Member: eileen g
Location: conecticut
Date: 24 Jan 1999
Time: 14:11:20

Comments


Member: eileen g
Location: connecticut
Date: 24 Jan 1999
Time: 14:23:27

Comments

out of "that bondgage of self" to the one of many wasa long and painful trip. Now am a senior - enjoying the fruits of program - with a wonder-full life. First timw posting = How am I doing? love eileen


Member: Linda M
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date: 24 Jan 1999
Time: 14:55:29

Comments

Thanks eileen,

Linda, alcoholic and it's good to be reminded that I'm not the most important person in the world. Without AA I wouldn't have the wonderful life I too am having. My welfare depends on AA and how well I work my program, more importantly, what I put back into AA. The irony is the more I put back the more I seem to get!!

Keep coming back! Linda


Member: Bonnie C 5/30/80
Location: Seattle
Date: 24 Jan 1999
Time: 17:18:04

Comments

Hi extended family, bonnie/alcoholic here (((ROOM-HUG))) you're doing great ((eileen)) *s* thanks for being here. you too ((linda)) so blessed to be *part of* today. thats what i was always trying to achieve *out there* but never did. here our common bond is alcohol and how it has affected our lives and sharing what underlying causes make us turn to alcohol for comfort. what voices we try to quiet with it. I thought i was nuts before you so graciously shared your insides with me, letting me feel *part of* for this I am forever grateful. our common welfare and unity is the glue that makes my recovery possible. Dear God please bless all who venture here, love and hugs, bon -- bonzoc@webtv.net


Member: SIGRID.P
Location: NEW YORK
Date: 24 Jan 1999
Time: 21:44:13

Comments

I'M GLAD YOU GUYS ARE ON THE FIRST STEP TONIGHT. BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH. I JUST HAVE SO MUCH ANXIETY AND FEAR. I WOULD APPRECIATE SOME SHARING. THANKS


Member: Geri W
Location: Virginia
Date: 25 Jan 1999
Time: 05:29:48

Comments

Hello. My name is Geri and I'm a very grateful alcoholic. AA unity has kept the program alive so that it can continue to save lives like mine. To me, it means that my ideas, desires and needs must be secondary to the continuation of the Program. So, even when I think I know the answers, I listen to the group conscious - and don't leave just because it doesn't agree with what I think. I remember that my best thinking got me here. We are united in our fight against the disease - while our paths are often different - our destination remains the same. A sober life.


Member: W.I.P.
Location: Penna.
Date: 25 Jan 1999
Time: 08:01:54

Comments

Unity: Are my actions ones that bring people, family or workmates together or apart?

Am I one that draws people together or apart. I suffer from the defect of gossip and judgemntal behavior.

These tradtions always help me look at me. The view I am getting is a little disturbing. Oh well... I'm still work in progress...


Member: Larry M.
Location: Virginia Beach
Date: 25 Jan 1999
Time: 11:06:23

Comments

Larry, alcoholic

Although Bill Wilson had over 5 months sobriety when he found himself in the lobby of the Mayflower Hotel on May 11, 1935, he knew he was in danger of going into the bar and drinking. He already had much of the roots of what would become AA: the medical opinion of Dr. Silkworth, the pschological theories of Dr. Carl Jung and William James, and the spiritual principles he had learned from the Oxford Group. What he lacked was another alcoholic to work with. That realization led to his meeting with Dr. Bob Smith and together they would eventually found AA.

There are a lot of opinions about what kind of program AA is: an "action" program, a "spiritual" program, and so forth. There is certainly some truth in those statements, but to me the most important thing about AA is that it's a "we" program. Most of us have tried to get sober by ourselves - I tried many times - and failed. The best efforts of doctors, shrinks, concerned family and friends, clergymen, etc. haven't been very successful in treating alcoholism either. What has worked for me and millions of others are the efforts of other drunks. Go figure.

Few of us get sober alone. We get sober and stay that way together. Without AA unity, there would have been no place for me to go to get sober. If we don't mainatin that unity, countless others in the future will have nowhere to go. Those of us who are now sober won't be able to work with those newcomers to help ourselves stay sober by helping them to get sober.

To quote Ben Franlin upon the signing of the Declaration of Independence:

"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

Peace & Serenity


Member: Terri O
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Date: 25 Jan 1999
Time: 12:32:07

Comments

My name is Terri and I am an alcoholic.

I suppose this is the first tradition because it is the most important one.

