Thoughts for the Day – Cheerfulness

By | February 16, 2023
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A.A. Thoughts for the Day

Cheerfulness

But we aren’t a glum lot . . . We absolutely insist on enjoying life . . . So we think cheerfulness and laughter make for usefulness. Outsiders are sometimes shocked when we burst into merriment over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past. But why shouldn’t we laugh? We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others.
c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 132

Thought to Consider…

Laughter is the sound of recovery.

AACRONYMS

I S M
I, Self, Me

Just for Today

Change
From “A Glacier Melts”

I had thought I was happy in that first eighteen months of sobriety, but now everything began to look brighter; people seemed nicer; and I had moments of tremendous insight. It was as if words and sentences I had heard all my life had a deeper meaning and were reaching my feelings, rather than my intellect. It was as if my head and my heart finally had gotten glued together. I no longer seemed like two people in one, engaging in a tug of war. I experienced within this six-week period a feeling of being totally forgiven, and never since have I felt the guilt that I had throughout my life prior to that time. More than once, I had a sense of Presence which I can describe only as being marvelously warm, uplifting, and comfortable.”
1973 AAWS, Inc., printed 2004
Came to Believe, p. 58

Daily Reflections

COMMITMENT
Understanding is the key to right principles and attitudes, and right action is the key to good living.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVETRADITIONS, p. 125

There came a time in my program of recovery when the third stanza of the Serenity Prayer – “The wisdom to know the difference” -became indelibly imprinted in my mind.  From that time on, I had to face the ever-present knowledge that my every action, word and thought was within, or outside, the principles of the program. I could no longer hide behind self-rationalization, nor behind the insanity of my disease. The only course open to me, if I was to attain a joyous life for myself (and subsequently for those I love), was one in which I imposed on myself an effort of commitment, discipline, and responsibility.
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

As Bill Sees It

Seeing Is Believing

“The Wright brothers’ almost childish faith that they could build a machine which would fly was the mainspring of their accomplishment. Without that, nothing could have happened. We agnostics and atheists were sticking to the idea that self-sufficiency would solve our problems. When others showed us that God-sufficiency worked with them, we began to feel like those who had insisted the Wrights would never fly.”

“We were seeing another kind of flight, a spiritual liberation from this world, people who rose above their problems.”
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 52-53, 55
Copyright 1967
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Big Book Quote

“Some day we hope that Alcoholics Anonymous will help the public to a better realization of the gravity of the alcoholic problem, but we shall be of little use if our attitude is one of bitterness or hostility. Drinkers will not stand for it.

After all, our problems were of our own making. Bottles were only a symbol. Besides, we have stopped fighting anybody or anything. We have to!”
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition
Working With Others, p. 103

Twenty Four Hours a Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

One drink started a train of thought that became an obsession, and from then on, we couldn’t stop drinking. We developed a mental compulsion to keep drinking until we got good and drunk. People generally make two mistakes about alcoholism. One mistake is that it can be cured by physical treatment only. The other mistake is that it can be cured by willpower only. Most alcoholics have tried both of these ways and have found that they don’t work. But we members of A.A. have found a way to arrest alcoholism. Have I gotten over my obsession by following the A.A. program?

Meditation for the Day

I will try to be unruffled, no matter what happens. I will keep my emotions in check, although others about me are letting theirs go. I will keep calm in the face of disturbance, keep that deep, inner calm through all the experiences of the day. In the rush of work and worry, the deep, inner silence is necessary to keep me on an even keel. I must learn to take the calm with me into the most hurried days.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be still and commune with God. I pray that I may learn patience, humility, and peace.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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