AA Thoughts For Today - August

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AA Thought for the Day

August 17

Tradition Eight

Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional. We
define professionalism as the occupation of counseling alcoholics for
fees or hire. But we may employ alcoholics where they are going to
perform those services for which we may otherwise have to engage
nonalcoholics. Such special services may be well recompensed.
But our usual A.A. "12th Step" work is never to be paid for.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, (The Twelve Traditions, Long Form) pp. 564 - 565

Thought to Ponder . . .
The Steps help me live with me;
the Traditions help me live with you.

AA-related 'Alconym'
T R U S T = Try Relying Upon Steps and Traditions.

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

Paradox
"2. We GIVE AWAY TO KEEP.
That seems absurd and untrue.
How can you keep anything if you give it away?
But in order to keep whatever it is we get in AA,
we must go about giving it away to others,
for no fees or rewards of any kind.
When we cannot afford to give away
what we have received so freely in AA,
we had better get ready for our next 'drunk.'
It will happen every time.
We've got to continue to give it away in order to keep it."
The Professor and the Paradox.
1955AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, Second Edition, p. 341

Thought to Consider . . .
I keep my sobriety by giving it away.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H O P E = Helping Other People Every day.

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

Simple Beauty
From "A Prayer for All Seasons:"
"The power of [The Serenity Prayer] is overwhelming in that its simple beauty parallels the A.A. Fellowship. There are times when I get stuck while reciting it, but if I examine the section which is troubling me, I find the answer to my problem....By accepting life as it is, I gain serenity. By taking action, I gain courage and I thank God for the ability
to distinguish between those situations I can work on, and those I must turn over. All that I have now is a gift from God: my life, my usefulness, my contentment, and this program.
"Alcoholics Anonymous IS the easier, softer way."
1990, Daily Reflections, page 221

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

"There are AA emotions and attitudes that transcend language."
Kihei, Hawaii, October 2004
"Inside an ASL Meeting,"
Spiritual Awakenings II

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

"We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can
laugh at those who think spirituality the way of weakness.
Paradoxically, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is
that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust
their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him
demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our
fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once,
we commence to outgrow fear."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 68~

"If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely,
or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take,
you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be
suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will
conquer."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 44~

Continue to watch for selflessness, dishonesty, resentment and fear. When they crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we harmed anyone. Then we resolutely turned our thoughts to someone we can help. Love and tolerance of others is our code.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, PG 84

“There is a solution. Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation. But we saw that it really worked in others, and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet. We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed."
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 25

“For it is only by accepting and solving our problem that we can begin to get right with ourselves and with the world about us, and with Him who presides over us all. Understanding is the key to right principles and attitudes, and right action is the key to good living.”
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 125

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

'As sobriety means long life and happiness for the individual, so does unity mean exactly the same thing to our Society as a whole. Unified we live; disunited we shall perish.'
'We must think deeply of all those sick ones still to come to A.A. As they try to make their return to faith and to life, we want them to find everything in A.A. that we have found, and yet more, if that be possible. No care, no vigilance, no effort to preserve A.A.'s constant effectiveness and spiritual strength will ever be too great to hold us in full readiness for the day of their homecoming.

Prayer for the Day: God, thank you for helping me realize what I am and thank you for helping me realize how much I need You. God, I'm going to try to do better, but I need your help. Help me to live better for You. Help me to see my wrongs and faults, at all times and help me to overcome my weak and sinful nature. God, I've been away for too long. Help me to stay with You, for You, and for always. Amen