1
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Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path.
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The authors, as well as many others who have gone before us, have laid down a path for us to follow. We have stumbled blindly through life with no reasonable conception of life's meaning. By following this new path, we find a way of life that goes somewhere.
2-5
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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.
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The unfortunate people referred to here are us. These are clear warnings that unless we can find the willingness to give this program an honest try we will not recover.
We grasp this program as the drowning grasp a life preserver. We develop this way of life by practicing the 12 Steps in all areas of our lives.
8
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Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now.
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The study of how best to carry the message of this book is a very rewarding pursuit. Here are directions on how to present our experience, strength, and hope. Too detailed of an accounting would accentuate the differences between individuals rather than the similiarities of the progression of alcoholism in one's life. We who have recovered explain to the new person that we have experienced the same baffling symptoms. This helps them see that we know what we are talking about so when we speak of the solutions we found the new person can see how to apply this solution for themselves. Telling of these results gives the new person hope that this way of life will also work for them.
9
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If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any lengths to get it---then you are ready to take certain steps.
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What do these people have that we would want? What is it that we need to be willing to go to any lengths to get? The "it" they are referring to is a spiritual awakening (79:5), the result of which is victory over alcohol (76:19).
10
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At some of these we balked.
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This seems a polite way of saying that we balk at all of these steps. We refuse to admit our powerlessness over alcohol until it becomes undeniable even to us. We are unwilling to believe in the power of God until we see we have nowhere else to turn. We hang onto our self-will until misery makes us let go. We resist an inventory of ourselves out of fear and pride. We hang on to our secrets until the weight of them nearly drags us down. We are unwilling to let go of the worst aspects of our characters until we clearly see that they are the cause of our failure in life. Still, we doubt the power of God and think we should work to overcome our defects rather than let God remove them.
11-12
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We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not.
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What could be harder than stumbling through the dark as we have been? A well trodden path, illuminated by the light of God, stretches out before us. We can be encouraged that even the difficult parts lead us closer to our destination. Those who have traveled this path before us assure us that they have tried every conceivable alternate route and have found this to be the surest way.
14
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Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.
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As we progress through the stesp, we see how our ideas and attitudes have caused us trouble. In the first step, we must let go of the idea that someday we will be able to control and enjoy our drinking. In the second step, we must let go of our prejudice toward spiritual principles. As we continue, we let go of all those things in us that block us off from God.
Partially adoping this way of life, picking those aspects of it that we find convenient and not too difficult, will not produce the desired result. A mere change of behavior does not equal the entire psychic change necessary to overcome alcoholism.
Source:
The Annotated AA Handbook
Frank D