*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *April 4, 2015* *Confidence* *Once we have a complete willingness to take inventory, and exert ourselves to do the job thoroughly, a wonderful light falls upon the foggy scene. As we persist, a brand-new kind of confidence is born, and the sense of relief at finally facing ourselves is indescribable.  These are the first fruits of Step Four.* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ pp. 49-50 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Inventory-taking is not always done in red i ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *April 3, 2015* *Making the Call* *I prayed very hard, and agonized much, and I finally made the call.  At my first meeting, I apologized to the group. I honestly admitted I was only a beer drinker.  It was difficult to say, but it felt good to clear the air. I half expected to be kicked out of the meeting, but I was gently assured that there were beer drinkers in AA. In fact, there were some at that very meeting!  I felt better, but I wanted to clear u ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *April 2, 2015* *Inventory* *I may attain "humility for today" only to the extent that I am able to avoid the bog of guilt and rebellion, and that fair but deceiving land which is strewn with the coin of Pride. This is how I can find and stay on the Road to Humility which lies in between. Therefore, a constant inventory which can reveal when I am off the road is always in order.* /- The Language of the Heart,/ p. 256 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *The differenc ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *April 1, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Being Good to Ourselves Now is the time, the only time there is.  And if we are not kind to ourselves right now, we certainly cannot rightfully expect respect or consideration from others. We have found we can enjoy, sober, every good thing we enjoyed while drinking -- and many, many more. It takes a little practice, but the rewards more than make up for the effort. To do so is not selfish, but self-productive.* /Living S ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 31, 2015* *The Solution* *Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation.  But we saw it really worked in others, and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 30, 2015* *Perfection* *There would be no music if high C were the only note, no art if spectrum red were the only color, no joy in pleasure if pleasure were the only feeling -- and, paradoxically, there would be no perfection without imperfection. What does this mean to me?  Well, first it means that /I don't have to be perfect./ All I have to do is grow at a pace natural to me -- and that is all I have a right to expect of others.* /- The Best of the Gra ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 29, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Primary Purpose 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 only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, p ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 28, 2015* *Alcoholism* *Alcoholism is deadly, ugly, and tough.  It is also cunning, baffling, and powerful. . . It wants me to forget it is a snake in the brain, hoping to catch my eye, watching, waiting. The gritty pain of alcoholism is the traction of recovery.* /- The Best of the Grapevine/ [Vol. 3], p. 165 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Times change, alcoholism doesn't.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *A A* = **A**bsolute **A**bstinence. Thanks to all of ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 27, 2015* *Cafeteria Style* *Sometimes an AA member will talk about taking the various parts of the program in cafeteria style -- selecting what he likes and letting alone what he does not want. Maybe others will come along and pick up the unwanted parts -- or maybe that member himself will go back later and take some of the ideas he previously rejected. However, it is good to remember the temptation in a cafeteria is to pick up nothing but a lot of desserts or ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 26, 2015* *Sanity* *AA taught me that /willingness to believe/ was enough for a beginning. It's been true in my case, nor could I quarrel with "restore us to sanity," for my actions drunk or sober, before AA, were not those of a sane person. My desire to be honest with myself made it necessary for me to realize that my thinking was irrational.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 550 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *AA has taught me the knack of being myself.* * ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 25, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Patience I had to find my own personal skid row before I became willing to let the seeds of patience, tolerance, humility, unselfishness, honesty, love, purity and charity grow within myself. And as long as I keep the weeds of resentment, envy, selfishness, pride, anger, impatience and misunderstanding from choking out these healthy seedlings; keep them fed and watered with regular attendance at meetings, open-minded attentiv ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 24, 2015* *Courage* *Before we could recognize the illness in ourselves, we had to unload this tired old myth: It would be a sign of shameful weakness to admit that we couldn't handle the sauce any more (if we ever could). Weakness?  Actually, it takes considerable courage to stare unblinkingly at the hard truth, sparing nothing, without excuses, and without kidding ourselves.* /- Living Sober,/ p. 72 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *If I have the courage to be ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 23, 2015* *Righteous Indignation* *The positive value of righteous indignation is theoretical -- especially for alcoholics. It leaves every one of us open to the rationalization that we may be as angry as we like provided we can claim to be righteous about it.* /- As Bill Sees It,/ p. 58 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Those who anger me, conquer me.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *A N G E R* = **A** **N**egative **G**rudge **E**ndangers **R**ecovery. Thanks to al ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 22, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Concept My friend suggested what seemed then a novel idea.  He said, /"Why don't you choose your own conception of God?"/  That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years. I stood in the sunlight at last.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 12 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Take a walk with God.  He will meet you at the Steps.* *AA-relate ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 21, 2015* *No Middle-of-the-Road* *If you are as seriously alcoholic as we were, we believe there is no middle-of-the-road solution. We were in a position where life was becoming impossible, and if we had passed into the region from which there is no return through human aid, we had but two alternatives: One was to go on to the bitter end, blotting out the consciousness of our intolerable situation as best we could; and the other, to accept spiritual help.* /- ...Continue Reading