Sunday, April 07, 2024

Thoughts For The Day~*~Change ^*^*^ April 8



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

^*^*^*^*^
Change


"Let us never fear needed change. Certainly we have to discriminate between changes for worse and changes for better. But once a need becomes clearly apparent in an individual, in a group, or in A.A. as a whole, it has long since been found out that we cannot stand still and look the other way."
Bill W., Box 1980: The A.A. Grapevine, July 1965
As Bill Sees It, p. 115

Thought to Consider . . .

We're responsible for the effort - not the outcome.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

C H A N G E
C
hoosing Honesty Allows New Growth Everyday.


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

Objectivity
Step Four: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

"They comfort the melancholy one by first showing him that his case is not strange or different, that his character defects are probably not more numerous or worse than those of anyone else in A.A. This the sponsor promptly proves by talking freely and easily, and without exhibitionism, about his own defects, past and present. This calm, yet realistic, stocktaking is immensely reassuring. The sponsor probably points out that the newcomer has some assets which can be noted along with his liabilities. This tends to clear away morbidity and encourage balance. As soon as he begins to be more objective, the newcomer can fearlessly, rather than fearfully, look at his own defects."
1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pg. 46

*^Daily Reflections^*

AN INSIDE LOOK


We want to find exactly how, when, and where our natural desires have warped us. We wish to look squarely at the unhappiness this has caused others and ourselves. By discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can move toward their correction.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 43

Today I am no longer a slave to alcohol, yet in so many ways enslavement still threatens  - my self, my desires, even my dreams. Yet without dreams I cannot exist; without dreams there is nothing to keep me moving forward.

I must look inside myself, to free myself I must call upon God's power to face the person I've feared the most, the true me, the person God created me to be. Unless I can or until I do, I will always be running, and never be truly free. I ask God daily to show me such a freedom!

Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.


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

Anger - Personal and Group Enemy


"As the book 'Alcoholics Anonymous' puts it, 'Resentment is the Number One offender,' It is a primary cause of relapses into drinking. How well we of A.A. know that for us 'To drink is eventually to go mad or die.' Much the same penalty overhangs every A.A. group. Given enough anger, both unity and purpose are lost. Given still more 'righteous' indignation, the group can disintegrate; it can actually die. This is why we avoid controversy. This is why we prescribe no punishments for any misbehavior, no matter how grievous. Indeed, no alcoholic can be deprived of his membership for any reason whatever. Punishment never heals. Only love can heal."
LETTER, 1966

*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*


"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, 
More About Alcoholism, Pg. 33 

*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*

A.A. Thought for the Day


Second, alcoholics recover their faith in a Power greater than themselves. They admit that they're helpless by themselves and they call on that Higher Power for help. They surrender their lives to God, as they understand Him. They put their drink problem in God's hands and leave it there. They recover their faith in a Higher Power that can help them. Have I recovered my faith?

Meditation for the Day

You must make a stand for God. Believers in God are considered by some as peculiar people. You must even be willing to be deemed a fool for the sake of your faith. You must be ready to stand aside and let the fashions and customs of the world go by, when God's purposes are thereby forwarded. Be known by the marks that distinguish a believer in God. These are honesty, purity, unselfishness, love, gratitude, and humility.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be ready to profess my belief in God before others. I pray that I may not be turned aside by the skepticism and cynicism of unbelievers.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012


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Saturday, April 06, 2024

Thoughts For The Day~*~Fear ^*^*^ April 7

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

"At heart we had all been abnormally fearful. It mattered little whether we had sat on the shore of life drinking ourselves into forgetfulness or had plunged in recklessly and willfully beyond our depth and ability. The result was the same - all of us had nearly perished in a sea of alcohol."
Bill W., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pp. 123-124

Thought to Consider . . .

I didn't make it all the way to the beach to drown in the sand.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

F E A R

Fools Every Alcoholic Repeatedly


*~JusFoToday~*

Choices
From "The Family Afterward":


"Many alcoholics are enthusiasts. They run to extremes. At the beginning of recovery a man will take, as a rule, one of two directions. He may either plunge into a frantic attempt to get on his feet in business, or he may be so enthralled by his new life that he talks or thinks of little else. In either case certain family problems will arise."
2001 AAWS, Inc. Fourth Edition
Alcoholics Anonymous, pgs. 125-126

*^Daily Reflections^*

A WIDE ARC OF GRATITUDE

And, speaking for Dr. Bob and myself, I gratefully declare that had it not been for our wives, Anne and Lois, neither of us could have lived to see A.A.'s beginning.
THE A.A. WAY OF LIFE, p. 67

