"As we walked back through
the hall, I, for the first time in my life, said to another human being, 'I'm
having trouble with my drinking too.' She took me by the hand and introduced me
to the woman that I'm very proud to call my sponsor. This woman and her husband
are both in A.A., and she said to me, 'Oh, but you're not the alcoholic; it's
your husband.' I said, 'Yes.' She said, 'How long have you been married?' I
said, 'Twenty-seven years.' She said 'Twenty-seven years to an alcoholic! How
did you ever stand it?' I thought, now here's a nice sympathetic soul! This is
for me. I said, 'Well, I stood it to keep the home together, and for the
children's sake.' She said, 'Yes, I know. You're just a martyr, aren't you?' I
walked away from that woman grinding my teeth and cursing under my breath.
But that night I tried to go to sleep. And I thought, 'You're some martyr, Jane!
Let's look at the record.' And when I looked at it, I knew I was just as much a
drunk as George was, if not worse. I nudged George next morning, and I said I'm
in,' and he said, 'Oh, I knew you'd make it.'"
2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth
Edition
Alcoholics Anonymous, pgs. 289-90
"The tremendous fact for every one of us is
that we have discovered a common solution. We have a way out on which we can
absolutely agree, and upon which we can join in brotherly and harmonious
action. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer
from alcoholism."
Alcoholics Anonymous,
4th Edition
There Is A Solution, pg.
17
*^Twenty
Four
Hours A
Day^*
A.A. Thought for the Day
The
Prodigal Son "took his journey into a far country and wasted his substance with
riotous living." That's what we alcoholics do. We waste our substance with
riotous living. "When he came to himself, he said: 'I will arise and go to my
father.'" That's what you do in A.A. You come to yourself. Your alcoholic self
is not your real self. Your sane, sober, respectable self is your real self.
That's why we alcoholics are so happy in A.A. Have I come to myself?
Meditation for the Day
Simplicity
is the keynote of a good life. Choose the simple things always. Life can become
complicated if you let it be so. You can be swamped by difficulties if you let
them take up too much of your time. Every difficulty can be either solved or
ignored and something better substituted for it. Love the humble things of life.
Reverence the simple things. Your standard must never be the world's standard of
wealth and power.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may
love the simple things of life. I pray that I may keep my life uncomplicated and
free.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN
55012