Thoughts For The Day~*~Discipline ^*^*^ October 23

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~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~
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Discipline

"Unless each AA member follows to the best of his ability our suggested Twelve Steps to recovery, he almost certainly signs his own death warrant. His drunkenness and dissolution are not penalties inflicted by people in authority; they result from his personal disobedience to spiritual principles. . .Great suffering and great love are AA's disciplinarians; we need no others."
c.1952AAWS
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 174

Thought to Consider . . .

"We alcoholics are undisciplined. 
So we let God discipline us . . ."

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

C A R D S = 

Call your sponsor,
 Ask for help from your Higher Power,
Read the Big Book,
Do the Twelve Steps,
Stay active in your group.

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

No Spiritual Angle

From: "AA and St. Thomas Hospital"

  In later years, the AA ward opened into the gallery of the chapel, which patients could visit at any time in hospital attire. What could be more conducive to the regeneration of the whole person spiritually, mentally, and morally than five to seven days spent in an institution where the spiritual atmosphere prevails? Sister Ignatia said. 

She naturally put more emphasis on the spiritual than many others. However, she felt that Dr. Bob shared her views on this emphasis. There was one thing that always irritated Doctor, she said. Some people who were on the program for a length of time would come up to him and say, I don't get the spiritual angle. I heard him say time and again, There is no spiritual angle. It's a spiritual program.
1980 AAWS Inc.
DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, page 194

*^Daily Reflections^*

WHAT WE KNOW BEST

"Shoemaker, stick to thy last!" . . . better do one thing supremely well than many badly. That is the central theme of this Tradition [Five].  Around it our Society gathers in unity.  The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of this principle.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 150

The survival of A.A. depends upon unity.  What would happen if a group decided to become an employment agency, a treatment center or a social service agency?  Too much specialization leads to no specialization, to frittering of efforts and, finally, to decline.  I have the qualifications to share my sufferings and my way of recovery with the newcomer.  Conformity to A.A.'s primary purpose insures the safety of the wonderful gift of sobriety, so my responsibility is enormous.  The life of millions of alcoholics is closely tied to my competence in "carrying the message to the still-suffering alcoholic."
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*

Daily Inventory

Often, as we review each day, only the closest scrutiny will reveal what our true motives were. There are cases where our ancient enemy rationalization has stepped in and has justified conduct which was really wrong. The temptation here is to imagine that we had good motives and reasons when we really hadn't. We "constructively criticized" someone who needed it, when our real motive was to win a useless argument. Or, the person concerned not being present, we thought we were helping others to understand him, when in actuality our true motive was to feel superior by pulling him down. We hurt those we loved because they needed to be "taught a lesson," but we really wanted to punish. We were depressed and complained we felt bad, when in fact we were mainly asking for sympathy and attention.
TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 94

*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

"...the actual or potential alcoholic, with hardly an exception, will be absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of self knowledge. This is a point we wish to emphasize and re-emphasize, to smash home upon our alcoholic readers as it has been revealed to us out of bitter experience."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition
More About Alcoholism, pg. 39

*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*

A.A. Thought for the Day

Third, I have learned how to be honest. What a relies No more ducking or dodging. No more tall tales. No more pretending to be what I am not. My cards are on the table for all the world to see. "I am what I am," as Popeye used to say in the comics. I have had an unsavory past. I am sorry, yet. But it cannot be changed now. All that is yesterday and is done. But now my life is an open book. Come and look at it, if you want to. I'm trying to do the best I can. I will fail often, but I won't make excuses. I will face things as they are and not run away. Am I really honest?

Meditation for the Day

Though it may seem a paradox, we must believe in spiritual forces which we cannot see more than in material things which we can see, if we are going to truly live. In the last analysis, the universe consists more of thought or mathematical formulas than it does of matter as we understand it. Between one human being and another only spiritual forces will suffice to keep them in harmony. These spiritual forces we know, because we can see their results although we cannot see them. A changed life-a new personality-results from the power of unseen spiritual forces working in us and through us.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may believe in the Unseen. I pray that I may be convinced by the results of the Unseen which I do see.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Amends ^*^*^ October 22

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~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~
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Amends

"This is a very large order. It is a task which we may perform with increasing skill, but we never really finish. Learning how to live in the greatest peace, partnership, and brotherhood with all men and women, of whatever description, is a moving and fascinating adventure. Every AA has found that he can make little headway in this new adventure of living until he first backtracks and really makes an accurate and unsparing survey of the human wreckage he has left in his wake."
c.1952AAWS
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 77

Thought to Consider . . .

