Tradition Six

An AA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the AA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose. Tradition Six

From the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Contents:
Experience proved that we could not endorse any related enterprise, no matter how good. We could not be all things to all men. We saw that we could not lend the A.A. name to any outside activity.

Focus Questions from The Grapevine:
1. Should my fellow group members and I go out and raise money to endow several AA beds in our local hospital?
2. Is it good for a group to lease a small building?
3. Are all the officers and members of our local club for AAs familiar with “Guidelines on Clubs” (which is available free from GSO)?
4. Should the secretary of our group serve on the mayor’s advisory committee on alcoholism?
5. Some alcoholics will stay around AA only if we have a TV and card room. If this is what is required to carry the message to them, should we have these facilities?

Tradition Five

Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Tradition Five

From the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Contents:
Better do one thing well than many badly. The life of our Fellowship depends on this principle. The ability of each A.A. to identify himself with and bring recovery to the newcomer is a gift from God . . . passing on this gift to others is our one aim. Sobriety can't be kept unless it is given away.

Focus Questions from The Grapevine:
1. Do I ever cop out by saying, “I’m not a group, so this or that Tradition doesn’t apply to me”?
2. Am I willing to explain firmly to a newcomer the limitations of AA help, even if he gets mad at me for not giving him a loan?
3. Have I today imposed on any AA member for a special favor or consideration simply because I am a fellow alcoholic?
4. Am I willing to twelfth-step the next newcomer without regard to who or what is in it for me?
5. Do I help my group in every way I can to fulfill our primary purpose?
6. Do I remember that AA old-timers, too, can be alcoholics who still suffer? Do I try both to help them and to learn from them?

Tradition Four

  Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.  Tradition Four

From the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Contents:
Every group manages its affairs as it pleases, except when A.A. as a whole is threatened. Is such liberty dangerous? The group, like the individual, must eventually conform to principles that guarantee survival. Two storm signals— a group ought not do anything which would injure A.A. as a whole, nor affiliate itself with outside interests. An example: the “A.A. Center” that didn't work.

Focus Questions from The Grapevine:
1. Do I insist that there are only a few right ways of doing things in AA?
2. Does my group always consider the welfare of the rest of AA? Of nearby groups? Of Loners in Alaska? Of Internationalists miles from port? Of a group in Rome or El Salvador?
3. Do I put down other members’ behavior when it is different from mine, or do I learn from it?
4. Do I always bear in mind that, to those outsiders who know I am in AA, I may to some extent represent our entire beloved Fellowship?
5. Am I willing to help a newcomer go to any lengths—his lengths, not mine—to stay sober?
6. Do I share my knowledge of AA tools with other members who may not have heard of them?

Tradition Three

 The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking.  Tradition Three

From the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Contents:
Early intolerance based on fear. To take away any alcoholic's chance an A.A. was sometimes to pronounce his death sentence. Membership regulations abandoned. Two
examples of experience. Any alcoholic is a member of A.A. when he says so.

Focus Questions from The Grapevine:
1. In my mind, do I prejudge some new AA members as losers?
2. Is there some kind of alcoholic whom I privately do not want in my AA group?
3. Do I set myself up as a judge of whether a newcomer is sincere or phony?
4. Do I let language, religion (or lack of it), race, education, age, or other such things interfere with my carrying the message?
5. Am I overimpressed by a celebrity? By a doctor, a clergyman, an ex-convict? Or can I just treat this new member simply and naturally as one more sick human, like the rest of us?
6. When someone turns up at AA needing information or help (even if he can’t ask for it aloud), does it really matter to me what he does for a living? Where he lives? What his domestic arrangements are? Whether he had been to AA before? What his other problems are?

Tradition Two

For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may
express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.  Tradition Two

From the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Contents:
Where does A.A. get its direction? Sole authority in A.A. is loving God as He may express Himself in the group conscience. Formation of a group. Growing ains. Rotating committees are servants of the group. Leaders do not govern, they serve. Does A.A. have a real leadership? “Elder statesmen” and “bleeding deacons.” The group conscience speaks.

