*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 19, 2019* *Good Living* For it is only by accepting and solving our problems that we can begin to get right with ourselves and with the world about us, and with Him who presides over us all. Understanding is the key to right principles and attitudes, and right action is the key to good living; therefore the joy of good living is the theme of A.A.’s Twelfth Step.  - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Twelve) p. 125 Thought to Ponder AA is not someth ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) August 18, 2019 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Our Choice* When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is, or He isn’t. What was our choice to be?  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (We Agnostics) p. 53  Thought to Ponder God seldom becomes a reality until God becomes a necessity.  AA-related 'Alconym' *F A I T H*&n ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 17, 2019* *To Save Himself* The broker had gone to Akron on a business venture which had collapsed, leaving him greatly in fear that he might start drinking again. He suddenly realized that in order to save himself he must carry his message to another alcoholic.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Foreword to Second Edition) p. xvi Thought to Ponder In AA we carry the message ... not the mess. AA-related 'Alconym' *A L C O H O L I C S*  =  *A* *L*ife *C* ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 16, 2019* *Peace* If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) pp. 83 - 84 Thought to Ponder We cannot find peace by avoiding life. AA-related 'Alconym' *S T E P*  =  ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 15, 2019* *Resistance* Accepting my Higher Power did not fully change my attitude of resistance. It just made yielding to instruction a more rational and acceptable mode of behavior. For each step, I still had to go through the process of recognizing that I had no control over my drinking. I had to understand that the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous had helped others and could help me. I had to realize that if I did want sobriety, I had better do the steps whethe ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 14, 2019* *Troubles* Our basic troubles are the same as everyone else's, but when an honest effort is made "to practice these principles in all our affairs," well-grounded A.A.'s seem to have the ability, by God's grace, to take these troubles in stride and turn them into demonstrations of faith.  - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Twelve) p. 114 Thought to Ponder Reliance on God enables me to match calamity with serenity. AA-related ' ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 13, 2019* *Sense of Purpose* This dream world has been replaced by a great sense of purpose, accompanied by a growing consciousness of the power of God in our lives. We have come to believe He would like us to keep our heads in the clouds with Him, but that our feet ought to be firmly planted on earth. That is where our fellow travelers are, and that is where our work must be done.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family Afterward) p. 130 Thought to Ponder F ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 12, 2019* *Pain* Someone who knew what he was talking about once remarked that pain was the touchstone of all spiritual progress. How heartily we A.A.'s can agree with him, for we know that the pains of drinking had to come before sobriety, and emotional turmoil before serenity.  - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) pp. 93 - 94 Thought to Ponder The gritty pain of alcoholism is the traction of recovery. AA-related 'Alconym' *H O P E*  =& ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) August 11, 2019 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Daily Reprieve* It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 85  Thought to Ponder The alcoholic is in no greater peril than when he takes sobriety ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 10, 2019* *Amazingly Lifted Up* But I soon found that when all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day. Many times I have gone to my old hospital in despair. On talking to a man there, I would be amazingly lifted up and set on my feet. It is a design for living that works in rough going.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Bill's Story) p. 15 Thought to Ponder Service made me feel useful. Twelfth Step work taught me to accept my past. ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 9, 2019* *Faith* There is, however, a vast amount of fun about it all. I suppose some would be shocked at our seeming worldliness and levity. But just underneath there is deadly earnestness. Faith has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Bill's Story) p. 16 Thought to Ponder Faith isn't believing that God can, but that He will. AA-related 'Alconym' *F A I T H*  =  Found Always In Trusting Hi ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 8, 2019* *Necessity* From this doctor, the broker had learned the grave nature of alcoholism. Though he could not accept all the tenets of the Oxford Groups, he was convinced of the need for moral inventory, confession of personality defects, restitution to those harmed, helpfulness to others, and the necessity of belief in and dependence upon God.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (Foreword To The Second Edition) p. xvi Thought to Ponder AA is not something we jo ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 7, 2019* *Rationalizations* He could say, "How very easy! Sure, I'll head toward perfection, but I'm certainly not going to hurry any. Maybe I can postpone dealing with some of my problems indefinitely." Of course, this won't do. Such a bluffing of oneself will have to go the way of many another pleasant rationalization. At the very least, we shall have to come to grips with some of our worst character defects and take action toward their removal as q ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 6, 2019* *The Power* The unselfishness of these men as we have come to know them, the entire absence of profit motive, and their community spirit, is indeed inspiring to one who has labored long and wearily in this alcoholic field. They believe in themselves, and still more in the Power which pulls chronic alcoholics back from the gates of death.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Doctors Opinion) pp. XVI - XVII Thought to Ponder Only in giving do we receive i ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 5, 2019* *Meditation* Meditation is something which can always be further developed. It has no boundaries, either of width or height. Aided by such instruction and example as we can find, it is essentially an individual adventure, something which each one of us works out in his own way. But its object is always the same: to improve our conscious contact with God, with His grace, wisdom, and love.  - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Eleven) p. 101 ...Continue Reading