12 Steps

Denial Needs to Go

Denial is actually a defense mechanism implemented to protect us, to keep the mind solvent in lieu of perceived danger. It’s a form of personalized reframing, neuro-linguistic manipulation meant to increase survivability. Yet many of us turn it into a catalyst which allows us to continue our voluntary journey into perdition.

Denial is the ability to lie to one’s self in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It is the ability to delude one’s self with reasonable to superb success. Only when denial diminishes does character take root.

And, once again, character is identified and maintained by one’s personal beliefs.

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How Alcoholism Controls Your Life

It happens without warning. It creeps into your life and all of a sudden, you’re hooked. At first you’re the life of the party, and later you’re the drunk of the party. When you’re young, twenties and thirties, your body can handle all the booze, no problem. But mentally it impairs the way you view and feel the world around you.

Most of the time, alcoholics don’t know that alcohol has taken hold of their life. This is called the denial stage. Alcoholics feel if they can get up and go to work everyday, even though secretly they have an excruciating headache, they don’t have a problem.

But what keeps the alcoholic going throughout the workday is in knowing that after work, they’ll have those highballs or beers, which will in fact; make them feel like their old self again.

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Dr. Bob’s Wife Anne Smith, Early AAs, and Jesus Christ

A few contemporary writers, biographers, and historians have done their best to distance A.A., AAs, and the fellowship newcomers from the Bible, God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Some Christian critics load their writings with verses from the Bible and dire warnings to AAs and others. But seldom have they taken the time to learn, and rarely to quote, the clear-cut beliefs of the early AAs in the Creator, His Son Jesus Christ, the Bible, and even the Holy Spirit. Indeed, it is sad to see how quickly and emphatically the critics claim that the early A.A. pioneers did not believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that they didn’t emphasize Jesus Christ and him crucified, and that they did not emphasize a relationship with Jesus Christ.

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The Promises of A.A. – ALL of Them!

These are ALL of the promises as stated in the book Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book (also known as “The Big Book”).

The Promises of Step Two

Page 25:

  • There is a solution.
  • We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed.
  • The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God’s universe.

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12 Señales de un Despertar Espiritual

( Fuente Desconocida )

1. Un aumento en la tendencia de dejar que las cosas ocurran en lugar de causarlas.

2. Ataques frecuentes de Sonreír.

3. Sentimientos de estar conectados con otros y con la naturaleza.

4. Frecuentes y sobrecogedores episodios de apreciación.

5. Una tendencia a pensar y actuar espontáneamente en lugar de actuar basados en miedos causados por experiencias pasadas.

6. Una habilidad inequívoca de disfrutar cada momento.

7. Una pérdida de habilidad para preocuparse.

8. Una pérdida de interés en los conflictos.

9. Una pérdida de interés en evaluar las acciones de otros.

10. Una pérdida de interés en juzgar a otros.

11. Una pérdida de interés en juzgarte a ti mismo.

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Applying “Old School” A.A. in Today’s 12-Step Fellowships

What the First, Original, Akron A.A. Program Was and Did

The way the first three AAs-Bill W., Dr. Bob, Bill D.-got sober before there was a “Big Book.” See The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010, pp. 57-59.

    1. There were no Steps;

    2. There were no Traditions;

    3. There was no “Big Book”;

    4. There were no “drunkalogs” (of the kind seen today); and

    5. There were no meetings (of the kinds seen today).

Instead, each of the first three AAs:

    1. believed in God;

    2. was a Christian;

    3. asked God for deliverance; and

    4. received the requested deliverance from God.

The Summary by Frank Amos, Published in DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, page 131.

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Sympathy in One Another’s Joys and Sorrows

Elizabeth’s neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.” Luke 1:58

We see here a striking example of the kindness we owe to one another. It is written that “they rejoiced with her.” How much more happiness there would be in this evil world, if conduct like this was more common!

Sympathy in one another’s joys and sorrows costs little, and yet is a grace of most mighty power.

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