tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90112969555722074042024-03-10T21:57:37.755-04:00Call: 519.360.5246Alcoholics Anonymous Chatham-Kent, OntarioJamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379627631840414016noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9011296955572207404.post-76263098207380398702024-02-04T16:27:00.001-05:002024-03-03T08:22:14.243-05:00<table border="0" cellpadding="5" class="style102" id="table114" style="border-collapse: collapse; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td height="139" style="text-align: right; width: 552px;" valign="TOP"><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">Welcome to AA Chatham-Kent</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; text-align: -webkit-left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; text-align: -webkit-left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="color: black;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; text-align: -webkit-left;">The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; text-align: -webkit-left;"><a href="https://aachathamkent.blogspot.com/2012/06/prayers.html">Prayers</a></span></div><div><br style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;" /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "arial"; text-align: -webkit-left;">Copyright © The AA Grapevine, Inc.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comChatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada42.293564192170095 -82.4414062539.292300192170096 -87.60498025 45.294828192170094 -77.27783225tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9011296955572207404.post-61923195200999732232012-04-05T00:47:00.004-04:002023-10-11T10:26:44.843-04:00Prayers<b style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20px;"><b><span lang="en-ca"><span class="style131" style="color: silver; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"></span></span></b></b><br />
<h1 class="style7" style="color: lightblue; text-align: center;">
</h1>
<table border="0" bordercolor="#C0C0C0" cellpadding="0" id="table101" style="border-collapse: collapse; height: 1845px;"><tbody>
<tr><td width="100%"><div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<b><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;">S</span></b><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>erenity Prayer</b></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #3366cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
<div align="right" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;"><br /></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td width="100%"><div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style142" style="color: navy; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;">Third Step Prayer</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #3366cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">God, I offer myself to Thee-To build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always.</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: silver; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;">Reprinted with permission by A.A. World Services</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin: 1px 5px 0cm;">
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td width="100%"><div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style142" style="color: navy; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;">Seventh Step Prayer</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #3366cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;">"My creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen."</span></div>
<div align="center" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: silver; font-size: xx-small;"><em style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">From The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous p. 76</span></em></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td width="100%"><div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style142" style="color: navy; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;">Eleventh Step Prayer (Also Known as Prayer of St. Francis)</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #3366cc; font-family: Verdana;">Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace! That where there is hatred, I may bring love. That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness. That where there is discord, I may bring harmony. That where there is error, I may bring truth. That where there is doubt, I may bring faith. That where there is despair, I may bring hope. That where there are shadows, I may bring light. That where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort, than to be comforted. To understand, than to be understood. To love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td width="100%"><div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099;"><strong><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">MORNING PRAYER</span></strong></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #3366cc;"><br />God direct my thinking today so that it may be divorced from self pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: silver; font-size: xx-small;"><br />Adapted from The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous p. 86</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<br /></div>
<hr color="#000066" />
<h2 align="center">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9011296955572207404" name="A_Brief_History_of_the_Serenity_Prayer_" style="color: #646d7e;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;">A Brief History of the Serenity Prayer</span></a></h2>
<div align="center" class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote style="font-style: italic;">
<div class="style141" style="color: navy; line-height: 24px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Records from Alcoholics Anonymous show that Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr composed this prayer in 1932 as the ending to a longer prayer. In 1934, Dr. Howard Robbins, the Reinhold's friend & neighbour, requested permission to use that portion of the longer prayer in a compilation he was building at the time. It was published that year in Dr. Robbins’ book of prayers.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="color: navy; height: 216px; line-height: 24px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">In 1939, it came to the attention of an early A.A. member who liked it so much, he brought it to Bill W., the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Bill & the staff read the prayer & felt that it particularly suited the needs of AA. Cards were printed & passed around. Thus the simple little prayer became an integral part of the AA movement.</span></div>
</blockquote>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9011296955572207404.post-27125919829283414122012-04-04T00:39:00.002-04:002023-10-11T10:38:50.713-04:00The 3 Legacies<b style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20px;"></b><br />
<h1 class="style7" style="text-align: left;">12 Traditions</h1>
<div class="style7" style="color: navy; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20px;"><b><span lang="en-ca"></span></b></b><br />
<table border="0" bordercolor="#000066" cellspacing="1" id="table113" style="height: 845px;"><tbody>
