AA Thoughts For Today - January

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AA Thought for the Day

January 9

Fear
At heart we had all been abnormally fearful.
It mattered little whether we had sat on the shore of life
drinking ourselves into forgetfulness
or had plunged in recklessly and willfully beyond our depth and ability.
The result was the same—all of us had nearly perished in a sea of alcohol.
But today, in well-matured AA's, these distorted drives have been restored
to something like their true purpose and direction.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pp. 123-124

Thought to Ponder . . .
Situations I fear are rarely as bad as the fear itself.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
F E A R = Forgetting Everything's All Right.

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

Action
"Then they outlined the spiritual answer
and program of action
which a hundred of them had followed successfully.
Though I had been only a nominal churchman,
their proposals were not, intellectually, hard to swallow.
But the program of action, though entirely sensible,
was pretty drastic.
It meant I would have to throw several lifelong conceptions
out of the window.
That was not easy.
But the moment I made up my mind
to go through with the process,
I had the curious feeling that my alcoholic condition
was relieved, as in fact it proved to be."
c. 1976, 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 42

Thought to Consider . . .
Willingness without action is fantasy.

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

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

Solutions
>From "The Housewife Who Drank at Home":
"I had problems. We all have them, and I thought a little brandy or a little wine now and then could certainly hurt no one. I
don't believe, when I started, that I even had in mind the thought that I was drinking. I had to sleep. I had to clear my mind
and free it from worry, and I had to relax. But from one or two drinks of an afternoon or evening, my intake mounted, and
mounted fast. It wasn't long before I was drinking all day. I had to have that wine. The only incentive that I had, toward the
end, for getting dressed in the morning was to get out and get 'supplies' to help me get my day started. But the only thing
that got started was my drinking."
2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 296

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

"By revealing our secrets and thereby ridding ourselves of guilt we can actually change our thinking and by altering our
thinking we can change ourselves. What we will be tomorrow is determined by what we think today."
Brentwood, N.Y., May 1991
"What We Will Be Tomorrow"
AA Grapevine

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

"It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on
our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a
subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is
a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual
condition."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 85~

"We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek
Him. To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never
exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we
believe, to all men."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, Page 46~

If our tempers are consistently bad, we arouse anger in others.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p.80

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

The moment Twelfth Step work forms a group, a discovery is made - that most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group. Realization dawns on each member that he is but a small part of a great whole; that no personal sacrifice is too great for preservation of the Fellowship. He learns that the clamor of desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group.
It becomes plain that the group must survive or the individual will not.
'The Lone member at sea, the A.A. at war in a far land - all these members know that they belong to A.A.'s world-wide community, that theirs is only a physical separation, that their fellows may be as near as the next port of call. Ever so importantly, they are certain that God's grace is just as much with them on the high seas or the lonely outpost as it is with them at home.

Prayer for the Day: Father God, there are so many decisions to make and I don’t seem to know what is the best for now or for the future. You said if we lack wisdom, all we need to do ask you. I really need you to pour wisdom into my mind today. Thank you!