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A.A. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^
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Sunlight
“It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. This business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die.”
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 66Thought to Consider . . .
“I have been given a quiet place in bright sunshine.”
Bill W., Box 1980: The A.A. Grapevine, Jan. 1958
The Language of the Heart, p. 238
C A L M
Can Anger Leave Me
Book
But at one of these [Trustee] meetings in the early fall of 1938, Frank Amos popped up with an idea which opened the door upon our real future. Frank said, “One of my friends, Eugene Exman, is Religious Editor of Harper. Perhaps he would be interested in your [Bill W.'s] new book. Why don't you go down there and show him the few chapters you have done? I'll fix it up for you.”
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pgs. 153-54
FREE AT LAST
Another great dividend we may expect from confiding our defects to another human being is humility – a word often misunderstood . . . it amounts to a clear recognition of what and who we really are, followed by a sincere attempt to become what we could be.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 58
I knew deep inside that if I were ever to be joyous, happy and free, I had to share my past life with some other individual. The joy and relief I experienced after doing so were beyond description. Almost immediately after taking the Fifth Step, I felt free from the bondage of self and the bondage of alcohol. That freedom remains after 36 years, a day at a time. I found that God could do for me what I couldn't do for myself.
*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*
Our Problem Centers in the Mind
We know as long as the alcoholic keeps away from drink, he usually reacts much like other men. We are equally positive that once he takes any alcohol whatever into his system, something happens, in both the bodily and the mental sense, which makes it virtually impossible for him to stop. The experience of any alcoholic will abundantly confirm this. These observations would be academic and pointless if our friend never took the first drink, thereby setting the terrible cycle in motion. Therefore, the main problem of the alcoholic centers in his mind, rather than in his body.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, PP. 22-23
*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*
“Many of us felt that we had plenty of character. There was a tremendous urge to cease forever. Yet we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it –
this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish.”
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition
More About Alcoholism, pg. 34
*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*
A.A. Thought for the Day
One thing that keeps me sober is a feeling of loyalty to the other members of the group. I know I'd be letting them down if I ever took a drink. When I was drinking, I wasn't loyal to anybody. I should have been loyal to my family, but I wasn't. I let them down by my drinking. When I came into A.A., I found a group of people who were not only helping each other to stay sober, but who were loyal to each other by staying sober themselves. Am I loyal to my group?
Meditation for the Day
Calmness is constructive of good. Agitation is destructive of good. I should not rush into action. I should first “be still and know that He is God.” Then I should act only as God directs me through my conscience. Only trust, perfect trust in God, can keep me calm when all around me are agitated. Calmness is trust in action. I should seek all things that can help me to cultivate calmness. To attain material things, the world learns to attain speed. To attain spiritual things, I have to learn to attain a state of calm.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may learn how to have inner peace. I pray that I may be calm, so that God can work through me.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012