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

"I realize that all I'm guaranteed in life is today. The poorest person has no less and the wealthiest has no more -- each of us has but one day. What we do with it is our own business; how we use it is up to us individually.
I feel that I have been restored to health and sanity these past years not through my own efforts
nor as a result of anything I may have done, but because I've come to believe -- to really believe --
that alone I can do nothing. That my own innate selfishness and stubbornness are the evils which, if left unguarded, can drive me to alcohol. I have come to believe that my illness is spiritual
as well as physical and mental, and I know that for help in the spiritual sphere I have to turn to a Higher Power."
c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 473
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Thought to Consider . . .

I can't have a better tomorrow if I am thinking about yesterday all the time.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
S I T = Stay In Today

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

Understanding

From "Happiness Is Not the Point":

"In A.A., I'm learning to grow up. Instead of demanding that people, places and things make me happy, I can ask God for self-acceptance. When a problem overwhelms me, A.A.'s Twelve Steps will help me grow through the pain. The knowledge I gain can be a gift to others who suffer with the same problem."

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
A SENSE OF BELONGING

Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105

That's what it is - belonging! After a session of meditation I knew that the feeling I was experiencing was a sense of belonging because I was so relaxed. I felt quieter inside, more willing to discard little irritations. I appreciated my sense of humor. What I also experience in my daily practice is the sheer pleasure of belonging to the creative flow of God's world. How propitious for us that prayer and meditation are written right into our A.A. way of life.

(c)Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.(c)
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
High and Low

When our membership was small, we dealt with "low-bottom cases" only. Many less desperate alcoholics tried A.A., but did not succeed because they could not make the admission of their hopelessness.
In the following years, this changed. Alcoholics who still had their health, their families, their jobs, and even two cars in the garage, began to recognize their alcoholism. As this trend grew, they were joined by young people who were scarcely more than potential alcoholics. How could people such as these take the First Step?
By going back in our own drinking histories, we showed them that years before we realized it we were out of control, that our drinking even then was no mere habit, that it was indeed the beginning of a fatal progression.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 23
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost
the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes
practically nonexistent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring
into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the
suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are
without defense against the first drink."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 24~

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

I am less self-centered. The world used to revolve around me at the center. I cared more about myself, my own needs and desires, my own pleasure, my own way, than I did about the whole rest of the world. What happened to me was more important than any- thing else I could think of. I was selfishly trying to be happy and therefore I was unhappy most of the time. I have found that selfishly seeking pleasure does not bring true happiness. Thinking of myself all the time cut me off from the best in life. A.A. taught me to care less about myself and more about the other person, Am I less self-centered?

Meditation for the Day

When something happens to upset you and you are discouraged, try to feel that life's difficulties and troubles are not intended to arrest your progress in the spiritual life, but to test your strength and to increase your determination to keep going. Whatever it is that must be met, you are to either overcome it or use it. Nothing should daunt you for long, nor should any difficulty entirely overcome or conquer you. God's strength will always be there, waiting for you to use it, nothing can be too great to be overcome, or if not overcome, then used.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may know that there can be no failure with God.

I pray that with His help I may live a more victorious life.