Focus Questions from The Grapevine:
1. Do I criticize or do I trust and support my group officers, AA committees, and office
workers? Newcomers? Old-timers?
2. Am I absolutely trustworthy, even in secret, with AA Twelfth Step jobs or other AA
responsibility?
3. Do I look for credit in my AA jobs? Praise for my AA ideas?
4. Do I have to save face in group discussion, or can I yield in good spirit to the group
conscience and work cheerfully along with it?
5. Although I have been sober a few years, am I still willing to serve my turn at AA chores?
6. In group discussions, do I sound off about matters on which I have no experience and
little knowledge?

Tradition One

Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon AA unity.   Tradition One
From the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Contents:
Without unity, A.A. dies. Individual liberty, yet great unity. Key to paradox: each A.A.'s life depends on obedience to spiritual principles. The group must survive or the individual will not. Common welfare comes first. How best to live and work together as groups.

Focus Questions from The Grapevine:1. Am I in my group a healing, mending, integrating person, or am I divisive? What about gossip and taking other members’ inventories?2. Am I a peacemaker? Or do I, with pious preludes such as “just for the sake of discussion,” plunge into argument? 3. Am I gentle with those who rub me the wrong way, or am I abrasive?4. Do I make competitive AA remarks, such as comparing one group with another or contrasting AA in one place with AA in another?5. Do I put down some AA activities as if I were superior for not participating in this or that aspect of AA?6. Am I informed about AA as a whole? Do I support, in every way I can, AA as a whole, or just the parts I understand and approve of? 7. Am I as considerate of AA members as I want them to be of me? 8. Do I spout platitudes about love while indulging in and secretly justifying behavior that bristles with hostility?9. Do I go to enough AA meetings or read enough AA literature to really keep in touch? 10. Do I share with AA all of me, the bad and the good, accepting as well as giving the help of fellowship?

Step Twelve

Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of working these steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs.  Step Twelve, Alcoholics Anonymous

Questions from the Contents page in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:
Joy of living is the theme of the Twelfth Step.  Action its keyword.  Giving that asks no reward.  Love that has no price tag.  What is spiritual awakening?  A new state of consciousness and being is received as a free gift.  Readiness to receive gift lies in practice of Twelve Steps.  The magnificent reality.  Rewards of helping other alcoholics.  Kinds of Twelfth Step work.  Problems of Twelfth Step work.  What about the practice of these principles in all our affairs?  Monotony, pain, and calamity turned to good use by practice of Steps.  Difficulties of practice.  "Two-stepping".  Switch to "twelve-stepping" and demonstrations of faith.  Growing spiritually is the answer to our problems.  Placing spiritual growth first.  Domination and overdependence.  Putting our lives on give-and-take basis.  Dependence upon God necessary to recovery of alcoholics.  "Practicing these principles in all our affairs":  Domestic relations in AA.  Outlook upon material matters changes. So do feelings about personal importance.  Instincts restored to true purpose.  Understanding is key to right attitudes, right action key to good living.  

Reading Assignment:
Step Twelve - Read - Chapter 7 - Working with Others
Step Twelve - Page 106-1258 in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

A few questions for focus:
What has my awakening looked like?  Share examples of awakenings.
How do I contribute in Service to AA?
Do I practice the principles in all my affairs?

***This is not meant to substitute getting a sponsor***
***This is not meant to be a comprehensive Step***
***This is meant to be food for thought for me and if it helps you, then, "Thank You God"***

Step Eleven

  Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.  Step Eleven, Alcoholics Anonymous

Questions from the Contents page in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:
Meditation and prayer main channels to Higher Power.  Connection between self-examination and meditation and prayer.  An unshakable foundation for life.  How shall we meditate?  Meditation has no boundaries.  An individual adventure. First result is emotional balance.  What about prayer?  Daily petitions for understanding of God's will and grace to carry it out.  Actual results of prayer are beyond question.  Rewards of meditation and prayer.
   
