*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *January 22, 2020* *No Control* He has lost control. At a certain point in the drinking of every alcoholic he passes into a state where the most powerful desire to stop drinking is of absolutely no avail. This tragic situation has already arrived in practically every case long before it is suspected. The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) pp. 23 - 24 Thought to P ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *January 21, 2020* *Soundness of Mind* "Sanity" is defined as "soundness of mind." Yet no alcoholic, soberly analyzing his destructive behavior, whether the destruction fell on the dining-room furniture or his own moral fiber, can claim "soundness of mind" for himself. Therefore, Step Two is the rallying point for all of us. Whether agnostic, atheist, or former believer, we can stand together on this Step. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Tradit ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *January 20, 2020* *Daily Inventory* In most cases our motives won't be hard to see and understand. When prideful, angry, jealous, anxious, or fearful, we acted accordingly, and that was that. Here we need only recognize that we did act or think badly, try to visualize how we might have done better, and resolve with God's help to carry these lessons over into tomorrow, making, of course, any amends still neglected. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) p. 94 ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) January 19, 2020 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Try Prayer* Finally, and I shall never know how much later it was, one clear thought came to me: Try prayer. You can't lose, and maybe God will help you—just maybe, mind you. Having no one else to turn to, I was willing to give Him a chance, although with considerable doubt. I got down on my knees for the first time in thirty years.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Man Who Mastered Fear) p. 251  Thought to Ponder No Go ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *January 18, 2020* *The Only Condition* Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get well regardless of anyone. The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p. 98 Thought to Ponder Sobriety without action is fantasy. AA-related 'Alconym' *A A*  =  *A*chieve *A*nything. Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hope in carrying the AA mes ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) Dear Readers, My deepest apologies for the misquoted source of yesterday's Daily Thought.  The Thought is actually from Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. *January 17, 2020* *An Opportunity* We find it a waste of time to keep chasing a man who cannot or will not work with you. If you leave such a person alone, he may soon become convinced that he cannot recover by himself. To spend too much time on any one situation is to deny some other alcoholic an o ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *January 16, 2020* *Steps Eight and Nine* Steps Eight and Nine are concerned with personal relationships. First, we take a look backward and try to discover where we have been at fault; next we make a vigorous attempt to repair the damage we have done; and third, having thus cleaned away the debris of the past, we consider how, with our newfound knowledge of ourselves, we may develop the best possible relations with every human being we know. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (S ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *January 15, 2020* *Intolerance* We are careful never to show intolerance or hatred of drinking as an institution. Experience shows that such an attitude is not helpful to anyone. Every new alcoholic looks for this spirit among us and is immensely relieved when he finds we are not witch-burners. A spirit of intolerance might repel alcoholics whose lives could have been saved, had it not been for such stupidity. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p. 103 Tho ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *January 14, 2020* *Another Excuse* We also clutch at another wonderful excuse for avoiding an inventory. Our present anxieties and troubles, we cry, are caused by the behavior of other people—people who really need a moral inventory. We firmly believe that if only they'd treat us better, we'd be all right. Therefore we think our indignation is justified and reasonable—that our resentments are the "right kind." We aren't the guilty ones. They are! - Twel ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *January 13, 2020* *Defiance* "When we encountered A.A., the fallacy of our defiance was revealed. At no time had we asked what God's will was for us; instead we had been telling Him what it ought to be. No man, we saw, could believe in God and defy Him, too. Belief meant reliance, not defiance." - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Two) p. 31 Thought to Ponder Faith dares the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see. AA-related 'Alconym' *E G O*  ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) January 12, 2020 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *The Great Obsession* Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (More ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *January 11, 2020* *Happy, Joyous, and Free* We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free. We cannot subscribe to the belief that this life is a vale of tears,though it once was just that for many of us. But it is clear that we made our own misery. God didn't do it. Avoid then, the deliberate manufacture of misery, but if trouble comes, cheerfully capitalize it as an opportunity to demonstrate His omnipotence. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family Afterward) p. ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *January 10, 2020* *Faith* We have no desire to convince anyone that there is only one way by which faith can be acquired. If what we have learned and felt and seen means anything at all, it means that all of us, whatever our race, creed, or color are the children of a living Creator with whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) p. 28 Thought t ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *January 9, 2020* *The Real Alcoholic* But what about the real alcoholic? He may start off as a moderate drinker; he may or may not become a continuous hard drinker; but at some stage of his drinking career he begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) p. 21 Thought to Ponder When we try to control our drinking, we have already lost control. AA-related 'Alconym' *A A*  =  *A*n ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *January 8, 2020* *Serenity* In all times of emotional disturbance or indecision, we can pause, ask for quiet, and in the stillness simply say: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done." - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Three) pp. 40 - 41 Thought to Ponder Reliance on God enables me to match calamity with serenity. AA-related ...Continue Reading