District 9: October 2014

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

AA Thought for the Day - October 15, 2014

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

October 15, 2014

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AA Preamble
Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other
that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking.
There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution;
does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes.
Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
- ©1947, The AA Grapevine, Inc.

Thought to Ponder . . .
Let it begin with me.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
E S H = Experience, Strength and Hope.

A Member Shares:
Hello! Welcome to AA! if you are new, or coming back ... "AA Works!" I'm Charlie J. and I have Alcoholism. I can share my experience, strength and hope about the actual program of Alcoholics Anonymous, how I worked to apply the Twelve Steps, and what the results have been. I can also share the mistakes I have made along the way, with the hope others will not have to step into the same emotional mine fields I did. Sharing my personal experience, strength and hope is the greatest gift I have to offer others in Alcoholics Anonymous. It is my path to recovery. Making any need for editorial prowess unnecessary, as sharing my ESH is a big enough job all by itself. 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.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

AA Thought for the Day - October 12, 2014

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

October 12, 2014

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Vulnerable
Mistakes are made in any form of human endeavor. Some of them are grievous or catastrophic.
Alcoholism can be arrested -- not cured. . . .
There is no guaranteed preventive against the first drink and any dry alcoholic whose thinking becomes muddled can be vulnerable.
... and when we take the first constructive step toward self-forgiveness, the healing has begun.
When one comes to end -- one can also come to a beginning.
- The AA Grapevine, May 1955

Thought to Ponder . . .
If I self-forget I find.

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

A Member Shares:
Good morning all, Tony, alcoholic. Vulnerable: To be susceptible to physical or emotional injury. I recall that when I first came to the Fellowship a guy shared the following, "I love alcoholics," and I nodded in agreement. "I love everyone in this room," and I nodded in agreement. Then, he said, "There is a guy here tonight who I don’t like, but I love him." And immediately my head said, “He must be talking about me!” Because, of course, everything was about me. Through working the first nine Steps in the order they are written, I have found to my surprise that I lost interest in selfish things and gained interest in my fellows. Then the wonderful, joyous, beautiful Step Ten showed me that I no longer needed to be susceptible to injury, either physically or emotionally. You taught me how to turn the other cheek, not always physically, but always mentally. By mentally turning the other cheek, I will not allow myself to become angry, upset, resentful or fearful over the actions of another. To quote something I heard earlier: "The answer is God .. what's the question?" Bless 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.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

AA Thought for the Day - October 9, 2014

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

October 9, 2014

Inventory
When evening comes, perhaps before going to sleep, many of us draw up a balance sheet for the day.
This is a good place to remember that inventory-taking is not always done in red ink.
It's a poor day indeed when we haven't done something right.
As a matter of fact, the waking hours are usually well filled with things that are constructive.
Even when we have tried hard and failed, we may chalk that up as one of the greatest credits of all.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 93

Thought to Ponder . . .
Once we understand ourselves, the rest of living falls in line.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Accountable Actions.

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:

Saturday, October 4, 2014

AA Thought for the Day - October 5, 2014

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

October 5, 2014

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Sharing
When I talk with a newcomer to AA, my past looks me straight in the face.
I see the pain in those hopeful eyes, I extend my hand, and then the miracle happens: I become healed.
My problems vanish as I reach out to this trembling soul.
- Daily Reflections, p. 274

Thought to Ponder . . .
The ankle-biters of everyday struggles will eat away at me unless I go to meetings and share.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
E S H = Experience, Strength and Hope.

A Member Shares:
My name is Hope, an alcoholic. I'll tell you the phenomenon that happens to me when I feel that 'scarcity' -- I am always shown that I have more than enough to share. Sometimes, it is as simple as sharing my time or a short experience. And once in a while it is bigger .. sharing my roof! I think it goes back to the 'ground zero' of my recovery. I was crying hard, gasping sobs, and an old guy took my shoulders and said, "I am going to tell you something important: you won't 'get it' now, but you must remember.." I looked in his eyes and nodded. He continued, " ...this is the best thing that could have happened." I gasped, whaaat? I remembered though, and he was right. It became my Turning Point! I am profoundly grateful that my experience can give others hope. Bless us all. 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:

AA Thought for the Day - October 4, 2014

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

October 4, 2014

Emotional Sobriety
Those adolescent urges that so many of us have for top approval, perfect security, and perfect romance
-- urges quite appropriate to age seventeen --
prove to be an impossible way of life when we are at age forty-seven or fifty-seven.
Since AA began, I've taken immense wallops in all of these areas because of my failure to grow up emotionally and spiritually.
My God, how painful it is to keep demanding the impossible, and how very painful to discover, finally,
that all along we have had the cart before the horse!
Then comes the final agony of seeing how awfully wrong we have been,
but still finding ourselves unable to get off the emotional merry-go-round.
- The Language Of The Heart, pp. 236-237

Thought to Ponder . . .
Maturity is making peace between what is and what may be.

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

Thursday, October 2, 2014

AA Thought for the Day - October 3, 2014

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

October 3, 2014

Circus Act
I realized I'd been living outside myself for so long I'd almost become a walking vacancy.
In my prized AA sobriety, I was still running a kind of circus
which had numerous, highly believable posters plastered all over its outside --
See the Spectacular Non-Drinking Person! Watch How Movingly He can Recite the Twelve Steps!
-- but which had nothing much going on inside the tent.
I've been working hard to shut that circus down ever since with varying degrees of success.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 3], pp. 237-238

Thought to Ponder . . .
The monkey’s asleep but the circus hasn’t left town.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H A L T = Honesty, Acceptance, Love, Trust.