AA Thoughts For Today - August

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AA Thought for the Day

August 8

The Ladder
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.
~ Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 316

Thought to Ponder . . .
I stood in the sunlight at last.

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

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

Growth
"Regardless of worldly success or failure,
regardless of pain or joy,
regardless of sickness or health or even of death itself,
a new life of endless possibilities can be lived
if we are willing to continue our awakening,
through the practice of AA's Twelve Steps."
Bill W., AAGrapevine, December 1957
1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 8

Thought to Consider . . .
AA is not something you join, it's a way of life.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
G I F T S = Getting It From The Steps.

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

Criticize Neither
From: "Word of Mouth"
In my view, there isn't the slightest objection to groups who wish to remain strictly anonymous, or to people who think
they would not like their membership in A.A. known at all. That is their business, and this is a very natural reaction
However, most people find that anonymity to this degree is not necessary, or even desirable. Once one is fairly sober,
and sure of this, there seems no reason for failing to talk about A.A. membership in the right places. This has a
tendency to bring in other people. Word of mouth is one of our most important communications.
So we should criticize neither the people who wish to remain silent, nor even the people who wish to talk too much
about belonging to A.A., provided they do not do so at the public level and thus compromise our whole Society
Letter, 1962 1967, AAWS, Inc., As Bill Sees It, page 120

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

"The word 'anonymous' has for us an immense spiritual significance. Subtly but powerfully it reminds us that we are
always to place principles before personalities; that we have renounced personal glorification in public; that our
movement not only preaches, but actually practices a truly humble modesty."
AA Co-Founder, Bill W., January 1946
"A Tradition Born of Our Anonymity"
The Language of the Heart

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

"'There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which
is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in
everlasting ignorance that principle is contempt prior to investigation.'"
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Appendice II, Spiritual Experience, pg. 568~

"I suppose some would be shocked at our seeming worldliness and
levity. But just underneath there is deadly earnestness. Faith has
to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill's Story, pg. 16~

“The Wright brothers’ almost childish faith that they could build a machine which would fly was the mainspring of their
accomplishment. Without that, nothing could have happened.”
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 52

“Since most of us are born with an abundance of natural desires, it isn’t strange that we often let these far exceed their
intended purpose. When they drive us blindly, or we willfully demand that they supply us with more satisfactions or
pleasures than are possible or due us, that is the point at which we depart from the degree of perfection that God
wishes for us here on earth. That is the measure of our character defects, or, if you wish, our sins”
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 65

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

As we made spiritual progress, it became clear that, if we ever were to feel emotionally secure, we would have to put
our lives on a give-and-take basis; we would have to develop the sense of being in partnership or brotherhood with all
those around us. We saw that we would need to give constantly of ourselves without demand for repayment. When
we persistently did this, we gradually found that people were attracted to us as never before. And even if they failed us,
we could be understanding and not too seriously affected.
The unity, the effectiveness, and even the survival A.A. will always depend upon our continued willingness to give up
some of our personal ambitions and desires for the common safety and welfare. Just as sacrifice means survival for
the individual alcoholic, so does sacrifice mean unity and survival for the group and for A.A.'s entire Fellowship.

Prayer for the Day: God, I'm standing at the turning point right now. Give me Your protection and care as I abandon myself to you and give up my old ways and my old ideas just for today. Amen.