| Author |
 Topic  |
| Information in this forum is not monitored or provided by a medical professional. The information reflects member opinions only. Do not act on advice from these forums without first consulting a qualified medical professional. All content is copyrighted and protected by Aelius Group. |
|
Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
 Posted - 11/30/2008 : 09:53:07 AM
|
AA Thought for the Day
November 30, 2008
Friends
I had found friends -- understanding friends
who often knew what I was thinking and feeling better than I knew myself --
and who didn't allow me to retreat into my prison of loneliness and fear
over a fancied slight or hurt.
Talking things over with them, great floods of enlightenment
showed me myself as I really was -- and I was like them.
We all had hundreds of character traits,
fears and phobias, likes and dislikes, in common.
Suddenly I could accept myself, faults and all, as I was --
for weren't we all like that?
And accepting, I felt a new inner comfort and the willingness and strength
to do something about the traits I couldn't live with.
© 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, pp 206-7
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Once we understand ourselves, the rest of living falls in line.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Tears, Laughter, Caring.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
Report to Moderator  |
|
|
Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 12/01/2008 : 08:03:53 AM
|
AA Thought for the Day
1, 2008
The Gift
None of us can ever fathom the glories and
the uncharted regions of the universe.
But we can live on earth and love one another.
We can let in the beginnings of concern, compassion, consideration,
and watch ourselves grow.
With the tools and guideposts of Alcoholics Anonymous,
we can learn a little of this precious gift --
our gateway to human spirituality.
© 1973 AAWS, Came To Believe . . ., p 120
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
The Three "C's" -- Concern, Compassion, Consideration.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Getting It From The Steps.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 12/01/2008 : 08:03:54 AM
|
December 1, 2008.........Chapter Two, (Continued) “What is the Narcotics Anonymous Program?”
Basic Text, pages 9 and 10
Narcotics Anonymous is a Fellowship of men and women who are learning to live without drugs. We are a non profit society and have no dues or fees of any kind. Each of us has paid the price of membership. We have paid for the right to recover with our pain.
Surviving against all odds, we are addicts who meet regularly. We respond to honest sharing and listen to the stories of our members for the message of recovery. We realize that there is hope for us at last.
We make use of the tools that have worked for other recovering addicts who have learned in N.A. to live without drugs. The Twelve Steps are positive tools that make our recovery possible. Our primary purpose is to stay clean and to carry the message to the addict who still suffers. We are united by our common problem of addiction. By meeting, talking and helping other addicts, we are able to stay clean. The newcomer is the most important person at any meeting, because we can only keep what we have by giving it away.
Narcotics Anonymous has many years of experience with literally hundreds of thousands of addicts. This firsthand experience in all phases of illness and recovery is of unparalleled, therapeutic value. We are here to share freely with any addict who wants to recover.
Our message of recovery is based on our experience. Before coming to the Fellowship, we exhausted ourselves by trying to use successfully, and wondering what was wrong with us. After coming to N.A., we found ourselves among a very special group of people who have suffered like us and found recovery. In their experiences, freely shared, we found hope for ourselves. I the program worked for them, it would work for us.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using. We have seen the program work for any addict who honestly and sincerely wants to stop. We don’t have to be clean when we get here, but after the first meeting, we suggest that newcomers keep coming back and come back clean. We don’t have to wait for an overdose or a jail sentence, to get help form Narcotics Anonymous. Addiction is not a hopeless condition from which there is no recovery.
From the Basic Text of Narcotics Anonymous, Fifth Edition,
Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., Chatsworth, California
(Chapter Two will continue)
"Reach for the stars...You will at least end up among the clouds"
Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!
|
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2008 : 04:11:00 AM
|
December 2, 2008........Chapter Two,(Continued) “What is the Narcotics Anonymous Program?”
Basic Text, pages 11 & 12
We meet addicts like ourselves who are clean. We watch, listen and realize that they have found a way to live and enjoy life without drugs. We don’t have to settle for the limitations of the past. We can examine and re-examine our old ideas. We can constantly improve our old ideas or replace them with new ones. We are men and women who have discovered and admitted that we are powerless over our addiction. When we use, we lose.
When we discovered that we could not live with or without drugs, we sought help through N.A., rather than prolong our suffering. The program works a miracle in our lives. We become different people. Working the steps and maintaining abstinence gives us a daily reprieve from our self-imposed life sentences. We become free to live.
We want our place of recovery to be a safe place, free from outside influences. For the protection of the Fellowship, we insist that no drugs or paraphernalia be brought to any meeting.
We feel totally free to express ourselves within the Fellowship, because law enforcement agencies are not involved. Our meetings have an atmosphere of empathy. In accordance with the principles of recovery, we try not to judge, stereotype or moralize with each other. We are not recruited and membership does not cost anything. N.A. does not provide counseling or social services.
