THE FOREST AND THE TREES

. . . . what comes to us alone may be garbled by our own
rationalization and wishful thinking. The benefit of talking
to another person is that we can get his direct comment and
counsel on our situation. . . . .
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 60

I cannot count the times when I have been angry and frustrated
and said to myself, "I can't see the forest for the trees!" I
finally realized that what I needed when I was in such pain was
someone who could guide me in separating the forest and the
trees; who could suggest a better path to follow; who could
assist me in putting out fires; and help me avoid the rocks and
pitfalls.
I ask God, when I'm in the forest, to give me the courage to
call upon a member of A.A.
***********************************************************

As Bill Sees It

Look Beyond The Horizon, p. 125

My workshop stands on a hill back of our home. Looking over the
valley, I see the village community house where our local group
meets. Beyond the circle of my horizon lies the whole world of A.A.

<< << << >> >> >>

The unity of A.A. is the most cherished quality our Society has. Our
lives, the lives of all to come, depend squarely upon it. Without unity,
the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; our world arteries would no
longer carry the life-giving grace of God.

1. A.A. Today, p. 7
2. 12 & 12, p. 129

***********************************************************

Walk in Dry Places
 
Tough Honesty?     Honesty
The term tough love came into use to describe an attitude that aims to correct bad behavior by refusing to indulge or enable it.  In the same way, we must recognize that there's such a thing as tough honesty when situations require us to deal with unpleasant facts.
One employer liked to compliment his subordinates even for work that he actually considered substandard.  Later on, however, he would express his real opinions to an intermediate supervisor, who would then be forced to convey the bad news to the workers involved.  The employer thought he was being kind, when he was actually being deceptive and treacherous simply because he wanted to be liked.
We have a moral obligation to practice though honesty whenever it is required, if something unacceptable needs to be dealt with, we must do so in a timely manner.....  Taking care to be as reasonable and fair as possible in stating our case.
Being honest in this way with others is also a reminder that we should always be honest with ourselves.
Today I'll face the need for real honest whenever it's required. I'll be upfront with myself and others about anything that must be faced and dealt with.  I will not use supposed kindness as an excuse for bearing false witness.

***********************************************************

Keep It Simple

Forgiveness is all-powerful. Forgiveness heals all ills.---Catherine Ponder
We need to forgive so we can heal. Forgiveness means  not wanting to get even. Forgiveness  means letting go of self-will. Anger and hate are forms of self-will take up room in our heart. Yet, a still, small voice inside of us wants to forgive. Just as others have forgiven us, we need to forgive them. When we forgive, we give our will to our Higher Power. When we forgive, we make room in our heart for our Higher Power. By giving up our anger and our hate, we let that still, small voice come through a little louder. This is how we heal. This is why forgiving is so powerful for us.
Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, help me let go of self-will. Help me forgive people.
Action for the Day:  I will list any anger or hate I have. I will think about how this gets in my way, and I'll pray to have this removed.

***********************************************************

Each Day a New Beginning

. . . it is a peaceful thing to be one succeeding.  --Gertrude Stein
Success is at hand. While we read these words, we are experiencing it. At this very instant, our commitment to recovery is a sign of success, and we feel peace each time we let go of our struggle, turning to another for help, for direction. Because we strive only for perfection, we recognize nothing less; we block our awareness of the ordinary successes that are ours again and again. Thus, the serenity the program promises us eludes us. But we are succeeding. Every day that we are abstinent, we succeed.
We can think of the times--perhaps only yesterday--when we listened to a friend in need, or finished a task that was nagging at us. Maybe we made an appointment to begin a project we've been putting off. Success is taking positive action, nothing more.
Many of us, in our youth, were taught that success only came in certain shapes and sizes. And we felt like failures. We need new definitions; it's time to discard the old. Luckily for us, the program offers us new ones.
Every person, every situation, can add to my success today. My attitude can help someone else succeed, too.

***********************************************************

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS

On our grudge list we set opposite each name our injuries. Was it our self-esteem, our security, our ambitions, our personal, or sex relations, which had been interfered with?

p. 65

***********************************************************

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

ME AN ALCOHOLIC? - Alcohol's wringer squeezed this author--but he escaped quite whole.

