Thoughts For The Day~*~Children of Chaos^*^*^*^*^ February 15, 2015

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~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Children of Chaos
Over the years, every conceivable deviation
from our Twelve Steps and Traditions has been tried.
That was sure to be,
since we are largely a band of ego-driven individuals.
Children of chaos, we have definitely played
with every brand of fire,
only to emerge unharmed and, we think, wiser.
These very deviations created a vast process
of trial and error which, under the grace of God,
has brought us to where we stand today.
c. 1952 AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,  p. 146
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Thought to Consider . . .

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

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
C H A O S =  Can't Handle Another Overwhelming Situation

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

 

Accept

From "'The Belief Will Come'":

"I don't recall any immediate, dramatic change in my life.  I began rereading the Big Book and the Twelve Steps, and now I found in these much that I had never found before. I didn't reject any of it. I accepted it just as it was written. Nor did I read into it anything that wasn't there.

"Again, nothing changed overnight. But, as time has passed, I have acquired a blind and, yes, childlike faith that, by accepting a God I don't understand and the program of A.A. just as it is written, I can maintain my sobriety one day at a time."

1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30^th printing 2004, pg. 47

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
TAKING ACTION

Are these extravagant promises?  We think not.  They are being fulfilled among us-sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.  They will always materialize if we work for them.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.  84

One of the most important things A.A.  has given me, in addition to freedom from booze, is the ability to take "right action."  It says the promises will always materialize if I work for them.  Fantasizing about them, debating them, preaching about them and faking them just won't work.  I'll remain a miserable, rationalizing dry drunk.  By taking action and working the Twelve Steps in all my affairs, I'll have a life beyond my wildest dreams.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
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~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
True Ambition - and False

We have had a much keener look at ourselves and those about us. We have seen that we were prodded by unreasonable fears or anxieties into making a life business of winning fame, money, and what we thought was leadership. So false pride became the reverse side of that ruinous coin marked "Fear." We simply had to be Number One people to cover up our deep-lying inferiorities.

<<<>>>

True ambition is not what we thought it was. True ambition is the profound desire to live usefully and walk humbly under the grace of God

TWELVE AND TWELVE1. p. 123 - 2. pp. 124-125
Copyright 1967 Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
*~*~*~*~*^ 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

If alcoholism were just a physical allergy, like asthma or hay fever, it would be easy for us, by taking a skin test with alcohol, to find out whether or not we're alcoholics. But alcoholism is not just a physical allergy. It's also a mental allergy or obsession. After we've become alcoholics, we can still tolerate alcohol physically for quite a while, although we suffer a little more after each binge and each time it takes a little longer to get over the hangovers. Do I realize that since I have become an alcoholic, I cannot tolerate alcohol mentally at all?

Meditation for the Day

The world doesn't need super men or women, but supernatural people. People who will turn the self out of their lives and let Divine Power work through them. Let inspiration take the place of aspiration. Seek to grow spiritually, rather than to acquire fame and riches. Our chief ambition should be to be used by God. The Divine Force is sufficient for all the spiritual work in the world. God only needs the instruments for His use. His instruments can remake the world.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be an instrument of the Divine Power. I pray that I may do my share in remaking the world.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Results^*^*^*^*^ February 14, 2015

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 Happy Valentine's Day

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Results
We found that as soon as we were able
to lay aside prejudice
and express even a willingness
to believe in a Power greater than ourselves,
we commenced to get results,
even though it was impossible for any of us
to fully define or comprehend that Power,
which is God.
c. 2001AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous,  p. 46
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Thought to Consider . . .

God seldom becomes a reality
until God becomes a necessity.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
G I F T =  God Is Forever There

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

Overseas

From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":

"Maybe A.A. was just a Yankee gadget that would be no good for Ireland, England, Holland, Scandinavia, Australia, and the Pacific. Since their countries were so different, maybe their alcoholics were different too. 'Will A.A. work in our cultures"' they asked. We became heavily involved in correspondence, much helped by our American members in New York who could translate for us. We searched out and briefed A.A. travelers going abroad. Gradually headway was made. It was a long time, however, before we knew for sure that A.A. could cross the barriers of distance, race, creed, and language. But today [1957], the A.A. map shows our society in more than seventy countries and the U.S. possessions."

