Welcome to the
AA Beginners Group


My name is __________.
My last drink was on ____________.





Join me in a moment of silence for those who are struggling with the disease of alcoholism...





































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.
Amen.




A.A. PREAMBLE

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their
experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common
problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking.

There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are selfsupporting through our
own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics,
organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy,
neither endorses nor opposes any causes.

Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

Copyright The AA Grapevine, Inc. Reprinted with permission





Please keep names and discussion confidential. Anything that the leader or any other member says is only their opinion. No one person can speak on behalf of the entire worldwide fellowship of 2 million people.


































If you are still drinking and are planning to stop,
you may want to ask your doctor for help to detox!
 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.






Announcements

Open the chat box & post the following items:

  • Visit www.aabeginners.com (user ID: anonymous PW: member,) for a list of this groups meetings & 12 Step Workshops.

  • Visit https://www.aa.org/what-is-aa for a virtual beginner pack

  • Order AA Big Book https://onlineliterature.aa.org/products/books/big-books-all-languages-and-formats

  • https://www.aa.org/the-big-book download the PDF for free.

  • Every AA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. We observe monetary 7th Tradition contributions in Pay Pal aabeginnersgroup@gmail.com.

  • Currently, people are pressured to go to AA by the courts for drunk driving. That does not mean they are alcoholics or have a desire to stop drinking. If you are one of these people, you can send a request by email to aabeginnersgroup@gmail.com to get your proof of attendance sheet signed. You do not have to stay for this meeting to get a signature, but if you have a desire to stop drinking you are welcome to stay and participate in todays discussion.

  • Host/Chair contact info: Dave Carmona 313-551-9453





    • First Things First

    When we first come to A.A., many of us do not realize the first drink triggers the compulsion to drink more and more; it deludes us into thinking we can drink another safely, then another and another. How do we avoid just that first drink for at least one day? Here are some suggestions:


    • The twenty-four hour plan. Dont pick up a drink for 24 hours. Dont worry about tomorrow. Just focus on not picking up the 1st drink today. You cant get drunk if you dont pick up the 1st drink.

    • Ask God or Higher Power for help to stay sober today.

    • Goto AA Meetings on a regular basis.

    • Get a sponsor to help you take the 12 Steps of AA

    • Get the Big Book of AA at www.aa.org

    • Change your routines or travel routes during drinking hours.

    • If you have any compulsions or urges, postpone it and call someone in AA.

    • Exchange phone numbers with sober people in chat box.








































    Let's go around the room
    and introduce ourselves


    Can you answer the following points...
    1. First name?

    2. How long have you been sober?

    3. Share a little about why you came AA

    4. What is your view on God or a Power greater than yourself?






































    Workshop - ALL 12 Steps in 8 hours


    Every Saturday at 8:00 AM Eastern Time

    This is for those who are serious about taking the 12 Steps of AA.

    Zoom Id: 828 1526 3848

    Send an email to: aastartingpoint@gmail.com

    Let me know if you intend on showing up
    and can commit to the full 8 hour session.
    We take a lunch and short breaks.

    Bring your sponsor if you have one. If not, just show up.

    You can text me: 313-551-9453 Dave Carmona







































    We have a way that helped us to stop drinking and live happy, joyous and free from alcohol. If you want what we have and are willing to go to any lengths to get it, then you are ready to take certain steps. If you seriously want to stop drinking, the question is this:

    What are you willing to do to get it?


    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.


































    Let's Begin...

    Today's workshop is either a full 8 hour sponsorship workshop or part of an ongoing weekly 12 step workshop.
    We do this once a week.
    Let us know what step you are on so we can focus on it.



    If you go through with the entire process, you may come out of it one of two different ways.

    1.) Either you will go on living life as though alcohol never existed, or
    2.) You will become a strong advocate of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.

    Words in RED = consider definitions of these words
    Words in BLUE = Prayers (You're talking to Higher Power)


    AA, Title Page.

    ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

    The story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism.

    Definitions:
    • recovered - restored to natural health and balance



    AA, Page xi, 1st and 2nd paragraphs

    PREFACE

          This is the fourth edition of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. The first edition appeared in April 1939, and in the following sixteen years, more than 300,000 copies went into circulation. The second edition, published in 1955, reached a total of more than 1,150,000 copies. The third edition, which came off press in 1976, achieved a circulation of approximately 19,550,000 in all formats.
          Because this book has become the basic text for our Society and has helped such large numbers of alcoholic men and women to recovery, there exists strong sentiment against any radical changes being made in it. Therefore, the first portion of this volume, describing the A.A. recovery program, has been left largely untouched in the course of revisions made for the second, third, and fourth editions. The section called The Doctors Opinion has been kept intact, just as it was originally written in 1939 by the late Dr. William D. Silkworth, our Society's great medical benefactor.

    Definitions:
    • text - the original or actual words of an author
    • radical - deviation from fundamentals
    • program - set of instructions when followed gives desired result (in this case it is freedom from the affects from alcohol.)

    Let's look up some of these other words as well:

    • alcohol - a colorless volatile flammable liquid that is produced by the natural fermentation of sugars and is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks, and is also used as an industrial solvent (used to break down drugs) and as fuel.
    • alcoholic - a person suffering from alcoholism. containing or relating to alcoholic liquor.
    • alcoholism - an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency.
    • drug - a medicine or other substance which has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body.


    So let's be clear here. Our main focus is on alcohol. While some people may be dually diagnosed with drug dependence, our primary purpose is to help those who are afflicted with alcohol. A secondary diagnosis of drug addiction may need additional attention and focus which we are not going to cover in this workshop. Some may argue that alcohol is a drug. Rightly so. But again, our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety. Sobriety means - the absense of intoxication.


    AA, Page xiii, 1st paragraph

    FORWARD TO FIRST EDITION

          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.

    Definitions:
    • precisely - exactly and specifically



    AA, Page xiii, 3rd paragraph

          When writing or speaking publicly about alcoholism, we urge each of our Fellowship to omit his personal name, designating himself instead as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous.

    Definitions:
    • publicly - at the level of TV, Radio, Films, Internet, & large gatherings



    AA, Page xiv, 2nd sentence

    The only requirement for membership is an honest desire to stop drinking. We simply wish to be helpful to those who are afflicted.


    AA, Page xv, 2nd paragraph, 2nd sentence

    In that brief space, Alcoholics Anonymous has mushroomed into nearly 6,000 groups whose membership is far above 150,000 recovered alcoholics.


    AA, Page xv, 2rd paragraph

    The spark that was to flare into the first A.A. group was struck at Akron, Ohio, in June 1935, during a talk between a New York stockbroker and an Akron physician. Six months earlier, the broker had been relieved of his drink obsession by a sudden spiritual experience...


    (Here the sponsor gives a brief history on Ebby Thatcher, Bill Wilson, The Oxford Groups, Dr. Robert Smith, 1st AA Meeting, Bill D. in Cleveland Meetings, leads into Bill's Story.)


    AA, Page xvi, Middle of 1st paragraph

    From this doctor, the broker had learned the grave nature of alcoholism. Though he could not accept all the tenets of the Oxford Groups, he was convinced of the need for moral inventory, confession of personality defects, restitution to those harmed, helpfulness to others, and the necessity of belief in and dependence upon God.


    AA, Page xvi, end of 2nd paragraph

    He suddenly realized that in order to save himself he must carry his message to another alcoholic. That alcoholic turned out to be the Akron physician.


    AA, Page xvi, end of 3rd paragraph

    ...the physician began to pursue the spiritual remedy for his malady with a willingness he had never before been able to muster. He sobered, never to drink again up to the moment of his death in 1950.

    Next...