~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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AA)/   )
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AA\ _)
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AA\
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Meetings
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"Sobriety and a plan for living that produces a personality change and a spiritual awakening
are imperative. Through AA, many receive the needed change and awakening
just by trying to live by AA principles and associating with AA people.
We do this by going to many AA meetings with an open mind
and a desire to live the good-feeling life without chemicals --
liquid or otherwise."
c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 459
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Thought to Consider . . .

The ankle-biters of everyday struggles will eat away at me
unless I go to meetings and share.


*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H O P E =  Hearing Other Peoples' Experience

 

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

All-Encompassing

From "The Whole Company of …":

"I was born an Anglican (Church of England), and the following crops up in one of our services (perhaps in the services of other denominations also): 'Therefore with angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven, we laud and glorify Thy name.' Since I have no knowledge of heaven or the company kept there, whenever I repeat this passage of praise, I substitute the word 'and the whole company of Alcoholics Anonymous.' "Being an A.A. Loner, I have felt very out of things and on my own. But I do believe in the power of collective thought, whether for good or evil. Thus, I believe that the collective thought of the body of Alcoholics Anonymous throughout the world must have some effect on alcoholics, whether they are aware of it or not. - Kenton-on-Sea, South Africa"

© 1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg. 87


 

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
LOVE WITHOUT STRINGS

Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 89

Sponsorship held two surprises for me.  First,  that my sponsees cared about me. What I had thought was gratitude was more like love.  They wanted me to be happy, to grow and remain sober. Knowing how they felt kept me from drinking more than once.  Second, I  discovered that I was able to love someone else responsibly, with respectful and genuine concern for that person's growth.  Before that time, I had thought that my ability to care sincerely about another's well-being had atrophied from lack of use.  To learn that I can love, without greed or anxiety, has been one of the deepest gifts the program has given me. Gratitude for that gift has kept me sober many times.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.


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~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
A.A. in Two Words

"All A.A. progress can be reckoned in terms of just two words: humility and responsibility. Our whole spiritual development can be accurately measured by our degree of adherence to these magnificent standards.
"Ever deepening humility, accompanied by an ever greater willingness to accept and to act upon clear-cut obligations - these are truly our touchstones for all growth in the life of the spirit. They hold up to us the very essence of right being and right doing. It is by them that we are enabled to find and to do God's will."

TALK, 1965 (PRINTED IN GRAPEVINE, JANUARY 1966)
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from
it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will
find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new
attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or
effort on our part. It just comes!"

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 84~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

For the past two months we have been studying passages and steps from the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Now why not read the book itself again? It is essential that the A.A. program become part of us. We must have its essentials at our fingertips. We cannot study the Big Book too much or too often. The more we read it and study it, the better equipped we are to think A.A., act A.A., and live A.A. We cannot know too much about the program. The chances are that we will never know enough. But we can make as much of it our own as possible. How much of the Big Book have I thoroughly mastered?

Meditation for the Day

We need to accept the difficulties and disciplines of life so as to fully share the common life of other people. Many things that we must accept in life are not to be taken so much as being necessary for us personally, as to be experienced in order that we may share in the sufferings and problems of humanity. We need sympathy and understanding. We must share many of the experiences of life, in order to understand and sympathize with others. Unless we have been through the same experiences, we cannot understand other people or their makeup well enough to be able to help them.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may accept everything that comes my way as a part of life.

 I pray that I may make use of it in helping other people.