AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)

December 29, 2024
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Old, Insidious Insanity
Unless he took some drinks, he might not have the courage to scrape an
acquaintance and would have a lonely week-end. Of course he couldn't
drink, but why not sit hopefully at a table, a bottle of ginger ale before him?
After all, had he not been sober six months now? Perhaps he could handle,
say, three drinks—no more! Fear gripped him. He was on thin ice. Again it
was the old, insidious insanity—that first drink.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, (A Vision For You) p. 154
 

Thought to Ponder
We will suddenly realize that God is doing
for us what we could not do for ourselves.
 

AA-related 'Alconym'
A A W O L  =  A A Way Of Life.
 

A Member Shares:
Dennis, Recovered Alcoholic. I love story time, so I got one too! Today I would like to tell a story I heard many many moons ago about the topic and reading. And I'm copying and pasting so I get it right. Timing is Everything. How disheartening is the fallacious vision of a desperate, pathetic Bill W choosing not to drink and instead frantically white knuckling the desire from a phone booth -- waiting for it 'to pass.' Fortunately for us that is not how it happened. The history, when read with care, tells a significantly different truth - one missed by a careless, cursory review. It reveals that on that fateful day in Akron Bill Wilson lost the struggle. He decided to drink. He even decided how many drinks he was to have. "Three drinks - no more!" The obsession had won. "Again it was the old, insidious insanity - that first drink." All for some threadbare excuse like "companionship and release." But this also tells us of something else that happened. Something peculiar and astonishing. It is revealed that it was not as much what - as it was when it happened. The order, the sequence of the occurrence of events that day. For illustrative purposes, I have ascribed times to emphasize the unfolding chronology as it is presented in the Big Book. Please note how God’s timing is everything.
1. 4:53:44 PM - Music and gay chatter still floated to him from the bar.
2. 4:53:57 PM - But what about his responsibilities - his family and the men who would die because they would not know how to get well, ah - yes, those other alcoholics? There must be many such in this town.
3. 4:54:00 PM - He would phone a clergyman.
4. 4:54:01 PM - His sanity returned
5. 4:54:05 PM - and he thanked God.
6. 4:54:15 PM - Selecting a church at random from the directory, he stepped into a booth and lifted the receiver.
Oh my GOD! Bill is SANE – the obsession is LIFTED – upon the mere thought of helping another. Then he becomes useful to God and his fellows and not a millisecond before. He was free BEFORE he ever stuck a feeble foot into that phone booth - or finger into one hole of the black rotary dial. Bill didn't lose his obsession to drink because he worked with others - Bill was able to work with other because his obsession was lifted. Sure he later discover that taking another alkie through the steps insures continued immunity from drinking, but here is a clear example where obsession is no match for the knowledge of God's will. Then followed by the power to carry it out. Bill departs Akron – in his wake, a trail of miracles, recovered alkies, who in turn continue to perform great works with their newfound power to help others. God's first gift to AA. Could this BE Suddenly Realized? It explains alot to me.
 

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