District 9: April 2015

Thursday, April 30, 2015

The Best of the Grapevine - May 1, 2015

The Best of the Grapevine
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

May 1, 2015

An Important Milestone
For many of us, the admission that we are alcoholics was so difficult, painful, embarrassing, and shocking
that we arrived in the program just by saying the words "I'm an alcoholic." Some of us held back, afraid to let the words out.
Others of us were defiant, obstinately refusing to be railroaded by a bunch of eager beavers with the Big Book in hand.
When the moment of admission finally came, it was a milestone of immeasurable importance.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 2], p. 22

Thought to Ponder . . .
Once we clear a hurdle, it doesn't seem so high.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Always Aware.

Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hope in carrying the AA message.
Blessings in sobriety to all,
In love and service,
joanna b
dailythought@aa-alive.org

For further information about AA-Alive, including:

Meeting Schedule
The Daily Thought Discussion Board
Service Opportunities
AA Birthday Signups
Helpful links and much more
Please go to our Website
http://aa-alive.net …
G.S.O. Registration Number: 712515

** Trademarks and Disclaimer: **
Alcoholics Anonymous, AA, and the Big Book are registered trademarks of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. The AA Daily Thought is neither endorsed by, approved by, associated nor affiliated with, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., or The AA Grapevine, Inc.
Disclaimer: The Daily Thought is meant for domestic distribution only and for countries where it is in public domain.

AA Thought for the Day - April 30, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 30, 2015

Anger
It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us.
If somebody hurts us and we are sore, we are in the wrong also. But are there any exceptions to this rule?
What about "justifiable" anger? If somebody cheats us, aren't we entitled to be mad?
Can't we be properly angry with self-righteous folk? For us of AA these are dangerous exceptions.
We have found that justified anger ought to be left to those better qualified to handle it.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 90

Thought to Ponder . . .
Those who anger me conquer me.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A N G E R = Any New Grudge Endangers Recovery.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 29, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 29, 2015

~ Scroll Down for Share ~

A Promise
We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 84

Thought to Ponder . . .
Hold your face up to the Light, even though for the moment you do not see.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Always Awesome.

A Member Shares:
I'm Charlie J., and I have Alcoholism. I don't ever remember talking about this in AA. All my life I have had some kind of strange, (only because I do not understand it) intuition. It even worked while drinking to keep me out of real life-and-death situations. But today, sober, I still have it. I can't read anyone's mind nor can I predict the future; I just get a "feeling." Now, add to that my sober experience and all that I have learned and it's a really great asset. I have no idea about what a Higher Power is or is not, but this intuition tells me there is Something. So I just believe that, that there is Something bigger than me. At my first meeting back to AA out of the detox, I sensed that the people at that meeting had once been just like me but weren't any longer. I wanted to know how they got that way. I had been called my entire life by the nickname of 'Butch.' The first meeting back to AA I introduced myself as 'Charlie' -- my real name. I had no idea how I knew I was no longer 'Butch,' but I had this overwhelming feeling none the less. And as I looked around the meeting room I had another strong feeling that these people were not in any way special. They were just regular people but they seemed different. Happy maybe, but whatever it was, I wanted it. My dear AA buddy, Joe B., stood next to me after that meeting. I'd never seen him before in my life, yet he talked to me. Strangely enough, I listened. He then took me by the hand, walked me around the room, introduced me to everyone that he knew with long-term recovery, and I didn't pull my hand away. It felt like he pulled me out from under a heap of rubble and rescued me from an alcoholic death. Thank you.
To respond to the sharer, please email DTShare@aa-alive.org and it will be forwarded to them.
(All shares are reproduced with the kind permission of the person sharing)

Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hope in carrying the AA message.
Blessings in sobriety to all,
In love and service,
joanna b
dailythought@aa-alive.org

For further information about AA-Alive, including:

Meeting Schedule
The Daily Thought Discussion Board
Service Opportunities
AA Birthday Signups
Helpful links and much more
Please go to our Website
http://aa-alive.net …
G.S.O. Registration Number: 712515

** Trademarks and Disclaimer: **
Alcoholics Anonymous, AA, and the Big Book are registered trademarks of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. The AA Daily Thought is neither endorsed by, approved by, associated nor affiliated with, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., or The AA Grapevine, Inc.
Disclaimer: The Daily Thought is meant for domestic distribution only and for countries where it is in public domain.

Monday, April 27, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 28, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 28, 2015

The Ladder
No one who drank as I did wakes up on the edge of the abyss one morning and says:
Things look pretty scary; I think I'd better stop drinking before I fall in.
I was convinced I could go as far as I wanted, and then climb back out when it wasn't any fun anymore.
What happened was, I found myself at the bottom of the canyon thinking I'd never see the sun again.
AA didn't pull me out of that hole.
It did give me the tools to construct a ladder, with Twelve Steps.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 316

Thought to Ponder . . .
I stood in the sunlight at last.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
S T E P S = Solutions Through Each Powerful Step.

