He thought they were only for the very good people, the saints Being a drunk and, hence, a “bad person,” I was not at all happy with a Higher Power or God who refused to answer my pleas for help. Over and over again I had asked God for surcease of my drunken, “bad” behavior,Continue reading “Miracles: Yours and Mine – Grapevine Article February 2004 By Dave L.”
Category Archives: Grandiosity
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”
Winners and Whiners – Grapevine Article Oct 1994 by Gabby H.
I love the diversity of our Fellowship. I got sober in a small town blessed with three meetings a day, and I have come to appreciate that there are many kinds of meetings–the rough-and-rugged newcomer meetings, the philosophical middle-sobriety ones, and the living-in-the-solution old-timer meetings. I can usually inventory my feelings and needs, then chooseContinue reading “Winners and Whiners – Grapevine Article Oct 1994 by Gabby H.”
Acceptance & Expectations – 12 Essential Insights For Emotional Sobriety – Dr. Allen Berger
Acceptance is one of the “big ideas” in recovery. There is a natural connection between self-acceptance—learning to accept our true self as we are—and learning to accept the world as it is. And the world as it is never fits our expectations. That’s a tough lesson, because a part of us always clings to theContinue reading “Acceptance & Expectations – 12 Essential Insights For Emotional Sobriety – Dr. Allen Berger”
Self Acceptance – 12 Essential Insights For Emotional Sobriety by Dr. Allen Berger
Dr. Berger is a leader in Emotional Sobriety. His book 12 Essential Insights For Emotional Sobriety is featured prominently in the Emotional Sobriety section of the gugogs.org website. He is a Gestalt therapist with over 50 years of sobriety. Before we do a deep dive into self acceptance with Dr. Berger’s article, it might be useful to identify signsContinue reading “Self Acceptance – 12 Essential Insights For Emotional Sobriety by Dr. Allen Berger”
Origins of Rule 62 ‘Don’t Take Yourself Too Damn Seriously’ – Twelve & Twelve Tradition 4
When A.A. was still young, lots of eager groups were forming. In a town we’ll call Middleton, a real crackerjack had started up. The townspeople were as hot as firecrackers about it. Stargazing, the elders dreamed of innovations. They figured the town needed a great big alcoholic center, a kind of pilot plant A.A. groupsContinue reading “Origins of Rule 62 ‘Don’t Take Yourself Too Damn Seriously’ – Twelve & Twelve Tradition 4”
Brain Power Alone? – As Bill Sees It #60
To the intellectually self-sufficient man or woman, many A.A.’s can say, “Yes, we were like you—far too smart for our own good. We loved to have people call us precocious. We used our education to blow ourselves up into prideful balloons, though we were careful to hide this from others. Secretly, we felt we couldContinue reading “Brain Power Alone? – As Bill Sees It #60”
Discovering True Worth – Humility’s Role In Overcoming Shame and Pride – Practicing These Principles by Ray A.
Feeling that we are different, that we don’t belong or fit in, is a staple of the alcoholic story. However, few openly connect the feeling with shame. Bill W does. In Pass It On and Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, we read about two circumstances that fostered the emotion in him growing up. The firstContinue reading “Discovering True Worth – Humility’s Role In Overcoming Shame and Pride – Practicing These Principles by Ray A.”
Make Your Immaturity Pay – Grapevine Article March 1965 by Anonymous
Those defects can keep us alive to the need to change TWENTY years ago emotional immaturity was mentioned and discussed in our Fellowship frequently and in depth. We had a monopoly on it in those days. All of us were impressed. The fact that we all had it in varying degrees was universally accepted. ItContinue reading “Make Your Immaturity Pay – Grapevine Article March 1965 by Anonymous”
Turn It All Over – Grapevine Article January 1984 by J.W.
Step Three I WAS WHAT is called a high-bottom drunk. When I got to the AA program, I had not been beaten down enough to have anything even remotely approaching real humility. I was smug, arrogant, self-satisfied, and certain that every area of my life except my alcoholism was firmly and securely under my control.Continue reading “Turn It All Over – Grapevine Article January 1984 by J.W.”