The title page says it all. I had to concede both propositions. We have prayed, we have begged, we have been patient. He may be kind, considerate, patient, generous; even modest and self-sacrificing. We know what you are thinking. Continue to speak of alcoholism as an illness, a fatal malady. But my friend sat before me, and he made the point- blank declaration that God had done for him what he could not do for himself. We are people who normally would not mix. The 164 and More Book, eBook, and Web Site are all CONCORDANCES which display passages from the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous, the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, and the A.A. Grapevine (A.A. Preamble only). Sometimes a small deal would net a few hundred dollars, and I would pay my bills at the bars and delicatessens. A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, a design for living that really works. First off, its important to be able to tell the difference between a novel and a novella, a short story and a piece of flash fiction. The alcoholic, his wife, his children, his in-laws, each one is likely to have fixed ideas about the familys attitude towards himself or herself. We listed people, institutions or principles with whom we were angry. It boils right down to this: No man should be fired just because he is alcoholic. Jericho Season 3: Civil War is a comic book limited series of six issues that continues the storyline of the CBS television show Jericho. Some of them may sink and perhaps never get up, but if our experience is a criterion, more than half of those approached will become fellows of Alcoholics Anonymous. There is another thing you might wish to do. Friendly hands had stretched out in welcome. While on the subject of confidence, can you adopt the attitude that so far as you are concerned this will be a strictly personal matter, that his alcoholic derelictions, the treatment about to be undertaken, will never be discussed without his consent? The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. 11 pt type - divide your word count by 425. He shuts himself up in an asylum, hoping to mend his ways. You should not be offended if he wants to call it off, for he has helped you more than you have helped him. Your man may be trusted. He knows that thousands of men, much like himself, have recovered. Often you must carry the burden of avoiding them or keeping them under control. At this point, it might be well to explain alcoholism, the illness. I wondered whether I dared hide a full bottle of gin near the head of our bed. Only a few knew of it at first but, within a short time, it was billboarded throughout the entire company. He gets a thrill out of skipping in front of fast-moving vehicles. A 40,000 to 80,000-word memoir is around 150-265 pages, a standard book-length for the genre. Music and gay chatter still floated to him from the bar. This thought brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along. Understand he was once a well-known lawyer in town, but just now weve got him strapped down tight., Here was a prospect all right but, by the description, none too promising. It also varies if you include words and phrases such as "Requires", "Had to", "Imperative . So did I. I could eat little or nothing when drinking, and I was forty pounds under weight. Of course we couldnt. Were our contentions true, it would follow that life originated out of nothing, means nothing, and proceeds nowhere. For most alcoholics who are drinking, or who are just getting over a spree, a certain amount of physical treatment is desirable, even imperative. Our first example is a friend we shall call Jim. How could men who loved their wives and children be so unthinking, so callous, so cruel? I was at one time assistant manager of a corporation department employing sixty-six hundred men. Especially when he has before him a way to stop his drinking and abuse if he really wants to pay the price. Not only had I been off guard, I had made no fight whatever against the first drink. The only time the word "powerless" appears in the first 164 pages is in step one on page 58 in the chapter How it Works. He simply could not believe that his brother-executive suffered from a serious illness. We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. (Click here to read them). We cannot answer the riddle. He has helped other men recover, and is a power in the church from which he was long absent. If she knows in a general way that we have been wild, should we tell her in detail? We have sometimes reflected more than Jim did upon the consequences. Dirt Bike A Vendre, Next, we decided that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director. We suggest you draw the book to the attention of the doctor who is to attend your patient during treatment. Perhaps he could handle, say, three drinks-no more! Some day we hope that Alcoholics Anonymous will help the public to a better realization of the gravity of the alcoholic problem, but we shall be of little use if our attitude is one of bitterness or hostility. Our behavior will convince them more than our words. To some extent this is already true. ,Sitemap,Sitemap, Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Indstria Grfica, Comunicao Either you are dealing with a man who can and will get well or you are not. You have to act the Good Samaritan every day, if need be. You and your husband will find that you can dispose of serious problems easier than you can the trivial ones. That there is one program, one common solution (bottom of page 17). If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Favorite Passages in the Big Book There are four editions of the Big Book. They want him to make a fuss over them. Potentially, anyone's -- in the U.S.A. After the sermon, he quietly got up and made an explanation. Then came the hospital with unbearable mental and physical suffering. Did we unjustifiably arouse jealousy, suspicion or bitterness? Frequently, you have felt obliged to tell your husbands employer and his friends that he was sick, when as a matter of fact he was tight. To give up resistance: He finally capitulated and agreed to do the job my way. The almost certain consequences that follow taking even a glass of beer do not crowd into the mind to deter us. These work-outs should be regarded as part of your education, for thus you will be learning to live. We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. But you should not deprive your family or creditors of money they should have. Oh no, said my friend, this chap is either through with liquor, or he is minus a job. Whenever possible, let your husband explain. There you will find release from care, boredom and worry. If we have obtained permission, have consulted with others, asked God to help and the drastic step is indicated we must not shrink. Why was it, when these dangers were pointed out that they agreed, and then got drunk again immediately? It works when other activities fail. