WE, OF Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book. For them, we hope these pages will prove so convincing that no further authentication will be necessary. We think this account of our experiences will help everyone to better understand the alcoholic. Many do not comprehend that the alcoholic is a very sick person. And besides, we are sure that our way of living has its advantages for all.
(Forward to the First Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous)
The Big Book gives us one suggestion to encourage the newcomer to learn the AA way of life, on page 94 it says,
“If he shows interest, lend him your copy of this book.”
If you are new, and for whatever reason can't seem to find a sponsor and nobody is willing to guide you, then the below format is a practical way to navigate through the BB as a way to gauge what step goes with what chapter.
The book was- before there was such a thing as meetings, fellowship and sponsors. The intention for it being written was for it to be preserved in its integral form, read and studied by the alcoholic who wanted to get well and recover. Then, they make themselves available in their community if someone else wanted to recover; and so it goes.
Everyone gets to have their own experience with the text, however, the original text remains the foundation of which the program of Alcoholics Anonymous was built. Everything else like meetings, fellowship, sponsors, slogans, other literature, etc; can be assets and used as an extension of the book/program, but should never be a replacement for what is.
For those of us who are not new, but always looking to renew our perspective, have a new experience, and strengthen our connection to God consciousness by continued expansion in our primary purpose (I can't be of real service with what I don't know, study, or have experience with) this format can also be used. I can have new experiences with something I've already read if I am willing to open my heart and mind to it.
The book is fractally encoded in that it speaks to me where I am currently at, and about things that are not necessarily alcohol related-because I am no longer in that space and time. This is why the book is considered to be among many spiritual teachers that are not alcoholic, one of the most profound spiritual text ever written.
It cuts through the garbage that is blocking the physical being from its natural connection to Source-once I'm plugged back in and actively seeking to stay plugged in, I grow and allow the soul to integrate back into my vessel which changes me, and there is no limit to these changes.
The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress.
Like Pinocchio, I become a real being who is no longer puppeted or animated by alcohol, defects or other people-this of course dependent upon my willingness to allow those dependencies to be removed (not necessarily the people, just the dependent part) and regain my God given right to autonomy within God's will and Gods jurisdiction-and within those parameters, ironically I walk as a free women.
It's when I am beholden to what everyone is thinking about me as a basis for my being that I have to shrink to fit into those perceptions-real or imagined. If God is God, and you are you, then none of us have to manipulate or puppet anyone or anything. In that state, I birth in real confidence and real authenticity so that there isn't a need to scurry and squirm into an identity box and then slap a label on myself just to feel safe-or justified in because I have made that as my excuse to not grow.
Everyday I can ask myself-How free do you want to be!? It's limitless.
Step 1 “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol...”
Preface & Forward
The Doctor's Opinion
Bill's Story
There is a Solution
Step 1 “...that our lives had become unmanageable.”
More About Alcoholism
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Step 2 “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
Chapter 2: There is A Solution pp 17–29; and Appendix II: Spiritual Experience pp 567–568
Step 2 “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
Chapter 2: There is A Solution pp 17–29; and Appendix II: Spiritual Experience pp 567–568
Step 2 “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
Chapter 4: We Agnostics pp. 44-57
~~~~~~~~
Step 3 “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.”
Chapter 5: How It Works pp.58-64
Step 3 “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.”
Chapter 5: How It Works pp.58-64
~~~~~~~
Step 4 “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” —Resentment
Chapter 5: How It Works pp.64-67
Step 4 “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” —Resentment
Chapter 5: How It Works pp.64-67
Step 4 “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” —Fear
Chapter 5: How It Works pp.67-68
Step 4 “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” —Sex Conduct
Chapter 5: How It Works pp.68-71
~~~~~~
Step 5 “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”
Chapter 6: Into Action pp. 72-75
Step 5 “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”
Chapter 6: Into Action pp. 72-75
~~~~~~
Steps 6 & 7 “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.” “Humbly asked
Him to remove our shortcomings.”
Steps 6 & 7 “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.” “Humbly asked
Him to remove our shortcomings.”
Chapter 6: Into Action pp. 76
~~~~~~
Steps 8 & 9 “Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.”
“Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them
or others.”
Steps 8 & 9 “Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.”
“Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them
or others.”
Chapter 6: Into Action pp. 76-84
~~~~~~
Step 10 “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.”
Chapter 6: Into Action pp. 84-85
~~~~~~
Step 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.”
Chapter 6: Into Action pp. 85-88
~~~~~~
Step 12 “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics...”
Chapter 7: Working with Others pp. 89-96
Step 12 “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics...”
Chapter 7: Working with Others pp. 89-96
Step 12 “...and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”
Chapter 7: Working with Others pp. 96-103