AS BILL SEES IT #essentialsofrecovery

I Am Responsible . . .

When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help,
I want the hand of A.A. always to be there.
And for that: I am responsible.

~ DECLARATION OF 30TH ANNIVERSARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION, 1965 ~
<< << << >> >> >>

DEAR FRIENDS:
Since 1938, the greatest part of my A.A. life has been spent in helping to create, design, manage, and insure the solvency and effectiveness of A.A.’s world services — the office of which has enabled our Fellowship to function all over the globe, and as a unified whole.

It is no exaggeration to say that, under their trustees, these all important services have accounted for much of our present size and over-all effectiveness.

The A.A. General Service Office is by far the largest single carrier of the A.A. message. It has well related A.A. to the troubled world in which we live. It has fostered the spread of our Fellowship everywhere. A.A. World Services, Inc., stands ready to serve the special needs of any group or isolated individual, no matter the distance or language. Its many years of accumulated experience are available to us all.

The members of our trusteeship — the General Service Board of A.A. — will, in the future, be our primary leaders in all of our world affairs. This high responsibility has long since been delegated to them; they are the successors in world service to Dr. Bob and to me, and they are directly accountable to A.A. as a whole.

This is the legacy of world-service responsibility that we vanishing oldtimers are leaving to you, the A.A.’s of today and tomorrow. We know that you will guard, support, and cherish this world legacy as the greatest collective responsibility that A.A. has or ever can have.

Yours in trust, and in affection,

Bill

~ Bill W. died on January 24, 1971

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

The Eye Opener #essentialsofrecovery

As it is almost impossible to remain entirely anonymous, our membership carries with it grave responsibility.

Once we were drunks, and we “ain’t any more.” All your friends and neighbors know it. Sooner or later they will ask you about it and, if you answer them at all, it is probable that you will have to admit your membership in our Fellowship.

We will be watched constantly thereafter, for AA is on trial with a hopeful yet skeptical world and, as we succeed or fail, so will AA succeed or fail.

Guard your anonymity well if you can but, if you can’t – then guard AA well.

Copyright Hazelden Foundation 

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Daily Reflections #essentialsofrecovery

I AM RESPONSIBLE

For the readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the very spirit of Step Nine.

 TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 87

In recovery, and through the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, I learn that the very thing I fear is my freedom. It comes from my tendency to recoil from taking responsibility for anything: I deny, I ignore, I blame, I avoid. Then one day, I look, I admit, I accept. The freedom, the healing and the recovery I experience is in the looking, admitting and accepting. I learn to say, “Yes, I am responsible.” When I can speak those words with honesty and sincerity, then I am free.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Just For Today #essentialsofrec

Responsible Recovery

“We accept responsibility for our problems and see that we’re equally responsible for our solutions.” 

Basic Text, p.94

Some of us, well accustomed to leaving our personal responsibilities to others, may attempt the same behavior in recovery. We quickly find out it doesn’t work.

For instance, we are considering making a change in our lives, so we call our sponsor and ask what we should do. Under the guise of seeking direction, we are actually asking our sponsor to assume responsibility for making decisions about our life. Or maybe we’ve been short with someone at a meeting, so we ask that person’s best friend to make our apologies for us. Perhaps we’ve imposed on a friend several times in the last month to cover our service commitment. Could it be that we’ve asked a friend to analyze our behavior and identify our shortcomings, rather than taking our own personal inventory?

Recovery is something that has to be worked for. It isn’t going to be handed to us on a silver platter, nor can we expect our friends or our sponsor to be responsible for the work we must do ourselves. We recover by making our own decisions, doing our own service, and working our own steps. By doing it for ourselves, we receive the rewards.

Just for today: I accept responsibility for my life and my recovery. 

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec

AS BILL SEES IT #essentialsofrec #Recovery #BillW #Friends

 28
November

I Am Responsible . . .

When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help,
I want the hand of A.A. always to be there.
And for that: I am responsible.

~ DECLARATION OF 30TH ANNIVERSARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION, 1965 ~
<< << << >> >> >>

DEAR FRIENDS:
Since 1938, the greatest part of my A.A. life has been spent in helping to create, design, manage, and insure the solvency and effectiveness of A.A.’s world services — the office of which has enabled our Fellowship to function all over the globe, and as a unified whole.

It is no exaggeration to say that, under their trustees, these all important services have accounted for much of our present size and over-all effectiveness.

The A.A. General Service Office is by far the largest single carrier of the A.A. message. It has well related A.A. to the troubled world in which we live. It has fostered the spread of our Fellowship everywhere. A.A. World Services, Inc., stands ready to serve the special needs of any group or isolated individual, no matter the distance or language. Its many years of accumulated experience are available to us all.

The members of our trusteeship — the General Service Board of A.A. — will, in the future, be our primary leaders in all of our world affairs. This high responsibility has long since been delegated to them; they are the successors in world service to Dr. Bob and to me, and they are directly accountable to A.A. as a whole.

This is the legacy of world-service responsibility that we vanishing oldtimers are leaving to you, the A.A.’s of today and tomorrow. We know that you will guard, support, and cherish this world legacy as the greatest collective responsibility that A.A. has or ever can have.

Yours in trust, and in affection,

Bill

~ Bill W. died on January 24, 1971

© 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec

Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Sobriety #Resposible

  5
October 

What can Sobriety Bring?
Living Sober

The single goal of staying sober is so all-important in AA that side benefits are often overlooked. There is even a tendency to warn members about the hazards of attaching importance to anything except sobriety.

But we do have to become responsible people in all things, not just sober people. We can expect real sobriety to bring the confidence and well-being we expected from the bottle, but never received.

Sobriety is not likely to give us the equivalent of the euphoria we got from drinking, but a great sense of well-being based on realistic expectations is more satisfying than the ridiculous mental states we sought in drinking. Living the right kind of life will bring its own rewards.

Alone with staying sober today, I’ll meet all my responsibilities to my family and friends. Sobriety does not promise miracles, but it does bring a good life.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec

Daily Reflections #essentialsofrec #Responsible #Step9

12
September

I AM RESPONSIBLE

For the readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the very spirit of Step Nine.

 TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 87

In recovery, and through the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, I learn that the very thing I fear is my freedom. It comes from my tendency to recoil from taking responsibility for anything: I deny, I ignore, I blame, I avoid. Then one day, I look, I admit, I accept. The freedom, the healing and the recovery I experience is in the looking, admitting and accepting. I learn to say, “Yes, I am responsible.” When I can speak those words with honesty and sincerity, then I am free.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec