[bluidkiti]

AA Thought for the Day

June 21

Ready
If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length
to get it—then you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked.
We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not.
With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p 58

Thought to Ponder . . .
The elevator is broken -- use the Steps.

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

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

Change
"Let us never fear needed change.
Certainly we have to discriminate between
changes for worse and changes for better.
But once a need becomes clearly apparent
in an individual, in a group, or in AA as a whole,
it has long since been found out
that we cannot stand still and look the other way.
The essence of all growth is a willingness
to change for the better
and then an unremitting willingness
to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails."
Bill W., Grapevine, July 1965
1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 115

Thought to Consider . . .
God used two people to create me;
He used a whole Fellowship to change me.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A C T I O N = Any Change Toward Improving One's Nature.

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

Steps
>From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"Though subject to considerable variation, it all boiled down into a pretty consistent procedure which comprised six steps. These were approximately as follows:
1. "We admitted that we were licked, that we were powerless over alcohol.
2. "We made a moral inventory of our defects or sins.
3. "We confessed or shared our shortcomings with another person in confidence.
4. "We made restitution to all those we have harmed by our drinking.
5. "We tried to help other alcoholics, with no thought of reward in money or prestige.
6. We prayed to whatever God we thought there was for power to practice these precepts.
"This was the substance of what, by the fall of 1938, we were telling newcomers. Several of the Oxford Groups other ideas and attitudes had been definitely rejected, including any which could involve us in theological controversy."
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 160

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

"Many blessings have been showered upon me during my five years and nine months of sobriety -- great spiritual gifts, as well as the more ordinary supplies of money and goods. These great gifts come one after the other in spite of my own foolishness and fumbling, as I very slowly grope my way toward the light of reason and love."
Universal City, California, February 1970
"Freedom Began in Prison,"
AA Grapevine

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

"Although financial recovery is on the way for many of us, we found
we could not place money first. For us, material well-being always
followed spiritual progress; it never preceded."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 127~

"We cannot be helpful to all people, but at least God will show us
how to take a kindly and tolerant view of each and every one."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 67~

"Returning home we find a place where we can be quiet for an hour, carefully reviewing what we have done."
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 75 (Into Action)

"Many of us also like the experience of an occasional retreat from the outside world where we can quiet down for an undisturbed day or so of self-overhaul and meditation."
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 89 (Step Ten)

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Only God can fully know what absolute honesty is. Therefore, each of us has to conceive what this great ideal may be--to the best or our ability.
'Fallible as we all are, and will be in this life, it would be presumption to suppose that we could ever really achieve absolute honesty. The best we can do is to strive for a better quality of honesty.
'Sometimes we need to place love ahead of indiscriminate 'factual honesty.' We cannot, under the guise of 'perfect honesty,' cruelly and unnecessarily hurt others. Always one must ask, 'What is the best and most loving thing I can do?'

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, give me the willingness to sit quietly today with my thoughts and emotions. Let me not run from them, but acknowledge them with the help of Your love.