AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) September 11, 2026  A.A.'s Simple Prayer With each passing day of our lives, may every one of us sense more deeply the inner meaning of A.A.'s simple prayer: God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, Courage to change the things we can, And wisdom to know the difference. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Twelve) p. 125  Thought to Ponder . . . Bless them, change me.   AA-related 'Alconym' A A W O L  =   ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) September 10, 2026  Defensive Emotions The moment we ponder a twisted or broken relationship with another person, our emotions go on the defensive. To escape looking at the wrongs we have done another, we resentfully focus on the wrong he has done us. This is especially true if he has, in fact, behaved badly at all. Triumphantly we seize upon his misbehavior as the perfect excuse for minimizing or forgetting our own. Right here we need to fetch ourselves up shar ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) September 9, 2026  My Primary Purpose I discovered that in order to maintain any semblance of spirituality and serenity in my life, I needed to live by the principle of singleness of purpose. Like the Fellowship as a whole, I have but one primary purpose: to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. . . I inevitably find that when I’m able to stay focused on my primary purpose, my “secondary purposes” (school, jobs, relationships) work themselves ou ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) September 8, 2026  Fair Weather Cessation of drinking is but the first step away from a highly strained, abnormal condition. A doctor said to us, "Years of living with an alcoholic is almost sure to make any wife or child neurotic. The entire family is, to some extent, ill." Let families realize, as they start their journey, that all will not be fair weather. Each in his turn may be footsore and may straggle. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family After ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) September 7, 2026  Moral and PhilosophicalMany of us had moral and philosophical convictions galore, but we could not live up to them even though we would have liked to. Neither could we reduce our self-centeredness much by wishing or trying on our own power. We had to have God’s help. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 62  Thought to Ponder . . . What I learned is of little value, what action I take is more helpful.   AA-related 'Alconym ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) September 6, 2026  Remove From Me When 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." - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 76  Thought to Ponder . . . I can't. God can. I'll as ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) September 5, 2026  Actual Experience He 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. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Doctor Bob's Nightmare) p. 180  Thought to Ponder . . . Modem-to-modem or face-to-fac ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) September 4, 2026  "Justifiable" Anger It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us. If somebody hurts us and we are sore, we are in the wrong also. But are there no exceptions to this rule? What about "justifiable" anger? . . . For us of A.A. these are dangerous exceptions. We have found that justified anger ought to be left to those better qualified to handle it. - Tw ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) September 3, 2026  Self-deceived We had not even prayed rightly. We had always said, "Grant me my wishes" instead of "Thy will be done." The love of God and man we understood not at all. Therefore we remained self-deceived, and so incapable of receiving enough grace to restore us to sanity. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Two) p. 32  Thought to Ponder . . . Denying the truth doesn't change the facts.   AA-related ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) September 2, 2026  Abnormally Fearful 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. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Twelve) pp. 123 - 124  Thought to Ponder . . . Things I fear are rarely as bad as t ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) September 1, 2026  Our Thinking About Humility But 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 Traditi ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) August 31, 2026  The Word "Blame" Where other people were concerned, we had to drop the word “blame” from our speech and thought. This required great willingness even to begin. But once over the first two or three high hurdles, the course ahead began to look easier. For we had started to get perspective on ourselves, which is another way of saying that we were gaining in humility. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Four) pp. 47 - 48   ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) August 30, 2026  To Live and Be Happy Do 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 ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) August 29, 2026  Moments of Clarity More often, I was having these little moments of clarity, times I knew for sure that I was an alcoholic. Times when I was looking at the bottom of my glass asking myself, Why am I doing this? Something had to give, something had to change. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Missing Link) p. 284  Thought to Ponder . . . If I think I am an alcoholic, chances are I am.   AA-related 'Alconym' C H A O S  =   C ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy aa-alive.net) August 28, 2026  Acceptance and Faith Acceptance and faith are capable of producing 100 percent sobriety. In fact, they usually do; and they must, else we could have no life at all. But the moment we carry these attitudes into our emotional problems, we find that only relative results are possible. Nobody can, for example, become completely free from fear, anger, and pride. - As Bill Sees It, (All or Nothing?) No. 6  Thought to Ponder . . . Spiritual ...Continue Reading