*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

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 16, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Freedom We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ pp. 83-84 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Serenity isn't freedom from the storm; it is peace within the storm.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **H J F** = **H**appy, **J**oyous, **F**ree. ** *A Member Shares: I'm Bobbie Jo ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 15, 2014* *Complacency* *Following the principles laid out in the Big Book has not always been comfortable, nor will I claim perfection. I have yet to find a place in the Big Book that says, "Now that you have completed the Steps; have a nice life." The program is a plan for a lifetime of daily living. There have been occasions when the temptation to slack off has won. I view each of these as learning opportunities.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 317 ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 14, 2014* *Turning Points* *Every day I stand at turning points. My thoughts and actions can propel me toward growth or turn me down the road to old habits and to booze. Sometimes turning points are beginnings, as when I decide to start praising, instead of condemning someone. . . At other times turning points are endings, such as when I see clearly the need to stop festering resentments or crippling self-seeking.* /- Daily Reflections,/ p. 15 *Thought to Pond ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 13, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Step Seven* /"Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."/ *To get completely away from our aversion to the idea of being humble, to gain a vision of humility as the avenue to true freedom of the human spirit, to be willing to work for humility as something to be desired for itself, takes most of us a long, long time.* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 73 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Humility is not thinkin ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 12, 2014* *Anonymity* *It should be a privilege, even the right, of each member or group to handle anonymity as they wish. . . Each individual will have to decide where he ought to draw the line -- how far he ought to carry the principle in his own affairs, how far he may go in dropping his own anonymity without injury to Alcoholics Anonymous as a whole.* /- The Language of the Heart,/ p. 15 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Anonymity is real humility at work.* *AA- ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 11, 2014* *Here-and-Now* *The nondrinking alcoholic discovers in AA that you cannot Get Ahead until you learn to be Here. We discover from our Serenity Prayer that one of the things we cannot change is time. The Here-and-Now is the only reality, whereas in the unreal world of the drinking alcoholic there was only yesterday-and-tomorrow.* /- Came To Believe . . .,/ p. 113 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Tomorrow, and all the tomorrows to come, are but extensions of ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 10, 2014* *Ego* *I am still arrogant, egocentric, self-righteous, with no humility, even phony at times, but I'm trying to be a better person and help my fellowman. Guess I'll never be a saint, but whatever I am, I want to be sober and in AA. The word "alcoholic" does not turn me off any more; in fact, it is music to my ears when it applies to me.* /- Experience, Strength and Hope,/ p. 382 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *The ego seeks the destination; the ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 9, 2014 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Acceptance And acceptance is the answer to /all/ my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation -- some fact of my life -- unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 417 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *My serenity is directly prop ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 8, 2014* *Humility* *On his desk, Dr. Bob had a plaque defining humility: "Perpetual quietness of heart. It is to have no trouble.  It is never to be fretted or vexed, irritable or sore; to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised, it is to have a blessed home in myself where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret and be at ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 7, 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 dispensations available at any price.* /- Living ...Continue Reading