Tag Archives: 11th step

Appalachian Trail

I was thinking about hiking the Appalachian trail. In the summertime there’s so much foliage that you can’t see more than just a few tens of feet. For most of the hike, there’s really not much  to see but leaves. But every now and then you come to an opening and you look out across the vista of the mountains and all kinds of peace and inspiration, and that’s why people hike the trail. They don’t do it just for the misery of going up and down mountains, they do it because every now and then you get that Easter egg that makes it all worthwhile.

It’s that way with recovery. Just as hikers, over time, learn the trails that work for them best – –  the ones that take them to the places they find most inspirational, so do people in recovery discover places to go, things to do, and ways to be that fit us as recovering people and make it more likely that we’ll run into those beautiful vistas from time to time. Not all the time, but it’s worth it when you find them.
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That’s why they call it “trudging the road of Happy destiny.”

The Universe Isn’t Enough

Reinhold Niebuhr is known for ideas that were highly influential in Christian theological debate during the early 20th Century, but as far as alcoholics and other addicts are concerned, his restating of a basic philosophical truth in the Serenity Prayer is a life preserver in the roiling sea of life.

Too many recovering people give only lip service to the prayer. In most of our fellowships, if we attend meetings regularly, we recite it at least a few times a week. The question is, do we listen to what we’re saying? Continue reading

Bill Wilson on the 11th Step

Around me I see many people who make a far better job of relating themselves to God than I do. Certainly it mustn’t be said I haven’t made any progress at all over the years; I simply confess that I haven’t made the progress that I might have made, my opportunities being what they have been, and still are.

Bill Wilson wrote the words above in 1958, just before his 24th AA Anniversary.  His honest appraisal of his shortcomings and his willingness to discuss them are a lesson to me, and perhaps to you as well.  How many of us, in his position, would have been sorely tempted to simply bask in the glory of being one of the Founders, and forget how to be one of the bozos on the bus?

The AA Grapevine carries articles like this every month.  It is an invaluable resource for alcoholics in recovery — and for other kinds of addicts if they are willing to set aside their prejudices and “read between the lines.”

Bill Wilson on the 11th Step — AA Grapevine Current Issue