Thoughts for the Day – Fellowship

By | June 8, 2023
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A.A. Thoughts for the Day

Fellowship

We are average Americans. All sections of this country and many of its occupations are represented, as well as many political, economic, social, and religious backgrounds. We are people who normally would not mix. But there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful . . . The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution.”
1976 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 17

Thought to Consider…

The Journey is the Destination.

AACRONYMS

H A L T
Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired

Just for Today

When?

Step One: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.

Alcoholics who still had their health, their families, their jobs, and even two cars in the garage, began to recognize their alcoholism. They were spared that last ten or fifteen years of literal hell the rest of us had gone through. Since Step One requires an admission that our lives have become unmanageable, how could people such as these take this Step? It was obviously necessary to raise the bottom the rest of us had hit to the point where it would hit them. By going back in our own drinking histories, we could show that years before we realized it, we were out of control, that our drinking even then was no mere habit, that it was indeed the beginning of a fatal progression.
1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 23

Daily Reflections

OPENING UP TO CHANGE

Self-searching is the means by which we bring new vision, action, and grace to bear upon the dark and negative side of our natures. With it comes the development of that kind of humility that makes it possible for us to receive God’s help. . . . we find that bit by bit we can discard the old life – the one that did not work – for a new life that can and does work under any conditions whatever.
AS BILL SEES IT, pp. 10, 8

I have been given a daily reprieve contingent upon my spiritual condition, provided I seek progress, not perfection.  To become ready for change, I practice willingness, opening myself to possibilities of change. If I realize there are defects that hinder my usefulness in A.A. and toward others, I become ready by meditating and receiving direction. “Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely” (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 58).  To let go and let God, I need only surrender my old ways to Him; I no longer fight nor do I try to control, but simply believe that, with God’s help, I am changed and affirming this belief makes me ready.  I empty myself to be full of awareness, light, and love, and I am ready to face each day with hope.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

As Bill Sees It

Between the Extremes

‘The real question is whether we can learn anything from our experiences upon which we may grow and help others to grow in the likeness and image of God.’ We know that if we rebel against doing that which is reasonably possible for us, then we will be penalized. And we will be equally penalized if we presume in ourselves a perfection that simply is not there. ‘Apparently, the course of relative humility and progress will have to lie somewhere between these extremes. In our slow progress away from rebellion, true perfection is doubtless several millennia away.'”
LETTER, 1959

Big Book Quote

We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: ‘Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.’ Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever.”
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition
More About Alcoholism, p. 33

Twenty Four Hours a Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. We always get worse, never better. We are never cured. Our alcoholism can only be arrested. No matter how long we have been sober, if we try liquor again, we’re as bad or worse than we ever were. There is no exception to this rule in the whole history of A.A. We can never recapture the good times of the past. They are gone forever. Will I try to recapture them?

Meditation for the Day

Your life has been given to you mainly for the purpose of training your soul. This life we live is not so much for the body as for the soul. We often choose the way of life that best suits the body, not the way that best suits the soul. God wants you to choose what suits the soul as well as the body.  Accept this belief and a wonderful molding of character is the result.  Reject it and God’s purpose for your life is frustrated, and your spiritual progress is delayed. Your soul is being trained by the good you choose. Thus the purpose of your life is being accomplished.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may choose what is good for my soul.  I pray that I may realize God’s purpose for my life.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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