AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)October 9, 2024  Remarkable and UnexpectedAlmost any experienced A.A. will tell how his affairs have taken remarkable and unexpected turns for the better as he tried to improve his conscious contact with God. He will also report that out of every season of grief or suffering, when the hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons for living were learned, new resources of courage were uncovered, and that finally, inescapably, the conviction came that God does " ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)October 8, 2024  ExperienceHenry Ford once made a wise remark to the effect that experience is the thing of supreme value in life. That is true only if one is willing to turn the past to good account. We grow by our willingness to face and rectify errors and convert them into assets.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family Afterward) p. 124  Thought to Ponder . . .If you want to change who you are, change what you do.  AA-related 'Alconym'A C T  =   Action ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)October 7, 2024  A Waste of TimeDo not be discouraged if your prospect does not respond at once. Search out another alcoholic and try again. You are sure to find someone desperate enough to accept with eagerness what you offer. We find it a waste of time to keep chasing a man who cannot or will not work with you. If you leave such a person alone, he may soon become convinced that he cannot recover by himself. To spend too much time on any one situation is to deny some ot ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)October 6, 2024  Misuse of WillpowerIt is when we try to make our will conform with God's that we begin to use it rightly. To all of us, this was a most wonderful revelation.Our whole trouble had been the misuse of willpower. We had tried to bombard our problems with it instead of attempting to bring it into agreement with God's intention for us.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Three) p. 40  Thought to Ponder . . .I can't do His will my way.  AA-rela ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)October 5, 2024  Realm of SpiritWe found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (We Agnostics) p. 46  Thought to Ponder . . .Hold your face up to the Light, even though for the moment you do not see.  AA-related 'Alconym'F A I T H  =   For All I Trust Hi ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)October 4, 2024  Like a ThunderboltOur friend’s gorge rose as he bitterly cried out: "If there is a God, He certainly hasn’t done anything for me!’’ But later, alone in his room, he asked himself this question: "Is it possible that all the religious people I have known are wrong?" While pondering the answer he felt as though he lived in hell. Then, like a thunderbolt, a great thought came. It crowded out all else: "Who are you to say there is no God?& ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)October 3, 2024  A Strenuous EffortNext we launched out on a course of vigorous action, the first step of which is a personal housecleaning, which many of us had never attempted. Though our decision was a vital and crucial step, it could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by a strenuous effort to face, and to be rid of, the things in ourselves which had been blocking us. Our liquor was but a symptom. So we had to get down to causes and conditions.- Alco ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)October 2, 2024  First AwakeningI had my first awakening in A.A. The speaker said, "If you’re an apple, you can be the best apple you can be, but you can never be an orange." I was an apple all right, and for the first time I understood that I had spent my life trying to be an orange. I looked around at a room filled with apples and, if I was understanding the speaker, most of them were no longer trying to be oranges.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Window Of Opportuni ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)October 1, 2024  Spiritual TermsDo not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. At the start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with God as we understood Him.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (We Agnostics) p. 47  Thought to Ponder . . .I came; I came to; I came to believe.  AA-related 'Alconym'G O D  =   Good Orderly Direction. ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 30, 2024  Prepare OurselvesThis feeling of being at one with God and man, this emerging from isolation through the open and honest sharing of our terrible burden of guilt, brings us to a resting place where we may prepare ourselves for the following Steps toward a full and meaningful sobriety.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Five) p. 62  Thought to Ponder . . .Once we clear a hurdle, it doesn't seem so high.  AA-related 'Alconym'H O W   ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)September 29, 2024~ Scroll Down for Share ~  In God's HandsWhen we look back, we realize that the things which came to us when we put ourselves in God’s hands were better than anything we could have planned. Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances!- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p. 100  Thought to PonderReliance on God enables me to match calamity with ser ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 28, 2024  Destructive ObsessionsSo far as alcoholics are concerned, A.A. would go even further. Most of us would declare that without a fearless admission of our defects to another human being we could not stay sober. It seems plain that the grace of God will not enter to expel our destructive obsessions until we are willing to try this.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Five) pp. 56 - 57  Thought to Ponder . . .If we skip this vital step, we may ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 27, 2024  Wish To Be HelpfulWe are not an organization in the conventional sense of the word. There are no fees or dues whatsoever. The only requirement for membership is an honest desire to stop drinking. We are not allied with any particular faith, sect or denomination, nor do we oppose anyone. We simply wish to be helpful to those who are afflicted.