*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 28, 2014* *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 ladder, ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 27, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ How It Works Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. . . . If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it -- then you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked.  We thought we could find an easier, softer way.  But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very sta ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 27, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ How It Works Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. . . . If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it -- then you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked.  We thought we could find an easier, softer way.  But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very sta ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 26, 2014* *Emotional Sobriety* *Those adolescent urges that so many of us have for top approval, perfect security, and perfect romance -- urges quite appropriate to age seventeen -- prove to be an impossible way of life when we are at age forty-seven or fifty-seven. Since AA began, I've taken immense wallops in all these areas because of my failure to grow up, emotionally and spiritually. My God, how painful it is to keep demanding the impossible, and how very p ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 25, 2014* *Expectations* *Peace is possible for me only when I let go of expectations. When I am trapped in thoughts about what I want and what should be coming to me, I'm in a state of fear or anxious anticipation and this is not conducive to emotional sobriety. I must surrender -- over and over -- to my dependence on God, for then I find peace, gratitude and spiritual security.* /- Daily Reflections,/ p. 197 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *My disappointments are ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 23, 2014* *Helping Others* *We realize now that we were excessively self-centered, chiefly concerned about /our/ feelings, /our/ problems, other people's reactions to /us,/ and /our/ own past and future. Therefore, trying to get into communication with and help other people is a recovery measure for us, because it helps take us out of ourselves. Trying to heal ourselves by helping others works, even when it is an insincere gesture. Try it some time.* /- Living S ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 23, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ A New Life When we work at our Twelve Steps, the old life of guzzling and fuzzy thinking, and all that goes with it, gradually dies, and we acquire a different and better way of life. As our shortcomings are removed, one of us dies, and another life of us lives. We in AA die to live.* /- Experience, Strength and Hope,/ p. 156 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Life will take on new meaning.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **A A** = ** ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 22, 2014* *Humility* *The attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of AA's Twelve Steps. For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all. . . Without it, they cannot live to much useful purpose, or, in adversity, be able to summon the faith that can meet any emergency.* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 70 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Humility is not thinking less of myself, but thinking of my self less. ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 21, 2014* *Today* *But today is always here.  Life /is/ daily; today is all we have; and anybody can go one day without drinking. First, we try living in the now just in order to stay sober -- and it works. Once the idea has become a part of our thinking, we find that living life in 24-hour segments is an effective and satisfying way to handle many other matters as well. * /- Living Sober,/ p. 7 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Just for today, I choose not to d ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 21, 2014* *Today* *But today is always here.  Life /is/ daily; today is all we have; and anybody can go one day without drinking. First, we try living in the now just in order to stay sober -- and it works. Once the idea has become a part of our thinking, we find that living life in 24-hour segments is an effective and satisfying way to handle many other matters as well. * /- Living Sober,/ p. 7 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Just for today, I choose not to d ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 20, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Instincts Creation gave us instincts for a purpose.  Without them we wouldn't be complete human beings. . . Yet, these instincts, so necessary for our existence, often far exceed their proper functions. . . Nearly every serious emotional problem can be seen as a case of misdirected instinct. When that happens, our great natural assets, the instincts, have turned into physical and mental liabilities.* /- Twelve Steps and T ...Continue Reading

Dear Gentle Reader, Please excuse the error in our previous message. The text is from /The Home Group: Heartbeat Of AA,/ p. 69. In loving service and fellowship, joanna b. *AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 19, 2014* *Requirements* *What if the doors to AA could really be locked against me? What if it was possible to take away my membership? Maybe because I hadn't paid my dues, or because I didn't meet some ethical or ethnic standards, or maybe because I "broke the rules" by going out an ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 19, 2014* *Requirements* *What if the doors to AA could really be locked against me? What if it was possible to take away my membership? Maybe because I hadn't paid my dues, or because I didn't meet some ethical or ethnic standards, or maybe because I "broke the rules" by going out and getting drunk, as I have a few times during my long association with the Fellowship? But then I recall the Preamble, and the Third Tradition . . . "The only require ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 18, 2014* *Fundamental* *Deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there.  For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself. * /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 55 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *People of faith have a logical idea of what life is ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 17, 2014* *Sponsorship* *Every sponsor is necessarily a leader.  The stakes are huge. A human life and usually the happiness of a whole family hang in the balance. What a sponsor does and says, how well he estimates the reactions of his prospect, . . . how well he handles criticisms, and how well he leads his prospect on by personal spiritual example -- well, these attributes of leadership can make all the difference, often the difference between life and d ...Continue Reading