*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

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 18, 2013* *Hope* *At first it was a shock to realize I was an alcoholic, but the realization that there was hope made it easier. The baffling problem of getting drunk when I had every intention of staying sober was simplified. It was a great relief to know I didn't /have/ to drink any more.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 354 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *If I don't drink today, I have the hope of a tomorrow.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *H O P E* = **H**eart **O* ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 17, 2013* *Concepts* *Most emphatically we wish to say that any alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems in the light of our experience can recover, provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual concepts. . . /Willingness, honesty and open-mindedness are essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable./* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 568 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Every recovery, though it may go unnoticed, improves the world in some way.* * ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 16, 2013 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Faith We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can laugh at those who think spirituality is the way of weakness. Paradoxically, it is the way of strength.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 68 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Faith dares the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **F A I T H** = **F**ear **A**nd **I**nsecurity? **T**rust **H**im! * A Member Shares ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 15, 2013* *Make Coffee* *All I thought about as I was making the coffee was making the coffee and how people can 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 things. And so it can be ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 14, 2013* *Self-pity* *Poor little old me. I had the Ploms and almost died from them. Sober, I would probably have survived with a few new scars on an already badly dented ego, and my life would have been a different one. Yet I had survived many a maudlin drinking bout without resorting to suicide attempts. It was alcohol /plus/ the Ploms that almost did me in.* /- The Best of the Grapevine/ [Vol. 1], p. 27 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Self-pity is followed by is ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 13, 2013* *A Simple Contrast* *The simple contrast between active alcoholism and active sobriety has helped me to seek, to listen, and to apply the good principles of living, and I am rewarded with much more excitement and joy than was mine before AA sobriety. By accepting this sobriety gratefully, as a gift, and using it willingly, I have become aware of other gifts available to me as a human being. To get the benefits, I need only to ask and then use.* /- Came ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 12, 2013 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Allergy The tyrant alcohol wielded a double-edged sword over us: first we were smitten by an insane urge that condemned us to go on drinking, and then by an allergy of the body that insured we would ultimately destroy ourselves in the process. Few indeed were those who, so assailed, had ever won through in singlehanded combat.* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 22 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Withi ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 11, 2013* *Courage* *The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. Instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 68 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Courage is fear in action.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *F A I T H* = **F**inding **A**nswers ...Continue Reading