Thoughts For The Day~*~Show Business ^*^*^ December 11
Transitions Daily
~~ AA Christmas ~~
~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Show Business
"The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success. On that basis we are almost always in collision with something or somebody, even though our motives are good. Most people try to live by self-propulsion. Each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show; is forever trying to arrange the lights, the ballet, the scenery and the rest of the players in his own way. If his arrangements would only stay put, if only people would do as he wished, the show would be great. Everybody, including himself, would be pleased. Life would be wonderful."
c. 2001AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 60-1
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Thought to Consider . . .
I can't do His will my way.
*~*AACRONYMS*~*
P R I D E = Pretty Ridiculous Individual Directing Everything
Promoter among Promoters
In The Doctor's Opinion, Dr. Silkworth described a patient brought to him for treatment of chronic alcoholism who had only partially recovered from a gastric hemorrhage, and seemed to be in a pathological state of mental deterioration.
This man was Hank P. His
story in the first edition of the Big Book was titled "The Unbeliever"
(Experience, Strength & Hope, page 5). Hank worked for Standard Oil
of New Jersey. He was a high-pressure kind of guy. He was called a "promoter
among promoters". He was a partner with Bill W in the Honor Dealers Car Polish
Company, which they started to earn some money while AA was still being
developed. Hank also wrote
Chapter 7 of
the Big Book, "Working with Others.
"A GENUINE HUMILITY"
. . . we are actually to practice a genuine humility. This is to the end that our great blessings may never spoil us, that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 192
Experience has taught me that my alcoholic personality tends to be grandiose. While having seemingly good intentions, I can go off on tangents in pursuit of my "causes." My ego takes over and I lose sight of my primary purpose. I may even take credit for God's handiwork in my life. Such an overstated feeling of my own importance is dangerous to my sobriety and could cause great harm to A.A. as a whole.
My safeguard, the Twelfth Tradition, serves to keep me humble. I realize, both as an individual and as a member of the Fellowship, that I cannot boast of my accomplishments, and that "God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves."
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*^As
Bill
Sees
It^*~*
Random Quote - To Deepen Our
Insight
It is necessary that we extricate from an examination
of our personal relations every bit of information about ourselves and our
fundamental difficulties that we can. Since defective relations with other human
beings have nearly always been the immediate cause of our woes, including our
alcoholism, no field of investigation could yield more satisfying and valuable
rewards than this one. Calm, thoughtful reflection upon personal relations
can deepen our insight. We can go far beyond those things which were
superficially wrong with us, to see those flaws which were basic, flaws which
sometimes were responsible for the whole pattern of our lives. Thoroughness, we
have found, will pay - and pay handsomely.
TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 80
Copyright®1967
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
*~*^Big
Book
Quote^*~*
"Outsiders are sometimes
shocked when we burst into merriment over a seemingly tragic experience out
of the past. But why shouldn't we laugh? We have recovered, and have been
given the power to help others."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg.
132~
*~*^Twenty
Four
Hours A
Day^*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day
Doctors
think of the A.A. fellowship as group therapy. This is a very narrow conception
of the depth of the A.A. fellowship. Looking at it purely as a means of
acquiring and holding sobriety, it is right as far as it goes. But it doesn't go
far enough. Group therapy is directed toward the help that the individual
receives from it. It is essentially selfish. It is using the companionship of
other alcoholics only in order to stay sober ourselves. But this is only the
beginning of real A.A. fellowship. Do I deeply feel the true AA. fellowship?
Meditation for the
Day
Most of us have had to live through the dark part of our lives,
the time of failure, the nighttime of our lives, when we were full of struggle
and care, worry and remorse, when we felt deeply the tragedy of life. But with
our daily surrender to a Higher Power comes a peace and joy that make all things
new. We can now take each day as a joyous sunrise-gift from God to use for Him
and for other people. The night of the past is gone, this day is ours,
Prayer for the
Day
I pray that I may take this day as a gift from God. I pray that I
may thank God for this day and be glad in it.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012