AA Thoughts For Today - August

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AA Thought for the Day

August 30

The Ladder
No one who drank as I did wakes up on the edge of the abyss one morning and says:
Things look pretty scary; I think I'd better stop drinking before I fall in.
I was convinced I could go as far as I wanted, and then climb back out when it wasn't fun anymore.
What happened was, I found myself at the bottom of the canyon thinking I'd never see the sun again.
AA didn't pull me out of that hole. It did give me the tools to construct a ladder, with Twelve Steps.
~ Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 316

Thought to Ponder . . .
I stood in the sunlight at last.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
S T E P S = Solutions Through Each Powerful Step.

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

Fear
"When, with God's help, we calmly accepted our lot,
then we found we could live at peace with ourselves
and show others who still suffered the same fears
that they could get over them, too.
We found that freedom from fear was more important
than freedom from want."
1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 122

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

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F E A R = Face Everything And Recover

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

Others
>From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"A group of laymen whose combined religious training and experience had been small indeed had produced a volume
which described release from alcoholism by spiritual means. What would our Catholic friends think? We had not the slightest inkling.
"Then the good news came. By messenger we had sent the book Alcoholics Anonymous to the Catholic Committee
on Publications in the New York Archdiocese. Our messenger was Morgan R., released only a few weeks before from
Greystone asylum and himself the first Catholic to put in an appearance in New York [A.A.]. Not long after he returned
with wonderful things to tell us.
"The Committee, he said, had nothing but the best to say of our efforts. From their point of view the book was perfectly all right "
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pgs. 168-69

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

"Happiness or tragedy might just depend upon a slight sign of recognition, a nod of the head or perhaps a friendly smile."
Chappaqua, N.Y., December 1947
"Recognition"
AA Grapevine

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

"...I humbly offered myself to God, as I then I understood Him, to do
with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and
direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was
nothing; that without Him I was lost. I ruthlessly faced my sins and
became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill's Story, pg. 13~

"We have no monopoly on God; we merely have an approach that worked with us."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 95~

"In our belief any scheme of combating alcoholism which proposes to shield the sick man from temptation is doomed to failure.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 101

“When we are tempted by the bait, we should train ourselves to step back and think.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 91

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

After failure on my part to dry up any drunks, Dr. Silkworth reminded me of Professor William James's observation that
truly transforming spiritual experiences are nearly always rounded on calamity and collapse. 'Stop preaching at them,'
Dr. Silkworth said, 'and give them the hard medical facts first. This may soften them up at depth so that they will be
willing to do anything to get well. Then they may accept those spiritual ideas of yours, and even a Higher Power.'
We beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas, and
the result was nil - until we let go absolutely.

Prayer for the Day: Thank You, dear God, for another day, The chance to live in a decent way, To feel again the joy of living and happiness that comes from giving. Thank You for friends who can understand and the peace that flows from Your loving hand. Help me to wake with the morning sun, With the prayer today, "Thy will be done." For with Your help I will find the way. Thank You again, dear God, for another day.