The Essence of A.A.

The Essence of A.A.

"Whenever, wherever, one alcoholic meets another alcoholic and sees in that person first and foremost not that he or she male or female, or black or white, or Christian, Buddhist, Jew, or Atheist, gay or straight, or whatever, but sees..that he or she is alcoholic and that therefore both of them need each other - there will be not only an Alcoholics Anonymous, but there will be the Alcoholics Anonymous that you and I love so much and respect so deeply.".......Ernie Kurtz in Not God: A History of Alcoholics Page 305

A.A.'s Greatest Danger

A.A.'s Greatest Danger.

"If you were to ask me what is the greatest danger facing A.A. today, I would have to answer: the growing rigidity -- the increasing demand for absolute answers to nit-picking questions; pressure for G.S.O. to 'enforce' our Traditions; screening alcoholics at closed meetings; prohibiting non-Conference-approved literature, i.e., 'banning books'; laying more and more rules on groups and members.".....Bob Pearson .....AA's Greatest Danger - Rigidity

Monday, October 11

Serenity Prayers ?

 A.A. version;
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

Can't do it. I can't. I won't. i wil not ask a Thing that apparently denied me those attributes in the first place to change it's mind.

For those of similiar attitudes, I offer the following for consideration.

"Brain, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference".

Or: "Self, remember. The serenity to accept I can't drink anymore. The courage to not seek and turn down a drink when offered. And the wisdom to realize, these are the new rules"

Or: "Remember. The serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me"

Or: "Today I will be serene enough to accept the things I cannot change; to have the courage to change the things I can, to have the wisdom to know the difference, and to have another day in the light of recovery".
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Serenity is not granted. It is earned and learned. It must be worked for. And maintained.  Granted, the work is not hard. And gets easier with time. But, the work and maintenance never ends.
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BTW. "Ah,Fuck it", is a fine tool for maintaining serenity.
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Oh yes, the original:
"Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other."


2 comments:

Mack58 said...

That surely is a different way to look at the serenity prayer

Unknown said...

Thank you, Ed, I have been regularly reading your material at my Zoom home group, which is a big book thumping meeting. Ironic, eh?

Patrick from AAO