My first time in AA 15 years ago, I stayed sober for 7 years without noticing the "we" part. I shouldn't even say "in AA", because I was not, just hanging on the boundaries picking and choosing for myself. Then stopped going to meetings, and relapsed for 8 years.

To my wonder, when I hit my nasty bottom and needed help 8 months ago, AA accepted me back unconditionally. Funny story: the call I made to AA in Moscow, Russia was answered by a good ol' boy from Texas! Oh man, I thought when I saw him, this is unbelievable, but I was desperate, so I took his advice and went to a meeting. I walked in the door to a roomful of men (I am a petite female, age 46). Sheesh! well, I said to myself, you got drunk with 'em, you might as well get sober with 'em.

That good ol' boy became my sponsor - personally, we have nothing in common. But I can relate to him totally on alcoholism, and he showed me how to work the steps.

Eight months later, I still have the miracle of sobriety, thanks to the unity of a bunch of AA misfits in Moscow. It was amazing, we had every type of human being you can imagine, rich, poor, black, white, European, American, male, female, educated, illiterate, young, old. AA itself is a miracle!

Love and unending gratitude to all in AA. This time around, I feel very much a part of, and hope to be able to help some other suffereing alcoholic feel the same way.


Member: Stuart
Location: Ann Arbor
Date: 25 Jan 1999
Time: 13:00:36

Comments

Stuart, Alcoholic. Thank you, Larry, for your comments, everything you said made good sense to me. Last week, I met a man at a meeting who got sober in New York City in 1966. We described briefly meeting Bill Wilson who was frail and in poor health at the time. It amazed me however to realize what a short time AA has truly been around. Basically, this guy who met Bill Wilson, and before him, nothing. When I could not stop drinking and was desperate, if AA had not been around I would have been dead. Sometimes, we trivialize the miracle of getting sober, and somehow take it for granted that AA is here. I pray I always realize that I need the other drunk, just as Bill W. did at the Mayflower hotel, some 64 years ago.


Member: Phillip M.
Location: NWT, Canada
Date: 25 Jan 1999
Time: 14:27:45

Comments

Hi, I'm Phillip and I'm an alcoholic.

The first tradition... well, as I sit here, online from Fort Simpson, N.W.T. and wonder how on earth could this possibly apply to me... unity and personal recovery. Being alcoholic is like so many of you said, is like being the best bullshiter and excuse maker. Today, after spending two days in the bottle, I am blindly grasping for anything to settle me down. My guilt, my anguish, my lack of any memories these past two days are pure torture!

Today, I am excusing my actions by saying that I am living in isolation... in the far northern region of Canada. There are no AA groups here, at least that is what I've told myself.

I thank God for technology and hope that I will get over this denial and get back on track with my sobriety. Through the unity and recovery we have here online, I pray that I will make it.


Member: Bill W
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Date: 25 Jan 1999
Time: 17:18:56

Comments

Evening Friends I'm Bill, alcoholic. Avery dear friend of mine used this Tradition all the time. Basically he said that "if I don't look after me I can be of no use to anyone". I felt this was rather odd at the time but now realize that if I'm not well physically and spititually how can I pass anything on. Bill W had a lot going for him in realizing he had that temptation it could be eased if he could talk to someone else. He met Dr. Bob and things went from there. Bill was looking after himself and using another alcoholic to help him and he could help another. There is so much meaning in Tradition one but if I'm sick how can I help another. Thanks for sharing avery one, still a lot to learn. Phillip M (NWT). Hang in there my friend. This site is but another tool to help us in our sobriety. If there is no AA there you could always start a group and of course keep in touch with people here and perhaps write using E Mail. My address is BillcaCan@netscape.net. I'm working shift work and may not reply for a day or two but reply I will.


Member: Cheri V.
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Date: 25 Jan 1999
Time: 23:22:11

Comments

Bill Wilson knew that the only people who could destroy AA would be ourselves. Therefore, he wrote the 12 traditions to protect us from our own weaknesses. The welfare of the group has to come before any individual's desires or agenda.


Member: Cheri V.
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Date: 25 Jan 1999
Time: 23:23:05

Comments

Bill Wilson knew that the only people who could destroy AA would be ourselves. Therefore, he wrote the 12 traditions to protect us from our own weaknesses. The welfare of the group has to come before any individual's desires or agenda.