<tr><td align="left" height="56" width="100%"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon AA unity.</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" height="56" width="100%"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority-- a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" height="67" width="100%"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">3. The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking.</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" height="39" width="100%"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or AA as a whole.</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" height="67" width="100%"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">5. Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" height="67" width="100%"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">6. An AA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the AA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" height="39" width="100%"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">7. Every AA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" height="67" width="100%"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" height="67" width="100%"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">9. AA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" height="67" width="100%"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">10. Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the AA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" height="95" width="100%"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" height="84" width="100%"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.aagrapevine.com/da/article_tradition.php" style="color: orange; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #000099;">12.</span></a> Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<br /></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="table114"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div align="center" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span>From Alcoholics Anonymous, (pg. 562) with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc. Copyright © 2001</span></div><div align="center" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;"><span><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<b style="font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span lang="en-ca"></span></b></div>
<table class="style64" id="table100" style="border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); color: silver; height: 845px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class="style142" height="6" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; text-align: center; width: 559px;" valign="bottom"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">12 Concepts</span></h1>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">A.A.’s Twelve Steps are principles for personal</span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">recovery.</i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> The Twelve Traditions ensure the </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><i>unity of</i></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> the Fellowship. Written by co-founder Bill W. in 1962, the </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">Twelve Concepts for World </i><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><i>Service provide</i></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> a group of related principles to help ensure that various elements of A.A.’s service structure remain responsive and responsible to those they serve.</span></div></span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">The “short form” of the Concepts, which follows, was prepared by the 1974 General Service Conference.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style142" height="56" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; width: 559px;"><div align="left" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">I. Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style142" height="56" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; width: 559px;"><div align="left" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">II. The General Service Conference of A.A. has become, for nearly every practical purpose, the active voice and the effective conscience of our whole Society in its world affairs.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style142" height="67" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; width: 559px;"><div align="left" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">III. To ensure effective leadership, we should endow each element of A.A.—the Conference, the General Service Board and its service corporations, staffs, committees, and executives—with a traditional “Right of Decision.”</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style142" height="39" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; width: 559px;"><div align="left" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">IV. At all responsible levels, we ought to maintain a traditional “Right of Participation,” allowing a voting representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style142" height="67" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; width: 559px;"><div align="left" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">V. Throughout our structure, a traditional “Right of Appeal” ought to prevail, so that minority opinion will be heard, and personal grievances receive careful consideration.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style142" height="67" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; width: 559px;"><div align="left" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">VI. The Conference recognizes that the chief initiative and active responsibility in most world service matters should be exercised by the trustee members of the Conference acting as the General Service Board.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style142" height="39" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; width: 559px;"><div align="left" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">VII. The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service Board are legal instruments, empowering the trustees to manage and conduct world service affairs. The Conference Charter is not a legal document; it relies upon tradition and the A.A. purse for final effectiveness.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style142" height="67" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; width: 559px;"><div align="left" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">VIII. The trustees are the principal planners and administrators of overall policy and finance. They have custodial oversight of the separately incorporated and constantly active services, exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of these entities.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style142" height="67" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; width: 559px;"><div align="left" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">IX. Good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety. Primary world service leadership, once exercised by the founders, must necessarily be assumed by the trustees.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style142" height="67" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; width: 559px;"><div align="left" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">X. Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal service authority, with the scope of such authority well defined.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style142" height="95" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; width: 559px;"><div align="left" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">XI. The trustees should always have the best possible committees, corporate service directors, executives, staffs, and consultants. Composition, qualifications, induction procedures, and rights and duties will always be matters of serious concern.</span></div>
<div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style142" style="border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; height: 84px; width: 559px;" valign="bottom"><div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">XII. The Conference shall observe the spirit of A.A. tradition, taking care that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power; that sufficient operating funds and reserve be its prudent financial principle; that it place none of its members in a position of unqualified authority over others; that it reach all important decisions by discussion, vote, and, whenever possible, by substantial unanimity; that its actions never be personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy; that it never perform acts of government, and that, like the Society it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought and action. </span></div>
