What the Big Book says about Step 9

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No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we sill see how our experience can benefit others.

Our past becomes an asset that we can use to help other people. Our past helps new people identify with us and shows them that new lives are also possible for them.

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That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear

Adopting this new way of life gives us a new direction and purpose for living.

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We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self Seeking will slip away.

As we are restored to sanity, we see the rewards of selflessness greatly exceed the illusory benefits of self-seeking.

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Our whole attitude and outlook on life will change

Our attitude towards life and our view of the world based on self-centered fear are changed as a result of practicing these spiritual principles. We live our way into a new way of thinking.

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Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us

When we focus on what we can give rather than what we can take, we lose our fear that we will not get what we want. We are no longer afraid that our own resources are all that we have to draw upon. We find that conscious contact with God is all we really need to be happy in life.

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We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.

We practice the application of spiritual principles as a way of addressing our problems and find the guidance of God is available to us when we seek it.

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We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

The truth is that if we could have stopped drinking, addressed our defects of character, and righted our past wrongs on our own power we would have done so long ago. By seeking in earnest, we have accessed a Power greater than ourselves. All we need to do for proof is to examine the results

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They will always materialize if we work for them.

The key is that we must work to build sufficient spiritual experience so that we may draw upon it when we are challenged or tempted. These profound changes in our lives come about as the result of the repeated application of spiritual principles in all areas of our lives. It works for everyone who honestly tries.

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One morning he took the bull by the horns and set out to tell those he reared what his troubles had been. He found himself surprisingly well received, and learned that many knew of his drinking. Stepping into his car, he made the rounds of people he had hurt. He trembled as he went about, for this might mean ruin, particularly to a person in his line of business.

At midnight he came home exhausted, but very happy. He has not had a drink since.

HISTORICAL NOTE:
Dr. Bob sobered up on June 10, 1935. He was 55 years old. This day is counted as the birth date of AA.

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Clear away the wreckage of your past.

The main object of this book is to show us how to bring these things about. We learn how to do these things by practicing the Twelve Steps. We keep what we find by giving it away.

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