Thoughts For The Day~*~Anonymity^*^*^ June 30

[Transitions Daily]

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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  /AA\
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Anonymity
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"We now fully realize that 100 per cent personal anonymity before the public is just as vital to the life of AA as 100 percent sobriety is to the life of each and every member. This is not the counsel of fear; it is the voice of long experience."
1957AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 293
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Thought to Consider . . .

Walk softly and carry a Big Book.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

A N O N Y M O U S  =  
Actions, Not Our Names, Yield Maintenance Of Unity and Service.

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

Aware

From "Bill's Story":

"My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea. He said, 'Why don't you choose your own conception of God?'

"That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years. I stood in the sunlight at last."
2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 12

*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*

SACRIFICE UNITY SURVIVAL

The unity, the effectiveness, and even the survival of A.A. will always depend upon our continued willingness to give up some of our personal ambitions and desires for the common safety and welfare. Just as sacrifice means survival for the individual alcoholic, so does sacrifice mean unity and survival for the group and for A.A.'s entire Fellowship.                                 
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 220

I have learned that I must sacrifice some of my personality traits for the good of A.A. and, as a result, I have been rewarded with many gifts. False pride can be inflated through prestige but, by living Tradition Six, I receive the gift of humility instead. Cooperation without affiliation is often deceiving. If I remain unrelated to outside interests, I am free to keep A.A. autonomous. Then the Fellowship will be here, healthy and strong for generations to come.
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*

Imaginary Perfection

When we early A.A.'s got our first glimmer of how spiritually prideful we could be, we coined this expression: "Don't try to be a saint by Thursday!" That oldtime admonition may look like another of those handy alibis that can excuse us from trying for our best. Yet a closer view reveals just the contrary. This is our A.A. way of warning against pride-blindness, and the imaginary perfections that we do not posses.
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Only Step One, where we made the 100 per cent admission that we were powerless over alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection. The remaining eleven Steps state perfect ideals. They are goals toward which we look, and the measuring sticks by which we estimate our progress.
1. GRAPEVINE, JUNE 1961 - 2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 68

*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*

"...we then look at Step Six. We have emphasized willingness as being indispensable. Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are objectionable? Can He now take them all-every one? If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 76~

*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*

A.A. Thought for the Day

Alcoholics are unable or unwilling, during their addiction to alcohol, to live in the present. The result is that they live in a constant state of remorse and fear because of their unholy past and its morbid attraction, or the uncertain future and its vague foreboding. So the only real hope for the alcoholic is to face the present. Now is the time. Now is ours. The past is beyond recall. The future is as uncertain as life itself. Only the now belongs to us. Am I living in the now?

Meditation for the Day

I must forget the past as much as possible. The past is over and gone forever. Nothing can be done about the past, except to make what restitution I can. I must not carry the burden of my past failures. I must go on in faith. The clouds will clear and the way will lighten. The path will become less stony with every forward step I take. God has no reproach for anything that He has healed. I can be made whole and free, even though I have wrecked my life in the past. Remember the saying: "Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more."

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not carry the burden of the past. I pray that I may cast it off and press on in faith.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012