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Foreward to First Edition) pp. xiii - xiv  Thought to Ponder . . .To be helpful i ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 26, 2024  A Wider MeaningBut when we have taken a square look at some of these defects, have discussed them with another, and have become willing to have them removed, our thinking about humility commences to have a wider meaning. By this time in all probability we have gained some measure of release from our more devastating handicaps. We enjoy moments in which there is something like real peace of mind.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Seven) p. 74 ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 25, 2024  It Really WorkedThere is a solution. Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession 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.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) p. 25  Thought to Ponder . . .We need to uncover to recover.  A ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 24, 2024  Reliance"When we encountered A.A., the fallacy of our defiance was revealed. At no time had we asked what God's will was for us; instead we had been telling Him what it ought to be. No man, we saw, could believe in God and defy Him, too. Belief meant reliance, not; defiance."- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Two) p. 31  Thought to Ponder . . .We had always said, "Grant me my wishes" instead of "Thy will be done. ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 23, 2024  In the StillnessIn all times of emotional disturbance or indecision, we can pause, ask for quiet, and in the stillness simply say: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done."- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Three) pp. 40 - 41  Thought to Ponder . . .Reliance on God enables me to match calamity with serenit ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)September 22, 2024~ Scroll Down for Share ~  The Dark PastShowing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now. Cling to the thought that, in God's hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have—the key to life and happiness for others. With it you can avert death and misery for them.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family Afterward) p. 124  Thought to PonderWe will not regret the past nor wish to sh ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 21, 2024  What an Order!Many of us exclaimed, “What an order! I can’t go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 60  Thought to Ponder . . .We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.  AA-related 'Alconym'A R T ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 20, 2024  The Great FactAsk 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, (A Vision For You) p. 164  Thought to Ponder . . .Trust God ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 19, 2024  A Spiritual AwakeningIn a very real sense he has been transformed, because he has laid hold of a source of strength which, in one way or another, he had hitherto denied himself. He finds himself in possession of a degree of honesty, tolerance, unselfishness, peace of mind, and love of which he had thought himself quite incapable.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Twelve) p. 107  Thought to Ponder . . .The greatest gift that can come to a ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 18, 2024  Prayer and MeditationThose of us who have come to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it than we would refuse air, food, or sunshine. And for the same reason. When we refuse air, light, or food, the body suffers. And when we turn away from meditation and prayer, we likewise deprive our minds, our emotions, and our intuitions of vitally needed support. As the body can fail its purpose for lack of nourishment, so can the soul.- Twelve St ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 17, 2024  Step TenMore experienced people, of course, in all times and places have practiced unsparing self-survey and criticism. For the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching becomes a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) p. 88  Thought to Ponder . . .I can’t fix ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 16, 2024  Making AmendsWe are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that nothing worth while can be accomplished until we do so, never trying to tell him what he should do. His faults are not discussed. We stick to our own. If our manner is calm, frank, and open, we will be gratified with the result.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) pp. 77 - 78  Thought to Ponder . . .It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)September 15, 2024~ Scroll Down for Share ~  AmendsWe have a list of all persons we have harmed and to whom we are willing to make amends. We made it when we took inventory. We subjected ourselves to a drastic self-appraisal. Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the past.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 76  Thought to PonderDon't mess up an amend with an excuse.  AA-related 'Alconym'A A  =  Accountable Actions.  A Me ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 14, 2024  I Am Now WillingWhen ready, we say something like this: "My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen." We have then completed Step Seven.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 76  Thought to Ponder . . .I don ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 13, 2024  Step Six - WillingnessWe have emphasized willingness as being indispensable. Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are objectionable? Can He now take them all—every one? If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 76  Thought to Ponder . . .I can't. God can. I'll ask Him to.  AA-related 'Alconym'S T E P S  =   ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 12, 2024  Step FiveWe will be more reconciled to discussing ourselves with another person when we see good reasons why we should do so. The best reason first: If we skip this vital step, we may not overcome drinking. Time after time newcomers have tried to keep to themselves certain facts about their lives. Trying to avoid this humbling experience, they have turned to easier methods. Almost invariably they got drunk.