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Freefly
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964 Posts |
 Posted - 04/30/2009 : 08:26:36 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
April 30, 2009
Secrets
I must walk into darkness to find the light and walk into fear to find peace.
By revealing my secrets -- and thereby ridding myself of guilt --
I can actually change my thinking;
by altering my thinking, I can change myself.
My thoughts create my future.
What I will be tomorrow is determined by what I think today.
- Daily Reflections, p. 130
Thought to Ponder . . .
Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Altered Attitudes.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2009 : 09:04:20 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
Healing Ourselves
We realize now that we were excessively self-centered,
chiefly concerned about our feelings, our problems,
other people's reactions to us, and our own past and future.
Therefore, trying to get into communication with and to help other people
is a recovery measure for us, because it helps take us out of ourselves.
Trying to heal ourselves by helping others works,
even when it is an insincere gesture. Try it some time.
- Living Sober, p. 85
Thought to Ponder . . .
Into action, out of self.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Helping Every Alcoholic Live.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2009 : 08:22:23 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
May 2, 2009
Gratitude
With the help of God, AA, the Twelve Steps and my sponsor,
I can carry on a conversation without ever mentioning myself.
I can hold a job without liking it. I can pause when agitated.
I can give hugs and receive them without flinching from fear of being hit.
I can say "I love you" and mean it.
I can even walk down the street with my nose at a friendly level,
eyes forward, knowing God paid me a visit.
It's up to me to do the most with it.
- The AA Grapevine, May 2009, p. 44
Thought to Ponder . . .
I have learned how a heart full of gratitude feels.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Getting It From The Steps.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2009 : 09:51:29 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
May 3, 2009
Hitting Bottom
Few people will sincerely try to practice the AA program
unless they have hit bottom. . .
Under the lash of alcoholism, we are driven to AA
and we discover the fatal nature of our situation.
Then, and only then, do we become open-minded to conviction
and as willing to listen as the dying can be.
We stand ready to do anything which will lift the merciless obsession from us.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 24
Thought to Ponder . . .
Pain is what I walk through. Misery is what I sit in.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Surrender, Willingness, Acceptance, Trust.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2009 : 07:39:35 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
May 4, 2009
Personal Defects
I think I've usually been able to make a fairly thorough and searching job
of finding and admitting my personal defects.
So far as I know, there isn't a single defect or current problem of mine
which hasn't been discussed with my close advisors.
Yet this pretty well-ventilated condition is nothing for self-congratulation.
Long ago I was lucky enough to see that I'd have to keep up my self-analysis
or else blow my top completely.
- Bill W., June 1958
- The Language of the Heart, p. 239
Thought to Ponder . . .
If I always do what I've always done, I'll always get what I've always got.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2009 : 09:37:55 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
May 5, 2009
Awareness
You get just a little sobriety, and you get just a little humility.
Not much, just a little. Not the humility of sackcloth and ashes,
but the humility of a man who's glad he's alive and can serve.
You get just a little tolerance, not too much,
but just enough to sit and listen to the other guy. . .
And you realize that if you put all this together, you get a little humility,
a little tolerance, a little honesty, a little sincerity, a little prayer --
and a lot of AA.
- Experience, Strength and Hope, pp. 201-202
Thought to Ponder . . .
I listen for direction now.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Always Aware.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2009 : 12:31:52 PM
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May 5........................................................................Any Lengths
“I was ready to go to any lengths to stay clean.”
Basic Text, p. 217
“Any lengths?” a newcomer ask. “What do you mean any lengths?” Looking back at our active addiction and the lengths we were willing to go to in order to stay high can help to explain. Were we willing to drive many miles to get drugs? Yes, we usually were. Then it makes sense that, if we are as concerned about staying clean as we were about using, we will try anything to find a ride to a meeting.
In our addiction, didn’t we often do crazy, insane things or use unknown substances at the direction of others? Then why do we often find it so hard to take direction in recovery, especially when the direction is designed to help us grow? And when we used, didn’t we often, in desperation, turn to our Higher Power, saying, “Please, just get me out of this one!” Then why do we find it so hard to ask for God’s help in our recovery?
When we used, we usually had an open mind when it came to finding ways and means to get more drugs. If we can apply this same principle of open-mindedness to our recovery, we may surprise ourselves by how easily we begin to grasp the NA program. Our best thinking, it is often said, got us into the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous. If we are willing to go to any lengths, follow directions, and stay open-minded, we can stay clean.
Just for today: I am willing to go to any lengths to stay clean. I will become as open-minded and ready to take direction as I need to be.
Just For Today, Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts, Page 131
“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!”
“To open your heart means risking it all – to experience great joy and profound sorrow.”
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.”
“Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness that most frightens us.”
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2009 : 12:54:47 PM
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AA Thought for the Day
May 6, 2009
Strength
We perceive that only through utter defeat
are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength.
Our admissions of powerlessness finally turn out to be
firm bedrock upon which happy and successful lives may be built.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 21
Thought to Ponder....
Through adversity, we find strength.
Recovery Related Acronym
Experience, Strength and Hope.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2009 : 08:57:58 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
May 7, 2009
Keep It Simple
After years of sobriety, I occasionally ask myself:
"Can it be this simple?"
Then, at meetings, I see former cynics and skeptics
who have walked the AA path out of hell by packaging their lives,
without alcohol, into twenty-four hour segments,
during which they practice a few principles to the best of their individual abilities.
And then I know again that, while it isn't always easy, if I keep it simple, it works.
- Daily Reflections, p. 30
Thought to Ponder . . .
It works -- it really does.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Keep It Serenely Simple.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2009 : 08:19:48 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
May 8, 2009
Step Five
If we're willing to expose the pages of our lives
to the love and understanding of our Higher Power and a fellow alcoholic,
we'll surely know a new freedom and a new happiness.
We'll discover that love is never having to feel alone again;
that God's presence in our lives has become profound;
and that the unity of the Fellowship of the spirit can be ours
so long as we are willing to pass it on.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol .3], pp. 200-201
Thought to Ponder . . .
The express elevator to sobriety doesn't work -- please use the Steps.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
No Other Way.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2009 : 08:59:18 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
May 9, 2009
Rejecting Fantasy
Above all, we reject fantasizing and accept reality.
The more I drank, the more I fantasized everything. . .
AA led me gently from this fantasizing to embrace reality with open arms.
And I found it beautiful!
For, at last, I was at peace with myself. And with others. And with God.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 559
Thought to Ponder . . .
The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Stay In Today.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2009 : 06:57:03 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
May 10, 2009
Selfishness
So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making.
They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example
of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn't think so.
Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 62
Thought to Ponder . . .
Paradox: We surrender to win; we give away to keep;
we suffer to get well; we die to live.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Saving Our Lives Using The Inspiration Of Necessary Steps.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2009 : 10:09:17 AM
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May 10
We learn to become flexible and to admit when others are right and we are wrong. As new things are revealed, we feel renewed. We need to stay open-minded and willing to do that one extra thing, go to one extra meeting, stay on the phone one extra minute, and help a newcomer stay clean one extra day. This effort is vital to our recovery.
We come to know ourselves for the first time. We experience new sensations: to love, to be loved, to know that people care about us and to have concern and compassion for others. We find ourselves doing and enjoying things that we never thought we would be doing. We make mistakes, and we accept and learn from them. We experience failure, and we learn how to succeed.
Spiritual growth, love, and compassion are idle potentials until shared with a fellow addict. By giving unconditional love in the Fellowship, we become more loving, and by sharing spiritual growth we become more spiritual.
By carrying this message to another addict, we are reminded of our own beginnings. Having had an opportunity to remember old feeling and behaviors, we are able to see our own personal and spiritual growth. In the process of answering the questions of another, our own thinking becomes clearer. Newer members are a constant source of hope, ever reminding us that the program works. We have the opportunity to live the knowledge acquired by staying clean, when we work with newcomers.
We are each other’s eyes and ears. When we do something wrong, our fellow addicts help us by showing us what we cannot see. We sometimes find ourselves caught up in old ideas. We need to constantly review our feelings and thoughts if we are to stay enthusiastic and grow spiritually. This enthusiasm will aid our ongoing recovery.
Today we have the freedom of choice. As we work the program to the best of our ability, the obsessions with self is removed. Much of our loneliness and fear is replaced by love and security of the Fellowship. Helping a suffering addict is one of the greatest experiences life has to offer. We are willing to help. We have had similar experiences and understand fellow addicts as no one else can. We offer hope, for we know that a better way of life is now real for us, and we give love because it was given so freely to us.
NA Basic Text, 5th Edition, Pages 98, 99 and 100
“NA offers addicts a program of recovery that is more than just a life without drugs. Not only is this way of life better than the hell we lived, it is better than any life that we have ever known.” NA Basic Text, p 103
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY
“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!”
“To open your heart means risking it all – to experience great joy and profound sorrow.”
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.”
“Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness that most frightens us.”
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2009 : 08:05:33 AM
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May 12
There must come a day, it seems to me, when every alcoholic in or out of A.A., finally sits down in the presence of his enemies. When he does, he will be amazed to discover that he is attending a meeting of one – himself. The day the alcoholic in A.A. realizes that his enemy is within, that the tigers are largely creatures of his own design and lurk in his own unconscious, that is the day when for him A.A. becomes what I believe its founders meant it to be: a flight into reality.
From the pamphlet a Member’s eye view of Alcoholics Anonymous, page 25
“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!”
“To open your heart means risking it all – to experience great joy and profound sorrow.”
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.”
“Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness that most frightens us.”
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Freefly
Administrator
964 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2009 : 7:03:57 PM
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Message Preview
AA Thought for the Day
May 11, 2009
Tornado
The alcoholic is like a tornado roaring his way through the lives of others.
Hearts are broken. Sweet relationships are dead.
Selfish and inconsiderate habits have kept the home in turmoil.
We feel a man is unthinking when he says sobriety is enough.
He is like the farmer who came up out of his cyclone cellar
to find his house ruined. To his wife, he remarked,
"Don't see anything the matter here, Ma.
Ain't it grand the wind stopped blowin'?"
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 82
Thought to Ponder . . .
Wisdom is knowing what to do, virtue is doing it.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Frustrated, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional.
AA Thought for the Day
May 12, 2009
Serenity
Serenity to me, therefore, is the absence of insoluble conflict.
And it is up to me first to determine whether, after an honest look at myself,
I can cope with the problem, then decide whether it is to be tackled,
passed over to another day, or dismissed forever.
- Came To Believe . . ., p. 111
Thought to Ponder . . .
Serenity isn't freedom from the storm; it is peace within the storm.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Keep It Serenely Simple.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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