AA Thoughts For Today - June

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AA Thought for the Day

June 26

Cheerfulness and Laughter

So we think cheerfulness and laughter make for usefulness. 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, (The Family Afterward) p. 132

Thought to Ponder . . .
Laughter is the sound of recovery.

AA-related 'Alconym'
H J F = Happy, Joyous, Free.

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

Surrender
"We surrender to win.
On the face of it, surrendering certainly does not
seem like winning.
But it is in AA.
Only after we have come to the end of our rope,
hit a stone wall in some aspect of our lives
beyond which we can go no further;
only when we hit "bottom" in despair and surrender,
can we accomplish sobriety
which we could never accomplish before.
We must, and we do,
surrender in order to win."
1955AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, 2nd Edition, p. 341

Thought to Consider . . .
Acceptance is not submission;
it is acknowledgment of the facts of a situation,
then deciding what you're going to do about it.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
H O W = Honest, Open, and Willing

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

Bottom
From Medicine Looks at Alcoholics Anonymous":
"I heard of the need to hit bottom, of the necessity for accepting a higher Power, of the indispensability of humility.
These were ideas which had never crossed my professional horizon and certainly had never influenced my
nonprofessional thinking or attitudes. Revolutionary as they were, they nevertheless made sense, and I found myself
embarked on a tour of discovery.
"The individual alcoholic was always fighting an admission of being licked, of admitting that he was powerless. If and
when he surrendered, he quit fighting, admitted he was licked, and accepted the fact that he was powerless and
needed help. If he did not surrender, a thousand crises could hit him and nothing constructive would happen. The need
to induce surrender became a new therapeutic goal. The miracle of A.A. was now a little clearer, though the reason
was still obscure why the program and the fellowship of A.A. could induce a surrender which could in turn lead to a
period of no drinking." -- Dr. Harry Tiebout, 1955
2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 247

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

"I know that my errors of yesterday still have their effect; that my shortcomings of today may likewise affect our future.
So it is, with each and all of us."
AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1965
"Responsibility Is Our Theme"
The Language of the Heart

*~*~*~*~*^ 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~

"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, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 132~

" The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house ."
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 98 (Working With Others

"This was not only faith; it was faith that worked under all conditions."
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 31 (Step Two)

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

In our drinking time, we acted as if the money supply were inexhaustible, though between binges we'd sometimes go
to the other extreme and become miserly. Without realizing it, we were just accumulating funds for the next spree.
Money was the symbol of pleasure and self-importance. As our drinking became worse, money was only an urgent
requirement which could supply us with the next drink and the temporary comfort of oblivion it brought.
Although financial recovery is on the way for many of us, we find we cannot place money first. For us, material well-
being always follows spiritual progress; it never precedes.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, keep me out of my own will, and actively working to build my faith throughout my day.