Carrying massage

Carrying the Message

Carry this message to other alcoholics!
You can help them when no one else can.
You can secure their confidence when others fail. . .
Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other
is the bright spot of our lives.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 89
 In AA we don't carry the alcoholic;
we carry the message.

E S H = Experience, Strength, and Hope.

 

A Member Shares:

 

My name is Gary, I am an Alcoholic. For that I thank God daily. As my sponsor beat into my head, Chapter Seven in the Big Book is not called “Helping Others” -- it is called "Working with Others." The "others" must put an effort or Action to keep Sober. I cannot get someone sober nor keep someone sober, nor can I get someone drunk. My first year in AA was being a wet / dry drunk. It took me 13 months to get 30 days. I have heard worse. But I guess I needed all those drinks to finally Surrender to the Program. The old-timers told me to watch my message -- my verbal message and non-verbal message. They told me to practice love and tolerance. So I watch what I say around newcomers and old-timers as well. Some are set in their ways; it keeps them sober, so I try not to rock the boat. When I finally got 30 days, an old-timer asked me to purchase a coffee for someone who was shaking. I Purchased it for him, Filled it half full since he was shaking and handed it to him. He said thanks and said he had about an hour sober. So we talked. I shared how I had 30 days sober. The old-timer told me that the newcomer would relate to me with 30 days, and not him with over 20 years. That was the first time I remember actually working the Twelfth Step besides cleaning out the ash trays! Today, when meeting a newcomer, I start with the question by asking, “Are you done drinking?” Most of the time, I get a “yes.” Then, I simply ask them, “well, who created you?” I found my first Higher Power in the Seventh Step prayer, "My Creator,” (Big Book, p. 76). I discovered it was Easy for me to Understand that I was not in power, nor had the power to create Anything. I listen and watch newcomers. I have seen more newcomers leave than stay, but now I do not take it personally. They worked with me to stay sober. Thank you for letting me share.

Anonymity

Anonymity,

For the first time, I saw AA's Anonymity for what it really is. It isn't just Something to save us from Alcoholic Shame and Stigma; I'ts deeper purpose is Actually to keep those fool Egos of ours, from Running Hog wild after Money and public Fame at AA's expense. It really means personal and Group Sacrifice for the Benefit of all AA.

- Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 43.

Anonymity is real humility at work.

A A = Adventurers Anonymous.

Character

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.

 

Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.

 

 

 

Character is like a tree, and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

 

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

 

A mistake is simply another way of doing things.

 

Discipline is the bridge between goals and Accomplishment.

Courage

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

 

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

 

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.

 

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

 

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

 

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.

If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.

Wisdom

Honesty is the First Chapter in The Book of Wisdom.

 

By Three Methods we may Learn Wisdom: First, by Reflection, which is Noblest; Second, by Imitation, which is Easiest; and Third by Experience, which is the Bitterest.

 

If you Talk to a Man in a Language he Understands, That Goes to His Head. If you Talk to Him in His Language, That Goes to His Heart.

 

Wisdom is the Reward you get for a Lifetime of Listening when you'd have Preferred to Talk.

 

Wisdom, Compassion, and Courage are the Three Universally Recognized Moral Qualities of Men.

 

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.