Welcome to the AA Beginners Group My name is __________. My last drink was on ____________. Alcoholism is a compulsive, obsessive and progressive illness affecting us physically, mentally, and spiritually, with symptoms such as blackouts, liver problems, depression, anxiety, horrible feelings, and various medical problems. All of this adds to the unmanageability that drinking may cause. Join me in a moment of silence for those who are struggling with 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 self-supporting 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 Take Caution 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. Also... Many times people are pressured to go to AA by the courts for drunk driving. That does not mean they are alcoholics or even have a desire to stop drinking. If you are one of these people, to get your proof of attendance sheet send an email to: aabeginnersgroup@gmail.com. You do not have to stay for the entire meeting to get an attendance sheet, but if you have a desire to stop drinking you are welcome to stay and participate in todays discussion. Chapter 11: A Vision For You AA 1st Ed p.165, 3rd & 4th Ed p.151 For most normal folks, drinking means conviviality, companionship and colorful imagination. It means release from care, boredom and worry. It is joyous intimacy with friends and a feeling that life is good. But not so with us in those last days of heavy drinking. The old pleasures were gone. They were but memories. Never could we recapture the great moments of the past. There was an insistent yearning to enjoy life as we once did and a heartbreaking obsession that some new miracle of control would enable us to do it. There was always one more attempt and one more failure. The less people tolerated us, the more we withdrew from society, from life itself. As we became subjects of King Alcohol, shivering denizens of his mad realm, the chilling vapor that is loneliness settled down. It thickened, ever becoming blacker. Some of us sought out sordid places, hoping to find understanding companionship and approval. Momentarily we did, then would come oblivion and the awful awakening to face the hideous Four Horsemen, Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, Despair. Unhappy drinkers who read this page will understand! The Doctor's Opinion AA 1st Ed p.5, 3rd & 4th Ed p.xxix ...once a psychic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to follow a few simple rules. 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 this next 24 hours. Dont worry about tomorrow. Just focus on NOT picking up the 1st drink today. You CANNOT get drunk if you dont pick up the 1st drink. Ask God or Higher Power for help to stay sober today. Goto AA Meetings regularly. Change your routines or travel routes during drinking hours. If you have a compulsion or urge to drink, postpone it and call someone in AA. Exchange phone numbers with sober people in chat box. Read the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. You can buy one or get a free PDF at aa.org. Get someone to help you follow the clear-cut directions on taking the 12 Steps in the Big Book. Think about attending our 12 Step Workshop over the weekend described at the end of this meeting. AA p. xvii ...strenuous work, one alcoholic with another, was vital to permanent recovery. Visit groups like 1939AA.com for an even deeper study into the AA program.

To the new people. We have a way which helps us to live happy without alcohol. Can you answer the following questions? What brings you to AA? Do you think you are powerless over alcohol? Do you have a desire to stop drinking? What lengths are you willing to go for lasting sobriety.

Not everyone is ready to take the steps. Those who are willing to go to any lengths are ready. 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. 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.55, 3rd-4th Ed p.43 The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he/she nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His/Her defense must come from a Higher Power. 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.71, 3rd-4th Ed p.59 But there is One who has all power, that One is God. May you find him now!

Step 2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. AA 1st Ed p.44, 3rd-4th Ed p.33 Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time, as bad as ever. It is a peculiar mental twist which renders us helpless against resisting alcohol. AA 1st Ed p.46, 3rd-4th Ed p.35 We are looking at mental states that precede a relapse into drinking. 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. 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 The Big Book indicates that probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism and that God could and would if He were sought. 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.22-23, 3rd-4th Ed p.12 For a brief moment, I had needed and wanted God. There had been a humble willingness to have Him with me - and He came. There I humbly offered myself to God (step 3), as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing (steps 1 & 2); that without Him I was lost. I ruthlessly faced my sins (steps 4 & 5) and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch (steps 6 & 7). I have not had a drink since. 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. 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!

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 fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, (...) we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. 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. He is the principle; we are his agents. He is the Father and we are His children. Most good ideas are simple. When we sincerely take such a position, all sorts of remarkable things follow. Being all powerful, He provides what we need, if we keep close to Him and perform his work well. We became less and less interested in ourselves, our little plans and designs. We became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life. As we felt new power flow in... as we enjoyed peace of mind... as we discovered we could face life successfully... as we became conscious of His presence... we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter. we were reborn. We were now at Step Three. 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!

Open Floor. For the benefit of the newer people here today, Can you answer the following questions? What brings you to AA? Do you think you are powerless over alcohol? Do you have a desire to stop drinking? What lengths are you willing to go to obtain lasting sobriety. After a period of sobriety, has your thinking ever led you to take the 1st drink again? Have you had any relief from this sort of thinking? Do you believe a God can restore you to sane thinking? Have you made the 3rd Step decision? How do you feel after the 3rd Step prayer? Are you ready to move forward with the rest of the steps?

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If anyone would like some help
to continue on with the 12 Steps...

Join us for one of the Zoom workshops listed below. (We go through All 12 Steps) Send us an email aabeginnersgroup@gmail.com. Ask someone to sponsor you. Download the Meeting Guide APP to find some meetings near you.

12 Step Workshop Schedule Sunday 11:00 AM EST AA Beginners Sponsorship Workshop ALL 12 STEPS 6 HOURS Duration Zoom Id: 87577128870 Password: alcoholic Saturday 1:00 PM EST AA Beginners Sponsorship Workshop ALL 12 STEPS 6 HOURS Duration Zoom Id: 838 6419 2971 Password: alcoholic

Announcements Visit our website www.aabeginners.com. Every AA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. We observe monetary 7th Tradition contributions in Pay Pal aabeginnersgroup@gmail.com. Host/Chair contact info: Dave Carmona 313-551-9453 Visit https://www.aa.org/what-is-aa for a virtual beginner pack

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Thank everyone for attending todays meeting.

We close with a Prayer.

Our Father, who is in Heaven, Holy is Your Name.
Your Kingdom come. Your 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.
Don't let us fall into temptation and deliver us from evil.
Yours is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory Forever,
AMEN.