*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 21, 2018* *Mental State* What sort of thinking dominates an alcoholic who repeats time after time the desperate experiment of the first drink? Friends who have reasoned with him after a spree which has brought him to the point of divorce or bankruptcy are mystified when he walks directly into a saloon. Why does he? Of what is he thinking? - Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 35 Thought to Ponder Alcohol—cunning, baffling, powerful! AA-related 'Alconym' *I S M*  =& ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 20, 2018* *Reliance, Not Defiance* "Belief meant reliance, not defiance. In A.A, we saw the fruits of this belief: men and women spared from alcohol's final catastrophe. We saw them meet and transcend their other pains and trials. We saw them calmly accept impossible situations, seeking neither to run nor to recriminate. This was not only faith; it was faith that worked under all conditions. We soon concluded that whatever price in humility we must ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 19, 2018* *Fearless Admission* Psychiatrists and psychologists point out the deep need every human being has for practical insight and knowledge of his own personality flaws and for a discussion of them with an understanding and trustworthy person. 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 grac ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) November 18, 2018 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Vigorous Action* Next we launched out on a course of vigorous action, the first step of which is a personal housecleaning, which many of us had never attempted. Though our decision was a vital and crucial step, it could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by a strenuous effort to face, and to be rid of, the things in ourselves which had been blocking us. Our liquor was but a symptom. So we had to get down to ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 17, 2018* *A Gift* When a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and resources alone. He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being. He has been set on a path which tells him he is really going somewhere, that life is not a dead end, not something to be endured or mastered. - ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 16, 2018* *Personal Relationships* 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. - Twelve Steps and Twel ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 15, 2018* *Fellowship* Still you may say: "But I will not have the benefit of contact with you who write this book." We cannot be sure. God will determine that, so you must remember that your real reliance is always upon Him. He will show you how to create the fellowship you crave. - Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 164 Thought to Ponder God grant that AA may ever stay simple. AA-related 'Alconym' *F E L L O W S H I P*  =  *F*aith, *E*mpathy, *L ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 14, 2018* *Powerful Reason* Leaving aside the drink question, they tell why living was so unsatisfactory. They show how the change came over them. When many hundreds of people are able to say that the consciousness of the Presence of God is today the most important fact of their lives, they present a powerful reason why one should have faith. - Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 51 Thought to Ponder Hope leads to faith if you let it. AA-related 'Alconym' *F A I T H*& ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 13, 2018* *Prayer* Prayer, as commonly understood, is a petition to God. Having opened our channel as best we can, we try to ask for those right things of which we and others are in the greatest need. And we think that the whole range of our needs is well defined by that part of Step Eleven which says: ". . . knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." A request for this fits in any part of our day. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Tradi ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 12, 2018* *Perspective* Where other people were concerned, we had to drop the word “blame” from our speech and thought. This required great willingness even to begin. But once over the first two or three high hurdles, the course ahead began to look easier. For we had started to get perspective on ourselves, which is another way of saying that we were gaining in humility. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pp. 47 - 48 Thought to Ponder Learning is the ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) November 11, 2018 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Straighten out the Past* Under no condition do we criticize such a person or argue. Simply we tell him that we will never get over drinking until we have done our utmost to straighten out the past. We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that nothing worth while can be accomplished until we do so, never trying to tell him what he should do. His faults are not discussed. We stick to our own.  - Alcohol ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 10. 2018* *Opportunity to Recover* Many could recover if they had the opportunity we have enjoyed. How then shall we present that which has been so freely given us? We have concluded to publish an anonymous volume setting forth the problem as we see it. We shall bring to the task our combined experience and knowledge. This should suggest a useful program for anyone concerned with a drinking problem. - Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 19 Thought to Ponder When all el ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 9. 2018* *Results of 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, p. 104 Thought to Ponder Try ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 8. 2018* *Willingness to Believe* Let us make haste to reassure you. We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God. - Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 46 Thought to Ponder God seldom becomes a reality until God becomes a necessity. AA-related 'Alcon ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 7. 2018* *Our First Attempt* Therefore our problem now becomes just how and by what specific means shall we be able to let Him in? Step Three represents our first attempt to do this. In fact, the effectiveness of the whole A.A. program will rest upon how well and earnestly we have tried to come to “a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pp. 34 - 35 Thought to Ponder Avoid ...Continue Reading