Thoughts For The Day~*~Help * * *September 26, 2006

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
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  /AA\
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Help
*  *  *
"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. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 25-6
^*^*^*^*^

Thought to Consider . . .

The spiritual life is not a theory.
We have to live it.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H E L P =  Hope, Encouragement, Love, Patience

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

Prudence

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

"We cannot, for example, unload a detailed account of extramarital adventuring upon the shoulders of an unsuspecting wife or husband. And even in those cases where such a matter must be discussed, let's try to avoid harming third parties, whoever they may be. It does not lighten our burden when we recklessly make the crosses of others heavier."

© 1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005; Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pg. 86

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
OUR CHILDREN

The alcoholics may find it hard to re-establish friendly relations with his children . . . In time they will see that he is a new man and in their own way they will let him know it . . . From that point on, progress will be rapid.  Marvelous results often follow such a reunion.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 134

While on the road to recovery I received a gift that could not be purchased.  It was a card from my son in college, saying, "Dad, you can't imagine how glad I am that everything is okay.  Happy  Birthday, I love you."  My son had told me that he loved me before.  It had been during the previous Christmas holidays, when he had said to me, while crying, "Dad, I love you!  Can't you see what you're doing to yourself?"  I couldn't.  Choked with emotion, I had cried, but this time, when I received my son's card, my tears were of joy, not desperation.

©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 ^*~*~*~*~*
"Perhaps there is a better way--we think so. For we are now on a
different basis; the basis of trusting and relying upon God. We
trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. We are in the
world to play the role He assigns. Just to the extent that we do as
we think He would have us, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us
to match calamity with serenity."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 68~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

Continuing the consideration of the term "spiritual experience":
"The acquiring of an immediate and overwhelming God-consciousness,
resulting in a dramatic transformation, though frequent, is by no
means the rule. Most of our spiritual experiences Are of the
educational variety, and they develop slowly over a period of time.
Quite often friends of newcomers are aware of the difference long
before they are themselves. They finally realize that they have
undergone a profound alteration in their reaction to life and that
such a change could hardly have been brought about by themselves
alone." Is my outlook on life changing for the better?

Meditation for the Day

Look at the world as your Father's house. Think of all people you
meet as guests in your Father's house, to be treated with love and
consideration. Look at yourself as a servant in your Father's house,
as a servant of all. Think of no work as beneath you. Be ever ready
to do all you can for others who need your help. There is gladness
in God's service. There is much satisfaction in serving the highest
that you know. Express your love for God in service to all who are
living with you in your Father's house.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may serve others out of gratitude to God. I pray that
my work may be a small repayment for His grace so freely given me.

©Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012©

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Defects ^*^*^*^*^ September 25, 2006

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

"What we must recognize now is that we exult
in some of our defects.
We really love them.
Who, for example, doesn't like to feel just a little superior
to the next fellow, or even quite a lot superior?
Isn't it true that we like to let greed
masquerade as ambition?
To think of liking lust seems impossible.
But how many men and women speak love with their lips,
and believe what they say,
so that they can hide lust in a dark corner of their minds?
And even while staying within conventional bounds,
many people admit that their imaginary sex excursions
are apt to be all dressed up as dreams of romance."
c. 1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pp. 66-7
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Thought to Consider . . . 

If I want God to remove my character defects,
I'll have to stop doing them.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
T I M E =  Things I Must Earn

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

Socializing

From "Working with Others":

"If you are with a person who wants to eat in a bar, by all means go along. Let your friends know they are not to change their habits on your account. At a proper time and place explain to all your friends why alcohol disagrees with you. If you do this thoroughly, few people will ask you to drink. While you were drinking, you were withdrawing from life little by little. Now you are getting back into the social life of this world. Don't start to withdraw again just because your friends drink liquor."

© 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 102

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
FIRST THINGS FIRST

Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: Job or no job - wife or no wife - we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 98

Before coming to A.A., I always had excuses for taking a drink:  "She said. . .," "He said. . .," "I got fired yesterday,"  "I  got a great job today."  No area of my life could be good if I  drank again.   In sobriety my life gets better each day. I must always remember not to drink, to trust God, and to stay active in A.A.  Am I putting anything before my sobriety, God, and A.A.  today?

