First Things First However intelligent we may have been in other respects, where alcohol has been involved, we have been strangely insane. It's strong language - but isn't it true? The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. Sometimes we alcoholics have an idea that people are trying to pull us down. Often this is not so at all. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. The greatest enemies of us alcoholics are resentment, jealousy, envy, frustration, and fear. We went back through our lives. Nothing counted but thoroughness and honesty. We alcoholics are sensitive people. It takes some of us a long time to outgrow that serious handicap. The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. No words can tell of the loneliness and despair I found in that bitter morass of self-pity. We remembered always that our sex powers were God-given and therefore good, neither to be used lightly or selfishly nor to be despised and loathed. Most alcoholics owe money. We do not dodge our creditors. To get over drinking will require a transformation of thought and attitude. Continue to speak of alcoholism as an illness, a fatal malady. We must be entirely honest with somebody if we expect to live long or happily in this world. More than most people, the alcoholic leads a double life. He is very much the actor. We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free. We cannot subscribe to the belief that this life is a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. Imagine life without faith! Were nothing left but pure reason, it wouldn't be life. When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God. Those of us who live in large cities are overcome by the reflection that close by hundreds are dropping into oblivion every day. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely. Live and Let Live If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn't want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life. We were reborn. This sometimes nearly drove me back to drink, but I soon found that when all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day. If you are as seriously alcoholic as we were, we believe there is no middle-of-the-road solution. We are without defense against the first drink. Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. If you are an alcoholic, you are a mighty sick man. We must be entirely honest with somebody if we expect to live long or happily in this world. To get over drinking will require a transformation of thought and attitude. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. To be helpful is our only aim. Our friends thought a lunacy commission should be appointed. Perhaps they were right. Most of us feel we need look no further for Utopia. We have it with us right here and now. The rule is we must be hard on ourself, but always considerate of others. At the moment we are trying to put our lives in order. But this is not an end in itself. Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us. We have no right to save our own skin at another person's expense. Such parts of our story we tell to someone who will understand, yet be unaffected. God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitate to take your health problems to such persons. Ominous warning - which I failed to heed. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better. We never, never try to arrange a man's life so as to shield him from temptation. We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends. Many of us have wasted a lot of time doing that and it doesn't work. I had met my match. I had been overwhelmed. Alcohol was my master. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! Resentment is the "number one" offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. "Who are you to say there is no God?" So we think cheerfulness and laughter make for usefulness. Outsiders are sometimes shocked when we burst into merriment over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past. But why shouldn't we laugh? We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. After all, our problems were of our own making. Bottles were only a symbol. We are not saints. To be helpful is our only aim. Carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one else can. To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men. Selfishness - self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Half measures availed us nothing. We have no monopoly on God; we merely have an approach that worked with us. Liquor ceased to be a luxury; it became a necessity. No words can tell of the loneliness and despair I found in that bitter morass of self-pity. If anyone who is showing inability to control his drinking can do the right- about-face and drink like a gentleman, our hats are off to him. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it-then you are ready to take certain steps. Love and tolerance of others is our code. (c) That God could and would if He were sought. Assuming we are spiritually fit, we can do all sorts of things alcoholics are not supposed to do. Helping others is the foundation stone of your recovery. A kindly act once in a while isn't enough. We do talk about each other a great deal, but we almost invariably temper such talk by a spirit of love and tolerance. We have been dealing with alcohol in its worst aspect. But we aren't a glum lot. First of all, we had to quit playing God. It didn't work.

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