*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

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 13, 2015* *Relationships* *The moment we ponder a twisted or broken relationship with another person, our emotions go on the defensive. To escape looking at the wrongs we have done another, we resentfully focus on the wrong he has done us. . . Right here we need to fetch ourselves up sharply. It doesn't make much sense when a tosspot calls a kettle black. Let's remember that alcoholics are not the only ones bedeviled by sick emotions.* /~ Twelve Steps and Twel ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 12, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ On Life's Terms Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 417 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Life will take on new meaning.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *H J F* = **H**appy, **J**oyous, **F**ree. ** *A Member Shares: My name is Hope, alcoholic.  These days, I like to think of myself as "alkie-normal.&q ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 11, 2015* *Habits* *Our drinking was connected with many habits -- big and little. Some of them were thinking habits, or things we felt inside ourselves. Others were doing habits -- things we did, actions we took. In getting used to not drinking, we have found that we needed new habits to take the place of those old ones.* /~ Living Sober,/ p. 1 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Habits are like cork or lead -- they tend to keep you up or hold you down.* *AA-related ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 10, 2015* *Tolerance* *We begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see what real love for our fellows actually means. It will become more and more evident as we go forward that it is pointless to become angry, or to get hurt by people who, like us, are suffering from the pains of growing up.* /~ Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 92 *Thought ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 9, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Colossus of Communication Nothing can matter more to the future welfare of AA than the manner in which we use this colossus of communication. Used unselfishly and well, the results can surpass our present imagination.* /- The Language of the Heart,/ p. 320 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Modem-to-modem or face-to-face, AA's speak the language of the heart.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *H E A R T* = **H**ealing, **E**njoying, ** ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 8, 2015* *The Ladder* *No one who drank as I did wakes up on the edge of the abyss one morning and says: Things look pretty scary; I think I'd better stop drinking before I fall in. I was convinced I could go as far as I wanted, and then climb back out when it wasn't fun anymore. What happened was, I found myself at the bottom of the canyon thinking I'd never see the sun again. AA didn't pull me out of that hole.  It did give me the tools to construct a l ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 7, 2015* *Humility* *What an unthinking world may look upon as defeat, alcoholics in AA know as a triumph of the spirit, a triumph of humility over false pride and self-centeredness. How few human beings ever have the courage to stand up before their neighbors and, in humility, describing themselves truthfully, to say: "This is what I really am."* /~ Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age,/ p. 278 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Humility comes before honor.* ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 6, 2015* *A Spiritual Path* *Following this spiritual path made a major difference in my life. It seemed to fill that lonely hole that I used to fill with alcohol. My self-esteem improved dramatically, and I knew happiness and serenity as I had never known it before. . . A confidence and faith entered my life and unraveled a plan for me that was bigger and better than I could ever have imagined. It wasn't easy, and it has never been easy, but it gets so much b ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 5, 2015 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ An Inside Job We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 55 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *I saw, I felt, I believed.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *F A I T H* = **F**inding **A**nswers **I**n **T**he **H**eart. ** *A Member Shares: I'm Dave, an alcoholic.  I had read everything I could find on the subject and did a deep dive int ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *August 4, 2015* *Listening* *If you really listen to (not just hear) what is being said, you may find the person talking has quietly slipped inside your head and seems to be describing the landscape there -- the shifting shapes of nameless fears, the color and chill of impending doom -- if not the actual events and words in your brain. And whether this happens or not, you will almost surely have a good laugh or two in the company of AA's, and you'll probably pick up ...Continue Reading