to drive us apart. ... Though the individual AA is under no human coercion, is at almost perfect personal liberty, we have, nevertheless, achieved a wonderful unity on vital essentials. For example, the Twelve Steps of our AA program are not crammed down anybody’s throat. They are not sustained by any human authority. Yet we powerfully unite around them because the truth they contain has saved our lives, has opened the door to a new world.”
From The Language of the Heart
JANUARY 20
“I Had Lost the War!”
TORONTO, ONTARIO, NOVEMBER 1952
“A while ago a speaker said that it was no use admitting that one was an alcoholic unless the admittance was accompanied by a realization of what being an alcoholic really meant. ... He said there was no use my making the admission even in the full realization of what it meant, unless I accepted the fact that I was an alcoholic without resentment.”
From Step By Step
JANUARY 21
“Awareness”
VIETNAM, SEPTEMBER 1974
“All turmoil comes from the deep, nagging feeling that we should be different from what we are. ... If we could totally accept who and what we are (changing each instant), we would find ourselves moving in the silent immenseness of now.”
From Spiritual Awakenings
JANUARY 22
“Planning, Not Projection”
October 1992
“As the chaotic world of the drinking alcoholic is replaced by one of stability in sobriety it becomes apparent that plans can be made to encourage positive living. For example: planning holidays, dental appointments and the household budget. We cannot plan that it will be the best holiday ever, that no dental work is required, or that our monetary fortunes will remain the same; that would be projecting. We plan plans, not results.”
From AA Grapevine
JANUARY 23
“A Gift of Prayer”
November 1967
“I seek strength not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy—myself.”
From Spiritual Awakenings
JANUARY 24
“This Matter of Fear”
AA CO-FOUNDER, BILL W., JANUARY 1962
“Let us always love the best in others, and never fear their worst.”
From The Language of the Heart
JANUARY 25
“The Twelve Concepts”
AA CO-FOUNDER, BILL W., PUBLISHED IN GRAPEVINE SEPTEMBER 1990
“We should always realize that change does not necessarily spell progress. We are sure that each new group of workers in world service will be tempted to try all sorts of innovations that may often produce little more than a painful repetition of earlier mistakes. ... And if mistaken departures are nevertheless made, these Concepts may then provide a ready means of safe return to an operating balance that might otherwise take years of floundering to rediscover.”
From AA Grapevine
JANUARY 26
“Not on Fire”
MESA, ARIZONA, MARCH 2010
“There has to be something to be grateful for if I am only willing to change my attitude and look for it.”
From AA Grapevine
JANUARY 27
“A Maze of Half-Measures”
ROCHESTER, MICHIGAN, APRIL 1986
“It took two years to learn that I wasn’t getting anywhere because I was always in such a hurry.”
From AA Grapevine
JANUARY 28
“Awareness”
VIETNAM, SEPTEMBER 1974
“Demands, hopes, yearnings, and desires tie us to the static horror and the utter futility of the forever departed past and the never-arriving future. To want nothing—to know that we cannot make anything happen—brings inner and outer joy, total fulfillment.”
From Spiritual Awakenings
JANUARY 29
“I
