Thoughts For The Day~*~Defense ^*^*^ January 11

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~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~

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Defense

The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power.

c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 43

Thought to Consider

Alcohol . . . cunning, baffling, powerful!

*~*AACRONYMS*~*

S O B E R
Spirituality Over Booze Equals Recovery

*~Just For Today~*

Faith
From "The Belief Will Come"

I remained dry for a number of years, and then, as you may already have guessed, I drank again. It was inevitable. I had accepted only those parts of the program that fitted into my life without effort on my part. I was still the self-centered egotist I had always been, still full of all my old hatreds, selfishness, and disbelief just as lacking in maturity as I had been when I first arrived at A.A. This time, when I came to in the hospital, I had absolutely no hope. After all, you had told me that A.A. was the last hope for the alcoholic, and I had failed there was nothing else. At this very point, my sister chose to send me a clipping from a Sunday-school paper. No letter, just the clipping: "Pray with disbelief; but pray with sincerity; and the belief will come."

1973 AAWS, Inc.
Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg. 47 

*^Daily Reflections^*

THE 100% STEP

Only Step One, where we made the 100 percent admission we were powerless over alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.  68

Long before I was able to obtain sobriety in A.A., I knew without a doubt that alcohol was killing me, yet even with this knowledge, I was unable to stop drinking. So, when faced with Step One, I found it easy to admit that I lacked the power to not drink. But was my life unmanageable? Never! Five months after coming into A.A., I was drinking again and wondered why.

Later on, back in A.A. and smarting from my wounds, I learned that Step One is the only Step that can be taken 100%. And that the only way to take it 100% is to take 100% of the Step. That was many twenty-four hours ago and I haven't had to take Step One again.

Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*

Quantity or Quality

"About this slip business - I would not be too discouraged. I think you are suffering a great deal from a needless guilt. For some reason or other, the Lord has laid out tougher paths for some of us, and I guess you are treading one of them. God is not asking us to be successful. He is only asking us to try to be. That, you surely are doing, and have been doing. So I would not stay away from A.A. through any feeling of discouragement or shame. It's just the place you should be. Why don't you try just as a member? You don't have to carry the whole A.A. on your back, you know! It is not always the quantity of good things that you do, it is also the quality that counts. Above all, take it one day at a time."

LETTER, 1958

*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*

There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance that principle is "contempt prior to investigation".

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition,
Appendices II, Spiritual Experience, pg. 568

*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*

A.A. Thought for the Day

When we were drinking, most of us never thought of helping others. We liked to buy drinks for people, because that made us feel like big shots. But we only used others for our own pleasure. To really go out and try to help somebody who needed help never occurred to us. To us, helping others looked like a sucker's game. But when we came into A.A., we began to try to help others. And we found out that helping others made us happy and also helped us to stay sober. Have I learned that there is happiness in helping others?

Meditation for the Day

I will pray only for strength and that God's will be done. I will use God's unlimited store of strength for my needs. I will seek God's will for me. I will strive for consciousness of God's presence, for He is the light of the world. I have become a pilgrim, who needs only marching orders and strength and guidance for this day.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may seek God's guidance day by day. I pray that I may strive to abide in God's presence.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

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