*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

*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