![]() This doesn’t always work very well with alcoholics, though some of us did manage to conceal our problem for long periods before our lives began to break down. Openness Individuals and families can be quite successful at masking personal problems and feelings. I think the long-time trend is toward the middle of the road–which is probably where we should be.” friends, business associates, and the like. Most lecture-giving members do not last too long, and the superanonymous people are apt to come out of hiding respecting their A.A. “However, I know that from these extremes we slowly pull ourselves onto a middle ground. It is difficult to restrain A.A.’s from shouting too much before the whole public, by going on spectacular ‘lecture tours’ to play the big shot. “In other sections, we see exactly the reverse. Members are on such a poor basis of communication that they don’t even know each other’s last names or where each lives. “In some sections of A.A., anonymity is carried to the point of real absurdity. I pray that I may learn this secret of abundant living. Give your personal ease and comfort, your time, your money, and most of all, yourself. Of love, of help, of understanding, and of sympathy, give and keep giving. Let no mean or selfish thought keep you from sharing this spirit. You are rich in one respect – you have a spirit that is inexhaustible. You can give abundantly and still live abundantly. If you loose your life in the service of others, you will save it. The paradox of life is that the more you give, the more you have. One secret of abundant living is the art of giving. To watch people recover, to see them help others in turn, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow about you, to have a host of friends, this is an experience you must not miss.” Am I always ready and willing to help other alcoholics? You can secure their confidence when others fail. “Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as extensive work with other alcoholics. I ask God to help me to reach out to people desiring sobriety, and to, please, keep me grateful! ![]() “It gets better,” they said, and “One day at a time, you can do it.” They were no longer strangers, but caring friends. ![]() It only required my attending one meeting, in a foggy condition, to know I was home. In the Fellowship I didn’t have to make promises, I didn’t have to concentrate. I’m grateful that the Third Tradition only requires of me a desire to stop drinking. If all those rules had been in effect everywhere, nobody could have possibly joined A.A. Everybody was scared witless that something or somebody would capsize the boat.The total list was a mile long.
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