District 9

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - January 20, 2016

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

January 20, 2016

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Step Three
"Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

In all times of emotional disturbance or indecision, we can pause, ask for quiet, and in the stillness simply say:
"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 . . .
The stillness of God speaks louder than a choir of voices.

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

A Member Shares:
Good morning everyone, my name is Rick, and I am an alcoholic. Step 3 is the Step I spend the most time practicing and the most time failing at. I find it much easier to admit I'm an alcoholic, accept that I need AA and a Higher Power to stay sober and grow spiritually. I take inventory daily, I pray, I work hard to forgive people who've wronged me and I try to recognize and make amends to people I've wronged. I look out for others the way I'd like to be looked out for. But turning my will and my life over to God I flub all the time. I turn it over every morning and I take it back multiple times every day. I just don't succeed at adhering to this Step long-term, even though I consider it perhaps the most important Step for me, to growing. Whenever things are going really well, I take my will back because I get cocky and think I'm on solid ground. Whenever things are going wrong, I take my will back because I need to micro-manage and take control of the situation to fix it, my way. Both reactions get me in trouble. Always have. Safe bet they always will. I've forced myself to practice spot-checking myself every couple of hours, just to improve on this Step. I take a couple of minutes and reflect on my previous couple of hours and look for areas I allowed my will to be handled by God and for areas where I reacted instead of responded to an issue. The Serenity Prayer really helps me with this...it says so much in so few words...and it helps me bigtime. I don't know if I'll ever get this Step down to my satisfaction, but I'm going to keep trying. Thank you 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.

AA Thought for the Day - January 19, 2016

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

January 19, 2016

Acceptance
Our whole treasured philosophy of self-sufficiency had to be cast aside. This had not been done with old-fashioned willpower;
it was instead a matter of developing the willingness to accept these new facts of living.
We neither ran nor fought. But accept we did. And then we were free.
There had been no irretrievable disaster.
- The Language of the Heart, p. 271

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

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

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, January 18, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - January 18, 2016

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

January 18, 2016

Tornado!
The alcoholic is like a tornado roaring his way through the lives of others. Hearts are broken. Sweet relationships are dead.
Affections have been uprooted. Selfish and inconsiderate habits have kept the home in turmoil.
We feel a man is unthinking when he says that sobriety is enough.
He is like the farmer who came up out of his cyclone shelter to find his home ruined. To his wife, he remarked,
"Don't see anything the matter here, Ma. Ain't it grand the wind stopped blowin'?"
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 82

Thought to Ponder . . .
Without change I am just a non-drinking drunk.

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

Saturday, January 16, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - January 17, 2016

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

January 17, 2016

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Working With Others
. . . the thought came that there were thousands of hopeless alcoholics who might be glad to have
what had been so freely given me.
Perhaps I could help some of them. They in turn might work with others.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 14

Thought to Ponder . . .
Sharing is sometimes more demanding than giving.

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

A Member Shares:
I'm Susan, an alcoholic, grateful to be alive and sober. I was reminded this week of a time when I was standing in the middle of a road too afraid to die as a drunk and too afraid to live as a sober person. For around my first 9 months of sobriety, that was like hell itself. I wish today I could tell you exactly how I flipped that switch. But the only thing I recall is that I stopped comparing myself to each of you, and just got real honest about what my drinking days had looked like, and how alcohol had essentially taken complete control of my mind. And there are moments when I wish I could flip someone else's switch for them. But I have to accept that this is not possible. All I can do is focus on my relationship with my Higher Power and pray that they find their moment too. We have made it this far into these rooms. One thing I do try to remember as a constant, is my gratitude that I am one who God has chosen (among many) to make it this far. Thanks for listening, and blessings to 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:

AA Thought for the Day - January 16, 2016

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

January 16, 2016

Responsibilities
Remember, AA is not going to preserve itself automatically.
What are we, each one of us, doing with the gift of sobriety, so freely and lovingly given?
Will we squander our magnificent inheritance?
Perhaps each one of us should hold on to these thoughts:
"Keep me mindful of the responsibilities that accompany the blessings of freedom.
The only time that wrong can prevail is when good people do nothing."
- The Home Group: Heartbeat of AA, p. 60

Thought to Ponder . . .
We can make a difference. Without you, there is no 'we.'

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

Thursday, January 14, 2016

AA Thought for the Day - January 15, 2016

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

January 15, 2016

Spiritual Progress
Many of us exclaimed, "What a order! I can't go through with it." Do not be discouraged.
No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints.
The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines.
The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 60

Thought to Ponder . . .
Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional, growing spiritually is up to me.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Achieve Anything.

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 - January 14, 2016

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

January 14, 2016

Choices
"Yet we finally did make choices that brought about our recovery.
We came to believe that alone we were powerless over alcohol.
This was surely a choice, and a most difficult one.
We came to believe that a Higher Power could restore us to sanity when we became willing to practice AA's Twelve Steps.
In short, we chose to 'become willing,' and no better choice did we ever make."
- As Bill Sees It, p. 4

Thought to Ponder . . .
I am worth staying sober for.

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