AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 24, 2020 Design for Living But I soon found that when all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day. Many times I have gone to my old hospital in despair. On talking to a man there, I would be amazingly lifted up and set on my feet. It is a design for living that works in rough going. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Bill's Story) p. 15 Thought to Ponder In AA, we discover that it is impossible to give without receiving, or receive without g ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 23, 2020 More Useful Most of us sense that real tolerance of other people's shortcomings and viewpoints and a respect for their opinions are attitudes which make us more useful to others. Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (There is a Solution) pp. 19 - 20 Thought to Ponder Love and tolerance of others is our code. AA-related 'Alconym' P U T  = &n ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 22, 2020 Miracle of Healing What is this but a miracle of healing? Yet its elements are simple. Circumstances made him willing to believe. He humbly offered himself to his Maker—then he knew. Even so has God restored us all to our right minds. To this man, the revelation was sudden. Some of us grow into it more slowly. But He has come to all who have honestly sought Him. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (We Agnostics) p. 57 Thought to Ponder I came; I came to; I came to ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 21, 2020 Thoroughness Calm, thoughtful reflection upon personal relations can deepen our insight. We can go far beyond those things which were superficially wrong with us, to see those flaws which were basic, flaws which sometimes were responsible for the whole pattern of our lives. Thoroughness, we have found, will pay—and pay handsomely. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Eight) p. 80 Thought to Ponder I need to uncover in order to recover. AA-relat ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 20, 2020 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ The Essentials Most emphatically we wish to say that any alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems in the light of our experience can recover, provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual concepts. He can only be defeated by an attitude of intolerance or belligerent denial. We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. Willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the essentials ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 19, 2020 Pause As 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." - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) pp. 87 - 88 Thought to Ponder I can't do His will my way. AA-related 'Alconym' P A U S E  =   Pay Attention, Use Step Eleven. Thanks to all of you for sha ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 18, 2020 Insane Urge The tyrant alcohol wielded a double-edged sword over us: first we were smitten by an insane urge that condemned us to go on drinking, and then by an allergy of the body that insured we would ultimately destroy ourselves in the process. Few indeed were those who, so assailed, had ever won through in singlehanded combat. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step One) p. 22 Thought to Ponder It's hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in yo ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 17, 2020 Chilling Vapor As we became subjects of King Alcohol, shivering denizens of his mad realm, the chilling vapor that is loneliness settled down. It thickened, ever becoming blacker. Some of us sought out sordid places, hoping to find understanding companionship and approval. Momentarily we did—then would come oblivion and the awful awakening to face the hideous Four Horsemen—Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, Despair. Unhappy drinkers who read this page w ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 16, 2020 Sanity Returned He was on thin ice. Again it was the old, insidious insanity—that first drink. But what about his responsibilities—his family and the men who would die because they would not know how to get well, ah—yes, those other alcoholics? There must be many such in this town. He would phone a clergyman. His sanity returned and he thanked God. Selecting a church at random from the directory, he stepped into a booth and lifted the receiver. - Alcoho ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 15, 2020 Catapulted Everyone became resigned to the certainty that I would have to be shut up somewhere, or would stumble along to a miserable end. How dark it is before the dawn! In reality that was the beginning of my last debauch. I was soon to be catapulted into what I like to call the fourth dimension of existence. I was to know happiness, peace, and usefulness, in a way of life that is incredibly more wonderful as time passes. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Bill ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 14, 2020 Extreme Example So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn't think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us! God makes that possible. And there often seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without His aid. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 62 Thought to Pon ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 13, 2020 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Key to Good Living For 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  ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 12, 2020 Personality Change "It has often been said of A.A. that we are interested only in alcoholism. That is not true. We have to get over drinking in order to stay alive. But anyone who knows the alcoholic personality by firsthand contact knows that no true alky ever stops drinking permanently without undergoing a profound personality change." - As Bill Sees It, (Letter, 1940) p. 1 Thought to Ponder If I don't change, my sobriety date will. AA-rel ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 11, 2020 One More Attempt The old pleasures were gone. They were but memories. Never could we recapture the great moments of the past. There was an insistent yearning to enjoy life as we once did and a heartbreaking obsession that some new miracle of control would enable us to do it. There was always one more attempt—and one more failure. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (A Vision For You) p. 151 Thought to Ponder When we try to control our drinking, we have already los ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) December 10, 2020 Repair the Damage Now we need more action, without which we find that "Faith without works is dead." Let's look at Steps Eight and Nine. We 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 Ponder It ...Continue Reading