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 Today, I do not forget the unknown person who suffers quietly, withdrawn and hiding in the desperate relief of drinking.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...
"THE GOOD AND THE BAD" "My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad." ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76 The joy of life is in the giving. Being freed of my shortcomings, that I may more freely be of service, allows humility to grow in me. My shortcomings can be humbly placed in God's loving care and be removed. The essence of Step Seven is humility, and what better way to seek humility than by giving all of myself –...
