,
you will always be where you've always been.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A B C  = Acceptance, Belief, Change.

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

Simple

From "Freedom from Bondage":

"The A.A. members who sponsored me told me in the beginning that I would not only find a way to live without having a drink, but that I would find a way to live without wanting to drink, if I would do these simple things. They said if you want to know how this program works, take the first word of your question the 'H' is for honesty, the 'O' is for open-mindedness, and the 'W' is for willingness; these our Big Book calls the essentials of recovery."

2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pgs. 549-50

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
UNDERSTANDING THE MALADY

When dealing with an alcoholic, there may be a natural annoyance that a man could be so weak, stupid and irresponsible. Even when you understand the malady better, you may feel this feeling rising.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 139

Having suffered from alcoholism, I should understand the illness, but sometimes I feel annoyance, even contempt, toward a person who cannot make it in A.A. When I feel that way, I am satisfying my false sense of superiority and I must remember, but for the grace of God, there go I.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Random Quote - God's Gifts

We see that the sun never sets upon A.A.'s Fellowship; that more than three hundred and fifty thousand of us have now recovered from our malady; that we have everywhere begun to transcend the formidable barriers of race, creed, and nationality. This assurance that so many of us have been able to meet our responsibilities for sobriety and for growth and effectiveness in the troubled world where we live, will surely fill us with the deepest joy and satisfaction.
But, as a people who have nearly always learned the hard way, we shall certainly not congratulate ourselves. We shall perceive these assets to be God's gifts, which have been in part matched by an increasing willingness on our part to find and do His will for us.

GRAPEVINE, JULY 1965
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"...I humbly offered myself to God, as I then I understood Him, to do
with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and
direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was
nothing; that without Him I was lost. I ruthlessly faced my sins and
became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and
branch."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill's Story, pg. 13~

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

The skeptic and the agnostic say it is impossible for us to find the answer to life. Many have tried and failed. But many more have put aside intellectual pride and have said to themselves: Who am I to say there is no God? Who am I to say there is no purpose in life? The atheist makes a declaration: "The world originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes nowhere." Others live for the moment and do not even think about why they are here or where they are going. They might as well be clams on the bottom of the ocean, protected by their hard shells of indifference. They are going nowhere and they do not care. Do I care where I am going?

Meditation for the Day

We may consider the material world as the clay which the artist works with, to make of it something beautiful or ugly. We need not fear material things, which are neither good nor bad in the moral sense. There seems to be no active force for evil- outside of human beings themselves. Humans alone can have either evil intentions-resentments, malevolence, hate, and revenge-or good intentions-love and goodwill, They can make something ugly or something beautiful out of the clay of their lives.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may make something good out of my life. I pray that I may be a good artisan with the materials that I have been given to use.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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