Interesting!! I always understood THINK to mean instead of "react". Thinking allows me to "respond" rather than react. When I stop to think, I usually find myself bringing my HP into the picture which pretty much changes my outlook and attitude about any given situation.

Dang. OK OK I'm going to the meeting lol

God speaks through you guys, I swear on it.


I like that- Think think think pattern. Thank you :D

I've heard that in some meeting rooms they post the "think think think" sign upside-down to demonstrate our mixed up thinking while we were drinking. Maybe some old-timer was pulling my leg? ;-)

When the third's the same as the first it's time to for help.

I heard it today. I know it's true, that I do over-analyze things. I'm a philosophy major though. Telling me not to pick stuff apart is like telling a car mechanic not to get dirty.

The way "don't think" has come off to me is keep things simple, and keep your thoughts in check. Stick to what is basic, if there's a situation that comes up, and you're spending 10 minutes pondering it, you're doing it wrong. And if you're just thinking the same thoughts over and over when you should be doing something else, you're doing it wrong.

on the lighter side....

It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then to loosen up. Inevitably though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker. I began to think alone -- "to relax," I told myself -- but I knew it wasn't true.

Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time. I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself.

I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafka. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it exactly we are doing here?" I soon had a reputation as a heavy thinker. One day the boss called me in. He said, "Man, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find other employment."

This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Sweetheart," I confessed, "I've been thinking..."

"I know you have," she said, starting to cry, "and if you don't stop, I'll want a divorce!"

"But dear, surely it's not that serious."

"It is serious," she said through her rolling tears. "You think as much as college professors, and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking we won't have any money!"

"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently, and she began to cry again.

I'd had enough. "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door. I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche, with NPR on the radio. I roared into the parking lot and ran up to the big glass doors. They didn't open: the library was closed. To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night. As I sank to the ground clawing at the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye.

"Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked.

You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinker's Anonymous poster.

Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker. I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a noneducational video; last week it was *****'s Revenge. Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting. I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home.

Life just seemed... easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking.


Have you ever had a blackout because of your thinking?
Has your thinking landed you in jails and institutions?
Have you ever sneaked a couple of thinks?
Has your thinking ever got you in financial trouble?
Have you switched thoughts in a effort to control and enjoy your thinking?
Have you craved a think the morning after?

and this could go on ad infiniteium......I think

"Have you ever sneaked a couple of thinks"
Im laffin like a crazy girl over here.

This slogan, for me is simple.
The first think(a small one on the slogan poster) is allowed for yesterday....I pull out that think and use it to help others, when I need a remember when, I dont go back and marinate in yesterday...but sometimes I 'need' a small think in that department, lest I forget what got me here.
The last think (also a small one on the slogan poster) is for tomorrow. Yeah, I live in the moment, just for today and ll that....but I have a mortgage payment due on Friday. Its okay for me to think about that and make sure the money is there. It is totally ok to make plans and set goals for myself that are not in today.
The middle think (the biggest one on the slogan poster) is for today.
It reminds me to live in the moment.
Today is all I really know that I have.
~shrug~
Just my interpretation.

Actually this was an IBM marketing slogan back in the 50's that somehow got posted in some AA meetings about the same time. Nowhere can it be found in any AA approved literature nor does it paraphrase any BB quotes.
(see my signature)

I can sit in my chair and think about the worlds problems and find a solution,but I just cannot seem to get my grass cut or chores done sometimes
I can over think a lot of stuff,and sometimes I "come out of it" and my wife says,"welcome back" and I never knew I was gone

Its a ridiculous slogan for AA...thankfully in some of the rooms i have been in they hang it upside down...

I had heard some crazy definition when i got into the rooms which implied on the 3rd think that i would have thought the option of drinking through and not acted on my first thought of having a drink...i mean cmon...A HP will remove your mental obsession if you surerender, are willing and ready or you can think, think, think having a drink through???

