AA Thoughts For Today - December

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AA Thought for the Day

December 4

Inventory of My Blessings

One exercise that I practice is to try for a full inventory of my blessings
and then for a right acceptance of the many gifts that are mine -- both
temporal and spiritual. Here I try to achieve a state of joyful gratitude.
When such a brand of gratitude is repeatedly affirmed and pondered,
it can finally displace the natural tendency to congratulate myself on
whatever progress I may have been enabled to make in some areas of living.
- As Bill Sees It, (Grapevine, March 1962) No. 37

Thought to Ponder . . .
Gratitude is a tool, a form of perspective,
reminding me to appreciate the simple things.

AA-related 'Alconym'
H U G S = Hope, Unity, Gratitude, Serenity.

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

Rewards
"The rewards of sobriety are bountiful
and as progressive as the disease they counteract.
Certainly among these rewards for me
are release from the prison of uniqueness,
and the realization that participation in the AA way of life
is a blessing and a privilege beyond estimate --
a blessing to live a life free from the
pain and degradation of drinking
and filled with the joy of useful, sober living,
and a privilege to grow in sobriety one day at a time
and bring the message of hope as it was brought to me."
>From the new Fourth Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous
AAGrapevine, December 2001, p. 47

Thought to Consider . . .
Sobriety is a choice and a treasure.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
G I F T S = Getting It From The Steps.

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

Gift
Step Twelve: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
"When a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and resources alone. He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being. He has been set on a path which tells him he is really going somewhere, that life is not a dead end, not something to be endured or mastered."
1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005; Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pgs. 106-07

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

"No matter how truthful the words of my message, there could be no deep communication if what I said and did was colored by pride, arrogance, intolerance, resentment, imprudence, or desire for personal acclaim -- even though I was largely unconscious of these attitudes"
AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1960
"The Language of the Heart"

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

"So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They
arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of
self-will run riot, though he usually doesn't think so."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 62~

"...the main problem of the alcoholic centers in his mind, rather than
in his body."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, Page 23~

Just to the extent that we do as we think He would have us, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p.68

And when humility and serenity are so combined, something else of great moment is apt to occur.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p.62

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

It was discovered that when one alcoholic had planted in the mind of another the true nature of his malady, that person could never be the same again. Following every spree, he would say to himself, 'Maybe those A.A.'s were right.' After a few such experiences, often before the onset of extreme difficulties, he would return to us convinced.
In the first years, those of us who sobered up in A.A. had been grim and utterly hopeless cases. But then we began to have success with milder alcoholics and even some potential alcoholics. Younger folks appeared. Lots of people turned up who still had jobs, homes, health, and even good social standing.
Of course, it was necessary for these newcomers to hit bottom emotionally. But they did not have to hit every possible bottom in order to admit that they were licked.

Prayer for the Day: Tenth Step Prayer -
I pray I may continue:
To grow in understanding and effectiveness;
To take daily spot-check inventories of myself;
To correct mistakes when I make them;
To take responsibility for my actions;
To be ever aware of my negative and self-defeating attitudes and behaviors;
To keep my willfulness in check;
To always remember I need Your help;
To keep love and tolerance of others as my code;
And to continue in daily prayer how I can best serve You, my Higher Power.