It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

T I M E  =  Things I Must Earn

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

Message that Transcends

From: "Window of Opportunity"  

I was fortunate to have an opportunity to spend time abroad during law school. That was something I had dreamed of doing while drinking, but when push came to shove, I drank. Now sober, I have been in meetings in probably a dozen countries and have always been amazed at the message that transcends all linguistic and cultural differences. There is a solution. Together, we can live soberly, joyously, and freely. 
2001 AAWS Inc.
Alcoholics Anonymous, page 430

*^Daily Reflections^*

TRUE TOLERANCE

Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see what real love for our fellows actually means.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 92

The thought occurred to me that all people are emotionally ill to some extent.  How could we not be?  Who among us is spiritually perfect?  Who among us is physically perfect?  How could any of us be emotionally perfect?  Therefore, what else are we to do but bear with one another and treat each other as we would be treated in similar circumstances?  That is what love really is.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*

Praying Rightly

We thought we had been deeply serious about religious practices. However, upon honest appraisal we found that we had been most superficial. Or sometimes, going to extremes, we had wallowed in emotionalism and had also mistaken this for true religious feeling. In both cases, we had been asking something for nothing. We had not prayed rightly. We had always said, "Grant me my wishes," instead of "Thy will be done." The love of God and man we understood not at all. Therefore we remained self-deceived, and so incapable of receiving enough grace to restore us to sanity.
TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 32

*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

"We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: 'Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.' Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition
More About Alcoholism, pg. 33

*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*

A.A. Thought for the Day

Second, I am content to face the rest of my life without alcohol. I have made the great decision once and for all. I have surrendered as gracefully as possible to the inevitable. I hope I have no more reservations. I hope that nothing can happen to me now that would justify my taking a drink. No death of a dear one. No great calamity in any area of my life should justify me in drinking. Even if I were on some desert isle, far from the rest of the world, but not far from God, should I ever feel it right to drink. For me, alcohol is out-period. I will always be safe unless I take that first drink. Am I fully resigned to this fact?

Meditation for the Day

Day by day we should slowly build up an unshakable faith in a Higher Power and in that Power's ability to give us all the help we need. By having these quiet times each morning, we start each day with a renewing of our faith, until it becomes almost a part of us and is a strong habit. We should keep furnishing the quiet places of our souls with all the furniture of faith. We should try to fill our thoughts each day with all that is harmonious and good, beautiful and enduring.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may build a house in my soul for the spirit of God to dwell in. I pray that I may come at last to an unshakable faith.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Humility ^*^*^ October 21

~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~
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Humility

"The attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of AA's Twelve Steps. For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all. Nearly all AA's have found, too, that unless they develop much more of this precious quality than may be required just for sobriety, they still haven't much chance of becoming truly happy. Without it, they cannot live to much useful purpose, or, in adversity, be able to summon the faith that can meet any emergency."
c.1952AAWS
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 70

Thought to Consider . . .

I didn't learn humility with my head. I learned humility with my heart.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

T R U S T  =  Try Relying Upon Steps and Traditions

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

Forthright and Generous

Step Nine: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.  

As soon as we begin to feel confident in our new way of life and have begun, by our behavior and example, to convince those about us that we are indeed changing for the better, it is usually safe to talk in complete frankness with those who have been seriously affected, even those who may be only a little or not at all aware of what we have done to them. The only exceptions we will make will be cases where our disclosure would cause actual harm. These conversations can begin in a casual or natural way. But if no such opportunity presents itself, at some point we will want to summon all our courage, head straight for the person concerned, and lay our cards on the table. We needn't wallow in excessive remorse before those we have harmed, but amends at this level should always be forthright and generous. 
1981 AAWS Inc.
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pages 85-86

*^Daily Reflections^*

NOTHING GROWS IN THE DARK

We will want the good that is in us all, even in the worst of us, to flower and to grow.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 10

With the self-discipline and insight gained from practicing Step Ten, I begin to know the gratifications of sobriety -- not as mere abstinence from alcohol, but as recovery in every department of my life.

I renew hope, regenerate faith, and regain the dignity of self-respect. I discover the word "and" in the phrase "and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it."

Reassured that I am no longer always wrong, I learn to accept myself as I am, with a new sense of the miracles of sobriety and serenity.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*

Love + Rationality = Growth

"It seems to me that the primary object of any human being is to grow, as God intended, that being the nature of all growing things. "Our search must be for what reality we can find, which includes the best definition and feeling of love that we can acquire. If the capability of loving is in the human being, then it must surely be in his Creator.
<<<< >>>>
"Theology helps me in that many of its concepts cause me to believe that I live in a rational universe under a loving God, and that my own irrationality can be chipped away, little by little. This is, I suppose, the process of growth for which we are intended."
LETTER, 1958

*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

"To be gravely affected, one does not necessarily have to drink a long time nor take the quantities some of us have. This is particularly true of women. Potential female alcoholics often turn into the real thing and are gone beyond recall in a few years."
Alcoholics Anonymous 4th Edition
More About Alcoholism, pg. 33

*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*

A.A. Thought for the Day

Now that we have considered the obligations of real, working members of A.A., let us examine what the rewards are that have come to us as a result of our new way of living. First, I understand myself more than I ever did before. I have learned what was the matter with me and I know now a lot of what makes me tick. I will never be alone again. I am just one of many who have the illness of alcoholism and one of many who have learned what to do about it. I am not an odd fish or a square peg in a round hole. I seem to have found my right place in the world. Am I beginning to understand myself?

Meditation for the Day

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will remain with him and him with me." The knocking of God's spirit, asking to come into your life, is due to no merit of yours, though it is in response to the longing of your heart. Keep a listening ear, an ear bent to catch the sound of the gentle knocking at the door of your heart by the spirit of God. Then open the door of your heart and let God's spirit come in.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may let God's spirit come into my heart. I pray that it may fill me with an abiding peace.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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