AA Thoughts For Today - November

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AA Thought for the Day

November 16

Pain

Someone who knew what he was talking about once remarked that
pain was the touchstone of all spiritual progress. How heartily we
A.A.'s can agree with him, for we know that the pains of drinking had
to come before sobriety, and emotional turmoil before serenity.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Ten) pp. 93 - 94

Thought to Ponder
The gritty pain of alcoholism is the traction of recovery.

AA-related 'Alconym'
H O P E = Hold On, Pain Ends.

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

Meditation
"We liked AA all right,
and were quick to say that it had done miracles.
But we recoiled from meditation and prayer
as obstinately as the scientist who refused to perform
a certain experiment lest it prove his pet theory wrong.
Of course, we finally did experiment,
and when unexpected results followed, we felt different;
in fact we knew different;
and so were sold on meditation and prayer.
And that, we have found, can happen to anybody who tries.
It has been said that 'almost the only scoffers at prayer
are those who never tried it enough.' "
c. 1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 97

Thought to Consider . . .
Meditation means trusting the silence around me for a while,
as if it were an answer I had long sought.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F A I T H = Finding Answers In The Heart

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

Caring
From "Brothers in Our Defects":
"The identification that one alcoholic has with another is mysterious, spiritual almost incomprehensible. But it is there. I 'feel' it. Today I feel that I can help people and that they can help me.
"It is a new and exciting feeling for me to care for someone; to care what they are feeling, hoping for, praying for; to know their sadness, joy, horror, sorrow, grief; to want to share those feelings so that someone can have relief."
1990 AAWS, Inc.; Daily Reflections, pg. 118

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

"Times change, alcoholism doesn't."
Marysville, Wash., September 2001
"The Same Chance I Had,"
Voices of Long-Term Sobriety

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

"We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. 'Do I now
believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power
greater than myself?' As soon as a man can say that he does believe,
or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on
his way. It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this
simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be
built."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 47

"Step Eleven suggests prayer and meditation. We shouldn't be shy on this matter of prayer. Better men than we are using it constantly"
Alcoholics Anonymous p.85

We must take the lead.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p.83

They do not drive by mandate; they lead by example.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p.135

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Most people try to live by self-propulsion. Each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show and is forever trying to arrange the lights, the scenery, and the rest of the players in his own way. If his arrangements would only stay put, if only people would do as he wished, the show would be great.
What usually happens? The show doesn't come off very well. Admitting he may be somewhat at fault, he is sure that other people are more to blame. He becomes angry, indignant, self-pitying.
Is he not really a self-seeker even when trying to be useful? Is he not a victim of the delusion that he can wrest satisfaction and happiness out of this world if he only manages well?

Prayer for the Day: Prayer to Know - Grant it to me, Higher Power:
To know that which is worth knowing,
To love that which is worth loving,
To praise that which pleases You most,
To work for that which helps others,
Grant it to me:
To distinguish with true judgment things that differ, and above all to search out, and to do what is most pleasing to You.