For some of us, being a member of an AA group gives us our first taste of what it feels like to be reliable. When we are new, members urge us to come to the next meeting and come back clean. Group members remember us, seem happy to see us, ask us to share orContinue reading “Reliability Matters – A Spiritual Principle A Day February 28th”
Category Archives: Complacency
Convey Not Convince – Emotional Sobriety Podcast – Dr. Allen Berger
In our February 2026 Emotional Sobriety Series, we’ve discussed how the power of pause can help us discover how ‘the best in me can lead the rest in me’. We discussed how this ‘best in me’ discloses itself when I find a ‘position of neutrality’ which has no agenda to produce some desired outcome. WeContinue reading “Convey Not Convince – Emotional Sobriety Podcast – Dr. Allen Berger”
Are We Really Willing to Change? – Grapevine Article December 1980 By R.B.
SIxth Step – Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character THE FIRST STEP was a cinch for me. I had run out of options, and the results of my drinking had been devastating; so self-debate about drinking simply didn’t exist. I knew I couldn’t drink safely. I did the FirstContinue reading “Are We Really Willing to Change? – Grapevine Article December 1980 By R.B.”
Relational Sponsorship – 12 Step Philosophy By Steve K
In the context of 12 Step recovery “relational sponsorship” is an ongoing recovery-based relationship that supports humility, accountability, and spiritual discernment through honest dialogue rather than authority or instruction. It’s a form a sponsorship that sometimes follows an initial introduction to the 12 Steps. It’s not written anywhere within the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)Continue reading “Relational Sponsorship – 12 Step Philosophy By Steve K”
What a Sponsor Is and Is Not – Grapevine Article December 2004 By Hilary T.
The opportunity to help another alcoholic work the Steps and live in the solution keeps me in the heart of what recovery is all about. It has helped me to feel a “part of”–something I had tried to do for years. But it turned out to be as simple as sharing my experience, strength, andContinue reading “What a Sponsor Is and Is Not – Grapevine Article December 2004 By Hilary T.”
The Man I’ve Always Wanted To Be – Grapevine Article October 1990 By WM.J.
In November 1977, during one of my many stays “around” the program, an Al-Anon member asked me why I wouldn’t work AA’s Twelve Steps. In all sincerity I told him, “I don’t need the Steps to stay sober. The Fellowship of AA is enough to keep me sober.” I kept slippin’ and slidin’ around theContinue reading “The Man I’ve Always Wanted To Be – Grapevine Article October 1990 By WM.J.”
Powerlessness; We Learn By Doing It Wrong March 23rd 2023 Daily Meditation By Richard Rohr
Father Richard describes the futility of trying to “fix” ourselves: The genius of Twelve Step programs is that they situate powerlessness and surrender right where they belong—at the beginning. They teach how sin or addiction are overcome not through willpower or by control, but much more by recognizing that we are powerless to overcome them. ForContinue reading “Powerlessness; We Learn By Doing It Wrong March 23rd 2023 Daily Meditation By Richard Rohr”
People, Places, And Things – Grapevine Article June 1984 By S.C.
A look at the positive side of a familiar AA warning MANY BEGINNERS in my area are fond of saying, “I go to lots of meetings and I stay away from people, places, and things.” I’ve often felt like correcting the speaker by saying, “Surely, you don’t mean all people, places, and things.” I hold my tongueContinue reading “People, Places, And Things – Grapevine Article June 1984 By S.C.”
A Practice Of Thanksgiving – Daily Meditation November 27th By Richard Rohr
Gratitude is strongest, clearest, most robust, and radical when things are really hard. —Diana Butler Bass, Grateful During a time of crisis, historian and author Diana Butler Bass shares an experience of committing to a practice of gratitude: I did the only thing I could think of doing—simply saying “thanks” as I went through the day. IContinue reading “A Practice Of Thanksgiving – Daily Meditation November 27th By Richard Rohr”
Faith – A Blueprint – And Work – As Bill Sees It #284
The idea of ‘twenty-four-hour living’ applies primarily to the emotional life of the individual. Emotionally speaking, we must not live in yesterday, nor in tomorrow. But I have never been able to see that this means the individual, the group, or A.A. as a whole should give no thought whatever to how to function tomorrowContinue reading “Faith – A Blueprint – And Work – As Bill Sees It #284”