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AA Beginners Group 12 Step Workshop Join me in a moment of silence for those who are affected with alcoholism... |
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Opening Prayer We ask for your healing today for all those who are affected with alcoholism and for anyone here today that needs help. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Open the eyes of our understanding. Give us strength to help one another on this journey. Amen. |
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If you are still drinking and are planning to stop, you may want to ask your doctor for help to detox! They can help you. Quitting drinking can cause your body to experience sever medical issues. It is possible to have seizures and even worse, including death. We are not doctors here. Search out the advice of your doctor first. AA p. xxvi - (From The Doctor's Opinion) ...we favor hospitalization for the alcoholic who is very jittery or befogged. ...it is imperative that a man's brain be cleared before he is approached, as he has then a better chance of understanding and accepting what we have to offer. |
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Let's go around the room and introduce ourselves
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happy, joyous and free from alcohol. (Ask each person these questions.) Do you want that? To what lengths are you willing to go to get it? "If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any lengths to get it - then you are ready to take certain steps." AA 1st Ed p.70, 3rd-4th Ed p.58 |
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A small portion of the story, "HE SOLD HIMSELF SHORT," AA 3rd Ed p.291-2, 4th Ed p.262-3 I stayed in Akron two or three weeks on my initial trip trying to absorb as much of the program and philosophy as possible. I spent a great deal of time with Dr. Bob, whenever he had the time to spare, and in the homes of two or three other people, trying to see how the family lived the program. Every evening we would meet at the home of one of the members and have coffee and doughnuts and spend a social evening. The day before I was due to go back to Chicago, it was Dr. Bob's afternoon off, he had me to the office and we spent three or four hours formally going through the Six-Step program as it was at that time. The six steps were: 1. Complete deflation. 2. Dependence and guidance from a Higher Power. 3. Moral inventory. 4. Confession. 5. Restitution. 6. Continued work with other alcoholics. Dr. Bob led me through all of these steps. At the moral inventory, he brought up several of my bad personality traits or character defects, such as
This picture is still vivid. If I live to be a hundred, it will always stand out in my mind. It was very impressive, and I wish that every A.A. could have the benefit of this type of sponsorship today. Dr. Bob always emphasized the religious angle very strongly, and I think it helped. I know it helped me. Dr. Bob then led me through the restitution step, in which I made a list of all of the persons I had harmed and worked out the ways and the means of slowly making restitution. Several takeaways from this example:
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The Twelve Steps Of Alcoholics Anonymous 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 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. |
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Green Highlights - Actual instructions and points of emphasis Red Highlights - Words with deeper meaning - maybe look up definitions Blue Highlights - Prayers Suggestion - In your book highlight everything else in Yellow. Everyone should take turns reading. Each paragraph has something important to look at. |
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Step 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.
AA 1st Ed p.34, 3rd-4th Ed p.24 The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink. AA 1st Ed p.41, 3rd-4th Ed p.30 We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed. We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. AA 1st Ed p.45-46, 3rd-4th Ed p.34 This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it, this inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish. AA 1st Ed p.56, 3rd-4th Ed p.44 If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer. AA 1st Ed p.57, 3rd-4th Ed p.45 Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power? Well, thats exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem. AA 1st Ed p.21-22, 3rd-4th Ed p.12 My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea. He said, Why don't you choose your own conception of God? It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning. AA 1st Ed p.71, 3rd-4th Ed p.59 But there is One who has all power, that One is God. May you find him now! AA 1st Ed p.22-23, 3rd-4th Ed p.12 (Bill Wilson - a co-founder's account) For a brief moment, I had needed and wanted God. There had been a humble willingness to have Him with me - and He came. (step 3) There I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction. (steps 1 & 2) I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost. (steps 4 & 5) I ruthlessly faced my sins (steps 6 & 7) and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch. I have not had a drink since. |
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Step 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
