AA Thoughts For Today - September

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AA Thought for the Day

September 16

Singleness of Purpose

"Singleness of purpose" is essential to the effective treatment of alcoholism.
The reason for such exaggerated focus is to overcome denial. The denial
associated with alcoholism is cunning, baffling, and powerful and affects
the patient, helper, and the community. Unless alcoholism is kept relentlessly
in the foreground, other issues will usurp everybody’s attention.
- A.A. World Services, Inc.,(About AA, F-13 Fall/Winter 2002)

Thought to Ponder
It is better to do one thing well than many things second-rate.

AA-related 'Alconym'
A A = Alcoholic's Answer.

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

Miracles
"How can they rise out of such misery, bad repute
and hopelessness?
The practical answer is that since these things
have happened among us,
they can happen with you.
Should you wish them above all else,
and be willing to make use of our experience,
we are sure they will come.
The age of miracles is still with us.
Our own recovery proves that!"
c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 153

Thought to Consider . . .
Don't give up before the miracle happens.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H E A R T = Healing, Enjoying, And Recovering, Together

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

Sole Authority
Tradition Two: For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
Where does AA get its direction? Who runs it? This, too, is a puzzler for every friend and newcomer. When told that our Society has no president having authority to govern it, no treasurer who can compel the payment of any dues, no board of directors who can cast an erring member into outer darkness, when indeed no AA can give another a directive and enforce obedience, our friends gasp and exclaim, "This simply can't be. There must be an angle somewhere." These practical folk then read Tradition Two, and learn that the sole authority in AA is a loving God as He may express Himself in the group conscience. They dubiously ask an experienced AA member if this really works. The member, sane to all appearances, immediately answers, "Yes! It definitely does." The friends mutter that his looks vague, nebulous, pretty naive to them. Then they commence to watch us with speculative eyes, pick up a fragment of AA history, and soon have the solid facts
1981, AAWS, Inc., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 132

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

"Am I strong enough? Am I willing to commit my life and my heart at an even deeper level to doing whatever it takes to keep moving forward?"
North Hollywood, Calif., September 2005
"Where's My Reward?"
Spiritual Awakenings II

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

"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."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, pg. 164

As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and
ask for the right thought or action.
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 87~

We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day "Thy will be done.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 88

It reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice a genuine humility.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 192

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

In A.A., we found that it did not matter too much what our material condition was, but it mattered greatly what our spiritual condition was. As we improved our spiritual outlook, money gradually became our servant and not our master. It became a means of exchanging love and service with those about us.
One of A.A.'s Loners is an Australian sheepman who lives two thousand miles from the nearest town, where yearly he sells his wool. In order to be paid the best prices he has to get to town during a certain month. But when he heard that a big regional A.A. meeting was to be held at a later date when wool prices would have fallen, he gladly took a heavy financial loss in order to make his journey then. That's how much an A.A. meeting means to him.

Prayer for the Day: God of My Understanding - This is the dawn of a new day in the Program. I shall thank you, my Higher Power, for last night's rest, a blessed gift from you. Yesterday is gone, except for what I have learned from it, good or bad. Today, I have the same choice, a divine privilege which swells in my heart with hope and purpose. This is my day, the purity of a new beginning. I will receive from this day exactly what I give to it. As I do good things, good will be done to me. It is my gift to mold into something everlasting and do those things which will affect the people around me in an ever-widening circle. The worthiness of this effort rest entirely with me. This is my day for love, because I know that as I love, I will be loved. Hate and jealously cannot exist in the presence of love. I will be sustained by this miracle of your creation and this day will be lightened by my love for others and especially love for my fellow travelers in the journey of recovery. Today I will do my best without thought of failures of the past or anxieties for the future. When this day is ended, I will have no regrets nor remorse. Upon ending my day I shall thank you, my Higher Power, for this wonderful day.