Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who was jailed for his activism and in 1994 became South Africa’s first black President, regularly recited one poem during his more than twenty-five years of imprisonment—the 1875 poem “Invictus” by English poet William Ernest Henley. The poem, which helped Mandela persist through extraordinarily challenging circumstances, includes the iconic lines,Continue reading “Invictus – Recovery Poem By William Ernest Henley”
Category Archives: Conscience
A Soul Checks In – Grapevine Article March 2006 By Jeff A.
Like the author of “A Drunk Like You” in the Big Book, I, too, think scientifically and had to research whether or not I was an alcoholic. I first came into the rooms following a bout of drinking that had resulted in my seeing things, hearing things, feeling paranoid, and busting ghosts. After a fewContinue reading “A Soul Checks In – Grapevine Article March 2006 By Jeff A.”
Step Nine: Scene Of The Crime – Grapevine Article September 1993 By Kit K.
The rocks looked the same. The light in the sky at sunset was as I remembered it; the stillness and silence of the pinyon-juniper forest had not changed. This was the day I returned to the windswept landscape of northern Arizona from which I had fled five years before. When I left, I was runningContinue reading “Step Nine: Scene Of The Crime – Grapevine Article September 1993 By Kit K.”
One Man’s Deep Dive Into The Principles Of Each Step By Herb K.
PRINCIPLES: Foundational TRUTHS: core VALUES which regulate moral behavior; guidelines and guardrails:
4th Step Inventory – Phase 1 – Flaws & Assets Evaluation By Bruce M.
Let’s begin the 4th step inventory process with a focus on the big picture before we get down into the many details this process suggests. This is consistent with the instructions in the Big Book to ‘first, we searched out the flaws in our make-up which caused us failure’ (BB p.64). AA Big Book pagesContinue reading “4th Step Inventory – Phase 1 – Flaws & Assets Evaluation By Bruce M.”
Mashup – Recognizing And Surrendering Our Grandiosity
The belief in how special and unique we are can develop into a grandiosity that we may need to recognize within ourselves. The Twelve & Twelve reminds us of what the results of a study of alcoholics concluded were our most common personality traits The doctors weren’t trying to find how different we were fromContinue reading “Mashup – Recognizing And Surrendering Our Grandiosity”
Our Thinking Problem – Big Book Substitution p.30
One of our group members, Jack, has used this substitution of ‘thinking’ rather than ‘drinking’ as a great asset in his ongoing recovery . I also find this very, very helpful as I move to accept the obsessive thinking that leads to restless, irritable and discontent and then embrace steps 2 and 3 throughout theContinue reading “Our Thinking Problem – Big Book Substitution p.30”
Conscience And Step Ten – Spiritual Principle A Day October 24th
“We need to stay in tune with the voice of our conscience and listen to what it’s telling us. When we get a nagging feeling that something isn’t quite right, we should pay attention to it.” It Works, Step Ten Our days of justifying our own bad behavior are mostly behind us. Sure, we stillContinue reading “Conscience And Step Ten – Spiritual Principle A Day October 24th”