EXCERPTS from:
INTRODUCTION
For more than twenty years I have been privileged to attend meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous. This book contains a compilation of inspirational, helpful and sometimes downright annoying (it’s an honest program) slogans, acronyms, paradoxes and wisdom heard in AA. It is my desire to share this collection of experience, strength and hope with others in Alcoholics Anonymous recovery and with those for whom we may be saving a seat.
(Page 13)
S L O G A N S
Wisdom Written in Shorthand “Slogans saved my life. All of them—the dumb ones, the imperatives, the shameless, witless ones.” —D. Carr One Day at a Time - Life on Life’s Terms - This Too Shall Pass - Expect a Miracle.
(Page 15 )
JUST FOR TODAY
First Things First - Keep It Simple - Live and Let Live - To Thine Own Self Be True - But for the Grace of God - Think, Think, Think - Easy Does It - Live in the Now - Principles Before Personalities - Let Go and Let God - Keep Coming Back - Let It Begin with Me.
(Page 16 )
MEETING MAKERS MAKE IT
Mind Your Own Business - Progress Not Perfection - Keep On Trudgin’ - Turn It Over - We Are Not Saints - Wherever You Go, There You Are - When All Else Fails, Follow Directions - No Pain, No Gain - You Will Intuitively Know - Some of Us Are Sicker Than Others - Ninety Meetings In Ninety Days.
(Page 17)
P A R A D O X E S
We die to live - From darkness comes light - We suffer to get well - From weakness comes strength - We surrender to win - We give it away to keep it - We forgive to be forgiven - From dependence we found independence - We can best control by letting go - From powerlessness comes empowerment.
(Page 21 )
INSPIRATION to and from THE JOURNEY
AA I came to AA for my drinking and stayed for my thinking. AA has a wrench for every nut. Everything in AA is designed to help me. AA does not stand for Alcoholic Analysis. Drinking kills your pain. AA cures your pain. Nobody can compel us. Nobody can expel us. AA will teach you to be “happy, joyous and free.” Alcohol took me to my knees. AA picked me up. AA is a we program. I get drunk, we stay sober.
(Page 37)
LETTING GO
I let go … with claw marks. If I hang on and don’t let go, I’m upside down. If I don’t know, I let it go. You let go of the past because it’s dead. If the past is blocking your progress, then you are headed in the wrong direction. Let go or be dragged. We can best control by letting go. Life on Life’s Terms No pain, no gain. Life happens
(Page 38)
LIVE AND LET LIVE
Some of us are sicker than others. We’re only as sick as our secrets. Patience and tolerance. Say what you mean, don’t say it mean.
(Page 78)
MEETINGS
Go to meetings when you want to and when you don’t want to go. Stand by the coffee pots. It’s a good way to meet people. All you need to start a new meeting are a resentment and a coffee pot. Don’t drink. If your ass falls off, put it in a wheelbarrow and take it to a meeting. My best thinking got me here. If hanging around AA doesn’t work, try hanging out inside AA. There are no coincidences in AA. While we’re sitting in this meeting, our disease is doing push-ups in the parking lot.
(Page 79)
SOBRIETY - continued
Keep the plug in the jug. Pass it on. My daily sobriety is contingent upon my spiritual condition. It’s the first drink that gets you drunk. It’s the last one that gets you sober. I put down the cork and picked up the fork. I didn’t get sober to be miserable. Don’t quit before the miracle happens. Early sobriety is like growing up in public. The longer I’m sober, the drunker I was. It’s a simple journey for confused people with a complicated disease. When you sober up a horse thief, all you have is a sober horse thief. You can’t keep it unless you give it away. It’s easier to get sober than it is to stay sober. First we stay sober because we have to. Then we stay sober because we are willing to. Then we stay sober because we want to.
(Page 100)
