AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

February 5, 2023
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Daily Reprieve
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. 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 Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 85
 

Thought to Ponder
The alcoholic is in no greater peril than when he takes sobriety for granted.
 

AA-related 'Alconym'
A A  =  Action Always.

A Member Shares:
I'm Eddy and I'm an alcoholic. It's easy to fall back into old ways of thinking and it's easy to go backwards in recovery. For myself I have found if I am not going forward in an active way, I regress in my recovery. Sometimes it's as easy as hitting my knees often. Sometimes it's just coming in here and chairing. But outside of the rooms, how do I live the program? That's the question I run into when I think about the topic of complacency. I often get scared and I get mad too and these emotions unchecked, unstopped, can stop me in my tracks. It's happened before. So I'll share with you one of the instances. I had gone to treatment for alcoholism. Again I was court ordered to go. I wanted the program but I didn't want to tell anyone what bad things I had done. I was scared of the judgement that came with it in my mind's eye. What a great platform for alcohol to come and destroy my life again. Ultimately I wasn't willing to leap yet, but I wasn't going to move at all. I didn't chair, didn't share, I didn't read the Big Book, I didn't have a sponsor. Ultimately I didn't have sobriety. My fears kept me drinking and my anger at others and my resentments were not helping either. By the time I found you all here in this room, I was so spiritually bankrupt and lost that I didn't think I could come to the rooms. I thought God hated me if he even existed. I thought I was doomed. But that's where this program started for me. I wanted to be free and I couldn't do that for myself. I was 41 years old and a total loss of everything and everyone in my life, with the risk of losing my wife and kids kept me coming in every day. And I started listening to the shares in here before I stopped drinking and took the before mentioned leap. Today I find that as long as I'm leaping every day, I get another reprieve. I have become zealous about the program, God and this new life I have because of AA and God. So I reach out to people. I chair and help when I can. But each day I set out to do the next right thing, to think of ways to love like God loves me. I too bought books to replace my not so good materials. I seek the friendships and relationships in the rooms. I am blessed everyday with my reflection smiling back at me in the mirror instead of crying in it. Complacency for me has been caused by my fears and anger, so as I took the steps God made them go away a bunch. Not all the way or I wouldn't be human. But enough that I can keep an open mind and keep on leaping. Everyday I leap it gets easier to do so.

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.
Grateful to serve,
peyton