AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)
July 3, 2013
~ Scroll Down for Share ~
Fear
I no longer pray to have my fear removed.
Today, I pray that my love grow bigger than my fear,
and that my humility becomes greater than my shame.
The AA Grapevine, May, 1999
Thought to Ponder . . .
A fear faced is a fear erased.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
F E A R = Face Everything And Recover.
A Member Shares:
Hiya, AA Family, I'm Peyton, a grateful alcoholic. Back when I was drinking, everything was a reason or justification to drink. And then, it became I drank because I had to; I did not have a choice. That scared me, but not enough. My drinking got worse and worse -- that progressive part of this disease. My actions when drunk got a lot worse and I spent much of my waking hours in an alcoholic blackout. The next day, I would hear what I'd done to hurt someone I loved, friends and others the day or night before. I was ashamed; embarrassed. But that wasn't enough to stop me drinking, either. It kept getting worse and worse. Finally, I tried to stop drinking, and as described in the Big Book, I tried switching poisons, where, when, and who I drank with. I failed completely from the start of each attempt. When I had enough clarity of mind to think about it a bit, the thought of getting sober scared me to death. All I knew was being an active drunken mess of an alkie. How the heck would I cope? What would I do for fun? In truth, the fun had been gone a long, long time. But that's how my sick head thought. How could I possibly make it not drinking for the rest of my life? I feared sobriety because I didn't know what it would be like. I thought it was to be this miserable, horrid existence -- conveniently forgetting it was a miserable horrid existence drinking. I'm grateful that one day that fear of continuing to drink got a bit stronger than that fear of getting sober. I reached out for help. I really did think you all were crazy -- laughing, carrying on with fun. I mean, come on! This not drinking was a serious and sad business! I found out that wasn't true either. As I began working the Steps guided by my sponsor, stayed close to AA, opened up and shared with others, listened, talked to God, read the Big Book, sober life began feeling pretty good. I still remember the amazement on that very first day of sobriety. You all told me, “Just hang on and don't drink today. If you don't think you can do that for the whole day, do it for half, or an hour, a minute, a second. Just don't drink today.” I got up the next morning, sober, without alcohol for 24 hours for the first time in a very long time. Life is going to happen -- some good things, some bad. Today though, just for today, I don't have to run to that bottle to try to cope with it. I have God, the Steps of this program, and all of you to help me through it. Did I fear sobriety? Oh yeah, no doubt. Do I fear it now? No Way! I love being sober today, being able to make better choices, being able to honestly care for other people, to becoming some of the person I want to be. It's pretty daggone amazing, a true miracle. Thanks for letting me share.
To respond to the sharer, please email DTShare@aa-alive.org and it will be forwarded to them.
(All shares are reproduced with the kind permission of the person sharing)
Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hope in carrying the AA message.
Blessings in sobriety to all,
In love and service,
joanna b
dailythought@aa-alive.org
Our NEW Daily Thoughts Discussion Meeting Board is NOW OPEN!
Please join us at: http://dailythought.aa-alive.org
AA-Alive Online Meetings at:
http://www.aa-alive.net
8:00 AM Daily
2:00 PM Daily
8:00 PM Daily
11:00 PM Daily
(all times in Eastern Time)
All are welcome to attend!
This email is sent in the spirit of fellowship and service. Although the email server is automated, the list is maintained by real people and mistakes may occur ... amends will be made promptly. If you have received it in error, we are sorry, we have no intent to offend anyone. If this message was forwarded by someone other than dailythought@aa-alive.org, please reply to the person sending the mail.
To contact the Daily Thought editor, send an email to: dailythought@aa-alive.org
** Trademarks and Disclaimer **
Alcoholics Anonymous, AA, and the Big Book are registered trademarks of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. The AA Daily Thought is neither endorsed by, approved by, associated nor affiliated with, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., or The AA Grapevine, Inc.
Disclaimer: The Daily Thought is meant for domestic distribution only and for countries where it is in public domain.
Subscription Reminder: You're Subscribed to:
Daily Thought
using the address:
example@example.com
From:
dailythought@aa-alive.org
Manage Your Subscription »
or,
Unsubscribe Automatically »