~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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(   \ (AA)/   )
(_   /AA\ _)
/AA\
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Love
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"For me, AA is a synthesis of all the philosophy I've ever read,
all of the positive, good philosophy, all of it based on love.
I have seen that there is only one law, the law of love,
and there are only two sins; the first is to interfere with the growth
of another human being, and the second is to interfere with one's own growth."
Â©1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 542
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Thought to Consider . . .

When we love,
we see in others what we wish to have in ourselves.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H A L T = Hope, Acceptance, Love, Tolerance

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

From "To Employers":

"A woman’s voice came faintly over long distance from Virginia. She wanted to know if her husband’s company insurance was still in force. Four days before he had hanged himself in his woodshed. I had been obliged to discharge him for drinking, though he was brilliant"

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
SURRENDER AND SELF-EXAMINATION

My stability came out of trying to give, not out of demanding that I receive.
Thus I think it can work out with emotional sobriety. If we examine every disturbance we have, great or small, we will find at the root of it some unhealthy dependency and its consequent unhealthy demand. Let us, with God's help, continually surrender these hobbling demands. Then we can be set free to live and love; we may then be able to Twelfth Step ourselves and others into emotional sobriety.

THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 238

Years of dependency on alcohol as a chemical mood-changer deprived me of the capability to interact emotionally with my fellows. I thought I had to be self-sufficient, self-reliant, and self-motivated in a world of unreliable people. Finally I lost my self-respect and was left with dependency, lacking any ability to trust myself or to believe in anything. Surrender and self-examination while sharing with newcomers helped me to ask humbly for help.
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Tell The Public

"A.A.'s of worldly prominence sometimes say, 'If I tell the public that I am
in Alcoholics Anonymous, then that will bring in many others.' Thus they
express the belief that our anonymity Tradition is wrong -- at least for
them. "They forget that, during their drinking days, prestige and the
achievement of worldly ambition were their principal aims. They do not
realize that, by breaking anonymity, they are unconsciously pursuing those
old and perilous illusions once more. They forget that the keeping of one's
anonymity often means a sacrifice of one's desire for power, prestige, and
money. They do not see that if these strivings became general in A.A., the
course of our whole history would be changed; that we would be sowing the
seeds of our own destruction as a society. "Yet I can happily report that
while many of us are tempted -- and I have been one -- few of us in America
actually break our anonymity at the public-media level."

LETTER, 1958

"A clear light seems to fall upon us all--when we open our eyes. Since our
blindness is caused by our own defects, we must first deeply realize what
they are. Constructive meditation is the first requirement for each new step
in our spiritual growth"

Letter, 1946
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can
laugh at those who think spirituality the way of weakness.
Paradoxically, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is
that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust
their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him
demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our
fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once,
we commence to outgrow fear."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 68~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

Gossip about or criticism of personalities has no place in an A.A. clubroom.
Every man in A.A. is a brother and every woman is a sister, as long as he or
she is a member of A.A. We ought not to gossip about the relationships of any
man or woman in the group. And if we say about another member, "I think she or he is taking a few drinks on the side,"

it's the worst thing we could do to that person. If a woman or a man is not living up to A.A. principles or
has a slip, it's up to her or him to stand up in a meeting and say so. If
they don't do that, they are only hurting themselves. Do I talk about other
members behind their backs?

Meditation for the Day

To God, a miracle of change in a person's life is only a natural happening.
But it is a natural happening operated by spiritual forces. There is no
miracle in personalities too marvelous to be an everyday happening. But
miracles happen only to those who are fully guided and strengthened by God.
Marvelous changes in people's natures happen so simply, and yet they are free from all other agencies than the grace of God. But these miracles have been prepared for by days and months of longing for something better. They are always accompanied by a real desire to conquer self and to surrender one's life to God.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may expect miracles in the lives of people.

I pray that I may be used to help people change.