AA Thoughts For Today - November

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AA Thought for the Day

November 18

A Sick Man

When a person offended we said to ourselves, "This is a sick man.
How can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. Thy will
be done." We avoid retaliation or argument. We wouldn’t treat sick
people that way. If we do, we destroy our chance of being helpful.
We cannot be helpful to all people, but at least God will show us
how to take a kindly and tolerant view of each and every one.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, (How It Works) p. 67

Thought to Ponder . . .
What if I were caring rather than judgmental?

AA-related 'Alconym'
P U T = Patience, Understanding, Tolerance.

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

Prayer
"As the alcoholic goes along with his process of prayer,
he begins to add up the results.
If he persists, he will almost surely find more serenity,
more tolerance, less fear, and less anger.
He will acquire a quiet courage, the kind that doesn't strain him.
He can look at so-called failure and success
for what they really are.
Problems and calamity will begin to mean instruction,
rather than destruction.
He will feel freer and saner. . .
Wonderful and unaccountable things will start to happen.
Twisted relations with family and on the outside
will unaccountably improve."
Bill W., June 1958
c. 1988AAGrapevine, The Language of the Heart, p. 241

Thought to Consider . . .
Trying to pray is praying.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H O P E = Hang On; Pray Every day

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

Disturbing Reflection
Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
More realism and therefore more honesty about ourselves are the great gains we make under the influence of Step Five. As we took inventory, we began to suspect how much trouble self-delusion had been causing us. This had brought a disturbing reflection. If all our lives we had more or less fooled ourselves, how could we now be so sure that we weren't still self-deceived? How could we be certain that we had made a true catalog of our defects and had really admitted them, even to ourselves? Because we were still bothered by fear, self-pity, and hurt feelings, it was probable we couldn't appraise ourselves fairly at all. Too much guilt and remorse might cause us to dramatize and exaggerate our shortcomings. Or anger and hurt pride might be the smoke screen under which we were hiding some of our defects while we blamed others for them. Possibly, too, we were still handicapped by many liabilities, great and small, we never knew we had.
1981, AAWS, Inc., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pages 58-59

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

"How wonderful to be sober, to be able to think clearly (at times, at least), and to become aware of some portion of the greater wisdom concealed so deeply within myself."
Columbus, OH, April 1981
"A New Way of Looking at Life,"
Voices of Long-Term Sobriety

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

"Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the
past. We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out
of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we
haven't the will to do this, we ask until it comes. Remember it was
agreed at the beginning we would go to any lengths for victory over
alcohol."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg.76~

Resentment is the "number one" offender . It destroys more alcoholics then anything else.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p.64

The joy of living we really have, even under pressure and difficulty.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p.15

The joy of living is the theme of A.A.'s Twelfth Step, and action is its key word.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p.106

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

'My observation is that some people can get by with a certain amount of postponement, but few can live with outright rebellion.'
'We have succeeded in confronting many a problem drinker with that awful alternative, 'This we A.A.'s do, or we die.' Once this much is firmly in his mind, more drinking only turns the coil tighter.
As many an alcoholic has said, 'I came to the place where it was either into A.A. or out the window. So here I am!

Prayer for the Day: Kindness and Service - O Lord, help me always to remember thankfully the work of those who helped me when I needed help. Reward them for their kindness and service, and grant that I may have the will, the time, and the opportunity to do the same for others.