Our meetings are a process of identification, hope and sharing. The heart of N.A. beats when two addicts share their recovery. What we do becomes real for us when we share it. This happens on a larger scale in our regular meetings. A meeting happens when two or more addicts gather to help each other stay clean.
At the beginning of the meeting, we read N.A. literature that is available to anyone. Some meetings have speakers, topic discussions or both. Closed meetings are for addicts or those who think they might have a drug problem. Open meetings welcome any wishing to experience our fellowship. The atmosphere of recovery is protected by our Twelve Traditions. We are fully self-supporting through voluntary contributions from our members. Regardless of where the meeting takes place, we remain unaffiliated. Meetings provide a place to be with fellow addicts. All we need are two addicts, caring and sharing, to make a meeting.
We let new ideas flow into us. We ask questions. We share what we have learned about living without drugs. Though the principles of the Twelve Steps may seem strange to us at first, the most important thing about them is that they work. Our program is a way of life. We learn the value of spiritual principles such as surrender, humility and service from reading the N.A. literature, going to meetings and working the steps. We find that our lives steadily improve, if we maintain abstinence from mind-altering, mood-changing chemicals and work the Twelve Steps to sustain our recovery. Living this program gives us a relationship with a Power greater than ourselves, corrects defects and leads us to help others. Where there has been wrong, the program teaches us the spirit of forgiveness.
Many books have been written about the nature of addiction. This book concerns itself with the nature of recovery. If you are an addict and have found this book, please give yourself a break and read it.
From the Basic Text of Narcotics Anonymous, Fifth Edition,
Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., Chatsworth, California
(end of Chapter Two)
"Reach for the stars...You will at least end up among the clouds"
Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!
|
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2008 : 06:39:47 AM
|
AA Thought for the Day
December 2, 2008
Willingness
Then he asks me if I believe in a power greater than myself,
whether I call that power God, Allah, Confucius, Prime Cause,
Divine Mind, or any other name.
I told him that I believe in electricity and other forces of nature,
but as for a God, if there is one, He has never done anything for me.
Then he asks me if I am willing to right all the wrongs I have ever done to anyone,
no matter how wrong I thought the others were.
Am I willing to be honest with myself about myself, and tell someone about myself,
and am I willing to think of other people, of their needs instead of myself,
in order to get rid of the drink problem?
"I'll do anything," I reply.
"Then all of your troubles are over," says the man and leaves the room.
© 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p 214
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Willpower ... our will-ingness to use a Higher Power.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
| Report to Moderator |
|
| Information in this forum is not monitored or provided by a medical professional. The information reflects member opinions only. Do not act on advice from these forums without first consulting a qualified medical professional. All content is copyrighted and protected by Aelius Group. |
|
Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2008 : 06:38:39 AM
|
AA Thought for the Day
December 3, 2008
On The Edge
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.
© 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p 316
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
I stood in the sunlight at last.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2008 : 10:38:50 AM
|
AA Thought for the Day
December 4, 2008
Seeking Serenity
The program may not always be easy to practice,
but I had to acknowledge that my serenity had come to me
after working the Steps.
As I work the Steps in everything I do,
practicing these principles in all my affairs,
now I find that I am awake to God, to others, and to myself.
© 1990 AAWS, Daily Reflections, p 345
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Serenity isn't freedom from the storm;
it is peace within the storm.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Happy, Joyous, Free.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 12/05/2008 : 06:53:37 AM
|
AA Thought for the Day
December 5, 2008
One Among Many
As a lifelong know-it-all, people-pleaser, caretaker, mind-reader,
problem-fixer, and control freak,
I am incredibly susceptible to believing my own propaganda.
Of course, pretty soon someone lets me know that I am very dispensable,
and my input or advice isn't needed, thank you very much.
When I go to meetings, I am reminded that I am one among many.
This is truly a "we" program.
The AA Grapevine, December 2008, Vol. 65, No. 7, p.11
Thought to Ponder . . .
We can make a difference. Without you, there is no 'we.'
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
ealing, njoying, nd ecoveringogether.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2008 : 07:42:57 AM
|
Saturday, December 6, 2008..........Self-Respect Through Sacrifice
From "As Bill Sees It", Page 97
Self-Respect Through Sacrifice
At the beginning we sacrificed alcohol. We had to, or it would have killed us. But we couldn’t get rid of alcohol unless we made other sacrifices. We had to toss self-justification, self-pity, and anger right out the window. We had to quit the crazy contest for personal prestige and big bank balances. We had to take personal responsibility for our sorry state and quit blaming others for it.
Were these sacrifices? Yes, they were. To gain enough humility and self-respect to stay alive at all, we had to give up what had really been our dearest possessions--our ambition and our illegitimate pride.
A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 287
From As Bill Sees It, The AA Way of Life, selected writings of AA's co-founder, Alcoholics Anonymous Worlds Services, Inc., New York.
