Alcoholics Anonymous

by Alcoholics Anonymous

had only been off the booze a month or so himself when he brought me the message!

At the time, I thought them just a swell pair of screwballs,

the principle of every drunk for himself;

Boy, what a circle of confused idealists! Yet

At our weekly meeting I was a menace to serenity those first few months,

wandering around New England half drunk, by which I mean I couldn’t get drunk and I couldn’t get sober.

They are far more alert and progressive than we floundering fathers were, and the future of our fellowship is in their hands.

good, simple, and friendly,

Our pet slogan is “Easy...

But I found that after I got to North Carolina, it wasn’t any different. The state was different, but I wasn’t.

and personally. With the bravery born of desperation, and abetted by alcohol, I married a young and lovely girl. Our marriage lasted four years. At least three of those four years must have been a living hell for my wife, because she had to watch the man she loved disintegrate morally, mentally, and financially. The birth of a baby boy did nothing toward staying the downward spiral. When she finally took the baby and left, I locked myself in the house and stayed drunk for a month. The next two years were simply a long, drawn-out process of less and less work and more and more whiskey. I ended up homeless, jobless, penniless, and rudderless, as the problem guest of a close friend whose family was out of town. Haunting

Stopped here 11-18-24

defects, such as selfishness, conceit, jealousy, carelessness, intolerance, ill-temper, sarcasm, and resentments.

world. I have stopped tilting at windmills and, instead, have tried to accomplish the little daily tasks, unimportant in themselves, but tasks that are an integral part of living fully.

Of course the doctors found nothing. Just an unstable woman, undisciplined, poorly adjusted, and filled with nameless fears.

Others may idle in a retrogressive groove

watching all the other children laughing and playing and smiling,

They conducted special tests and interviews designed to get to the root of my troubles, and came to the conclusion that I had a learning disability and was depressed.

had a bouquet of mental quirks,

It would be a little thing—the rugs being crooked, or any silly little thing that I’d think was wrong—and off I’d go, drinking.

And “think”—that one important word means so much to me. My life was always act and react.

I need to NOT think.

” But then I thought, well, now wait, how will I feel next Tuesday? How will I feel next Friday, if I make it a Friday? How will I feel next Saturday morning?

The bottle was my friend, my companion, a portable vacation.

Whenever life was too intense, alcohol would take the edge off or obliterate the problem altogether for a time.

I took “party till you throw up” to new levels.

was not a nice person sober. I was angry and frightened, and I wanted you to feel as terrible as I did.

This is what it's like being on a diet

It took about three months for me to realize I was my problem and drinking made my problem much worse.

This program is for people who want it, not people who need it.

If everyone who needed A.A. showed up, we would be bursting at the seams. Unfortunately, most never make it to the door.

willingness and action.

The program is a plan for a lifetime of daily living.

When I am willing to do the right thing, I am rewarded with an inner peace no amount of liquor could ever provide. When I am unwilling to do the right thing,

I become restless, irritable, and discontent.

If willingness is the key to unlock the gates of hell, it is action that opens those doors so that we may walk freely among the living.

When I’m in doubt, I have faith that things will turn out as they should.

I got drunk, blacked out, threw up, had dry heaves, was sick to death the next day, and I knew I would do it again. For the first time, I felt part of a group without having to be perfect to get approval.

A big city is a great place to be an alcoholic.

Another trick was selecting companions who drank just a little bit more than I did.

Or eating companions

I put alcohol in my body, I’m powerless over how much and with whom I drink—all good intentions drowned in denial.

I began hiding my vodka in the bedroom—and

shortly after the divorce. Now I was sure my problems were over, except that I brought me with me.

ice cubes, for God’s sake. Everyone knows an alcoholic, at least one that had to go to A.A., is a skid row bum in a dirty raincoat drinking from a brown paper bag.

Or, a compulsive overeater is a fat slob. Some OAs are quite slim

alcohol.

Or without excessive food.

I knew what the Big Book meant about the great obsession of every abnormal drinker being to somehow, someday control and enjoy his drinking.

when I enjoyed it, I couldn’t control it, and at the hockey game when I controlled it, I couldn’t enjoy it.

Like trying to eat one white chocolate macadamia nut cookie

He showed me that His love and the power of the Steps and the Fellowship could keep me from picking up a drink one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time, no matter what.

used to thank God for putting A.A. in my life; now I thank A.A. for putting God in my life.

When I asked how I could find self-esteem, you told me, “by doing worthwhile acts!”

“Into Thinking” or “Into Feeling”—only “Into Action.”

So, here I am, sober. Successful. Serene.