AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) November 17, 2019 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Acceptance* We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed. We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (More About Alcoholism) p. 30   Tho ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 16, 2019* *Carry This Message* 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 Sobriety is not a destination, but an everlas ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 15, 2019* *A Time and Place* In addition to these casual get-togethers, it became customary to set apart one night a week for a meeting to be attended by anyone or everyone interested in a spiritual way of life. Aside from fellowship and sociability, the prime object was to provide a time and place where new people might bring their problems. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (A Vision For You) pp. 159 - 160 Thought to Ponder AA is not something we join; it's a way o ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 14, 2019* *Welcomed Cordially* No one is too discredited or has sunk too low to be welcomed cordially—if he means business. Social distinctions, petty rivalries and jealousies—these are laughed out of countenance. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (A Vision For You) p. 161 Thought to Ponder AA is not for people who need it, it's for people who want it. AA-related 'Alconym' *P R O G R A M*  =  *P*eople *R*elying *O*n *G*od *R*elaying *A* *M*essage. Thanks ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 13, 2019* *A Fearless Admission* So far as alcoholics are concerned, A.A. would go even further. Most of us would declare that without a fearless admission of our defects to another human being we could not stay sober. It seems plain that the grace of God will not enter to expel our destructive obsessions until we are willing to try this. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Five) pp. 56 - 57 Thought to Ponder The first step in overcoming mistakes is ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 12, 2019* *Only One Key* Practicing Step Three is like the opening of a door which to all appearances is still closed and locked. All we need is a key, and the decision to swing the door open. There is only one key, and it is called willingness. Once unlocked by willingness, the door opens almost of itself, and looking through it, we shall see a pathway beside which is an inscription. It reads: "This is the way to a faith that works." - Twelve Steps ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 11, 2019* *His Help* The notion that we would still live our own lives, God helping a little now and then, began to evaporate. Many of us who had thought ourselves religious awoke to the limitations of this attitude. Refusing to place God first, we had deprived ourselves of His help. But now the words “Of myself I am nothing, the Father doeth the works” began to carry bright promise and meaning. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Seven) p. 75 Though ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) November 10, 2019 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Daily Reprieve* We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. "How can I best serve Thee—Thy will (not mine) be done."  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 85  Thought to Ponder Every day is a gift. That is why we call it t ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 9, 2019* *Self-Deceived* More realism and therefore more honesty about ourselves are the great gains we make under the influence of Step Five. As we took inventory, we began to suspect how much trouble self-delusion had been causing us. This had brought a disturbing reflection. If all our lives we had more or less fooled ourselves, how could we now be so sure that we weren't still self-deceived? - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Five) pp. 58 - 59 T ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 8, 2019* *King Alcohol* 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. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (A Vision ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 7, 2019* *A Chronic Alcoholic* "I have never seen one single case recover, where that state of mind existed to the extent that it does in you."  Our friend felt as though the gates of hell had closed on him with a clang.  He said to the doctor, "Is there no exception?" "Yes," replied the doctor, "there is.    Exceptions to cases such as yours have been occurring&nbs ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 6, 2019* *Acquire 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, w ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 5, 2019* *The Truth* We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: "Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic." Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever. If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (More About Alcoholism) p. 33 Thought to Ponder If we want to quit drinking, we ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 4, 2019* *Consequences* The almost certain consequences that follow taking even a glass of beer do not crowd into the mind to deter us. If these thoughts occur, they are hazy and readily supplanted with the old threadbare idea that this time we shall handle ourselves like other people. There is a complete failure of the kind of defense that keeps one from putting his hand on a hot stove. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) p. 24 Thought to Ponder T ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 3, 2019* *Prayer* In A.A. we have found that the actual good results of prayer are beyond question. They are matters of knowledge and experience. All those who have persisted have found strength not ordinarily their own. They have found wisdom beyond their usual capability. And they have increasingly found a peace of mind which can stand firm in the face of difficult circumstances. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Eleven) p. 104 Thought to Ponder ...Continue Reading