AA Thought for the Day - April 27, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 27, 2015

Children of Chaos
Over the years, every conceivable deviation from our Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions has been tried.
That was sure to be, since we are so largely a band of ego-driven individuals.
Children of chaos, we have defiantly played with every brand of fire, only to emerge unharmed and, we think, wiser.
These very deviations created a vast process of trial and error which, under the grace of God, has brought us to where we stand today.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 146

Thought to Ponder . . .
The Twelve Steps tell us how it works; the Twelve Traditions tell us why it works.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
C H A O S = Creating Havoc Around Ourselves.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 26, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 26, 2015

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Serenity
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done."
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 41

Thought to Ponder . . .
Serenity isn't freedom from the storm; it is peace within the storm.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
K I S S = Keep It Serenely Simple.

A Member Shares:
Hi all, Claudia here, an alcoholic. A great deal of my time in early recovery was anything but living serenely. I didn't know it at the time but the emotional baggage of my past was eating me alive from the inside out. All of the secrets, regrets, fears and false reality that I had been numbing with alcohol were screaming in my mind and soul -- my emotional hangovers. Without any tools to effectively meet them head-on, serenity was as far from me as the East from the West. It was the distance between heaven on earth and a living hell. In the beginning, I went to three meetings a day every single day because I was scared, clueless and totally without hope. I listened a lot and I confess, I cried a lot. I was raw and vulnerable, and serenity was a word totally foreign to my world of insanity. Things didn't begin to turn around for me until I had been away from the drink for a few 24 hours. I'd been to tons of meetings and was finally ready to not only listen, but to act. I had been hearing a lot about the Steps of AA, and in short time I was able to embrace and accept the first three Steps. Once I got serious, I knew I was powerless over alcohol, that my life was unmanageable. I already knew about God, but I started to believe in Him and then to know Him. I eventually made the decision to turn my life and my will over to His care. Though I still had more Step work to do I started to experience seasons of that serenity I had so yearned to know. The longer I continued to work my program the more serenity became the more powerful emotion in my daily life. As long as I continue to do the things I need to do to treat my alcoholism, there is no doubt in my mind that living serenely will be my reward, and for that I am eternally grateful and greatly humbled.
To respond to the sharer, please email DTShare@aa-alive.org and it will be forwarded to them.
(All shares are reproduced with the kind permission of the person sharing)

Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hope in carrying the AA message.
Blessings in sobriety to all,
In love and service,
joanna b
dailythought@aa-alive.org

For further information about AA-Alive, including:

Friday, April 24, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 25, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 25, 2015

Centered
Getting myself into the present centers me. I've come to believe that God is taking care of me.
The relief was swift as I realized I only had to get through the next hour, half-hour, or even ten minutes.
It's a miracle how the process works.
- Thank You For Sharing, p. 55

Thought to Ponder . . .
Every recovery from alcoholism began with one sober hour.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
S I T = Stay In Today.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 24, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 24, 2015

Discovery
By discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can move toward their correction.
Without a willing and persistent effort to do this, there can be little sobriety or contentment for us.
Without a searching and fearless moral inventory,
most of us have found that the faith which really works in daily living is still out of reach.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 43

Thought to Ponder . . .
Recovery is discovery.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
F A I T H = Facing An Inner Truth Heals.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 23, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 23, 2015

Belonging
We discover -- but can hardly dare to believe right at first -- that we are not alone. We are not totally unlike everybody, after all.
The brittle shell of protective and fearful egocentricity is cracked open by the honesty of other recovered alcoholics.
We sense, almost before we can articulate it, that we do belong somewhere, and the loneliness starts leaking away.
Relief is too weak a word to convey our initial feeling.
- Living Sober, p. 34

Thought to Ponder . . .
I'm not alone anymore.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Y A N A = You Are Not Alone.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 22, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 22, 2015

~ Scroll Down for Share ~

Unmanageable
The unmanageable aspect is part of day-to-day living and carries in it the trigger for the alcoholic's obsession with drink.
All the laws that are at work in the world are going to make every life unmanageable from time to time.
But for the alcoholic there is not only an additional danger, but also an additional opportunity.
AA offers us a program that can put life's unmanageability into perspective.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 2], p. 58

Thought to Ponder . . .
The peaks and valleys of my life have become gentle rolling hills.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A W O L = A A Way Of Life.

A Member Shares:
Hi everyone I am Kevin, an alcoholic and a member of AA. The first time I said “I am Kevin, an alcoholic" was a relief. I never looked back. Coming into AA, I knew I was powerless over alcohol. I never thought I would be walking through these doors. I didn't come here because I won the lottery, but I did have a big jackpot: I was going to die if I didn't get here. I didn't know how you people were going to help, but I saw hope as I looked and listened to you all. My life was definitely unmanageable, and it did take some time for the fog to lift to see how unmanageable it really was. AA has taught me a new way of life; a spiritual life with a Higher Power I can understand and seems to understand me with the love and guidance that I get for faith in Him. Thank you all for saving my life and showing me this program works if I work it. Thanks for letting me share.
To respond to the sharer, please email DTShare@aa-alive.org and it will be forwarded to them.
(All shares are reproduced with the kind permission of the person sharing)

Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hope in carrying the AA message.
Blessings in sobriety to all,
In love and service,
joanna b
dailythought@aa-alive.org

For further information about AA-Alive, including:

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 16, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 16, 2015

Step Four
"Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."
My Fourth Step showed me to be a liar, cheat, and thief; I was totally ruled by fear and resentment.
I thought of others only in light of my goals and cared about them only as they affected me.
It may be that my life was perfect from a transcendent perspective, but the contingencies were hell --
and it was the contingencies that had my back to the wall.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 3], pp. 163-164

Thought to Ponder . . .
When I choose the behavior, I choose the consequences.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
F E A R = Face Everything And Recover.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 15, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 15, 2015

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Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness
We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program.
Willingness, honesty and open-mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 568

Thought to Ponder . . .
Honesty isn't an event -- it's a process.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H O W = Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness.