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) pp. 72 ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 11, 2024  ResentmentsThis was our course: We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick. Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) pp. 66 - 67  Thought to Ponder . . ."God save me from being angry. Thy will ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 10, 2024  The KeystoneFirst of all, we had to quit playing God. It didn’t work. Next, we decided that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director. He is the Principal; we are his agents. He is the Father, and we are His children. Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 62  Thought to Ponder . . .Happiness ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 9, 2024  Faith Without WorksFaith without works was dead, he said. And how appallingly true for the alcoholic! For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead. If he did not work, he would surely drink again, and if he drank, he would surely die. Then faith would be dead indeed. With us it is just like that.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Bill's ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)September 8, 2024~ Scroll Down for Share ~Any LengthIf you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it—then you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 58  Thought to PonderWhat have I been given today? Am ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 7, 2024  One Hundred Percent Hopeless"As to two of you men, whose stories I have heard, there is no doubt in my mind that you were 100% hopeless, apart from divine help. Had you offered yourselves as patients at this hospital, I would not have taken you, if I had been able to avoid it. People like you are too heartbreaking. Though not a religious person, I have profound respect for the spiritual approach in such cases as yours. For most cases, there is vir ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 6, 2024  We Ask GodOn 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 m ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 5, 2024  No Middle-of-the-Road SolutionIf 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. ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 4, 2024I'm sorry for the late arrival of your Daily Thought today. I'll do my best to get it out on time tomorrow.  Hopeless FeatureIf you are satisfied that he is a real alcoholic, begin to dwell on the hopeless feature of the malady. Show him, from your own experience, how the queer mental condition surrounding that first drink prevents normal functioning of the will power.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p. 92  Thought to Ponder . . .We nee ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 3, 2024  Misuse of WillpowerAll of the Twelve Steps require sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to God's will. It is when we try to make our will conform with God's that we begin to use it rightly. To all of us, this was a most wonderful revelation. Our whole trouble had been the misuse of willpower. We had tried to bombard our problems with it instead of attempting to bring it into agreement with God's intentio ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 2, 2024  Resentments and Prayer"Even when you don’t really want it for them and your prayers are only words and you don’t mean it, go ahead and do it anyway. Do it every day for two weeks, and you will find you have come to mean it and to want it for them, and you will realize that where you used to feel bitterness and resentment and hatred, you now feel compassionate understanding and love."- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Freedom From Bondage) p. 552   ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)September 1, 2024  WatchContinue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone. Then we resolutely turn our thoughts to someone we can help. Love and tolerance of others is our code.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 84  Thought to Ponder . . .Patience, tolerance, understanding and love are the watchword ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 31, 2024  His Will and His LifeSo how, exactly, can the willing person continue to turn his will and his life over to the Higher Power? He made a beginning, we have seen, when he commenced to rely upon A.A. for the solution of his alcohol problem. By now, though, the chances are that he has become convinced that he has more problems than alcohol, and that some of these refuse to be solved by all the sheer personal determination and courage he can muster.- Twelve S ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 30, 2024  Happy, Joyous and FreeWe are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free. We cannot subscribe to the belief that this life is a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. But it is clear that we made our own misery. God didn’t do it.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family Afterward) p. 133  Thought to Ponder . . .Happiness and peace of mind are always here, open and free to anyone.  AA-related 'Alconym'F R E E  =   Fo ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 29, 2024  A Genuine RelianceWe could actually have earnest religious beliefs which remained barren because we were still trying to play God ourselves. As long as we placed self-reliance first, a genuine reliance upon a Higher Power was out of the question. That basic ingredient of all humility, a desire to seek and do God's will, was missing.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Seven) p. 72  Thought to Ponder . . .Take a walk with God. He will meet you ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 28, 2024  A Fearless Moral InventoryWhen AA suggests a fearless moral inventory, it must seem to every newcomer that more is being asked of him than he can do. Both his pride and his fear beat him back every time he tries to look inside himself. Pride says, "You need not pass this way," and Fear says, "You dare not look!" But the testimony of AA's who have really tried a moral inventory is that pride and fear of this sort turn out to be bogeyme ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 27, 2024  "Big-shot-ism"Now that we're in A.A. and sober, and winning back the esteem of our friends and business associates, we find that we still need to exercise special vigilance. As an insurance against "big-shot-ism" we can often check ourselves by remembering that we are today sober only by the grace of God and that any success we may be having is far more His success than ours.