The Way Out

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?

You don’t HAVE to drink anymore.

"Dry" is not taking a drink. "Sobriety" is a way of life.

Sobriety=peace & serenity.

A day at a time.

The “­program of recovery” a/k/a the “Twelve Suggestions” is:
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we
understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
(Copyright  A.A. World Services, Inc.)




notes on the Big Book:
The suggested program of recovery: pp. 59-60
The most profound sentence in the Big Book: bottom of p. 70 to top of p. 71
The “promises”: pp. 83-84
What we need to do every day: pp. 85-88
What to do if agitated or doubtful: bottom of p. 87
What our recovery is dependent upon: top of p.100











THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen

THE SERENITY PRAYER

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference, just for today.
Living One Day at a Time, enjoying One Moment at a Time.

Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace; taking as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will; that I might live reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen



Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
and to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life. Amen


Prayer of an Anonymous Alcoholic

Dear Lord:
Thank You for what You have given me;
Thank You for what You have taken away;
Thank You for what You have left me;
Thank You for what You are giving me;
Thank You for what You are about to give me. Amen

Other Links:

Sayings in Recovery

A. A. also stands for:   "Attitude Adjustment." An Attitude of Gratitude.
90 meetings in 90 days
A GOOD day is when everything goes my way and I don't drink; A GREAT day is when nothing goes my way and I don't drink.
A slip begins long before the first drink.
AA is not for those who need it, it's for those who want it.
Act as if.
Action not distraction
Alcohol was but a symptom of our disease.
Alcoholics tend to be self-centered to the extreme.
An alcoholic is an egomaniac with an inferiority complex.
Anger hurts the one who feels it.
Avoid people, places and things that lead to drinking again.
Be careful, behind every skirt may be a slip.
Beyond your wildest dreams.
Bless them, Change me!
Bring the body around and the mind will follow.
But for the Grace of God there go I.
Call your sponsor.
Came, Came to, Came to believe
Change happens when the pain of holding on is greater than the fear of letting go.
Character is who you are when no one is looking.
Come early, stay late, get involved.
Courage is fear in action.
Disease: Dis-Ease
Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?
Do your best and leave the rest to God.
Don’t allow anyone to hijack your self-esteem.
Don't give up five minutes before the miracle.
Don't let anybody live rent free in your head.
Don't project.
DON'T TAKE YOURSELF SO SERIOUSLY!
Easy Does It
EGO: Edging God Out!
Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you sit around too long.
Expectations are premeditated resentments.
Faith without works is dead.
Fake it till you make it.
FEAR: Face Everything And Recover!
Fear is a darkroom where negatives are developed.
FEAR: False Expectations Appearing Real
Find the Joy in your Sobriety.
First we learn to listen, then we listen to learn, then we learn who to listen to.
First Things First
G.O.D. Good Orderly Directions.  Go to AA meetings; get a Big Book and read it (to at least page 164); get a sponsor; work the Steps.
God brought me to AA and AA brought me to God.
God will do for you what you can't do for yourself, but he won't do what you can.
Gratitude is a verb.
H.O.W:  Honesty, Open-mindedness, and Willingness.
HALT: Don't get too Hungry,  Angry,  Lonely, or Tired!
Happiness is an inside job.
Happiness is not getting what you want,  it’s wanting what you have.
Have Character, Don't be One!
Hit your knees.....not the bottle!
Humility is not  thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.
Humility is the Key to Sobriety.
Hurt people, hurt people.
I may not be much but I'm all I think about.
I never met anyone too dumb to stay sober, but I’ve met lots of people who were too smart.
Identify don't Compare.
If it works don't fix it.
If you don't drink you can't get drunk.
If you don't want to slip, stay away from slippery places.
If You have the ability, You have the responsibility.
If you’re too busy to go to meetings, you’re too busy!
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
It works if you work it.
It’s hard to be hateful when you’re grateful.
It’s a simple program.
It's a “we” program. You are not alone.
It's a program of attraction rather than promotion.
It's a simple program for complicated people.
It's easier to stay sober then to get sober.
It's in giving that we receive. It's in self-forgetting that one finds.
It's not the weight that drags you down, it's how you carry it.
It's that first drink that gets you drunk.
Just because you are on the right road, doesn't mean it won't get rocky sometimes.
Just because you’re in recovery doesn’t mean the whole world is in recovery.
Keep an attitude of gratitude.
Keep an open mind.
Keep coming back.
Keep It Simple
Let Go and Let God.
Listen to the message, not the messenger.
Make God your first resource, not your last resort.
Meeting makers make it.
