Thoughts For The Day~*~Intoxication ^*^*^ April 15
TransitionsDaily
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Intoxication
"As newcomers, many of us have indulged in spiritual intoxication. Like a prospector, belt drawn in over the last ounce of food, we saw our pick strike gold. Joy at our release from a lifetime of frustration knew no bounds. The newcomer feels he has struck something better than gold. He may not see at once that he has barely scratched a limitless lode which will pay dividends only if he mines it for the rest of his life and insists on giving away the entire product."
Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 128-129
As Bill Sees It, p. 57
Thought to Consider . . .
We give it away to keep it.
*~*AACRONYMS*~*
T H I N K
The Happiness I Never Knew
*~*^Just For Today!^*~*
"The majority of A.A. members
have suffered severely from self-justification during their drinking days. For
most of us, self-justification was the maker of excuses; excuses, of course, for
drinking, and for all kinds of crazy and damaging conduct. We had made the
invention of alibis a fine art. We had to drink because times were hard or times
were good. We had to drink because at home we were smothered with love or got
none at all. We had to drink because at work we were great successes or dismal
failures. We had to drink because our nation had won a war or lost a peace. And
so it went, ad infinitum."
1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed
2005
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pgs.
46-47
THE BONDAGE OF RESENTMENTS
. . . harboring resentment is infinitely grave. For then we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the spirit.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 5
It has been said, "Anger is a luxury I cannot afford." Does this suggest I ignore this human emotion? I believe not. Before I learned of the A.A. program, I was a slave to the behavior patterns of alcoholism. I was chained to negativity, with no hope of cutting loose.
The Steps offered me an alternative. Step Four was the beginning of the end of my bondage. The process of "letting go" started with an inventory. I needed not be frightened, for the previous Steps assured me I was not alone. My Higher Power led me to this door and gave me the gift of choice. Today I can choose to open the door to freedom and rejoice in the sunlight of the Steps, as they cleanse the spirit within me.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*
Move Ahead
"To spend too much time on any one alcoholic is to deny some other an opportunity to live and be happy. One of our Fellowship failed entirely with his first half-dozen prospects. He often says that if he had continued to work on them, he might have deprived many others, who have since recovered, of their chance."
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"Our chief responsibility to the newcomer is an adequate presentation of the program. If he does nothing or argues, we do nothing but maintain our own sobriety. If he starts to move ahead, even a little, with an open mind, we then break our necks to help in every way we can."
1. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 96
2. LETTER, 1942
*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*
"When we decide who is to hear our story, we waste no time. We have a
written inventory and we are prepared for a long talk. We explain to our
partner what we are about to do and why we have to do it. He should realize
that we are engaged upon a life-and-death errand. Most people approached in
this way will be glad to help; they will be honored by our
confidence."
Alcoholics Anonymous 4th
Edition
Into Action, pg. 75
*^Twenty
Four
Hours A
Day^*
A.A. Thought for the Day
Terrible things could have
happened to any one of us. We never will know what might have happened to us
when we were drunk. We usually thought: "That couldn't happen to me." But any
one of us could have killed somebody or have been killed ourselves, if we were
drunk enough. But fear of these things never kept us from drinking. Do I believe
that in A.A. we have something more effective than fear?
Meditation for the Day
I must keep calm and unmoved in the
vicissitudes of life. I must go back into the silence of communion with God to
recover this calm when it is lost even for one moment. I will accomplish more by
this calmness than by all the activities of a long day. At all cost I will keep
calm. I can solve nothing when I am agitated. I should keep away from things
that are upsetting emotionally. I should run on an even keel and not get tipped
over by emotional upsets. I should seek for things that are calm and good and
true and stick to those things.
Prayer for the
Day
I pray that
I may not argue nor contend, but merely state calmly what I believe to be true.
I pray that I may keep myself in that state of calmness that comes from faith in
God's purpose for the world.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN
55012