District 9: 2016

Sunday, April 3, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - April 4, 2016

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

April 4, 2016

Red Flags
Many years later, although alcohol is not a part of my life and I no longer have the compulsion to drink,
it can still occur to me what a good drink tastes like and what it can do for me,
from my stand-at-attention alcoholic taste buds right down to my stretched out tingling toes.
As my sponsor used to point out, such thoughts are like red flags,
telling me that something is not right, that I am stretched beyond my sober limit.
It's time to get back to basic AA and see what needs changing.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 396-397

Thought to Ponder . . .
AA is not something we join; it's a way of life.

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

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.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - March 31, 2016

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

March 31, 2016

Hangovers
Few people who have ever had a hangover could forget how unreasonably irritable it makes you feel.
Sometimes, we took it out on family members, fellow workers, friends,
or strangers who had certainly not earned our displeasure.
That tendency can hang around awhile after we start staying sober,
the way wraiths of stale smoke do in a closed-up barroom, reminding us of drinking days
-- until we do a good mental housecleaning.
- Living Sober, p. 40

Thought to Ponder . . .
Trust God. Clean house. Help others.

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

Monday, March 28, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - March 29, 2016

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

March 29, 2016

Facing Challenges
Life is meant to be lived by facing the challenges it brings. Otherwise, I'm not living, just existing.
God didn't give me this gift of sobriety to sit in a rocking chair,
imagining myself as some wise old woman who has arrived somewhere.
There is no easier, softer way. . .
The teaching I receive in Alcoholics Anonymous about courage and love
helps me to continue to grapple with the challenges of life as they are given to me, one day at a time.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 3], p. 320

Thought to Ponder . . .
If I have the courage to begin, I have the courage to succeed.

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

Sunday, March 27, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - March 28, 2016

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

March 28, 2016

In His Hands
Cling to the thought that, in God's hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have
-- the key to life and happiness for others. With it you can avert death and misery for them.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 124

Thought to Ponder . . .
So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
and we never even know we have the key.

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

Saturday, March 26, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - March 27, 2016

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

March 27, 2016

~ Scroll Down for Share ~

Tolerance
Learning how to live in the greatest peace, partnership, and brotherhood
with all men and women of whatever description, is a moving and fascinating adventure.
- As Bill Sees It, p. 145

Thought to Ponder . . .
Love and tolerance of others is our code.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
P U T = Patience, Understanding,Tolerance.

A Member Shares:
Lance here, an alcoholic. Someone once said the Steps are there so we don't kill ourselves, and the Traditions are there so we don't kill one another. I agree. It gives everyone the same right to share, with the least emphasis on differences. We've got to learn to be tolerant and loving, and it sure shows up at face-to-face meetings. My Home Group is very loving and we are very different .. could, in fact, become hostile to one another. But I am learning to really put what I think on the back burner and just appreciate people for who they are, just regular folks who have a deadly disease. We have every right to celebrate together, since we are sober and most of us eager to learn how to get along. It's what I think is secondary to the benefit of the group, so it's good to listen to different points of view. Mostly, I am grateful I can go somewhere and feel accepted and loved for who I am, with few repercussions in what I think. It gives us a lot of freedom! 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:

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.

Friday, March 25, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - March 26, 2016

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

March 26, 2016

Spirituality
I finally began to separate the religious aspects of my life from AA's spiritual program.
Now the big difference to me is that religion is the ritual, and we all differ there,
and spirituality is the way we feel about what we do.
It's about my personal contact with my personal Higher Power, as I understand Him.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 406

Thought to Ponder . . .
Spirituality is the essence of being. It can shape reality.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
K I S S = Keeping It Simple, Spiritually.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - March 25, 2016

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

March 25, 2016

Willpower
It is when we try to make our will conform with God's that we begin to use it rightly. . .
Our whole trouble had been the misuse of willpower. We had tried to bombard our problems with it
instead of attempting to bring it into agreement with God's intention for us.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 40

Thought to Ponder . . .
I can't do His will my way.

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

Friday, March 18, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - March 19, 2016

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

March 19, 2016

Meditation
Meditation belongs and grows with daily life and daily growth,
for it is in daily life that analytical thought binds us into the dilemma of opposites
and consequently into sorrow, pleasure-seeking and loss of freedom.
In a life that may often seem onerous, boring and senseless,
meditation can free us to its beauty, its joy beyond pleasure, its passion beyond sorrow.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 1], p. 172

Thought to Ponder . . .
Meditation means trusting the silence around me.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
G R A C E = Gently Releasing All Conscious Expectations.

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:

Thursday, March 10, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - March 11, 2016

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

March 11, 2016

A New Perspective
For some of us, it is easier to slow ourselves down if we have the help of another person.
We may be unable to generate our own peace, but sometimes we can make ourselves sit quietly
and listen to a friend who has achieved a measure of serenity.
Full attention to someone else helps restore our equilibrium and gives us a new perspective on our own lives,
so that we may see that they don't have to be a rat race.
- Living Sober, p. 45

Thought to Ponder . . .
A friend is one who sees through you and still enjoys the view.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
T L C = Tears, Laughter, Caring.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - March 10, 2016

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

March 10, 2016

Progress
As I peel away the layers of day-to-day expediency, I realize that my zigzag, erratic and inconsistent course
was in the general direction of progress all the time. That's good.
What right do I have to expect perfection and efficiency in my spiritual growth when the rest of my life
is so full of ups and downs, ins and outs, and backs and forths? Throughout this whole adventure,
the only consistency I have maintained is an absolute and total faith in AA, come what may.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 1], p. 187

Thought to Ponder . . .
The road to recovery is always under construction.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Adventurers Anonymous.