A Member Shares:
Hi, I'm David an alcoholic and glad I'm here tonight. “H.O.W.” ... when I first shuffled into my home group I wasn't any of those. But those people cared enough about me and their sobriety to help me stay sober for that one hour each night. They showed a way I could continue staying sober until the next night. After about a month or so, the topic at the meeting was, "HOW to Stay Sober." Well, my backwoods, backwards, Louisiana drunk mind left there with WHO, or WOH. I have yet to be perfectly honest all day, or perfectly open all day, but I have always remained willing enough to keep doing what I have to do, what I need to, or want to, but must do to stay sober one more day until I can come back into a room like this for another booster shot of good fellowship, experience, strength and hope of others, and to be a little more honest, open, and willing to learn from y'all and this program, and to become a little more tuned into a Higher Power I had never knew existed before coming to AA. So thank you all for your ESH and for letting me share.
To respond to the sharer, please email DTShare@aa-alive.org and it will be forwarded to them.
(All shares are reproduced with the kind permission of the person sharing)

Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hope in carrying the AA message.
Blessings in sobriety to all,
In love and service,
joanna b
dailythought@aa-alive.org

For further information about AA-Alive, including:

Monday, April 13, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 14, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 14, 2015

Pickles
We are also concerned, after countless attempts we made to prove otherwise, that alcoholism is incurable
-- just like some other illnesses. It cannot be "cured" in this sense: We cannot change our body chemistry
and go back to being the normal, moderate social drinkers lots of us seemed to be in our youth.
As some of us put it, we can no more make that change than a pickle can change itself back into a cucumber.
- Living Sober, p. 8

Thought to Ponder . . .
I have learned that I did not get here a day early or a drink short.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Always Awesome.

Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hope in carrying the AA message.
Blessings in sobriety to all,
In love and service,
joanna b
dailythought@aa-alive.org

For further information about AA-Alive, including:

Sunday, April 12, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 13, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 13, 2015

Humility
Humility is a personal achievement, it cannot be given away. It comes in glimmers and grows like an ice crystal.
It is fragile, too, thus requiring constant care and protection.
Maintaining anonymity insures that the focus of our efforts is on the program and not on personalities.
- The Home Group: Heartbeat of AA, p. 126

Thought to Ponder . . .
Anonymity is real humility at work.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
C H A N G E = Choosing Humility Allows New Gifts and Energy.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 12, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 12, 2015

~ Scroll Down for Share ~

A Daily Reprieve
It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels.
We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism.
What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent upon the maintenance of our spiritual condition.
Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 85

Thought to Ponder . . .
The will of God will never take me where the grace of God will not protect me.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
O D A A T = One Day At A Time.

A Member Shares:
I am Mike, a very grateful alcoholic. I have two problems when it comes to alcohol. First, once I take the first drink I lose control. Dr. Silkworth said that it may be an allergy to alcohol and abstinence is the only relief. My second problem is the one that kills many alcoholics. I am unable on my own resources to stay away from that first drink. That requires a Power greater than me whom I come to know while doing and living the Steps. I will die with that allergy. I am never cured. I can recover from that insane obsession, but only through the grace of God. And for me, that required the action of the Twelve Steps. Our founders did believe in permanent sobriety. Bill used those exact words in Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. But at any time I can use my free will selfishly and leave God out, I will probably drink again. But if I do what my Big Book says and live this, share it, I have no reason to think I will drink again. Hence my Daily Reprieve. And that reprieve doesn't come from me. I am powerless, but it comes from One who has all Power. Thanks.
To respond to the sharer, please email DTShare@aa-alive.org and it will be forwarded to them.
(All shares are reproduced with the kind permission of the person sharing)

Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hope in carrying the AA message.
Blessings in sobriety to all,
In love and service,
joanna b
dailythought@aa-alive.org

For further information about AA-Alive, including:

Friday, April 10, 2015

AA Thought for the Day - April 11, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

April 11, 2015

Generosity
We cannot skimp when the treasurer of our group passes the hat. Our groups, our areas, and AA as a whole
will not function unless our services are sufficient and their bills are paid.
When we meet and defeat the temptation to take large gifts, we are only being prudent.
But when we are generous with the hat we give a token that we are grateful for our blessings and evidence
that we are eager to share what we have found with all those who still suffer.
- The Language of the Heart, p. 221

Thought to Ponder . . .
No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H O P E = Helping Other People Every day.