Saturday, July 25, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~*~The Gift ^*^*^ July 26

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

(\    ~~    /)
(     \(
AA)/     )
(_ /
AA
\ _)
/
AA\

^*^*^*^*^

The Gift

"W
hen asked, 'Are there any conditions?' we joyfully reply, 'No, not a one.' When skeptically he comes back saying, 'But certainly there must be things that I have to do and believe,' we quickly answer, 'In Alcoholics Anonymous there are no musts.' Cynically, perhaps, he then inquires, 'What is all this going to cost me?' We are able to laugh and say, 'Nothing at all, there are no fees and dues.' Thus, in a brief hour, is our friend disarmed of his suspicion and rebellion . . . Alcoholics Anonymous is saying, 'We have something precious to give, if only you will receive.' That is all."
Bill W., February 1948
1988 AA Grapevine
The Language of the Heart, p. 79


Thought to C
onsider . . .

S
obriety is a gift, not a right

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

G I F T S
Getting It From The Steps

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

Stories
From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":

"We had not gone much farther with the text of the book when it was evident that something more was needed. There would have to be a story or case history section. We would have to produce evidence in the form of living proof, written testimonials of our membership itself. It was felt also that the story section could identify us with the distant reader in a way that the text itself might not. At this point Dr. Bob and the Akronites played a vital role. The Akron group was the larger and had more case history material, and the means of putting it into story form now appeared. Two years earlier a former newspaperman, Jim S., had been lifted off skid row and nursed back to health and sobriety. Jim and Dr. Bob went after all the Akronites who had substantial sobriety records for testimonial material. In most cases Jim interviewed the prospects and wrote their stories for them. Dr. Bob wrote his own. By January the Akronites had produced eighteen fine stories."
2001 AAWS, Inc.
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 164

*^Daily Reflections^*

THE "WORTH" OF SOBRIETY


Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS  p. 160


When I go shopping I look at the prices and if I need what I see, buy it and pay. Now that I am supposed to be in rehabilitation, I have to straighten out my life. When I go to a meeting, I take a coffee with sugar and milk, sometimes more than one. But at the collection time, I am either too busy to take money out of my purse, or I do not have enough, but I am there because I need this meeting. I heard someone suggest dropping the price of a beer into the basket, and I thought, that's too much! I almost never give one dollar. Like many others, I rely on the more generous members to finance the Fellowship. I forget that it takes money to rent the meeting room, buy my milk, sugar and cups. I will pay, without hesitation, ninety cents for a cup of coffee at a restaurant after the meeting; I always have money for that. So, how much is my sobriety and my inner peace worth?
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.


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

The Fellowship's Future


"It seems proved that A.A. can stand on its own feet anywhere and under any conditions. It has outgrown any dependence it might once have had upon the personalities or efforts of a few of the older members like me. New, able, and vigorous people keep coming to the surface, turning up where they are needed. Besides, A.A. has reached enough spiritual maturity to know that its final dependence is upon God."
<<< >>>

"Clearly, our first duty to A.A.'s future is to maintain in full strength what we now have. Only the most vigilant caretaking can assure this. Never should we be lulled into complacent self-satisfaction by the wide acclaim and success that are everywhere ours. This is the subtle temptation which could render us stagnant today, perchance disintegrate us tomorrow. We have always rallied to meet and transcend failure and crisis. Problems have been our stimulants. How well, though, shall we be able to meet the problems of success?"
1. LETTER, 1940
2. A.A. TODAY, p. 106


*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

"We think it no concern of ours what religious bodies our members identify themselves with as individuals. This should be an entirely personal affair which each one decides for himself in the light of past associations, or his present choice."
Alcoholics Anonymous 4th Edition
There Is A Solution, pg. 28


*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*

A.A. Thought for the Day


When we come to the end of our lives on earth, we will take no material thing with us. We will not take one cent in our cold, dead hands. The only things that we may take are the things we have given away. If we have helped others, we may take that with us; if we have given of our time and money for the good of A.A., we may take that with us. Looking back over our lives, what are we proud of? Not what we have gained for ourselves, but what few good deeds we have done. Those are the things that really matter in the long run. What will I take with me when I go?

