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

"
As the doubter tries the process of prayer, he should begin to add up the results. If he persists, he will surely find more serenity, more tolerance, less fear, and less anger. He will acquire a quiet courage, the kind that isn't tension-ridden. He can look at 'failure' and 'success' for what these really are. Problems and calamity will begin to mean his instruction, instead of his destruction. Wonderful and unaccountable things will start to happen.

"Bill W., Box 1980: The AA Grapevine, June 1958As Bill Sees It, p. 321

Thought to Consider . . .

Trying to pray is praying.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
BS
Before Sobriety

 

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

Self-Care

From "To Wives":

"Be determined that your husband's [or other loved one's] drinking is not going to spoil your relations with your children or your friends. They need your companionship and your help. It is possible to have a full and useful life, though your husband continues to drink. We know women who are unafraid, even happy under these conditions. Do not set your heart on reforming your husband. You may be unable to do so, no matter how hard you try."

(c) 2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 111

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
MYSTERIOUS WAYS

.  .  .  out of every season of grief or suffering, when the hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons for living were learned, new resources of courage were uncovered, and that finally, inescapably, the conviction came that God does "move in a mysterious way His wonders to perform."

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105

After losing my career, family and health, I remained unconvinced that my way of life needed a second look.  My drinking and other drug use were killing me, but I had never met a recovering person or an A.A.  member.  I thought I was destined to die alone and that I deserved it.  At the peak of my despair, my infant son became critically ill with a rare disease.  Doctors' efforts to help him proved useless.  I redoubled my efforts to block my feelings, but now the alcohol had stopped working.  I was left staring into God's eyes, begging for help.  My introduction to A.A. came within days, through an odd series of coincidences, and I have remained sober ever since.  My son lived and his disease is in remission.  The entire episode convinced me of my powerlessness and the un-manageability of my life.  Today my son and I thank God for His intervention.

(c)Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.(c)
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~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Only God Is Unchanging

"Change is the characteristic of all growth. From drinking to sobriety, from dishonesty to honesty, from conflict to serenity, from hate to love, from childish dependence to adult responsibility - all this and infinitely more represent change for the better.
"Such changes are accomplished by a belief in and a practice of sound principles. Here we must needs discard bad or ineffective principles in favor of good ones that work. Even good principles can sometimes be displaced by the discovery of still better ones. "Only God is unchanging; only He has all the truth there is.

LETTER, 1966
Copyright(R)1967 Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We
consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to
direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-
pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we
can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God
gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much
higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 86~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

A.A. also helps us to hang onto sobriety. By having regular meetings so that we can associate with other alcoholics who have come through that same door in the wall, by encouraging us to tell the story of our own sad experiences with alcohol, and by showing us how to help other alcoholics, A.A. keeps us sober. Our attitude toward life changes from one of pride and selfishness to one of humility and gratitude. Am I going to step back through that door in the wall to my old helpless, hopeless, drunken life?

Meditation for the Day

Withdraw into the calm of communion with God. Rest in that calm and peace. When the soul finds its home of rest in God, then it is that real life begins. Only when you are calm and serene can you do good work. Emotional upsets make you useless. The eternal life is calmness and when you enter into that, then you live as an eternal being. Calmness is based on complete trust in God. Nothing in this world can separate you from the love of God.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may wear the world like a loose garment.

I pray that I may keep serene at the center of my being