AA Thoughts For Today - August

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AA Thought for the Day

August 21

The Big Book

If you have a drinking problem, we hope that you may pause
in reading one of the forty-two personal stories and think:
“Yes, that happened to me”; or, more important,
“Yes, I’ve felt like that”; or, most important,
“Yes, I believe this program can work for me too.”
- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Preface to Fourth Edition) p. xii

Thought to Ponder . . .
If you want to drink, that's your business.
If you want to stop AA can help.

AA-related 'Alconym'
G I F T S = Getting It From The Steps.

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

Fear
"The practice of AA's Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
in our personal lives also brought incredible releases
from fear of every description,
despite the wide prevalence of formidable personal problems.
When fear did persist, we knew it for what it was,
and under God's grace we became able to handle it.
We began to see each adversity as a God-given
opportunity to develop the kind of courage
which is born of humility, rather than bravado.
Thus we were enabled to accept ourselves,
our circumstances, and our fellows."
Bill W., January 1962
1988AAGrapevine, The Language of the Heart, p. 268

Thought to Consider . . .
Courage is the willingness to accept fear
and act anyway.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F E A R = Fools Every Alcoholic Repeatedly

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

Bill's Adolescent Depression
From: "Chapter One"
With the onset of depression, his academic performance dropped. The upshot was that I failed German and, for that
reason, could not graduate. Here I was, president of my senior class and they wouldn't give me a diploma! My mother
arrived, extremely angry, from Boston. A stormy scene took place in the principal's office. Still, I didn't get that diploma.
He failed to graduate with his class (although school records now list him with the group). Following a summer of
agonizing depression, he went to live with his mother near Boston and completed makeup work that qualified him for college.
What had caused Bill to change from high achiever to a helpless depressive? As he saw it, the major problem was the
he could no longer be Number One. I could not be anybody at all. I could not win, because the adversary was death.
So my life, I thought, had ended then and there.
1984, AAWS, Inc., Pass It On The story of Bill Wilson and how the AA message reached the world, pages 36-37

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

"It has been difficult for me to accept myself and some of my decisions ... But I've done the best I can with the
information available, even if it might not be someone else's best."
Bennettville, Minnesota, December 1999
"A Tough Pull,"
In Our Own Words

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

"In dealing with resentments, we set them on paper. We listed
people, institutions or principles with whom we were angry. We asked
ourselves why we were angry. In most cases it was found that our
self-esteem, our pocketbooks, our ambitions, our personal
relationships,(including sex) were hurt or threatened."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 64~

“We had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is or He isn't.
What was our choice to be?” ~Alcoholics Anonymous page 53

“We thank God from the bottom of our heart that we know Him better.”
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 75

“This to the end that our great blessings may never spoil us; that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him
who presides over us all.”
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 192 (Tradition Twelve Long Version)

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

The A.A. emphasis on personal inventory is heavy because a great many of us have never really acquired the habit of
accurate self-appraisal.
Once this healthy practice has become a habit, it will prove so interesting and profitable that the time it takes won't be
missed. For these minutes and often hours spent in self-examination are bound to make all the other hours of our day
better and happier. At length, our inventories become a necessity of everyday living, rather than something unusual or set apart.

Prayer for the Day: Dear Lord, I've been in the driver's seat but I sure am a bad driver! I've caused more than a few "accidents" along the way. You'd better take the wheel from here on in. Let's go back from where I came and you can help me make things right. Amen.