AA Thought Of The Day

[CarolD]

Hello Everyone....

This thread is Part 2 of our earlier

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...rayer-day.html

Blessings ....

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 1, 2006

Happiness
We're all after the same thing, and that's happiness.
We want peace of mind.
The trouble with us alcoholics was this:
We demanded that the world give us happiness
and peace of mind
in just the particular way we wanted it --
by the alcohol route. And we weren't successful.
But when we take time to find out some of the
spiritual laws, and familiarize ourselves with them,
and put them into practice,
then we do get happiness and peace of mind. . . .
There seem to be some rules that we have to follow,
but happiness and peace of mind are always here,
open and free to anyone.
- Dr. Bob S., co-founder of AA.


Reprinted from Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, Page 308, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

Happiness is part of the journey,
not some distant destination.


Recovery Related Acronym

H J F = Happy, Joyous, Free.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 2, 2006

Fallible
Seven of our Twelve Steps state unequivocally
that I have been, am, and will be wrong.
I have shortcomings and defects of character.
I never have been and never can be perfect.
As that realization became a part of me
-- and it took time --
it brought me one of the greatest of the many blessings
that have come to me from AA.
I learned to accept myself as a fallible human being. . .
Mistakes are permissible. I have the right to be wrong.
And what a comfort that thought is to me,
as I make my bemused way through life,
one foot in a bucket, pushing on doors marked "Pull."


Reprinted from The Best of the Grapevine (Vol. 2), pp. 167-168, from the Grapevine. Reprinted with permission of The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

Give me the courage to be imperfect.


Recovery Related Acronym

B O G G L E = Bad Or Good, God Loves Everyone.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 3, 2006

Decision
Anywhere, at any stage in the downward progression
of the illness called alcoholism,
you can face your problem squarely
and become willing to do something about it. . .
The decision is yours.
It does not matter whether you are 18 or 80,
rich or poor or in-between,
bristling with college degrees or barely educated,
out on your own or sheltered in a family household --
it is you who must decide,
because it is you who must take action.
If you want to stop drinking, it is you who will have to do it.
But not alone.
Only reach out, wherever you are, and the hand of AA
will be there, touching yours, ready to help you.


Reprinted from "A.A. for the Woman", [pamphlet], p. 7, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

Nothing is so bad that a drink won't make worse.


Recovery Related Acronym

O D A A T = One Day At A Time.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 4, 2006

Freedom
Looking back we see that our freedom to choose badly
was not, after all, a very real freedom.
When we choose because we "must,"
this was not a free choice either. . .
But when, now and then, we could gladly make
right choices without rebellion, holdout, or conflict,
then we had our first view of what perfect freedom
under God's will could be like. . .
For most of us its perfect attainment has to be a lifetime
and, more probably, an eternal job.
But we know that this highest plateau is really there --
a goal someday to be reached.
- Bill W., May 1960.


Reprinted from The Language of the Heart, Page 302, from the Grapevine. Reprinted with permission of The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.



Thought to Ponder....

Serenity isn't freedom from the storm;
it is peace within the storm.



Recovery Related Acronym

H O W = Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 5, 2006

Reality
Our very first problem is to accept
our present circumstances as they are,
ourselves as we are,
and the people about us as they are.
- Bill W., March 1966.

Reprinted from As Bill Sees It, Page 44, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Thought to Ponder...
.
What I am is God's gift to me.
What I make of myself is my gift to Him.


Recovery Related Acronym

J O Y = Just Open Yourself.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 6, 2006

Discovery
When I first walked into an AA meeting,
I had that wonderful feeling of belonging.
Talking with the people there,
I discovered I was not a freak;
I was not the only person in the world
who had done the kind of things I had done,
had hurt the people I loved most.
I was grateful to learn that I was suffering from an illness.
I had been afraid that I might be going out of my mind.
Later, I learned that alcoholism is a threefold illness,
and that I had indeed been ill mentally,
physically, and spiritually.

Reprinted from "A.A. for the Woman", [pamphlet], Page 11, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Thought to Ponder....

The whole world became mine
when I had nowhere else to go.

Recovery Related Acronym

C A R E = Comforting And Reassuring Each other.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 7, 2006

Problems
I began to feel like a clown juggling too many balls.
Each ball represented a problem
I was keeping up in the air.
My arms were weary
and I knew I couldn't keep on much longer,
but I was not about to give up.
My pride and ego wouldn't let me.
Bosses, judges, co-workers, lawyers, car notes,
bar tabs, loan sharks, utility payments, landlords,
my girlfriend, people I had double-crossed --
I looked to all these as the source of my problems,
while overlooking the most basic problem:
my drinking and myself.


Reprinted from Alcoholics Anonymous, Page 506, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

When I change the way I look at things,
the things I look at change.



