AA Thoughts For Today - September

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AA Thought for the Day

September 20

Step Twelve
"Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry
this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

Outline the program of action, explaining how you made a self-appraisal,
how you straightened out your past and why you are now endeavoring to be
helpful to him. It is important for him to realize that your attempt to
pass this on to him plays a vital part in your own recovery. Actually,
he may be helping you more than you are helping him.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 94

Thought to Ponder
"Service made me feel useful. Twelfth Step work taught me to accept my past."

AA-related 'Alconym'
B E S T = Been Enjoying Sobriety Today?

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

Balance
"Most of us must admit that we have loved but a few;
that we have been indifferent to the many
so long as none of them gave us trouble;
and as for the remainder -- well, we have really
disliked or hated them.
Although these attitudes are common enough,
we AA's find we need something much better
in order to keep our balance.
We can't stand it if we hate deeply.
The idea that we can be possessively loving of a few,
and can continue to fear or hate anybody,
has to be abandoned, if only a little at a time."
c. 1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pp. 92-3

Thought to Consider . . .
Bigotry disfigures the heart.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F A I T H = Facing All In Trusting Him

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

Publicity
>From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"In September, 1939, the Liberty [magazine] piece hit the newsstands. It was a bit lurid, and we thought the title, 'Alcoholics and God,' would scare off plenty of prospects. Maybe it did, but several hundred alcoholics and their families were not scared. Liberty magazine received 800 urgent pleas for help, which were promptly turned over to [office manager] Ruth and me [Bill W.]. She wrote fine personal letters to every one of them, enclosing a leaflet which described the A.A. book. The response was wonderful [sic] Several hundred books sold at once at full retail price of $3.50. Even more importantly, we struck up a correspondence with alcoholics, their friends, and their families all over the country. Ruth could at last draw a few dollars a week for herself. And all those moving appeals for assistance had made us forget our own troubles. Looking after all those new people by mail and relating [sic] them in some cases to each other and in others to the groups in Akron, New York, and Cleveland became our chief occupation until early 1940. Shortly after the Liberty article came out, Cleveland's Plain Dealer ran its great series of pieces, as already described. This brought in new book orders and new problems by scores. Alcoholics Anonymous was on the march, out of its infancy into adolescence."
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 178

*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"There has to be something to be grateful for if I am only willing to change my attitude and look for it."
Mesa, Ariz., March 2010
"Not On Fire"
Emotional Sobriety II

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*

"Yes, there is a substitute and it is vastly more than that. It is a
fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from
care, boredom and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will
mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your
existence lie ahead."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, pg. 152~~

In some circumstances we have gone out deliberately to get drunk,
feeling ourselves justified by nervousness, anger, worry,
depression, jealousy or the like. But even in this type of
beginning we are obliged to admit that our justification for a spree was
insanely insufficient in the light of what always happened. We
now see that when we began to drink deliberately, instead or
casually, there was little serious or effective thought during the period
of premeditation of what the terrific consequences might be.
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 37~

But he had found God -- and in finding God had found himself.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 158

They have found wisdom beyond their usual capability.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 104

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

The achievement of freedom from fear is a lifetime undertaking, one that can never be wholly completed.
When under heavy attack, acute illness, or in other conditions of serious insecurity, we shall all react to this emotion - well or badly, as the case may be. Only the self-deceived will claim perfect freedom from fear.
We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up. Sometimes we had to search persistently, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us.

Prayer for the Day: God's Answer - I asked God for strength that I might achieve. I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for help that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy. I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men. I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. I was given life that I might enjoy all things. No, dear Lord, I've gotten nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for. Despite myself, my prayers were answered. And I am the most richly blessed.