As for there being a cryptic message, which is ludicous in itself, i remember when i first came in i would hardly string 2 sentences together let alone appreciate some subtle innuendo, behind think, think, think...well it is probably hanging near to "Keep it Simple" and so i would advise keeping things simple and sticking to whats written in the Big Book of Alcoholic Anonymous for instructions on how to recover from alcoholism:-)

Man that sign should come down...my sponsor said just ignore it! But thats just my opinion...as long as it doesn't prevent the newcomer from progressing forward with their step work with their sponsor it doesn't matter i guess?!

one thing it helps me with is when I think about something sometimes I can see how it may affect others.My mind was so used to thinking only of myself,and I had a self focused tunnel vision.It was hard for me to be open-minded when my mind worked like that.The mind of this alcoholic sometimes seems like it does not think but react first like Music said

1. Do you lose time from work due to thinking?
2. Is thinking making your home life unhappy?
3. Do you think because you are shy with other people?
4. Is thinking affecting your reputation?
5. Have you ever felt remorse after thinking?
6. Have you gotten into financial difficulties as a result of thinking?
7. Do you turn to lower companions and an inferior environment when thinking?
8. Does your thinking make you careless of your family's welfare?
9. Has your ambition decreased since thinking?
10. Do you crave a think at a definite time of day?
11. Do you want a think the next morning?
12. Does thinking cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
13. Has your efficiency decreased since thinking?
14. Is thinking jeopardizing your job or business?
15. Do you think to escape from worries or trouble?
16. Do you think alone?
17. Have you ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of thinking?
18. Has your physician ever treated you for thinking?
19. Do you think to build up your self-confidence?
20. Have you ever been to a hospital or institution on account of thinking?

If you have answered YES to any one of the questions, there is a definite warning that you may be an alcoholic

If you have answered YES to any two, the chances are that you are an alcoholic

If you have answered YES to three or more, you are definitely an alcoholic

What an order! I can't go through with it.

ROFLMAO
"...in the mood for some Nietzsche, with NPR on the radio."

But surely a little Wait Wait Don't Tell Me on the weekends is ok? I mean c'mon, it's mostly humor, the thinking content is really low.

I like what bballdad said about thinking how it impacts others. My first thought is never of how someone else may feel. I've had some real groudshaking moments from simply putting myself in someone else's shoes and reimagining things from thier point of view.

I had the same confusion as the OP, it seemed to me that AA people demonized intellectual types, and I felt very frustrated as all the things I did to make the constant thinking stop so I could fit in with people who don't like thinkers were the things that got me there in the first place.

All I can say is that thinking can't be made good or bad any more than you can say the internet is good or bad. I love the part in the BB where he says he quit the debate society. When I stopped analyzing just to poke holes in things I became a much happier person.

If I could "think" through the drink then I would not be an alcoholic.

I actually heard a GOOD spin on how to look at that "slogan" or whatever you wanna call it:

Think, Think, Think......

3 "thinks" .....that's all you get before it becomes your new higher power - your latest attempt at control and manageability. Three thinks and if you haven't figured it out then turn it over to God and let Him handle it.

If you can't figure it out in three thinks, you can't figure it out.

bballdad, that's hilarious!!:lmao


It wasn't until I had some sober time under my belt that I could "think the drink through". Early on I was just staying sober out of sheer stubbornness.:) (not to mention not wanting to be so sick all over again) But now, at nearly a year, my thinking is actually helpful, reasonable, and logical. My brain is working so much better and I am able to think clearly. And now that I'm happily sober, I know damn well I don't want to drink. I no longer have to 'think it through'.

That slogan never did make sense to me, but I am grateful beyond expression that my brain is now capable of logical thinking.:)

After working step 11, I was able to trust my thinking again:

"... Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives.
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."
(Page 86)

Man..... that's so true but it was and sometimes is soooooo hard to implement.... I feel like my job requires me to have all the answers and to know it all. It's really hard to look a client in the eye and say "I don't know, lemme think for a minute," when EVERY old instinct is still back there chirpin' away at me to make something up that sounds smart and make a quick remark. (LOL....if they knew I was saying a prayer I hardly believe they'd stay with me for long.) This is another one of those things that takes practice.....at least it does for me. It's like that "pause" we're supposed to do when agitated.... (p.87)

Pausing, relaxing, taking it easy.......not easy concepts to implement for this alcoholic. With practice they're finally starting to come a little more naturally though.

"There is a direct linkage among self-examination, meditation, and prayer. Taken separately, these practices can bring much relief and benefit. But when they are logically related and interwoven, the result is an unshakable foundation for life."
(12&12 page 98)