*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 25, 2015* *Peace* *Most of us feel we need look no further for Utopia.  We have it with us right here and now. Each day my friend's simple talk in our kitchen multiplies itself in a widening circle of peace on earth and good will to men.* (Bill W., co-founder of AA) /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 16 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Joy is in knowing there is an answer.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *A A* = **A**lways **A**live. Thanks to all of you for shari ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 24, 2015* *Right Actions* *Doing the right things for the right reasons -- this is my way of controlling my selfishness and self-centeredness. I realize that my dependency on a Higher Power clears the way for peace of mind, happiness and sobriety. I pray each day that I will avoid my previous actions, so that I will be helpful to others.* /- Daily Reflections,/ p. 359 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Right actions for the future are the best apologies for wrong o ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 23, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Gratitude I try to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits. When brimming with gratitude, one's heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love, the finest emotion that we can ever know.* /- As Bill Sees It,/ p. 37 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *I have learned how a heart full of gratitude feels. AA-related 'Alconym' . . . *A A** = **A**lways **A**wesome. ** *A Member Shares: Eveni ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 22, 2015* *Learn to Live* *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'll be. . . I have learned that the more I give, the more I will have; the more I learn to give, the more I learn to live.* /- Experience, Strength and Hope,/ p. 218 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *I have learned ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 21, 2015* *Carry the Message* *Carrying the message is gift of myself, no matter how many years of sobriety I may have accumulated. . . My wish to help another drunk is the key to my spiritual health. But I never forget that God acts through me.  I am only His instrument.* /- Daily Reflections,/ p. 352 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *In AA we don't carry the alcoholic; we carry the message.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *H O W* = **H**onesty, **O**pen-mind ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 20, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Working the Program Many of us found that the sooner we started work on the Twelve Steps offered as a program of recovery in the book "Alcoholics Anonymous," the better. Others of us felt the need to postpone this until we had been sober a little while. The point is, there is no prescribed "right" way or "wrong" way. Each of us uses what is best for himself or herself -- without closing the do ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 19, 2015* *A Common Solution* *The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which we can join in brotherly and harmonious action. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 17 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Walk softly and carry a Big Book.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *H E A R T* = **H**ealing, ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 18, 2015* *Honesty* *Having trouble with the First Step?  All the program asks is enough honesty to get started -- just what we are capable of at the moment. At the beginning, that's very little honesty.  Each day, there will be a little more.  It will come. Because, you see, the AA program works for anyone who wants it.* /- The Best of the Grapevine/ [Vol. 2], p. 34 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Take the first step in faith.  You don't hav ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 17, 2015* *The Handshake* *I stumbled up the steps and came into this room, and some guy was up front talking, but I couldn't hear what he said. A couple of guys shook my hand.  Another one put his arm around my shoulder, and a third one gave me a cup of coffee. These guys had never seen me before -- they didn't know me from a bag of beans -- but all of a sudden I felt they liked me. An elementary thing, you say?  Of no importance?  Nonsense! ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 16, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ A New Meaning Life will take on new meaning.  To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends -- this is an experience you must not miss. We know you won't want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 89 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *I'm not ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 15, 2015* *Staying Flexible* *During active alcoholism, many of us led pretty disorganized lives, and the confusion often made us feel unsettled or even desperate. Learning not to drink is facilitated, we have discovered, by introducing some order into each day -- but being realistic and keeping our plan flexible. The rhythm of our own special routine has a soothing effect, and an apt principle around which to organize some orderliness is -- yes, "First ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 14, 2015* *Rewards* *Even the newest of newcomers finds undreamed rewards as he tries to help his brother alcoholic, the one who is even blinder than he. This is the kind of giving that actually demands nothing.  He does not expect his brother to pay him, or even to love him. And then he discovers that by the divine paradox of this kind of giving he has found his own reward, whether his brother has yet received anything or not.* /- Twelve Steps and Twel ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 13, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ All-inclusive We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the Realm of the Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek.  It is open, we believe, to all men.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 46 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Happiness and peace of mind are always here, open and free to anyone. AA-related 'Alconym' . . . *A A** = **A**ll ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 12, 2015* *Facing Challenges* *I know now I have a lot of work to do.  There are more amends to be made, letters to be sent, Twelfth Step work to do, responsibilities to be assumed, and honest talks to be had with loved ones. Life is meant to be lived by facing the challenges it brings.  Otherwise, I'm not living, just existing. God didn't give me this gift of sobriety to sit in a rocking chair, imagining myself as some wise old woman who has arriv ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *December 11, 2015* *Action* *We shall have to come to grips with some of our worst character defects* *and take action toward their removal as quickly as we can.* *The moment we say, "No, never!" our minds close against the grace of God.* *Delay is dangerous, and rebellion may be fatal.* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p, 69 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *When I got busy, I got better.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *A A* = **A**ccountable **A**ction ...Continue Reading