2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 200;

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
EXPECTATIONS  vs. DEMANDS

Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get well regardless of anyone.  The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.  98

Dealing with expectations is a frequent topic at meetings.  It isn't wrong to expect progress of myself, good things from life, or decent treatment from others.  Where I get into trouble is when my expectations become demands.  I will fall short of what I wish to be and situations will go in ways I do not like, because people will let me down sometimes.  The only question is: "What am I going to do about it?"  Wallow in self-pity or anger; retaliate and make a bad situation worse; or will I trust in God's power to bring blessings on the messes in which I find myself?  Will I ask Him what I should be learning; do I keep on doing the right things I know how to do, no matter what; do I take time to share my faith and blessings with others?

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

Today, the vast majority of us welcome any new light that can be thrown on the alcoholic's mysterious and baffling malady. We welcome new and valuable knowledge whether it issues from a test tube, from a psychiatrist's couch, or from revealing social studies. We are glad of any kind of education that accurately informs the public and changes its age-old attitude toward the drunk.
More and more we regard all who labor in the total field of alcoholism as our companions on a march from darkness into light. We see that we can accomplish together what we could never accomplish in separation and in rivalry.

GRAPEVINE, MARCH 1958
Copyright®1967 Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc

*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*
"We are careful never to show intolerance or hatred of drinking as
an institution. Experience shows that such an attitude is not
helpful to anyone. Every new alcoholic looks for this spirit among
us and is immensely relieved when he finds we are not witch-burners.
A spirit of intolerance might repel alcoholics whose lives could
have been saved, had it not been for such stupidity."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 103~

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

After that first drink, we had a single track mind. It was like a railroad train. The first drink started it off and it kept going on the single track until it got to the end of the line, drunkenness. We alcoholics knew this was the inevitable result when we took the first drink, but still we couldn't keep away from liquor. Our willpower was gone. We had become helpless and hopeless before the power of alcohol. It's not the second drink or the tenth drink that does the damage. It's the first drink. Will I ever take that first drink again?

Meditation for the Day

I must keep a time apart with God every day. Gradually I will be transformed mentally and spiritually. It is not the praying so much as just being in God's presence. The strengthening and curative powers of this I cannot understand, because such knowledge is beyond human understanding, but I can experience them. The poor, sick world would be cured if every day each soul waited before God for the inspiration to live aright. My greatest spiritual growth occurs in this time apart with God.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may faithfully keep a quiet time apart with God. I pray that I may grow spiritually each day.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Carry the Message ^*^*^*^*^ February 13, 2015

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~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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/AA\
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Carry the Message
Taking advantage of technological advances,
AA members with computers
can participate in meetings online,
sharing with fellow alcoholics across the country
or around the world.
Fundamentally, though, the difference
between an electronic meeting
and the home group around the corner
is only one of format. 
In any meeting, anywhere, AA's share experience,
strength, and hope with each other,
in order to stay sober and help other alcoholics. 
Modem-to-modem or face-to-face,
AA's speak the language of the heart
in all its power and simplicity.
c. 2001AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, Foreword to Fourth Edition, p. xxiv
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Thought to Consider . . .

We in AA don't carry the alcoholic;
we carry the message.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H E A R T =  Healing, Enjoying, And Recovering, Together.
* * *
F A I T H = Finding Answers In  The  Heart

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

Rewards

From "He Lived Only to Drink":

"The rewards of sobriety are bountiful and as progressive as the disease they counteract. Certainly among these rewards for me are release from the prison of uniqueness, and the realization that participation in the A.A. way of life is a blessing and privilege beyond estimate' a blessing to live a life free from the pain and degradation of drinking and filled with the joy of useful, sober living, and a privilege to grow in sobriety one day at a time and bring the message of hope as it was brought to me."

2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 451

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
WE CAN'T THINK OUR WAY SOBER

To the intellectually self-sufficient man or woman, many A.A.'s can say, "Yes, we were like you -- far too smart for our own good . . .  Secretly, we felt we could float above the rest of the folks on our brain power alone."

AS BILL SEES IT, p.  60

Even the most brilliant mind is no defense against the disease of alcoholism.  I can't think my way sober.  I try to remember that intelligence is a God-given attribute that I may use, a joy -- like having a talent for dancing or drawing or carpentry.  It does not make me better than anyone else, and it is not a particularly reliable tool for recovery, for it is a power greater than myself who will restore me to sanity -- not a high IQ or a college degree.

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

"Too much of my life has been spent in dwelling upon the faults of others. This is a most subtle and perverse form of self-satisfaction, which permits us to remain comfortably unaware of our own defects. Too often we are heard to say, 'If it weren't for him (or her), how happy I'd be!'"

