The e-AA Group

THE KEY IS WILLINGNESS Once we have placed the key of willingness in the lock and have the door ever so slightly open, we find that we can always open it some more. — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 35 The willingness to give up my pride and self-will to a Power greater than myself has prove...

Sunday, March 7 Thought for the Day There are two important things we have to do if we want to get sober and stay sober. First, having admitted that we're helpless before alcohol, we have to turn our alcoholic problem over to God and trust Him to take care of it for us. This means asking Him every m...

THE IDEA OF FAITH Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. — ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 47 The idea of faith is a very large chunk to swallow when fear, doubt and anger abound in and around me. Sometimes just the idea...

Saturday, March 6 Thought for the Day In A.A. we must surrender, give up, admit that we're helpless. We surrender our lives to God and ask Him for help. When He knows that we're ready, He gives us by His grace the free gift of sobriety. And we can't take any credit for having stopped drinking, becau...

You sound like a nice person, but I have never seen it written that we should like everybody. In AA I have heard people discuss ‘boundaries,’ and for me, a neighbor or anyone else being unduly critical is crossing the boundary and not being ‘nice' themselves, why should I like or be nice to someone ...

A LIFELONG TASK “But just how, in these circumstances, does a fellow ‘take it easy?’ That’s what I want to know.” — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 26 I was never known for my patience. How many times have I asked, “Why should I wait, when I can have it all right now?” Indeed, when I was fir...

Friday, March 5 Thought for the Day Sometimes we try too hard to get this program. It is better to relax and accept it. It will be given to us, with no effort on our part, if we stop trying too hard to get it. Sobriety can be a free gift of God, which He gives us by His grace when He knows we are re...

I have removed the reference to the speaker's name and just left “how the government is run.” The point I was trying to make is that some folks seem to overcomplicate AA business and run it like a government, I am from the Caribbean and have no opinion one way or the other about US politics. I trust...

WEEDING THE GARDEN The essence of all growth is a willingness to make a change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails. — AS BILL SEES IT, p. 115 By the time I had reached Step Three I had been freed of my dependence on alcohol, but bitter...

Thursday, March 4 Thought for the Day Having surrendered our lives to God and put our drink problem in His hands doesn't mean that we'll never be tempted to drink. So we must build up strength for the time when temptation will come. In this quiet time, we read and pray and get our minds in the right...

My opinion is closest to that of Theo, basically that if it’s a possible temptation to the person involved then get rid of them. But then I have a cupboard with rum and beer in it that my wife has her occasional drinks from, or should a visitor come I can offer it, if I was going to relapse that wou...

OVERCOMING SELF-WILL So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn’t think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us! ...

Wednesday, March 3 Thought for the Day After we've made a surrender, the drink problem is out of our hands and in the hands of God. The thing we have to do is to be sure that we never reach out and take the problem back into our own hands. Leave it in God's hands. Whenever I'm tempted to take a drin...

HOPE Do not be discouraged. — ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 60 Few experiences are of less value to me than fast sobriety. Too many times discouragement has been the bonus for unrealistic expectations, not to mention self-pity or fatigue from my wanting to change the world by the weekend. Discouragement...

Tuesday, March 2 Thought for the Day Over a period of drinking years, we've proved to ourselves and to everybody else that we can't stop drinking by our own will power. We have been proved helpless before the power of alcohol. So the only way we could stop drinking was by turning to a Power greater ...