Alcoholics Anonymous

by Alcoholics Anonymous

What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. 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.”

prayer and meditation.

Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were

of what we could pack into the stream of life?

But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or...

On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity,

pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all

God gave us brain...

Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is c...

In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don’t struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while. What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a ...

As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day “Thy will be done.” We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves. It works—it really does.

PAUSE WHEN AGITATED!!

pause when agitated!

Perhaps you are not acquainted with any drinkers who want to recover. You can easily find some by asking a few doctors, ministers, priests or hospitals. They will be only too glad to assist you.

We want to leave you with the feeling that no situation is too difficult and no unhappiness too great to be overcome.

You can see that he really does love you with his better self.

He is remorseful after serious drinking bouts and tells you he wants to stop. But when he gets over the spree, he begins to think once more how he can drink moderately next time. We think this person is in danger. These are the earmarks of a real alcoholic.

As we say among ourselves, “He wants to want to stop.”

We know all about liquor as a social lubricant.

The first principle of success is that you should never be angry.

Even though your husband becomes unbearable and you have to leave him temporarily, you should, if you can, go without rancor. Patience and good temper are most necessary.

bullshit

We know these suggestions are sometimes difficult to follow, but you will save many a heartbreak if you can succeed in observing them.

Stopped here on 6/23/25

Cessation of drinking is but the first step away from a highly strained, abnormal condition.

We alcoholics are sensitive people. It takes some of us a long time to outgrow that serious handicap.

The family must realize that dad, though marvelously improved, is still convalescing.

We know there are difficult wives and families, but the man who is getting over alcoholism must remember he did much to make them so.

Giving, rather than getting, will become the guiding principle.

Assume on the other hand that father has, at the outset, a

Start on June 24 2024 with assume

But we aren’t a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn’t want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life.

Everybody knows

Start here on 7/1/24 July 1, 2024

Avoid then, the deliberate manufacture of misery,

nor do twisted thinking and depression vanish in a twinkling.

Here, for instance,

P 138 start here on 7/15/24

The greatest enemies of us alcoholics are resentment, jealousy, envy, frustration, and fear.

Wherever men are gathered together in business there will be rivalries and, arising out of these, a certain amount of office politics. Sometimes we alcoholics have an idea that people are trying to pull us down. Often this is not so at all. But sometimes our drinking will be used politically.

Or, it’s “Our THINKING pulls us down.” This is what Kathleen Marbaugh Gill said on 7/22/24

Start here on July 29 2024

Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.

Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!

Stopped here on 8/25/25

WOMEN SUFFER

Stopped here on 9/22/25–start here in 9/29/25

sitting at home alone, with the inevitable glass in my hand, I would remember, and, remembering, I would drink faster, seeking speedy oblivion.

I had been hypersensitive, shy, idealistic. My inability to accept the harsh realities of life had resulted in a disillusioned cynic, clothed in a protective armor against the world’s misunderstanding.

I was, an inwardly frightened, outwardly defiant woman, who desperately needed a prop to keep going.

I left my private world of books and dreams to meet the real world of people and parties and jobs, had left me feeling an uncomfortable outsider, needing the warming stimulus of drinks to join in.

OUR SOUTHERN FRIEND

We stopped here 9/29/25, start here 10/6/26

Her brother had been a drinker and had died in a state hospital for the insane.

In

Allah, Confucius, Prime Cause, Divine Mind, or any other name.

Stopped here 10/6/25 start here 10/12/25

I found I had become the sponsor of my sponsor, for he was suddenly taken drunk. I was startled to learn he