Thoughts for the Day – Freedom

By | July 4, 2023
For Our List of Online Recovery Resources
Click Here


A.A. Thoughts for the Day

Freedom

Looking back we see that our freedom to choose badly was not, after all, a very real freedom. When we chose because we ‘must,’ this was not a free choice either. But it got us started in the right direction. When we chose because we ‘ought to’ we were really doing better. This time we were earning some freedom, making ourselves ready for more. But when, now and then, we could gladly make right choices without rebellion, holdout, or conflict, then we had our first view of what perfect freedom under God’s will could be like.”
Bill W., May 1960, 1988 AA Grapevine
The Language of the Heart, p. 302

Thought to Consider…

Within our wonderful new world, we have found freedom from our fatal obsession.


AACRONYMS

F I N E
Free, Independent, New and Energetic

Just for Today

Acceptance
From “Happiness”

“Accept the things you cannot change. So simple. If the problem cannot be solved today why, simply drop it. I grant that this is not always easy; it takes self-discipline, a faculty infrequently found in newly sober alcoholics.”
New Hartford, New York, USA
1973 AAWS Inc.
Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, p. 111

Daily Reflections

A NATURAL FAITH

. . . deep down in every man, woman and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 55

I have seen the workings of the unseen God in A.A. rooms around the country. Miracles of recovery are everywhere in evidence. I now believe that God is in these rooms and in my heart. Today faith is as natural to me, a former agnostic, as breathing, eating and sleeping. The Twelve Steps have helped to change my life in many ways, but none is more effective than the acquisition of a Higher Power.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

As Bill Sees It

Boomerang

When I was ten, I was tall and gawky, and smaller kids could push me around in quarrels. I remember being very depressed for a year or more, and then I began to develop a fierce resolve to win. One day, my grandfather came along with a book about Australia and told me, ‘This book says that nobody but an Australian bushman knows how to make and throw the boomerang.’ ‘Here’s my chance,’ I thought. ‘I will be the first man in America to make and throw a boomerang.’ Well, any kid could have had a notion like that. It might have lasted two days or two weeks. But mine was a power drive that kept on for six months, till I made a boomerang that swung around the church yard in front of the house and almost hit my grandfather in the head when it came back. Emotionally, I had begun the fashioning of another sort of boomerang, one that almost killed me later on.
A.A. Comes of Age, p. 53

Big Book Quote

“Sometimes we hear an alcoholic say that the only thing he needs to do is to keep sober. Certainly he must keep sober, for there will be no home if he doesn’t. But he is yet a long way from making good to the wife or parents whom for years he has so shockingly treated.”
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition
Into Action, p. 82

Twenty Four Hours a Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

In Alcoholics Anonymous there is no thought of individual profit. No greed or gain. No membership fees, no dues. Only voluntary contributions of our money and ourselves. All that we hope for is sobriety and regeneration, so that we can live normal, respectable lives and can be recognized by others as men and women willing to do unto others as we would be done by. These things we accomplish by the help of each other, by following the twelve steps and by the grace of God. Am I willing to work for A.A. without material gain to myself?

Meditation for the Day

What is sometimes called by religion as conversion is often only the discovery of God as a friend in need. What is sometimes called religion is often only the experiencing of the help and strength of God’s power in our lives. What is sometimes called holiness is often only the invitation of God to be our Friend. As God becomes your friend, you become a friend of others. We experience true human friendship and from this experience we can imagine what kind of Great Friend God can be. We believe Him to be a tireless, selfless, all conquering, miracle-working Friend. We can reach out to the Great Friend and figuratively take His hand in ours.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may think of God as a Great Friend in need. I pray that I may go along with Him.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

You have 2 Other Ways to Participate in Transitions Daily:

1. Join the Transitions Daily Private Facebook Group: Search for Transitions Daily in Facebook and request to join or click
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TransitionsDaily/. Members can post recovery related content. Every day the topic email is posted for discussion.

2. Subscribe to the Transitions Daily Podcast: We cannot sign you up for a podcast. Depending on your phone, you will need to pick a podcast provider. There are many free options. You will have to investigate yourself or ask a friend that listens to podcasts to explain the process.

For iPhone:
For the iPhone, most use iTunes. Search “how to sign up for podcasts on an iPhone” in your favorite search engine or go to iTunes for more information.

For Android:
Android is not as simple. There are several different podcast app options. We know several who use the free version of the Stitcher app. Search “how to sign up for podcasts on android” in your favorite search engine.

We also list many recovery resources, including recovery podcasts, at www.DailyAAEmails.com.