*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 14, 2020* *Power of Choice* The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called willpower becomes practically nonexistent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) p. 24 Thought to Ponder The ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 13, 2020* *Joy of Living* The joy of living is the theme of A.A.'s Twelfth Step, and action is its key word. Here we turn outward toward our fellow alcoholics who are still in distress. Here we experience the kind of giving that asks no rewards. Here we begin to practice all Twelve Steps of the program in our daily lives so that we and those about us may find emotional sobriety. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Twelve) p. 106 Thought to Ponder AA is n ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 12, 2020* *Our Big Book* Our hope is that many alcoholic men and women, desperately in need, will see these pages, and we believe that it is only by fully disclosing ourselves and our problems that they will be persuaded to say, "Yes, I am one of them too; I must have this thing." - Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) p. 29 Thought to Ponder Walk softly and carry a Big Book. AA-related 'Alconym' *A A*  =  *A*nswer *A*vailable. Thanks ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 11, 2020* *True Ambition* True ambition is not what we thought it was. True ambition is the deep desire to live usefully and walk humbly under the grace of God. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,  pp. 124 - 125 Thought to Ponder The Twelve Steps; a manuscript for rational living. AA-related 'Alconym' *B E S T*  =  *B*een *E*njoying *S*obriety *T*oday? Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hope in carry ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) May 10, 2020 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *A New Life* 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, p. 8  ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 9, 2020* *Cheerfulness* So we think cheerfulness and laughter make for usefulness. Outsiders are sometimes shocked when we burst into merriment over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past. But why shouldn’t we laugh? We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family Afterward) p. 132 Thought to Ponder Laughter is the sound of recovery. AA-related 'Alconym' *H J F*  =  *H*appy, *J*oyous, *F*ree. ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 8, 2020* *Fearless and Thorough* If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it—then you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 58 Thought to Ponder Sobriety without action is fantasy. AA-rel ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 7, 2020* *Causes and Conditions* Next we launched out on a course of vigorous action, the first step of which is a personal housecleaning, which many of us had never attempted. Though our decision was a vital and crucial step, it could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by a strenuous effort to face, and to be rid of, the things in ourselves which had been blocking us. Our liquor was but a symptom. So we had to get down to causes and conditions. ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 6, 2020* *Emotional Insecurity* The most common symptoms of emotional insecurity are worry, anger, self-pity, and depression. These stem from causes which sometimes seem to be within us, and at other times to come from without. To take inventory in this respect we ought to consider carefully all personal relationships which bring continuous or recurring trouble. It should be remembered that this kind of insecurity may arise in any area where instincts are threaten ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 5, 2020* *Now Willing* 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." We have then completed Step Seven. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 76 Thought to Ponder If I want God to rem ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 4, 2020* *Natural Desires* We want to find exactly how, when, and where our natural desires have warped us. We wish to look squarely at the unhappiness this has caused others and ourselves. By discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can move toward their correction. Without a willing and persistent effort to do this, there can be little sobriety or contentment for us. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Four) pp. 42 - 43 Thought to Ponder In or ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) May 3, 2020 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *The Main Purpose* We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book. For them, we hope these pages will prove so convincing that no further authentication will be necessary.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Foreward to the First Edition) p.xiii  Thought ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 2, 2020* *Spiritually Sick* Resentment is the "number one" offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. From it stem all forms of spiritual disease, for we have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick. When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 64 Thought to Ponder We are prisoners of our own resentments. Forgiveness unlocks the ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 1, 2020* *Isolation* Isolation sneaks up on us. We can mask it with familiar props that are not in themselves bad. We can isolate ourselves in an attempt to clean up our apartments (and then not do the cleaning); we can isolate ourselves in churches or in sleep; we can use family, sweethearts, compulsive working, television. The list is long. The nicest way to end it is the way you and I do: together. Reach out -- people can't read your mind. Say ouch! Someone hea ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *April 30, 2020* *Give Freely* Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny. May God bless you and keep you—until then. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (A Vision For You) p. 164 Thought to Ponder Trust God. Clean House. H ...Continue Reading