Thoughts For The Day~*~Surrender ^*^*^ June 26
Transitions Daily
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/AA\
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Surrender
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"We surrender to win. On the face of it, surrendering certainly does not seem like winning. But it is in AA. Only after we have come to the end of our rope, hit a stone wall in some aspect of our lives beyond which we can go no further; only when we hit "bottom" in despair and surrender, can we accomplish sobriety which we could never accomplish before. We must, and we do, surrender in order to win."
1955AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, 2nd Edition, p. 341
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Thought to Consider . . .
Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgment of the facts of a situation, then deciding what you're going to do about it.
*~*AACRONYMS*~*
H O W = Honest, Open, and Willing
*~*^Just For Today!^*~*
Bottom
"I heard of the need to hit bottom, of the necessity for accepting a higher Power, of the indispensability of humility. These were ideas which had never crossed my professional horizon and certainly had never influenced my nonprofessional thinking or attitudes. Revolutionary as they were, they nevertheless made sense, and I found myself embarked on a tour of discovery. "The individual alcoholic was always fighting an admission of being licked, of admitting that he was powerless. If and when he surrendered, he quit fighting, admitted he was licked, and accepted the fact that he was powerless and needed help. If he did not surrender, a thousand crises could hit him and nothing constructive would happen. The need to induce surrender became a new therapeutic goal. The miracle of A.A. was now a little clearer, though the reason was still obscure why the program and the fellowship of A.A. could induce a surrender which could in turn lead to a period of no drinking." -- Dr. Harry Tiebout, 1955
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 247
A GIFT THAT GROWS WITH TIME
For most normal folks, drinking means conviviality, companionship and colorful imagination. It means release from care, boredom and worry. It is joyous intimacy with friends and a feeling that life is good.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 151
The longer I chased these elusive feelings with alcohol, the more out of reach they were. However, by applying this passage to my sobriety, I found that it described the magnificent new life made available to me by the A.A. program. It "truly does get better" one day at a time. The warmth, the love and the joy so simply expressed in these words grow in breadth and depth each time I read it. Sobriety is a gift that grows with time.
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*^As
Bill
Sees
It^*~*
Money--Before and After
In our drinking time, we acted
as if the money supply were inexhaustible, though between binges we'd sometimes
go to the other extreme and become miserly. Without realizing it, we were just
accumulating funds for the next spree. Money was the symbol of pleasure and
self-importance. As our drinking became worse, money was only an urgent
requirement which could supply us with the next drink and the temporary comfort
of oblivion it brought. <<<>>>
Although financial
recovery is on the way for many of us, we find we cannot place money first. For
us, material well-being always follows spiritual progress; it never precedes.
1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, P.120
2. ALCOHOLICS
ANONYMOUS, P. 127
*~*^
Big
Book
Quote
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"Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults
to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past.
Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in
the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as
you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, pg.
164~
*~*^Twenty
Four
Hours A
Day^*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day
We must know the nature of our
weakness before we can determine how to deal with it. When we are honest
about its presence, we may discover that it is imaginary and can be
overcome by a change of thinking. We admit that we are alcoholics and we
would be foolish if we refused to accept our handicap and do something about
it. So by honestly facing our weakness and keeping ever present the
knowledge that for us alcoholism is a disease with which we are afflicted,
we can take the necessary steps to arrest it. Have I fully accepted my
handicap?
Meditation for the Day
There is a proper time for everything. I must learn
not to do things at the wrong time, that is, before I am ready or before
conditions are right. it is always a temptation to do something at once,
instead of waiting until the proper time. Timing is important. I must learn,
in the little daily situations of life, to delay action until I am sure that
I am doing the right thing at the right time. So many lives lack balance
and timing. In the momentous decisions and crises of life, they may ask
God's guidance, but into the small situations of life, they rush alone.
Prayer for the Day
I
pray that I may delay action until I feel that I am doing the right thing. I
pray that I may not rush in alone.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012