Eyes of Gratitude Prayer God, thank you for the life you have given me, and all that lies ahead. Help me see all the opportunities that exist now, in this, and every moment. Grant me an awareness of the miracles and gifts contained in each moment, the wonders of our bodies and minds, and all…
“In sobriety, I have never had a bad idea…until I ran it by someone else!” – Dick B. AA’s love thinking. Whenever faced with a serious problem best leave AA’s alone so they can “figure it out.” This is OK for normal people, but for those of us with alcoholism, unchecked thinking often leads to…
Perhaps you have heard the cliché, “there is no such thing as a bad AA meeting.” There are bad meetings. What is the difference between a good and bad meeting? Good meetings share either the common problem (alcoholism) or common solution (the spirituality/action required by the steps). People/speakers share about the problem or the solution in an interesting…
The cliché you hear in AA is “we’re not bad people trying to get good, we’re sick people trying to get well!” This may be the case, at least initially. But as time passes this often changes. Anyone who is serious and sincere with working the steps will soon find himself or herself trying to…
Carl Jung is an important figure to AA. His belief that life’s problems, and alcoholism in particular, were best treated with spiritual solutions was (and still is) a significant development for psychology and addiction treatment. In many ways it was AA’s association with Jung – important enough to be mentioned in the very first edition…
Early in my sobriety, I was quick to pour out my heart at the group level and experienced some unexpected push back from members. I thought “honesty” was to permeate every area of my life, especially when sharing at the group level. My sponsor explained that yes, honesty was an essential part of sobriety, but…
An oldtimer the other day said, “when you boil AA down, it’s all about growing up and becoming a responsible adult!” How right he is! The 12 Steps and 12 traditions say that when they conducted a study of AA personalities they learned, we were “childish, emotionally immature, and grandiose!” Hate to say it, but…
Facebook is the great thing. It allows people to reconnect and maintain “loose affiliations” over time easily. MIT researcher Judith Donath in her article Darwin to Facebook suggests this move from more traditional close, tight, and relatively few relationships to looser ones in more volume and less frequency is an evolutionary development. As we have become…
When you think about it, AA could have only emerged as a spiritual movement in the United States. No other country is more ecumenical and offers such broad religious plurality. Only in that rich and accepting American soil could concepts like “power greater than yourself” replace the more overtly religious iconography of Jesus (or another figure). This…
One of the most grandiose statements in the 12 steps is “having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps!” A spiritual awakening virtually guaranteed by working the steps? Really? Were I brand new and looking in I would think, “uh oh, here we go, another religion!” But AA is not a religion….