When we reached A.A., and for the first time in our lives stood among people who seemed to understand, the sense of belonging was tremendously exciting. We thought the isolation problem had been solved. But we soon discovered that, while we weren’t alone any more in a social sense, we still suffered many of theContinue reading “The Beginning Of True Kinship – As Bill Sees It #228”
Category Archives: As Bill Sees It
Is Sobriety Enough ? As Bill Sees It #227
The alcoholic is like a tornado roaring his way through the lives of others. Hearts are broken. Sweet relationships are dead. Affections have been uprooted. Selfish and inconsiderate habits have kept the home in turmoil. We feel a man is unthinking when he says that sobriety is enough. He is like the farmer who cameContinue reading “Is Sobriety Enough ? As Bill Sees It #227”
Happy – When We’re Free – As Bill Sees It #218
For most normal folks, drinking means release from care, boredom, and worry. It means joyous intimacy with friends and a feeling that life is good. But not so with us in those last days of heavy drinking. The old pleasures were gone. There was an insistent yearning to enjoy life as we once did andContinue reading “Happy – When We’re Free – As Bill Sees It #218”
Only Try – As Bill Sees It #214
In my teens, I had to be an athlete because I was not an athlete. I had to be a musician because I could not carry a tune. I had to be the president of my class in boarding school. I had to first in everything because in my perverse heart I felt myself theContinue reading “Only Try – As Bill Sees It #214”
Hope Born From Hopelessness – As Bill Sees It #217
Letter to Dr. Carl Jung: “Most conversion experiences, whatever their variety, do have a common denominator of ego collapse at depth. The individual faces an impossible dilemma. “In my case the dilemma had been created by my compulsive drinking, and the deep feeling of hopelessness had been vastly deepened by my doctor. It was deepenedContinue reading “Hope Born From Hopelessness – As Bill Sees It #217”
Defects And Repairs – As Bill Sees It #140
More than most people, the alcoholic leads a double life. He is very much the actor. To the outer world he presents his stage character. This is the one he likes his fellows to see. He wants to enjoy a certain reputation, but knows in his heart he doesn’t deserve it. << << << >>Continue reading “Defects And Repairs – As Bill Sees It #140”
Spiritual Kindergarten – As Bill Sees It #95
“We are only operating a spiritual kindergarten in which people are enabled to get over drinking and find the grace to go on living to better effect. Each man’s theology has to be his own quest, his own affair.” << << << >> >> >> When the Big Book was being planned, some members thoughtContinue reading “Spiritual Kindergarten – As Bill Sees It #95”
Eternal Values – As Bill Sees It #15
Many people will have no truck at all with absolute spiritual values. Perfectionists, they say, are either full of conceit because they fancy they have reached some impossible goal, or else they are swamped in self-condemnation because they have not done so. Yet I think that we should not hold this view. It is notContinue reading “Eternal Values – As Bill Sees It #15”
Giving Without Demand – As Bill Sees It #69
Watch any A.A. of six months working with a Twelfth Step prospect. If the newcomer says, “To the devil with you,” the twelfth-stepper only smiles and finds another alcoholic to help. He doesn’t feel frustrated or rejected. If this next drunk responds, and in turn starts to give love and attention to other sufferers, yetContinue reading “Giving Without Demand – As Bill Sees It #69”
A.A. In Two Words – As Bill Sees It #271
All A.A. progress can be reckoned in terms of just two words: humility and responsibility. Our whole spiritual development can be accurately measured by our degree of adherence to these magnificent standards. Ever deepening humility, accompanied by an ever greater willingness to accept and to act upon clear-cut obligations–these are truly our touchstones for allContinue reading “A.A. In Two Words – As Bill Sees It #271”