Monday, March 7, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - March 8, 2016

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

March 8, 2016

Purpose
This latest part of my life has had a purpose, not in great things accomplished, but in daily living.
Courage to face each day has replaced the fears and uncertainties of earlier years.
Acceptance of things as they are has replaced the old impatient chomping at the bit to conquer the world.
I have stopped tilting at windmills and, instead, have tried to accomplish the little daily tasks,
unimportant in themselves, but tasks that are an integral part of living fully.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 266

Thought to Ponder . . .
Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A B C = Acceptance, Belief, Change.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - March 7, 2016

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

March 7, 2016

Resentments
Selfishness -- self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.
Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate.
Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that in some time in the past
we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt.
So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 62

Thought to Ponder . . .
Resentment is like acid, eating away at the vessel it is stored in.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
S W A T = Surrender, Willingness, Action, Trust.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - March 3, 2016

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

March 3, 2016

Surrender
It is only when I have experienced enough emotional pain, through failed attempts to fix myself,
that I become willing to surrender to God's will for my life.
Surrender is like the calm after the storm. When my will is in line with God's will for me, there is peace within.
- Daily Reflections, p. 77

Thought to Ponder . . .
The storm has passed. I've learned a little more about peace. It was inside all the time.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
W O W = Willingness Over Willpower.

Sunday, February 28, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - February 29, 2016

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

February 29, 2016

A Healthy Respect
Fear may have originally pushed some of us toward looking into the possibility that we may have a drinking problem.
And over a short period, fear alone may help some of us stay away from a drink.
But a fearful state is not a very happy or relaxed one to maintain for very long.
So we try to develop a healthy respect for the power of alcohol, instead of a fear of it,
just as people have a healthy respect for cyanide, iodine, or any other poison.
- Living Sober, pp. 13-14

Thought to Ponder . . .
A fear faced is a fear erased.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
F E A R = Fear Expressed Allows Relief

Friday, February 26, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - February 27, 2016

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

February 27, 2016

Time
And what is time to me now? It is a most precious asset.
I have the luxury of being able to cherish the memory of yesterday,
to live today with serenity, to wait for tomorrow.
I find great contentment in just knowing where I was and where I am.
And I am grateful; grateful for the existence of Alcoholic Anonymous;
grateful to my God for leading me to the doors of AA and to himself, grateful for hope.
I am grateful for this minute. My eternity may be in it.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 2], p. 21

Thought to Ponder . . .
Give Time time.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
T I M E = This Is My Eternity.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - February 26, 2016

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

February 26, 2016

Generation Gap
I walked into my first AA meeting a month after my 70th birthday. . . Half-sober, I got myself to an AA meeting near my home.
My first reaction, as I stared at the people in the meeting was to flee. Unwittingly, I had walked into a young people's meeting.
The leader, a girl named Kathy, was fourteen and one-half years old, with six months' sober.
Muttering, I turned toward the exit and found myself face to face with a young man, who stuck out a hand.
"My name is Frank." "I'm not staying. I'm in the wrong place." He got a whiff of my breath. "I'd say you aren't."
That evening, I learned that the generation gap works both ways.
While I had as much chance for recovery as a girl of 14, she was as likely to die from alcoholism as I was.
- Time To Start Living, AA Pamphlet P-7, pp. 6-10

Thought to Ponder . . .
It's never too late to be what I might have been.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H E A R T = Healing, Enjoying, And Recovering Together.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - February 25, 2016

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

February 25, 2016

Complacency
The truth is, that in the life of each AA member, there still lurks a tyrant. His name is alcohol.
He is cunning, ruthless. And his weapons are misery, insanity, and death.
No matter how long we may be sober, he always stands at each man's elbow,
ever watchful of an opportunity to resume his destruction.
- The Language of the Heart, p. 34

Thought to Ponder . . .
The alcoholic is in no greater peril than when he takes sobriety for granted.

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

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - February 24, 2016

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

February 24, 2016

~ Scroll Down for Share ~

Step Eight
"Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

What real harm had we done? No more, surely, than we could easily mend with a few casual apologies.
This attitude, of course, is the result of purposeful forgetting.
It is an attitude which can be changed by a deep and honest search of our motives and actions. . .
. . .we should nevertheless make an accurate and exhaustive survey of our life as it has affected other people.
In many instances we shall find that though the harm done others has not been great,
the emotional harm we have done ourselves has.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 79

Thought to Ponder . . .
Forgiveness is the final form of love.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Altered Attitudes.

A Member Shares:
My name is Hope, an alkie. I was given a very practical approach to Step Eight. The folks I did not list on my Step 8 list were sick people, whose woes I had increased. I had a 'never' in there, too. I flinched each time I heard St Francis prayer: "…forgiven as we forgive." Then, I heard a speaker, Bobby E, and he said there are some things only God can forgive. I followed the directions on that, and I prayed for God to bless them with all the things I wished for myself. And it worked; it took the heat out. I was open in my heart and could grow spiritually to forgive and be forgiven. They benefitted, and I did too. Bless us all.
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: