~*~Step Eleven Group~*~: 8/16/20

Saturday, August 22, 2020

During the Pandemic

~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~

^*^*^*^*^
(\ ~~ /)
( \(AA)/ )
(_ /AA\ _)
/AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Solution

"There is a solution. Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confessions of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation. But we saw that it really worked in others, and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet. We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed."
1976 AAWS
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 25

Thought to Consider . . .

The solution is simple. The solution is spiritual.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

H O P E
Heart Open; Please Enter.

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

Serenity

From "Happiness":

"The second tenet of the Serenity Prayer is too frequently slurred over. I am constantly amazed at the number of so-called obstacles I have overcome after giving them a second look, mustering what meager resources I have, then taking the hoe in hand.

Serenity to me, therefore, is the absence of insoluble conflict. And it is up to me first to determine whether, after an honest look at myself, I can cope with the problem, then to decide whether it is to be tackled, passed over to another day, or dismissed forever."
New Hartford, New York, USA
1973 AAWS Inc.
Came to Believe, 30^th printing 2004, pg. 111

*^Daily Reflections^*

BRINGING THE MESSAGE HOME

Can we bring the same spirit of love and tolerance into our sometimes deranged family lives that we bring to our A.A. group?
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 111-112

My family members suffer from the effects of my disease. Loving and accepting them as they are - just as I love and accept A.A. members - fosters a return of love, tolerance and harmony to my life. Using common courtesy and respecting other's personal boundaries are necessary practices for all areas of my life.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

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

Looking for Lost Faith

Any number of A.A.'s can say, "We were diverted from our childhood faith. As material success began to come, we felt we were winning at the game of life." This was exhilarating, and it made us happy. "Why should we be bothered with theological abstractions and religious duties, or with the state of our souls, here or hereafter? The will to win should carry us through. But then alcohol began to have its way with us. Finally, when all our score cards read 'zero,' and we saw that one more strike would put us out of the game forever, we had to look for our lost faith. It was in A.A. that we rediscovered it."
TWELVE AND TWELVE, pp. 28-29

*~*^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 who have accepted the A.A. principles have been faced with the necessity for a thorough personal housecleaning. We must face and be rid of the things in ourselves that have been blocking us. We therefore take a personal inventory. We take stock honestly. We search out the flaws in our make-up that caused our failure. Resentment is the number-one offender. Life that includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. If we are to live, we must be free of anger." Am I free of resentment and anger?

Meditation for the Day

Keep in mind the goal you are striving for, the good life you are trying to attain. Do not let little things divert you from the path. Do not be overcome by the small trials and vexations of each day. Try to see the purpose and plan to which all is leading. If, when climbing a mountain, you keep your eyes on each stony or difficult place, how weary is your climb. But if you think of each step as leading to the summit of achievement from which a glorious landscape will open out before you, then your climb will be endurable and you will achieve your goal.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may realize that life without a goal is futile. I pray that I may find the good life worth striving for.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Friday, August 21, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~~Guidance ^^*^ August 22

Click Here For

Recovery Resources

During the Pandemic

~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~
^*^*^*^*^
(\ ~~ /)
( \(AA)/ )
(_ /AA\ _)
/AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Guidance

"I am a firm believer in both guidance and prayer. But I am fully aware, and humble enough, I hope, to see there may be nothing infallible about my guidance. The minute I figure I have got a perfectly clear pipeline to God, I have become egotistical enough to get into real trouble. Nobody can cause more needless grief than a power-driver who thinks he's got it straight from God."
Bill W. Letter 1950
1967 AAWS As Bill Sees It p. 38

Thought to Consider . . .

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

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

F E A R
Frantic Efforts to Appear Recovered

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

Only One Tool

From: "Availing yourself of a sponsor"

An A.A. sponsor is not a professional caseworker or counselor of any sort. A sponsor is not someone to borrow money from, nor get clothes, jobs, or food from. A sponsor is not a medical expert, nor qualified to give religious, legal, domestic or psychiatric advice, although a good sponsor is usually willing to discuss such matters confidentially, and often can suggest where the appropriate professional assistance can be obtained.

A sponsor is simply a sober alcoholic who can help solve only one problem: how to stay sober. And the sponsor has only one tool to use - personal experience, not scientific wisdom.

Sponsors have been there, and often have more concern, hope, compassion, and confidence for us than we have for ourselves. They certainly have had more experience. Remembering their own condition, they reach out to help, not down.
1998 AAWS Inc.
Living Sober page 27

*^Daily Reflections^*

SEEKING EMOTIONAL STABILITY

When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would. If we really depended upon God, we couldn't very well play God to our fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS p. 116

All my life I depended on people for my emotional needs and security, but today I cannot live that way anymore. By the grace of God, I have admitted my powerlessness over people, places and things. I had been a real "people addict"; wherever I went there had to be someone who would pay some kind of attention to me. It was the kind of attitude that could only get worse, because the more I depended on others and demanded attention, the less I received. I have given up believing that any human power can relieve me of that empty feeling. Although I remain a fragile human being who needs to work A.A. Steps to keep this particular principle before my personality, it is only a loving God who can give me inner peace and emotional stability.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES INC.

