Why Bill W. Chose the Language of Humility One of the most fascinating things about the Big Book is not just what it says, but how it says it. In Chapter Five, How It Works, in what members have come to call the Sick Man’s Prayer, we find this familiar passage: “We realized that the people …

One of the greatest freedoms recovery offers is the ability to stop letting other people decide who we’re going to be. Most of us arrived in Alcoholics Anonymous with a long list of reasons why we drank, acted out, exploded, withdrew, lied, manipulated, or held resentments. We became experts at pointing to what someone else …

There’s a moment in recovery where life starts pressing in from every side and it feels like everything is falling apart. The relationship is strained. The finances are tight. The emotions are raw. The character defects are impossible to ignore. The loneliness feels louder now that the noise of alcohol, chaos, or compulsions has been …

Recovery is not just about stopping a behavior. It’s about becoming a different person. Too often, people think sobriety simply means not drinking alcohol or avoiding destructive behaviors. While abstinence may be the beginning, it is not the whole journey. Real sobriety is much deeper. It is emotional, spiritual, relational, and personal transformation. Sobriety is …

I was at a recent home group meeting and the chair, Dave, chose to have a discussion about Step Two and he read from the 12&12 and the Big Book. “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” There were some awesome shares on this power we talk about …

Step One, Acceptance, and the Freedom Found in Surrender One of the most exhausting things an alcoholic ever does is negotiate with reality. We negotiate with consequences. We negotiate with truth. We negotiate with our own patterns, our own pain, our own powerlessness. We say things like: “Maybe this time will be different.” “I can …

Evidence Journal: Training Your Eyes to See God at Work Bill W. wrote in Concept Nine’s essay, “Leadership in A.A. – Ever a Vital Need” that a good idea can come from anywhere. The key to allowing that to be true in ones life is when we can sit back and listen, truly listen to …

If there were badges handed out in Alcoholics Anonymous (which there aren’t), some of the most powerful people in the rooms would be wearing one that reads: PRD — Pattern Recognition Detective Not because they’re perfect. Not because they’ve “arrived.” But because they’ve learned to see something most of us couldn’t see when we first …

There is something in us that knows we were made for more. Not more excitement. Not more drama. Not more chaos. More peace. More alignment. More wholeness. In A.A., we talk about being “restored to sanity.” We talk about living “in the sunlight of the Spirit.” We talk about “conscious contact with God.” If you ...

On this cold and wintery day here in Texas, I wanted to share a new book I just finished titled, “The Prep Steps – Setting Up Action in A.A.” I will be publishing it and making it available here on this site in the LIBRARY section early this week, but I wanted to share a …