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FREEDOM FROM “KING ALCOHOL” . . . let us not suppose even for an instant that we are not under constraint. . . . Our former tyrant, King Alcohol, always stands ready again to clutch us to him. Therefore, freedom from alcohol is the great “must” that has to be achieved, else we go mad […]
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AN INSIDE LOOK We want to find exactly how, when, and where our natural desires have warped us. We wish to look squarely at the unhappiness this has caused others and ourselves. By discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can move toward their correction. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 43 Today I […]
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A WIDE ARC OF GRATITUDE And, speaking for Dr. Bob and myself, I gratefully declare that had it not been for our wives, Anne and Lois, neither of us could have lived to see A.A.’s beginning. THE A.A. WAY OF LIFE, p. 67 Am I capable of such generous tribute and gratitude to my wife, […]
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A LIFETIME PROCESS We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn’t control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression, we couldn’t make a living, we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy, we couldn’t seem to be of real help to other people. . […]
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TRUE BROTHERHOOD We have not once sought to be one in a family, to be a friend among friends, to be a worker among workers, to be a useful member of society. Always we tried to struggle to the top of the heap, or to hide underneath it. This self-centered behavior blocked a partnership relation […]
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CRYING FOR THE MOON “This very real feeling of inferiority is magnified by his childish sensitivity and it is this state of affairs which generates in him that insatiable, abnormal craving for self-approval and success in the eyes of the world. Still a child, he cries for the moon. And the moon, it seems, won’t […]
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ACCEPTING OUR HUMANNESS We finally saw that the inventory should be ours, not the other man’s. So we admitted our wrongs honestly and became willing to set these matters straight. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 222 Why is it that the alcoholic is so unwilling to accept responsibility? I used to drink because of the […]
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CHARACTER BUILDING Demands made upon other people for too much attention, protection, and love can only invite domination or revulsion…. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 44 When I uncovered my need for approval in the Fourth Step, I didn’t think it should rank as a character defect. I wanted to think of it more […]
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LOOKING WITHIN Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 42 Step Four is the vigorous and painstaking effort to discover what the liabilities in each of us have been, and are. I want to find exactly how, when, and where my natural desires have warped me. I […]
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NO ONE DENIED ME LOVE On the A.A. calendar it was Year Two . . . . A newcomer appeared at one of these groups . . . . He soon proved that his was a desperate case, and that above all he wanted to get well. . . . [He said], “Since I am […]