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) p. 92   ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 26, 2024  The Grace of GodWhen men and women pour so much alcohol into themselves that they destroy their lives, they commit a most unnatural act. Defying their instinctive desire for self-preservation, they seem bent upon self-destruction. They work against their own deepest instinct. As they are humbled by the terrific beating administered by alcohol, the grace of God can enter them and expel their obsession.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Six) p. 64 ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)August 25, 2024~ Scroll Down for Share ~A Spiritual AwakeningWhen a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and resources alone. He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being. He has been set on a path which tells him he is really going somewhere, that life is not a dead end, not something to ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 24, 2024  PainstakingIf we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) pp. 83 - 84  Thought to Ponder . . .We cannot find peace by avoiding life.  AA-related 'Alconym'S T E P  = & ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 23, 2024  The Home Has SufferedSince the home has suffered more than anything else, it is well that a man exert himself there. He is not likely to get far in any direction if he fails to show unselfishness and love under his own roof. We know there are difficult wives and families, but the man who is getting over alcoholism must remember he did much to make them so.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family Afterward) p. 127  Thought to Ponder . . .Right actions eac ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 22, 2024  Bare BeginningIs sobriety all that we are to expect of a spiritual awakening? 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. As 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.- As Bill Sees It, (A New Life) No. 8  Thought to Pon ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 21, 2024  The Big BookIf you have a drinking problem, we hope that you may pause in reading one of the forty-two personal stories and think: “Yes, that happened to me”; or, more important, “Yes, I’ve felt like that”; or, most important, “Yes, I believe this program can work for me too.”- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Preface to Fourth Edition) p. xii  Thought to Ponder . . .If you want to drink, that's your business. If you want to stop AA can help.  AA-related ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 20, 2024  The Inventory Was OursThough a situation had not been entirely our fault, we tried to disregard the other person involved entirely. Where were we to blame? The inventory was ours, not the other man’s. When we saw our faults we listed them. We placed them before us in black and white. We admitted our wrongs honestly and were willing to set these matters straight.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 67  Thought to Ponder . . .The first step in ov ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 19, 2024  The Joy of Good LivingFor it is only by accepting and solving our problems that we can begin to get right with ourselves and with the world about us, and with Him who presides over us all. Understanding is the key to right principles and attitudes, and right action is the key to good living; therefore the joy of good living is the theme of A.A.'s Twelfth Step.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Twelve) p. 125  Thought to Ponder . . .The Thre ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)August 18, 2024~ Scroll Down for Share ~  Lost the Power of ChoiceHe has lost control. At a certain point in the drinking of every alcoholic he passes into a state where the most powerful desire to stop drinking is of absolutely no avail. This tragic situation has already arrived in practically every case long before it is suspected. The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solut ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 17, 2024  Tradition EightAlcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional. We define professionalism as the occupation of counseling alcoholics for fees or hire. But we may employ alcoholics where they are going to perform those services for which we may otherwise have to engage nonalcoholics. Such special services may be well recompensed. But our usual A.A. "12th Step" work is never to be paid for.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Twelve Tradition ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 16, 2024  A Vital PartOutline the program of action, explaining how you made a self-appraisal, how you straightened out your past and why you are now endeavoring to be helpful to him. It is important for him to realize that your attempt to pass this on to him plays a vital part in your own recovery. Actually, he may be helping you more than you are helping him.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p. 94  Thought to Ponder . . .We must give it away to ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 15, 2024  AcceptanceAnd acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation—some fact of my life—unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Acceptance Was The Answer) p. 417  Thought to Ponder . . .My serenity is directly proportional to ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 14, 2024  UnityThus has it been with A.A. By faith and by works we have been able to build upon the lessons of an incredible experience. They live today in the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, which—God willing—shall sustain us in unity for so long as He may need us.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Tradition One) p. 131  Thought to Ponder . . .There is no strength without unity.  