Reading Assignment:
Step Eleven - Re-Read - Chapter 6 - Into Action (focus on pages 85-88)
Step Eleven - Page 96-105 in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

A few questions for focus:
Is there anything preventing me from practicing meditation?
How do I tell between my Higher Power's will and my own rationalizations?
Where do I draw my source of power and inspiration to carry out my Higher Power's will?

***This is not meant to substitute getting a sponsor***
***This is not meant to be a comprehensive Step***
***This is meant to be food for thought for me and if it helps you, then, "Thank You God"***

Step Ten

Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.  Step Ten, Alcoholics Anonymous

Questions from the Contents page in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:
Can we stay sober and keep emotional balance under all conditions?  Self-searching becomes a regular habit.  Admit, accept, and patientlyc orrect defects.  Emotional hangover.  When past is settled with, present challenges can be met.  Varieties of inventory.  Anger, resentments, jealousy, envy, self-pity, hurt pride - all led to the bottle.  Self-restraint first objective.  Insurance against "big-shot-ism".  Let's look at credits as well as debits.  Examination of motives. 

Reading Assignment:
Step Ten - Re-Read - Chapter 6 - Into Action (focus on pages 84-85)
Step Ten - Page 88-95 in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

A few questions for focus:
Do I have an attitude of gratitude?
Do I promptly make amends, when necessary?
Do I forgive myself when I have a 'forgetter' day and begin to run on self-will?
Am I making spiritual progress?


***This is not meant to substitute getting a sponsor***
***This is not meant to be a comprehensive Step***
***This is meant to be food for thought for me and if it helps you, then, "Thank You God"***

Step Nine

Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.  Step Nine, Alcoholics Anonymous

Questions from the Contents page in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:
A tranquil mind is the first requisite for good judgment.  Good timing is important in making amends.  What is courage?  Prudence means taking calculated chances.  Amends begin when we join AA.  Peace of mind cannot be bought at the expense of others.  Need for discretion.  Readiness to take consquences of our past and to take responsibility for well-being of oithers is spirit of Step Nine.

Reading Assignment:
Step Nine - Re-Read - Chapter 6 - Into Action (focuse on the promises on page 83.."If we are painstaking...")
Step Nine - Page 77-87 in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

A few questions for focus:
Am I willing to make amends to all those I have harmed? Is there someone I want to leave out? Please explain.
What are living amends and how can I apply that to my list of people harmed?
What has been my experience in making amends so far? 
Why does the book say, "Peace of mind cannot be bought at the expense of others"?  Does this apply to any of my amends?

***This is not meant to substitute getting a sponsor***
***This is not meant to be a comprehensive Step***
***This is meant to be food for thought for me and if it helps you, then, "Thank You God"***

Step Eight

  Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.  Step Eight, Alcoholics Anonymous

Questions from the Contents page in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:
This and the next two Steps are concerned with personal relations.  Learning to live with others is a fascinating adventure.  Obstacles: reluctance to forgive, nonadmission of wrongs to others; purposeful forgetting.  Necessity of exhaustive survey of the past.  Deepening insight results from thoroughness.   Kinds of harms done to others.  Avoiding extreme judgments.  Taking the object view.  Step Eigth is the beginning of the end of isolation.

Reading Assignment:
Step Eight - Re-Read - Chapter 6 - Into Action
Step Eight - Page 70-76 in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

A few questions for focus:
Does taking this step indicate a change in attitude for me?
Approximately how many people have I adversely affected in my life?
What is the difference between wanting to do something and being willing to do it? Give a personal example.
How do I define self-discipline?
What is my experience of forgiving and being forgiven?
Am I willing to forgive those who have done me harm? Why or why not?
Am I willing to make amends to all those I have harmed? Please explain.


