Live in the Present - June 30th

Every man's life lies within the present; for the past is spent and done with, and the future is uncertain.


- Marcus Aurelius

A.A. Thought for the Day

Alcoholics are unable or unwilling, during their addiction to alcohol, to live in the present. The result is that they live in a constant state of remorse and fear because of their unholy past and its morbid attraction, or the uncertain future and its vague forebodings. So the only real hope for the alcoholic is to face the present. Now is the time. Now is ours. The past is beyond recall. The future is as uncertain as life itself. Only the now belongs to us. Am I living in the now?

Anger for yesterday and fear of tomorrow occupied my every moment as an alcoholic. I try and set time aside every day to be present in the moment and to be grateul of the miracles at work in my life.
~ Mike

Improvement - June 29th

Change yourself and fortune will change with you.
~ Portugese Proverb

A.A. Thought for the Day


The program of Alcoholics Anonymous involves a continuous striving for improvement. There can be no long resting period. We must try to work at it all the time. We must continually keep in mind that it is a program not to be measured in years, because we never fully reach our goals nor are we ever cured. Our alcoholism is only kept in abeyance by daily living of the program. It is a timeless program in every sense. We live it day by day, or more precisely, moment by moment - now. Am I always striving for improvement?


Change didn't come suddenly - though I was impatient for improvement. Don't drink and go to meetings. How I hated that expression....but it is correct. Improvement occurs slowly and the more time I stuck with winners the faster the pace of improvement.
~ Mike

Attitude - June 28th

“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”
 ~ Jimmy Dean

A.A. Thought for the Day


You can prove to yourself that life is basically and fundamentally an inner attitude. Just try to remember what troubled you most a week ago. You probably will find it difficult to remember. Why then should you unduly worry or fret over the problems that arise today? Your attitude toward them can be changed by putting yourself and your problems in God's hands and trusting Him to see that everything will turn out all right, provided you are trying to do the right thing. Your changed mental attitude toward your problems relieves you of their burden and you can face them without fear. Has my mental attitude changed?


I remember being told to "fake it until you make it" early on the program. This was a suggestion to assume a positive outlook until your inner thoughts were consistent with your appearance. I had never in my life tried changing my attitude - but "fake it until you make it" worked just fine for me.
~ Mike

Poise - June 27th

“The key to winning is poise under stress.”

  ~ Paul Brown

A.A. Thought for the Day

If you can take your troubles as they come, if you can maintain your calm and composure amid pressing duties and unending engagements, if you can rise above the distressing and disturbing circumstances in which you are set down, you have discovered a priceless secret of daily living. Even if you are forced to go through life weighed down by some inescapable misfortune or handicap and yet live each day as it comes with poise and peace of mind, you have succeeded where most people have failed. You have wrought a greater achievement than a person who rules a nation. Have I achieved poise and peace of mind?


“Stick with the winners” is something we all hear in recovery – especially early in the program. To my thinking winners are those of us who meet with personal tragedy and yet continue to support and encourage their fellow AA members.
~ Mike

Acceptance - June 26th

We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses. 

~ Carl Gustav Jung

A.A. Thought for the Day


We must know the nature of our weakness before we can determine how to deal with it. When we are honest about its presence, we may discover that it is imaginary and can be overcome by a change of thinking. We admit that we are alcoholics and we would be foolish if we refused to accept our handicap and do something about it. So by honestly facing our weakness and keeping ever present the knowledge that, for us, alcoholism is a disease with which we are afflicted, we can take the necessary steps to arrest it. Have I fully accepted my handicap?

Acceptance of alcoholism for me meant more than accepting that I had a problem with controlling my drinking - it took me a long time to accept that I needed to change my behaviour if I was evere going to gain the ability to manage my own life .

~ Mike

Weakness - June 25th

“Our strength grows out of our weaknesses”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

A.A. Thought for the Day

One of the most encouraging facts of life is that your weakness can become your greatest asset. Kites and airplanes rise against the wind. In climbing up a high mountain, we need the stony crags and rough places to aid us in our climb. So your weakness can become an asset if you will face it, examine it, and trace it to its origin. Set it in the very center of your mind. No weakness, such as drinking, ever turned into an asset until it was first fairly faced. Am I making my weakness my greatest asset?

Defiance had been one of my worst personality traits - but in recovery my defiance became a useful tool. When people who knew me expressed doubt about my ability to stay sober my defiance kicked in.
   ~ Mike

Problems - June 24th

“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

~ Albert Einstein 

A.A. Thought for the Day

Alcohol is our weakness. We suffer from mental conflicts from which we look for escape by drowning our problems in drink. We try through drink to push away from the realities of life. But alcohol does not feed, alcohol does not build, it only borrows from the future and it ultimately destroys. We try to drown our feelings in order to escape life's realities, little realizing or caring that in continued drinking we are only multiplying our problems. Have I got control over my unstable emotions?

At first sobriety allowed for clarity of thought so that I could appreciate the extent of my problem. Over time I came to realize that my thinking prevented me from ever finding a way out and that I had to change if I were to ever overcome my problems.

~ Mike