How easy it was, in the beginning, to forget that those binges ever happened!  After a day or two of groveling remorse, I'd come up with an explanation.  "The nervous tension had piled up and just had to spill over."  Or, "My physical plant had got a little rundown and the stuff rushed right to my head."  Or, "I got to talking and forgot how many I was taking and it hit me."  Always we emerged with a new formula for avoiding future trouble.  "You've got to space your drinks and take plenty of water in between," or "Coat the stomach with a little olive oil," or "Drink anything but those damn martinis."  Weeks would go by without further trouble, and I'd assume I'd at last hit on the right formula.  The binge had been just "one of those things."  After a month it seemed unlikely that it happened.  Intervals between binges were eight months.

p. 383

***********************************************************

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

Of course, it is reasonable and understandable that the question is often asked: "Why can't we take a specific and troubling dilemma straight to God, and in prayer secure from Him sure and definite answers to our requests?"
This can be done, but it has hazards. We have seen A.A.'s ask with much earnestness and faith for God's explicit guidance on matters ranging all the way from a shattering domestic or financial crisis to correcting a minor personal fault, like tardiness. Quite often, however, the thoughts that seem to come from God are not answers at all. They prove to be well-intentioned unconscious rationalizations. The A.A., or indeed any man, who tries to run his life rigidly by this kind of prayer, by this self-serving demand of God for replies, is a particularly disconcerting individual. To any questioning or criticism of his actions he instantly proffers his reliance upon prayer for guidance in all matters great or small. He may have forgotten the possibility that his own wishful thinking and the human tendency to rationalize have distorted his so-called guidance. With the best of intentions, he tends to force his own will into all sorts of situations and problems with the comfortable assurance that he is acting under God's specific direction. Under such an illusion, he can of course create great havoc without in the least intending it.

pp. 103-104

***********************************************************

"'I always remember the friendliness and kindness and closeness we all
felt. Later, I could go anyplace in the whole United States and find a
friend in A.A.'"
--Henrietta D.

"Gratitude is the heart's memory."
--French Proverb

For all my good intentions, there are days when things go wrong or I fall
into old habits. When things are not going well, when I'm grumpy or
mad, I'll realize that I've not been paying attention to my soul and I've
not been following my best routine.
--Robert Fulghum

The best gifts to give:
To your friend - loyalty;
To your enemy - forgiveness;
To your boss - service;
To a child - a good example;
To your parents - gratitude and devotion;
To your mate - love and faithfulness;
To all men and women - love;
To God - your life.
--Author Unknown

"Everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time, but
unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we
are not a complete person."

***********************************************************

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

HOPE

"Hope is the pillar that holds up
the world. Hope is the dream of
the working man."
--Pliny the Elder

I look at the world and I discover an order, a pattern to life, a balance
within the system. I do not believe in a God of chaos. I find a spiritual
stability in creation. Night follows day; people, regardless of culture or
creed, are remarkably similar in feelings and needs; death makes way
for life. The God who created this world has given the seeds of hope
within the living of life. I am the key to the understanding of the
universe.

In this observation I find hope. If I continue to go with the flow of life, I
will find peace and stability. It is only when I fight the system that I
experience pain.

May the God of order and stability continue to bring balance into my life
by the spiritual changes I continue to make.

***********************************************************

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I
press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called
me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:13-14

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
Philippians 4:4

"Come near to God and he will come near to you."
James 4:8a

"To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; Let me
not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me."
Psalm 25:1-2

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in
me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me."
Galatians 2:20

***********************************************************

Daily Inspiration

To become more efficient and happier, daily spend some quiet time with God and with yourself. Lord, what joy it is to know that You will listen.

What we endure in this life is nothing compared to the glory that God has in store for us in heaven. Lord, take every moment of my life as a prayer to praise and glorify Your holy name.

***********************************************************

NA Just For Today

Any Lengths

"...I was ready to go to any lengths to stay clean."
Basic Text, p. 217

"Any lengths?" newcomers ask. "What do you mean, any lengths?" Looking back at our active addiction and the lengths we were willing to go to in order to stay high can help to explain. Were we willing to drive many miles to get drugs? Yes, we usually were. Then it makes sense that, if we are as concerned about staying clean as we were about using, we will try anything to find a ride to a meeting.

