*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 16, 2020* *A Question* Our friend’s gorge rose as he bitterly cried out: "If there is a God, He certainly hasn’t done anything for me!" But later, alone in his room, he asked himself this question: "Is it possible that all the religious people I have known are wrong?" While pondering the answer he felt as though he lived in hell. Then, like a thunderbolt, a great thought came. It crowded out all else: "Who are you to say there is no God? ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 15, 2020* *The Turning Point* Remember that we deal with alcohol—cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power—that One is God. May you find Him now! Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) pp. 58 - 59 Thought to Ponder When we surrender to our Higher Power, the journey begins. AA-related ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 14, 2020* *Sense of Relief* Once we have a complete willingness to take inventory, and exert ourselves to do the job thoroughly, a wonderful light falls upon this foggy scene. As we persist, a brand-new kind of confidence is born, and the sense of relief at finally facing ourselves is indescribable. These are the first fruits of Step Four. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Four) pp. 49 - 50 Thought to Ponder Clear vision for tomorrow comes only after ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 13, 2020* *Fortunate Indeed* Therefore, we who are alcoholics can consider ourselves fortunate indeed. Each of us has had his own near-fatal encounter with the juggernaut of self-will, and has suffered enough under its weight to look for something better. So it is by circumstance rather than any virtue that we have been driven to AA, have admitted defeat, have acquired the rudiments of faith, and now want to make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 12, 2020* *Fooling Ourselvess* Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (We Agnostics) p. 55 Thought to Ponder Take a walk ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 11, 2020* *Basic Principles* The basic principles of A.A., as they are known today, were borrowed mainly from the fields of religion and medicine, though some ideas upon which success finally depended were the result of noting the behavior and needs of the Fellowship itself. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Foreword) p. 16 Thought to Ponder Hope leads to faith if you let it. AA-related 'Alconym' *A A*  =  *A*mazing *A*dventure. Thanks to all o ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 10, 2020* *A New Foundation* By now the newcomer has probably arrived at the following conclusions: that his character defects, representing instincts gone astray, have been the primary cause of his drinking and his failure at life; that unless he is now willing to work hard at the elimination of the worst of these defects, both sobriety and peace of mind will still elude him; that all the faulty foundation of his life will have to be torn out and built anew on ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 9, 2020* *Temptation* In our belief any scheme of combating alcoholism which proposes to shield the sick man from temptation is doomed to failure. If the alcoholic tries to shield himself he may succeed for a time, but he usually winds up with a bigger explosion than ever. We have tried these methods. These attempts to do the impossible have always failed. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p. 101 Thought to Ponder The Three A's .. Awareness, Accepta ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) March 8, 2020 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *High Hurdles* First of all, we had to admit that we had many of these defects, even though such disclosures were painful and humiliating. 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.  - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Four) pp. 47 ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 7, 2020* *A Genuine Reliance* We could actually have earnest religious beliefs which remained barren because we were still trying to play God ourselves. As long as we placed self-reliance first, a genuine reliance upon a Higher Power was out of the question. That basic ingredient of all humility, a desire to seek and do God's will, was missing. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Seven) p. 72 Thought to Ponder Action without prayer is self-reliance. Pra ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 6, 2020* *We Ask* We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of such problems. We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no request for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 87 Thought to Ponder Life is fragile, handle with pray ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 5, 2020* *Sanity Returned* And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone—even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. - Alcoh ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 4, 2020* *A Good Beginning* In this book you read again and again that faith did for us what we could not do for ourselves. We hope you are convinced now that God can remove whatever self-will has blocked you off from Him. If you have already made a decision, and an inventory of your grosser handicaps, you have made a good beginning. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) pp. 70 - 71 Thought to Ponder If I have the courage to begin, I have the courage to succee ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 3, 2020* *Self-Restraint* The quick inventory is aimed at our daily ups and downs, especially those where people or new events throw us off balance and tempt us to make mistakes. In all these situations we need self-restraint, honest analysis of what is involved, a willingness to admit when the fault is ours, and an equal willingness to forgive when the fault is elsewhere. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) p. 91 Thought to Ponder Nothing pays off ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 2, 2020* *Virtually Impossible* We know that while the alcoholic keeps away from drink, as he may do for months or years, he reacts much like other men. We are equally positive that once he takes any alcohol whatever into his system, something happens, both in the bodily and mental sense, which makes it virtually impossible for him to stop. The experience of any alcoholic will abundantly confirm this. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (There is a Solution) pp. 22 - 23 Th ...Continue Reading