*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 3, 2014* *Consistency* *What right do I have to expect perfection and efficiency in my spiritual growth when the rest of my life is so full of ups and downs, ins and outs, and backs and forths? Throughout this whole adventure, the only consistency I have maintained is an absolute and total faith in AA, come what may.* /- The Best of the Grapevine/ [Vol. 1], p. 187 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Life is a steady drizzle of small things -- carry an umbrella.* *AA-r ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 2, 2014* *Surprise!* *Somewhat to our surprise, staying sober turns out not to be the grim, wet-blanket experience we had expected! While we were drinking, a life without alcohol seemed like no life at all. But for most members of AA, living sober is /really/ living -- a joyous experience. We much prefer it to the troubles we had with drinking. One more note: anyone can /get/ sober.  We have all done it lots of times. The trick is to stay and to /live/ sobe ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 1, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Awareness Today I must be aware of my alcoholism. I cannot afford to believe that I have gained control of my drinking -- or again I will think I've gained control over my life. Such a feeling of control is fatal to my recovery.* /- Daily Reflections,/ p. 26 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *My sponsor gave me a "Humility" badge; then took it away when I started wearing it.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **A A** = **A**lway ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 31, 2014* *The Journey* *My circumstances have steadily improved as my spiritual life grows and matures. Words cannot begin to describe the feelings in my heart as I sometimes ponder how much my life has changed, how far I've come, and how much there is yet to discover. And though I'm not sure where my journey may take me next, I know I'll owe it to the grace of God and to three words of the Twelve Steps: continue, improve, and practice. Oh, and one more thing th ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 30, 2014* *Attitudes* *Our old attitudes toward our instincts need to undergo drastic revisions. Our desires for emotional security and wealth, for personal prestige and power, for romance, and for family satisfactions -- all these have to be tempered and redirected. . . If we place instincts first, we have got the cart before the horse; we shall be pulled backward into disillusionment.* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 114 *Thought to Ponder . . .* * ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 29, 2014* *Foundation Stones* *One thing I've learned in AA is not to be an alarmist. Still, around the groups I attend, it /does/ seem that we AA's sometimes get a little funny about the Traditions. That's what prompted me to wonder: What would happen if we /all/ decided to let somebody else safeguard these twelve foundation stones? If you woke up one morning, and found there was simply /no more/ AA, where would that leave you?  Yeah, that's the feeling I g ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 28, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Resentments If you have a resentment you want to be free of, if you will pray for the person or the thing that you resent, you will be free. If you will ask in prayer for everything you want for yourself to be given to them, you will be free.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 552 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *We are prisoners of our own resentments. Forgiveness unlocks the door and sets us free.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **A A** ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 27, 2014* *Inspiration* *In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy.  We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 86 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *I asked from the heart, and I received.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 26, 2014* *Self-will* *I can recognize that I'm caught up in my will when I desperately struggle to slam a square peg into a round hole. That's the time for me to back off and trust that God's will is far better than mine.* - The AA Grapevine, November, 2013 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *If I self-forget I find.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *S W A T* = **S**urrender, **W**illingness, **A**ction, **T**rust. Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your e ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 25, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Honesty Only God can fully know what absolute honesty is. Therefore, each of us has to achieve what this great ideal may be -- to the best of our ability.* /- As Bill Sees It,/ p. 66 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Honesty is the absence of the intent to deceive.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **H O W** = **H**onesty, **O**pen-mindedness, **W**illingness. ** *A Member Shares: Hi everyone, I'm Lisa, an alcoholic.  When I first ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 24, 2014* *Our Third Legacy:  Service* *All I thought about as I was making the coffee was making the coffee and how people could enjoy it. At my sponsor's suggestion, I stood near the coffeepot and welcomed everyone who came by. I must have experienced a million smiles in a very short time. And when I pushed the broom all I concentrated on was the dust rising from it as I moved across the floor. My troubles were gone for the time that I was doing these thin ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 23, 2014* *One Day At A Time* *I was a very good student of alcoholism.  I studied for twenty-four years. My habit patterns became totally based on how to continue drinking day in and day out. I became a past master of denial, an artist with self-pity, and by the time I heard the thumping of dirt and pebbles as they would soon be shoveled onto the lid of my coffin, the habit patterns had become permanent and I couldn't stop drinking even when I wanted to. . ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 22, 2014* *The Book* *By 1937, some of us realized that AA needed a standard literature. There would have to be a book. . . Well, we did quarrel violently over the preparation and distribution of that AA Book. In fact, it took five years for the clamor to die down. Should any AA's dream that the old-timers who put the Book together went about in serene meditation and white robes, then they had best forget it. The inspiration that readers now say they find in the ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 21, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Anger If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 66 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Anger rules nothing except itself.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **A A** = **A**void **A**nger. ** *A Member Shares: I'm Donna, an alcoholic.  Just about three years ago, I ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 20, 2014* *Change* *I tried to change the time and place and amount of my drinking. I tried to change my environment, my place of living -- like most of us who at one time or another think that our trouble is geography rather than whiskey. I even entertained the idea of changing wives. I tried to change everything and everybody, /except myself/ -- the only thing I /could/ change.* /- Experience, Strength and Hope,/ p. 153 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *If nothing ch ...Continue Reading