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AA Thought for the Day

January 24

Step Twelve

Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry
this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

"If the day comes that I do drink again, it will not be because I had no alternative.
It will be because I had an alternative, provided by a loving God,
but was unwilling to use it."
- AA Grapevine, October 1994,
"Lock Me Up, Please"

Thought to Ponder
It's not what I know in recovery that keeps me sober.
It's what I do that keeps me sober.

AA-related 'Alconym'
P R O G R A M = People Relying On God Relaying A Message.

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

Belief
Here are thousands of men and women, worldly indeed.
They flatly declare that since they have come to believe
in a Power greater than themselves,
to take a certain attitude toward that Power,
and to do certain simple things,
there has been a revolutionary change
in their way of living and thinking.
In the face of collapse and despair,
in the face of the total failure of their human resources,
they found that a new power, peace, happiness,
and sense of direction flowed into them.
c. 2001AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 50

Thought to Consider . . .
Newcomers are the lifeblood of the program.
But our old-timers are the arteries.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
P R O G R A M = People Relying On God Relay A Message

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

Visibility
>From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"The 1941-1945 period brought still other developments. Our downtown Vesey Street office was moved to 415 Lexington
Avenue, just opposite Grand Central [train] Station. We made this move because the need for serving the many A.A.
travelers through New York had become urgent. Our new location near Grand Central brought us into contact with
visitors who, for the first time, began to see Alcoholics Anonymous as a vision for the whole world."
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pgs. 198-99

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

"I try to accept reality instead of trying to control it. When I make that adjustment, the struggle ends."
El Granada, Calif., March 2003
"How an Atheist Works the Steps,"
Beginners' Book:
Getting and Staying Sober in AA

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

"Yes, there is a substitute and it is vastly more than that. It is a
fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from
care, boredom and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will
mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your
existence lie ahead. Thus we find the fellowship, and so will you."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, pg. 152~

"In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be
able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for
inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take
it easy. We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right
answers come after we have tried this for a while."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 86

Then fear, in turn, generates more character defects.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 49

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

In the beginning, it was four whole years before A.A. brought permanent sobriety to even one alcoholic woman. Like the
'high bottoms,' the women said they were different; A.A. couldn't be for them. But as the communication was perfected,
mostly by the women themselves, the picture changed.
This process of identification and transmission has gone on and on. The Skid-Rower said he was different. Even more
loudly, the socialite (or Park Avenue stumblebum) said the same - so did the artists and the professional people, the
rich, the poor, the religious, the agnostic, the Indians and the Eskimos, the veterans, and the prisoners.
But nowadays all of these, and legions more, soberly talk about how very much alike all of us alcoholics are when we
admit that the chips are finally down.

Prayer for the Day: Thank you, God, for all you have given me, for all you have taken from me, and for what you have left to me.