Most of life is suiting up and showing up.
No major decisions for the first year.
No matter how far off the path you stumble, you are only 12 steps away from the solution!
Nothing can happen that God and I can't handle together.
NUTS: Not Using The Steps
One is too many and a thousand is never enough.
Our code is Love and Tolerance.
Our Singleness of purpose:  To carry the message to the next suffering alcoholic.
Pain is unavoidable, Suffering is optional.
Pass it on. You have to give it away in order to keep it.
People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.
Pick up the phone, before you pick up a drink!
Poor me, poor me, Pour me a drink.
Pray for the willingness to be willing.
Principles before Personalities.
Progress not perfection.
Resentment is the number one offender.
Resentment is to Re-feel.
Selfishness - Self-Centeredness that we think is the root of our trouble.
Serenity comes when I stop expecting and start accepting.
Seven days without a meeting makes one weak.
Slip: Sobriety losing its priority
Sobriety is God's gift to you; what you do with it is your gift to God.
Sobriety must come first.
Some are sicker than others.
Spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection
Sponsor: have one, use one, be one.
Stick with the winners.
Stinkin' thinkin' leads to drinkin’.
Stop playing God.
Take what you can use and leave the rest.
The chief activator of our defects has always been self-centered fear.
The first one will set you up, the rest will knock you down.
The first thing you put before you sobriety, will be the second thing you  lose.
The first three Steps: I can't, He can, I think I'll let Him.
The Hotter the Fire the Stronger the Steel.
The only difference between a stumbling block and a stepping stone is our attitude.
The Quality of Sobriety can never be measured by Time.
The smallest action is better than the greatest intention.
The Steps are in order for a reason.
The Steps protect us from drinking; the Traditions protect the program from us.
There are no big deals except God and the Steps. So if you’re making a big deal out of something and it’s not God or the Steps, all you’re doing is making a big deal of yourself.
There are no good reasons to drink, only bad excuses.
There is nothing so bad that a drink won't make worse!
They are only suggestions, so do them or die.
Think, Think, Think: Think a drink through.
This too shall pass.
Thy will not mine be done.
To thine own self be true.
Tough times don't last, but tough people do.
True forgiveness is forgetting.
Trust God, clean house, serve others
Turn it over.
Two things to know about God.  1) There is one.  2) You're not it.
We are as sick as our secrets.
We are only one drink away from a drunk.
We beat ourselves with the club of resentment.
We can't be all things to all people.
We carry the Message not the mess.
We suffer from alcohol-ISM, not alcohol-WASM
What looks good from afar, can be far from good.
What we resist, persists.
When in doubt, DON'T
When you’re hanging out in your head, you’re hanging out in a bad neighborhood.
Willingness is the key.
Worry: a terrible waste of imagination
Worry does not prevent disaster, it prevents joy.
Yesterday is history; Tomorrow is a mystery; Today is a gift; that’s why it’s called the Present!
You are either moving towards a drink or away from a drink
You can only coast going downhill.
You can't do it alone, and no one can do it for you.
You can't learn anything, if you think you know everything.
You could be one drink away from never being sober again.
You don’t have to go to every fight you’re invited to.
You got to get real to heal.
Your best thinking got you here.

12 Step Groups

Fellowships* which follow variations of the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous :

Al-Anon/Alateen, for friends and family members of alcoholics
CoDA - Co-Dependents Anonymous, for people working to end patterns of dysfunctional relationships and develop functional and healthy relationships
Co-Anon, for friends and family of addicts
FA - Families Anonymous, for relatives and friends of addicts
Gam-Anon/Gam-A-Teen, for friends and family members of problem gamblers
Nar-Anon, for friends and family members of addicts
PA - Pills Anonymous, for recovery from presciption pill addiction.
RA - Reentry Anonymous, for recovery of criminal addiction and ex-offender reentry support

Anonymity

Traditions Eleven and Twelve (short form) 
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities. 
Traditions Eleven and Twelve (long form)
11. Our relations with the general public should be characterized by personal anonymity. We think A.A. ought to avoid sensational advertising. Our names and pictures as A.A. members ought not be broadcast, filmed, or publicly printed. Our public relations should be guided by the principle of attraction rather than promotion. There is never need to praise ourselves. We feel it better to let our friends recommend us.
12.  And finally, we of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the principle of anonymity has an immense spiritual significance. It reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice a genuine humility. This to the end that our great blessings may never spoil us; that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all.


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