BRINGING THE MESSAGE HOME Can we bring the same spirit of love and tolerance into our sometimes deranged family lives that we bring to our A.A. group? TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp.111-12 My family members suffer from the effects of my disease. Loving and accepting them as they are just as I love and accept A.A. members—fosters a return of love, tolerance and harmony to my life. Using common courtesy and respecting others' personal...
SEEKING EMOTIONAL STABILITY When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would. If we really depended upon God, we couldn't very well play God to our fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE...
WE JUST TRY My stability came out of trying to give, not out of demanding that I receive. THE BEST OF BILL, pp. 46-47 As long as I try, with all my heart and soul, to pass along to others what has been passed along to me, and do not demand anything in return, life is good to me. Before entering this program of Alcoholics Anonymous I was never able to give without demanding something in return. Little did I know that, once I began to give freely...
TOWARD EMOTIONAL FREEDOM Since defective relations with other human beings have nearly always been the immediate cause of our woes, including our alcoholism, no field of investigation could yield more satisfying and valuable rewards than this one. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 80 Willingness is a peculiar thing for me in that, over a period of time, it seems to come, first with awareness, but then with a feeling of discomfort, making me...
A FRAME OF REFERENCE Referring to our list again. Putting out of our minds the wrongs others had done, we resolutely looked for our own mistakes. Where had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and frightened? ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 67 There is a wonderful freedom in not needing constant approval from colleagues at work or from the people I love. I wish I had known about this Step before, because once I developed a frame of reference, I...