Recovery Related Acronym

C H A O S = Can't Handle Another Overwhelming Situation.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 8, 2006

Humility
Perpetual quietness of heart.
It is to have no trouble.
It is never to be fretted or vexed, irritable or sore;
to wonder at nothing that is done to me,
to feel nothing done against me.
It is to be at rest when nobody praises me,
and when I am blamed or despised,
it is to have a blessed home in myself
where I can go in and shut the door
and kneel to my Father in secret and be at peace,
as in a deep sea of calmness,
when all around and about is seeming trouble.
- from a plaque on Dr. Bob's desk.


Reprinted from Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, Page 222, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

The storm has passed.
I've learned a little more about peace.
It was inside all the time.


Recovery Related Acronym

C H A N G E D = Choosing Humility Allows New Growth Each Day.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 9, 2006

Willpower
Consider the ways we could manage to get a drink
in defiance of all visible possibilities.
Merely to get up some mornings --
with a rusting cast-iron stomach,
all your teeth wearing tiny sweaters,
and each hair electrified --
takes willpower many nondrinkers rarely dream of.
Once you've gotten up with your head,
on those certain mornings, the ability to carry it
all through the day is further evidence
of fabulous strength of will.
Oh yes, real drinkers have real willpower.
The trick we learned was to put that will to work
for our health, and make ourselves explore
recovery ideas at great depth.


Reprinted from Living Sober, Page 84, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

Life leaps like a geyser
for those willing to drill through the rock of inertia.


Recovery Related Acronym

W H O = Willingness, Honesty, Open-mindedness.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 10, 2006

Guarantee
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.


Reprinted from Experience, Strength and Hope, Page 392, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

What have I been given today?
Am I willing to reach out and grasp it?


Recovery Related Acronym

B E S T = Been Enjoying Sobriety Today?

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 11, 2006

Credits
When evening comes, perhaps just before going to sleep,
many of us draw up a balance sheet for the day. . .
It's a poor day indeed
when we haven't done something right. . .
Good intentions, good thoughts, and good acts
are there for us to see.
Even when we have tried hard and failed,
we may chalk that up as one of the greatest credits of all.


Reprinted from Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Page 93, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

Inventory taking is not all in red ink.


Recovery Related Acronym

A A = Accountable Actions

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 12, 2006

A Lesson
This, then, became the opening to the spiritual world.
With the guidance of the program
and the encouragement and examples within the Fellowship,
I could begin to find out about myself
and be prepared to accept what I found.
I learned in the Fellowship that if others could accept me
and love me as I was, then I should love myself as I was --
not for what I was, but for what I could become.
So I have learned a little about my mind and about my will
and about my emotions and passions.


Reprinted from Came to Believe, Page 3, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

In the depth of winter,
I finally learned that there was in me
an invincible summer.


Recovery Related Acronym

A B C = Acceptance, Belief, Change.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 13

Ecstasy
I know now that what is involved
in taking the AA program entire,
as the early AA's gave it to us,
is not the prospect of turning into some sort of
repulsive goody-goody.
It's the threat of being truly alive, aware,
and even perhaps ecstatic.
I'm coming to believe that if I do not accept all
of what this program offers (demands?),
but instead walk away from it
as somehow more than I bargained for,
I might get drunk.
In other words, if I do not take AA's Twelve Steps
seriously and in full,
I cannot expect to be "on the program."


Reprinted from Came to Believe, Page 118, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.



Thought to Ponder....

The Program was a dazzling gem being dangled before my eyes.



Recovery Related Acronym

T H I N K = The Happiness I Never Knew.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 14, 2006

Acceptance
And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.
When I am disturbed, it is because
I find some person, place, thing, or situation
-- some fact of my life --
unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity
until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation
as being exactly the way it is supposed to be
at this moment.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God's world
by mistake.


Reprinted from Alcoholics Anonymous, Page 417, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.



Thought to Ponder....

The more accepting I am of myself,
the more accepting I am of others.



Recovery Related Acronym

A B C = Acceptance, Belief, Change.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 15, 2006

Step Ten -- The Acid Test
As we work the first nine Steps,
we prepare ourselves for the adventure of a new life.
But when we approach Step Ten
we commence to put our AA way of living
to practical use, day by day, in fair weather and foul.
Then comes the acid test:
can we stay sober, keep in emotional balance,
and live to good purpose under all conditions?


Reprinted from Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Page 88, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

Continued to take personal inventory
and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Recovery Related Acronym

A A = Accountable Actions.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 16, 2006

Kinship
From the beginning, communication in AA
has been no ordinary transmission of helpful ideas
and attitudes.
It has been unusual and sometimes unique.
Because of our kinship in suffering,
and because our common means of deliverance
are effective for ourselves only
when constantly carried to others,
our channels of contact have always been charged
with the language of the heart.
- Bill W., July 1960.


