~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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  /AA\
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Illusion

No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows.
Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless

vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday

he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker.
The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.
c. 1976, 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 30
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Thought to Consider . . . .

The two most dangerous words in a recovering alcoholic's vocabulary are, 
"I'm different."

*~*~*AKRONYMS*~*~*
A A  =  Absolute Abstinence

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

Experience

From "More about Alcoholism":

"To us it is not far-fetched, for this kind of thinking has been characteristic of every single one of us. There was always the curious mental phenomenon that parallel with our sound reasoning there inevitably ran some insanely trivial excuse for taking the first drink. Our sound reasoning failed to hold us in check. The insane idea won out. Next day we would ask ourselves, in all earnestness and sincerity, how it could have happened."

� 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 37

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*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
SERVING MY BROTHER

The member talks to the newcomer not in a spirit of power but in a spirit of humility and weakness.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE p.  279

As the days pass in A.A., I ask God to guide my thoughts and the words that I speak.  In this labor of continuous

participation in the Fellowship, I have numerous opportunities to speak.  So I frequently ask God to help me watch

over my thoughts and my words, that they may be the true and proper reflections of our program; to focus my

aspirations once again to seek His guidance; to help me be truly kind and loving, helpful and healing, yet always

filled with humility, and free from any trace of arrogance.

Today I may very well have to deal with disagreeable attitudes or utterances -- the typical stock-in-trade attitude

of the still-suffering alcoholic.  If this should happen, I will take a moment to center myself in God, so that I will be

able to respond from a perspective of composure, strength and sensibility.

�Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.�
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Citizens Again

"Each of us in turn - that is, the member who gets the most out of the program - spends a very large amount of time on Twelfth Step work in the early years. That was my case, and perhaps I should not have stayed sober with less work.
"However, sooner or later most of us are presented with other obligations - to family, friends, and country. As you will remember, the Twelfth Step also refers to "'practicing these principles in all our affairs." Therefore, I think your choice of whether to take a particular Twelfth Step job is to be found in your own conscience. No one else can tell you for certain what you ought to do at a particular time. "I just know that you are expected, at some point, to do more than carry the message of A.A. to other alcoholics. In A.A. we aim not only for sobriety - we try again to become citizens of the world that we rejected, and of the world that once rejected us. This is the ultimate demonstration toward which Twelfth Step work is the first but not the final step."

LETTER, 1959
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"My old manner of life was by no means a bad one, but I would not
exchange its best moments for the worst I have now. I would not go
back to it even if I could.”

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 43~

"Our liquor was but a symptom."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 64~


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

To grasp the A.A. program, we have to think things out. Saint Paul said: "They are transformed by the renewing of their minds." We have to learn to think straight. We have to change from alcoholic thinking to sober thinking. We must build up a new way of looking at things. Before we came into A.A., we wanted an artificial life of excitement and everything that goes with drinking. That kind of a life looked normal to us then. But as we look back now, that life looks the exact opposite of normal. In fact, it looks most abnormal. We must reeducate our minds. Am I changing from an abnormal thinker to a normal thinker?

Meditation for the Day

I will take the most crowded day without fear. I believe that God is with me and controlling all. I will let confidence be the motif running through all the crowded day. I will not get worried, because I know that God is my helper. Underneath are the everlasting arms. I will rest in them, even though the day is full of things crowding in upon me.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be calm and let nothing upset me.

I pray that I may not let material things control me and choke out spiritual things.