*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 28, 2015* *Kindergarten* *We are only operating a spiritual kindergarten in which people are enabled to get over drinking and find the grace to go on living to better effect. Each man's theology has to be his own quest, it is his affair.* /- As Bill Sees It,/ p. 95 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Learn to listen; listen to learn.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* * K I S S* = **K**eeping* *I**t **S**imple, **S**piritually. Thanks to all of you for sharing so generous ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 27, 2015* *Change* *In one form or another, many of my character defects appear daily: self-condemnation, anger, running away, being prideful, wanting to get even, or acting out of grandiosity. Attempting half measures to eliminate these defects merely paralyzes my efforts to change. It is only when I ask God for help, with complete abandon, then I become willing -- and able -- to change.* /Daily Reflections,/ p. 15 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *If nothing chang ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 26, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Experience, Strength and Hope The AA Preamble: Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.* - © The AA Grapevine, Inc. *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *E S ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 25, 2015* *The Impossible Dream* *I had to free myself from the impossible dream of a perfect world in order to love and accept the real world. Judged by human standards, life is /not/ perfect; to demand perfection of it is asking the impossible. . . Paradoxically, there would be no perfection without imperfection. . . Thank God, as a result of AA and sobriety, I am liberated from dreaming the impossible dream and free, finally, to start living the possible dr ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 24, 2015* *Adversity* *I learned to be grateful for my alcoholism and the program of recovery it forced me into, for all the things that had happened /to/ me and /for/ me, for a life today that transcends and far exceeds anything I had previously known. I could not have that today if I had not experienced all the yesterdays. . . Adversity truly introduces us to ourselves.* /~ Alcoholics Anonymous,/ pp. 529-530 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *There is no education ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 23, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Tradition Five Each group has but one primary purpose -- to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 150 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety. *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *T R U S T** = **T**eaching **R**ecoveryl **U**sing **S**teps and **T**raditions. ** *A Member Shares: Hi, I'm Dale, and I a ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 22, 2015* *Awakening* *That which had been impossible before -- a trust in something or someone other than myself -- had now become possible. In other words, I had been undergoing a spiritual experience without knowing it. My confused questioning about a Higher Power, my changed mental attitude, and even my physical recovery had all been part of a spiritual awakening.* /~ The Best of the Grapevine/ [Vol. 2], p. 193 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *A spiritual awake ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 21, 2015* *Change* *Before AA it didn't matter how good things got -- I always had a feeling that something was wrong. Since AA, it doesn't matter how bad things get -- I always have a feeling that everything is going to be all right. In working the Twelve Steps, my life and my old way of thinking have changed.* /Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 381 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *When I change the way I look at things, the things I look at change.* *AA-related 'Alconym ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 20, 2015* *Anonymity* *If we are to thrive as a Fellowship, we must have a safe place for people to come. Everyone who approaches the doors of AA should know that we will do everything in our power to protect anonymity. That protection includes social media and other forms of digital media. When filming or taking pictures, please be mindful that people may object to appearing in your images.* The AA Grapevine, September 2015 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *We need ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 19, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Prayer and Meditation Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of /belonging/ that comes to us. We no longer live in a completely hostile world. We are no longer lost and frightened and purposeless.* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 105 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Prayer asks the question.  Meditation listens for the answer. * *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *P U S H* = **P**ray ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 18, 2015* *Apples and Oranges* *I had my first awakening in an AA meeting.  The speaker said, "If you're an apple, you can be the best apple you can be, but you can never be an orange." I was an apple all right, and for the first time I understood that I had spent my life trying to be an orange. I looked around at a room filled with apples and, if I was understanding the speaker, most of them were no longer trying to be oranges.* /~ Alcoholics A ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 17, 2015* *Laughter* *I began to see the miracles that happen only in AA. People who would nearly crawl in the doors, sick and broken, and who in a few weeks of meetings and not drinking one day at a time would get their health back, find a little job and friends who really cared, and then discover a God in their lives. But the most compelling part of AA, the part that made me want to try this sober thing, was the laughter, the pure joy of the laughter that I ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 16, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Step One "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol -- that our lives had become unmanageable."* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 5 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Take the first step in faith.  We don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. * *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *S T E P S* = **S**olutions **T**hrough **E**ach **P**ositive **S**tep. ** *A Member Shares: Hi, I'm Jenny, an ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 15, 2015* *Forgiveness* *I cannot make an amends when I am still condemning or forgiving myself or the one I am making amends to, because of the judgment this implies.  I have always found condemnation to be a lonely road and have always found forgiveness to be a confusing and impossible task. When I forgive someone I guess what I really mean to say is that I judge others. Forgiving and condemning are God's business, not mine.* /~ The Best of the Grapevin ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 14, 2015* *An Endless Career* *I wish I could tell you all that AA has done for me, all that I think and feel about AA, but it's something that I have experienced and never have been able to put into words. I know that I must work at it as long as I live; I know that it is only by working at it that I can stay sober and have a happy life. It is an endless career.* /~ Experience, Strength and Hope,/ pp. 341-342 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *It works -- it really ...Continue Reading