~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Change
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"How many of us would
presume to declare, 'Well, I'm sober and I'm happy. What more can I want
or do?
I'm fine the way I am.' We
know that the price of such self-satisfaction is an inevitable backslide,
punctuated at some point
by a very rude awakening. We have to grow or else deteriorate.
For us, the status quo
can only be for today, never for tomorrow. Change we must; we cannot stand
still."
Bill W., AAGrapevine, February 1961
As Bill Sees It, p. 25
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Thought to Consider . . .
There is no progress without change.
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
P
A C E =
Positive Attitudes Change Everything
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Didn't Look Good
Tradition Five: Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
I was soon sitting beside a big hulk of a man. Decidedly unfriendly, he stared at me out of eyes which were slits in his red and swollen face. I had to agree with the doctor - he certainly didn't look good. But I told him my own story. I explained what a wonderful Fellowship we had, how well we understood each other. I bore down hard on the hopelessness of the drunk's dilemma. I insisted that few drunks could ever get well on their own steam, but that in our groups we could do together what we could not do separately. He interrupted to scoff at this and asserted he'd fix his wife, his partner, and his alcoholism by himself.
1981, AAWS, Inc., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 152
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
GIVING IT AWAY
Though they know they must help other alcoholics if they would
remain sober, that motive became secondary. It was transcended by
the happiness they found in giving themselves to others.
ALCOHOLICS
ANONYMOUS, p. 159
Those words, for me, refer to a
transference of power, through which God, as I understand Him, enters my
life. Through prayer and meditation, I open channels, then I establish and improve my conscious contact with
God. Through action I then receive the power I need to maintain my
sobriety each day. By maintaining my spiritual condition, by giving
away what has been so freely given to me, I am granted a daily reprieve.
©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD
SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Maudlin
Martyrdom
"Self-pity is one of the most
unhappy and consuming defects that we know. It is a bar to all spiritual
progress and can cut off all effective
communication with our fellows because of its inordinate demands for attention
and sympathy. It is a maudlin form of martyrdom, which we can ill afford. "The remedy? Well, let's have a hard look at ourselves,
and a still harder one at A.A.'s Twelve Steps to recovery. When we see how many
of our fellow A.A.'s have used the Steps to transcend great pain and adversity,
we shall be inspired to try these life-giving principles for ourselves."
LETTER, 1966
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"For the type of alcoholic
who is able and willing to get well,
little charity, in the ordinary sense of the word, is needed or
wanted. The men who cry for money and shelter before
conquering
alcohol, are on the wrong track."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg.
97~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day
"If we are still clinging to
something that we will not let go, we must sincerely ask God to help us to be
willing to let even that go, too. We
cannot divide our lives into compartments and keep some for ourselves.
We must give all the compartments to God. We must say: '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 friends."' Am I still clinging to something
that I will not let go?
Meditation for the Day
The laws of
nature cannot be changed and must be obeyed if you are to
stay
healthy. No exceptions will be made in your case. Submit to the laws of
nature or they will finally break you. And in the realm
of the spirit, in all
human relationships, submit to the moral laws and to the will of God.
If you
continue to break the laws of honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love,
you
will be broken to some extent yourself. The moral and spiritual laws of
God,
like the laws of nature, are unbreakable without some disaster. If you
are
dishonest, impure, selfish, and unloving, you will not be living according
to
the laws of the spirit and you will suffer the consequences.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may submit to the laws of nature and to the laws of God.
I pray that I may live in harmony with all the laws of life.