we read it in some meetings too....hugs glad you are reading the literature....get a copy of Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers....it is supposed to be a good read too....

Just remember Anna there is a lot of work be done before they are attainable.

Hope all is well.

WHAT, G? What do you mean work? They never told me that...

;-)

yeah just a little.. :=)))

There's a catch. There's an alternative set of the Promises which will definitely come true if we don't do the work, and these have been passed down like a secret handshake from one AA member to another in an unbroken line of word-of-mouth transmission ever since 1939.

In order to preserve this priceless treasure for posterity, I wore a wire at a meeting one day and recorded the whole thing out in the parking lot afterward:

"The spiritual life is only a theory. We have to live it down... There may be dozens wrongs we simply don't care to right. We don't worry about them if we can honestly say to ourselves that we would shoot the bastards if we could. Some people cannot be seen, thank God - we send them a Dear John letter. And there are many valid reasons for postponement in most cases. We delay until the sheriff is at our door. We avoid being sensible, tactful, considerate and humble without EVER being servile or scraping. As God-forsaken people we rarely stand on our feet; we'll crawl before anyone we have to.

"If we are painstakingly obsessed about this phase of our development, we will be nonplussed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new vocabulary and a whole new way to grind an ax. We will edit the past and wish to spin the tale of it. We will not comprehend the word serenity and we will equate peace with victory over people and circumstances. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can bore the bejesus out of others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will become our constant companion. We will lose whatever scant interest in ordinary things we once had and gain a morbid interest in our fellows' foibles. Self-seeking will become a new art form as we learn to brag to others how we've replaced vodka with virtue. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change but little. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will drive us nutz like never before. We will methodically puzzle over how to handle situations which never even used to occur to us. We will grudgingly admit, however, that God occasionally does for us what we wouldn't stoop to do for ourselves.

"Are these extravagant promises? We think not. Just go to meetings and pay attention. They are being fulfilled among us sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize whether we work for them or not."

--"Alcoholics Acrimonious," Fifth Edition-in-progress, Nemorino, Ed. pp. 83-4.

LMAO, thanks--Nemorino, Ed.

Nemo - that reminds me of something I heard...

When we first took a drink, alcohol made us all the same promises...

"We will suddenly realize that Alcohol is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves."

I have often pondered the idea that Alcohol was my HP for so long. I am certain it is a Higher Power for alcoholics until we find a spiritual solution. Kinda baffles me a little when people can't grasp the concept of higher power when they have worshiped one for such a long time. I gave my will an my life over to booze. It was easier than doing the work to find what I needed through a spiritual solution.

So, I wonder for those who don't believe in a higher power than themselves, what is booze? It has it's own promises, but they false in the end.