I can’t make past wrongs disappear, but I can take actions that will help me to let them go. When I make amends, I do what I can to correct the situation. Then I an put the past in its rightful place and leave it there.

The first three steps suggest that our human resources, such as intelligence, knowledge, strength, and even hope, are not enough to solve our problems.  As others have done, we need to accept the help of a power greater than our own to guide our thoughts and actions.

We have embarked upon an extraordinary, potentially life-changing spiritual journey, the journey of recovery from the effects of alcoholism.  Every step we take on this journey moves us toward becoming more fully the men and women we are capable of being.

I only knew that if there was a God, He didn’t care about me and wouldn’t help me.  He never had before.  In meetings, I met friends who suggested I act as if I believed, just to see what would happen.  I did, and it was the beginning of my trust in a power greater than myself.

If the alcoholic is rescued from every crisis, if the boss allows himself to be a victim again and again, and if the wife reacts as a provoker, there is not one chance in ten that the alcoholic will recover.

I started telling my children I was grateful for little things they said or did.  I reminded myself to be grateful for finishing a task and doing it well.  The more I spoke about gratitude, the more I became aware of things to be grateful for.

It is not always appropriate to reveal my every thought, especially when dealing with an active alcoholic.  But do I make a conscious choice about what I say?

I am not powerless over myself, and the way I act and react.  This is, in itself, a power that can work miracles in changing the attitudes of others.

Alcoholism is a progressive disease that can be arrested but not cured.  Therefore, we who are affected by another’s alcoholism can best ensure our own continuing serenity if we learn to depend on ourselves for our well-being, rather than on another person’s sobriety.

Stumbling ahead even one awkward step is better than staying stuck.  By taking small steps, we can lessen our fears.  We learn that no situation is truly hopeless, that we are not actually helpless, and that no pain is too great to be lessened.

Making amends isn’t just saying, “I’m sorry.”  It means responding differently from our new understanding.

It is a fact, that only an alcoholic can fully understand another alcoholic.  Only a person who has had a serious drinking problem, with all it entails, really understands what is going on in the mind of one who has a compulsion to drink.

Al-Anon members on every continent, in such faraway places as Australia, Japan, Finland, Uruguay and the South Sea Islands — all are my brothers and sisters.  What I do is helping them; what they do helps me.

Today I know that I can plant a seed in fertile soil, but I don’t help the plant to grow by tugging at the seed in hope that it will sprout.  I have to let the process unfold at its own pace.

By detaching ourselves from the alcoholic’s problems and concentrating on restoring ourselves to serenity, we encourage the alcoholic to seek and keep sobriety.

The Enabler is a person who feels he must not let the alcoholic suffer the consequences of his drinking when he can so easily prevent this by a simple rescue operation.  To him it is like saving a drowning man; it simply must be done.  But this rescue mission conveys to the alcoholic what the rescuer really thinks: “You cannot make it without my help.”