I am grateful to the couple of members at my early meetings that ‘encouraged’ me to read the AA literature and start working on the Steps right at the outset of my AA journey. They told me in unambiguous terms that half-measures were not good enough if I wanted recovery. It was also ‘suggested’ that I get to as many meetings as I could and try to identify a ‘home group’. This being a group where I felt more at home and one that I was prepared to make a commitment to over time. I remember buying a copy of the ‘Big Book’ spending the equivalent of a week’s spending money. When I came to the Fellowship I had not long taken redundancy from the job I was in and my wife and I were in a poor financial state. My investment in the Big Book was the best investment I have ever made.

In more recent times I get concerned when I hear new members say they have been told to get to 90 meetings in 90 days, which is not in any of our literature. I recall reading about the need for balance in sobriety, between work, home and AA. I am not suggesting that I always got the balance right (or indeed that I always get it right

today!). However in sobriety I need to take my place in society and take care of whatever responsibilities I have in life. This Fellowship has enabled me to do that. Meetings alone have never been responsible for my sobriety. They are an important element in my continued sobriety, but it is the practice of the 12 Steps and the principles enshrined in them that are at the foundation of my sobriety. I have been privileged to have been involved in service throughout most of my 30 years of continuous sobriety to date. During that time I have come across some great examples and have enjoyed lasting relationships with members far and wide. I often share at meetings about my love for this Fellowship and my gratitude for it, saving me from an alcoholic death. It would be difficult for me to envisage how I could be anything but grateful when I look back at the extremely poor physical and mental state I was in when I came to the Fellowship. My involvement in service is an expression of that gratitude in action, no more or less than that. Over the years I have been involved in some, what I ambiguously call ‘animated discussions’ at service meetings. Thankfully, this has not resulted in too many damaged relationships. The key principle for me in all service matters is to put the whole of AA first, thinking particularly about Traditions 1, 4 & 12. When sharing at meetings or in print I look to use, what I call, the language of responsibility, which means me taking responsibility for what I say. As an active alcoholic I was unable to stand up for myself and let myself down badly in many situations. Today I consider myself to be a person of integrity, which is very important to me. I sometimes say that ‘I would rather be disliked for what I am than to be liked for what I am not’.

The Second Tradition Check List: Practice These Principles Tradition Two: For our group purpose there is but 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. 1. Do I criticize or do I trust and support my group officers, A.A. committees and office workers? Newcomers? Old-timers? 2. Am I absolutely trustworthy, even in secret, with A.A. Twelfth Step jobs or other A.A. responsibilities? 3. Do I look for credit in my A.A. jobs? Praise for my A.A. ideas? 4. Do I have to save face in group discussion, or can I yield in good spirit to the group consensus and work cheerfully along with it? 5. Although I have been sober for a few years, am I still willing to serve my turn at A.A. chores? 6. In group discussions, do I sound off about matters on which I have no experience and little knowledge? © “The AA Grapevine, Inc.” (December 1969)

If the alcoholic can truly accept the presence of a power greater than himself, he, by that very step modifies, at least temporarily and possibly permanently, his deepest inner structure. And when he does so without resentment or struggle, then he is no longer ‘typically alcoholic’. And the strange thing is, that if the alcoholic can sustain that feeling of acceptance, he can and will remain sober for the rest of his life. -Harry M. Tiebout M.D. (AA

Comes of Age p311) I was furious. I looked up at the ceiling and screamed: ‘I don’t believe in you and I think you’re a jerk!’ Then I realised, if I didn’t believe in God, who in the hell was I yelling at? Then, being a good ex-Catholic, I waited for three weeks to see if I was going to be punished for calling Him a jerk. -Ken D. The difference between God and me is that God doesn’t think he’s me. -Anonymous The power behind me is greater than the problem in front of me. -Anonymous