*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 4, 2020* *A Long Talk* IWhen we decide who is to hear our story, we waste no time. We have a written inventory and we are prepared for a long talk. We explain to our partner what we are about to do and why we have to do it. He should realize that we are engaged upon a life-and-death errand. Most people approached in this way will be glad to help; they will be honored by our confidence. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 75 Thought to Ponder The gritty pain ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 3, 2020* *Humility* It was only by repeated humiliations that we were forced to learn something about humility. It was only at the end of a long road, marked by successive defeats and humiliations, and the final crushing of our self-sufficiency, that we began to feel humility as something more than a condition of groveling despair. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Seven) p. 72 Thought to Ponder Humility is born of the spirit, humiliation of the ego. ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 2, 2020* *It Really Worked* There is a solution. Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation. But we saw that it really worked in others, and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 1, 2020* *Obsession* When men and women pour so much alcohol into themselves that they destroy their lives, they commit a most unnatural act. Defying their instinctive desire for self-preservation, they seem bent upon self-destruction. They work against their own deepest instinct. As they are humbled by the terrific beating administered by alcohol, the grace of God can enter them and expel their obsession. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Six) p. 64 T ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 30, 2020* *Prayer and Meditation* Step Eleven suggests prayer and meditation. We shouldn’t be shy on sharing about this matter of prayer. Better men than we are using it constantly. It works, if we have the proper attitude and work at it. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) pp. 85 - 86 Thought to Ponder Life is fragile, handle with prayer. AA-related 'Alconym' *P A U S E*  =  *P*ay *A*ttention, *U*se *S*tep *E*leven. Thanks to all of you for sharin ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 29, 2020* *Fellowship* Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends—this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p. 89 Thought to Ponder Together we can do what we could ne ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) June 28, 2020 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Baffling Feature* Whether such a person can quit upon a nonspiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he has already lost the power to choose whether he will drink or not. Many of us felt that we had plenty of character. There was a tremendous urge to cease forever. Yet we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it—this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity o ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 27, 2020* *True Freedom* To get completely away from our aversion to the idea of being humble, to gain a vision of humility as the avenue to true freedom of the human spirit, to be willing to work for humility as something to be desired for itself, takes most of us a long, long time. A whole lifetime geared to self-centeredness cannot be set in reverse all at once. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Seven) p. 73 Thought to Ponder With humility, we accep ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 26, 2020* *Thoroughness* Whatever the defects, they have finally ambushed us into alcoholism and misery. Therefore, thoroughness ought to be the watchword when taking inventory. In this connection, it is wise to write out our questions and answers. It will be an aid to clear thinking and honest appraisal. It will be the first tangible evidence of our complete willingness to move forward. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Four) p. 54 Thought to Ponder W ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 25, 2020* *Alcoholic Illness* 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. It brings misunderstanding, fierce resentment, financial insecurity, disgusted friends and employers, warped lives of blameless children, sad wives and parents—anyone can increase the list. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) p. 18 Thought to Ponder Right actions ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 24, 2020* *Resentments* Ask for their health, their prosperity, their happiness, and you will be free. Even when you don’t really want it for them and your prayers are only words and you don’t mean it, go ahead and do it anyway. Do it every day for two weeks, and you will find you have come to mean it and to want it for them, and you will realize that where you used to feel bitterness and resentment and hatred, you now feel compassionate understanding and love. - ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 23, 2020* *Demands* Living upon a basis of unsatisfied demands, we were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration. Therefore, no peace was to be had unless we could find a means of reducing these demands. The difference between a demand and a simple request is plain to anyone. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Seven) p. 76 Thought to Ponder All I have feared to lose I have gained and all I feared to gain I have lost. AA-related 'Alconym' *F ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 22, 2020* *Willingness* But now it appears that there are certain things which only the individual can do. All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs to develop the quality of willingness. When he acquires willingness, he is the only one who can make the decision to exert himself. Trying to do this is an act of his own will. All of the Twelve Steps require sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) June 21, 2020 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Common Solution* The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which we can join in brotherly and harmonious action.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) p. 17  Thought to Ponder The solution is simple. The solution is spiritual.  AA-related 'Alconym' *S O L U T I O N S*  =  *S*aving *O*ur *L*i ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 20, 2020* *Way of Life* A.A.'s Twelve Steps are a group of principles, spiritual in their nature, which, if practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to become happily and usefully whole. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Foreward) p. 15 Thought to Ponder The Twelve Steps -- a manuscript for rational living. AA-related 'Alconym' *S T E P S*  =  *S*olutions *T*hrough *E*ach *P*owerful *S*tep. Thanks to a ...Continue Reading