In our addiction, didn't we often do crazy, insane things or use unknown substances at the direction of others? Then why do we often find it so hard to take direction in recovery, especially when the direction is designed to help us grow? And when we used, didn't we often, in desperation, turn to our Higher Power, saying, "Please, just get me out of this one!" Then why do we find it so hard to ask for God's help in our recovery?

When we used, we usually had an open mind when it came to finding ways and means to get more drugs. If we can apply this same principle of open-mindedness to our recovery, we may surprise ourselves by how easily we begin to grasp the NA program. Our best thinking, it is often said, got us into the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous. If we are willing to go to any lengths, follow directions, and stay open-minded, we can stay clean.

Just for today: I am willing to go to any lengths to stay clean. I will become as open-minded and ready to take direction as I need to be.
pg. 131

***********************************************************

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. --William Butler Yeats
When we hold a piece of crystal to the light, it paints rainbows on the wall. When we tap it lightly with a spoon, it sings like a bell. But when we drop it, it shatters in colorless, silent pieces on the floor.
Human beings, sometimes to our amazement, can be as fragile as glass. It's especially easy to forget what makes people we live with or have known for a long time shine or sing. We take for granted the very qualities that made us love them in the first place.
When we forget how to see and hear the people we love, how to appreciate them, we grow careless. Too often, from sheer neglect, the relationship between us grows dull and silent, then slips, falls, and shatters. Paying attention to other people's needs and feelings can prevent this.
Whose presence can I appreciate today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Living itself, (is] a task of such immediacy, variety, beauty, and excitement that one is powerless to resist its wild embrace.
--E. B. White
Our First Step in this program introduces us to a radical idea -- that accepting our powerlessness is beneficial. Yielding to life's embrace takes us in wonderful directions. The experience of meeting this still unformed day, defining how we will live today, making contact with our Higher Power, accepting the variety and the beauty that is here for us -- far exceeds our individual power. Yet in surrendering to life as it unfolds, we find ourselves on an adventure. This is like reading a good story or unraveling an exciting mystery.
Anyone, whether he has our affliction or not, who tries to take control of what cannot be controlled, brings trouble to himself. Today let us engage with life.
I will accept both the embrace and the insecurity of not being in charge.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
. . . it is a peaceful thing to be one succeeding. --Gertrude Stein
Success is at hand. While we read these words, we are experiencing it. At this very instant, our commitment to recovery is a sign of success, and we feel peace each time we let go of our struggle, turning to another for help, for direction. Because we strive only for perfection, we recognize nothing less; we block our awareness of the ordinary successes that are ours again and again. Thus, the serenity the program promises us eludes us. But we are succeeding. Every day that we are abstinent, we succeed.
We can think of the times--perhaps only yesterday--when we listened to a friend in need, or finished a task that was nagging at us. Maybe we made an appointment to begin a project we've been putting off. Success is taking positive action, nothing more.
Many of us, in our youth, were taught that success only came in certain shapes and sizes. And we felt like failures. We need new definitions; it's time to discard the old. Luckily for us, the program offers us new ones.
Every person, every situation, can add to my success today. My attitude can help someone else succeed, too.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Control
Many of us have been trying to keep the whole world in orbit with sheer and forceful application of mental energy.
What happens if we let go, if we stop trying to keep the world orbiting and just let it whirl? It'll keep right on whirling. It'll stay right on track with no help from us. And well be free and relaxed enough to enjoy our place on it.
Control is an illusion, especially the kind of control we've been trying to exert. In fact, controlling gives other people, events, and diseases, such as alcoholism, control over us. Whatever we try to control does have control over our life and us.
I have given this control to many things and people in my life. I have never gotten the results I wanted from controlling or trying to control people. What I received for my efforts is an unmanageable life, whether that unmanageability was inside me or in external events.
In recovery, we make a trade off. We trade a life that we have tried to control, and we receive in return something better - a life that is manageable.
Today, I will exchange a controlled life for one that is manageable.


Today I will look for opportunities to continue to grow through seeing the beauty around me and in me. --Ruth Fishel

************************************************** ***********

Journey to the Heart

Value the Power of Clear Thought

Value your mind, and the power of conscious, clear thought. All this talk about opening the heart has not been to discount or devalue the power of conscious clear thought, or of opening our minds and expanding our consciousness. A gift, a benefit, from opening our heart is increased clarity of mind and thought.

