AA Thoughts For Today - July

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AA Thought for the Day

July 19

Helpfulness

While you were drinking, you were withdrawing from life little by little.
Now you are getting back into the social life of this world. Don’t start
to withdraw again just because your friends drink liquor. Your job now
is to be at the place where you may be of maximum helpfulness to
others, so never hesitate to go anywhere if you can be helpful.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Working With Others) p. 102

Thought to Ponder . . .
We're not living just to be sober;
we are living to learn, to serve, and to love.

AA-related 'Alconym'
H E L P = Hope, Encouragement, Love, Patience.

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~

Sanity
"Few indeed are the practicing alcoholics who have
any idea how irrational they are,
or seeing their irrationality, can bear to face it.
Some will be willing to term themselves 'problem drinkers,'
but cannot endure the suggestion that they are in fact
mentally ill.
They are abetted in this blindness by a world
which does not understand the difference
between sane drinking and alcoholism.
'Sanity' is defined as 'soundness of mind.'
Yet no alcoholic, soberly analyzing his destructive behavior,
whether the destruction fell on the
dining room furniture or his own moral fiber,
can claim 'soundness of mind' for himself."
1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pp. 32-3

Thought to Consider . . .
If you think you have a problem with alcohol,
you probably do.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
D U E S = Desperately Using Everything but Sobriety

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

Consensus
From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"At first they wanted the word 'God' deleted from the book entirely. Henry had come to believe in some sort of 'universal power,' but Jimmy still flabbergasted us by denouncing God at our meetings. Some members had been so angered that they wanted to throw him out of the group. But most of us thought it better to let him talk on, believing that eventually he would change his mind, which he later did. What Henry [P.], Jimmy [B.], and company wanted was a psychological book which would lure the alcoholic in. Once in, the prospect could take God or leave Him alone as he wished. To the rest of us this was a shocking proposal, but happily we listened and eventually learned something of great value. Actually our group conscience was at work to construct the most acceptable and effective book possible. Every voice in it was playing its appointed part to create an outcome that was to be nothing less than providential."
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 162-163

*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"The part of my job that always catches me off-guard is the palpable jolt of pleasure I get from the little ways to be helpful -- to be of service -- to others, for which they are so genuinely grateful."
York Harbor, Maine, October 2001
"We Get What We Get,"
Emotional Sobriety

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*

"Most of us sense that real tolerance of other people´s shortcomings
and viewpoints and a respect for their opinions are attitudes which
make us more useful to others."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 19~

"What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition."
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 85 (Step Five)

"But also like others, we often discover a greater challenge in the lesser and more continuous problems of life."
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 114 (Step Twelve)

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

When World War II broke out, our A.A. dependence on a Higher Power had its first major test. A.A.'s entered the services and were scattered all over the world. Would they be able to take discipline, stand up under fire, and endure the monotony and misery of war? Would the kind of dependence they had learned in A.A. carry them through? Well, it did. They had even fewer alcoholic lapses or emotional binges than A.A.'s safe at home did. They were just as capable of endurance and valor as any other soldiers. Whether in Alaska or on the Salerno beachhead, their dependence upon a Higher Power worked. Far from being a weakness, this dependence was their chief source of strength.

Prayer for the Day: May I meet each challenge and unpleasant emotion today with a loving, wise heart.