condition called "alcoholism." This illness strikes without regard for age, creed, sex, intelligence,
ethnic background, emotional health, occupation, family situation, strong constitution, eating habits,
social or economic status, or general character. It is not a question of how much or how you drink,
or when, or why, but of how your drinking affects your life what happens when you drink.
Before we could recognize the illness in ourselves, we had to unload this tired old myth: It would be
a sign of shameful weakness to admit that we couldn't handle the sauce any more (if we ever could).
Weakness? Actually, it takes considerable courage to stare unblinkingly at the hard truth, sparing
nothing, without glossing over anything, without excuses, and without kidding ourselves. (It is
unseemly to brag, but frankly, many of us think that at kidding ourselves we were world
champions.)
The process of recovery from alcoholism also has been clouded with misconceptions. Like millions
of others who have watched a person drinking himself or herself to death, we have wondered why
the drinker did not use willpower to stop drinking. That is another outdated idea, but it sticks
because many of us have been exposed early in life to some model of superwillpower. Maybe there
was the family or neighborhood legend of good old Uncle John. Known as a rake and a heller for
years, he suddenly gave up wine, women, and song at age 50 and became a model of propriety and
rectitude who never touched another drop.
The childish notion that we can do likewise when we get ready is a dangerous delusion. We are not
anybody else. We are only ourselves. (We are not Grandpa, who drank a fifth a day until he was 90,
either.)
It is now well established that willpower all by itself is about as effective a cure for alcohol
addiction as it is for cancer. Our own experience has verified that repeatedly. Most of us tried going
it alone, hoping either to control our drinking or to stop, and we had no lasting success in either
endeavor. Even so, it wasn't easy to admit we needed help. That, too, looked like a sign of weakness.
Yes, we were being taken in by another myth.
But we finally asked ourselves: Wouldn't it be more intelligent to seek out and tap a strength greater
than our own than to persist in our futile solo efforts, after they had time and again been proved
ineffective? We still don't think it is very smart to keep trying to see in the dark if you can simply
switch on a lamp and use its light We didn't get sober entirely on our own. That isn't the way we
learned to stay sober. And the full enjoyment of living sober isn't a one-person job, either.
When we could look, even temporarily, at just a few new ideas different from our old ones, we had
already begun to make a sturdy start toward a happy, healthier new life. It happened just that way to
thousands and thousands of us who deeply believed it never could.
28 Reading the A.A. message
Human beings, we are told, learn many things best by seeing and touching as well as hearing them;
and reading about them reinforces the strength of such learning even further.
There are many good publications on alcoholism, and some not so good. Many of us have also
profited by reading in other fields. But AA. neither endorses nor opposes anybody else's
publications. We simply offer our own.
Even drinkers who have never before been much for reading spend hours poring over AA material.
It is undoubtedly the best way to grasp a broad, firsthand consensus of all AA wisdom, instead of
just the hearsay of one time and place.
There are seven AA books and three booklets in a format similar to this one.
"Alcoholics Anonymous''
This is the basic textbook of AA experience.
AA as we know it is the outgrowth of this book, which was originally prepared by a hundred or so
alcoholics who had learned to stay sober by helping each other. After a few years of sobriety, they
recorded what they had done and gave the account this title. Our Fellowship then began to be called
by the name "Alcoholics Anonymous."
In this volume, the original AA experience is spelled out by those who did it first, then wrote about
it. It is the primary source book of all basic AA. thought for all of us whether we read and reread it
often or seldom. Most members get a copy as soon after coming to AA as they can, so they may take
the fundamental AA. ideas directly from the source, not hear of them second- or third-hand.
Members often refer to "Alcoholics Anonymous" as the "Big Book," but not to compare it with any
sacred text Its first printing (in 1939) was on very thick paper, so it came out surprisingly fat and
was laughingly dubbed the Big Book.
The first 11, basic chapters were written by Bill W., co-founder of AA It also contains many AA
members' own stories, as written by themselves, and several appendixes of additional matter.
Simply reading the book was enough to sober up some people in AA's early days, when there were
only a few AA groups in the world. It still works that way for some problem drinkers in isolated
parts of the world, or for those who live on seagoing vessels.
Regular readers of the book say that repeated readings reveal many deeper meanings that cannot be
grasped at the first hurried glance.
"Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions''
AA fundamentals are discussed at even greater depth in this book, also written by Bill W. (It is
sometimes nicknamed "The Twelve and Twelve.") Members who want to study the AA program of
recovery seriously use it as a text in conjunction with the Big Book.
Written 13 years after "Alcoholics Anonymous," this smaller volume explains principles of AA
behavior, both individual and group. The Twelve Steps, guides to individual growth, had been
discussed more briefly in the Big Book; the group principles the Twelve Traditions became
crystallized through trial and error, after the first book was published. They characterize the
movement and make it unique quite unlike other societies.
"Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age"
This brief history tells how the Fellowship started, and how it grew for its first 20 years. It recounts
the tale of how a small group of courageous, once-hopeless former drunkards with all the odds
against them finally became securely established as a worldwide movement of acknowledged
effectiveness.
"As Bill Sees It"
A reader of Bill W.'s pithiest paragraphs, from his voluminous personal correspondence as well as
other writings. A subject index covers topics of interest to any problem drinker.
"Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers"
The life story of AA's co-founder is interwoven with recollections of early AA in the Midwest,
mostly in pioneer members' own words.
"Pass It On"
This biography of AA's co-founder is subtitled The Story of Bill Wilson and How the AA Message
Reached The World." It also traces the development of the Fellowship; 39 photographs from AA's
history.
"Came to Believe..."
Subtitled The Spiritual Adventure of AA as Experienced by Individual Members," this is a
collection of 75 members' versions of "a Power greater than ourselves." They range from orthodox
religious interpretations through humanistic and agnostic views.
"Daily Reflections: A Book of Reflections by AA Members for AA Members"
AA's reflect on favorite quotations from AA literature. A reading for each day of the year.
"AA. in Prison: Inmate to Inmate"
A collection of 32 stories, previously printed in the AA Grapevine, sharing the experience of men
and women who found AA while in prison.
Pamphlets
Many leaflets on various aspects of AA, some of them addressed to special-interest groups, are also
published by AA World Services, Inc.
They have all been carefully prepared under close supervision by AA representatives from all over [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]