3
There is a solution.
There is a solution! We are only seemingly hopeless. We have a program of action that has restored millions of alcoholics to happy useful lives.
4
Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of short-comings which the process requires for its successful consummation.
This program works. We may apply it to our lives if we choose to. Should we desire to give the AA program a try, this paragraph lists a few of the requirements for success.
5-6
But we saw that it really worked in others, and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was noting left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet.
Here are millions of people who say that this new way of life is better than anything they have ever tried. If we really are powerless over alcohol, if our lives really are unmanageable, if we really are beyond human aid, what then do we have to lose? This solution is being offered to us, not forced upon us. We can pick up these tools and begin to use them to reconstruct our shattered lives.
The people who are presenting this solution to us are not reformers or proselytizers. They are alcoholics like ourselves. Their alcoholic problem has been solved and they are willing to show us what they have done.
7
We have much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence, of which we had not even dreamed.
When we throw that switch there is no going back. Our destination is a life of purpose, meaning, usefulness, joyousness and freedom. A life that is comprised of these things certainly seems like another dimension to those of us who have only known the misery, pointlessness and bondage of a life based on self-will.
8-10
The great fact is just this, and nothing less; that we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences, which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows, and toward God's universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which could never do by ourselves.
This is the author's description of a spiritual awakening. These are the results of the abandonment of one's life to the care of God and the willingness to seek and follow God's guidance in all things. So much is available to us when we are willing to pay the price which is the destruction of our self-centeredness.
We are promised a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps. What is described here is not a mere modification of behavior, but a reconstruction of the fundamental nature of those who experience this awakening. This awakening may come suddenly or slowly, but is inevitable if we follow the path of those who have gone before us.
11-13
If you are as seriously alcoholic as we were, we believe there is no middle-of-the-road solution. We were in a position where life was becoming impossible, and if we had passed into the region from which there is no return through human aid, we had but two alternatives; one was to go on to the bitter end, blotting out the consciousness of our intolerable situation as best we could; and the other, to accept spiritual help. This we did because we honestly wanted to, and were wiling to make the effort.
Are we as seriously alcoholic as the authors were? Are we in a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body? Are we unable to control our drinking once we begin? Are we unable to stop drinking altogether? Do we sincerely desire to stop drinking and find that we are unable? Do we exhibit the signs of alcoholic thinking? Have we reached the point where we despair of ever recovering? Are we beyond human aid?
If we have reached the point where we are beyond human aid, where else do we have to turn? Our families, spouses, friends, and doctors are all powerless to help us and we can't stop drinking on our own. If we are finall willing, we can quit the futile battle and accept spiritual help.
Source:
The Annotated AA Handbook
a companion to the Big Book
Frank D.