AA Thoughts For Today - September

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AA Thought for the Day

September 1

The First Drink

Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental
defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither
he nor any other human being can provide such a defense.
His defense must come from a Higher Power.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, (More About Alcoholism) p. 43

Thought to Ponder . . .
The ultimate defense against the first drink is a spiritual one.

AA-related 'Alconym'
F A I T H = Found Always In Trusting Him.

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

Growing Up
"As we grow spiritually,
we find that our old attitudes toward our instincts
need to undergo drastic revisions.
Our desires for emotional security and wealth,
for personal prestige and power,
for romance, and for family satisfactions -
all these have to be tempered and redirected.
We have learned that the satisfaction of instincts
cannot be the sole end and aim of our lives.
If we place instincts first, we have got the cart before the horse;
we shall be pulled backward into disillusionment.
But when we are willing to place spiritual growth first -
then and only then do we have a real chance."
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 114,
Copyright 1952 A.A.W.S. Inc.

Thought to Consider . . .
The program has helped me grow up enough
to be a kid again.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
C H A N G E =
Choosing Honesty Allows New Growth Every day.

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

Not Theorizing
From: "How It Works"
Suppose we fall short of the chosen ideal and stumble? Does this mean we are going to get drunk? Some people tell us so. But this is only a half-truth. It depends on us and on our motives. If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson. If we are not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink. We are not theorizing. These are facts out of our experience.
2001, AAWS, Inc., Alcoholics Anonymous, page 70

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

"Spirituality makes it possible for me to work for others and to try and help them. It can give me the courage to take good care of myself -- to go to meetings even when I don't think I need a meeting, to speak up when my alcoholism wants to keep my pain to myself, to talk at a gut-honest level to my sponsor and to the people in my group about painful matters I would rather keep hidden."
West Henrietta, New York, September 1990
"The Power to Carry That Out,"
Spiritual Awakenings

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

"...with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a
spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely
grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings
we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity
of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 66~

"Putting out of our minds the wrongs others had done, we resolutely
looked for our own mistakes. Where had we been selfish, dishonest,
self-seeking and frightened? Though a situation had not been entirely
our fault, we tried to disregard the other person involved entirely.
Where were we to blame? The inventory was ours, not the other man's.
When we saw our faults we listed them. We placed them before us in
black and white. We admitted our wrongs honestly and were willing to
set these matters straight."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 67~

"We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual experience."
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 75

"We A.A.'s cannot pretend to offer full answers to age-old perplexities, but our own experience does provide certain answers that work for us."
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 117

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Toward Maturity
Many oldsters who have put our A.A. 'booze cure' to severe but successful tests still find they often lack emotional sobriety. To attain this, we must develop real maturity and balance (which is to say, humility) in our relations with ourselves, with our fellows, and with God.
Let A.A. never be a closed corporation; let us never deny our experience, for whatever it may be worth, to the world around us. Let our individual members heed the call to every field of human endeavor. Let them carry the experience and spirit of A.A. into all these affairs, for whatever good they may accomplish. For not only has God saved us from alcoholism; the world has received us back into its citizenship.

Prayer for the Day: Lord, I turn my life and will over to You today. I will walk humbly with You and my fellow travelers. You are giving me a grateful heart for my many blessings. You are directing my thinking and separating me from self-pity, dishonesty, and self-seeking motives. You are removing my resentments, fears, and other character defects that stand in my way. You are giving me freedom from self-will. Your will, Lord, not mine. You will show me today what I can do to help someone who is still hurting. As I go out today to do Your bidding, You are helping me to become a better person.