~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Honesty
"Rarely
have we seen a person fail who has
thoroughly followed our path.
Those who do not
recover are people
who cannot or will not
give themselves to
this simple program, usually
men and women who are
constitutionally
incapable of being
honest with themselves. There
are such unfortunates.
They are not at fault;
they seem to have been
born that way. They are naturally incapable of
grasping and developing
a manner of living which
demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average.
There are those, too,
who suffer from grave
emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover
if they have the capacity
to be honest."
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 58
Thought to Consider . . .
Every
recovery from alcoholism began
with one sober hour.
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
GOD
Give Others Dignity
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Despair
From
"Desperation Drinking":
"That
type of drinking is not pleasant. It is no longer enjoyable. You no longer get
the kicks. It is desperation drinking. I was drinking to keep away the shakes,
drinking to keep away those little men and those strange voices and the organ
music that comes out of the wall. I was drinking to try to hold on..."
(c) 2003, AAWS, Inc.; Experience, Strength & Hope, pgs. 396
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
TURNING NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE
Our spiritual and emotional growth in A.A.
does not depend so deeply upon success as it does upon our failures and
setbacks. If you will bear this in mind, I think that your slip will have
the effect of kicking you upstairs, instead of down.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 184
In
keeping with the pain and adversity which our founders encountered and overcame
in establishing A.A., Bill W. sent us a clear message: a relapse can provide a
positive experience toward abstinence and a lifetime of recovery. A
relapse brings truth to what we hear repeatedly in meetings -- "Don't take
that first drink!" It reinforces the belief in the progressive
nature of the disease, and it drives home the need for, and beauty of, humility
in our spiritual program. Simple truths come in complicated ways to me
when I become ego driven.
©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS
ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
"Do as I Do..."
Perhaps
more often than we think, we make no contact at depth with alcoholics who are
suffering the dilemma of no faith.
Certainly none are more
sensitive to spiritual cocksureness, pride, and aggression than they are. I'm
sure this is something we too often forget.
In A.A.'s first years, I
all but ruined the whole undertaking with this sort of unconscious arrogance.
God as I understood Him had to be for everybody. Sometimes my aggression was
subtle and sometimes it was crude. But either way it was damaging--perhaps
fatally so--to numbers of nonbelievers.
Of course this sort of
thing isn't confined to Twelfth Step work. It is very apt to leak out into our
relations with everybody. Even now, I catch myself chanting that same old
barrier-building refrain: "Do as I do, believe as I do--or else!"
GRAPEVINE, APRIL 1961
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"To get over drinking will require a transformation of
thought and
attitude. We all had to
place recovery above everything, for without
recovery we would have
lost both home and business."
Alcoholics Anonymous, To Employers, pg. 143
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought
for the Day
In twelfth-step work, the fourth thing is conversion. Conversion
means change. Prospects must learn to change their way of thinking. Until now,
everything they've done has been connected with drinking. Now they must face a
new kind of life, without liquor. They must see and admit that they cannot
overcome drinking by their own willpower, so they must turn to a Higher Power
for help. They must start each day by asking this Higher Power for the strength
to stay sober. This conversion to belief in a Higher Power comes gradually, as
they try it and find that it works. Do I care enough about other alcoholics to
help them to make this conversion?
Meditation for the Day
Discipline of yourself is absolutely necessary before the power
of God is given to you. When you see others manifesting the power of God, you
probably have not seen the discipline that went before. They made themselves
ready. All your life is a preparation for more good to be accomplished when God
knows that you are ready for it. So keep disciplining yourself in the spiritual
life every day. Learn so much of the spiritual laws that your life cannot again
be a failure. Others will see the outward manifestation of the inward
discipline in your daily living.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may manifest God's power in my daily living.
I pray that I may
discipline myself so as to be ready to meet every opportunity.