Meditation for the Day

"Hallowed be Thy Name." What does that mean to us? Here "name" is used in the sense of "spirit." The words mean praise to God for His spirit in the world, making us better. We should be especially grateful for God's spirit, which gives us the strength to overcome all that is base in our lives. His spirit is powerful. It can help us to live a conquering, abundant life. So we praise and thank Him for His spirit in our lives and in the lives of others.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be grateful for God's spirit in me. I pray that I may try to live in accordance with it.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012



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Friday, July 24, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~*~New Life ^*^*^ July 25

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

(\    ~~    /)
(     \(
AA)/     )
(_ /
AA\ _)
/
AA\

^*^*^*^*^

New Life

"We die to live. That is a beautiful paradox straight out of the Biblical idea of being "born again" or "in losing one's life to find it." When we work at our Twelve Steps, the old life of guzzling and fuzzy thinking, and all that goes with it, gradually dies, and we acquire a different and a better way of life. As our shortcomings are removed, one life of us dies, and another life of us lives. We in A.A. die to live."
1955 AAWS
2nd edition
Alcoholics Anonymous pp. 341-2


Thought to Consider . . .

L
ife didn't end when I got sober - it started.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

T H I N K
The Happiness I Never Knew

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


Accept My Humanness
From: "A Nourishing Ingredient  

"Where humility had formerly stood for a forced feeding on humble pie, it now begins to mean the nourishing ingredient which can give us serenity."
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions page 74
 

"How often do I focus on my problems and frustrations? When I am having a 'good day' these same problems shrink in importance and my preoccupation with them dwindles. Wouldn't it be better if I could find a key to unlock the 'magic' of my 'good days' for use on the woes of my 'bad days'?

I already have the solution! Instead of trying to run away from my pain and wish my problems away, I can pray for humility! Humility will heal the pain. Humility will take me out of myself. Humility, that strength granted to me by that 'power greater than myself,' is mine for the asking! Humility will bring balance back into my life. Humility will allow me to accept my humanness joyously."
1990, AAWS Inc.
Daily Reflections, page 204

*^Daily Reflections^*

THOSE WHO STILL SUFFER


For us, if we neglect those who are still sick, there is unremitting danger to our own lives and sanity.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 151


I know the torment of drinking compulsively to quiet my nerves and my fears. I also know the pain of white-knuckled sobriety. Today, I do not forget the unknown person who suffers quietly, withdrawn and hiding in the desperate relief of drinking. I ask my Higher Power to give me His guidance and the courage to be willing to be His instrument to carry within me compassion and unselfish actions. Let the group continue to give me the strength to do with others what I cannot do alone.

Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.


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


Praying for Others


"While praying sincerely, we still may fall into temptation. We form ideas as to what we think God's will is for other people. We say to ourselves, 'This one ought to be cured of his fatal malady' or 'That one ought to be relieved of his emotional pain,' and we pray for these specific things. Such prayers, of course, are fundamentally good acts, but often they are based upon a supposition that we know God's will for the person for whom we pray. This means that side by side with an earnest prayer there can be a certain amount of presumption and conceit in us. It is A.A.'s experience that particularly in these cases we ought to pray that God's will, whatever it is, be done for others as well as for ourselves."
TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 104

*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

"On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives."
Alcoholics Anonymous 4th Edition
Into Action, pg. 86


*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*

A.A. Thought for the Day


We are living on borrowed time. We are living today because of A.A. and the grace of God. And what there is left of our lives we owe to A.A. and to God. We should make the best use we can of our borrowed time and in some small measure pay back for that part of our lives which we wasted before we came into A.A. Our lives from now on are not our own. We hold them in trust for God and A.A. And we must do all we can to forward the great movement that has given us a new lease on life. Am I holding my life in trust for A.A.?

