matt4x4

I am reminded of that today. I have to stick with the winners. If not I perrish.
I just put my best foor forward, and do my best. Day after day after day. I find for myself that I sometimes get into that "race" feeling. If I start comparing, I am doomed.

fraankie

right on

paul99

I tend to prefer the term "healthier ones"

SoberCAH

It seems like I talk to recovering people all day long.

Tommyh

my second sponsor pointed out one thing to me
if I compare myself to others,I lose that game every time
However,if I compare my today to the old days when I was
drinking,I can see I`ve never had it so good.

Agricola

I understand the urge to make this about judging and comparing and feeding ego, but when I hear stick with the winners, all I think about is identifying people who have something I want: healthy sobriety. If AA were filled with people who had no healthy sobriety, I wouldn't go. Not because I don't want to help those folks, I do. But because I know that if I don't spend time around folks in healthy sobriety, my sobriety will first become unhealthy, and then probably end. Sticking with the winners to me means nothing more than avoiding people that endanger my sobriety.

jdooner

Reminds me of tiger blood

Carlotta

I work with and interact daily with those that society has dubbed "losers", transient, homeless, bums, vagrants, etc. I am grateful for my job and knowing a lot of my guys is a gift and yes quite a few of them are in active addiction.
Where some see "winners" and "losers", I just see other human beings.

yeahgr8

It's a saying in AA. It means to stick with those who are sober and avoid those that are not! You do need a sponsor to tell the difference in early recovery too!

I don't like the term winners! My father used to make this distinction between people all the time, winners and losers.

I would use probably sober than winner:-)

Carlotta

I am aware of that, I am in AA.
Just because something is an AA saying does not mean I have to be fond of it. While the inherent message which is to network with those in the program who have worked the steps and have peace and serenity and avoid hanging out with one's old drinking buddies is a good one, I do not care for the delivery.
I also have some problems with the stupid part in KISS. Let's face it, some slogans can be quite patronizing.
Generally speaking, I am not big on slogans anyway. The only one I really use are "live and let live".
And now, in the spirit of rule 62 I will leave this thread alone.

jdooner

When we judge we close our minds. There is no more learning that takes place because a judgment means you have formed a conclusion. Recovery is about being open, willing and honest in my opinion. Picking and choosing a winner from a looser is making a judgement even if it is subconscious.

My response about Tiger Blood is cheeky but think about where this got Charlie Sheen. His slogan, Winning became widely used and is ironic since he was clearly loosing so much. Telling yourself lies over and over, which I see here on this site sometimes will not make the lie true. Just makes you deluded. Wasn't this what we did with drinking?

I would imagine a normal drinker or recreational drug user (not sure if this is an oxymoron) could look at any of us and say we are losers because we are different. We could look at a vagrant and say he/she is a loser for being destitute. There will always be someone worse off than you and always someone better off than you. If you are competing in life against someone else you will always loose in the end. This assumes life is a race or competition and goes to the destination vs the journey argument. Envy will eat you up and putting someone else down to prop yourself up is not sustainable - it is playing into your own ego or false sense of yourself.

AA can become a form of addiction in and of itself. You see the people that walk the halls religiously reciting all these acronyms and slogans. They are sick. They might be sober but they are not healthy. Someone who is healed is balanced and does not have to compare another human as a winner or a looser, in my opinion.

Best of luck.

UncleMeat69

I prefer the term "We win through losing."
That is how AA worked for me when I committed
to Step 1, once and for all......

SoulSister

I stick with the winners and the losers.

yeahgr8

KISS is used much more in marketing and sales than in AA. It is a saying that basically means do not over complicate it because you will lose YOUR focus or THEIR focus.

I am not surprised that 'Keep it simple stupid' is a phrase that does not go down well with some alcoholics as it can seem quite harsh, hence why these phrases need to be explained first, and is definitely not ego feeding.

A phrase I am not keen on, unless it is turned upside down, is THINK THINK THINK as the last thing I would want a newcomer to do is to try and think themselves out if a drink or problem. I think ACTION ACTION ACTION would be more life saving and appropriate.

sober35

I tend to be neutral on certain slogans, some of them mean nothing to me. I follow to the first 164 pages in the big book and try to live in the solution and help others. "stick with the winners" - I don't know what that means exactly I guess people with many years of sobriety use it for some reason. Just because someone has 20 years of sobriety certainly doesn't make them a winner. So i guess the old timers use that to distinguish the still sick from the healthier ones.

Gottalife

If you believe the Big Book when it says you cannot transmit something you have not got, then if you want that something you are going to have to seek out someone who has it. That will call for judgment and discrimination on your part. There is no way round it.

If you try to get that something off someone who doesn't have it, it's just not going to happen.

See to it that your relationship with Him is right and great things will come to pass for you and countless others. We go to any lengths for victory over alcoholism. Isn't the victor a winner? And when you are a winner, isn't it your job to help someone else to win too?

Confuzd

I prefer "stick with the stickers". To me this means stick with those who are taking AA seriously. Those that are trying to work on their recovery. I do not want to judge anyone, I did not take my recovery seriously for a long time. I was not a "sticker". I was not ready. Now I'm ready. I want to hang out around people who are ready to take their recovery seriously too.

Tommyh

when I was new,I did stick with those who was sober ,involved,and happy
I gained strength as time went on
now I try to include those who are having trouble,who may not have gained their strength yet

they need us
and I need them

sober35

some guy always used to say "stick with the winners" and a newcomer asked him why he says it. The guy said because some people are not here to stay sober, they're here for other things.

I don't like stick with the winners. I certainly don't want what some people have even with 20 years, they are always angry, dont work a strong program and they are constanly complaining. That doesn't mean I can't learn from them.