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Those Other People

"Just like you, I have often thought myself the victim of what other people say and do. Yet every time I confessed the sins of such people, especially those whose sins did not correspond exactly with my own, I found that I only increased the total damage. My own resentment, my self-pity would often render me well-nigh useless to anybody.
"So, nowadays, if anyone talks of me so as to hurt, I first ask myself if there is any truth at all in what they say. If there is none, I try to remember that I too have had my periods of speaking bitterly of others; that hurtful gossip is but a symptom of our remaining emotional illness; and consequently that I must never be angry at the unreasonableness of sick people.
"Under very trying conditions I have had, again and again, to forgive others - also myself. Have you recently tried this?"

LETTER, 1946
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"...with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a
spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely
grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings
we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity
of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to
die."

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

Let us consider the term "spiritual experience" as given in Appendix II of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. "A spiritual experience is something that brings about a personality change. By surrendering our lives to God as we understand Him, we are changed. The nature of this change is evident in recovered alcoholics. This personality change is not necessarily in the nature of a sudden and spectacular upheaval. We do not need to acquire an immediate and overwhelming God consciousness, followed at once by a vast change in feeling and outlook. In most cases, the change is gradual." Do I see a gradual and continuing change in myself?

Meditation for the Day

"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." For rest from the care of life, you can turn to God each day in prayer and communion. Real relaxation and serenity come from a deep sense of the fundamental goodness of the universe. God's everlasting arms are underneath all and will support you. Commune with God, not so much for petitions to be granted as for the rest that comes from relying on His will and His purposes for your life. Be sure of God's strength available to you, be conscious of His support, and wait quietly until that true rest from God fills your being.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be conscious of God's support today. I pray that I may rest safe and sure therein.

©Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012©

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Willingness ^*^*^*^*^ September 24, 2006

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

"My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea.
He said, 'Why don't you choose your own
conception of God?'
That statement hit me hard.
It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadow
I had lived and shivered many years.
I stood in the sunlight at last.
It was only a matter of being willing to believe
in a Power greater than myself.
Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning."
c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 12
^*^*^*^*^

Thought to Consider . . .

The peaks and valleys of my life
have become gentle rolling hills.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
W H O = Willingness, Honesty, Openmindedness

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

From "Getting out of the 'if' trap:"

"We have to stay sober no matter how life treats
us, no matter whether nonalcoholics appreciate
our sobriety or not.  We have to keep our
sobriety independent of everything else, not
entangled with any people, and not hedged in by
any possible cop-outs or conditions.
"Over and over, we have found we cannot stay
sober long just for the sake of wife, husband,
children, lover, parents, other relative, or friend,
nor for the sake of a job, nor to please a boss
(or doctor or judge or creditor) -- not for
ANYONE other than ourselves.

c. 1975, Living Sober, page 64
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
VIGILANCE

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.  If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 33

Today I am an alcoholic. Tomorrow will be no different.  My alcoholism lives within me now and forever. I must never forget what I am.  Alcohol will surely kill me if I fail to recognize and acknowledge my disease on a daily basis. I am not playing a game in which a loss is a temporary setback. I am dealing with my disease, for which there is no cure, only daily acceptance and vigilance.

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

As excuse-makers and rationalizers, we drunks are champions. It is the business of the psychiatrist to find the deeper causes for our conduct. Though uninstructed in psychiatry, we can, after a little time in A.A., see that our motives have not been what we thought they were, and that we have been motivated by forces previously unknown to us. Therefore we ought to look, with the deepest respect, interest, and profit, upon the example set us by psychiatry.

<<<>>>

"Spiritual growth through the practice of A.A.'s Twelve Steps, plus the aid of a good sponsor, can usually reveal most of the deeper reasons for our character defects, at least to a degree that meets our practical needs. Nevertheless, we should be grateful that our friends in psychiatry have so strongly emphasized the necessity to search for false and often unconscious motivations."

1. A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 236 - 2. LETTER, 1966
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that we
be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be
given whatever we need to take care of such problems. We ask
especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no
request for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if
others will be helped. We are careful never to pray for our own
selfish ends. Many of us have wasted a lot of time doing that and it
doesn't work."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 87~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

Let us continue with Step Twelve. We must practice these principles in all our affairs. This part of the twelfth step must not be overlooked. It is the carrying on of the whole program. We do not just practice these principles in regard to our drinking problem. We practice them in all our affairs. We do not give one compartment of our lives to God and keep the other compartments to ourselves. We give our whole lives to God and we try to do His will in every respect. "Herein lies our growth, herein lies all the promise of the future, an ever-widening horizon." Do I carry the AA. principles with me wherever I go?

