GIVING FREELY We will make every personal sacrifice necessary to insure the unity of Alcoholics Anonymous. We will do this because we have learned to love God and one another. A.A. comes of age, p. 234 To be self-supporting through my own contributions was never a strong characteristic during my days as a practicing alcoholic. The giving of time or money always demanded a price tag. As a newcomer I was told "we have to give it away in order to...
THE "WORTH" OF SOBRIETY Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 160 When I go shopping I look at the prices and if I need what I see, I buy it and pay. Now that I am supposed to be in rehabilitation, I have to straighten out my life. When I go to a meeting, I take a coffee with sugar and milk, sometimes more than one. But at the collection time, I am either too...
THOSE WHO STILL SUFFER For us, if we neglect those who are still sick, there is unremitting danger to our own lives and sanity. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 151 I know the torment of drinking compulsively to quiet my nerves and my fears. I also know the pain of white-knuckled sobriety. Today, I do not forget the unknown person who suffers quietly, withdrawn and hiding in the desperate relief of drinking. I ask my Higher Power to give...
HELPING OTHERS Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 20 Self-centeredness was my problem. All my life people had been doing things for me and I not only expected it, but I was ungrateful and resentful they didn't do more. Why should I help others, when they were supposed to help me? If others had troubles, didn't they deserve them? I was...
I ASK GOD TO DECIDE "I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows." ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76 Having admitted my powerlessness and made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God, as I understand Him, I don't decide which defects get removed, or the order in which defects get removed, or the time frame in which they get removed. I ask God...