Reprinted from The Language of the Heart, Page 243, from the Grapevine. Reprinted with permission of The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

Together we can do what we could never do alone.


Recovery Related Acronym

H E A R T = Healing, Enjoying, And Recovering, Together.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 17, 2006

Humanness
Why is it that the alcoholic is so unwilling
to accept responsibility?
I used to drink because of the things that other people
did to me.
Once I came to AA I was told to look
at where I had been wrong.
What did I have to do with all these different matters?
When I simply accepted that I had a part in them,
I was able to put it on paper and see it for what it was --
humanness.
I am not expected to be perfect!


Reprinted from Daily Reflections, Page 102, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.



Thought to Ponder....

Give me the courage to be imperfect.



Recovery Related Acronym

W I S D O M = When Into Self, Discover Our Motives.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 18, 2006

Philosophy
If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life
were sufficient to overcome alcoholism,
many of us would have recovered long ago.
But we found that such codes and philosophies
did not save us, no matter how much we tried.
We could wish to be moral,
we could wish to be philosophically comforted,
in fact, we could will these things with all our might,
but the needed power wasn't there.
Our human resources, as marshalled by the will,
were not sufficient; they failed utterly.


Reprinted from Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 44-45, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.



Thought to Ponder....

The task ahead of us
is never as great as the Power behind us.


Recovery Related Acronym

S W A T = Surrender, Willingness, Acceptance, Trust.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 19, 2006

Aspects
I finally began to separate the religious aspects of my life
from AA's spiritual program.
Now the big difference to me is that religion is the ritual,
and we all differ there,
and spirituality is the way we feel about what we do.
It's about my personal contact with
my personal Higher Power, as I understand Him.
Everything has turned around. . .
All this and more I owe to the Fellowship
and the program in the book.


Reprinted from Alcoholics Anonymous, Page 406, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

True religion is the life we lead,
not the creed we profess.



Recovery Related Acronym

P R O G R A M = People Relying On God Relaying A Message

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 20, 2006

Self-acceptance
I need to feel a strong and helpful
sense of myself.
Such an awareness doesn't happen overnight,
and no one's self-awareness is permanent.
Everyone has a capacity for growth, and for self-awareness,
through an honest encounter with reality.
When I don't avoid issues but meet them directly,
always trying to resolve them,
they become fewer and fewer.


Reprinted from Daily Reflections, Page 100, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.



Thought to Ponder....

The more accepting I am of myself,
the more accepting I am of others.



Recovery Related Acronym

A B C = Acceptance, Belief, Change.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 21, 2006

Disaster
Tying our sobriety
to someone we are emotionally involved with
proves flatly disastrous.
"I'll stay sober if so-and-so does this or that"
puts an unhealthy condition on our recovery.
We have to stay sober for ourselves,
no matter what other people do or fail to do.
We should remember, too, that intense dislike
also is an emotional entanglement,
often a reversal of past love.
We need to cool any overboard feeling,
lest it flip us back into the drink.


Reprinted from Living Sober, Page 62, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

When I choose the behavior,
I choose the consequences.



Recovery Related Acronym

R E L A T I O N S H I P = Really Exciting Love Affair Turns Into Outrageous Nightmare; Sobriety Hangs In Peril.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 22, 2006

Right Living
Service, gladly rendered, obligations squarely met,
troubles well accepted or solved with God's help,
the knowledge that at home or in the world outside
we are partners in a common effort,
the well-understood fact that in God's sight
all human beings are important,
the proof that love freely given
surely brings a full return,
the certainty that we are no longer isolated
and alone in self-constructed prisons,
the surety that we need no longer
be square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong
in God's scheme of things --
these are the permanent and legitimate satisfactions
of right living for which no pomp and circumstances,
no heap of material possessions,
could possibly be substitutes.


Reprinted from Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Page 124, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.



Thought to Ponder....

We're not living just to be sober;
we are living to learn, to serve, and to love.



Recovery Related Acronym

A A = Always Alive.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 23, 2006

Barriers
AA penetrated the walls that I'd built around me all my life.
And I realized that each penetration of the walls
gave me strength, rather than making me weaker,
as I had feared.
Several years have passed,
and I'm still working on breaking down the barriers.
While there's much to be done,
it's reassuring to know that progress has been made.


Reprinted from "Young People and A.A." , [pamphlet], Page 24, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.



Thought to Ponder....

The clenched fist never receives.



Recovery Related Acronym

K I S S = Keep It Simple, Surrender.

[CarolD]

AA Thought for the Day

July 24, 2006


Prayer
We treasure our "Serenity Prayer"
because it brings a new light to us
that can dissipate our oldtime and nearly fatal habit
of fooling ourselves.


Reprinted from As Bill Sees It, Page 20, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder....

Trying to pray is praying.


Recovery Related Acronym

A S A P = Always Say A Prayer.