Member: joed
Location: nc
Date: 26 Jan 1999
Time: 12:37:01

Comments

the unity of AA is the most cherished quality,after all, it's a simple program that takes a little work. for me,the rebellious type, it's simple because no where in the program does it say "don't..." or "you must..." it instead says"we ought...". most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group.it becomes plain that the group must survive or the individual will not. like the story told in the 12&12 about the plane crash in the pacific.like us, they found themselvessaved from death,but still floating on a perilous sea. how well they saw that their COMMON WELFARE came first. none might come selfish of bread or water..


Member: Jack C Wanderers 3
Location: Friendship Wi
Date: 26 Jan 1999
Time: 18:03:53

Comments

Hello everybdy. Jack c here, an alcoholic, 41 yrs.on program. All traditions are vitally important to the survival of groups, and AA life. Without them AA would have disappared 60 years ago. It may have lived 3 or 4 years the most. Bill W, Doc. Bob & the first 200 members did all the work formulating the steps & Traditions, with Divine Help !!! The new person cming into the program need not bother with most of the traditions, except to read them, agree and be aware of their existence. It is suggested that the new membes concentrate on the BB, the steps, and meeting attendance. This alone is a big effort to be confronted with and much more important than traditions. Staying sober & growing spiritually is the first order of business for individual self survival. The traditions are for Group and AA survival. FIRST THINGS FIRST, EASY DOES IT, and get serious about the traditions later. We must all help the new person to get the program & later to promote the very important 12 traditions.


Member: Tom A.
Location: Carlisle, AR
Date: 26 Jan 1999
Time: 20:06:15

Comments

Good Evening Friends on the Staying Cyber 12&12 meeting. My name is Tom A. and I am an alcoholic and by the grace of God, I haven't found it necessary to take a drink today and for that I am grateful. I feel I was very fortunate to have entered AA in a place where the 12 Traditions were read out loud at each meeting. Today I can truly say that the traditions have taught me how to relate to others in and out of AA. Tradtion One tells me that I need all of you, you might not need me but somehow I think we need eachother. For those struggling with this Tradition, I suggest you read the longer version of the tradtions in the appendix of the Big Book, it is helpful at least I have found it to be. Thank you all for being here for me.

God Bless - Tom A. ate@gte.net


Member: julie p
Location: madison, wi
Date: 27 Jan 1999
Time: 08:45:34

Comments

hi my name is julie and i am an alcoholic. the first tradition promises me that i will always exist as "a part of", instead of the isolated separate existence i felt before AA. but of course this promise is contingent on my own actions. if i try to dominate who should be in AA or what should be said in AA, i will also experience that domination. to me AA is a place for recovery from alcoholism and a place for spiritual growth. it is important for me to remember that everyone grows at a different pace. all i have to do is show up, open my mind, practice the principles laid out in the 12 steps, share my experience, and leave the rest to the unity of AA and God. all i know is that AA has always been there for me and i hope AA will always be there for all of you. thanks for letting me share. peace.


Member: MaryH
Location:
Date: 27 Jan 1999
Time: 10:07:40

Comments

Phillip, N.W.T., my heart goes out to you. You wrote on Monday and I am replying on Wednesday, so I hope by now your torment over the two days you spent drinking has eased and turned into something more positive. I can relate to that torment. I have been kidding myself for more than two years now that I can have an occasional drink without it becoming a problem. But my "occasional" drinks are coming closer and closer together, and the quantity is increasing. I am back on the edge of the abyss and I am scared and tormented myself. Although I live in a city, I keep myself in isolation when it comes to dealing with my drinking. But, today I am going to a meeting; my first in many months. I have to stop kidding myself: I can't drink AT ALL. I am going to reach out for some help. I, too, am thankful for this website and the connection it offers. My fervent good wishes to you, Phillip, in your efforts to stay sober. I will keep you in my thoughts as I tackle my own problem.


Member: Robert A.
Location: Cali
Date: 27 Jan 1999
Time: 13:17:14

Comments

My sponsor has been telling me to be of maximum service to others. I normally dont want to. Yet when I am my life is restored to a peacefull state and unexpected blessings follow. What is it that makes sponsors so knowlegeable?


Member: Kent H.
Location: lovingitsoberinTN
Date: 27 Jan 1999
Time: 15:20:50

Comments

Kent, alcoholic. When I first got serious about getting sober, AA was my Higher Power. It met all the criteria. Since then, my Spirituality has grown considerably but AA is still a part of it. I owe my life to this program and am eternally grateful for it. As a member of AA, I have the responsibility to carry the message and to place principles before personalities. Thank you all for being there.


