The Little Big Book - AA - GSO Watch

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This should be an entirely personal affair which each one decides for himself in the light of past associations, or his present choice. Not all of us join religious bodies, but most of us favor such memberships. In the following chapter, there appears an explanation of alcoholism, as we understand it, then a chapter addressed to the agnostic. Many who once were in this class are now among our members. Surprisingly THERE IS A SOLUTION 29 enough, we find such convictions no great obstacle to a spiritual experience. Further on, clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered. These are followed by forty-three personal experiences. Each individual, in the personal stories, describes in his own language and from his own point of view the way he established his relationship with God. These give a fair cross section of our membership and a clearcut idea of what has actually happened in their lives. We hope no one will consider these self-revealing accounts in bad taste. Our hope is that many alcoholic men and women, desperately in need, will see these pages, and we believe that it is only by fully disclosing ourselves and our problems that they will be persuaded to say, ”Yes, I am one of them too; I must have this thing.“ 30 Chapter 3 MORE ABOUT ALCOHOLISM M OST OF US have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea 32
that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death. We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed. We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals—usually brief—were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better. We are like men who have lost their legs; they never grow new ones. Neither does there appear to be any kind of treatment which will make alcoholics of MORE ABOUT ALCOHOLISM 31 our kind like other men. We have tried every imaginable remedy. In some instances there has been brief recovery, followed always by a still worse relapse. Physicians who are familiar with alcoholism agree there is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic. Science may one day accomplish this, but it hasn’t done so yet. Despite all we can say, many who are real alcoholics are not going to believe they are in that class. By every form of self-deception and experimentation, they will try to prove themselves exceptions to the rule, therefore nonalcoholic. If anyone who is showing inability to control his drinking can do the right- 33
Page 1 and 2: THE DOCTOR’S OPINION We of Alcoho
Page 3 and 4: of alcohol on these chronic alcohol
Page 5 and 6: This immediately precipitates us in
Page 7 and 8: lost money—but some became very r
Page 9 and 10: New York stock exchange. After one
Page 11 and 12: there was a terrible sense of impen
Page 13 and 14: Trembling, I stepped from the hospi
Page 15 and 16: I had always believed in a Power gr
Page 17 and 18: It was only a matter of being willi
Page 19 and 20: have such experiences. He knows tha
Page 21 and 22: just as hopeless as Bill. Nearly al
Page 23 and 24: the problem would hardly be scratch
Page 25 and 26: Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He is seldom m
Page 27 and 28: Once in a while he may tell the tru
Page 29 and 30: The central fact of our lives today
Page 31: you. With many individuals the meth
Page 35 and 36: these bouts and quieted himself wit
Page 37 and 38: question is how to stop altogether.
Page 39 and 40: eing any too smart, but felt reassu
Page 41 and 42: Some of you are thinking: ”Yes, w
Page 43 and 44: „In this frame of mind, I went ab
Page 45 and 46: ”Quite as important was the disco
Page 47 and 48: needed power wasn’t there. Our hu
Page 49 and 50: first conscious relation with God a
Page 51 and 52: in windy arguments, thinking we bel
Page 53 and 54: Students of ancient history tell us
Page 55 and 56: When we became alcoholics, crushed
Page 57 and 58: We finally saw that faith in some k
Page 59 and 60: Chapter 5 58 HOW IT WORKS R ARELY H
Page 61 and 62: The point is, that we are willing t
Page 63 and 64: have made decisions based on self w
Page 65 and 66: goods, to get rid of them promptly
Page 67 and 68: finitely grave. We found that it is
Page 69 and 70: our Creator. We can laugh at those
Page 71 and 72: selves. It quiets the imperious urg
Page 73 and 74: one might have observed him. As fas
Page 75 and 76: quiet for an hour, carefully review
Page 77 and 78: than to a friend, but we find it mu
Page 79 and 80: ing for either family. We suggested
Page 81 and 82: justifiable exceptions, and though
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way through. We are going to know a
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shouldn’t be shy on this matter o
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88 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS running the
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If he does not want to see you, nev
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alcoholism because you offer a solu
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taken action. On your first visit t
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WORKING WITH OTHERS 97 You may be a
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most incompatible people discover t
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Our experience shows that this is n
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urners. A spirit of intolerance mig
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We seldom had friends at our homes,
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were so inaccessible that it seemed
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alcoholic. Perhaps he can still ten
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yourself in his place. Let him see
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114 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS There are
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Ask him what you should do if he pl
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of either to smile and say, ”This
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fied he really wants to get over dr
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family of an alcoholic longs for th
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We families of Alcoholics Anonymous
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will disappear when there is tolera
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include his family obligations may
Page 127 and 128:
The family may feel they hold a mor
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we have seen remarkable transformat
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fences. Though he is now a most eff
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employer has sometimes kept such a
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he not work hard and have a knack o
Page 137 and 138:
lecture, moralize, or condemn; that
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all, are you not looking for result
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ment to a life which knows no alcoh
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It boils right down to this: No man
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drinking. The old pleasures were go
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Our hope is that when this chip of
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how he lived in constant worry abou
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once, but I’m a nobody now. From
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ceeded with seven more. Seeing much
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Under only slightly different condi
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to face life again, there will be n
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Salisbury (410) 543-2266 Massa-chus
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FOREWORD We, of Alcoholics Anonymou
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