***This is not meant to substitute getting a sponsor***
***This is not meant to be a comprehensive Step***
***This is meant to be food for thought for me and if it helps you, then, "Thank You God"***

Step Seven

Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.  Step Seven, Alcoholics Anonymous

Questions from the Contents page in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:
What is humility? What can it mean to us?  the avenue to true freedom of the human spirit.  Necessary aid to survival.  Value of ego-puncturing.  Failure and misery transformed by humility.  Strength from weakness.  Pain is the admission price to new life.  Self-centered fear chief activator of defects.  Step Seven is change in attitude which permits us to move out of ourselves toward God.

Reading Assignment:
Step Seven - Re-Read - Chapter 6  - Into Action
Step Seven - Page 70-76 in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
A few questions for focus:
Does taking this step indicate a change in attitude for me?
What in this prayer am I unwilling to say and believe?  Can I adjust this prayer to fit my particular belief system while maintaining the integrity of the prayer and my willingness to allow my Higher Power to remove my shortcomings?

 "My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. 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. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen."

***This is not meant to substitute getting a sponsor***
***This is not meant to be a comprehensive Step***
***This is meant to be food for thought for me and if it helps you, then, "Thank You God"***

Step Six

Were entirely ready to have god remove all these defects of character.  Step Six, Alcoholics Anonymous

Questions from the Contents page in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:
Step Six necessary to spiritual growth.  The beginning of a lifetime job.  Recognition of difference between striving for objective - and perfection.  Why we must keep trying.  "Being ready" is all-important.  Necessity of taking action.  Delay is dangerous.  Rebellion may be fatal.  Point at which we abandon limited objectives and move toward God's will for us. 

Reading Assignment:
Step Six - Re-Read - Chapter 6  - Into Action
Step Six - Page 63-69 in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

A few questions for focus:
Reflect on what you have learned about fearlessness, humility and honesty.  How do you utilize these realities in your life today?
How are defects of character lifted from you? 
How are the three parts of the program coming together in your life today?  (spiritual, emotional, physical)

***This is not meant to substitute getting a sponsor***
***This is not meant to be a comprehensive Step***
***This is meant to be food for thought for me and if it helps you, then, "Thank You God***

Step Five

Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.  Step Five, Alcoholics Anonymous

Questions from the Contents page in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:
Twelve steps deflate ego.  Step Five is difficult but necessary to sobriety and peace of mind.  Confession is an ancient discipline.  Without fearless admission of defects, few could stay sober.  What do we receive from Step Five?  Beginning of true kinship with man and God.  Lose sense of isolation, receive forgiveness and give it; learn humility; gain honesty and realism about ourselves.  Necessity for complete honesty.  Danger of rationalization.  How to choose the person in whom to confide.  Results are tranquility and consciousness of God.  Oneness with God and man prepares us for following Steps. 

Reading Assignment:
Step Five - Chapter 6  - Into Action
Step Five - Page 55-62 in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

A few questions for focus:
Have I been living alone with any of my secrets?
How do I feel about admitting my wrongs to God, myself and another human being?
Am I ready to give up my secrets?
What qualities am I looking for in someone with whom I would do my 5th Step?
Who do I trust to listen to my 4th Step work?

***This is not meant to substitute getting a sponsor***
***This is not meant to be a comprehensive Step***
***This is meant to be food for thought for me and if it helps you, then, "Thank You God"***

Step Four

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.  Step Four, Alcoholics Anonymous

Questions from the Contents page in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:
How instincts can exceed their proper function.  Step Four is an effort to discover our liabilities.  Basic problem of extremes in instinctive drives.  Misguided moral inventory can result in guilt, grandiositiy, or blaming others.  Assets can be noted with liabilities.  Self-justification is dangerous.  Willingness to take inventory brings light and new confidence.  Step Four is beginning of lifetime practice.  Common symptoms of emotional insecurity are worry, anger, self-pity, and depression.  Inventory reviews relationships.  Importance of thoroughness.