As we clear the pathway to the heart by feeling, expressing and releasing old emotions, we will clear the path to the mind. Just as the body is connected to the mind, so is the heart. A cramped body can cause fuzzy thinking, but so can a clogged heart. To attempt to think clearly and consciously with the heart closed may not work. It may even prove frustrating and difficult.

“Don’t think so hard,” the wise old man gently instructed me. “You’re hurting your head and your thinking isn’t becoming clear. Relax. Stop trying so hard. Open your heart. Then your thinking will clear. The mind,” he reminded me, ” is connected to the heart.”

If you’re feeling cloudy and confused and can’t get answers, stop trying so hard. Move your body and clear your physical energy. Then try opening your heart. You may see a delightful result. Without trying or forcing, your thinking clears. And it becomes clear without the frustration of trying to force thoughts, ideas, or thought patterns. It happens almost magically, and quite naturally.

The mind is connected to the heart. Value the power of conscious clear thought. Value your mind, and its power, by valuing the power and wisdom of an open heart.

************************************************** ***********

More Language Of Letting Go

Learn when to say no and yes

Read the following sentences out loud.

“No.”

“No, this doesn’t work for me.”

“No, thank you. This doesn’t feel right to me.”

“No, this isn’t right for me at this time.”

Now try this.

“I have to think about that first, before I can decide, I’ll get back to you later.”

“I’ve thought about it, and the answer is no.”

Now, read this.

“I know I said yes and that this was what I wanted. But I’ve changed my mind. This isn’t working out for me. It’s not right for me anymore. I’m sorry for any inconvenience I might have caused you.”

Now,this.

“Go away and don’t call anymore.”

See, you can say all those things you thought you couldn’t.

Now, read these sentences out loud.

“Maybe.”

“Maybe, but I’m leaning toward no.”

“Maybe. It sounds interesting, but I’m not sure.”

“Yes. That would be nice.”

“Yes, I like that idea. When?”

“Yes, I’d love to.”

“Yes, but the time isn’t right for me now.”

Those are your basic choices, with a few variations. Learn them. Memorize them. Then ask yourself when each answer applies.

Learn to honestly tell people what your real answer is. Look into your heart to decide when a thing is, or isn’t, right for you.

God, help me trust myself about when it’s right to say no, maybe, and yes. Then help me express myself in an honest, loving way.

Activity: Do you have a difficult time expressing yourself? What is the most difficult thing for you to tell people– no or yes? Try giving yourself permission by writing yourself a permission slip, then carrying it around in your purse or wallet. It might read something like this: Dorothy has permission to say no whenever she wants. Or it might read: I have permission to say no ten times this week, and yes five times. Then sign the slip, and let it be a reminder to you to own your power by saying no, yes, or maybe whenever each of those answers is right for you.

************************************************** ***********

Progressing With Patience
Doing The Best You Can

It isn’t always easy to meet the expectations we hold ourselves to. We may find ourselves in a situation such as just finishing a relaxing yoga class or meditation retreat, a serene session of deep breathing, or listening to some calming, soul-stirring music, yet we have difficulty retaining our sense of peace. A long line at the store, slow-moving traffic, or another stressful situation can unnerve you and leave you wondering why the tranquility and spiritual equilibrium you cultivate is so quick to dissipate in the face of certain stressors. You may feel guilty and angry at yourself or even feel like a hypocrite for not being able to maintain control after practicing being centered. However, being patient with yourself will help you more in your soul’s journey than frustration at your perceived lack of progress. Doing the best you can in your quest for spiritual growth is vastly more important than striving for perfection.

Just because you are devoted to following a spiritual path, attaining inner peace, or living a specific ideology doesn’t mean you should expect to achieve perfection. When you approach your personal evolution mindfully, you can experience intense emotions such as anger without feeling that you have somehow failed. Simply by being aware of what you are experiencing and recognizing that your feelings are temporary, you have begun taking the necessary steps to regaining your internal balance. Accepting that difficult situations will arise from time to time and treating your reaction to them as if they are passing events rather than a part of who you are can help you move past them. Practicing this form of acceptance and paying attention to your reactions in order to learn from them will make it easier for you to return to your center more quickly in the future.

