Every good thought you create, every good feeling you have, every
good word you speak and every good action you perform, every virtue you
manifest, builds for you the path. Hiawatha Iroquois Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our
path...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... Here are the steps we took which are suggested as a
program of recovery...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 principals. We are not
saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines.
The principals we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual
progress rather than spiritual perfection... Big Book pg. 58 It is plain
that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and
unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do
we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the
alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual
experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that
it is fatal. For when harboring
such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The
insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is
to die. Big Book
pg. 66 Great Spirit help us. Show us the good
path. |