*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 20, 2020* *Guidance* We discover that we do receive guidance for our lives to just about the extent that we stop making demands upon God to give it to us on order and on our terms. Almost any experienced A.A. will tell how his affairs have taken remarkable and unexpected turns for the better as he tried to improve his conscious contact with God. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Eleven) pp. 104 - 105 Thought to Ponder The Three "P's" -- Pause ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) July 19, 2020 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Third Step Prayer* Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him: "God, I offer myself to Thee—to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!"  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Work ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 18, 2020* *Depth and Weight* Frothy emotional appeal seldom suffices. The message which can interest and hold these alcoholic people must have depth and weight. In nearly all cases, their ideals must be grounded in a power greater than themselves, if they are to re-create their lives. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Doctors Opinion) p. xxviii Thought to Ponder Hope leads to faith if you let it. AA-related 'Alconym' *A B C*  =  *A*cceptance, *B*elief, *C* ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 17, 2020* *Careful Review* Returning home we find a place where we can be quiet for an hour, carefully reviewing what we have done. We thank God from the bottom of our heart that we know Him better. Taking this book down from our shelf we turn to the page which contains the twelve steps. Carefully reading the first five proposals we ask if we have omitted anything, for we are building an arch through which we shall walk a free man at last. - Alcoholics Anonymous, ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 16, 2020* *Wider Meaning* 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 Traditions, (Step Seven) p. 74 ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 15, 2020* *Unreasonable Fears* When a job still looked like a mere means of getting money rather than an opportunity for service, when the acquisition of money for financial independence looked more important than a right dependence upon God, we were still the victims of unreasonable fears. And these were fears which would make a serene and useful existence, at any financial level, quite impossible. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Twelve) p. 121 Thou ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 14, 2020* *Why?* If you ask him why he started on that last bender, the chances are he will offer you any one of a hundred alibis. Sometimes these excuses have a certain plausibility, but none of them really makes sense in the light of the havoc an alcoholic’s drinking bout creates. They sound like the philosophy of the man who, having a headache, beats himself on the head with a hammer so that he can’t feel the ache.  If you draw this fallacious reasoning t ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 13, 2020* *Forgiveness for All* We've repeatedly strained the patience of our best friends to a snapping point, and have brought out the very worst in those who didn't think much of us to begin with. In many instances we are really dealing with fellow sufferers, people whose woes we have increased. If we are now about to ask forgiveness for ourselves, why shouldn't we start out by forgiving them, one and all? - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Eight) p. ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) July 12, 2020 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Change* No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 84  Thought to Ponder Learn to change, change to learn.&nbs ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 11, 2020* *Come to Grips* Still goaded by sheer necessity, we reluctantly come to grips with those serious character flaws that made problem drinkers of us in the first place, flaws which must be dealt with to prevent a retreat into alcoholism once again. We will want to be rid of some of these defects, but in some instances this will appear to be an impossible job from which we recoil. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Seven) p. 73 Thought to Ponder I ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 10, 2020* *Twisted Relations* But it is from our twisted relations with family, friends, and society at large that many of us have suffered the most. We have been especially stupid and stubborn about them. The primary fact that we fail to recognize is our total inability to form a true partnership with another human being. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Four) p. 53 Thought to Ponder Ask yourself, "What would an adult do in this situation?" ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 9, 2020* *The Magnificent Reality* Now, what about the rest of the Twelfth Step? The wonderful energy it releases and the eager action by which it carries our message to the next suffering alcoholic and which finally translates the Twelve Steps into action upon all our affairs is the payoff, the magnificent reality, of Alcoholics Anonymous. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Twelve) p. 109 Thought to Ponder A spiritual awakening is our greatest gift. A ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 8, 2020* *No Defense* Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense.  His defense must come from a Higher Power. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (More About Alcoholism) p. 43 Thought to Ponder I can't, God can, I'll let Him. AA-related 'Alconym' *F R O G*  =  *F*ully *R*ely *O*n *G*od. Thanks to all of you for shari ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 7, 2020* *An Illness* An illness of this sort—and we have come to believe it an illness—involves those about us in a way no other human sickness can. If a person has cancer all are sorry for him and no one is angry or hurt. But not so with the alcoholic illness, for with it there goes annihilation of all the things worth while in life. It engulfs all whose lives touch the sufferer’s. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) p. 18 Thought to Ponder Right act ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 6, 2020* *Infinitely Grave* It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 66 Thought to Ponder Resentmen ...Continue Reading