<<<>>>

Our very first problem is to accept our present circumstances as they are, ourselves as we are, and the people about us as they are. This is to adopt a realistic humility without which no genuine advance can even begin. Again and again, we shall need to return to that unflattering point of departure. This is an exercise in acceptance that we can profitably practice every day of our lives.
Provided we strenuously avoid turning these realistic surveys of the facts of life into unrealistic alibis for apathy or defeatism, they can be the sure foundation upon which increased emotional health and therefore spiritual progress can be built.

1. LETTER, 1966 - 2. GRAPEVINE, MARCH 1962
Copyright 1967 Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"'There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which
is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in
everlasting ignorance, that principle is contempt prior to
investigation.'"

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Appendice II, Spiritual
Experience, pg. 568~

*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*

A.A. Thought for the Day

Sometimes we can't help thinking: Why can't we ever drink again? We know it's because we're alcoholics, but why did we have to get that way? The answer is that at some time in our drinking careers, we passed what is called our "tolerance point." When we passed this point, we passed from a condition in which we could tolerate alcohol to a condition in which we could not tolerate it at all. After that, if we took one drink, we would sooner or later end up drunk. When I think of liquor now, do I think of it as something that I can never tolerate again?

Meditation for the Day

In a race, it is when the goal is in sight that heart and nerves and muscles and courage are strained almost to the breaking point. So with us. The goal of the spiritual life is in sight. All we need is the final effort. The saddest records are made by people who ran well, with brave, stout hearts, until the sight of the goal and then some weakness or self indulgence held them back. They never knew how near the goal they were or how near they were to victory.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may press on until the goal is reached. I pray that I may not give up in the final stretch.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Faith ^*^*^*^*^ February 12, 2015

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*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*
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Faith
We had seen spiritual release,
but liked to tell ourselves it wasn't true.
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.
c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 55
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Thought to Consider . . .

We found the Great Reality deep down within us.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F A I T H =  Found Always In Trusting Him.

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

HP?

Step Two: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

"'You can, if you wish, make A.A. itself your "higher power." Here's a very large group of people who have solved their alcohol problem. In this respect they are certainly a power greater than you, who have not even come close to a solution. Surely you can have faith in them. Even this minimum of faith will be enough. You will find many members who have crossed the threshold just this way. All of them will tell you that, once across, their faith broadened and deepened. Relieved of the alcohol obsession, their lives unaccountably transformed, they came to believe in a Higher Power, and most of them began to talk of God.'"

1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005; Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pgs. 27-28

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
"THE ROOT OF OUR TROUBLES"

Selfishness -- self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.  62

How amazing the revelation that the world, and everyone in it, can get along just fine with or  without me.  What a relief to know that people, places and things will be perfectly okay without my control and direction.  And how wordlessly wonderful to come to believe that a power greater than me exists separate and apart from myself.  I believe that the feeling of separation I experience between me and God will one day vanish.  In the meantime, faith must serve as the pathway to the center of my life.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
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~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
How Much Anonymity?

As a rule, the average newcomer wanted his family to know immediately what he was trying to do. He also wanted to tell others who had tried to help him - his doctor, his minister, and close friends. As he gained confidence, he felt it right to explain his new way of life to his employer and business associates. When opportunities to be helpful came along, he found he could talk easily about A.A. to almost anyone.
These quiet disclosures helped him to lose his fear of the alcoholic stigma, and spread the news of A.A.'s existence in his community. Many a new man and woman came to A.A. because of such conversations. Since it is only at the top public level that anonymity is expected, such communications were well within its spirit.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, pp. 185-186
Copyright 1967 Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually
sick. Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these
disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. We asked God to
help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we
would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended we said
to ourselves, 'This is a sick man. How can I be helpful to him? God
save me from being angry. Thy will be done.'"

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 66~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

As we look back on all those troubles we used to have when we were drinking, the hospitals, the jails, we wonder how we could have wanted that kind of a life. As we look back on it now, we see our drinking life as it really was and we're glad we're out of it. So after a few months in A.A., we find that we can honestly say that we want something else more than drinking. We've learned by experience that a sober life is really enjoyable and we wouldn't go back to the old drunken way of living for anything in the world. Do I want to keep sober a lot more than I want to get drunk?

Meditation for the Day

My spiritual life depends on an inner consciousness of God. I must be led in all things by my consciousness of God and I must trust Him in all things. My consciousness of God will always bring peace to me. I will have no fear, because a good future lies before me as long as I keep my consciousness of God. if in every single happening, event, and plan I am conscious of God, then no matter what happens, I will be safe in God's hands.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may always have this consciousness of God. I pray for a new and better life through this God consciousness.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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