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

Freed Prisoners
Letter to a prison group:

"Every A.A. has been, in a sense, a prisoner. Each of us has walled himself out of society; each has known social stigma. The lot of you folks has been even more difficult: In your case, society has also built a wall around you. But there isn't any really essential difference, a fact that practically all A.A.'s now know. Therefore, when you members come into the world of A.A. on the outside, you can be sure that no one will care a fig that you have done time. What you are trying to be - not what you were - is all that counts with us."
<<< >>>
"Mental and emotional difficulties are sometimes very hard to take while we are trying to maintain sobriety. Yet we do see, in the long run, that transcendence over such problems is the real test of the A.A. way of living. Adversity gives us more opportunity to grow than does comfort or success."
1. LETTER 1949
2. LETTER 1964

*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

"Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family back. This just isn't so. In some cases the wife will never come back for one reason or another. Remind the prospect that his recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his relationship with God. We have seen men get well whose families have not returned at all. We have seen others slip when the family came back too soon."
Alcoholics Anonymous 4th Edition
Working With Others pg. 99

*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*

A.A. Thought for the Day

"Those who do not recover are people who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault. They seem to be born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living that demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover, if they have the capacity to be honest." Am I completely honest with myself and with other people?

Meditation for the Day

You can make use of your mistakes, failures, losses, and sufferings. It is not what happens to you so much as what use you make of it. Take your sufferings, difficulties, and hardships and make use of them to help some unfortunate soul who is faced with the same troubles. Then something good will come out of your suffering and the world will be a better place because of it. The good you do each day will live on, after the trouble and distress have gone, after the difficulty and the pain have passed away.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may make good use of my mistakes and failures. I pray that some good may result from my painful experiences.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Thursday, August 20, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~~Fear ^^*^ August 21

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During the Pandemic

To Drop a Dollar
in the Virtual Basket
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~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~
^*^*^*^*^
(\ ~~ /)
( \(AA)/ )
(_ /AA\ _)
/AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Fear

"The practice of A.A.'s Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions in our personal lives also brought incredible releases from fear of every description, despite the wide prevalence of formidable personal problems. When fear did persist, we knew it for what it was, and under God's grace we became able to handle it. We began to see each adversity as a God-given opportunity to develop the kind of courage which is born of humility, rather than bravado. Thus we were enabled to accept ourselves, our circumstances, and our fellows."
Bill W., January 1962
1988 AA Grapevine
The Language of the Heart, p. 268

Thought to Consider . . .

Courage is the willingness to accept fear and act anyway.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

F E A R
Fools Every Alcoholic Repeatedly

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

Bill's Adolescent Depression

From: "Chapter One"

With the onset of depression, his academic performance dropped. "The upshot was that I failed German and, for that reason, could not graduate. Here I was, president of my senior class . . . and they wouldn't give me a diploma! My mother arrived, extremely angry, from Boston. A stormy scene took place in the principal's office. Still, I didn't get that diploma."

He failed to graduate with his class (although school records now list him with the group). Following a summer of agonizing depression, he went to live with his mother near Boston and completed makeup work that qualified him for college.

What had caused Bill to change from high achiever to a helpless depressive? As he saw it, the major problem was that he could no longer be Number One. "I could not be anybody at all. I could not win, because the adversary was death. So my life, I thought, had ended then and there."
1984 AAWS Inc.
Pass It On, pgs 36-37

*^Daily Reflections^*

WE JUST TRY

My stability came out of trying to give, not out of demanding that I receive.
THE BEST OF BILL, pgs 46-47

As long as I try, with all my heart and soul, to pass along to others what has been passed along to me, and do not demand anything in return, life is good to me. Before entering this program of Alcoholics Anonymous I was never able to give without demanding something in return. Little did I know that, once I began to give freely of myself, I would begin to receive, without ever expecting or demanding anything at all. What I receive today is the gift of "stability", as Bill did; stability in my A.A. program; within myself; but most of all, in my relationship with my Higher Power, whom I choose to call God.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

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

Everyday Living

"The A.A. emphasis on personal inventory is heavy because a great many of us have never really acquired the habit of accurate self-appraisal. Once this healthy practice has become a habit, it will prove so interesting and profitable that the time it takes won't be missed. For these minutes and often hours spent in self-examination are bound to make all the other hours of our day better and happier. At length, our inventories become a necessity of everyday living, rather than something unusual or set apart."
TWELVE AND TWELVE pgs 89-90

*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

"In dealing with resentments, we set them on paper. We listed people, institutions or principles with whom we were angry. We asked ourselves why we were angry. In most cases it was found that our self-esteem, our pocketbooks, our ambitions, our personal relationships, (including sex) were hurt or threatened."
Alcoholics Anonymous 4th Edition
How It Works, pg 64

*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*

A.A. Thought for the Day

"Who are you to say there is no God? This challenge comes to all of us. Are we capable of denying that there is a design and purpose in all of life as we know it? Or are we willing to admit that faith in some kind of Divine Principle is a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend? We find a great Reality deep down within us, if we face ourselves as we really are. In the last analysis, it is only there that God may be found. When we find this Reality within us, we are restored to our right minds." Have I found the great Reality?