Am I capable of such generous tribute and gratitude to my wife, parents and friends, without whose support I might never have survived to reach A.A.'s doors? I will work on this and try to see the plan my Higher Power is showing me which links our lives together.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

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

Self-Respect Through Sacrifice

"At the beginning we sacrificed alcohol. We had to, or it would have killed us. But we couldn't get rid of alcohol unless we made other sacrifices. We had to toss self-justification, self-pity, and anger right out the window. We had to quit the crazy contest for personal prestige and big bank balances. We had to take personal responsibility for our sorry state and quit blaming others for it. Were these sacrifices? Yes, they were. To gain enough humility and self-respect to stay alive at all, we had to give up what had really been our dearest possessions - our ambition and our illegitimate pride."
 A.A. COMES OF AGE, P. 287


*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

"We alcoholics are sensitive people. It takes some of us a long time to outgrow that serious handicap."
Alcoholics Anonymous
4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 125

*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*


A.A. Thought for the Day

In A.A., alcoholics find a way to solve their personality problems. They do this by recovering three things. First, they recover their personal integrity. They pull themselves together. They get honest with themselves and with other people. They face themselves and their problems honestly, instead of running away. They take a personal inventory of themselves to see where they really stand. Then they face the facts instead of making excuses for themselves. Have I recovered my integrity?

Meditation for the Day

When trouble comes, do not say: "Why should this happen to me?" Leave yourself out of the picture. Think of other people and their troubles and you will forget about your own. Gradually get away from yourself and you will know the consolation of unselfish service to others. After a while, it will not matter so much what happens to you. It is not so important any more, except as your experience can be used to help others who are in the same kind of trouble.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may become more unselfish. I pray that I may not be thrown off the track by letting the old selfishness creep back into my life.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012


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Friday, April 05, 2024

Thoughts For The Day~*~Virtues ^*^*^ April 5


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

^*^*^*^*^
Virtues


"We of A.A. are apt sometimes to brag of the virtues of our fellowship. Let us remember that none of these are earned virtues. We have been forced into them, to begin with, by the cruel lash of John Barleycorn. We have adopted these attitudes, these practices, this structure, not at first because we wished to but because we had to. But today I think we stand willing to conform permanently and gladly to the principles which experience, under the grace of God, has taught us."
Bill W., Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 224


Thought to Consider . . .

Unless I accept my virtues, I will be overwhelmed with my faults.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

W H O
Willingness, Honesty, Openmindedness


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

Traditions
From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":

"You will remember that episode back in our living room on Clinton Street. That was the time when my group told me I [Bill W.] could never become an A.A. professional. With nearly every Tradition much the same thing has happened. At first, I obeyed because I had to; I would have lost my standing in A.A. if I had not. After a while I began to obey because I saw that the Traditions were wise and right. While I conformed because it was right to do, I still resisted inwardly.

This was particularly true of anonymity. Today I hope I have come to a time in my A.A. life when I can obey because I really want to obey, because I really want the Traditions for myself as well as for A.A. as a whole."
2001 AAWS, Inc.
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 136

*^Daily Reflections^*

TRUE BROTHERHOOD


We have not once sought to be one in a family, to be a friend among friends, to be a worker among workers, to be a useful member of society. Always we tried to struggle to the top of the heap, or to hide underneath it. This self-centered behavior blocked a partnership relation with any one of those about us. Of true brotherhood we had small comprehension.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 53

This message contained in Step Four was the first one I heard loud and clear; I hadn't seen myself in print before! Prior to my coming into A.A., I knew of no place that could teach me how to become a person among persons. From my very first meeting, I saw people doing just that and I wanted what they had. One of the reasons that I'm a happy, sober alcoholic today is that I'm learning this most important lesson.

Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

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

Spiritual Kindergarten


"We are only operating a spiritual kindergarten in which people are enabled to get over drinking and find the grace to go on living to better effect. Each man's theology has to be his own quest, his own affair."
<<< >>>
"When the Big Book was being planned, some members thought that it ought to be Christian in the doctrinal sense. Others had no objection to the use of the word 'God', but wanted to avoid doctrinal issues. Spirituality, yes. Religion, no. Still others wanted a psychological book, to lure the alcoholic in. Once in, he could take God or leave Him alone as he wished. To the rest of us this was shocking, but happily we listened. Our group conscience was at work to construct the most acceptable and effective book possible. Every voice was playing its appointed part. Our atheists and agnostics widened our gateway so that all who suffer might pass through, regardless of their belief or lack of belief."

