AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 21, 2023These BedevilmentsWe were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn’t control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression, we couldn’t make a living, we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy, we couldn’t seem to be of real help to other people—was not a basic solution of these bedevilments more important than whether we should see newsreels of lunar flight? Of course it was.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (We A ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 20, 2023Enjoying LifeWe have been speaking to you of serious, sometimes tragic things. We have been dealing with alcohol in its worst aspect. But we aren't a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn't want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family Afterward) p. 132Thought to Ponder . . .As long as you can laugh at yourself, you will never cease to be amused.AA-related 'Alconym'H J F  =   Ha ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 19, 2023Relationship With GodLet no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family back. This just isn’t so. In some cases the wife will never come back for one reason or another. Remind the prospect that his recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his relationship with God.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) pp. 99 - 100Thought to Ponder . . .Dependence on God is our chief source of strength.AA-related 'Alconym'G I F T  = &nb ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)June 18, 2023~ Scroll Down for Share ~Dependence on GodWhen we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Twelve) p. 116Thought to PonderWe will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.AA-related 'Alconym' ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 17, 2023To Try Repeatedly"This is the Step that separates the men from the boys." So declares a well-loved clergyman who happens to be one of A.A.'s greatest friends. He goes on to explain that any person capable of enough willingness and honesty to try repeatedly Step Six on all his faults—without any reservations whatever—has indeed come a long way spiritually, and is therefore entitled to be called a man who is sincerely trying to grow in the image and liken ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 16, 2023We Ask Each MorningWe ought to sit down with the family and frankly analyze the past as we now see it, being very careful not to criticize them. Their defects may be glaring, but the chances are that our own actions are partly responsible. So we clean house with the family, asking each morning in meditation that our Creator show us the way of patience, tolerance, kindliness and love. The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it.- Alcoholics Anonymous, ( ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 15, 2023Step EightWe shall want to hold ourselves to the course of admitting the thingswe have done, meanwhile forgiving the wrongs done us, real or fancied. We should avoid extreme judgments, both of ourselves and of others involved. We must not exaggerate our defects or theirs. A quiet, objective view will be our steadfast aim.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Eight) pp. 81 - 82Thought to Ponder . . .The 3 A's -- Awareness, Acceptance, Action.AA-related 'Alco ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 14, 2023Defensive EmotionsThe moment we ponder a twisted or broken relationship with another person, our emotions go on the defensive. To escape looking at the wrongs we have done another, we resentfully focus on the wrong he has done us. This is especially true if he has, in fact, behaved badly at all. Triumphantly we seize upon his misbehavior as the perfect excuse for minimizing or forgetting our own. Right here we need to fetch ourselves up sharply.- Twelve Steps and ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 13, 2023Realism and HonestyMore realism and therefore more honesty about ourselves are the great gains we make under the influence of Step Five. As we took inventory, we began to suspect how much trouble self- delusion had been causing us. This had brought a disturbing reflection. If all our lives we had more or less fooled ourselves, how could we now be so sure that we weren't still self-deceived?- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Five) pp. 58 - 59Thought to Po ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 12, 2023Better and HappierThe emphasis on inventory is heavy only because a great many of us have never really acquired the habit of accurate self-appraisal. Once this healthy practice has become grooved, it will be so interesting and profitable that the time it takes won't be missed. For these minutes and sometimes hours spent in self-examination are bound to make all the other hours of our day better and happier.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) pp. 89 - ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)June 11, 2023~ Scroll Down for Share ~Intends to StickEvery man and woman who has joined A.A. and intends to stick has, without realizing it, made a beginning on Step Three. Isn't it true that in all matters touching upon alcohol, each of them has decided to turn his or her life over to the care, protection, and guidance of Alcoholics Anonymous? Already a willingness has been achieved to cast out one's own will and one's own ideas about the alcohol problem in favor of those s ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 10, 2023Tremendous UrgeMany of us felt that we had plenty of character. There was a tremendous urge to cease forever. Yet we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it—this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (More About Alcoholism) p. 34Thought to Ponder . . .Alcohol — cunning, baffling, powerful!AA-related 'Alconym'A A  =   Alcoholic's Answer.Thank you ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 9, 2023All Will Be WellThe moment we catch even a glimpse of God's will, the moment we begin to see truth, justice, and love as the real and eternal things in life, we are no longer deeply disturbed by all the seeming evidence to the contrary that surrounds us in purely human affairs. We know that God lovingly watches over us. We know that when we turn to Him, all will be well with us, here and hereafter.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Eleven) p. 105Thought t ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 8, 2023My Creator . . ."My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen." We have then completed Step Seven.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 76Thought to Ponder . . .I don’t get to choose which defects God will remove.AA-related 'A ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)June 7, 2023Entirely ReadySo Step Six—"Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character"—is A.A.'s way of stating the best possible attitude one can take in order to make a beginning on this lifetime job. This does not mean that we expect all our character defects to be lifted out of us as the drive to drink was. A few of them may be, but with most of them we shall have to be content with patient improvement. The key words "entirely ready&q ...Continue Reading