Member: Maggie K.  
Location: Vernon B.C.
Date: 27 Jan 1999
Time: 18:08:24

Comments

Hi All, Maggie here AA, Sigrid we are on the first tradition. Don't worry about it. It's easy to get mixed up when you first come in meetings. The first step is we admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable. Which means we could not guarantee what we would do after the first drink. Philip most of us if not all of us know about those blackouts. Keep coming back til the miracle happens. May God bless each and everyone who shares and helps me in my sobriety. The first tradition I usually carry over in my family life as well as the different boards I sit on , "our common welfare should come first" for without thinking about it that way everything seems to fall apart. I guess what I am trying to say is that this program is just not about alcohol but a way of living that gives us unity. Thank you for being abig part of my family and for allowing me to share this space with you. Love in service Maggie PS Rivner Where are you. Miss your down home philosophy.


Member: TOM M
Location: OMAHA, NE
Date: 27 Jan 1999
Time: 20:51:24

Comments

HI, I'M TOM AND I'M AN ALCOHOLIC. THE LONGER I'M SOBER THE MORE IMPORTANT THIS TRADITION HAS BECOME TO ME. I THINK BACK TO ALL THE TIMES I TRIED TO STAY SOBER WITHOUT AA AND FAILED. AND IT GOT WORSE EVERY TIME. I KNOW I WOULD NOT BE ALIVE TODAY IF IT WERE NOT FOR AA UNITY. MANY OF MY OLD DRINKING BUDDIES HAVE DIED FROM DRINKING THE LAST FEW YEARS AND SOME THAT ARE STILL OUT THERE WISH THEY WOULD. THIS IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION. WITHOUT EACH OTHER WE WILL NOT MAKE IT. MY HIGHER POWER REMOVED THE OBSESSION BUT I NEED AA TO HELP ME CONTROL THE CRAVING.

ALSO I THINK THE MOST IMPRTANT MEETING I GO TO EVERY WEEK IS A 12 X12. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME AT A MEETING ON THE INTERNET AND I'M VERY GLAD YOU ARE HERE. GLAD TO BE HERE AND BE SOBER THANKS.


Member: James T.
Location: Oregon
Date: 27 Jan 1999
Time: 23:50:27

Comments

I'm James and i'm an alcoholic. My personal recovery does depend on AA unity. I am very grateful for my home group at Western Trails in Austin, TX. And grateful for this web site also. Thanks all.


Member: fayla  g
Location: galena  ks
Date: 28 Jan 1999
Time: 01:01:49

Comments

fayla, alcoholic , AA is what keeps us sober and reminds me over and over that i dont have to do this alone ,i need to start going to meetings again i havent been in over three weeks and i dont have a good excuse , there are none. i have 28 months and i was thinking today about something a freind said , the more i miss meetings the more i miss drinking . And its so true , love and prayers fayla


Member: Jesse H
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Date: 28 Jan 1999
Time: 02:09:20

Comments

Hi, I was hoping to find some people to help me. I am only 19 yrs old, but I do know that I am an alcoholic. I have been sober now for nearly a week. It has probably been 3 years since I have last went this long without a drink. I have a few specific questions to ask. I want to be able to keep up the good work, and I think that getting help now will be easier than trying to deal with it alone. If you get this message soon, please reply.=-)


Member: John K
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Date: 28 Jan 1999
Time: 02:14:33

Comments

Hi, I'm John K and I'm an alcoholic. I read this tradition last night, and the story about Eddie Rickenbacker's crew really struck me too.

There is a group of guys that I meet with every other Sunday who have been working the program in a very intense way for a long time.

I know I cannot stay sober by myself, but I did not want to go back to AA after I went back to drinking.

I met up with these guys when I came back to the fellowship 8 years ago, and because of the unity and singleness of purpose, the rigorous honesty, and the loving concern for each other's welfare, I stayed.

My prayer is that everyone will embrace a group or sponsorship "family" in this way, because to me it has been the key to the Big Book, 12 steps, and self-honesty for the first time ever.

Thank you.


Member: TERRI B
Location: TENNESSEE
Date: 28 Jan 1999
Time: 08:58:08

Comments

Phillip, search out another alcoholic and get to work. That is how this thing got started. Our personal recovery depends on it.


