Undrunk by A.J. Adams

Author:A.J. Adams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hazelden Publishing

Sayings

AA is a simple program for complicated people.

Bill Wilson and Bob Smith were careful about keeping the AA program simple. In fact, Bob’s last words to Bill were “Let’s not louse this thing up. Let’s keep it simple.” There are few rules, minimal government, and a concise and unambiguous program of action. But add alcoholics to the mix and just see how complex it can get. Some alcoholics will inevitably overanalyze the Steps, try to control the meetings and change the structure, enforce rules disguised as norms, and do whatever else they can to turn a simple Greek structure into a rococo palace. Fortunately, AA groups seem to have a natural self-correcting capacity that kicks in whenever efforts to “improve” the program get up a head of steam.

AA is not bad people trying to become good, but sick people trying to get well.

Because of the acceptance of the disease theory of alcoholism by all major medical and psychiatric associations—including the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization—more and more people understand that alcoholism is a genetically transmitted progressive illness. But stigmas die hard, and many folks, including some MDs and shrinks, still think there’s a willpower deficit at work here. I live with it and so will you. The good news is that most people recognize success when they see it, and AAs are successful. So many people are touched by alcoholism directly or indirectly in the United States and around the world that the example of AA’s powerful effect comes as a welcome hope to millions.

All of us together know more than any one of us.

I think AAs are smarter than the general population, and it’s a safe bet that AAs in general agree. That can make for interesting meetings. The downside is that some of us will inevitably try to dazzle the rest from time to time. This tried-and-true saying is a call to humility and a reminder of the reality that no one in the room is really smarter than everyone else put together. I wish Congress ran this way.

Bring the body and the mind will follow.

This saying was probably lifted from somewhere else, but in AA, it refers to the benefit of repeatedly coming to meetings, paying attention (even if you don’t exactly understand what it’s all about), and trusting that a light will eventually come on. It will. Bill Wilson was smitten by American psychologist and philosopher William James’s book The Varieties of Religious Experience, which he read in Towns Hospital. James (1842–1910) talks about “acting yourself into a new way of thinking,” and this got Bill’s attention. The Big Book chapter “A Vision for You” evokes the concept of acting yourself into a new person. That’s partly why AAs always tell newcomers to “keep coming back” to meetings and why, at the end of meetings, they say, “It works if you work it.” AA slang for this concept is “fake it ’til you make it,” and many people do just that.

Continue doing what you’re doing and you’ll keep getting what you’ve got.

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