*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 26, 2016* *Unity* The Twelve Steps of our AA program are not crammed down anybody’s throat. They are not sustained by any human authority.  Yet we powerfully unite around them because the truth they contain has saved our lives, has opened the door to a new world. Our experience tells us these universal truths work. The anarchy of the individual yields to their persuasion. /- The Language of the Heart,/ p. 8 *Thought to Ponder . . .* There is no strength ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 25, 2016* *Face the Music* “Are you really placing recovery first, or are you making it contingent upon other people, places, or circumstances? You may find it ever so much better to face the music right where you are now, and, with the help of the AA program, win through. Before you make a decision, weigh it in these terms.” /- As Bill Sees It,/ p. 251 *Thought to Ponder . . .* In order to recover, we need to uncover. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *P R O G R ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 24, 2016 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Essentials We find the no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. /Willingness, honesty and open-mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable./* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 568 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *AA is spiritual, is the eye of the hurricane, is my refuge and my comfort. AA-related 'Alconym' . . . *H O W** = **H**onesty, **O**pen-mindedness, **W**illingness. ** *A Me ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 23, 2016* *Listening* Sometimes, the body can speak an eloquent language all its own. I see and feel that at meetings.  So coming to regular meetings of AA is a priceless experience for me on a great many levels – mental, spiritual, social, emotional, and now possibly physical. Listening quietly is already a joy to me, and if it calms me down and lowers my blood pressure in the process, that’s just another great reason to keep coming back. /- Thank You Fo ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 22, 2016* *Guilt* Don’t, please, thrash around too long in guilt. Learn what you can from past negative experiences, and move on. Guilt is insidious and counterproductive. You are a perfect child of God.  It shines through in your sobriety. I see it, and so do others.  Make yourself see it. /- The Best of the Grapevine/ [Vol. 1], p. 86 *Thought to Ponder . . .* Guilt is in the past; worry is the future.  Both are manifestations of ego. *AA-rel ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 21, 2016 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ The First One 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' . . . *J F T** = **J**ust **F**or **T**oday. ** *A Member Sh ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 20, 2016* *A Lesson* I spent most of my life worrying about myself, thinking that I was unwanted, that I was unloved. I’ve learned since being in AA that the more I worry about me loving you, and the less I worry about you loving me, the happier I will be. /- Experience, Strength and Hope,/ p. 218 *Thought to Ponder . . .* Happiness and peace of mind are always here, open and free to anyone. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *H J F* = **H**appy, **J**oyous, **F** ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 19, 2016* *The AA Group* We constantly remind ourselves and each other that the reason we are here is to help the new person find what we have discovered through the Steps – not to glorify ourselves, not to discuss at nauseating length our own opinions or feelings, but to give to others what has been given to us. . . It took some of us a very long time to discover these simple truths. But our AA experience is now so fulfilling, so positive, so full of harmonio ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 18, 2016* *Something* In my view, some of the evidences of a spiritual awakening are: maturity; an end to habitual hatred; the ability to love and to be loved in return; the ability to believe, even without understanding, that Something lets the sun rise in the morning and set at night, makes the leaves come out in the spring and drop off in the fall, and gives the birds song. Why not let this Something be God? /- Came To Believe . . .,/ p. 48 *Thought to Pon ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 17, 2016 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Carrying the Message We know we can seldom keep the precious gift of sobriety unless we give it away. . . For us, if we neglect those who are still sick, there is unremitting danger to our own lives and sanity. . . . . . our Society has concluded that it has but one high mission — to carry the AA message to those who don’t know there’s a way out.* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 151 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Onl ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 16, 2016* *Pride and Ego* I began to feel like a clown juggling too many balls. Each ball represented a problem I was keeping up in the air. My arms were weary and I knew I couldn’t keep on much longer, but I was not about to give up. My pride and ego wouldn’t let me.  Bosses, judges, co-workers, lawyers, car notes, bar tabs, loan sharks, utility payments, landlords, my girlfriend, people I had double-crossed— I looked to all these as the source of my pro ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 15, 2016* *Daily Reprieve* It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 85 *Thought to Ponder . . .* Talking about the spiritual part of the pro ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 14, 2016 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Persistence If you persist, remarkable things will happen.  When we look back, we realize that the things which came to us when we put ourselves in God’s hands were better than anything we could have planned.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 100 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *The Three P's -- Patience, Persistence, Peace. AA-related 'Alconym' . . . *B E S T** = **B**een **E**njoying **S**obriety **T**oday? ** *A Member Share ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 13, 2016* *Possibilities* I have come to believe that hard times are not just meaningless suffering and that something good might turn up at any moment.  That’s a big change for someone who used to come to in the morning feeling sentenced to another day of life. When I wake up today, there are lots of possibilities. I can hardly wait to see what’s going to happen next.  I keep coming back because it works. /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 374 *Thought t ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 12, 2016* *Traditions* Unless there is approximate conformity to AA’s Twelve Traditions, the group, too, can deteriorate and die. So we of AA do obey spiritual principles, first because we must, and ultimately because we love the kind of life such obedience brings. Great suffering and great love are AA’s disciplinarians; we need no others. /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 174 *Thought to Ponder . . .* The Twelve Steps tell us how it works; the Twelv ...Continue Reading