1. LETTER, 1954
2. A.A. COMES OF AGE, PP. 162, 163, 167


*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

"Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get well regardless of anyone. The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house."

Alcoholics Anonymous
4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 98


*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*


A.A. Thought for the Day


People often ask what makes the A.A. program work. One of the answers is that A.A. works because it gets people away from themselves as the center of the universe. And it teaches them to rely more on the fellowship of others and on strength from God. Forgetting ourselves in fellowship, prayer, and working with others is what makes the A.A. program work. Are these things keeping me sober?

Meditation for the Day

God is the great interpreter of one human personality to another. Even personalities who are the nearest together have much in their natures that remains a seated book to each other. And only as God enters and controls their lives are the mysteries of each revealed to the other. Each personality is so different. God alone understands perfectly the language of each and can interpret between the two. Here we find the miracles of change and the true interpretation of life.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be in the right relationship to God. I pray that God will interpret to me the personalities of other people, so that I can understand them and help them.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012


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Thursday, April 04, 2024

Thoughts For The Day~*~Sunlight ^*^*^ April 4

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

^*^*^*^*^
Sunlight

"
When the thought was expressed to me that there might be a God personal to me, I didn't like the idea. So my friend Ebby made what then seemed a novel suggestion. 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."
Bill W., Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 12

As Bill Sees It, p. 313

Thought to Consider . . .

Joy isn't the absence of pain - it's the presence of God.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

B E S T
Been Enjoying Sobriety Today?


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

Release
From "On a Winter Day":

"I knew I had to have a new beginning, and this beginning had to be here. I could not start anywhere else. I had to let go of the past and forget the future. As long as I held on to the past with one hand and grabbed at the future with the other hand, I had nothing to hold on to today with. So I had to begin here, now.

The next time I went back to my A.A. group, the 'happy hypocrites' looked different to me. I began to see love in their eyes and greater warmth than I had ever seen before. I mentioned it to my sponsor and he said, 'The reason you see love in these people's eyes is because you are beginning to love them. The love that we see in their eyes is the reflection of our own love. We have got to love to be loved.'"
- Decatur, Georgia

1973 AAWS, Inc.
Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg. 46

*^Daily Reflections^*

CRYING FOR THE MOON


"This very real feeling of inferiority is magnified by his childish sensitivity and it is this state of affairs which generates in him that insatiable, abnormal craving for self-approval and success in the eyes of the world. Still a child, he cries for the moon. And the moon, it seems, won't have him!"
LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 102

While drinking I seemed to vacillate between feeling totally invisible and believing I was the center of the universe. Searching for that elusive balance between the two has become a major part of my recovery. The moon I constantly cried for is, in sobriety, rarely full; it shows me instead its many other phases, and there are lessons in them all. True learning has often followed an eclipse, a time of darkness, but with each cycle of my recovery, the light grows stronger and my vision is clearer.

Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

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

". . . In All Our Affairs
"

"The chief purpose of A.A. is sobriety. We all realize that without sobriety we have nothing. However, it is possible to expand this simple aim into a great deal of nonsense, so far as the individual member is concerned. Sometimes we hear him say, in effect, Sobriety is my sole responsibility. After all, I'm a pretty fine chap, except for my drinking. Give me sobriety, and I've got it made! As long as our friend clings to this comfortable alibi, he will make so little progress with his real life problems and responsibilities that he stands in a fair way to get drunk again. This is why A.A.'s Twelfth Step urges that we 'practice these principles in all our affairs.' We are not living just to be sober; we are living to learn, to serve, and to love."
LETTER, 1966


*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

"It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition."
2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition
Alcoholics Anonymous
Pg. 85 - Into Action

*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*

A.A. Thought for the Day


When I came into A.A., I found men and women who had been through the same things I had been through. But now they were thinking more about how they could help others than they were about themselves. They were a lot more unselfish than I ever was. By coming to meetings and associating with them, I began to think a little less about myself and a little more about other people. I also learned that I didn't have to depend on myself alone to get out of the mess I was in. I could get a greater strength than my own. Am I now depending less on myself and more on God?

Meditation for the Day

You cannot help others unless you understand the person you are trying to help. To understand the problems and temptations of others, you must have been through them yourself. You must do all you can to understand others. You must study their backgrounds, their likes and dislikes, their reactions and their prejudices. When you see their weaknesses, do not confront the person with them. Share your own weaknesses, sins, and temptations and let other people find their own convictions.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may serve as a channel for God's power to come into the lives of others. I pray that I may try to understand them.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012


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You have 2 Other Ways to Participate in Transitions Daily:

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