"Reach for the stars...You will at least end up among the clouds"
Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!
|
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2008 : 08:17:02 AM
|
AA Thought for the Day
December 6, 2008
A Sixth Sense
A genuine sense of humor touches, tastes, hears, sees,
and even smells the world in a unique way, a kind and colorful way.
This new sixth sense AA meetings have given me is a blend of awe, wonder,
and gratitude -- a magic potion, you could say.
Behind this glow of laughter and acceptance is the light of forgiveness.
A sense of humor transforms restless, irritable, and discontented sobriety
into quality sobriety.
"We aren't a glum lot," the Big Book says. Now I know why.
The AA Grapevine, December 2008, Vol. 65, No. 7, p.54
Thought to Ponder . . .
Take time to laugh -- it is the music of the soul.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Tears, Laughter, Caring.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 12/07/2008 : 10:02:40 AM
|
December 7, 2008......................"Surviving Our Emotions"
Basic Text, p. 30
"We use the tools available to us and develop the ability to survive our emotions."
“Survive my emotions?” some of us say. “You’ve got to be kidding!” When we were using, we never gave ourselves the chance to learn how to survive them. You don’t survive your feelings, we thought--you drug them. The problem was, that “cure” for our unsurvivable emotions was killing us. That’s when we came to Narcotics Anonymous, started working the twelve Steps and, as a result, began to mature emotionally.
Many of us found emotional relief right from the start. We were tired of pretending that our addiction and our lives were under control; it actually felt good to finally admit they weren’t. After sharing our inventory with our sponsor, we began to feel like we didn’t have to deny who we were or what we felt in order to be accepted. When we’d finished making our amends, we knew we didn’t have to suffer with guilt; we could own up to it and it wouldn’t kill us. The more we worked the NA program, the better we felt about living life as it came to us.
The program works today as well as it ever did. By taking stock of our day, getting honest about our part in it, and surrendering to reality, we can survive the feelings life throws our way. By using the tools available to us, we’ve developed the ability to survive our emotions.
Just For Today: I will not deny my feelings. I will practice honesty and surrender to life as it is. I will use the tools of this program to survive my emotions.
From the book Just For Today, Daily Meditations for
Recovering Addicts, NA World Services, Inc. page 359
"Reach for the stars...You will at least end up among the clouds"
Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!
|
| Report to Moderator |
|
| Information in this forum is not monitored or provided by a medical professional. The information reflects member opinions only. Do not act on advice from these forums without first consulting a qualified medical professional. All content is copyrighted and protected by Aelius Group. |
|
Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 12/07/2008 : 10:38:05 AM
|
AA Thought for the Day
December 7, 2008
Carry The Message!
Carry this message to other alcoholics!
You can help when no one else can.
You can secure their confidence when others fail.
Remember they are very ill.
Life will take on new meaning.
To watch people recover, to see them help others,
to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you,
to have a host of friends -- this is an experience you must not miss.
We know you will not want to miss it.
© 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p.89
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
To the world, you may be just one person,
but to one person YOU may be the world.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Hope, Encouragement, Love, Patience.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2008 : 06:37:37 AM
|
AA Thought for the Day
December 8, 2008
Powerless
I did not know that it was physically impossible for me to drink moderately.
I did not know that my body's drinking machinery had worn out,
and that the parts could not be replaced.
I did not know that just one drink made it impossible
for me to control my behavior and conduct and my future drinking.
I did not know, in short, that I was powerless over alcohol.
My family and my friends sensed or knew these things about me
long before I did.
© 2003 AAWS, Experience, Strength and Hope, p.153
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
The first drink has the last say.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Acceptance, Belief, Change.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2008 : 09:04:55 AM
|
December 8, 2008..............................................."Just For Today"
Basic Text, Just after the Forward
"Just for Today"
Just For Today: my thoughts will be on my recovery, living and enjoying life without the use of drugs.
Just For Today: I will have faith in someone in NA who believes in me and wants to help me in my recovery.
Just For Today: I will have a program. I will try to follow it to the best of my ability.
Just For Today: through NA I will try to get a better perspective on my life.
Just For Today: I will be unafraid, my thoughts will be on my new associations, people who are not using and who have found a new way of life. So long as I follow that way, I have nothing to fear. Just For Today.
From the book Just For Today, Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts, NA World Services, Inc.
"Reach for the stars...You will at least end up among the clouds"
Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!
|
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2008 : 06:15:01 AM
|
AA Thought for the Day
December 9, 2008
Humility
We first reach for a little humility,
knowing that we shall perish of alcoholism if we do not.
After a time, though we may still rebel somewhat,
we commence to practice humility because this is the right thing to do.
Then comes the day when, finally freed in large degree from rebellion,
we practice humility because we deeply want it as a way of life.
© 1967 AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p.211
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought to Ponder . . .
Many people haven't even a nodding acquaintance with humility as a way of life.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A Way Of Life.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
All Forums
Thought for the Day
New Topic
Printer Friendly