Since your experiences won’t be similar to others’ and your behavior will be shaped by those experiences, you may never stop reacting strongly to the challenging situations you encounter. Even if you are able to do nothing more than acknowledge what you are feeling and that there is little you can do to affect your current circumstances, in time you’ll alter your reaction to such circumstances. You can learn gradually to let negative thoughts come into your mind, recognize them, and then let them go. You may never reach a place of perfect peace, but you’ll find serenity in having done your best. Published with permission from Daily OM

************************************************** ***********

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

I knew I had to have a new beginning, and the beginning had to be here. I couldn’t start anywhere else. I had to let go of the past and forget the futrue. As long as I held on to the past with one hand and grabbed at the future with the other hand, I had nothing with which to grasp today. So I had to begin here, now. Do I practice the Eleventh Step, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for me, and the Power to carry that out?

Today I Pray

May I not worry about verbalizing my wants and needs in my prayers to a Higher Power. May I not fret over the language of my prayers, for God needds no language and communication with Him is beyond speech. May the Eleventh Step guide me in my prayers at all times.

Today I Will Remember

God’s will be done.

************************************************** ***********

One More Day

Learn to like what you are, for you take yourself with you wherever you go.
– K. O’Brien

A change in physical or mental health can lower our self-esteem. One of the hardest tasks we have to face is learning to accept who we are right now, not what we wanted to be.

Every day we have the right to assure ourselves that we are doing the very best job that we can do. Acceptance of ourselves allow us a serenity we’ve not known before. This doesn’t mean giving up; in fact, it provides a base from which we can grow. Accepting where we are and who we are today gives us the honesty to admit our deficits. It give us the confidence to really move forward. We can be proud that we are succeeding, even with this new and unwanted burden.

My illness has not changed who I am. The course of my life has been changed, but my direction remains the same — forward.

************************************

Food For Thought

Slow Down and Live

Many of us rush through our days as well as rush through our meals. Often we let ourselves get so busy that we do not enjoy what we are doing or what we are eating. We swallow life in great gulps instead of savoring it moment by moment.

Hurry and busyness are forms of self-will. Deluded by an exaggerated sense of our own importance, we deem it crucial to perform all tasks and activities according to our personal schedule. Impatient with traffic tie-ups, other people's slowness, or unavoidable delays, we make ourselves tense and miserable by our refusal to accept life as it comes.

Time spent each day in quiet meditation can give us glimpses of God's timelessness. We see that our schedule is not that important after all, when measured against eternity. As the presence of God seeps into our consciousness, we relax into the fullness and peace of each moment. Trusting our Higher Power to order our lives, we can slow down and enjoy His gifts.

May I exchange hurry and busyness for Your peace.

*****************************************

One Day At A Time

CHOOSE HAPPINESS
"Some cause happiness wherever they go;
others whenever they go."
Oscar Wilde

If happiness were to be found on a coin, anger and frustration would be on the other side of that coin, for they are all the children of expectation. As adults, we try to recapture those special moments and feelings of our childhood by recreating them. We use them as a model for happiness, only this time we are the adults and operating the controls. Unfortunately, our expectations are not grounded in reality. Reaching that level of childhood bliss is usually either impossible or fleeting. How can you as an adult compete with the happiness of being a child?

My experience is that we usually have a set-point for happiness. And though we can feel joy and sadness, we return to that same level of happiness afterward. There are things, however, that can help change that set-point. We can come to believe that a power greater than ourselves can feed our spirit, help keep us living in the moment, and enjoying the kind of peace and wisdom that only our Higher Power can provide. It helps ground us in the truth and gets rid of unrealistic expectations. It helps to relax us as opposed to letting our mind bounce back and forth from past to future and pain to fantasy. We learn to accept our life - just as it is. Today. Now

What choices have I been making to choose happiness? I choose to go to meetings and give shares. I choose to abstain from compulsive overeating. I choose to set time for myself every day where I can organize my affairs, and help ward off stressful situations. I also try to spend time with myself in ways that will feed my soul and spirit, not just keep myself entertained until I go to bed. I give to service to others, but remember that I need to take care of myself, for when I am not strong; I have no strength to give.

One day at a time...
Today I will choose happiness.
~ Marilyn S.

