AA Thought For Today - March

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AA Thought for the Day

March 1

Step Three
"Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

I was at one of my meetings when I suddenly realized that the pivotal word in this Step is .. care.
So I looked it up. Foremost, the word has no shame to it.
There is no control, servitude, or any other form of denigration, humiliation or degradation implied by that word.
But I had chosen to infer that there was. I realize now that I was just unwilling.
- AA Grapevine, March 2014

Thought to Ponder . . .
Scales of pride and prejudice fell from my eyes.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H O W = Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness.

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

Selfishness
Selfishness, self-centeredness!
That, we think, is the root of our troubles.
Driven by a hundred forms of fear,
self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity,
we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate.
Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation,
but we invariably find that at some time in the past
we have made decisions based on self
which later placed us in a position to be hurt.
c. 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 62

Thought to Consider . . .
Swallowing your pride will not get you drunk.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A A = Altered Attitudes

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

Opinion
>From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"As by some deep instinct, we have known from the very beginning that, no matter what the provocation, we must never
publicly take sides, as A.A.s, in any fight, even a worthy one. All history affords us the spectacle of striving nations and
groups finally torn asunder because they were designed for, or tempted into, controversy. Others fell apart because of
sheer self-righteousness while trying to force upon the rest of mankind some millennium of their own specification. In
our own times we have seen millions die in political and economic wars often spurred by religious and racial differences."
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 123

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

"If I want to be of some use to someone (my family, my employer, my community) then I can be a leader by becoming a
servant. This is one of those crazy paradoxes we find all over the AA program: being a servant to be a leader."
Humbolt, Saskatchewan, February 1996
"I Wish You Well"
AA Grapevine

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

"We do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you can
quickly diagnose yourself, Step over to the nearest barroom and try
some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it
more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are
honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters
if you get a full knowledge of your condition."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg.31

"Many of us keep liquor in our homes. We often need it to carry
green recruits through a severe hangover. Some of us still serve it
to our friends provided they are not alcoholic. But some of us think
we should not serve liquor to anyone. We never argue this question.
We feel that each family, in the light of their own circumstances,
ought to decide for themselves."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 102~

His sponsor probably says, “Take it easy.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 26

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Brain Power Alone?
To the intellectually self-sufficient man or woman, many A.A.'s can say, 'Yes, we were like you - far too smart for our
own good. We loved to have people call us precocious. We used our education to blow ourselves up into prideful
balloons, though we were careful to hide this from others. Secretly, we felt we could float above the rest of the folks on
our brain power alone.
'Scientific progress told Us there was nothing man couldn't do. Knowledge was all powerful. Intellect could conquer
nature. Since we were brighter than most folks (so we thought), the spoils of victory would be ours for the thinking. The
god of intellect displaced the God of our fathers.
'But John Barleycorn had other ideas. We who had won so handsomely in a walk turned into alltime losers. We saw that
we had to reconsider or die.' TWELVE AND TWELVE, pp. 29-30

Prayer for the Day: Father, As we quietly wait in your presence this early morning, we give you praise for a new day. The storms of life may rage around us, but if we are grounded in you, we will not lose our footing. As we listen to the storm with the wind and rain, we know that we dwell in your peace, for we are surrounded with shelter. So it is in the midst of the many issues that so many are facing, your are their stillness, comfort, hope, and peace. May we draw from your strength today and know that you alone see our heart, and know us. How we praise you for your forgiving love and grace.