*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 22, 2019* *Acquiring 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. ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 21, 2019* *Ready* Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it—then you are ready to take certain steps.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 58 Thought to Ponder Sobriety without action is fantasy. AA-related 'Alconym' *S T E P S*  =  *S*olutions *T*hrough *E*ach *P*owerful *S*tep. Thanks to a ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 20, 2019* *Pride Blindness* When we early AAs got our first glimmer of how spiritually prideful we could be, we coined this expression: "Don't try to get too damned good by Thursday!" That old-time admonition may look like another one of those handy alibis that can excuse us from trying our best. Yet a closer view reveals just the contrary. This is our AA way of warning against pride-blindness, and the imaginary perfections we do not possess.  - T ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 19, 2019* *A Basic Solution* We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn’t control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression, we couldn’t make a living, we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy, we couldn’t seem to be of real help to other people—was not a basic solution of these bedevilments more important than whether we should see newsreels of lunar flight? Of course it was.  - Alcoholi ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 18, 2019* *Freedom* This is the how and why of it. First of all, we had to quit playing God. It didn’t work. Next, we decided that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director. He is the Principal; we are His agents. He is the Father, and we are His children. Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 62 Thou ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 16, 2019* *Enjoying Life* We have been speaking to you of serious, sometimes tragic things. We have been dealing with alcohol in its worst aspect. But we aren't a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn't want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family Afterward) p. 132 Thought to Ponder Laughter is the sound of recovery. AA-related 'Alconym' *A L O H A*  =  *A* *L*ot *O*f ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 15, 2019* *Self-restraint* We must avoid quick-tempered criticism and furious, power-driven argument. The same goes for sulking or silent scorn. These are emotional booby traps baited with pride and vengefulness. Our first job is to sidestep the traps. When we are tempted by the bait, we should train ourselves to step back and think. For we can neither think nor act to good purpose until the habit of self-restraint has become automatic.  - Twelve Steps and ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 14, 2019* *One Of Them Too* Further on, clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered. These are followed by forty-two personal experiences. . . Our hope is that many alcoholic men and women, desperately in need, will see these pages, and we believe that it is only by fully disclosing ourselves and our problems that they will be persuaded to say, "Yes, I am one of them too; I must have this thing."  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 13, 2019* *Control* The old pleasures were gone. They were but memories. Never could we recapture the great moments of the past. There was an insistent yearning to enjoy life as we once did and a heartbreaking obsession that some new miracle of control would enable us to do it. There was always one more attempt—and one more failure.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (A Vision For You) p. 151 Thought to Ponder When we try to control our drinking, we have already los ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 12, 2019* *Any Length* If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it—then you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 58 Thought to Ponder Sobriety without action is fantasy. AA-relat ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 11, 2019* *Life Without Alcohol* Inwardly he would give anything to take half a dozen drinks and get away with them. He will presently try the old game again, for he isn’t happy about his sobriety. He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end.   - Alcoholics Anonymous, (A Vision F ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) March 10, 2019 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Acceptance* 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 ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 9, 2019* *Anger* Nor were we ever skillful in separating justified from unjustified anger. As we saw it, our wrath was always justified. Anger, that occasional luxury of more balanced people, could keep us on an emotional jag indefinitely. These emotional “dry benders” often led straight to the bottle. Other kinds of disturbances—jealousy, envy, self-pity, or hurt pride—did the same thing.  - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) p. 90 Thought to ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 8, 2019* *Self-Seeking* Admitting he may be somewhat at fault, he is sure that other people are more to blame. He becomes angry, indignant, self-pitying. What is his basic trouble? Is he not really a self-seeker even when trying to be kind? Is he not a victim of the delusion that he can wrest satisfaction and happiness out of this world if he only manages well?  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 61 Thought to Ponder When I choose the behavior, I ch ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 7, 2019* *Willing to Grow* Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.  - Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 60 Thought to Ponder Spiritual progress isn't what gets us sober, it's ...Continue Reading