deeker

From AA Big Book- How It works
Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path.........
That is a very hopeful statement folks....

From Big Book
Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and woman who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves.......

I love "How It Works". I can get sober if I get honest with myself.Am I willing to do that?.......

I am one of those who does not have a constitution that prevents me from being honest.That means there is great hope for me......

Rarely had they seen a person fail who thoroughly followed their path.......

If we decided we wanted what they had and were willing to go to any lengths to get it then we were ready to take certain steps..

I am honest, I know I am a hopeless alkie.I want what you all have. I am willing to go to any lengths...

Tell me what I have to do?......

I have to be ready to take certain steps......


I had to believe in my heart of hearts that I did not have a solution to my problem on my own. I had to really be honest about that......

I had to give up that idea that I could find an easier softer way to get sober........

I had to walk thru my fear. I had to let go of my old ideas of self control which was really just an illusion........

I could not forget how cunning, baffling and powerful this illness was in my life.......
By myself I was helpless, powerless and I needed help. I had to ask for help......

I had to get unstuck and get out of my comfort zone and ask for help if I was gonna start on the road to recovery.......

I had to believe that the only one who had power over this thing was something greater than myself. I was beyond human aid. Medicine, psychiatry, social workers, nothing worked.......

Maybe that higher power was the AA group as a whole at first, cuz they were more powerful than me.They had done something together that I could not do alone.....

So why don't I give this some real effort......
What do I have to lose?........

It certainly can't hurt to try this new way of living. If I don't like it I can always go back to the misery I was in......

I had to decide, what was I gonna do? Would I take the suggestions? Would I even give myself a chance?.......

It seemed to be working for an awful lot of people even if I didn't understand it. They were not forcing any particular understanding of a God on me......

It was just a suggested program of action......
I had a choice.......

I decided to give myself a chance and it has been the best decision I have made in my life.

I listened to others share the way it was for them what happened and what it was like now......
I got honest, admitted I couldn't do this alone.....

I became openminded and tried to let a new idea flow into my mind.....

I did find God......
And I became willing to try something different from what I was doing.......


Today I have benefited so much from this program and yes I rarely if ever think about drinking..........

The steps of this program are setting me free from the compulsion and doing a pretty good job on my crazy thinking too. The steps have given me the awareness I lacked in the past......

The awareness of the unhealthy thinking that always led me to a drink......

This program will work if you are willing to work it folks.....

And if I don't I will not get or stay sober . I proved that to myself quite a few times .

gigi0310

Great post with lots of reminders and words to live by.

gigi

LadyinBC

I know I definately can't do it on my own and I always have to be openminded. Being close minded got me in trouble to begin with!

Joe Nerv

Although I've been sober for quite a while, I have to admit that I'm learning a whole lot from this website, and my experiences in the rooms the past few months.

I've come to the point where I believe every word of what's stated in how it works. That is exactly how it's worked for me, and I have never had any argument with it. There are many conditions however that a lot of people when sharing about this stuff, neglect to mention, or put IMO enough focus on. Without pulling a bunch of quotes out of the bigbook (and step book), most of us need to be in a state of complete hoplessness, before we'll have the necessary state of mind, body and spirit - for the 12 steps and solution outlined in the BB to work. Yet it CAN work for anyone, who is willing, and not everyone has to sink to the depths that some of us did.

For me, that doesn't negate any other way of staying sober. People CAN get sober by just going to meetings. People CAN get sober by all the other means mentioned on this forum. People CAN get sober in many different ways, and I have yet to see anywere in the bigbook that says this is the ONLY way. I'm sure it actually says somewhere that it's not - don't have the whole book memorized yet. What the message means to me is that if all else has failed, nothing else you've tried works, and you are completely hopeless - then you'll be in the perfect condition to accept all this fully, and it WILL work. And it's been rare that I've seen it fail. Not sure actually that I ever have seen it fail. Except as mentioned when people weren't truly being honest with themselves. It IS a solution, and it's available for anyone who wants it.

I have issue with BB thumpers that I'm still working at, but it's getting a little more clear to me why. While I understand their enthusiasm, I feel they give a very distorted and off-putting picture of what AA is truly about. They make AA open to a lot of unneccesary ridicule (my favorite examples I've posted several times, ie. southpark and penn & teller). I feel a lot of them create an insulting image of a fellowship I hold very dear, as it saved my life.

There is a solution in AA, for anyone who wants it. There is no right and wrong about it, and nobody "works" this any better or "more right" than anyone else. And many other things may get someone sober, and keep them that way. If they don't, then this will - if they COMPLETELY give themselves to it. How could it be any more clear than as stated in the OP?

Johno1967

I've been sober just over 100 days and have read the BB nearly twice and ploughed through the pocket sponsor, little red book and reading spiritual literature and learning to meditate. I've learned a lot in that short amount of time and learned a lot about my self. I know I'm at the very start of my spiritual journey. The AA way of living is a true spiritual path in my view. That's coming from someone who was until recently a skeptical, cynical, agnostic in alcoholic denial. Its much more fun than the hangovers, foul moods, gastric reflux and mental anguish I used to spend my days with!

paul99

You'll be surprised at how many times the book seems to change as you read it through your journey. Sentences, passages, even single words will jump out at you later on that you thought never were there in the first place. Happens to me all the time.