AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 23, 2023A GiftHe finds himself in possession of a degree of honesty, tolerance, unselfishness, peace of mind, and love of which he had thought himself quite incapable. What he has received is a free gift, and yet usually, at least in some small part, he has made himself ready to receive it. A.A.’s manner of making ready to receive this gift lies in the practice of the Twelve Steps in our program.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Twelve) p. 107Thought to Ponder ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 22, 2023FaithThere is, however, a vast amount of fun about it all. I suppose some would be shocked at our seeming worldliness and levity. But just underneath there is deadly earnestness. Faith has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish. Most of us feel we need look no further for Utopia. We have it with us right here and now.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Bill's Story) p. 16Thought to Ponder . . .It is when you act on faith that you actually have it.A ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 21, 2023The Faulty FoundationBy now the newcomer has probably arrived at the following conclusions: that his character defects, representing instincts gone astray, have been the primary cause of his drinking and his failure at life; that unless he is now willing to work hard at the elimination of the worst of these defects, both sobriety and peace of mind will still elude him; that all the faulty foundation of his life will have to be torn out and built anew on bedrock. ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 20, 2023ResentmentsWe saw that these resentments must be mastered, but how? We could not wish them away any more than alcohol. This was our course: We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick. Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) pp. 66 - 67Thought to Ponder . . .What if I were caring rather than judgmental?AA-related 'Alconym'A A &nbs ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)March 19, 2023~ Scroll Down for Share ~DependenceAnd the facts seem to be these: The more we become willing to depend upon a Higher Power, the more independent we actually are. Therefore dependence, as A.A. practices it, is really a means of gaining true independence of the spirit.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Three) p. 36  Thought to PonderAvoidance is not the key; surrender opens the door.  AA-related 'Alconym'F A I T H  =  For All I Trust ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 18, 2023Lack of PowerOur human resources, as marshalled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly. Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power? Well, that’s exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (W ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 17, 2023Value of ExperienceHenry Ford once made a wise remark to the effect that experience is the thing of supreme value in life. That is true only if one is willing to turn the past to good account. We grow by our willingness to face and rectify errors and convert them into assets.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family Afterward) p. 124Thought to Ponder . . .If you want to change who you are, change what you do.AA-related 'Alconym'A C T  =   Action Changes Thin ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 16, 2023Acquire FaithWe have no desire to convince anyone that there is only one way by which faith can be acquired. If what we have learned and felt and seen means anything at all, it means that all of us, whatever our race, creed, or color are the children of a living Creator with whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) p. 28Thought to Ponder . ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 15, 2023Baffling FeatureMany 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'H O P E  =   Hearing Other People's Experi ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 14, 2023PowerlessnessWho cares to admit complete defeat? Practically no one, of course. 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, (Step One) p. 21Thought to Ponder . . .When I share my story and remember the last days of my dri ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 13, 2023Tradition Three - The Long FormOur membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Appendix One, The A.A. Tradition) p. 563Thought to Ponder . . ."You're an A.A. ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)March 12, 2023~ Scroll Down for Share ~Precisely How We Have RecoveredWe, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book. For them, we hope these pages will prove so convincing that no further authentication will be necessary.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Foreward To First Edition) p. xiii  Thought to ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 11, 2023HumilityIt was only by repeated humiliations that we were forced to learn something about humility. It was only at the end of a long road, marked by successive defeats and humiliations, and the final crushing of our self-sufficiency, that we began to feel humility as something more than a condition of groveling despair.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Seven) p. 72Thought to Ponder . . .Humility is telling the truth about yourself. Humiliation is when ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 10, 2023We Pause and AskAs we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day "Thy will be done." We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) pp. 87 - 88Thought to Ponder . . .I can't do His will my way.AA-rel ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 9, 2023EgoAll of A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires . . . they all deflate our egos. When it comes to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take than Five. But scarcely any Step is more necessary to longtime sobriety and peace of mind than this one.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Five) p. 55Thought to Ponder . . .The difference between pride and humility: Pride is who is right. Humility is what is right.AA-related 'Alconym'A A ...Continue Reading