AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) August 6, 2026  A Change On 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 Pond ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) August 5, 2026  A Power Greater . . . once having formed the habit and found they cannot break it, once having lost their self-confidence, their reliance upon things human, their problems pile up on them and become astonishingly difficult to solve. Frothy emotional appeal seldom suffices. The message which can interest and hold these alcoholic people must have depth and weight. In nearly all cases, their ideals must be grounded in a power greater than thems ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) August 4, 2026  One of the Facts We know that little good can come to any alcoholic who joins A.A. unless he has first accepted his devastating weakness and all its consequences. Until he so humbles himself, his sobriety—if any—will be precarious. Of real happiness he will find none at all. Proved beyond doubt by an immense experience, this is one of the facts of A.A. life. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step One) p. 21  Thought to Ponder . . . ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) August 3, 2026  Progress But all who are in the least reasonable will agree upon one point: that there is plenty wrong with us alcoholics about which plenty will have to be done if we are to expect sobriety, progress, and any real ability to cope with life. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Four) p. 48  Thought to Ponder . . . Serenity is not the absence of conflict but the ability to cope with it.   AA-related 'Alconym' F A I T H &nb ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) August 2, 2026  A Spiritual Awakening Is 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   ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) August 1, 2026  Humility Another great dividend we may expect from confiding our defects to another human being is humility—a word often misunderstood. To those who have made progress in A.A., it amounts to a clear recognition of what and who we really are, followed by a sincere attempt to become what we could be. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Five) p. 58  Thought to Ponder . . . Learning is the very essence of humility; the two walk han ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) July 31, 2026  A Ladder No one who drank as I did wakes up on the edge of the abyss one morning and says: Things look pretty scary; I think I’d better stop drinking before I fall in. I was convinced I could go as far as I wanted, and then climb back out when it wasn’t fun anymore. What happened was, I found myself at the bottom of the canyon thinking I’d never see the sun again. A.A. didn’t pull me out of that hole. It did give me the tools to construct a ladder ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) July 30, 2026  The Past Whatever is done is over. It cannot be changed. But my attitude about it can be changed through talking with those who have gone before and with sponsors. I can wish the past never was, but if I change my actions in regard to what I have done, my attitude will change. I won't have to wish the past away. I can change my feelings and attitudes, but only through my actions and the help of my fellow alcoholics. - Daily Reflections, p. 141 ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) July 29, 2026  Willingness All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs to develop the quality of willingness. When he acquires willingness, he is the only one who can make the decision to exert himself. Trying to do this is an act of his own will. All of the Twelve Steps require sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to God's will. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Three) p. 40 &nbs ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) July 28, 2026  You Will Be Free He said, in effect: “If you have a resentment you want to be free of, if you will pray for the person or the thing that you resent, you will be free.. . . 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." - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Freedom From Bondage) ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) July 27, 2026  First Steps But upon entering A.A. we soon take quite another view of this absolute humiliation. We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness finally turn out to be firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful lives may be built. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step One) p. 21  Thought to Ponder . . . Sometimes God lets you ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) July 26, 2026  Personal Relationships Steps Eight and Nine are concerned with personal relationships. First, we take a look backward and try to discover where we have been at fault; next we make a vigorous attempt to repair the damage we have done; and third, having thus cleaned away the debris of the past, we consider how, with our newfound knowledge of ourselves, we may develop the best possible relations with every human being we know. - Twelve Steps and Tw ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) July 25, 2026 I'm sorry for the very late arrival of your Daily Thought today. Demands Each of us would like to live at peace with himself and with his fellows. We would like to be assured that the grace of God can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We have seen that character defects based upon shortsighted or unworthy desires are the obstacles that block our path toward these objectives. We now clearly see that we have been making unreasonable demands u ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) July 24, 2026  Carry The Message “Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers.” The unique ability of each A.A. to identify himself with, and bring recovery to, the newcomer in no way depends upon his learning, eloquence, or on any special individual skills. The only thing that matters is that he is an alcoholic who has found a key to sobriety. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Tradition Five) pp. 150-151 ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) July 23, 2026  Self-Deception By every form of self-deception and experimentation, they will try to prove themselves exceptions to the rule, therefore nonalcoholic. If anyone who is showing inability to control his drinking can do the right-about-face and drink like a gentleman, our hats are off to him. Heaven knows, we have tried hard enough and long enough to drink like other people! - Alcoholics Anonymous, (More About Alcoholism) p. 31  Thought to P ...Continue Reading