Learning how to live in the greatest peace, partnership , and brotherhood with all men and women, of whatever description, is a moving and fascinating adventure. But every AA has found that he can make little headway in this new adventure of living until he first backtracks and really makes an accurate and unsparing surveyContinue reading “To Take Responsibility – As Bill Sees It #145”
Category Archives: Step 8
Eliminating Shame Through The Principles and Practices of Alcoholics Anonymous by Steve K.
The word shame is derived from the Indo-European ‘skein’, which means to hide. Shame makes us want to hide from ourselves, and our peers – making shame an existentially isolating state of mind. Feeling shame makes a person dejection-based, passive, or helpless, causing the ashamed person to focus more on devaluing or condemning his entireContinue reading “Eliminating Shame Through The Principles and Practices of Alcoholics Anonymous by Steve K.”
The Shame Knot – Grapevine Article September 2013 By June B.
I love the amends Step. I especially like the words “such people” in the Ninth Step. As a non-custodial mother to three of my four sons and an often absentee mother to the other one, I caused irreparable damage during my drinking years. After sobering up in AA, I did what I could to makeContinue reading “The Shame Knot – Grapevine Article September 2013 By June B.”
8th Step Willingness To Have Our Hearts Change – The Language Of Letting Go – Melody Beattie
The Eighth Step is talking about a change of heart, a healing change. This attitude can begin a great chain of repair and healing in our relationships with others and ourselves. It means we become willing to let go of our hard heartedness – one of the greatest blocks to our ability to give andContinue reading “8th Step Willingness To Have Our Hearts Change – The Language Of Letting Go – Melody Beattie”
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”
Room To Grow – Grapevine Article June 1999 by Jim N.
Step 6 – Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. The way I read Step Six, Bill seems to be saying, “Don’t be in too much of a hurry to get better.” And the longer I’m sober, the clearer it becomes that I’m not really in charge of this gettingContinue reading “Room To Grow – Grapevine Article June 1999 by Jim N.”
God-Given Instincts – As Bill Sees It #142
Creation gave us instincts for a purpose. Without them we wouldn’t be complete human beings. If men and women didn’t exert themselves to be secure in their persons, made no effort to harvest food or construct shelter, there would be no survival. If they didn’t reproduce, the earth wouldn’t be populated. If there were noContinue reading “God-Given Instincts – As Bill Sees It #142”
Legacy Of Resentment – Grapevine Article December 2010 by Tom L.
Chains of bitterness toward his mother are shattered through forgiveness Returning from school, halfway down the hall leading to my apartment, I smelled the familiar mixed odors of smoke and booze. With dread in my heart, I knew what I was about to face: my drunken mother in her messy housecoat, sitting on a chairContinue reading “Legacy Of Resentment – Grapevine Article December 2010 by Tom L.”
Surveying The Past – As Bill Sees It #111
We should make an accurate and really exhaustive survey of our past life as it has affected other people. In many instances we shall find that, though the harm done to others has not been great, we have nevertheless done ourselves considerable injury. Then, too, damaging emotional conflicts persist below the level of consciousness, veryContinue reading “Surveying The Past – As Bill Sees It #111”
To Deepen Our Insight – As Bill Sees It #54
It is necessary that we extricate from an examination of our personal relations every bit of information about ourselves and our fundamental difficulties that we can. Since defective relations with other human beings have nearly always been the immediate cause of our woes, including our alcoholism, no field of investigation could yield more satisfying andContinue reading “To Deepen Our Insight – As Bill Sees It #54”