AA-related 'Alconym'U S  =   United Spirits. &nbs ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 13, 2024  AmendsAlthough these reparations take innumerable forms, there are some general principles which we find guiding. Reminding ourselves that we have decided to go to any lengths to find a spiritual experience, we ask that we be given strength and direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal consequences may be.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 79  Thought to Ponder . . .It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes an ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 12, 2024  Our Own Willful DesiresWhen we habitually try to manipulate others to our own willful desires, they revolt, and resist us heavily. Then we develop hurt feelings, a sense of persecution, and a desire to retaliate. As we redouble our efforts at control, and continue to fail, our suffering becomes acute and constant. 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.- ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)August 11, 2024~ Scroll Down for Share ~Essential RequirementsMy friend promised when these things were done I would enter upon a new relationship with my Creator; that I would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems. Belief in the power of God, plus enough willingness, honesty and humility to establish and maintain the new order of things, were the essential requirements. Simple, but not easy; a price had to be paid. It meant destruction of self-c ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 10, 2024  Revolutionary ChangeThey flatly declare that since they have come to believe in a Power greater than themselves, to take a certain attitude toward that Power, and to do certain simple things, there has been a revolutionary change in their way of living and thinking. In the face of collapse and despair, in the face of the total failure of their human resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction flowed into them.- Alcoho ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 9, 2024  Intelligence and WillpowerWe are certain that our intelligence, backed by willpower, can rightly control our inner lives and guarantee us success in the world we live in. This brave philosophy, wherein each man plays God, sounds good in the speaking, but it still has to meet the acid test: how well does it actually work? One good look in the mirror ought to be answer enough for any alcoholic.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Three) p. 37  T ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 8, 2024  Actual ExperienceHe gave me information about the subject of alcoholism which was undoubtedly helpful. Of far more importance was the fact that he was the first living human with whom I had ever talked, who knew what he was talking about in regard to alcoholism from actual experience. In other words, he talked my language. He knew all the answers, and certainly not because he had picked them up in his reading.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Doctor Bob's Nightmar ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 7, 2024  Not Dependent Upon PeopleLet 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.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) pp. 99 - 100  Thought to Ponder . . .Dependence on God is our chief source of strength.  AA-related 'A ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 6, 2024  Too Much TimeWe find it a waste of time to keep chasing a man who cannot or will not work with you. If you leave such a person alone, he may soon become convinced that he cannot recover by himself. To spend too much time on any one situation is to deny some other alcoholic an opportunity to live and be happy. One of our Fellowship failed entirely with his first half dozen prospects. He often says that if he had continued to work on them, he might have dep ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 5, 2024  The Elder StatesmanThe elder statesman is the one who sees the wisdom of the group’s decision, who holds no resentment over his reduced status, whose judgment, fortified by considerable experience, is sound, and who is willing to sit quietly on the sidelines patiently awaiting developments.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Tradition Two) p. 135  Thought to Ponder . . ."Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern."  AA ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 4, 2024  Intuitively KnowWe will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us—sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 84  Thought to Ponder . . .What is now proved was once only imagined. ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 3, 2024  Sobriety and SerenitySomeone who knew what he was talking about once remarked that pain was the touchstone of all spiritual progress. How heartily we A.A.'s can agree with him, for we know that the pains of alcoholism had to come before sobriety, and emotional turmoil before serenity.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) pp. 93 - 94  Thought to Ponder . . .We're not living just to be sober; we are living to learn, to serve, and to love. &n ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 2, 2024  Around the WorldTaking advantage of technological advances, for example, A.A. members with computers can participate in meetings online, sharing with fellow alcoholics across the country or around the world. In any meeting, anywhere, A.A.'s share experience, strength, and hope with each other, in order to stay sober and help other alcoholics.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Foreward to the 4th Edition) p. xxiv  Thought to Ponder . . .Modem-to-modem or face-t ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)August 1, 2024  A Psychic ChangeOn the other hand—and strange as this may seem to those who do not understand—once a psychic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to follow a few simple rules.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Doctor's Opinion) p. xxix  Thought to Ponder . . . ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 31, 2024  Our MotivesIn most cases our motives won't be hard to see and understand. When prideful, angry, jealous, anxious, or fearful, we acted accordingly, and that was that. Here we need only recognize that we did act or think badly, try to visualize how we might have done better, and resolve with God's help to carry these lessons over into tomorrow, making, of course, any amends still neglected.