AA 1st Ed p.6, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Ed p.xxv (The Doctor's Opinion) ...the phenomenon of craving at once became paramount to all other interests so that the important appointment was not met. These men were not drinking to escape, they were drinking to overcome a craving beyond their mental control. AA 1st Ed p.46, 3rd-4th Ed p.35 So we shall describe some of the mental states that precede a relapse into drinking, for obviously this is crux of the problem. AA 1st Ed p.48, 3rd-4th Ed p.37 But there was always the curious mental phenomenon that parallel with our sound reasoning there inevitably ran some insanely trivial excuse for taking the first drink. Our sound reasoning failed to hold us in check. AA 1st Ed p.45-46, 3rd-4th Ed p.39 ... the actual or potential alcoholic with hardly an exception will be absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of self knowledge. AA 1st Ed p.51, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Ed p.40 (Fred) I somewhat appreciated your ideas about the subtle insanity which precedes the first drink, but I was confident it could not happen to me after what I had learned. How do we get past this? AA 1st Ed p.55, 3rd-4th Ed p 43 Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power. AA 1st Ed p.72, 3rd-4th Ed p.60 (a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives. (step 1) (b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism. (step 2) (c) That God could and would if He were sought. (step 2) AA 1st Ed p.30, 3rd-4th Ed p.20 We have recovered from a hopeless condition of mind and body. If you are an alcoholic who wants to get over it, you may already be asking - What do I have to do? It is the purpose of this book to answer such questions specifically. (Feel free to ask questions at any time.) AA 1st Ed p.54, 3rd-4th Ed p.42 Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems. AA 1st Ed p.69, 3rd-4th Ed p.57 Even so has God restored us all to our right minds. Some of us grow into it more slowly. But He has come to all who have honestly sought Him. When we drew near to Him He disclosed Himself to us! (Ask each person these questions.) Questions! Do you want to drink? When was the last time you wanted to drink? When did you feel like not wanting to drink? |
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Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
AA 1st Ed p.72, 3rd-4th Ed p.60 The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success. AA 1st Ed p.74-75, 3rd-4th Ed p.62 Selfishness - self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of
This is the how and the why of it. First of all, we had to quit playing God. It didn't work. AA 1st Ed p.75, 3rd-4th Ed p.63 We decided that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director.
When we sincerely take such a position, all sorts of remarkable things follow.
We thought well before taking this step making sure that we were ready; that we could abandon ourselves utterly to Him. You can join us in the 3rd Step Prayer now. God, I offer myself to Thee, to build with me and do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of Life. May I do Thy will always! |
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Step 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
AA 1st Ed p.76, 3rd-4th Ed p.64 Next we launched out on a course of vigorous action, the first step of which is a personal housecleaning, which many of us had never attempted. Though our (3rd Step) decision was a vital and crucial step, it could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by a strenuous effort to face (steps 4 & 5), and be rid of (steps 6 & 7), the things in ourselves which had been blocking us. (From God p.71) AA 1st Ed p.76, 3rd-4th Ed p.64 Therefore, we started upon a personal inventory. This was Step Four. To complete this step, you will need some paper and a pen. We will construct 3 different charts.
AA 1st Ed p.76, 3rd-4th Ed p.64 First, we searched out the flaws in our make-up which caused our failure. Being convinced that self, manifested in various ways, was what had defeated us, we considered its common manifestations.
AA 1st Ed p.77-78, 3rd-4th Ed p.64-65 Resentment is the "number one" offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. From it stem all forms of spiritual disease, for we have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick. When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically. In dealing with resentments, we set them on paper. We listed PEOPLE, INSTITUTIONS or PRINCIPLES with whom we were angry. The Cause - We asked ourselves why we were angry. In most cases it was found that our self-esteem, our pocketbooks, our ambitions, our personal relationships (including sex) were hurt or threatened. So we were sore. We were "burned up." On our grudge list we set opposite each name our injuries. Was it our: a. Self-esteem b. Security c. Ambitions d. Personal relations e. Sex relations Which had been interfered with? We were usually as definite as this example:
AA 1st Ed p.78, 3rd-4th Ed p.66 But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the light of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die. If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. AA 1st Ed p.79-80, 3rd-4th Ed p.66-67 We turned back to the list, for it held the key to the future. We were prepared to look at it from an entirely different angle. We saw that these resentments must be mastered, but how? This was our course: We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick. Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. (Prayer) We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended we said to ourselves, This is a sick man. How can I be helpful to him? God Save me from being angry. Thy will be done. (Right now, pray for everyone on your resentment list.) We avoid retaliation or argument. We wouldn't treat sick people that way. If we do, we destroy our chance of being helpful. We cannot be helpful to all people, but as least God will show us how to take a kindly and tolerant view of each and every one. Referring to our (Flaws) list again. Putting out of our minds the wrongs others had done, we resolutely looked for our own mistakes (Flaws). Where had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and frightened? Though a situation had not been entirely our fault, we tried to disregard the other person involved entirely. Where were we to blame? The inventory was ours, not the other man's. When we saw our faults we listed them. We placed them before us in black and white. We admitted our wrongs honestly and were willing to set these matters straight (Step 8).
