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/)
( \ (AA)/ )
(_ /AA\ _)
/AA\
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Newcomers
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"Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your
faults to Him and your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past.
Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the
Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you
trudge the Road of Happy Destiny. May God bless you and keep you - until
then."
1976AAWS,
Alcoholics Anonymous,
p.
164
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Thought
to Consider . . .
Newcomers are the lifeblood of the program.
But our oldtimers are the arteries.
Still very
impatient, I wanted the whole deal right away. That's why I related so well to
the story about a wide-eyed new person and an oldtimer. When the newcomer
approached the oldtimer, envying his accomplishments and many years of sobriety,
the oldtimer slapped down his hand like a gavel and said, "I'll trade you even!
My thirty years for your thirty days - right now!" He knew what the newcomer had
yet to find out: that true happiness is found in the journey, not the
destination.
2001, AAWS, Inc.,
Alcoholics Anonymous, pages
510-511