*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 19, 2016* *The Right Thing* Reminding ourselves that we have decided to go to any lengths to find a spiritual experience, we ask that we be given strength and direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal consequences may be. We may lose our position or reputation or face jail, but we are willing. We have to be.  We must not shrink at anything. - /Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 79 *Thought to Ponder . . .* Happiness is the result doing our ne ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 18, 2016* *A Bright Idea* I woke up Saturday morning after the beginners meeting with the answer absolutely clear: Religion was something taught me, acquired, an external experience, while spirituality welled up from within, and required no education, no Torah or Bible, no shaman or priest. I believe my Higher Power led me to this explanation, as it was too clear and bright idea for so early in the morning! - /Thank You for Sharing,/ p. 199 *Thought to Pond ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 17, 2016* *Silence* To meditate means I have to become willing to sit alone in silence — and endure silence patiently. It means trusting the silence around me for a while, as if it were an answer I had long sought. - /The Best of the Grapevine/ [Vol. 3], p. 217 *Thought to Ponder . . .* Meditation is our step out into the sun. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *G R A C E* = **G**ently **R**eleasing **A**ll **C**onscious **E**xpectations. Thanks to all of you f ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 16, 2016 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Online AA** Taking advantage of technological advances, for example, AA members with computers can participate in meetings online, sharing with fellow alcoholics across the country or around the world. In any meeting, anywhere, AA’s share experience, strength, and hope with each other, in order to stay sober and help other alcoholics. /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. xxiv *Thought to Ponder . . .* Modem-to-modem or face-to-f ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 15, 2016* *Solitude* We realize a little solitude is necessary to think and to try to work some of the Steps. In solitude, we take our inventories. In solitude, we admit to ourselves the exact nature of our wrongs. In solitude, our spirits seek that Power greater than we are; in solitude, we seek through prayer and meditation to be aware of God’s will for us. - /Came to Believe . . .,/ p. 109 *Thought to Ponder . . .* We can't grow without giving ourselves ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 14, 2016* *Hope* Hope is the priceless ingredient for recovery. This, AA gives, most frequently not in mere words.  Upon the alcoholic’s first contact with AA, as he looks around the room and sees men and women respectably clothed and in their right minds, enjoying themselves, that flicker of hope begins to burn. And he says to himself, “If these jokers can do it, I can.” The first need, beyond any other, is hope.  Without it, there is nothing. - / ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 13, 2016 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ *Making Amends** Do we lay the matter before our sponsor or spiritual adviser, earnestly asking God’s help and guidance—meanwhile resolving to do the right thing when it becomes clear, cost what it may?  Of course, there is no pat answer which can fit all such dilemmas. But all of them do require a complete willingness to make amends as fast and as far as may be possible in a given set of conditions. /- Twelve Steps a ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 12, 2016* *New Lessons* Out of every season of grief or suffering, when the hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons for living were learned, new resources of courage were uncovered, and that finally, inescapably, the conviction came that God /does/ “move in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.” - /Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 105 *Thought to Ponder . . .* Pain nourishes courage. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *F A I T H* = **F**ur ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 11, 2016* *Failure* “In God’s economy, nothing is wasted.  Through failure, we learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is.” - /As Bill Sees It,/ p. 31 *Thought to Ponder . . .* This thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *F A I L U R E* = **F**earful, **A**rrogant, **I**nsecure, **L**onely, **U**ncertain, **R**esentful, **E**mpty. Thanks to all of yo ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 10, 2016* *Faith* I am grateful for whatever faith I have now, even though it is little more than a seedling — far, so very far, from the kind of faith that moves mountains. There is so much more to know, and no limit to the growth of faith. So I shall continue trying to work the Eleventh Step, trying to improve my conscious contact with God as I understand him. - /The Best of the Grapevine/ [Vol. 2], p. 177 *Thought to Ponder . . .* Faith isn't believing t ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 9, 2016 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Staying Away from the First Drink* If we do not take the first drink, we never get drunk. Therefore, instead of planning never to get drunk, or trying to limit the number of drinks or the amount of alcohol, we have learned to concentrate on avoiding only one drink: the first one. /- Living Sober,/ p. 5 *Thought to Ponder . . .* The first drink has the last say. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **A A** = **A**bsolute **A**bsti ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 8, 2016* *Choice* At this stage of our progress we are under heavy pressure to do the right thing. We are obliged to choose between the pains of trying and the certain penalties of failing to do so. These initial steps along the road are taken grudgingly, yet we do take them. - /Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 74 *Thought to Ponder . . .* When I choose the behavior, I choose the consequences. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *A A* = **A**ltered **A**t ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 7, 2016* *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.”/ We recoiled from meditation and prayer as obstinately as the scientist who refused to perform a certain experiment lest it prove his pet theory wrong. Of course, we finally did experiment, and when unexpected results followed, we felt different; in fact w ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 6, 2016 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Ask for Help* Reach out—people can’t read your mind. Say ouch! Someone hears.  Always. /- The Best of the Grapevine/ [Vol. 1], p. 85 *Thought to Ponder . . .* Simply asking for help seems to be a help in itself. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **H E L P** = **H**ope, **E**ncouragement, **L**ove, **P**atience. ** *A Member Shares:* I'm Bill, an alcoholic who needs God and others to stay sober.  I acquired the idea s ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *November 5, 2016* *Humility* On his desk, Dr. Bob had a plaque defining humility: "Perpetual quietness of heart.  It is to have no trouble. It is never to be fretted or vexed, irritable or sore; to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised, it is to have a blessed home in myself where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret and be ...Continue Reading