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) p. 94  Thought ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 30, 2024  No Monopoly On GodIf he is to find God, the desire must come from within. If he thinks he can do the job in some other way, or prefers some other spiritual approach, encourage him to follow his own conscience. We have no monopoly on God; we merely have an approach that worked with us.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p. 95  Thought to Ponder . . .To thine own self be true.  AA-related 'Alconym'A R T  =   Always Remain Teacha ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 29, 2024  No Effective Mental DefenseOnce 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, (More About Alcoholism) p. 43  Thought to Ponder . . .The ultimate defense against the first drink is a spiritual one.  AA-related 'Alconym'F R O G  =   Fu ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 28, 2024  Three Pertinent IdeasOur description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas: (a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives. (b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism. (c) That God could and would if He were sought.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 60  Thought to Ponder . . .If I can't and God can, am I willing to ask ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 27, 2024  A New EmployerWe had a new Employer. Being all powerful, He provided what we needed, if we kept close to Him and performed His work well. Established on such a footing we became less and less interested in ourselves, our little plans and designs. More and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 63  Thought to Ponder . . .Life will take on new meaning.  AA-related 'Alconym'W I ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 26, 2024  Your Own ConceptionMy 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.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Bill's Story) p. ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 25, 2024  Taking InventoryIf the owner of the business is to be successful, he cannot fool himself about values. We did exactly the same thing with our lives. We took stock honestly. First, we searched out the flaws in our make-up which caused our failure. Being convinced that self, manifested in various ways, was what had defeated us, we considered its common manifestations.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 64  Thought to Ponder . . .Each day, I can as ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 24, 2024  Dry BendersAnger, that occasional luxury of more balanced people, could keep us on an emotional jag indefinitely. These emotional "dry benders" often led straight to the bottle. Other kinds of disturbances—jealousy, envy, self-pity, or hurt pride—did the same thing. A spot-check inventory taken in the midst of such disturbances can be of very great help in quieting stormy emotions.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) p. 90  Thoug ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 23, 2024  PowerIf a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of us would have recovered long ago. But we found that such codes and philosophies did not save us, no matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things with all our might, but the needed power wasn’t there.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (We Agnostics) pp. 44 - 45  Thou ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 22, 2024  Self-DeceptionDespite all we can say, many who are real alcoholics are not going to believe they are in that class. By every form of self-deception and experimentation, they will try to prove themselves exceptions to the rule, therefore nonalcoholic..- Alcoholics Anonymous, (More About Alcoholism) p. 31  Thought to Ponder . . .I would rather go through life sober, believing I am an alcoholic; than go through life drunk, trying to convince myself that ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)July 21, 2024~ Scroll Down for Share ~AngerI know I would never have recovered from violence and alcoholism without A.A.’s 12 Steps, which are uniquely tailored for people like me. Just as importantly I believed I recovered through the grace of a Higher Power, despite the fact I was very angry and wanted nothing to do with God when I arrived in A.A. In fact I did not need to find God. I only needed to open my mind and the spirit found me.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Perpetual ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 20, 2024  Spiritual AwakeningMaybe there are as many definitions of spiritual awakening as there are people who have had them. But certainly each genuine one has something in common with all the others. And these things which they have in common are not too hard to understand. When a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided stren ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 19, 2024  HelpfulnessWhile 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. Your job now is to be at the place where you may be of maximum helpfulness to others, so never hesitate to go anywhere if you can be helpful.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p. 102  Thought to Ponder . . .We're not living just ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 18, 2024  A Continuous LookBut when we approach Step Ten we commence to put our A.A. way of living to practical use, day by day, in fair weather or foul. Then comes the acid test: can we stay sober, keep in emotional balance, and live to good purpose under all conditions? A continuous look at our assets and liabilities, and a real desire to learn and grow by this means, are necessities for us.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) p. 88  Thought to Po ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 17, 2024  Thy Will Be DoneAs we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day "Thy will be done." We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) pp. 87 - 88  Thought to Ponder . . .Nothing pays off lik ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 16, 2024  The Steps We TookWithout help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power—that One is God. May you find Him now! Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon. Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery: . . .- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 59  Thought to Ponder . . .The Steps begin on page 59, the Promises begin on page 83. ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 15, 2024  Suffering From An IllnessIf, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (We Agnostics) p. 44  Thought to Ponder . . .The ultimate defense against the first drink is a spiritual one.  AA-related 'Alconym' ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 15, 2024  Suffering From An IllnessIf, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (We Agnostics) p. 44  Thought to Ponder . . .The ultimate defense against the first drink is a spiritual one.  AA-related 'Alconym' ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 14, 2024  Ceased FightingAnd we have ceased fighting anything or anyone—even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it.- Alcoholics A ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 13, 2024  FaithIn this book you read again and again that faith did for us what we could not do for ourselves. We hope you are convinced now that God can remove whatever self-will has blocked you off from Him. If you have already made a decision, and an inventory of your grosser handicaps, you have made a good beginning.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) pp. 70 - 71  Thought to Ponder . . .If I have the courage to begin, I have the courage to succeed.   ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 12, 2024  Understanding and EffectivenessThis thought brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along. We vigorously commenced this way of living as we cleaned up the past. We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Actio ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 11, 2024  Amends to FamilyAt this first sitting, it is necessary only that we make a general admission of our defects. It may be unwise at this stage to rehash certain harrowing episodes. Good judgment will suggest that we ought to take our time. While we may be quite willing to reveal the very worst, we must be sure to remember that we cannot buy our own peace of mind at the expense of others.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Nine) p. 84  Thought to ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 10, 2024  A Subtle FoeIt 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. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. "How can I best serve Thee—Thy will (not mine) be done."- Alcoholics An ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 9, 2024  The New PrinciplesWhen your prospect has made such reparation as he can to his family, and has thoroughly explained to them the new principles by which he is living, he should proceed to put those principles into action at home. That is, if he is lucky enough to have a home. Though his family be at fault in many respects, he should not be concerned about that. He should concentrate on his own spiritual demonstration.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Oth ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 8, 2024  Our FearsWe reviewed our fears thoroughly. We put them on paper, even though we had no resentment in connection with them. We asked ourselves why we had them. Wasn’t it because self-reliance failed us? Self-reliance was good as far as it went, but it didn’t go far enough. Some of us once had great self-confidence, but it didn’t fully solve the fear problem, or any other.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 68  Thought to Ponder . . .Situations I f ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)July 7, 2024~ Scroll Down for Share ~Change OurselvesWe thought “conditions” drove us to drink, and when we tried to correct these conditions and found that we couldn't to our entire satisfaction, our drinking went out of hand and we became alcoholics. It never occurred to us that we needed to change ourselves to meet conditions, whatever they were.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Four) p. 47  Thought to PonderGod grant that AA may ever stay simple.  AA-r ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 6, 2024  Transformed By HumilityUntil now, our lives have been largely devoted to running from pain and problems. We fled from them as from a plague. We never wanted to deal with the fact of suffering. Escape via the bottle was always our solution. Character-building through suffering might be all right for saints, but it certainly didn't appeal to us. Then, in A.A., we looked and listened. Everywhere we saw failure and misery transformed by humility into priceless ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 5, 2024  Perfect IdealsOnly Step One, where we made the 100 percent admission we were powerless over alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection. The remaining eleven Steps state perfect ideals. They are goals toward which we look, and the measuring sticks by which we estimate our progress.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Six) p. 68  Thought to Ponder . . .Give me the courage to be imperfect.  AA-related 'Alconym'H U M A N  =   ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 4, 2024  Tradition FourThis meant, of course, that we had been given the courage to declare each A.A. group an individual entity, strictly reliant on its own conscience as a guide to action. In charting this enormous expanse of freedom, we found it necessary to post only two storm signals: A group ought not do anything which would greatly injure A.A. as a whole, nor ought it affiliate itself with anything or anybody else.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Traditi ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)July 3, 2024  Spiritual Principles"Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems. I have since been brought into a way of living infinitely more satisfying and, I hope, more useful than the life I lived before. My old manner of life was by no means a bad one, but I would not exchange its best moments for the worst I have now. I would not go back to it even if I could."- Alcoholics Anonymous, (More About Alcoholism) p ...Continue Reading