<div align="center" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;">Reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.</span></div>
<div align="center" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
</div>
<h1 class="style7" style="height: 27px; line-height: 20px;">
<b><span lang="en-ca"><span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">The 12 Steps of AA</span></span></span></b></h1>
<div class="page_contentcorner TL" style="background-image: url(http://www.aachathamkent.com/blue-circle.jpg); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: black; font-size: 0px; height: 10px; left: -4px; line-height: 20px; position: absolute; text-align: -webkit-auto; top: 0px; width: 10px;">
</div>
<div class="page_contentcorner TR" style="background-image: url(http://www.aachathamkent.com/blue-circle.jpg); background-position: -10px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: black; font-size: 0px; height: 10px; line-height: 20px; position: absolute; right: -4px; text-align: -webkit-auto; top: 0px; width: 10px;">
</div>
<div class="page_contentcorner BL" style="background-image: url(http://www.aachathamkent.com/blue-circle.jpg); background-position: 0px -10px; background-repeat: no-repeat; bottom: 0px; color: black; font-size: 0px; height: 10px; left: -4px; line-height: 20px; position: absolute; text-align: -webkit-auto; width: 10px;">
</div>
<div class="page_contentcorner BR" style="background-image: url(http://www.aachathamkent.com/blue-circle.jpg); background-position: -10px -10px; background-repeat: no-repeat; bottom: 0px; color: black; font-size: 0px; height: 10px; line-height: 20px; position: absolute; right: -4px; text-align: -webkit-auto; width: 10px;">
</div>
<table bordercolor="#000066" cellspacing="1" class="style64" id="table108" style="border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); color: silver; height: 845px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="style131" height="56" style="border: 0px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); width: 561px;"><div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"><span lang="en-ca"><br /><ol><li><span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"><span lang="en-ca">We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.</span></span></span></li><li><span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-align: center;">Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-align: center;">Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-align: center;">Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-align: center;">Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-align: center;">Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-align: center;">Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-align: center;">Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-align: center;">Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-align: center;">Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-align: center;">Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.</span></li></ol></span></span></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="style131" height="67" style="border: 0px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); width: 561px;"><div class="style141" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;"><div style="text-align: center;">Reprinted from Alcoholics Anonymous, Pages 59 & 60, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc. Copyright © 1939, 1955, 1976, 2001</div></div>
<div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;"></div></td></tr><tr><td align="left" class="style131" style="border: 0px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); height: 84px; width: 561px;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="table109"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><div align="center" class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;"><span style="color: silver;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"></b></div>
<h1 align="center" style="color: lightblue;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="style106" lang="en-ca" style="color: silver; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;">12 Traditions Checklist</span></b></h1>
<div align="center" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099;">These questions were originally published in the AA Grapevine in conjunction with a series on the Twelve Traditions that began in November 1969 and ran through September 1971. While they were originally intended primarily for individual use, many AA groups have since used them as a basis for wider discussion.</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="color: navy;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="color: navy; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Practice These Principles. . .</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099;">Tradition One: Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon AA unity.</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I in my group a healing, mending, integrating person, or am I divisive? What about gossip and taking other members’ inventories?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I a peacemaker? Or do I, with pious preludes such as “just for the sake of discussion,” plunge into argument?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I gentle with those who rub me the wrong way, or am I abrasive?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">4.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I make competitive AA remarks, such as comparing one group with another or contrasting AA in one place with AA in another?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I put down some AA activities as if I were superior for not participating in this or that aspect of AA?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">6.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I informed about AA as a whole? Do I support, in every way I can, AA as a whole, or just the parts I understand and approve of?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">7.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I as considerate of AA members as I want them to be of me?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">8.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I spout platitudes about love while indulging in and secretly justifying behavior that bristles with hostility?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">9.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I go to enough AA meetings or read enough AA literature to really keep in touch?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">10.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I share with AA all of me, the bad and the good, accepting as well as giving the help of fellowship?</span></span></b></div>
<hr color="#000066" />
<div style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099;">Tradition Two: For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.</span></span></b></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I criticize, or do I trust and support my group officers, AA committees, and office workers? Newcomers? Old-timers?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I absolutely trustworthy, even in secret, with AA Twelfth Step jobs or other AA responsibility?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I look for credit in my AA jobs? Praise for my AA ideas?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">4.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I have to save face in group discussion, or can I yield in good spirit to the group conscience and work cheerfully along with it?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Although I have been sober a few years, am I still willing to serve my turn at AA chores?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">6.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">In group discussions, do I sound off about matters on which I have no experience and little knowledge?</span></span></b></div>
