*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *September 8, 2017* *Simple Ideas*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, p. 62 Thought to PonderGod grant that AA may ever stay simple. AA-related 'Alconym'*W I L L I N G*  =  ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *September 7, 2017* *Motives*This odd trait of mind and emotion, this perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one, permeates human affairs from top to bottom. This subtle and elusive kind of self-righteousness can underlie the smallest act or thought. Learning daily to spot, admit, and correct these flaws is the essence of character-building and good living.  - 12 Steps & 12 Traditions, pp. 94 - 95 Thought to PonderSelf-righteousness is a loud din r ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *September 6, 2017* *Spiritual Principles*“Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems. I have since been brought into a way of living infinitely more satisfying and, I hope, more useful than the life I lived before. My old manner of life was by no means a bad one, but I would not exchange its best moments for the worst I have now. I would not go back to it even if I could."  - Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 42 - 43 Thou ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *September 5, 2017* *Self-Deceived*We had not even prayed rightly. We had always said, “Grant me my wishes” instead of “Thy will be done.” The love of God and man we understood not at all. Therefore we remained self-deceived, and so incapable of receiving enough grace to restore us to sanity. //- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,// p. 32 *Thought to Ponder . . .*Prayer asks the question. Meditation listens for the answer. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .**F R O G* = *F*ully ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *September 4, 2017* *Avoidance *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. //- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,// p. 45 *Thought to Ponder . . .*Delay is the deadliest form of denial. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .**F E A R* = *F*ighting *E*go *A ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *September 3, 2017* *New Attitude*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. /~ Alcohol ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *September 2, 2017* RebornMore and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life. As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter. We were reborn.- Alcoholics Anonymous, p 63   Thought to PonderThe task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us. AA-related 'Alconym'F E A R   =   Face Everything And Rec ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *September 1, 2017* TroublesOur 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 & Twelve Traditions, p 114    Thought to PonderReliance on God enables me to match calamity with serenity. AA-related 'Alconym'F A I T H  ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 31, 2017* *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. Twelfth Step.*/~ Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions,/ p. 125 *Thought to Ponder . . .**Right actions for the future a ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 30, 2017* *The Ladder**No one who drank as I did wakes up on the edge of the abyss one morning and says:**Things look pretty scary; I think I'd better stop drinking before I fall in.**I was convinced I could go as far as I wanted, and then climb back out when it wasn't fun anymore.**What happened was, I found myself at the bottom of the canyon thinking I'd never see the sun again.**AA didn't pull me out of that hole.  It did give me the tools to construct a l ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 29, 2017* *Self-Reliance*We could actually have earnest religious beliefs which remained barren because we were still trying to play God ourselves. As long as we placed self-reliance first, a genuine reliance upon a Higher Power was out of the question. That basic ingredient of all humility, a desire to seek and do God's will, was missing. - - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 72 Thought to PonderHumility is not thinking less of myself, but thinking of ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 28, 2017* *Unreasonable Demands*We can try to stop making unreasonable demands upon those we love. We can show kindness where we had shown none. With those we dislike we can begin to practice justice and courtesy, perhaps going out of our way to understand and help them. Whenever we fail any of these people, we can promptly admit it—to ourselves always, and to them also, when the admission would be helpful. - - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 93 Thoug ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net) August 27, 2017 InstinctsWe have learned that the satisfaction of instincts cannot be the sole end and aim of our lives. If we place instincts first, we have got the cart before the horse; we shall be pulled backward into disillusionment. But when we are willing to place spiritual growth first—then and only then do we have a real chance.- /Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ pp, 114 - 115 *Thought to Ponder . . .*Get it - Give it - Grow in it. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 26, 2017* *Profound Change*"It has often been said of A.A. that we are interested only on alcoholism. That is not true. We have to get over drinking in order to stay alive. But anyone who knows the alcoholic personality by firsthand contact knows that no true alky ever stops drinking permanently without undergoing a profound personality change." - As Bill Sees It, p. 1 Thought to PonderIf I don't change, my sobriety date will. AA-related 'Alconym'* ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day*(courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 25, 2017* *Reality*I lived in a dream world. A.A. led me gently from this fantasizing to embrace reality with open arms. And I found it beautiful! For, at last, I was at peace with myself. And with others. And with God.  - Alcoholics Anonymous,p. 559 Thought to Ponder. From darkness comes light. AA-related 'Alconym'*G I F T*  =  *G*od *I*s *F*orever *T*here   Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hop ...Continue Reading