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AA Thought for the Day
March 10, 2002

Today

In thinking about our day we may face indecision.
We may not be able to determine which course to take.
Here we ask God for inspiration,
an intuitive thought or a decision.
We relax and take it easy.
We don't struggle.
We are often surprised how the right answers come
after we have tried this for a while.
What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration
gradually becomes a working part of the mind.


Reprinted from Alcoholics Anonymous, Page 87, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.


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Thought to Ponder....
A sober alcoholic is like a turtle on a fence post --
You know it had help.


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Recovery Related Acronym

B E S T = Been Enjoying Sobriety Today?

Bill,
...the thought to ponder, made me laugh out loud!

I already used it in another thread - it is good, gotta keep it in my back pocket!

Reminds me of the one about an alcoholic, trying to take one drink.

Try to forget that one booman, keep the quote - ditch the bottle. I ain't got one left in me - at least for today. And that's gotta hold me cause I got a kids concert tonight and no meeting! :wink:

BillW<

I "ditto" Booman. The point to ponder evoked a smile

Bill,
...Please don't misunderstand me. If you've forgotten, that line is the fist part of a simile: "An alcoholic, trying to take one drink, is like trying to step off a twelve story building, and falling one floor!"

I was only trying to be funny, no misunderstanding. After reading back - I don't even see my point

Anyway, two nights of kid concerts and still sober. Still love that turtle picture in my mind!

and, I do like to think about the one drink idea, I'm sorry that I left a wrong idea. For me, back in early sobriety, when I thought about 1 drink I would instantly change it to 1 case - the same as my last 1 drink night! So, my next planned drunk is a full case, nothing less and it is set for tomorrow - today, none!

Re: the "just one drink" idea -- I heard a great allegory at a meeting some time ago, which illustrates the one drink fallacy perfectly.

Imagine that you have two buckets. One of them is filled with delicious ice cream, the other with horse manure. Now, if you take a scoop of ice cream and throw into the other bucket, that other bucket is still just a bucket of ****. But, if you take a scoop of manure and toss it into the ice-cream bucket, you don't have ice cream any more.

It's the same with the one drink. You've just ruined your years or months or days of sobriety -- it ain't ice cream any more.

Ya' know Bill, that happens a lot with prople like us.

Hello!
It seems like ages since
I have been back to
A2K
How are you?

Lessee...Babs, Babs......Sounds familiar. don't tell me, I know we've met somewhere.

Booman, it is happening more often - I will confess, it has more to do with age than drink - but, neither helps!


Merry, loved the analogy, I'll try to remember it

Oh Boo, you are so MEAN.
You know who I am,
EVEN I KNOW WHO I AM.
See how well I am doing
in recovery??
What do you say we talk
about;
Think about something, a situation
in life, or anything you want - that
describes what taking the 3rd step
felt like, feels like, is like - for you??

Hey Bill, that was sure a good one -
the turtle on the fencepost
OH MY DEAR SEAGLASS! YES! YES! YES!
TWENTY TWO WHOLE YEARS IS A WHOLE LOT OF
ONE DAYS AT A TIME, ISN'T IT?
Is it 7,382 days? Not sure of my math.
I am singing happy birthday for your bb bd.
AND I AM CLAPPING, WHISTLING, STOMPING
HOLLERING AND CHEERING FOR YOUR AA
BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!
Believe me, you have NO IDEA, how much
I would love to be up on the mountain with
you celebrating this most monumental and
magnificent single day in your life. I have
been looking through the UBid vacation trips
lately and they have several to Oahu, Maui
and to THE BIG ISLAND! I am so very
tempted!! I am sure we would BOTH feel
better about every little thing in our lives -
at least till the trip was over. Maybe, I
better REALLY, SERIOUSLY think about
getting back to Hawaii, before it is too
late.... We went back to the eye doctor
today and it is worse still. I think that it is
worse than anticipated, we are looking at
totally, really blind......something to do
with auto immune disease and lupus
and sarcoidosis and the inflammation is
what is attacking the eye itself,
nothing can make it go away.
With me, it is my kidneys or liver -
depending on the month
But vision.... such a loss,
and there is nothing we can do to stop it.
I feel like I frequently do.....like that exercise
where you stand with someone behind you,
a classmate - and it is your job to just let go
and fall backwards.....
That is how I am feeling, I am on the fall,
and waiting for the catch ... I KNOW it is
coming. It always has before. I sure do wish
we could get over to the islands, before the
vision is completely gone... it seems like we
only have a matter of months left. Less
than a year. Feels so empty, sad, lost.
How would I handle it? Not nearly as well,
I am sure... I would be whining and crying.
Thank you all for your kind words, and kind
wishes and your prayers. You will never know
how much it means to me, that you feel and
that you care, about me. Some person that
you don't really even know. Thank you so
much for all the kind encouraging words.
One day at a time...like everything else.

Babs Dear,
...I wouldn't tease you if I didn't love you.
...Lessee...Third step.....I Actually sorta' started on that one before I everconnected with NA, or AA. An eldery ladie,whose only drug had been dipping snuff noticed I was high one day. She told me how she had prayed to God to take away the her desire for snuff, which he did, but she continued to use it for six more months , strictly out of habit. And then it was over. I had faith in God, so I tried it an sure enough, once I had lost that love and desire six rehabs later I started my present rebirth. Yes it took me a lot longer than her, but that initial move, started me on my long battle. I suppose it took me so mich longer because I had so many things to fight. When I was asked to give a drug history, in rehab, I replied, "I'll just save time by saying, I never sniffed airplane glue."

The 3rd step, my favorite and the one I consider most important. Without it in my pocket I am nothing. It is written that it is the keystone step that holds all the other steps together. After the arch is built, it is shaky and will fall down easily. Slide in the keystone, the 3rd step - "turn my will and my life over to the care of God" - the foundation becomes sturdy and the structure becomes solid. Able to withstand anything, as long as that keystone remains. It is a miracle!

Whenever I become squirrelly I find I have taken over the reigns of power again. Everything must come out the way I want it to be and I have control - right? Not a chance. When I once again "turn it over", life settles down and my keystone is once again in place.

Happy B-day babsatamelia. This too is my time to slow down and reflect on the past. On March 14th, I celebrated 12 years of one day at a time. May I survive this one also, I think so, it is very late already. Everyone - Peace and Harmony!

OH Boo
You are a RIOT
Let's cut it short, I never sniffed glue
That sure left you alot of wiggling room, eh?
C'mon, with all the other stuff you did
Would you even remember if you sniffed glue?
That was it! And then 6 rehabs later....
Good grief, are we all a mess, or what?
I had a harder battle with quitting smoking
than I did with the drinking really....
But I had this elderly lady who told me
that as long as I didn't give up trying to quit
eventually I would succeed. But, then another
elderly lady told me that she had quit smoking
10 years ago, and she STILL craved a cigarette.
I almost puked when I heard that.
But that hasn't been true for me.
Never crave, ever.
Dream of it sometimes, and I am horrified
even in my dream... WHY would I do something
so completely STUPID... I wore those idiot
patches on and off for about 5 years before
I stopped. And it seemed so simple.
I just stopped asking myself, was I going to use
today or not, and no more asking,
meant no more smoking - for me, for the day.
The alcohol was rough, but nothing like quitting
smoking was for me - I had to see a shrink I
got so severely depressed.
The third step for me I guess that actually,
it's like what I described earlier...
about falling backwards,
TRUSTING THAT SOMEONE WILL CATCH YOU.
It's all out of my control
The really funny part is,
that it always has been!

And for me the Serenity prayer is the verbal manesfestation of the third step.