The Program

[justjo]

People think that they're going to get sober by osmosis and going to 90 meetings in 90 days. But there's only one way to obtain and maintain sobriety and that's through the progam folded within these 164 pages. - Ted H.

- The Alkiespeaks

So many who come into the rooms and hear the little slogans and cliques and take them literally, or should say literal from their perspective. This is a disease of perception, so it only stand to reason when you are new, you don't always see and hear things they way they are meant, that is why it is good to keep coming back. Keep coming so you don't have to come back.

The blueprint to recovery is in the first 164 pages. The whole book is readable, so is the literature in the fellowship. To enrich me spiritually, I read a lot of things and studies a lot of things. I didn't have much faith in the God of my understanding, and AA was my Higher Power until I became dissolutioned by people who didn't walk their talk. Then I had to learn, look and listen to the message not the messenger.

Because I qualified for many fellowships, I went to AA for my denial. I did not think I was an alcoholic. An addict, no problem, an adult child of an alcoholic for sure, and the mother of a self-admitted alcohlic son qualified me to walk through the doors of Al-Anon. I feel I was fortunate, because I could look at things from both sides of the street.

Recovery is a process, it is not a quick fix. I had to find what I need for my own recovery. I wasn't unique as a person, but I was unique in the fact that no one walked in my shoes, and what was traumatic for me, might not be so to someone else. What was traumatic for someone else, might not have happened to me or held any fear for me.

I had to go to 90 meetings to see if I wanted to stay sober, then I could start building a program. I didn't even have a home group at 3 months. I was one of the really sick ones.

[caressa]

Some people think that 90 meetings in 90 days is the program. We need to be careful that we don't send out mixed messages or messages that are misleading.

I know a guy who thought "Keep coming back" mean he could relapse, go out do his thing, when he got sick, he could come back and start again. It does mean keep coming back to AA. It also means, keep coming back to meetings so you don't have to relapse. Keep coming so you don't have to come back.

How boring and stressful it would be if everything was on a timetable. Oh I have to do this in 90 days and if not I have failed. You don't want to tell anyone, so you run away and use because you don't think you can so you don't try.

The program is keep coming back to meetings, get a group, get a sponsor, get active in your group, get a relationship with your sponsor by talking to her(him), calling her(him) on the phone and working the steps with her(him). As I have heard several times in the recovery rooms, get a sponsor who is opposite your sexual preferance because we don't want a lot of sponsettes running around the rooms.

The program for me is, don't use no matter what. Do whatever you need to do to stay clean and sober for this 24 hours. A day can start any time, so if this one isn't going so well, say the Serenity Prayer, think of what it means, and start your day again.

[caressa]

Questioning the Program:

Alkiespeaks:

Knowing why I was an alcoholic doesn't help. The ship hits an iceberg, it's sinking, everyone is rowing away. But you're on the deck saying; 'I'm not leaving this baby until I understand what happened.' - Clancy I.

Always with the questions! I was told to quit intellectualizing, and if I was still questioning, I was told to 'Stop' and just accept what is. The program has worked for many years, it works when you work it.

People will say the program didn't work for me. They didn't ask why it didn't and what they were doing wrong. It had to be the program not them. This is a disease of perception.

So many times, I was in a mental fog, totally clueless as to what was going on around me. I never questioned things or I wanted to know the ins and outs. There was no balance, it seemed like it was either/or, no inbetween.

The program works if you work for it. This means going to meetings, doing Step work and doing service work.

When you think about it, how can you know what you have never been taught? How can you know, if you don't stick around long enough to find out? How can you find what works for you if you don't try to apply the words and principles to your life? How can you know what to change if you don't take an inventory of what is there.

One day at a time it does work.

[BW]

that's through the progam folded within these 164 pages. - Ted H.

this is just my humble opinion but the design for living is not just the first 164 pages..What about the chapter on acceptance..? What about the 12 X 12? There is also some other fantastic information and suggestions in other pages and the appendix in our book as well

I grew up in this program of recovery on the entire book & the 12 x 12...not just a part of

Meeting makers make it by practing what we get in the meetings outside of the meetings where we actually LIVE SOBER...then we come back in and share those expereinces...even if we screwed up...we share the mistakes and what we learned from those mistakes

[justjo]

So true BW, so many people say the first 164 pages. I have had heard people say to throw away the 12 & 12, all you need is the Big Book. I know I identified with a lot of the stories, especially the Doctor, Alcoholic, Addict, that mentioned acceptance and expectation, and someone said that they tried to get the story taken out for the 4th Edition.

Someone told me that acceptance isn't part of the program because it isn't mentioned in the first 164 pages, forgetting that it is part of the Serenity Prayer. For me personally, it is also needed to do Step One 100%, along with honesty and surrender.

The program so much more than just being sober. If you want sobriety, you continue to work the program a day at a time, and continue to grow and change.

[majestyjo]

I have had heard people say to throw away the 12 & 12, all you need is the Big Book. I know I identified with a lot of the stories, especially the Doctor, Alcoholic, Addict, that mentioned acceptance and expectation, and someone said that they tried to get the story taken out for the 4th Edition.

Someone told me that acceptance isn't part of the program because it isn't mentioned in the first 164 pages, forgetting that it is part of the Serenity Prayer. For me personally, it is also needed to do Step One 100%, along with honesty and surrender.

The program is so much more than just being sober. If you want sobriety, you continue to work the program a day at a time, and continue to grow and change.

[caressa222]

My program is the 12 Steps. I don't think I would have stayed clean and sober on just the Big Book.