In order to stop drinking and stay stopped, we have a few simple suggestions used in A.A.’s program that can work for you as they have worked for countless others. These include:
Going to Meetings
There are meetings for you and for every alcoholic, who wants help. Our “Meeting List” is available through the Intergroup Office, at most meetings and online. There are over 1700 meetings listed in the five county area of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties. There are probably plenty of meetings close to your home so find a group that you can relate to and join us anytime. Try and take in as many meetings as you can and don’t drink in between.
Having a Home Group
Although you will want to attend other meetings, you will want to have a “Home Group”. At our home group we find the individual support and encouragement we need to meet life’s daily challenges. Other meetings provide the variety of people and ideas we need in our recovery.
Just as we are a member of A.A. by saying so, we join a home group by declaring ourselves a member. It is at the home group that we do our early service to A.A. and start giving back what we have been so freely given.
Getting a Sponsor
A sponsor is a member who has made progress in the recovery program and sober living. One-on-one sharing of our experience, strength and hope with our sponsor and others is a cornerstone of A.A. recovery. Though other people can’t solve your problems for you , they can help you deal with them by using the principles of the A.A. program.
Living One Day at a Time
We may stay sober one day at a time, or if necessary one hour at a time. We do our jobs, solve our problems and clean up our past, just one item at a time.
Getting Involved in 'Service'
At meetings, you will frequently hear references to “Service” as a means of maintaining sobriety. Service means getting involved in those functions which directly carry the A.A. message or allow others to carry it. Some types of service are:
- Making Coffee
- Every A.A. meetings has coffee and someone has to see its gets made, on time! Making coffee or helping with the setting up and cleaning afterwards helps the group have the meeting and it also allows you to meet new people.
- Chairing Meetings
- Groups usually rotate the person who “opens” or chairs the meeting.
- Group Service
- Most groups have members designated to ensure that literature is available, to keep contact with Intergroup and to serve as a General Service Representative. Group conscience establishes sobriety requirements for these jobs.
- Greeter
- Many groups have members who stand by the door and greet people as they arrive, many times it is the first impression of A.A. for the newcomer and helps dispel anxiety.
- Answering Phones
- A.A. phones are answered by A.A. volunteers on two hour shifts. You should have one year sobriety to answer phones.
- Speaking at A.A. Meetings
- Speaking to other recovering A.A.’s is a good means of clarifying your “story”.
- Hospitals & Institutions
- Meetings also take place in jails, rehab centers, hospitals and mental institutions. These meetings need speakers and “hosts” who set up and open the meeting.
Reprinted from the pamphlet: "A Guide for the Beginner"
Recommended Reading
There are many books and pamphlets which deal with a wide variety of information useful to newcomers and oldtimers alike. Books can be purchased at many meetings as well as ordered directly from our Literature Committee. Pamphlets are free and made available at most meetings. Recommended Titles include:
- Alcoholics Anonymous
- The “Big Book” is the basic text of our program and the chief source of discussion at the meetings.
- 12 Steps & 12 Traditions
- A supplement to the Big Book which expands on the steps and traditions of A.A.
- Living Sober
- Practical advice to the person in early sobriety.
- Came to Believe
- Is designed as an outlet for the rich diversity of convictions implied in “God as we understand him”.
- As Bill Sees It
- A collections of the writings of one of our Co-founders, on a wide variety of topics dealing with alcoholics.
- Daily Reflections
- Meditative thoughts from the membership presented in a daily format.
- A.A. Comes of Age
- A brief history of A.A.’s early days.
- Dr. Bob & the Good Oldtimers
- A biography of one of our Co-founders and a history of early A.A. in the Midwest.
- Pass It On
- The story of Bill W. and how the A.A. message reached the world.
- A.A. Grapevine
- Our monthly meeting in print.
A.A. pamphlets which may be particularly helpful to you:
- Is there an Alcoholic in Your Life?
- 44 Questions
- Is A.A. for You?
- Do You Think You’re Different?
- A.A. for the Woman
- Young People and A.A.
- Too Young?
- A Newcomer Asks...
PDF versions for many of these pamphlets can be found online at www.aa.org(Alcoholics Anonymous World Services).
Traditionally, AA members have always taken care to preserve their anonymity at the "public" level: press, radio, television, and films. In the early days of AA, when more stigma was attached to the term "alcoholic" than is the case today, this reluctance to be identified-and publicized-was easy to understand. As the Fellowship of AA grew, the positive values of anonymity soon became apparent. First, we know from experience than many problem drinkers might hesitate to turn to AA for help if they thought their problem might be discussed publicly, even inadvertently, by others. Newcomers should be able to seek help with complete assurance that their identities will not be disclosed to anyone outside the Fellowship. Then, too, we believe that the concept of personal anonymity has a spiritual significance for us-that it discourages the drives for personal recognition, power, prestige, or profit that have caused difficulties in some societies. Much of our relative effectiveness in working with alcoholics might be impaired if we sought or accepted public recognition. While each member of AA is free to make his or her own interpretations of AA tradition, no individual is ever recognized as a spokesperson for the Fellowship locally, nationally, or internationally. Each member speaks only for himself or herself. AA is indebted to all media for their assistance in strengthening the Tradition of anonymity over the years. From time to time, the General Service Office contacts all major media in the United States and Canada, describing the Tradition and asking for cooperation in its observance. An AA member may, for various reasons, "break anonymity" deliberately at the public level. Since this is a matter of individual choice and conscience, the Fellowship as a whole obviously has no control over such deviations from tradition. It is clear, however, that such individuals do not have the approval of the overwhelming majority of members.
Reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest.
Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it -- then you are ready to take certain steps.
At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.
Remember that we deal with alcohol, cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power- that One is God. May you find Him now!
Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.
Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
- Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Many of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.
Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:
(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were sought.
Reprinted from Alcoholics Anonymous, pages 58,59,60 with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
- Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on AA unity.
- For our group purpose there is one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
- The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking.
- Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or AA as a whole.
- Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
- An AA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the AA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
- Every AA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
- Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
- AA, as such ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
- Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the AA name ought never be drawn into controversy.
- Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.
- Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
Reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
- Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
Only you can decide whether you want to give A.A. a try-whether you think it can help you.
We who are in AA came because we finally gave up trying to control our drinking. We still hated to admit that we could never drink safely. Then we heard from other AA members that we were sick. (We thought so for years!) We found out that many people suffered from the same feelings of guilt and loneliness and hopelessness that we did. We found out that we had these feelings because we had the disease of alcoholism.
We decided to try and face up to what alcohol had done to us. Here are some of the questions we tried to answer honestly. If we answered YES to four or more questions, we were in deep trouble with our drinking. See how you do. Remember, there is no disgrace in facing up to the fact that you have a problem.
- Have you ever decided to stop drinking for a week or so, but only lasted for a couple of days?
Most of us in A.A. made all kinds of promises to ourselves and our families. We could not keep them. Then we came to A.A. A.A. said: "Just try not to drink today." (If you do not drink today, you cannot get drunk today.) - Do you wish people would mind their own business about your drinking-stop telling you what to do?
In A.A. we do not tell anyone to do anything. We just talk about our own drinking, the trouble we got into, and how we stopped. We will be glad to help you if you want us to. - Have you ever switched from one kind of drink to another in the hope that this would keep you from getting drunk?
We tried all kinds of ways. We made our drinks weak. Or just drank beer. Or we did not drink cocktails. Or only drank on weekends. You name it, we tried it. But if we drank anything with alcohol in it, we usually got drunk eventually. - Have you had to have an eye-opener upon awakening during the past year?
- Do you need a drink to get started, or to stop shaking? This is a pretty sure sign that you are not drinking "socially."
- Do you envy people who can drink without getting into trouble?
At one time or another, most of us have wondered why we were not like most people, who really can take it or leave it. - Have you had problems connected with drinking during the past year?
Be honest! Doctors say that if you have a problem with alcohol and keep on drinking, it will get worse-never better. Eventually you will die, or end up in an institution for the rest of your life. The only hope is to stop drinking. - Has your drinking caused trouble at home?
Before we came into A.A. most of us said it was the people or problems at home that made us drink. We could not see that our drinking made everything worse. It never solved problems anywhere or anytime. - Do you ever try to get "extra" drinks at a party because you do not get enough?
Most of us used to have a "few" before we started out if we thought it was going to be that kind of party. And if drinks were not served fast enough, we would go some place else to get more. - Do you tell yourself you can stop drinking any time you want to, even though you keep getting drunk when you don't mean to?
Many of us kidded ourselves into thinking that we drank because we wanted to. After we came into A.A., we found out that once we started to drink we couldn't stop. - Have you missed days of work or school because of drinking?
Many of us admit now that we "called in sick" lots of times when the truth was that we were hungover or drunk. - Do you have "blackouts?"
A "blackout" is when we have been drinking hours or days which we cannot remember. When we came to A.A., we found out that this is a pretty sure sign of alcoholic drinking. - Have you ever felt that your life would be better if you did not drink?
Many of us started to drink because drinking made life seem better, at least for a while. By the time we got into A.A., we felt trapped. We were drinking to live and living to drink. We were sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Did you answer YES four or more times? If so, you are probably in trouble with alcohol. Why do we say this? Because thousands of people in A.A. have said so for many years. They found out the truth about themselves-the hard way.
But again, only you can decide whether you think A.A. is for you. Try to keep an open mind on the subject. If the answer is YES, we will be glad to show you how we stopped drinking ourselves. Just call.
A.A. does not promise to solve your life's problems. But we can show you how we are learning to live without drinking "one day at a time." We stay away from that "first drink." If there is no first one, there cannot be a tenth one. And when we got rid of alcohol, we found that life became much more manageable.
Reprinted from "Is AA for You?" with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
Copyright © The AA Grapevine, Inc. Reprinted with Permission