AA Thoughts For Today - December

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AA Thought for the Day

December 16

Amends

We should be sensible, tactful, considerate and humble
without being servile or scraping. As God’s people we
stand on our feet; we don’t crawl before anyone.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Into Action) p. 83

Thought to Ponder . . .
It is the highest form of self-respect to admit
mistakes and to make amends for them.

AA-related 'Alconym'
A A = Accountable Actions.

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

Belonging
There is no more aloneness, with that awful ache,
so deep in the heart of every alcoholic
that nothing, before, could ever reach it.
That ache is gone and never need return again.
Now there is a sense of belonging,
of being wanted and needed and loved.
In return for a bottle and a hangover,
we have been given the Keys of the Kingdom.
c. 2001AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 276
c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 312

Thought to Consider . . .
Turn your wounds into wisdom.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
G R A C E = Gently Releasing All Conscious Expectations

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

Hope
From "Finding your own way:"
"Most of us have seen death close up...but we
also have known the sort of hope that makes the
heart sing....If you are a problem drinker, you
already know enough about pain and loneliness.
We'd like you to find some of the peace and joy
we have found in meeting the reality of life's ups
and downs with a clear head and a steady heart."
c. 1975, Living Sober, page 86

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

"The smile from my face traveled to my heart."
Olympia, Wash., September 2006
"The Portals of Service,"
Beginner's Book: Getting and Staying Sober

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

"It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to
futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit
these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 66

"Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our constant
thought of others and how we may help meet their needs."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 20

Modem-to-modem or face-to-face, A.A.'s speak the language of the heart in all its power and simplicity.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p.xxiv

Could we then foresee that troublesome people were to become our principal teachers of patience and tolerance?
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p.141

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

As the book Alcoholics Anonymous puts it, Resentment is the Number One offender, It is a primary cause of relapses
into drinking. How well we of A.A. know that for us 'To drink is eventually to go mad or die.'
'Much the same penalty overhangs every A.A. group. Given enough anger, both unity and purpose are lost. Given still
more 'righteous' indignation, the group can disintegrate; it can actually die. This is why we avoid controversy. This is why
we prescribe no punishments for any misbehavior, no matter how grievous. Indeed, no alcoholic can be deprived of his
membership for any reason whatever. Punishment never heals. Only love can heal.'

Prayer for the Day: Next Right Step - God, please show me all through this day, what is the next right step. Give me the
strength, faith, and courage I need to take care of the problems in my life. Show me the solution, for I will take the next
right actions. And, I ask to be free from self-will and fear. Your will, not mine, be done. Amen

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AA Thought for the Day

December 17

Any Conception

Tell him exactly what happened to you. Stress the spiritual feature
freely. If the man be agnostic or atheist, make it emphatic that he
does not have to agree with your conception of God. He can choose
any conception he likes, provided it makes sense to him. The main
thing is that he be willing to believe in a Power greater than himself
and that he live by spiritual principles.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p. 93

Thought to Ponder . . .
I came; I came to; I came to believe.

AA-related 'Alconym'
W I L L I N G = When I Live Life, I Need God.

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

Meetings
Through going to meetings and listening,
and occasionally speaking,
through doing Twelfth Step work,
whereby in helping others you are both the teacher
and the student,
by making many wonderful AA friends,
I have been taught all the things in life that are worth having.
c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, (3rd Edition), p. 416

Thought to Consider . . .
Meetings: A checkup from the neck up

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H E A R T = Healing, Enjoying, And Recovering, Together

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

Expansion
From "A Vision for You":
"Every few days this doctor suggests our approach to one of his patients. Understanding our work, he can do this with
an eye to selecting those who are willing and able to recover on a spiritual basis. Many of us, former patients, go there to
help. Then, in this eastern city, there are informal meetings such as we have described to you, where you may now see
scores of members. There are the same fast friendships, there is the same helpfulness to one another"
2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 163

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

"More than a million of us who suffer from the disease of alcoholism have found not just the ability to live with or survive this insidious disease, but a joyful way of life as new as this morning and as old as mankind. We can gain sobriety, aspire to serenity, at no greater price than caring for our fellow sufferers and sharing with them what has been freely given to us. We can experience the true joy of love that we once tried to destroy by not giving it away, and we can learn the truth that the more we give away, the more we will have."
Brick Town, N.J., January 1977
Because One Man Was Lonely,"
AA Grapevine

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

"If there be divorce or separation, there should be no undue haste
for the couple to get together. The man should be sure of his
recovery. The wife should fully understand his new way of life. If
their old relationship is to be resumed it must be on a better basis,
since the former did not work. This means a new attitude and spirit
all around. Sometimes it is to the best interests of all concerned
that a couple remain apart. Obviously, no rule can be laid down.
Let the alcoholic continue his program day by day. When the time for
living together has come, it will be apparent to both parties."