AA 1st Ed p.80, 3rd-4th Ed p.67-68 Notice that the word FEAR is bracketed alongside the difficulties with Mr. Brown, Mrs. Jones, the employer, and the wife. This short word somehow touches about every aspect of our lives. It is an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it. We reviewed our fears thoroughly. We put them on paper even though we had no resentment in connection with them. We asked ourselves why we had them.
Are there any fears that are not connected to a resentment? 1. Losing my job 2. Car breaking down 3. Being alone 4. Getting in an accident 5. Not being able to pay the mortgage 6. etc. AA 1st Ed p.80-81, 3rd-4th Ed p.68 Perhaps there is a better way, we think so. For we are now on a different basis, the basis of trusting and relying upon God. (Prayer) We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear. AA 1st Ed p.81-82, 3rd-4th Ed p.68-69 Now about sex. Many of us needed an overhauling there. But above all, we tried to be sensible on this question. We all have sex problems. We'd hardly be human if we didn't. What can we do about them? We reviewed our own conduct over the years past. Where had we been selfish, dishonest, or inconsiderate? Whom had we hurt? Did we unjustifiably arouse jealousy, suspicion or bitterness? Where were we at fault, what should we have done instead? We got this all down on paper and we looked at it. In this way we tried to shape a sane and sound ideal for our future sex life. We subjected each relation to this test - was it selfish or not? (On a separate sheet of paper, we make another list and pose these questions.)
AA 1st Ed p.82, 3rd-4th Ed p.69-70 We asked God to mold our ideals and help us to live up to them. Whatever our ideal turns out to be, we must be willing to grow toward it. We must be willing to make amends where we have done harm, provided that we do not bring about still more harm in so doing (Step 8). In other words, we treat sex as we would any other problem. In meditation, we ask God what we should do about each specific matter. The right answer will come, if we want it. God alone can judge our sex situation (any other problem). Counsel with persons is often desireable, but we let God be the final judge. We avoid histerical thinking or advice. AA 1st Ed p.82-83, 3rd-4th Ed p.70-71 Suppose we fall short of the chosen ideal and stumble? Does this mean we are going to get drunk? Some people tell us so. But this is only a half-truth. It depends on us and on our motives. If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson. If we are not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink. We are not theorizing. These are facts out of our experience. To sum up about sex: We earnestly pray for the right ideal, for guidance in each questionable situation, for sanity, and for the strength to do the right thing. If sex is very troublesome, we throw ourselves the harder into helping others. We think of their needs and work for them. This takes us out of ourselves. If we have been thorough about our personal inventory, we have written down a lot. We have listed and analyzed our resentments. We have begun to comprehend their futility and their fatality. We have commenced to see their terrible destructiveness. We have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will toward all men, even our enemies, for we look on them as sick people. We have listed the people we have hurt by our conduct, and are willing to straighten out the past if we can (Step 8). In this book you read again and again that faith did for us what we could not do for ourselves. We hope you are convinced now that God can remove whatever self-will has blocked you off from Him. If you have already made a decision, and an inventory of your grosser handicaps, you have made a good beginning. That being so you have swallowed and digested some big chunks of truth about yourself.
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