Recovery Thoughts and Quotes 4/20

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AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AAOnline.net)

April , 2008

Right Action

One of the most important things AA has given me,
in addition to freedom from booze, is the ability to take "right action."
It says the promises will always materialize if I work for them.
Fantasizing about them, debating them, preaching about them
and faking them just won't work.
I'll remain a miserable, rationalizing dry drunk.
By taking action and working the Twelve Steps in all my affairs,
I'll have a life beyond my wildest dreams.
© 1990 AAWS, Daily Reflections, p. 54
With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.


Thought to Ponder . . .

Into action, out of self.


AA-related 'Alconym' . . .

A A = Accountable Actions.

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist. Their services are often indispensable in treating a newcomer and in following his case afterward. - Pg. 133 - The Family Afterward



"The alcoholic may find it hard to re-establish friendly relations
with his children. Their young minds were impressionable while he
was drinking. Without saying so, they may cordially hate him for
what he has done to them and to their mother. The children are
sometimes dominated by a pathetic hardness and cynicism. They cannot
seem to forgive and forget. This may hang on for months, long after
their mother has accepted dad's new way of living and thinking.
In time they will see that he is a new man and in their own way they
will let him know it."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 134~



"Outsiders are sometimes shocked when we burst into merriment over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past. But why shouldn't we laugh? We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 132~

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Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Surveying the Past

We should make an accurate and really exhaustive survey of our past life as it has affected other people. In many instances we shall find that, though the harm done others has not been great, we have nevertheless done ourselves considerable emotional injury.
Then, too, damaging emotional conflicts persist below the level of consciousness, very deep, sometimes quite forgotten. Therefore, we should try hard to recall and review those past events which originally induced these conflicts and which continue to give our emotions violent twists, thus discoloring our personalities and altering our lives for the worse.
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'We reacted more strongly to frustrations than normal people. By relieving these episodes and discussing them in strict confidence with somebody else, we can reduce their size and therefore their potency in the unconscious.'

1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 79-80
2. LETTER, 1957

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12 x 12 Quote

"Where the possession of money and material things was concerned, our
outlook underwent the same revolutionary change. With a few exceptions,
all of us had been spend thrifts. We threw money about in every
direction with the purpose of pleasing ourselves and impressing other
people. In our drinking time, we acted as if the money supply was
inexhaustible, though between binges we'd sometimes go to the other
extreme and become almost miserly. Without realizing it we were just
accumulating funds for the next spree. Money was the symbol of pleasure
and self-importance. When our drinking had become much worse, money was
only an urgent requirement which could supply us with the next drink
and the temporary comfort of oblivion it brought." (Twelve and Twelve,
Step Twelve, pg. 120)

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Faith

"In this book you read again and again
that faith did for us what we could not do for ourselves.
We hope you are convinced now that God
can remove whatever self-will has blocked you off from Him.
If you have already made a decision,
and an inventory of your grosser handicaps,
you have made a good beginning.
That being so, you have swallowed and digested
some big chunks of truth about yourself."

Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 70-1

Thought to Consider . . .

Faith isn't belief without proof;
it's trust without reservation.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F A I T H = Finding Answers In The Heart

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AA Just For Today

Balance
From "Self-Pity":

When we catch self-pity starting, we also can take action against it with instant bookkeeping. For every entry of misery on the debit side, we find a blessing we can mark on the credit side. What health we have, what illnesses we don't have, the sunny weather, a good meal a-coming, limbs intact, kindnesses shown and received, a sober 24 hours, a good hour's work, a good book to read, and many other items can be totaled up to outbalance the debit entries that cause self-pity.
1998 AAWS, Inc.; Living Sober, p. 58