November 17, 2021 In Legacy of Recovery By Rick W.
I was sitting in a speaker meeting a few nights ago and heard the speaker say this phrase (the title of this post). I’ve heard it a million times and know that it’s where Step Ten starts in the chapter “Into Action” in the Big Book. When I got home that night, I opened my …
November 16, 2021 In Legacy of Recovery By Rick W.
The last two paragraphs of Chapter 11, “A Vision For You” in the book, Alcoholics Anonymous, have always been my favorite passage in the book. For much of my sobriety, each time I read them (or heard them read), I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I was never quite sure why, but ...
October 22, 2021 In Legacy of Recovery By Rick W.
It’s a well-known fact that alcoholics, generally, are resistant to change. If your experience is anything like mine, when a new idea is presented to you, and IF it’s a drastic departure from what you’ve become comfortable with or are used to… as it says in our literature, “rebellion dogs our every step.” Why is …
September 2, 2021 In Legacy of Service By Rick W.
In the chapter, We Agnostics, we’ve all read about the bedevilments. I was reading that passage again recently with a new sponsee that I’m taking through the Steps and one of the eight (8) bedevilments listed, “we couldn’t seem to be of real help to other people,” really stood out to me. I was reminded …
August 21, 2021 In Legacy of Recovery By Rick W.
A friend of mine in the Fellowship who loves our literature often says, “Thank God they wrote it down.” Truer words could not have been spoken. I continue to be grateful that A.A. co-founders (and others) wrote down their experience of our action-based program in the beginning days of Alcoholics Anonymous. In 1942, our co-founder …
August 20, 2021 In Legacy of Service By Rick W.
I know that all of you were saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our Alcoholics Anonymous’s most valuable members, Someone Else. Someone Else’s passing created a vacancy that will be difficult to fill. They had been with us for many years, and for every one of those years, Someone Else …
August 16, 2021 In Legacy of Recovery By Rick W.
When I first came into the Fellowship and finally made the decision to get a sponsor (cuz’ ya’ll kept talking about that ad nasueum…LOL), I asked a man to be my “temporary sponsor” (which I loved because in my addled brain, there was very little commitment there). His name was Benny. I know you don’t …
August 8, 2021 In Legacy of Unity By Rick W.
In the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Tradition Twelve states, “Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.” It goes on to say, “THE spiritual substance of anonymity is sacrifice. Because A.A.’s Twelve Traditions repeatedly ask us to give up personal desires for the common good, …
August 5, 2021 In Legacy of Recovery By Rick W.
In November of 2020, I posted this question on Facebook… “If I’m sitting in a left turn only lane, why do I need to turn on my left blinker?” At the time, it didn’t seemed logical to me to use my left turn blinker when I’m sitting in a lane that the only thing you …
July 31, 2021 In Legacy of Recovery By Rick W.
When I first came into A.A., I had no idea there was going to be be work I was gonna have to do (that’s how delusional and self-centered I was). In the beginning, I just thought it was about putting down the bottle. Little did I know that there would be much work I would …
