AA Thoughts For Today - July

[bluidkiti]

AA Thought for the Day

July 22

The Touchstone

Someone who knew what he was talking about once remarked that pain
was the touchstone of all spiritual progress. How heartily we A.A.'s
can agree with him, for we know that the pains of alcoholism had to
come before sobriety, and emotional turmoil before serenity.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) pp. 93 - 94

Thought to Ponder
Pain is the measure of our resistance to change.

AA-related 'Alconym'
H O P E = Hold On, Pain Ends.

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

Obsession
"Most of us have been unwilling to admit
we were real alcoholics.
No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different
from his fellows.
Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers
have been characterized by countless vain attempts
to prove we could drink like other people.
The idea that somehow, someday he will control
and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession
of every abnormal drinker.
The persistence of this illusion is astonishing.
Many pursue it into the gates of insanity and death.
We learned that we had to fully concede
to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics.
This is the first step to recovery."
1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 30

Thought to Consider . . .
An obsession:
A persistent, recurring idea
that does not respond to reason.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
T R U S T = Try Relying Upon Steps and Traditions

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

Almost
Tradition Ten: Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn
into public controversy.
The Washingtonian Society, a movement among alcoholics which started in Baltimore a century ago, almost
discovered the answer to alcoholism. At first, the society was composed entirely of alcoholics trying to help one
another. The early members foresaw that they should dedicate themselves to this sole aim. In many respects, the
Washingtonians were akin to A.A. of today. Their membership passed the hundred thousand mark. Had they been left
to themselves, and had they stuck to their one goal, they might have found the rest of the answer. But this didn't
happen. Instead, the Washingtonians permitted politicians and reformers, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, to use the
society for their own purposes. Abolition of slavery, for example, was a stormy political issue then. Soon,
Washingtonian speakers violently and publicly took sides on this question. Maybe the society could have survived the
abolition controversy, but it didn't have a chance from the moment it determined to reform America's drinking habits.
When the Washingtonians became temperance crusaders, within a very few years they had completely lost their
effectiveness in helping alcoholics.
1981, AAWS, Inc., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 178

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

"I still don't know much about heaven, but I've learned some valuable lessons about life on earth."
December 1979
"The Root of Our Troubles,"
Emotional Sobriety

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

"We alcoholics are sensitive people. It takes some of us a long time
to outgrow that serious handicap."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 125~

"I have seen hundreds of families set their feet in the path that
really goes somewhere; have seen the most impossible domestic
situations righted; feuds and bitterness of all sorts wiped out. I
have seen men come out of asylums and resume a vital place in the
lives of their families and communities. Business and professional
men have regained their standing. There is scarcely any form of
trouble and misery which has not been overcome among us."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill's Story, Page 15~

“The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house.”
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 98

“Some people are unable to stay sober at all; others will relapse periodically until they really clean house.”
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 56

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Gradually we began to be able to accept the other fellow's sins as well as his virtues. We coined the potent and meaningful expression 'Let us always love the best in others - and never fear their worst.'
Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong. When this happens, we approach true tolerance and we see what real love for our fellows actually means.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, let me work in Your will today, on Your time.