*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 10, 2013* *Belonging* *We discover -- but can hardly dare to believe right at first -- that /we are not alone./ We are /not/ totally unlike /everybody,/ after all. The brittle shell of protective and fearful egocentricity we have dwelled in so long is cracked open by the honesty of other recovered alcoholics. We sense, almost before we can articulate it, that we do belong somewhere, and the loneliness starts rapidly leaking away.* /- Living Sober,/ p. 34 *Thoug ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 9, 2013 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Online Taking advantage of technological advances, for example, AA members with computers can participate in meetings online, sharing with fellow alcoholics across the country or around the world.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. xxiv *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Modem-to modem or face-to-face, AA's speak the language of the heart in all its power and simplicity.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **A A** = **A**lwa ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 8, 2013* *Expectations* *Until I could look at myself and see that I was the problem in many situations and react appropriately inside and out; until I could discard my expectations and understand that my serenity was directly proportional to them, I could not experience serenity and sound sobriety.* /- Daily Reflections,/ p. 71 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Expectations are premeditated resentments.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *G R A C E* = **G**ently **R**ele ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 7, 2013* *Tornado!* *The alcoholic is like a tornado roaring through the lives of others. Hearts are broken. Sweet relationships are dead. Affections have been uprooted. Selfish and inconsiderate habits have kept the home in turmoil. We feel a man is unthinking when he says sobriety is enough. He is like the farmer who came up out of his cyclone cellar to find his home ruined. To his wife, he remarked, "Don't see anything the matter here, Ma. Ain't it grand ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 6, 2013* *Step Six* /"Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."/ *I picture my defects as leaves on a large branch extending from the trunk of a tree. The trunk is who I really am, the branch is the fear and the leaves are individual defects. Plucking the defective leaf off the branch may help for the moment, but eventually another leaf will grow back. Making changes at the branch will affect the entire tree.* - The AA Gra ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 5, 2013 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Progress We shall look for progress, not for perfection.* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 91 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Life will take on new meaning.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **A A** = **A**ttitude **A**djustment. * A Member Shares: Hi, my name is Ana, and I am an alcoholic. When I was a little girl, I always felt I had to be perfect. I tried for years, and then it became even more difficult to ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 4, 2013* *Visualization* *Whenever I start climbing the walls for some reason -- usually because I'm unable to have things my way, like the behavior of my boss, my son's attitude, or even my country's politics -- I have an instant cure. I close my eyes and visualize one of the many moments of past horror and humiliation: waking up in the street, begging a stranger for money, talking my way into buying a bottle on credit, or (worst of all) trying to convince a do ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 3, 2013* *Recycling* *Meditation is the path by which I cease being caught up in my own mental "garbage in/garbage out recycling. It is the path by which I walk out of the turmoil, trouble, pain, depression, and frustration that I create in and around me.* /- The Best of the Grapevine/ [Vol. 3], p. 217 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Meditation is our step out into the sun.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *K I S S* = **K**eeping **I**t **S**erenely **S**imple. ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 2, 2013 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Faith True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith, and every AA meeting is an assurance that God will restore us to sanity if we rightly relate ourselves to Him.* /- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,/ p. 33 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Breathe in faith, breathe out fear.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* **F A I T H** = **F**inding **A**nswers **I**n **T**he **H**eart. * A Member Shares: I'm Jenny, and I ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *June 1, 2013* *The Ladder* *No one who drank as I did wakes up on the edge of the abyss and says: Things look pretty scary; I think I'd better stop drinking before I fall in. I was convinced I could go as far as I wanted, and then climb back out when it wasn't fun anymore. What happened was I found myself at the bottom of the canyon thinking I'd never see the sun again. AA didn't pull me out of that hole. It did give me the tools to construct a ladder, with Twelve St ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 31, 2013* *Anonymity* *It isn't just something to save us from alcoholic shame and stigma; its deeper purpose is to keep those fool egos of ours from running hog wild after money and public fame at AA's expense. It really means personal and group sacrifice for the benefit of all AA.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age,/ p. 43 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Anonymity is real humility at work.* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *A A* = **A**dventurers **A**nonymous. Th ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 30, 2013* *Attitudes* *Whatever is done is over. It cannot be changed. . . I can wish the past never was, but if I change my actions in regard to what I have done, my attitude will change. I won't have to wish the past away.* /- Daily Reflections,/ p. 141 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching?* *AA-related 'Alconym' . . .* *A A* = **A**ltered **A**ttudes. Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 29, 2013 ~ Scroll Down for Share ~ Honesty The perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one permeates human affairs from top to bottom. This subtle and elusive kind of self-righteousness can undermine the smallest act or thought. Learning daily to spot, admit, and correct those flaws is the essence of character-building and good living.* /- As Bill Sees It,/ p. 17 *Thought to Ponder . . .* *Honesty isn't an event -- it's a proce ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 28, 2013* *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 got, to ...Continue Reading

*AA Thought for the Day* (courtesy AA-Alive.net) *May 27, 2013* *Self-centeredness* *Selfishness -- self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past, we have made decisions based on self which later put us in a position to be hurt.* /- Alcoholics Anonymous,/ p. 62 ...Continue Reading