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, Page 99

" I had always believed in a Power greater that myself. I had often
pondered these things. I was not an atheist. Few people really are, for
that means blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe
originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes no where."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill's Story, pg. 10~

Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p.86

All we need is a key, and the decision to swing the door open.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p.34

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Many newcomers, having experienced little but constant deflation, feel a growing conviction that human will is of no value whatever. They have become persuaded, sometimes rightly so, that many problems besides alcohol will not yield to a headlong assault powered only by the individual's will.
However, there are certain things which the individual alone can do. All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs to develop the quality of willingness. When he acquires willingness, he is the only one who can then make the decision to exert himself along spiritual lines. Trying to do this is actually an act of his own will. It is a right use of this faculty.
Indeed, all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps require our sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to God's will.

Prayer for the Day: Mychal's Prayer - Lord, take me where You want me to go; Let me meet who You want me to meet; Tell me what You want me to say; And keep me out of Your way.

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AA Thought for the Day

December 18

Solid Spiritual Ground

So our rule is not to avoid a place where there is drinking,
if we have a legitimate reason for being there. . .
Go or stay away, whichever seems best. But be sure you are
on solid spiritual ground before you start and that your motive
in going is thoroughly good. Do not think of what you will get
out of the occasion. Think of what you can bring to it. But if you
are shaky, you had better work with another alcoholic instead!
- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) pp. 101 - 102

Thought to Ponder . . .
Life didn't end when I got sober, it started.

AA-related 'Alconym'
S O B E R = Spiritually On Beam; Everything's Right.

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

Miracle
And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone --
even alcohol.
For by this time sanity will have returned.
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! That is the miracle of it.
c. 1976, 2001AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 84-5

Thought to Consider . . .
Don't give up before the miracle happens.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H O W = Honest, Open, Willing.

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

Bill Undercover
AA History
Among the odd jobs that Bill cited in Bill's Story was his mention of working on a farm for a month. During 1925, Bill and
Lois took off on a trip down the east coast inspecting companies to see if their stock might be good Wall Street
investments. They camped up and down the coast and carried all of their belongings in the Harley-Davidson motorcycle
and sidecar that Bill had purchased.
At the end of April 1925, they stopped at the Goldfoot family dairy farm in Scotia, New York near Schenectady. Mr.
Goldfoot had two sons, both of whom worked for General Electric, a company that Bill was able to penetrate for
investment investigation by befriending some of their employees during that month. They also worked for the Goldfoots
to earn some money to continue on this most successful trip. Lois later acknowledged that she hadn't cared if they
earned a cent on the trip. She had been hoping the fresh air and the hobo lifestyle would help Bill slow up on his drinking.

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

"You've got one life to live. Don't screw it up with a lot of maybes, what-ifs, and could-have-beens. Focus on what you have."
Carmel Valley, Calif., August 2000
"Old Advice"

Beginner's Book: Getting and Staying Sober

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

"But there was always the curious mental phenomenon that parallel
with our sound reasoning there inevitably ran some insanely trivial
excuse for taking the first drink. Our sound reasoning failed to hold
us in check. The insane idea won out. Next day we would ask
ourselves, in all earnestness and sincerity, how it could have
happened."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 37~

"At the moment we are trying to put our lives in order. But this is not
an end in itself."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 77~

Nothing counted but thoroughness and honesty.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p.56

Our basic troubles are the same as everyone else’s, but when an honest effort is made ‘to practice these principles in all our affairs,’ well-grounded A.A.’s seem to have the ability, by God’s grace, to take these troubles in stride and turn them into demonstrations of faith.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p.114

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Selfishness - self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt.
So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn't think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us!

Prayer for the Day: Free Of Resentment Prayer - God, free me from my resentment toward _____ . Please bless _____ in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day. Please give _____ everything I want for myself and may _____'s life be full of health, peace, prosperity, and happiness as they seek to have a closer relationship with You.