AA Thought For Today - July

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AA Thought for the Day

July 16

Freedom
We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 83-84

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

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H J F = Happy, Joyous, Free.

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~

Paradox
"We Give Away to Keep.
That seems absurd and untrue.
How can you keep anything if you give it away?
But in order to keep whatever it is we get in AA,
we must go about giving it away to others,
for no fees or rewards of any kind.
When we cannot afford to give away what we have
received so freely in AA,
we had better get ready for our next 'drunk.'
It will happen every time.
We've got to continue to give it away in order to keep it."
- The Professor and the Paradox
1955AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous (2nd Ed.), pp. 341-2

Thought to Consider . . .
"We are not living just to be sober;
we are living to learn, to serve, and to love."
As Bill Sees It, p. 94

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H E L P = Hope, Encouragement, Love, and Patience

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*

Attraction
Tradition Eleven: Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.
"Let's see how these two contrasting ideas - attraction and promotion - work out. A political party wishes to win an election, so it advertises the virtues of its leadership to draw votes. A worthy charity wants to raise money; forthwith, its letterhead shows the name of every distinguished person whose support can be obtained. Much of the political, economic, and religious life of the world is dependent upon publicized leadership. People who symbolize causes and ideas fill a deep human need. We of A.A. do not question that. But we do have to soberly face the fact that being in the public eye is hazardous, especially for us. By temperament, nearly every one of us had been an irrepressible promoter, and the prospect of a society composed almost entirely of promoters was frightening. Considering this explosive factor, we knew we had to exercise self-restraint."
1981, AAWS, Inc., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 181

*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"Mere change is not necessarily progress."
AA Co-Founder, Bill W., October 1945
"The Book Is Born"
The Language of the Heart

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*

"If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely,
or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take,
you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be
suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will
conquer."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 44~

"Faith without works was dead, he said. And how appallingly true for
the alcoholic! For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his
spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could
not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead. If he did not
work, he would surely drink again, and if he drank, he would surely
die. Then faith would be dead indeed. With us it is just like that."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill's Story, pg. 14~

"We have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will toward all men, even our enemies, for we look on them as sick people."
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 70 (How It Works)

"We rest quietly with the thoughts of someone who knows, so that we may experience and learn."
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 100 (Step Eleven)

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

You know what our genius for rationalization is. If, to ourselves, we fully justify one slip, then our rationalizing propensities are almost sure to justify another one, perhaps with a different set of excuses. But one justification leads to another and presently we are back on the bottle full-time.' Experience shows, all too often, that even the 'controlled' pill-taker may get out of control. The same crazy rationalizations that once characterized his drinking begin to blight his existence. He thinks that if pills can cure insomnia so may they cure his worry. Our friends the doctors are seldom directly to blame for the dire results we so often experience. It is much too easy for alcoholics to buy these dangerous drugs, and once possessed of them the drinker is often likely to use them without any judgment whatever.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, allow me to always continue learning.