~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Vigilance

"
Now that we're in AA and sober, winning back the esteem of our friends
and business associates, we find that we still need to
exercise special vigilance.
As an insurance against
the dangers of big-shot-ism, we can often check ourselves by remembering
that we are today sober only by the grace of God
and that any success we may be having is far more His success than ours."
Bill W., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 92
As Bill Sees It, p. 19


Thought to Consider . . .

"Vigilance will always be the price of survival."

Bill W., Box 1980: The AA Grapevine, November 1960.
The Language of the Heart, p. 317


*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
BUT
Being Unconvinced Totally

 

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*

ODAAT

From "The Missing Link":

"Exactly how was I supposed to not drink if my girlfriend breaks up with me, or if my best friend dies, or even through happy times like graduations, weddings, and birthdays. They suggested I could just stay sober one day at a time. They explained that it might be easier to set my sights on the twenty-four hours in front of me and to take on these other situations when and if they ever arrived. I decided to give sobriety a try, one day at a time, and I've done it that way ever since."

(c) 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 286-87

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
FREEDOM FROM "KING ALCOHOL"

      
  . . . let us not suppose even for an instant that we are not under constraint...  Our former tyrant, King Alcohol, always stands ready again to clutch us to him.  Therefore, freedom from alcohol is the great "must" that has to be achieved, else we go mad or die.

AS BILL SEES IT, p.  134

When drinking, I lived in spiritual, emotional, and sometimes, physical confinement.  I had constructed my prison with bars of self-will and self-indulgence, from which I could not escape.  Occasional dry spells that seemed to promise freedom would turn out to be little more than hopes of a reprieve.  True escape required a willingness to follow whatever right actions were needed to turn the lock.  With that willingness and action, both the lock and the bars themselves opened for me.  Continued willingness and action keep me free -- in a kind of extended daily probation -- that need never end.

 

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
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~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
The "Slipper" Needs Understanding


"Slips can often be charged to rebellion; some of us are more rebellious than others. Slips may be due to the illusion that one can be 'cured' of alcoholism. Slips can also be charged to carelessness and complacency. Many of us fail to ride out these periods sober. Things go fine for two or three years--then the member is seen no more. Some of us suffer extreme guilt because of vices or practices that we can't or won't let go of. Too little self-forgiveness and too little prayer--well, this combination adds up to slips. "Then some of us are far more alcohol-damaged than others. Still others encounter a series of calamities and cannot seem to find the spiritual resources to meet them. There are those of us who are physically ill. Others are subject to more or less continuous exhaustion, anxiety, and depression. These conditions often play a part in slips--sometimes they are utterly controlling."

TALK, 1960
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"We know that while the alcoholic keeps away from drink, as he may do for months or years, he reacts much like other men. We are equally
positive that once he takes any alcohol whatever into his system, something happens, both in the bodily and mental sense, which makes it virtually impossible for him to stop. The experience of any alcoholic will abundantly confirm this."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 22~

*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day


Third, alcoholics recover their proper relationship with other people. They think less about themselves and more about others. They try to help other alcoholics. They make new friends so that they're no longer lonely. They try to live a life of service instead of selfishness. All their relationships with other people are improved. They solve their personality problems by recovering their personal integrity, their faith in a Higher Power, and their way of fellowship and service to others. is my drink problem solved as long as my personality problem is solved?

Meditation for the Day


All that depresses you, all that you fear, is really powerless to harm you. These things are but phantoms. So arise from earth's bonds, from depression, distrust, fear, and all that hinders your new life. Arise to beauty, joy, peace, and work inspired by love. Rise from death to life. You do not even need to fear death. All past sins are forgiven if you live and love and work with God. Let nothing hinder your new life. Seek to know more and more of that new way of living.

Prayer for the Day


I pray that I may let God live in me as I work for Him.

I pray that I may go out into the sunlight and work with God