The Chinese have a saying, “Talk doesn’t cook rice!”
Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? Then again aren’t most truths simple and obvious ones?
A constant AA theme is a call for individual action. Situations don’t change by themselves – they require active and conscious engagement by the protagonist.
Unlike many self-help gurus who say otherwise, for the AA, thinking by itself isn’t much use.
This is because “Talk doesn’t cook rice!”
Often people pray for others. When there is nothing else to say or do, as in a troubling or tragic situation, people often say, “I’ll pray for you.” This is a kind thing to say as many people believe that God or a Higher Power responds directly to prayers and petitions. Whether or not this is the…
Emotions can be so intense. Thoughts can be so insistent. Either by themselves is enough to make someone feel a loss of control that can be frightening. Then there are those rare cases when both thought and emotion combine and totally overwhelm us. In many of these instances there is good cause for these emotions…
When I first came to AA, I looked around the room and thought my life was over. More importantly, I had vital questions, which needed to be answered right away, like these. How will I enjoy another Super Bowl without beer? How will I make it to a rock concert without weed? And, how can…
Everyone seems to love and often quote pages 86-87: On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions, we can employ our…
AA meetings without leadership often turn into local versions of Oprah/Dr. Phil and sound more like therapy than recovery. A therapy session is not a good thing, as the value of AA is that it offers a solution. Newcomers need a solution, not a forum for discussing feelings. Please make no mistake that while discussing…
Another great AA concept that offers broader application is “think through the drink!” The idea is that instead of thinking how good a drink might be, think instead of what happens after that drink. For the AA, rarely is there ever one drink. Usually, that first drink leads to much more and then the AA…