Meditation for the Day

You should hold your life in trust for God. Think deeply on what that means. Is anything too much to expect from such a life? Do you begin to see how dedicated a life in trust for God can be? In such a life miracles can happen. If you are faithful, you can believe that God has many good things in store for you. God can be Lord of your life, controller of your days, of your present and your future. Try to act as God guides and leave all results to Him. Do not hold back, but go all out for God and the better life. Make good your trust.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may hold my life in trust for God. I pray that I may no longer consider my life as all my own.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012


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Thursday, July 23, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~*~Self-will ^*^*^ July 24

To Drop a Dollar
in the Virtual Basket Click Here

~A.AThoughtFor The Day~
^*^*^*^*^
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AA)/     )
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Self-will

"T
he 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. Each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show; is forever trying to arrange the lights, the ballet, the scenery and the rest of the players in his own way. If his arrangements would only stay put, if only people would do as he wished, the show would be great. Everybody, including himself, would be pleased. Life would be wonderful."
1976 AAWS
Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 60-1


Thought to C
onsider . . .

I
t's not making a mistake that will kill me. It's defending it that does the damage.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

N U T S
Not Using The Steps


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


Orderly Transfer
From: "When A.A. Came of Age"  

The full attendance of thousands of A.A.'s at St. Louis, representing an accurate cross-section of A.A. opinion, now sat in convention before us. On the auditorium stage was the Service Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous, about a hundred men and women who were the named and chosen representatives of the whole fellowship. The Conference, having completed the fifth year of its experimental period with a record of high success, was no longer an experiment. It was the instrument destined to become the heart of A.A.'s Third Legacy of Service and the whole of A.A.'s conscience, world-wide.

In the simple ceremony that followed, I offered a resolution to the effect that our society should now take its affairs into its own hands and that its Conference ought to become the permanent successor to the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous.  

Amid a roar of acclamation from the floor, the Convention carried that resolution. There was silence, and then we heard Chairman Smith offer the resolution to the Conference for its confirmation. A simple show of hands expressed the consent of the Conference and marked the exact moment when A.A. came of age. It was four o'clock. [July 3, 1955]
1985, AAWS Inc.
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, page 47

*^Daily Reflections^*

HELPING OTHERS


Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 20

Self-centeredness was my problem. All my life people had been doing things for me and I not only expected it but I was ungrateful and resentful they didn't do more. Why should I help others, when they were supposed to help me? If others had troubles, didn't they deserve them? I was filled with self-pity, anger and resentment. Then I learned that by helping others, with no thought of return, I could overcome this obsession with selfishness, and if I understood humility, I would know peace and serenity. No longer do I need to drink.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.


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


Virtue and Self-Deception


"I used to take comfort from an exaggerated belief in my own honesty. My New England kinfolk had taught me the sanctity of all business commitments and contracts, saying, 'A man's word is his bond.' After this rigorous conditioning, business honesty always came easy; I never flim-flammed anyone. However, this small fragment of readily won virtue did produce some interesting liabilities. I never failed to whip up a fine contempt for those of my fellow Wall Streeters who were prone to shortchange their customers. This was arrogant enough, but the ensuing self-deception proved even worse. My prized business honesty was presently converted into a comfortable cloak under which I could hide the many serious flaws that beset other departments of my life. Being certain of this one virtue, it was easy to conclude that I had them all. For years on end, this prevented me from taking a good look at myself."
GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961

The Great Fact


"We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven't got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the great fact for us."
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 164

*~*^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 3rd Edition
We Agnostics, pg. 55

"We have three little mottoes which are apropos.

Here they are:

First Things First
Live and Let Live
Easy Does It."

Alcoholics Anonymous 4th Edition
The Family Afterward, pg. 135


*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*


A.A. Thought for the Day


A.A. is like a dike, holding back the ocean of liquor. If we take one glass of liquor, it is like making a small hole in the dike and once such a hole has been made, the whole ocean of alcohol may rush in upon us. By practicing the A.A. principles we keep the dike strong and in repair. We spot any weakness or crack in that dike and make the necessary repairs before any damage is done. Outside the dike is the whole ocean of alcohol, waiting to engulf us again in despair. Am I keeping the dike strong?

Meditation for the Day


Keep as close as you can to the Higher Power. Try to think, act, live as though you were always in God's presence. Keeping close to a Power greater than yourself is the solution to most of the earth's problems. Try to practice the presence of God in the things you think and do. That is the secret of personal power. It is the thing that influences the lives of others for good. Abide in the Lord and rejoice in His love. Keep close to the Divine Spirit in the universe. Keep God close behind your thoughts.

Prayer for the Day


I pray that I may keep close to the Mind of God. I pray that I may live with Him in my heart and mind.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012


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