Meditation for the Day

"Lord, to whom shall we go but to Thee? Thou hast the words of eternal life." The words of eternal life are the words from God controlling your true being, controlling the real spiritual you. They are the words from God which are heard by you in your heart and mind when these are wide open to His spirit. These are the words of eternal life which express the true way you are to live. They say to you in the stillness of your heart and mind and soul: "Do this and live."

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may follow the dictates of my conscience. I pray that I may follow the inner urging of my soul.

©Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012©

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Thoughts For The Day~*~Awakening ^*^*^*^*^September 23, 2006

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

"Is sobriety all that we are to expect of a spiritual awakening?
Again, the voice of AA speaks up.
No, sobriety is only a bare beginning,
it is only the first gift of the first awakening.
If more gifts are to be received, our awakening has to go on.
And if it does go on, we find that bit by bit
we can discard the old life
-- the one that did not work --
for a new life that can and does work
under any conditions whatever.
Regardless of worldly success or failure,
regardless of pain or joy,
regardless of sickness or health or even of death itself,
a new life of endless possibilities can be lived
if we are willing to continue our awakening."
Bill W., December 1957
c. 1988AAWS, The Language of the Heart,  p. 234
^*^*^*^*^

Thought to Consider . . .

The task ahead of us is never as great
as the Power behind us.

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

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
 

Happy, Healthier

From "Letting go of old ideas:"

 

"We found out that ANYBODY who has trouble
of any sort related to drinking may have the condition
called 'alcoholism'....When we could look, even
temporarily, at just a few new ideas different from
our old ones, we had already begun to make a sturdy
start toward a happy, healthier new life.  It happened
just that way to thousands and thousands of us who
deeply believed it never could."

 

c. 1998, Living Sober - pages 72 & 73

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
"I WAS AN EXCEPTION"

He [Bill W.] said to me, gently and simply, "Do you think that you
are one of us?"
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 413

During my drinking life I was convinced I was an exception. I
thought I was beyond petty requirements and had the right to be
excused. I never realized that the dark counterbalance of my
attitude was the constant feeling that I did not "belong." At
first, in A.A., I identified with others only as an alcoholic.
What a wonderful awakening for me it has been to realize that,
if human beings were doing the best they could, then so was I!
All of the pains, confusions and joys they feel are not
exceptional, but part of my life, just as much as anybody's.

©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©

*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Give Thanks

Though I still find it difficult to accept today's pain and anxiety with any great degree of serenity - as those more advanced in the spiritual life seem able to do - I can give thanks for present pain nevertheless.
I find the willingness to do this by contemplating the lessons learned from past suffering - lessons which have led to the blessings I now enjoy. I can remember how the agonies of alcoholism, the pain of rebellion and thwarted pride, have often led me to God's grace, and so to a new freedom.

GRAPEVINE, MARCH 1962
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"We do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you can
quickly diagnose yourself, Step over to the nearest barroom and try
some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it
more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are
honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters
if you get a full knowledge of your condition."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 31~

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

Step Twelve is, "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of
these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to
practice these principles in all our affairs." Note that the basis
of our effectiveness in carrying the message to others is the reality
of our own spiritual awakening. If we have not changed, we cannot be
used to change others. To keep this program, we must pass it on to
others. We cannot hoard it for ourselves. We may lose it unless we
give it away. It cannot flow into us and stop; it must continue to
flow into us as it flows out to others. Am I always ready to give
away what I have learned in A.A.?

Meditation for the Day

"Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you." When you are
faced with a problem beyond your strength, you must turn to God by
an act of faith. It is that turning to God in each trying situation
that you must cultivate. The turning may be one of glad thankfulness
for God's grace in your life. Or your appeal to God may be a prayerful
claiming of His strength to face a situation and finding that you have
it when the time comes. Not only the power to face trials, but also
the comfort and joy of God's nearness and companionship are yours for
the asking.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may try to draw near to God each day in prayer. I pray
that I may feel His nearness and His strength in my life.

©Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012©

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