Reading Assignment:
Step Four - Re-read Chapter 5,  How It Works
Step Four - Page 42-54 in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
A  variety of worksheets based on the Big Book on the 4th Step:

http://www.royy.com/step4.pdf
http://www.upperroomcomm.com/bbsguide/
http://www.stepsbybigbook.net/show_docs.php?Type_ID=4
http://www.step12.com/step-4.html

***This is not meant to substitute getting a sponsor***
***This is not meant to be a comprehensive Step***
***This is meant to be food for thought for me and if it helps you, then, "Thank You God"***

Step Three

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to teh care of God as we understood Him. Step One, Alcoholics Anonymous

Questions from the Contents page in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:
Step Three is like opening of a locked door.  How shall we let God into our lives?  Willingness is the key.  Dependence as a means to independence.  Dangers of self-sufficiency.  Turning our will over to Higher Power.  Misuse of willpower.  Sustained and person exertion necessary to conform to God's will.

Reading Assignment:
Step Three -  5  - How It Works
Step Three - Page 35-42 in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
A few questions for focus:
"Do you now decide to take the actions necessary to turn your will and your life over to the care of God as you understand Him?"

***This is not meant to substitute getting a sponsor***
***This is not meant to be a comprehensive Step***
***This is meant to be food for thought for me and if it helps you, then, "Thank You God"***

Step Two

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.  Step Two, Alcoholics Anonymous

Questions from the Contents page in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:

What can we believe in?  AA does not demand belief; Twelve Steps are only suggestions.  Importance of an open mind.  Variety of ways to faith.  Substitution of AA as Higher Power.  Plight of the disillusioned.  Roadbloacks of indifference and prejudice.  Lost faith found in AA.  Problems of intellectuality and self-sufficiency.  Negative and positive thinking.  Self-righteousness.  Defiance is an outstanding characteristic of alcoholics.  Step Two is a rallying point to sanity.  Right relation to God.

Reading Assignment:
Step Two - Chapters 2-4 in the Big Book
Step One - Page 25-33 in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Ask yourself:
Do you NOW believe, or are you even WILLING to believe, that there IS a Power greater than yourself?

***This is not meant to substitute getting a sponsor***
***This is not meant to be a comprehensive Step***
***This is meant to be food for thought for me and if it helps you, then, "Thank You God"***

Step One

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.  Step One, Alcoholics Anonymous

Morning Thoughts

On awakening, let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead.  We ask God to direct our thinking, expecially asking that it be divorced from self-pity and from dishonest or self-seeking motives.  Free of these, we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for God gave us brains to use.  Our thought-life will be on a higher plane when our thinking begins to be cleared of wrong motives.  Big Book, p86

I am grateful to be alive and awake this morning.   When I look at the damage I have done to myself and others I realize how fortunate I am just to be here.  And I am here with purpose this morning.  My purpose is to help those who still suffer and to move out of the way so God can work through me.  It seems so simple, but it is not so easy.  It is important for me to realize that I can't always believe in my own thinking because most of my thoughts are still dishonest and self-seeking.  And it was my best thinking that got me here!  My ego is this cunning, baffling, powerful entity that makes me feel so high and mighty and superior.  Sometimes my egoic thoughts are so subtle I can barely see it.  Whenever I feel "all prayed up" and spiritually fit, I can be sure that my ego is already starting to run the show as I abandon my state of surrender.   I have to stop at each thought I see and say, "God, what would you have me do?".  Otherwise, I slip back into a state of ego-consciousness and I continue to hurt people.  And if my actions continue to harm others, I will seek out my addictions for comfort.  And if I do that, I die.

Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You for this daily reprieve today.  Thank You for Your continued guidance.  Thank You for divine order in my life where I used to see chaos and drama.  Thank You.

Lay Out The Kit Of Spiritual Tools

Never talk down to an alcoholic from any moral or spiritual hilltop; simply lay out the kit of spiritual tools for his inspection. Show him how they worked with you, offer him friendship and fellowship. Tell him that if he wants to get well you will do anything to help. Big Book p95

I have to work on this daily.  One of my shortcomings is self-righteous behavior and once I got into the program it became spiritual self-righteous behavior.  My disease constantly tells me I know what is better for someone else's recovery, but that is simply not the case.  I can look within and open up to guidance from my Higher Power for what is best for me in a situation, but I certainly can't do it for you or someone else.  I can listen.  I can point to the Steps and I can read the Big Book with you.  Anything outside of that is what another person's Higher Power is for.

Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You for showing me that I am not the answer.  I do not know the answers for another.  Thank You for allowing me to surrender this to You and for helping me to move out of the way.  Thank You. 

Big Book Resources

Online Big Book - You can sign up for interactive version:
http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/en_tableofcnt.cfm

Online Reading of the Big Book - Listen to the Big Book online:
http://www.recoveryzone.org/docs/bigbook.htm

History on the Writing of the Big Book:
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/history/a/blmitch8.htm

Some Big Book Study Guides:
http://bbstudyguide.org/
http://www.ppgaadallas.org/study_guide.htm
http://www.stepsbybigbook.net/show_docs.php?Type_ID=13
http://www.lotusandrose.com/aa/aa_en/aa_en.html
http://www.upperroomcomm.com/bbsguide/bbsguide.pdf

To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book. Big Book, xiii

Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You for the abundance of recovery resources always available to me online and in print.  Thank You.  Thank You.  Thank You.

When The Spiritual Malady Is Overcome

When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically.  Big Book, p64

My sponsor told me to, " Just go to meetings.  Let everything else go and just go to meetings.  Go to meetings and things will begin to be resolved."  My response was, "but"...  I have to take care of this.  And I just lost my job, so I have to take care of that.  And my car was repossessed so I have to take care of that.  My daughter this, my son that...  I was a mental disaster full of control!  After all of my initial rebuttals, I listened to my sponsor and just went to meetings.  I believe this was the manifestation of surrender. I walked to many of meetings.  I met people for coffee since I didn't have a job and there was a void to fill.  I just kept going to meetings and started working the steps.  God made it real simple for me.  As a result, everything started to straighten out.  I can't tell you the how or thy why of it really, but I can tell you that I stopped worrying and started living this thing called "a day at a time".  It was my first spiritual awakening (I have lots of little ones).

Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You for showing me how to live a day at a time.  Thank You for taking control from me the moment I surrendered it to You.  Thank You for putting me in the right place at the right time.  Thank You.

God Didn't Do It

We cannot subscribe to the belief that this life is a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. But it is clear that we made our own misery. God didn't do it. Avoid then, the deliberate manufacture of misery, but if trouble comes, cheerfully capitalize it as an opportunity to demonstrate His omnipotence. Big Book, p133
Basically, my troubles are of my own making.  I know that my reactions are what create trouble for me.   Either I think "this is terrible" or "why did it have to be this way?" and I react.  I play God.  Things are going to happen that cause pain, but becoming miserable over these events is a choice.  I can put my faith in a Higher Power and have serenity and peace knowing that although I may not understand, I know that there is a Force in the Universe available to me at all times.  Or, I can run around trying to patch holes in what I believe is going wrong.  When I choose God, I choose Peace.  This is not an avoidance of my problems.  This is actively and consciously choosing.  It demonstrates that my Higher Power is all powerful and can calm and heal my fears, my anxieties and my shame, even in the darkest of hours.  I just need to remember to choose. 
Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You for Your Strength, Your Power and Your Love.  Thank You for taking me through many dark nights and for keeping me sober.  Thank You for showing me that Peace, Your Peace, is an option to me today.  Thank You.

Extravagant Promises

Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them. Big Book, p84
They will always materialize if we work for them. 

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and selfpity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
My experience has shown that these promises do come true.  I have been amazed.  I know peace, which for me is freedom.  I don't regret my past and I am open to talking about it.  I just don't want to wallow in it.  My experience benefits others as long as I keep sponsoring and paying it forward.  I care about other people.   I have less fear of people and of economic insecurity.  I have had some beautiful intuitive insights into things I would have made mountains out of in my former life.  And I know, without a doubt that God does for me what I cannot do for myself.  These are facts for me and I believe that these are also based on maintenance of my spiritual condition. 
Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You for these promises.  Thank You for inspiring Bill W. to write them.  Thank You for the hope, faith, life and love you have given me and my Fellow alcoholics.  Thank You. 

