Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest.

Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it - then you are ready to take certain steps.

At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.

Remember that we deal with alcohol - cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power - that One is God. May you find Him now!

Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. W asked His protection and care with complete abandon.

Here are the steps we took, which are suggested ad a program of recovery.

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. 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.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Many of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

- Alcoholics Anonymous "The Big Book" pages 58-60 -

To those now in its fold, Alcoholics Anonymous has made the difference between misery and sobriety, and often the difference between life and death. AA can, of course, mean just as much to uncounted alcoholics not yet reached

Therefore, no society of men and women ever had a more urgent need for continuous effectiveness and permanent unity. We alcoholics see that we must work together and hang together, else most of us will finally die alone.

 

HELLO BUUDY

If you want to change who you are, change what you do.

The Big Book is like a cookbook - you can read it all day long and starve. You have to take the action.

If you stay humble, you will not stumble.

Our neighbor's window looks much cleaner if we first wash our own.

Yesterday is a canceled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, today is cash in hand, spend it wisely.

 

Hey Rick? It was great talking with you this morning. Makes the world a wee bit smaller doesnt it.

I guess its a good job you didnt feed the rest of that beer to your pigs hu?

I could see them sitting across from me at an AA meeting-lol

Another day sober Buddy-enjoy it.

phil,

now this is a good start...

everything you need to remember is right there. 

the program works if you work it.

life never changes but you can change how you deal with life.

truck on...it gets better

Fixing the flat tires--you have a great day:)

Phil

like i said it was great to speak with u.

And the pigs at AA?

It use to be ok, years ago  to go to the bar and troll for pigs.

corn on a string worked good in the local pub

acually didn't need much bait   HA HA HA

really no joke

guess i was always a little sick

take care

going to take the wife out on the bike for a while

-- Edited by Rick at 12:22, 2005-08-07

Umm...Rick? I don't think you should put the word 'wife' and 'trolling for pigs in a bar' in the same communication...

...A Bloke could easily end up sleeping on the couch for stuff like that.

Hope you have a good ride. Keep your knees in the breeze.

this is so true. it really  does work if you work it! no matter how old you are! thank you