AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 30, 2023Better Than GoldJoy at our release from a lifetime of frustration knew no bounds. Father feels he has struck something better than gold. For a time he may try to hug the new treasure to himself. He may not see at once that he has barely scratched a limitless lode which will pay dividends only if he mines it for the rest of his life and insists on giving away the entire product.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family Afterward) p. 129Thought to Ponder . . .It is t ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 29, 2023Accepting Our ProblemsWe have been talking about problems because we are problem people who have found a way up and out, and who wish to share our knowledge of that way with all who can use it. For it is only by accepting and solving our problems that we can begin to get right with ourselves and with the world about us, and with Him who presides over us all.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Twelve) p. 125Thought to Ponder . . .The Three A's .. Aware ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 28, 2023Phenomenon of CravingAll these, and many others, have one symptom in common: they cannot start drinking without developing the phenomenon of craving. This phenomenon, as we have suggested, may be the manifestation of an allergy which differentiates these people, and sets them apart as a distinct entity. It has never been, by any treatment with which we are familiar, permanently eradicated. The only relief we have to suggest is entire abstinence.- Alcoholics A ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 27, 2023Tradition Eleven"Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films." This Tradition is a constant and practical reminder that personal ambition has no place in A.A. In it, each member becomes an active guardian of our Fellowship.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Tradition Eleven) p. 182Thought to Ponder . . .True ambition is not what we th ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)November 26, 2023~ Scroll Down for Share ~Troubles"Surprisingly, we found that our troubles could, under God's grace, be converted into unimagined blessings. Indeed, that was the essence of A.A. itself: trouble accepted, trouble squarely faced with calm courage, trouble lessened and often transcended. This was the A.A. story, and we became a part of it. Such demonstration became our stock in trade for the next sufferer."- As Bill Sees It, (Trouble: Constructive or D ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 25, 2023Vital Spiritual Experiences"Here and there, once in a while, alcoholics have had what are called vital spiritual experiences. To me these occurrences are phenomena. They appear to be in the nature of huge emotional displacements and rearrangements. Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once the guiding forces of the lives of these men are suddenly cast to one side, and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them."- Alc ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 24, 2023BelongingI wanted to feel at peace with myself and comfortable with other people. I never found it in drinking. The belonging I always wanted I have found in A.A. and in sobriety. I don’t think about drinking. God is there. My sponsor is there. All the credit belongs to God. On my own I could not have quit. I know, I tried it.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Building a New Life) p. 485Thought to Ponder . . .We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we co ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 23, 2023Daily PlanOn awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives. ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 22, 2023Day By DayBoth you and the new man must walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress. If you persist, remarkable things will happen. When we look back, we realize that the things which came to us when we put ourselves in God’s hands were better than anything we could have planned. Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances!- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 21, 2023Fearless and ThoroughIf you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it—then you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 58Thought to Ponder . . .Sobriety without action is fantasy.AA-related 'A ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 20, 2023SecurityAfter we come into A.A., if we go on growing, our attitudes and actions toward security—emotional security and financial security—commence to change profoundly. Our demand for emotional security, for our own way, had constantly thrown us into unworkable relations with other people. Though we were sometimes quite unconscious of this, the result always had been the same. Either we had tried to play God and dominate those about us, or we had insisted on ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)November 19, 2023~ Scroll Down for Share ~"Selfish?""I can see why you are disturbed to hear some A.A. speakers say, "A.A. is a selfish program.' The word 'selfish' ordinarily implies that one is acquisitive, demanding, and thoughtless of the welfare of others. Of course, the A.A. way of life does not at all imply such undesirable traits. We are of no value to anyone, including ourselves, until we find salvation from alcohol. Therefore, our own recovery an ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 18, 2023More Satisfying"Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems. I have since been brought into a way of living infinitely more satisfying and, I hope, more useful than the life I lived before. My old manner of life was by no means a bad one, but I would not exchange its best moments for the worst I have now. I would not go back to it even if I could."- Alcoholics Anonymous, (More About Alcoholism) pp. 42 - ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 17, 2023A Spot-Check InventoryAnger, that occasional luxury of more balanced people, could keep us on an emotional jag indefinitely. These emotional "dry benders" often led straight to the bottle. Other kinds of disturbances—jealousy, envy, self-pity, or hurt pride—did the same thing. A spot-check inventory taken in the midst of such disturbances can be of very great help in quieting stormy emotions.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) p. 90Thou ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)November 16, 2023Quality of WillingnessBut now it appears that there are certain things which only the individual can do. All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs to develop the quality of willingness. When he acquires willingness, he is the only one who can make the decision to exert himself. Trying to do this is an act of his own will. All of the Twelve Steps require sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, ...Continue Reading