*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 4, 2013* *Firecrackers* *When we first go into AA we are firecrackers with short wicks and when those short wicks get lighted with resentment or self-pity or any of the things that cause us to go off on a tangent, it doesn't take long before we explode. The longer we go to meetings, the longer the wick becomes.* /Thank You for Sharing,/ p. 61 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Meetings ... a spiritual gathering with a spiritual goal.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *K C ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 3, 2013 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Fear I no longer pray to have my fear removed. Today, I pray that my love grow bigger than my fear, and that my humility becomes greater than my shame.* The AA Grapevine, May, 1999 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *A fear faced is a fear erased.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **F E A R** = **F**ace **E**verything **A**nd **R**ecover. * A Member Shares: Hiya, AA Family, I'm Peyton, a grateful alcoholic. Back when I w ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 2, 2013* *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. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God's world by mistake.* /Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 417 *Thought to Pond ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *July 1, 2013* *The Mask* *Sometimes, I don't even realize that I'm thinking about alcohol when I'm justifying resentments, enjoying self-pity, or nourishing fear. Because I'm an alcoholic, that's exactly what I'm doing, and AA makes those connections for me. I need AA to strip the mask from alcohol. There it lurks behind my character defects and negative feelings -- "cunning, baffling, powerful!"* The AA Grapevine, November 2004, p. 47 *Thought to Ponder . ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 30, 2013 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ The "If" Trap 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 availabl ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 29, 2013* *Challenges* *Life is meant to be lived by facing the challenges it brings. Otherwise, I'm not living, just existing. God didn't give me this gift of sobriety to sit in a rocking chair, imagining myself as some wise old woman who has arrived somewhere. There is no easier, softer way.* /- The Best of the Grapevine/ [Vol. 3], p. 320 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Courage is fear in action.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *G I F T* = **G**od **I**s **F**oreve ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 28, 2013* *Humility* *To those who have made progress in AA, humility amounts to a clear recognition of what and who we really are, followed by a sincere attempt to become what we could be.* /- As Bill Sees It,/ p. 156 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Humility is not a station we arrive at; it's a way of traveling.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *O D A A T* = **O**ne **D**ay **A**t **A** **T**ime. Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, st ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 26, 2013 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Fellowship To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends -- this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 89 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Life will take on new meaning.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **H E A R T** = **H**ealing, **E**njoying, **A**nd ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 25, 2013* *No Reservations* *We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: "Once and alcoholic, always an alcoholic." Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever. If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 33 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *If I think I am an alcoholic, chances ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 24, 2013* *The Journey* *Sobriety is a journey of joyful discovery. Each day brings new experience, awareness, greater hope, deeper faith, broader tolerance. I must maintain these attributes or I will have nothing to pass on. Great events for this recovering alcoholic are the normal everyday joys found in being able to live another day in God's grace.* /- Daily Reflections,/ p. 126 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Sobriety is a journey, not a destination.* *AA-relat ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 23, 2013 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Powerlessness Every natural instinct cries out against the idea of personal powerlessness. It is truly awful to admit that, glass in hand, we have warped our minds into such an obsession for destructive drinking that only an act of Providence can remove it from us.* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 21 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircas ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 22, 2013* *Sponsorship* *A sponsor is simply a sober alcoholic who can help solve only one problem: how to stay sober. And the sponsor has only one tool to use -- personal experience, not scientific wisdom. Sponsors have /been/ there, and they often have more concern, hope, compassion, and confidence for us than we have for ourselves.* /- Living Sober,/ p. 27 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Don't look for a sponsor, listen for one.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *S ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 21, 2013* *Self-awareness* *Everyone has the capacity for growth, and for self-awareness, through an honest encounter with reality. When I don't avoid issues but meet them directly, always trying to resolve them, they become fewer and fewer.* /- Daily Reflections,/ p. 100 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Few people have the imagination to see reality.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *A A* = **A**lways **A**ware. Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 20, 2013* *A Whole New Life* *There's nothing remarkable about being an alcoholic. We're a dime a dozen. the good word is that we're /sober/ alcoholics. I'm an alcoholic, sober today, thanks to my Higher Power and the fellowship of AA. That's my good news for you. It's not a very fancy statement. There's a lot more to be said -- words about my Higher Power, about the incredible love AA people have for one another, about struggling with the Steps, about black bat ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 19, 2013 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Growing Up /It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make a beginning./ I saw that growth could start from that point.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 12 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *I stood in the sunlight at last.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **H O W** = **H**onesty, **O**pen-mindedness, **W**illingness. * A Member Shares: I'm Thomas, ...Continue Reading