WHEN THE GOING GETS ROUGH It is a design for living that works in rough going. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 15 When I came to A.A., I realized that A.A. worked wonderfully to help keep me sober. But could it work on real life problems, not concerned with drinking? I had my doubts. After being sober for more than two years I got my answer. I lost my job, developed physical problems, my diabetic father lost a leg, and someone I loved left me for...
LIVING OUR AMENDS "Years of living with an alcoholic is almost sure to make any wife or child neurotic. The entire family is, to some extent, ill." ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 122 It is important for me to realize that, as an alcoholic, I not only hurt myself, but also those around me. Making amends to my family, and to the families of alcoholics still suffering, will always be important. Understanding the havoc I created and trying to repair the...
FORMING TRUE PARTNERSHIPS But it is from our twisted relations with family, friends, and society at large that many of us have suffered the most. We have been especially stupid and stubborn about them. The primary fact that we fail to recognize is our total inability to form a true partnership with another human being. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 53 Can these words apply to me, am I still unable to form a true partnership with...
FAMILY OBLIGATIONS . . . a spiritual life which does not include. . . family obligations may not be so perfect after all. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 129 I can be doing great in the program — applying it at meetings, at work, and in service activities — and find that things have gone to pieces at home. I expect my loved ones to understand, but they cannot. I expect them to see and value my progress, but they don't — unless I show them. Do I...
IMPATIENT? TRY LEVITATING We reacted more strongly to frustrations than normal people. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 111 Impatience with other people is one of my principal failings. Following a slow car in a no-passing lane, or waiting in a restaurant for the check, drives me to distraction. Before I give God a chance to slow me down, I explode, and that's what I call being quicker than God. That repeated experience gave me an idea. I thought if I could...