We Look On Them As Sick People

We have begun to comprehend their futility and their fatality. We have commenced to see their terrible destructiveness. We have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will toward all men, even our enemies, for we look on them as sick people.  Big Book, p70

The ISM is so sneaky!  You can't smell the ISM like you can the alcohol.  And just because I haven't had a drink today doesn't mean the ISM isn't there.  One definition of ISM is I Sponsor Myself.  This can be true when I ignore my human sponsor or my Higher Power.    Another definition is Internal Spiritual Malady.  When I don't align myself with God's Will, the ISM is sure to announce its arrival and that usually means a dose of humiliation for me.  I Sabotage Myself, Incrediby Short Memory and I/Self/Me are other versions of ISM.  In all cases that ISM spells out to me that I am back on the path of self-will run riot.  If my own disease is so cunning, how can I judge another person?  And if another person is destructive, I have to imagine what is going on inside them.  Afterall, you can only give away what you have and that goes for the disease as well as the solution.

Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You for keeping me in a place of balance with my Fellows.  Thank You for showing me that I am no better than they are and for keeping me from self-righteous behavior today.  Thank You for showing me that I am no worse than they are and for keeping me from putting up a superior exterior.  Thank You. 

These Are Facts Out Of Our Experience

If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson. If we are not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink. We are not theorizing. These are facts out of our experience. Big Book, p70

This is part of my Tenth Step Inventory each evening.  I know that if I continue to physically harm others, harm others with gossip, which is murder by character assassination (12x12), or any form that harm might take, I put myself at risk for another drink.  I have noticed that when I drink I do not see consequences at all.  Now that I have been abstinent for a while, I see consequences that I never saw before.  This includes this link between harming others and drinking.  I know if I harm another, I am harming myself.  The guilt and shame prove that!  I did not recognize that the next step, which would relieve the guilt and shame temporarily, is to drink again.

Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You for helping me see consequences.  Thank You for showing me how I am connected to the rest of my Fellows.  Thank You for your help in not allowing me to harm another person today.  Thank You.

How Can I Best Serve Thee

Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities. "How can I best serve Thee—Thy will (not mine) be done." These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. Big Book, p85

I have mirrored closet doors at home.  A few weeks ago, I needed this reminder so I took out some lipstick from the bathroom drawer and wrote on the mirror, "Relieve me of the bondage of self".  I want to remember the 3rd Step prayer each morning when I wake up.  It is not automatic for me.  My ego is so big that it is always trying to edge God out.  I try to say Thy Will be done each morning and I need a post-it note for that.  I keep my Big Book with me throughout the day, even at work (I bought a bible cover for it to maintain anonymity) to remind me that I am here to serve and not here to use and abuse other people.  It is difficult for me to break from the patterns of my old ways, but I trust that if I keep doing the legwork, God will continue to break my old ways and restore me to sanity.  This is the only way I can be of service, otherwise I will continue to transmit the disease and not the solution.

Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You for showing me a new way of thinking and living.  Thank You for taking my willingness and turning it into something useful to you and my Fellows.  Thank You.

He Disclosed Himself To Us!

When we drew near to Him He disclosed Himself to us!  Big Book, p57

The more I stay in the solution, the more that is revealed to me.  If I don't take that first drink, I remain open.  If I don't take that first drink, I remain willing.  If I don't take that first drink, I can make conscious contact.  If I don't take that first drink, I harm others less.  If I don't take that first drink, He discloses Himself to me.  The onion is peeled and I am left without cover and I am not afraid.   I am not filled with fear all the time anymore.  I know my Higher Power is beautiful, loving and merciful.  I may face traumatic events, and have, without needing another drink.  I have a Higher Power I can rely on completely and fully.  I have learned a new way of life without alcohol.  I have found a spiritual way of life that brings me peace, joy and happiness.  As I trudge this road of happy destiny, I see Him.  I see Him in you.  He discloses Himself through prayer and meditation.  He discloses Himself through acts of kindness.  He discloses Himself in the magnificence of an angel oak tree.  He discloses Himself when another person shares at a meeting.  He is constantly disclosing Himself as I remain open to hear the message, experience the life and intuitively feel the connection to it all.

Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You for Your disclosures.  Thank You for this life.  Thank You for the connection to my brothers and sisters in the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.  Thank You.

We Must Go Further

Much has already been said about receiving strength, inspiration, and direction from Him who has all knowledge and power. If we have carefully followed directions, we have begun to sense the flow of His Spirit into us. To some extent we have become God-conscious. We have begun to develop this vital sixth sense. But we must go further and that means more action. Big Book, p85

More action for me means more prayer and meditation.  It means being open to Spiritual Guidance and GOoD orderly direction.  I love prayer and meditation time.  It is only through this practice that a true sense of peace and serenity set in.  I don't really 'hear' anything during meditation time.  I let my thoughts go by like little clouds because they never really served me well.  Afterall, it was my very best thinking that got me into the rooms and the messes in the first place. 

I just sit in the Silence and rest.  It helps restore my mind, body and soul.  And it really takes no effort, although my disease tries to hold me back like someone hanging on with their dead weight.  It is amazing how the illusions and excuses seem so real and justifiable to my mind.  In truth, meditation is easy as long as I am willing to let go of my thoughts.  Setting aside time for me and my Higher Power seems to be a key to this.  And practice seems to make it much easier.
Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You for our time together.  Thank You for the precious insights I receive without even knowing.  Thank You for the healing of my mind, body and soul as I find rest in Your Presence.  Thank You.

Young People May Be Encouraged

Young people may be encouraged by this man’s experience to think that they can stop, as he did, on their own will power. We doubt if many of them can do it, because none will really want to stop, and hardly one of them, because of the peculiar mental twist already acquired, will find he can win out. Several of our crowd, men of thirty or less, had been drinking only a few years, but they found themselves as helpless as those who had been drinking twenty years. Big Book, p33

Willpower didn't stop me from drinking.  I would eventually find my way back to a bottle of some kind.  I tried the willpower way and I remained abstinent for periods of time before coming to AA.  I thought it was possible to recover.  I thought it was possible without a psychic change.  I also thought it was possible to recover because I knew myself so well.  I knew my triggers and how to avoid them.  My character had not changed and I rested on my own knowledge and laurels.  For me, this was a recipe for disaster.  Eventually, I took another drink.  And, once I took another drink, it didn't end.  I could not stop at one or two without rationalizing why I needed another drink, and then another.  They spiral downward continued.  It wasn't until I found this program and a Power Greater Than Myself that I have been able to refrain from drinking and cope with life simultaneously.  Without the tools Alcoholics Anonymous has taught me, I would surely drink again, because to face life was harder than to just die.

Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You for showing me a new reality without a drink.  Thank You for taking my helplessness and using it to mold me to Your Will.  Thank You

Returning Home

Returning home we find a place where we can be quiet for an hour, carefully reviewing what we have done. We thank God from the bottom of our heart that we know Him better. Big Book, p75

After sharing parts of my inventory with another person, whether it is my sponsor or someone I am sharing my experience with who has a similar condition, I thank my Higher Power.  I thank my Higher Power for the forgiveness I have experienced, including self-forgiveness.  I thank my Higher Power for the freedom from the bondage of shame, guilt and fear that I have experienced.  I thank my Higher Power for the connection I have with others.  I thank my Higher Power for the person put in my life to hear my inventory.  I thank my Higher Power for allowing me to give away the gifts I have received.  And I think my Hihger Power for bringing me closer to Him, the Truth and Loving unconditionally.

Thank You Higher Power.  Thank You.  Thank You.  Thank You.