Thoughts For The Day~*~Choices ^*^*^ December 20

[Transitions Daily]

Visit  AA Night Before Christmas

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~

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Choices

Looking back we see that our freedom to choose badly was not, after all, a very real freedom. When we chose  because we "must," this was not a free choice either. But it got us started in the right direction. When we chose  because we "ought to" we were really doing better. This time we were earning some freedom, making ourselves  ready for more. But when, now and then, we could gladly make right choices without rebellion, holdout, or conflict, then we had our first glimpse of what perfect freedom under God's will could be like.    

Bill W., May 1960

c. 1988 AA Grapevine, The Language of the Heart,  p. 302

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Thought to Consider . . . 

Sobriety is a choice and a treasure.

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

C H A N G E =  Choosing Honesty Allows New Growth Every day

*~*^Just For Today!^*~*

Compensation

From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous"

"Shortly after the financial investigation episode, Father Ed Dowling, our Jesuit friend from St. Louis, turned up in New York. Still puzzled, I put the case up to him. He asked, 'Do you think A.A. requires your full-time efforts?' I replied, 'Yes, I think it does, perhaps indefinitely.' Then he inquired, 'Could you become a paid therapist, taking money for Twelfth Step work?' I told him that this issue had been settled long since. Most emphatically I could not, regardless of the consequences, nor could any other A.A. member. "This meant that Dr. Bob and I must certainly never accept money for Twelfth Step work but that we could be recompensed for special services. We both accepted Father Ed's down-the-middle advice and have stuck by it ever since, and I am glad to say this status for Dr. Bob and me was later accepted as correct in principle by our entire fellowship."

2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 195

*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*

THE REWARDS OF GIVING

This is indeed the kind of giving that actually demands nothing.  He does not expect his brother sufferer to pay him, or even to love him.  And then he discovers that by the divine paradox of this kind of giving he has found his own reward, whether his brother has yet received anything or not. 

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 109 

Through experience with Twelfth Step work, I came to understand the rewards of giving that demands nothing in return.  At first I expected recovery in others, but I soon learned that this did not happen.  Once I acquired the humility to accept the fact that every Twelfth Step call was not going to result in a success, then I was open to receive the rewards of selfless giving.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*

Random Quote - The Reality of Spiritual Experiences

"Perhaps you raise the question of hallucination verses the divine imagery of a genuine spiritual experience. I doubt if anyone has authoritatively defined what an hallucination really is. However, it is certain that all recipients of spiritual experiences declare for their reality. The best evidence of that reality is in the subsequent fruits. Those who receive these gifts of grace are very much changed people, almost invariably for the better. This can scarcely be said of those who hallucinate. "Some might think me presumptuous when I say that my own experience is real. Nevertheless, I can surely report that in my own life and in the lives of countless others, the fruits of that experience have been real, and the benefactions beyond reckoning."

TALK, 1960 

*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

"We know that while the alcoholic keeps away from drink, as he may do for months or years, he reacts much like  other men. We are equally positive that once he takes any alcohol whatever into his system, something happens,  both in the bodily and mental sense, which makes it virtually impossible for him to stop. The experience of any alcoholic will abundantly confirm this." 
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 22~

*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*

A.A. Thought for the Day

Our faith should control the whole of our life. We alcoholics were living a divided life. We had to find a way to make it whole. When we were drinking, our lives were made up of a lot of scattered and unrelated pieces. We must pick up our lives and put them together again. We do it by recovering faith in a Divine Principle in the universe that holds us together and holds the whole universe together and gives it meaning and purpose. We surrender our disorganized lives to that Power, we get into harmony with the Divine Spirit, and our lives are made whole again. Is my life whole again? 

Meditation for the Day

Avoid fear as you would a plague. Fear, even the smallest fear, is a hacking at the cords of faith that bind you to God. However small the fraying, in time those cords will wear thin, and then one disappointment or shock will make them snap. But for the little fears, the cords of faith would have held firm. Avoid depression, which is allied to fear. Remember that all fear is disloyalty to God. it is a denial of His care and protection. 

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have such trust in God today that I will not fear anything too greatly. I pray that I may have assurance that God will take care of me in the long run.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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