*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 22, 2014* *Emotional Pain* *When I am hurt or upset, I have to continually look for the cause in me, and then I have to admit and correct my mistakes. It isn't easy, but as long as I know I am progressing spiritually, I know I can mark my effort up as a job well done. I have found that pain is a friend . . ..* /- Daily Reflections,/ p. 284 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Pain is what I walk through.  Misery is what I sit in.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *T R ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 21, 2014* *Progress* *Walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress. If you persist, remarkable things will happen. When we look back, we realize that the things we put in God's hands were better than anything we could have planned.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 100 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *When in doubt, be silent.  Grow where you are planted.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *G R O W T H* = **G**od **R**eveals **O**ther **W**ays **T**o **H**eal. Th ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 20, 2014* *Understanding* *Gradually, God began to clear my channels so that real understanding began to come. Then was the time when full realization and acknowledgement came to me. It was realization and acknowledgement of the fact that I had not fully given my problems to God. /I was still trying to do my own fixing./* /- Experience, Strength and Hope,/ p. 22 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *God seldom becomes a reality until God becomes a necessity.* *AA-relate ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 19, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Why AA? Wouldn't you rather recognize you have a health condition which can be successfully treated, than spend a lot of time miserably wondering about what's wrong with you? We have found this is a better-looking, and better-feeling picture of ourselves than the old gloomy selves we used to see.  It is truer, too.  We know. The proof of it is in the way we feel, act, and think -- now.* /- Living Sober,/ p. 10 *Tho ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 18, 2014* *Honesty* *I need to remember each day that deceiving myself about myself is setting myself up for failure or disappointment in life and in Alcoholics Anonymous. A close, /honest/ relationship with a Higher Power is the only solid foundation I've found for honesty with self and with others.* /- Daily Reflections,/ pp. 117 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Honesty isn't an event -- it's a process.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *H O W* = **H**onesty, **O**pe ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 17, 2014* *Fortunate Indeed* *We who are alcoholics can consider ourselves fortunate indeed. Each of us has had his own near-fatal encounter with the juggernaut of self-will, and has suffered enough under its weight to look for something better. So it is by circumstance rather than any virtue that we have been driven to AA, have admitted defeat, have acquired the rudiments of faith, and now want to make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to a Higher ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 16, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Keep It Simple Dr. Bob stood in the doorway, tall and upright as ever. . . This was my partner, the man with whom I never had a hard word. The wonderful, old, broad smile was on his face as he said almost jokingly, "Remember, Bill, let's not louse this thing up.  Let's keep it simple!" I turned away, unable to say a word.  This was the last time I ever saw him.* (Bill Wilson speaking of Dr. Bob Smith .. co ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 15, 2014* *Awareness* *Yes, we're alcoholics.  Yes, it was vitally important that we come to that awareness. Yes, we've got to be honest with ourselves and one another. But we're more than alcoholics.  Much more. We're alcoholics who are living sober lives! Alcoholics who have a choice whether or not to take that first drink. For the first time in our lives, we are really alive! Our message is good news, and we need to say so.* /- The Best of the Grap ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 14, 2014* *Responsibility* *In the last analysis, as a recovering alcoholic I need only have two concerns. The first is to maintain my sobriety on a daily basis and to practice the program of AA one day at a time. The second is to ensure that what was here yesterday will be here tomorrow for the next alcoholic who walks through the doors of the Fellowship. And for that I am responsible.* /- Thank You For Sharing,/ p. 181 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Every recove ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 13, 2014* *Dependency* *Plainly, I could not avail myself of God's love until I was able to offer it back to Him by loving others as He would have me. And I couldn't possibly do that as long as I was victimized by false dependencies. For my dependency meant demand -- a demand for the possession and control of the people and the conditions surrounding me.* /- The Best of Bill,/ p. 56 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *What I am is Gods gift to me.  What I make of ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 12, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Turning It Over Step Three became a cheerful acceptance of my place in the world: "I have no idea Who or What is running the show, but I know /I/'m not!" And I could also see Step Three as a good attitude, an effective approach to life: "If I am swimming in salt water and I panic and start thrashing around and fighting it, it will drown me. But if I relax and have faith in it, it will hold me afloat."* /- ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 11, 2014* *Keep Coming Back* *I've found that my experience can be of help to other people. I have come to believe that hard times are not just meaningless suffering and that something good might turn up at any moment. That's a big change for someone who used to come to in the morning feeling sentenced to another day of life. When I wake up today, there are lots of possibilities.  I can hardly wait to see what's going to happen next. I keep coming back bec ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 10, 2014* *A New Beginning* *I knew I had to have a new beginning, and this beginning had to be here. I could not start anywhere else.  I had to let go of the past and forget the future. As long as I held on to the past with one hand and grabbed at the future with the other hand, I had nothing to hold on today with.  So I had to begin here, now.* /- Came To Believe . . .,/ p. 46 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *There are no endings ... only new beginnings. ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 9, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Choice /The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink./* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p.24 *Thought to Ponder . ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *March 8, 2014* *If* *Alcoholism respects no ifs.  It does not go away, not for a week, for a day, or even for an hour, leaving us nonalcoholic and able to drink again on some special occasion or for some extraordinary reason -- not even if it is a once-in-a-lifetime celebration, or if a big sorrow hits us, or if it rains in Spain or the stars fall on Alabama. Alcoholism is for us unconditional, with no dispensation available at any price.* /- Living Sober,/ p. 6 ...Continue Reading