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. We stood at the turning point. After several failures to find others, a fourth turned up. Thus, highlighting will ultimately not work at all.Copyright 2005-2013 by Recovery Press. High and low, rich and poor, these are future fellows of Alcoholics Anonymous. We looked askance at many individuals who claimed to be godly. Then, gathering all his forces, he attempted to stop altogether and found he could not. Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems. He may have the habit badly enough to gradually impair him physically and mentally. Though you may be able to stop for a considerable period, you may yet be a potential alcoholic. On each of these occasions we worked with him, reviewing carefully what had happened. Includes the original Foreword, The Doctor's Opinion and Dr. Bob's Story. Can you have every confidence in his ability to recover? Dont deal with him when he is very drunk, unless he is ugly and the family needs your help. There had been no fight. The doctor proved to be able and exceedingly anxious to adopt any workable method of handling the situation. Our struggles with them are variously strenuous, comic, and tragic. If this presents difficulty, re-reading chapters two and three, where the alcoholic sickness is discussed at length might be worth while. Though there may be justifiable exceptions, and though we wish to lay down no rule of any sort, we have often found this the best course to take. Let him tell you about it: I was much impressed with what you fellows said about alcoholism, and I frankly did not believe it would be possible for me to drink again. He is worried at times, and is becoming aware that he cannot drink like other people. The expression on the faces of the women, that indefinable something in the eyes of the men, the stimulating and electric atmosphere of the place, conspired to let him know that here was haven at last. Well, just that did happen and more, for what I had learned of alcoholism did not occur to me at all. If you concede that your employee is ill, can he be forgiven for what he has done in the past? That was a great physicians opinion. God makes that possible. Cheerfully see him through more sprees. She met these responsibilities gallantly. For three for four months the goose hung high. Faced with alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open minded on spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other questions. Simply look up a familiar word to find the passage you seek. It does not exist for us. It is our hope that these pages can be a source of inspiration to you. Is he not usually brilliant, fast-thinking, imaginative and likeable? This takes us out of ourselves. We know of an A.A. member who was living in a large community. We have learned that whatever the human frailties of various faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and direction to millions. The wars which had been fought, the burnings and chicanery that religious dispute had facilitated, made me sick. Why does he? Just put in the word or phrase and you can even check to have just the 164 pages. Every new alcoholic looks for this spirit among us and is immensely relieved when he finds we are not witch burners. There is, however a vast amount of fun about it all. Putting out of our minds the wrongs others had done, we resolutely looked for our own mistakes. Little by little, mother and children will see they ask too much, and father will see he gives too little. He will show you how to create the fellowship you crave. That being so you have swallowed and digested some big chunks of truth about yourself. Could we have been so mistaken in the men we married? But bless his heart, let him rant! If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. I had eaten there many times during the months I was sober. Here no specific rule can be given. When it will serve any good purpose, we are willing to announce our convictions with tact and common sense. You will be most successful with alcoholics if you do not exhibit any passion for crusade or reform. Sometimes there were other women. He wants to enjoy a certain reputation, but knows in his heart he doesnt deserve it. 12-a. Each in his turn may be footsore and may straggle. If he has your will power and guts, he will make the grade.. Perhaps he can still tend to business fairly well. This is the first step in recovery. Most people approached in this way will be glad to help; they will be honored by our confidence. His action met wide-spread approval, and today he is one of the most trusted citizens of his town. We dont worry about them if we can honestly say to ourselves that we would right them if we could. Opinions vary considerably as to why the alcoholic reacts differently from normal people. She is indignant about it, and has a warrant out for our arrest. We can be alone at perfect peace and ease. He may have come to the point where he desperately wants to stop but cannot. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. Sometimes it was remorse and then we were sore at ourselves. Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism (Nicknamed The Big Book because of the thickness of the paper used in the first edition) is a 1939 basic text, describing how to successfully [citation needed] recover from alcoholism.Written by William G. "Bill W." Wilson, one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and many of the first 100 . 69 SEX - We asked God to mold our ideals and help us live up to them. Now, this house will hardly accommodate its weekly visitors, for they number sixty or eighty as a rule. 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