As a rule, the average newcomer wanted his family to know immediately what he was trying to do. He also wanted to tell others who had tried to help him—his doctor, his minister, and close friends. As he gained confidence, he felt it right to explain his new way of life to his employer andContinue reading “How Much Anonymity – As Bill Sees It #43”
Category Archives: Middle Way
What And Who We Really Are – Grapevine Article October 1991 By John W.
I have now experienced nearly eight good years of continuously sober and active membership in the Fellowship of AA. Never during this time have I hesitated to express my heartfelt gratitude for the program and the many positive (and necessary) changes it has helped make possible in my life–a life including many years of active,Continue reading “What And Who We Really Are – Grapevine Article October 1991 By John W.”
Life’s Purpose – Touchstone December 17th
The purpose of man’s life is not happiness but worthiness. –Felix Adler When we pursue happiness as a goal for its own sake, we usually reach the opposite point of emptiness. Feeling happy is a by-product of other life experiences. Happiness comes and goes. We welcome it but cannot capture and hold it, nor canContinue reading “Life’s Purpose – Touchstone December 17th”
Positively Negative – Grapevine Article April 1973 by Dick H.
On the last page of the Big Book text, we are given the reminder that one of our objectives in this ongoing day a time twelve step process is to remain teachable with what one might describe as a beginner’s mind with this quote ‘ we realize we know only a little’. This article belowContinue reading “Positively Negative – Grapevine Article April 1973 by Dick H.”
Vision Beyond Today – As Bill Sees It #317
Vision is, I think, the ability to make good estimates, both for the immediate and for the more distant future. Some might feel this sort of striving to be heresy against “One day at a time.” But that valuable principle really refers to our mental and emotional lives and means chiefly that we are notContinue reading “Vision Beyond Today – As Bill Sees It #317”
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”
Response Ability – Grapevine Article June 2011 by Joe V.
The burdens of obligation transform to gifts of sobriety Before and during my drinking days, people were always talking to me about responsibility. I “had a responsibility” to be an excellent student, obedient son and religious child. I was also somehow responsible that children on the other side of the world didn’t go to bedContinue reading “Response Ability – Grapevine Article June 2011 by Joe V.”
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”
We Never Give Up – Grapevine Article February 2020 by Alex M.
A man from Nepal reminds him that we don’t have the power to get people sober. We just hope and keep reaching out On a cold morning in February, I got a call from an AA friend who was working with a local ministry group that helped refugees and immigrants who had been given asylumContinue reading “We Never Give Up – Grapevine Article February 2020 by Alex M.”