Member: Larry M.
Location: Virginia Beach
Date: 28 Jan 1999
Time: 10:09:17

Comments

Jesse H:

Please bring your questions over to the Coffee Pot at this site: http://www.stayingcyber.org/sccoffee/coffeepo.htm or you can catch people 24/7 in the following chat room: http://alcoholism.miningco.com/mpchat.htm

Hope to "see" you soon!


Member: Jennifer G.
Location: Sylacauga, AL
Date: 28 Jan 1999
Time: 12:15:44

Comments

Hey Everybody, Jennifer here, alcoholic, and everything I've read here today has helped. I'm glad I finally found this group again. I think I'm finally beginning to "get" this tradition, or at least understand it a little better. Thanks for being here.


Member: Kevin H.
Location:
Date: 28 Jan 1999
Time: 12:44:25

Comments

Hi everyone! My name's Kevin,alcoholic. My experience in AA continues to be a learning experience. The first time I ventureed into AA was in 1989 and I thought it strange that guys were giving me thier phone#'s--I thought "what the heck do these people want from me?" I failed to heed thier suggestion to "keep coming back." When I was so blessed to have returned in 1992, I began to exprience somewhat of the fellowship and unity! It was over two years of being a part of the fellowship that I was finally willing to accept recovery through the 12 Steps. Upon having a Spiritual Awakening, I began to go to meetings, shouting that there were people who didn't have a clue as to what AA was all about! I was pushing people away and had no clue about unity and what the Big Book instructed me; that Love and tolerance was to be the code that I should try to live by! I'm glad that others had been tolerant with me, it's given me a chance to grow and to begin to learn aboutthe 12 Traditions and thier importance in keeping AA alive and thriving! Today I realize that my opinions don't belong in AA, only my experience! I fully understand what OUR primary purpose is and strive toward acomplishing it. Thank you all for being here and listening! I hope to meet some of you on the "Road to Happy Destiny. May God Bless us and keep us until then!!!


Member: Connie G.
Location: West Sacramento, CA
Date: 28 Jan 1999
Time: 17:26:05

Comments

Hi. I am Connie and I am an alcoholic. I am glad to see that folks care enough about the Traditions to discuss them. I find that if I am going to practice these principles in all of my affairs, that I need to know what the principles are. Over the years I have been told what the principles are, but find it more useful to read each step and tradition and decide for myself. For me, as for many, Tradition One is Unity. How I put that into practice in my personal life is through putting the Unity of the group ahead of my personal wants. So at a business meeting, if I disagree with the group decision, I still support it, because that supports AA. Without AA, I am nothing because I would be dead or crazy. Therefore, for my life to be successful, AA must remain successful. Step 7 tells us that "the attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of AA's Twelve Steps." Tradition 12 states that "the sacrificial spirit--well symbolized by anonymity--is the foundation of them all" (AA's traditions). Trad 12 also later tells us that "anonymity is real humility at work." From this I conclude that it all boils down to humility. So I need to see where practicing Unity can lead me to greater humility. I've been continuously sober over 19 years. This stuff really works and has given me a life beyond on my wildest imagining at the beginning of my sobriety. Love you all.


Member: Scott J
Location: New Hampshire
Date: 29 Jan 1999
Time: 13:31:52

Comments

hi everyone, I'm Scott, an alcoholic. The traditions usually don't seem that important to me because I've never seen firsthand the problems that are caused by breaking them. Reading the 12&12 and AA Comes of Age has helped me get a better appreciation of the traditions, and the problems that early AA's faced when Bill W. wrote these up.

Bill W. wrote somewhere that the first tradition sums up the purpose and importance of all 12 traditions, which is to keep AA unified and therefore in existance. The other 11 outline ways in which AA can be kept unified. The matters over which AA might split up and dissolve are fights over money, opinions on outside issues, endorsement of outside agencies, membership rules, and power struggles for AA leadership and fame. I haven't seen these problems since I've been in AA, but apparently they used to be big threats in the early days.

I try to do my part simply by becoming informed through tradition meetings and the literature, and by keeping this knowledge in mind when voting in a group conscience. Thanks everyone, for sharing.


Member: Connie/Alcoholic
Location: STL
Date: 29 Jan 1999
Time: 23:34:26

Comments

Hi My name is Connie and I am an alcoholic, thanks you everyone for sharing on tradition one, I have learned a lot more about this step, I need to keep listening, cause like the steps, I never understood the tradition either, didn't think they applied to my life, but I am learning things, a little differently between the staying cyper site, and my f2f meeting these days.

I love you all and hugs {{{{{{{ROOM}}}}}}