*****************************************

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Logic is great stuff. We liked it. We still like it. It is not by chance we were given the power to reason, to examine the evidence of our senses, and to draw conclusions. That is one of man's magnificent attributes. We agnostically inclined would not feel satisfied with a proposal which does not lend itself to reasonable approach and interpretation. Hence we are at pains to tell why we think our present faith is reasonable, why we think it more sane and logical to believe than not to believe, why we say our former thinking was soft and mushy when we threw up our hands in doubt and said, 'We don't know.' - Pg. 53 - We Agnostics

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

There will be many times when nothing anyone does (even sponsor, counselor and yourself), seems right. But these 'nothing is ever right' times will pass like a cloud overhead. Do not make decisions until the cloud passes, so that you make them in the full light of your good senses.

Let me understand that the 'nothing is going right' times will soon drift away like clouds overhead.

Seeing Deeply

Every day I experience another piece of myself. Yes I am laid low, but at the same time worlds are opening up to me on the inside. My body is struggling to heal and so is the rest of me. I am watching myself deepen inside and become more aware. It is forced upon me by illness, but I cannot help but being a little bit grateful for the time to slow down and go within. I am seeing the subtleties of life, I am watching myself watch the world around me. I have a witness inside that is constantly with me but I seldom take time to be with it. As I witness my own thoughts, I learn about who I am inside, what makes me tick. As I watch myself interact with others, I see how I act in relationships. As I notice the little things, life seems to matter more.

I am renewing my relationship with life

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

The old timers used to say that the world's most difficult prayer was 'O, Lord, be as good to me today, as I was to my fellowman, yesterday.'

I say what I mean, mean what I say, and don't say it mean.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Looking for the right person? Become the right person.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I will let my Higher Power handle my worry so I can be free, I choose to be alive in this moment and not blocked by the conversations that go on over and over in my head. I will stop trying to figure everything out and will trust that I will get the right answers at the right time.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

How many alkies does it take to change a lightbulb? Change? What do you mean, change? - Anon.

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AA Thought for the Day

May 5

Anger
It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed,
no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us.
If somebody hurts us and we are sore, we are in the wrong also.
But are there no exceptions to this rule? What about "justifiable" anger?
If somebody cheats us, aren't we entitled to be mad? . . .
For us of AA these are dangerous exceptions.
We have found that justified anger ought to be left to those better qualified to handle it.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 90

Thought to Ponder . . .
Anger is the wind that blows out the light of reason.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Avoid Anger.

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

Power
"We could wish to be moral,
we could wish to be philosophically comforted,
in fact, we could will these things with all our might,
but the needed power wasn't there.
Our human resources,
as marshalled by the will, were not sufficient;
they failed utterly.
Lack of power, that was our dilemma.
We had to find a power by which we could live,
and it had to be a
Power greater than ourselves."
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 45

Thought to Consider . . .
Willpower ... our will-ingness to use a Higher Power.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
FAITH
For An Instant Trust Him

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

Destiny
"A Vision For You"
"Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the
wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and
you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny."
2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 164

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

"My sponsor taught me how to be of service with grace and gratitude. She taught me how to listen, how to be
respectful, and most importantly, to mind my own business."
Palm Springs, Calif., May 2012
"Stitch and Giggle,"
AA Grapevine

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

"Some drinkers have excuses with which they are satisfied part of the
time. But in their hearts they really do not know why they do it.
Once this malady has a real hold, they are a baffled lot. There is
the obsession that somehow, someday, they will beat the game. But
they often suspect they are down for the count."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 23~

"Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are delighted.
We can look the world in the eye. We can be alone at perfect peace and
ease. Our fears fall from us. We begin to feel the nearness of our
Creator. We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to
have a spiritual experience."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 75

Only Step One, where we made the 100 percent admission we were powerless over alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 68

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Look Beyond the Horizon
My workshop stands on a hill back of our home. Looking over the valley, I see the village community house where our
local group meets. Beyond the circle of my horizon lies the whole world of A.A.
The unity of A.A. is the most cherished quality our Society has. Our lives, the lives of all to come, depend squarely upon
it. Without unity, the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; our world arteries would no longer carry the life-giving grace of God.
1. A.A. TODAY, P. 7
2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 129

Prayer For The Day: May the God of hope fill me and all of us with the joy and peace that comes from believing, so that we may abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.