Meditation for the Day

"Behold, I make all things new." When you change to a new way of life, you leave many things behind you. It is only the earth-bound spirit that cannot soar. Loosen somewhat the strands that tie you to the earth. It is only the earthly desires that bind you. Your new freedom will depend on your ability to rise above earthly things. Clipped wings can grow again. Broken wings can regain a strength and beauty unknown before. If you will, you can be released and free.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be freed from things that hold me down. I pray that my spirit may soar in freedom.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~~Newcomers ^^*^ August 20

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During the Pandemic

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our list of Recovery Podcasts!

~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~

^*^*^*^*^
(\ ~~ /)
( \(AA)/ )
(_ /AA\ _)
/AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Newcomers

"Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny. May God bless you and keep you - until then."
1976 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 164

Thought to Consider . . .

Newcomers are the lifeblood of the program. But our oldtimers are the arteries.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

A B C
Acceptance, Belief, Change

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

Impatient

From: "Gutter Bravado"

Still very impatient, I wanted the whole deal right away. That's why I related so well to the story about a wide-eyed new person and an oldtimer. When the newcomer approached the oldtimer, envying his accomplishments and many years of sobriety, the oldtimer slapped down his hand like a gavel and said, "I'll trade you even! My thirty years for your thirty days - right now!" He knew what the newcomer had yet to find out: that true happiness is found in the journey, not the destination.
2001 AAWS Inc.
Alcoholics Anonymous, pages 510-511

*^Daily Reflections^*

TOWARD EMOTIONAL FREEDOM

Since defective relations with other human beings have nearly always been the immediate cause of our woes, including our alcoholism, no field of investigation could yield more satisfying and valuable rewards than this one.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.80

Willingness is a peculiar thing for me in that, over a period of time, it seems to come, first with awareness, but then with a feeling of discomfort, making me want to take some action. As I reflected on taking the Eighth Step, my willingness to make amends to others came as a desire for forgiveness, of others and myself. I felt forgiveness toward others after I became aware of my part in the difficulties of relationships. I wanted to feel the peace and serenity described in the Promises. From working the first seven Steps, I became aware of whom I had harmed and that I had been my own worst enemy. In order to restore my relationships with my fellow human beings, I knew I would have to change. I wanted to learn to live in harmony with myself and others so that I could also live in emotional freedom. The beginning of the end to my isolation - from my fellows and from God - came when I wrote my Eighth Step list.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

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

The Value of Human Will

"Many newcomers, having experienced little but constant deflation, feel a growing conviction that human will is of no value whatever. They have become persuaded, sometimes rightly so, that many problems besides alcohol will not yield to a headlong assault powered only by the individual's will. However, there are certain things which the individual alone can do. All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs to develop the quality of willingness. When he acquires willingness, he is the only one who can then make the decision to exert himself along spiritual lines. Trying to do this is actually an act of his own will. It is a right use of this faculty. Indeed, all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps require our sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to God's will."
TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 40

*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

"Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power."
Alcoholics Anonymous 4th Edition
More About Alcoholism, pg. 43

*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*

A.A. Thought for the Day

"When many hundreds of people are able to say that the consciousness of the presence of God is today the most important fact of their lives, they present a powerful reason why one should have faith. When we see others solve their problems by simple reliance upon some Spirit of the universe, we have to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work, but the God-idea does. Deep down in every man, woman, and child is the fundamental idea of God. Faith in a Power greater than ourselves and miraculous demonstrations of that power in our lives are facts as old as the human race." Am I willing to rely on the Spirit of the universe?

Meditation for the Day

You should not dwell too much on the mistakes, faults, and failures of the past. Be done with shame and remorse and contempt for yourself. With God's help, develop a new self-respect. Unless you respect yourself, others will not respect you. You ran a race, you stumbled and fell, you have risen again, and now you press on toward the goal of a better life. Do not stay to examine the spot where you fell, only feel sorry for the delay, the shortsightedness that prevented you from seeing the real goal sooner.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not look back. I pray that I may keep picking myself up and making a fresh start each day.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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~~Step Eleven Group~~

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~~Solution ^^*^ August 23

Friday, August 21, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~~Guidance ^^*^ August 22

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~~Fear ^^*^ August 21

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~~Newcomers ^^*^ August 20

Followers

Blog Archive

Contributors

~*~Step Eleven Group~*~

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~*~Solution ^*^*^ August 23

Friday, August 21, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~*~Guidance ^*^*^ August 22

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~*~Fear ^*^*^ August 21

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Thoughts For The Day~*~Newcomers ^*^*^ August 20

Followers

Blog Archive

Contributors

~~Step Eleven Group~~

Thoughts For The Day~~Solution ^^*^ August 23

Thoughts For The Day~~Guidance ^^*^ August 22

Thoughts For The Day~~Fear ^^*^ August 21

Thoughts For The Day~~Newcomers ^^*^ August 20