~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
(\
~~ /)
( \ (AA)/
)
(_ /AA\ _)
/AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Freedom
"So
far, upon the total problem of several million actual and potential alcoholics in the
world,
we have made only a
scratch. In all probability, we shall never be
able to touch
more than a fair
fraction of the alcohol problem in all its ramifications.
Upon therapy for the
alcoholic himself, we
surely have no monopoly.
Yet it is our great hope
that all those who
have as yet found no answer
may begin to find one in
the pages of this book and
will presently join us on
the highroad to a new
freedom."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To a New Freedom and a New Happiness, thats the Goal right? NEW
Foreword
to Second Edition
Alcoholics Anonymous,
pp. xx-xxi
Thought to Consider....
"Within
our wonderful new world, we have
found freedom from our fatal obsession."
Bill W., Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 139
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
SOBRIETY
Stay Off Booze Recovery Is Everything To You
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Surrender
From
"The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"In medicine, we
have learned a great deal about the physical treatment of the alcoholic. We
have learned about nutrition and the importance of a fully rounded diet, and
vitamins and minerals. ... But we do know that these things are necessary in
the physical treatment and rehabilitation of the alcoholic. We know also that
various kinds of drying out and other forms of therapy have failed. They are
not enough by themselves. We need something more. "We know also that
religious exhortation has failed, as has exhortation from people who have no
grasp of the problem, who oversimplify, people in whose view an alcoholic is a
person who is perpetually thirsty with a fierce craving for alcohol, people who
do not know that a great many alcoholics hate alcohol worse than poison when
they are sober, because they know that it is poison. ... "[A]s time went on
I became less and less astonished as I saw the effectiveness of your work, as I
saw a man of great talent, a close friend of mine, ... a man who was almost on
the verge of genius. I saw alcohol make its insidious inroads upon his career,
upon his relationships with his family and children, upon his standing in the
community. ... "I saw him on the verge of losing his
job, and I saw him lose his job; and then I saw him surrender. I saw him throw
up his hands and quit, saying, 'I can't do it by myself. I've got to have
help.' And with the spiritual help of his clergyman and A.A., I have seen that
man come back to a commanding position in his field, a man who is as sober
today, as clear-eyed and bright, as any person in this audience." Dr. W. W. Bauer, 1955
2001 AAWS,
Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pgs. 241-43
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
TRUE TOLERANCE
The
only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE
TRADITIONS, p. 139
I
first heard the short form of the Third Tradition in the Preamble. When I
came to A.A., I could not accept myself, my alcoholism, or a Higher
Power. If there had been any physical, mental, moral, or religious
requirements for membership, I would be dead today. Bill W. said in his
tape on the Traditions that the Third Tradition is a charter for individual
freedom. The most impressive thing to me was the feeling of acceptance
from members who were practicing the Third Tradition by tolerating and
accepting me. I feel acceptance is love and love is God's will for us.
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Guide to a
Almost
none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confusion
of shortcomings which the Steps require. But we saw that the program really
worked in others, and we had come to believe in the hopelessness of life as we
had been living it. When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom
the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the
simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet.
<<<>>>
Implicit throughout
A.A.'s Traditions is the confession that our Fellowship has its sins. We admit
that we have character defects as a society and that these defects threaten us
continually. Our Traditions are a guide to better ways of working and living,
and they are to group survival and harmony what A.A.'s Twelve Steps are to each
member's sobriety and peace of mind.
1. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 25
2. A.A. COMES OF AGE, P.
96
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"We are like men who have lost their legs; they never grow
new ones.
Neither does there
appear to be any kind of treatment which will
make alcoholics of our
kind like other men. We have tried every
imaginable remedy. In
some instances there has been brief recovery,
followed always by a
still worse relapse. Physicians who are
familiar with alcoholism
agree there is no such thing as making a
normal drinker out of an
alcoholic. Science may one day accomplish
this, but it hasn't done
so yet."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg.
30~
~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~
A.A. Thought for the Day
We
who have learned to put our drink problem in God's hands
can help others to do
so. We can be used as a connection
between an alcoholic's
need and God's supply of strength. We
in Alcoholics Anonymous
can be uniquely useful, just because
we have the misfortune
or fortune to be alcoholics ourselves.
Do I want to be a
uniquely useful person? Will I use my own
greatest defeat and
failure and sickness as a weapon to help others?
Meditation
for the Day
I
will try to help others. I will try not to let a day pass
without reaching out an
arm of love to someone. Each day I
will try to do something
to lift another human being out of
the sea of
discouragement into which he or she has fallen. My
helping hand is needed
to raise the helpless to courage, to
strength, to faith, to
health. In my own gratitude, I will
turn and help other
alcoholics with the burden that is
pressing too heavily
upon them.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be used by God to lighten many burdens.
I pray that many souls
may be helped through my efforts.