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(\ ~~~ /)
( \(AA)/ )
(_ /AA\ _)
/AA\
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AA Unity
Though many of us have had to struggle for sobriety,
never yet has this Fellowship had to struggle
for lost unity.
Consequently, we sometimes take this one great gift
for granted.
We forget that, should we lose our unity,
the millions of alcoholics who still "do not know"
might never get their chance.
Bill W., Letter, 1949
c. 1967 AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 297
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Thought to Consider . . .
We can make a difference.
Without you, there is no 'we.'
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A A's - R - U S = Alcoholics Anonymous Recovery Unity Service
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
"Most alcoholics owe money. We do not dodge our creditors. Telling them what we are trying to do, we make no bones about our drinking; they usually know it anyway, whether we think so or not. Nor are we afraid of disclosing our alcoholism on the theory it may cause financial harm. Approached in this way, the most ruthless creditor will sometimes surprise us. ... [W]e let these people know we are sorry. Our drinking has made us slow to pay. We must lose our fear of creditors no matter how far we have to go, for we are liable to drink if we are afraid to face them."
2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 78
OUR PATHS ARE OUR OWN
. . . there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 25
My first attempt at the Steps was one of obligation and necessity, which resulted in a deep feeling of discouragement in the face of all those adverbs: courageously; completely; humbly; directly; and only. I considered Bill W. fortunate to have gone through such a major, even sensational, spiritual experience. I had to discover, as time went on, that my path was my own. After a few twenty-four hours in the A.A. Fellowship, thanks especially to the sharing of members in the meetings, I understood that everyone gradually finds his or her own pace in moving through the Steps. Through progressive means, I try to live according to these suggested principles. As a result of these Steps, I can say today that my attitude towards life, people, and towards anything having to do with God, has been transformed and improved.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Out of Defeat . . . Strength
If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that some day we will be immune to alcohol.
<<<>>>
Such is the paradox of A.A. regeneration: strength arising out of complete defeat and weakness, the loss of one's old life as a condition for finding a new one.
1. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 33 - 2. A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 46
Copyright®1967 Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"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.
I saw that growth could start from that point."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill's Story, pg. 12~
*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day
After I became an alcoholic, alcohol poisoned my love for my family and friends, it poisoned my ambition, it poisoned my self respect. it poisoned my whole life, until I met A.A. My life is happier now than it has been for a long time. I don't want to commit suicide. So with the help of God and A.A., I'm not going to take any more of that alcoholic poison into my system. And I'm going to keep training my mind never even to think of liquor again in any way except as a poison. Do I believe that liquor will poison my life if I ever touch it again?
Meditation for the Day
I will link up my frail nature with the limitless Divine Power. I will link my life with the Divine Force for Good in the world. It is not the passionate appeal that gains the Divine attention as much as the quiet placing of the difficulty and worry in the Divine Hands. So I will trust God like a child who places its tangled skein of wool in the hands of a loving parent to unravel. We please God more by our unquestioning confidence than by imploring Him for help.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may put all my difficulties in God's hands and leave them there. I pray that I may fully trust God to take care of them.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012
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