AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 8, 2023Maximum HelpfulnessYour job now is to be at the place where you may be of maximum helpfulness to others, so never hesitate to go anywhere if you can be helpful. You should not hesitate to visit the most sordid spot on earth on such an errand. Keep on the firing line of life with these motives and God will keep you unharmed.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p.102Thought to Ponder . . .We're not living just to be sober; we are living to learn, to s ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 7, 2023The Emotional HangoverBut there is another kind of hangover which we all experience whether we are drinking or not. That is the emotional hangover, the direct result of yesterday's and sometimes today's excesses of negative emotion—anger, fear, jealousy, and the like. If we would live serenely today and tomorrow, we certainly need to eliminate these hangovers. This doesn't mean we need to wander morbidly around in the past. It requires an admission and correction ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 6, 2023TemptationIn our belief any scheme of combating alcoholism which proposes to shield the sick man from temptation is doomed to failure. If the alcoholic tries to shield himself he may succeed for a time, but he usually winds up with a bigger explosion than ever. We have tried these methods. These attempts to do the impossible have always failed.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p. 101Thought to Ponder . . .Sobriety without action is fantasy.AA-related ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)March 5, 2023~ Scroll Down for Share ~Humility and FaithIndeed, the attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of A.A.'s Twelve Steps. For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all. Nearly all A.A.'s have found, too, that unless they develop much more of this precious quality than may be required just for sobriety, they still haven't much chance of becoming truly happy. Without it, they cannot live to much useful purpose, or, ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 4, 2023Greatest PossessionShowing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now. Cling to the thought that, in God's hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have—the key to life and happiness for others. With it you can avert death and misery for them.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Family Afterward) p. 124Thought to Ponder . . .We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.AA-related 'Al ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 3, 2023Blessings ReceivedHaving so considered our day, not omitting to take due note of things well done, and having searched our hearts with neither fear nor favor, we can truly thank God for the blessings we have received and sleep in good conscience.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) p. 95Thought to Ponder . . .Gratitude is a most effective painkiller for the alcoholic.AA-related 'Alconym'B E S T  =   Been Enjoying Sobriety Today?Thank yo ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 2, 2023ProgressMany of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can’t go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 60Thought to Ponder . ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)March 1, 2023Self-willThe first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success. On that basis we are almost always in collision with something or somebody, even though our motives are good.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 60Thought to Ponder . . .If I don't change, my sobriety date will.AA-related 'Alconym'C H A N G E  =   Choosing Humility Allows New Gifts and Energy.Thank you for sharing so generously of yo ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)February 28, 2023Self JustificationFirst off, they can be told that the majority of A.A. members have suffered severely from self-justification during their drinking days. For most of us, self-justification was the maker of excuses; excuses, of course, for drinking, and for all kinds of crazy and damaging conduct. We had made the invention of alibis a fine art.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Four) p. 46Thought to Ponder . . .The first step in overcoming mistakes i ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)February 27, 2023Diagnose YourselfWe do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself. Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition. - Alcoholics Anonymous, (More About Alcoholism) pp ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy AA-Alive.net)February 26, 2023~ Scroll Down for Share ~A Design For LivingWe, in our turn, sought the same escape with all the desperation of drowning men. What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God. A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, "a design for living" that really works.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) p. 28  Thought to PonderThe Twelve Steps -- a manuscript for rational living.  AA-related 'Al ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)February 25, 2023LiabilitiesNearly every serious emotional problem can be seen as a case of misdirected instinct. When that happens, our great natural assets, the instincts, have turned into physical and mental liabilities. Step Four is our vigorous and painstaking effort to discover what these liabilities in each of us have been, and are.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Four) p. 42Thought to Ponder . . .The Three A's .. Awareness, Acceptance, Action.AA-related 'Al ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)February 24, 2023ConditionsWe thought “conditions” drove us to drink, and when we tried to correct these conditions and found that we couldn’t to our entire satisfaction, our drinking went out of hand and we became alcoholics. It never occurred to us that we needed to change ourselves to meet conditions, whatever they were.- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Four) p. 47Thought to Ponder . . .If you want to change who you are, change what you do.AA-related 'Alconym'A C ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)February 23, 2023The Old Game AgainNow and then a serious drinker, being dry at the moment says, “I don’t miss it at all. Feel better. Work better. Having a better time.” As ex-problem drinkers, we smile at such a sally. We know our friend is like a boy whistling in the dark to keep up his spirits. He fools himself. Inwardly he would give anything to take half a dozen drinks and get away with them. He will presently try the old game again, for he isn’t happy about his sobriet ...Continue Reading

AA Thought for the Day(courtesy aa-alive.net)February 22, 2023The Insanity ReturnsBut with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die.- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 66Thought to Ponder . . .Resentment is like taking poison and ...Continue Reading