As Bill Sees It May 25 2026

The Individual’s Rights, p. 134

We believe that there isn’t a fellowship on earth which devotes more care to its individual members; surely there is none which more jealously guards the individual’s right to think, talk, and act as he wishes. No A.A. can compel another to do anything; nobody can be punished or expelled.

Our Twelve Steps to recovery are suggestions; the Twelve Traditions which guarantee A.A.’s unity contain not a single “Don’t.” They repeatedly say, “We ought . . .” but never “You must!”

“Though it is traditional that our Fellowship may not coerce anyone, let us not suppose even for an instant that we are not under constraint. Indeed, we are under enormous coercion–the kind that comes in bottle. Our former tyrant, King Alcohol, always stands ready again to clutch us to him.

“Therefore, freedom from alcohol is the great ‘must’ that has to be achieved, else we go mad or die.”

1. 12 & 12, p. 129
2. Letter, 1966

Daily Reflections - May 9 2026

WALKING THROUGH FEAR

If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us
be willing.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76
When I had taken my Fifth Step, I became aware that all my defects
of character stemmed from my need to feel secure and loved. To use
my will alone to work on them would have been trying obsessively to
solve the problem. In the Sixth Step I intensified the action I had
taken in the first three Steps — meditating on the Step by saying it over and
over, going to meetings, following my sponsor’s suggestions, readingefects
and searching within myself. During the first three years of sobriety I
had a fear of entering an elevator alone. One day I decided I must
walk through this fear. I asked for God’s help, entered the elevator, and
there in the corner was a lady crying. She said that since her husband
had died she was deathly afraid of elevators. I forgot my fear and
comforted her. This spiritual experience helped me to see how
willingness was the key to working the rest of the Twelve Steps to
recovery. God helps those who help themselves.

DAILY REFLECTIONS #essentialsofrecovery

“SUGGESTED” STEPS

Our Twelfth Step also says that as a result of practicing all the Steps, we have each found something called a spiritual awakening. . . . A. A.’s manner of making ready to receive this gift lies in the practice of the Twelve Steps in our program.”

~ TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 106-07

I remember my sponsor’s answer when I told him that the Steps were “suggested.” He replied that they are “suggested” in the same way that, if you were to jump out of an airplane with a parachute, it is “suggested” that you pull the ripcord to save your life. He pointed out that it was “suggested” I practice the Twelve Steps, if I wanted to save my life. So I try to remember daily that I have a whole program of recovery based on all Twelve of the “suggested” Steps.

Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc

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