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Freefly
Administrator
966 Posts |
 Posted - 12/06/2009 : 06:53:55 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 6, 2009
Living Sober
So not drinking at all -- that is, staying sober --
becomes the basis of recovery from alcoholism. And let it be emphasized:
Living sober turns out to be not at all grim, boring, and uncomfortable.
as we had feared, but rather something we begin to enjoy
and find much more exciting than our drinking days. We'll show you how.
- Living Sober, Preface
Thought to Ponder . . .
Sobriety is the adventure of a lifetime.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Always Awesome.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 12/07/2009 : 05:15:57 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 7, 2009
The Doctor’s Opinion
We believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy; that the phenomenon of craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate drinker. These allergic types can never safely use alcohol in any form at all; and once having formed the habit and found they cannot break it, once having lost their self-confidence, their reliance upon things human, their problems pile up on them and become astonishingly difficult to solve.
Frothy emotional appeal seldom suffices. The message which can interest and hold these alcoholic people must have depth and weight. In nearly all cases, their ideals must be grounded in a power greater than themselves, if they are to re-create their lives.
Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one. They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks – drinks which they see others taking with impunity. After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his recovery.
On the other hand – and strange as this may seem to those who do not understand – once a psychic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to follow a few simple rules.
Alcoholics Anonymous, pages xxviii & xxix
I earnestly advise every alcoholic to read this book through
and though perhaps he came to scoff, he may remain to pray.
William D. Silkworth, M.D.
“Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!” |
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Freefly
Administrator
966 Posts |
Posted - 12/07/2009 : 07:13:47 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 7, 2009
Faith
Believe more deeply. Hold your face up to the Light,
even though for the moment you do not see.
- As Bill Sees It, p. 3
Thought to Ponder . . .
Faith dares the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Finding Answers In The Heart.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
966 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2009 : 06:36:32 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 7, 2009
Remembering Pearl Harbour
When World War II broke out, this spiritual principle had its first major test.
AA's entered the services and were scattered all over the world.
Would they be able to stand up under fire? . . .
Would the kind of dependence they had learned in AA carry them through?
Well, it did. . . Whether in Alaska or on the Salerno beachhead,
their dependence upon a Higher Power worked. . .
this dependence was their chief source of strength.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pp. 38-9
Thought to Ponder . . .
The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Living Our Victories Every Day.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Larrylive
New Member
83 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2009 : 11:02:11 AM
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"Thought to Ponder . . .
The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us."
Well that takes some of the pressure off
"Every man dies, not every man really lives"
"Tho' I am cut I am not slain, so I shall lie down and bleed a bit, and rise again to fight another day."
"trying to go straight through the park we got lost, but always found the same horse going round." |
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| 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. |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2009 : 10:24:05 PM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 8, 2009
Service
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… Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.
Alcoholics anonymous, p. 89
I’m learning how to change resentments into acceptance, fear into hope and anger into love.
“Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!” |
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Freefly
Administrator
966 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2009 : 10:20:59 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 9, 2009
The Gift
No amount of money or fame could equal what has been given to me.
Today I can walk down any street, anywhere,
without the fear of meeting someone I've harmed.
Today my thoughts are not consumed with craving for the next drink
or regret for the damage I did on the last drunk.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 318
Thought to Ponder . . .
Sobriety is a gift.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Getting It From The Steps.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Freefly
Administrator
966 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2009 : 08:22:49 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 10, 2009
Loneliness Vanishes
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.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 89
Thought to Ponder . . .
I'm not alone anymore.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
You Are Not Alone.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2009 : 10:25:54 AM
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December 10, 2009
A Clear Recognition of What and Who We Really Are
Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness, even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didn’t quite belong. Either we were shy, and dared not draw near others, or we were apt to be noisy good fellows craving attention and companionship, but never getting it – at least to our way of thinking. There was always that mysterious barrier we could neither surmount nor understand. It was as if we were actors on a stage, suddenly realizing that we did not know a single line of our parts. That’s one reason we loved alcohol too well. It did let us act extemporaneously. But even Bacchus boomeranged on us; we were finally struck down and left in terrified loneliness.
When we reach AA, and for the first time in our lives stood among people who seemed to understand, the sense of belonging was tremendously exciting. We thought the isolation problem had been solved. But we soon discovered that while we weren’t alone any more in a social sense, we still suffered many of the old pangs of anxious apartness. Until we had talked with complete candor of our conflicts, and had listened to someone else do the same thing, we still didn’t belong.
Another great dividend we may expect from confiding our defects to another human being is humility – a word often misunderstood. To those who have made progress in AA, it amounts to a clear recognition of what and who we really are, followed by a sincere attempt to become what we could be.
Only by discussing ourselves, holding back nothing, only by being willing to take advice and accept direction could we set foot on the road to straight thinking, solid honesty, and genuine humility.
Twelve and Twelve, pages 57 through 59
We inwardly knew we’d be able to receive forgiveness and give it, too.
“Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!” |
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Freefly
Administrator
966 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2009 : 07:50:17 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 11, 2009
Holiday Blues
When we catch self-pity starting,
we can take action against it with instant bookkeeping.
For every entry of misery on the debit side,
we can find a blessing we can mark on the credit side. . .
We can use the same method to combat the holiday blues,
which are sung not only by alcoholics.
Christmas and New Year's, birthdays, and anniversaries
throw many people into the morass of self-pity.
- Living Sober, p. 58
Thought to Ponder . . .
Self-pity is followed by isolation is followed by a drink.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Poor Me Syndrome.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2009 : 08:46:59 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 11, 2009
The curve of my declining moral and bodily health fell off like a ski-jump. After a time I returned to the hospital. This was the finish, the curtain, it seemed to me. My weary and despairing wife was informed that it would all end with heart failure during delirium tremens, or I would develop a wet brain, perhaps within a year. She would soon have to give me over to the undertaker or the asylum.
They did not need to tell me. I knew, and almost welcomed the idea. It was a devastating blow to my pride. I, who had thought so well of myself and my abilities, of my capacity to surmount obstacles, was cornered at last.
No words can tell of the loneliness and despair I found in that bitter morass of self-pity. I had met my match. I had been overwhelmed. Alcohol was my master.
I stepped from the hospital a broken man. Fear sobered me for a bit. Then came the insidious insanity of that first drink, and on Armistice Day 1934, I was off again. Everyone became resigned to the certainty that I would have to be shut up somewhere, or would stumble along to a miserable end. How dark it is before the dawn! In reality that was the beginning of my last debauch. I was soon to be catapulted into what I like to call the fourth dimension of existence. I was to know happiness, peace, and usefulness, in a way of life that is incredibly more wonderful as time passes.
Alcoholics Anonymous, pages 7 & 8
God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
“Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!” |
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| 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. |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2009 : 08:09:49 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 12, 2009
A Common Solution
The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which we can join in brotherly and harmonious action. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 17
“God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.”
“Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!” |
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Freefly
Administrator
966 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2009 : 2:38:47 PM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 11, 2009
Rebirth
For the first time, I began to understand that I couldn't drink like other people,
that I wasn't like other people, and that I no longer had to try to be.
I felt like Scrooge in the Dickens classic, "The Christmas Carol,"
when he awakes to discover he hasn't missed Christmas after all.
He dances, cries, and laughs aloud, just as I was doing.
Scrooge and I had been reborn as we had never known it.
- Came To Believe . . ., p. 37
Thought to Ponder . . .
Laughter is music to my soul.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Happy, Joyous, Free.
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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Pamela7030
Moderator
800 Posts |
Posted - 12/13/2009 : 07:42:25 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 13, 2009
“As soon as I regained my ability to think, I went carefully over that evening. Not only had I been off guard, I had made no fight whatever against the first drink. This time I had not thought of the consequences at all. I had commenced to drink as carelessly as though the cocktails were ginger ale. I now remembered what my alcoholic friends had told me, how they prophesied that if I had an alcoholic mind, the time and place would come – I would drink again. They had said that though I did raise a defense, it would one day give way before some trivial reason for having a drink. Well, just that did happen and more, for what I had learned of alcoholism did not occur to me at all. I knew from that moment that I had an alcoholic mind. I saw that will power and self-knowledge would not help in those strange mental blank spots. I had never been able to understand people who said that a problem had them hopelessly defeated. I knew then. It was a crushing blow.
Two members of AA came to see me. They grinned, which I didn’t like so much, and then asked me if I thought myself alcoholic and if I were really licked this time. I had to concede to both propositions. They piled on me heaps of evidence to the effect that an alcoholic mentality, such as I exhibited, was a hopeless condition. They cited cases out of their own experience by the dozen. This process snuffed out the last flicker of conviction that I could do the job myself.
Then they outlined the spiritual answer and program of action which a hundred of them had followed successfully. It meant I would have to throw out 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.
Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems. I have since been brought into a way of living infinitely more satisfying and, I hope, more useful than the life I lived before. My old manner of life was by no means a bad one, but I would not exchange its best moments for the worst I have now. I would not go back to it even if I could.”
Alcoholics Anonymous, P. 41-43
We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again; “Once and alcoholic, always and alcoholic.”
“Share your experience, strength, and hope with another and see the miracles transform your life!” |
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Freefly
Administrator
966 Posts |
Posted - 12/13/2009 : 08:49:30 AM
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AA Thought for the Day
December 13, 2009
Novel Idea
My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea. He said,
"Why don't you choose your own conception of God?"
That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual mountain
in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years.
I stood in the sunlight at last.
It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself.
Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 12
Thought to Ponder . . .
The peaks and valleys of my life have become gentle rolling hills.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness
Day by Day is the only way.... |
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