Thoughts for the Day – Family Matters

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A.A. Thoughts for the Day

Family Matters

Now and then the family will be plagued by specters from the past, for the drinking career of almost every alcoholic has been marked by escapades, funny, humiliating, shameful or tragic. The first impulse will be to bury these skeletons in a dark closet and padlock the door. The family may be possessed by the idea that future happiness can be based only upon forgetfulness of the past. We think that such a view is self-centered and in direct conflict with the new way of living.
c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 123-124

Thought to Consider…

The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it.

AACRONYMS

D R Y
Doing Recovery Yourself

Just for Today

Acceptance
From “No Man Is an Island”:
“I needed to look no further than the Twelve Steps and the powerful wording of our Serenity Prayer, ‘to accept the things we cannot change.’ With the tools and guideposts of Alcoholics Anonymous, we can learn a little of this precious gift – our gateway to human spirituality.”
New York, New York, USA
1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe
30th printing 2004, p. 120

Daily Reflections

WHAT WE NEED – EACH OTHER

. . . A.A. is really saying to every serious drinker, “You are an A.A. member if you say so . . . nobody can keep you out.”
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 139

For years, whenever I reflected on Tradition Three (“The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking”), I thought it valuable only to newcomers. It was their guarantee that no one could bar them from A.A. Today I feel enduring gratitude for the spiritual development the Tradition has brought me. I don’t seek out people obviously different from myself. Tradition Three, concentrating on the one way I am similar to others, brought me to know and help every kind of alcoholic, just as they have helped me. Charlotte, the atheist, showed me higher standards of ethics and honor; Clay, of another race, taught me patience; Winslow, who is gay, led me by example into true compassion; Young Megan says that seeing me at meetings, sober thirty years, keeps her coming back. Tradition Three insured that we would get what we need – each other.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

As Bill Sees It

We Cannot Stand Still

“In the first days of A.A., I wasn’t much bothered about the areas of life in which I was standing still. There was always the alibi: ‘After all,’ I said to myself, ‘I’m far too busy with much more important matters.’ That was my near perfect prescription for comfort and complacency.”

“How many of us would presume to declare, ‘Well, I’m sober and I’m happy. What more can I want, or do? I’m fine the way I am.’ We know that the price of such self-satisfaction is an inevitable backslide, punctuated at some point by a very rude awakening. We have to grow or else deteriorate. For us, the status quo can only be for today, never for tomorrow. Change we must; we cannot stand still.”
1. GRAPEVINE, JUNE 1961
2. GRAPEVINE, FEBRUARY 1961 

Big Book Quote

“For the type of alcoholic who is able and willing to get well, little charity, in the ordinary sense of the word, is needed or wanted. The men who cry for money and shelter before conquering alcohol, are on the wrong track.”
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition
Working With Others, p. 97

Twenty Four Hours a Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

We used to depend on drinking for a lot of things. We depended on drinking to help us enjoy things. It gave us a “kick.” It broke down our shyness and helped us to have a “good time.” We depended on drinking to help us when we felt low physically. If we had a toothache or just a hangover, we felt better after a few drinks. We depended on drinking to help us when we felt low mentally. If we had a tough day at work or if we’d had a fight with our loved one, or if things just seemed against us, we felt better under the influence of alcohol. For us alcoholics, it got so that we depended on drinking for almost everything. Have I gotten over that dependence on drinking?

Meditation for the Day

I believe that complete surrender of my life to God is the foundation of serenity. God has prepared for us many mansions. I do not look upon that promise as referring only to the afterlife. I do not look upon this life as something to be struggled through, in order to get the rewards of the next life. I believe that the Kingdom of God is within us and we can enjoy “eternal life” here and now.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may try to do God’s will. I pray that such understanding, insight, and vision shall be mine as shall make my life eternal, here and now.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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