*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 22, 2018* *Step Twelve* "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs." Outline the program of action, explaining how you made a self-appraisal, how you straightened out your past and why you are now endeavoring to be helpful to him. It is important for him to realize that your attempt to pass this on to him plays a vital part in your ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) October 21, 2018 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Great Fact* The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven’t got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us.   - Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 164 Thought to Ponder Life didn't end when I got sober -- it started. AA-related 'Alconym' *F E A R*  =  *F*ew ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 20, 2018* *Our Big Book* In it alcoholism was described from the alcoholic's view, the spiritual idea of the Society was codified for the first time in the Twelve Steps, and the application of these Steps to the alcoholic's dilemma was made clear. The remainder of the book was devoted to thirty stories or case histories in which the alcoholics described their drinking experiences and recoveries. This established identification with alcoholic readers and proved ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 19, 2018* *Meditation* Perhaps the real trouble was our almost total inability to point imagination toward the right objectives. There's nothing the matter with constructive imagination; all sound achievement rests upon it. After all, no man can build a house until he first envisions a plan for it. Well, meditation is like that, too; it helps to envision our spiritual objective before we try to move toward it. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 100 ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 18, 2018* *It Matters* We could cheerfully perform humble labor without worrying about tomorrow. If our circumstances happened to be good, we no longer dreaded a change for the worse, for we had learned that these troubles could be turned into great values. It did not matter too much what our material condition was, but it did matter what our spiritual condition was. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pp. 121 - 122 Thought to Ponder Spirituality is not base ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 17, 2018* *Step Five* “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.” ALL OF A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires . . . they all deflate our egos. When it comes to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take than Five. But scarcely any Step is more necessary to longtime sobriety and peace of mind than this one. - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 55 Thought to Ponder Guilt is in the ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 16, 2018* *Children of Chaos* Over the years, every conceivable deviation from our Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions has been tried. That was sure to be, since we are so largely a band of ego-driven individuals. Children of chaos, we have defiantly played with every brand of fire, only to emerge unharmed and, we think, wiser. These very deviations created a vast process of trial and error, which under the grace of God, has brought us to where we stand today. ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 15, 2018* *Forgiveness* We've repeatedly strained the patience of our best friends to a snapping point, and have brought out the very worst in those who didn't think much of us to begin with. In many instances we are really dealing with fellow sufferers, people whose woes we have increased. If we are now about to ask forgiveness for ourselves, why shouldn't we start out by forgiving them, one and all? - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 78 Thought to Pon ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) October 14, 2018 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ My apologies for the late delivery of your Daily Thought today.  It seems we had a glitch on our server and the scheduler did not send when it should have. *Affirmative Action* Like all the remaining Steps, Step Three calls for affirmative action, for it is only by action that we can cut away the self-will which has always blocked the entry of God—or, if you like, a Higher Power—into our lives. Faith, to be sure, is neces ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 13, 2018* *The Miracle* And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone—even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. - Alcoh ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 12, 2018* *Step Eleven* Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. - Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 59 Thought to Ponder Prayer asks the question. Meditation listens for the answer. AA-related 'Alconym' *A S A P*  =  *A*lways *S*ay *A* *P*rayer. Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 11, 2018* *Vital Faith* But he will be curious to learn why his own convictions have not worked and why yours seem to work so well. He may be an example of the truth that faith alone is insufficient. To be vital, faith must be accompanied by self sacrifice and unselfish, constructive action. - Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 93 Thought to Ponder If faith without works is dead; then willingness without action is fantasy. AA-related 'Alconym' *H O W*  =  *H* ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 10, 2018* *Solid Ground* Go or stay away, whichever seems best. But be sure you are on solid spiritual ground before you start and that your motive in going is thoroughly good. Do not think of what you will get out of the occasion. Think of what you can bring to it. But if you are shaky, you had better work with another alcoholic instead! - Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 102 Thought to Ponder A spiritual awakening is our greatest gift. AA-related 'Alconym' *S O B ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 9, 2018* *Save the Day* 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, p. 15 Thought to Ponder New ideals and new attitudes bring a new life. AA-related 'Alconym' *H E L P*  =  *H*ope, *E*n ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *October 8, 2018* *A Sick Man* Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended we said to ourselves, "This is a sick man. How can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. Thy will be done." - Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 102 Thought to Ponder What if I we ...Continue Reading