<hr color="#000066" />
<div style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;">Tradition Three: The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking.</span></span></b></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">In my mind, do I prejudge some new AA members as losers?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Is there some kind of alcoholic whom I privately do not want in my AA group?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I set myself up as a judge of whether a newcomer is sincere or phony?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">4.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I let language, religion (or lack of it), race, education, age, or other such things interfere with my carrying the message?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I over impressed by a celebrity? By a doctor, a clergyman, an ex-convict? Or can I just treat this new member simply and naturally as one more sick human, like the rest of us?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">6.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">When someone turns up at AA needing information or help (even if he can’t ask for it aloud), does it really matter to me what he does for a living? Where he lives? What his domestic arrangements are? Whether he had been to AA before? What his other problems are?</span></span></b></div>
<hr color="#000066" />
<div style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099;">Tradition Four: Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or AA as a whole.</span></span></b></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I insist that there are only a few <i>right</i> ways of doing things in AA?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Does my group always consider the welfare of the rest of AA? Of nearby groups? Of Loners in Alaska? Of Internationalists miles from port? Of a group in Rome or El Salvador?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I put down other members’ behavior when it is different from mine, or do I learn from it?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">4.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I always bear in mind that, to those outsiders who know I am in AA, I may to some extent represent our entire beloved Fellowship?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I willing to help a newcomer go to any lengths—his lengths, not mine—to stay sober?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">6.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I share my knowledge of AA tools with other members who may not have heard of them?</span></span></b></div>
<hr color="#000066" />
<div style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099;">Tradition Five: Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.</span></span></b></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I ever cop out by saying, “I’m not a group, so this or that Tradition doesn’t apply to me”?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I willing to explain firmly to a newcomer the <i>limitations</i> of AA help, even if he gets mad at me for not giving him a loan?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Have I today imposed on any AA member for a special favor or consideration simply because I am a fellow alcoholic?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">4.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I willing to twelfth-step the next newcomer without regard to who or what is in it for me?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I help my group in every way I can to fulfill our primary purpose?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">6.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I remember that AA old-timers, too, can be alcoholics who still suffer? Do I try both to help them and to learn from them?</span></span></b></div>
<hr color="#000066" />
<div style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099;">Tradition Six: An AA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the AA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.</span></span></b></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Should my fellow group members and I go out and raise money to endow several AA beds in our local hospital?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Is it good for a group to lease a small building?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Are all the officers and members of our local club for AAs familiar with “Guidelines on Clubs” (which is available free from GSO)?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">4.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Should the secretary of our group serve on the mayor’s advisory committee on alcoholism?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Some alcoholics will stay around AA only if we have a TV and card room. If this is what is required to carry the message to them, should we have these facilities?</span></span></b></div>
<hr color="#000066" />
<div style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099;">Tradition Seven: Every AA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.</span></span></b></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Honestly now, do I do all I can to help AA (my group, my central office, my GSO) remain self-supporting? Could I put a little more into the basket on behalf of the new guy who can’t afford it yet? How generous was I when tanked in a barroom?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Should the Grapevine sell advertising space to book publishers and drug companies, so it could make a big profit and become a bigger magazine, in full color, at a cheaper price per copy?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">If GSO runs short of funds some year, wouldn’t it be okay to let the government subsidize AA groups in hospitals and prisons?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">4.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Is it more important to get a big AA collection from a few people, or a smaller collection in which more members participate?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Is a group treasurer’s report unimportant AA business? How does the treasurer feel about it?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">6.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">How important in my recovery is the feeling of self-respect, rather than the feeling of being always under obligation for charity received?</span></span></b></div>
<hr color="#000066" />
<div style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;">Tradition Eight: Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.</span></span></b></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Is my own behavior accurately described by the Traditions? If not, what needs changing?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">When I chafe about any particular Tradition, do I realize how it affects others?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I sometimes try to get <i>some</i> reward—even if not money—for my personal AA efforts?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099; font-size: small; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">4.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><b>Do I try to sound in AA like an expert on alcoholism? On recovery? On medicine? On sociology? On AA itself? On psychology? On spiritual matters? Or, heaven help me, even </b></span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>on humility</b></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><b>?</b></span></span><b style="color: black; font-size: small;"><o:p style="font-size: 11pt;"></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I make an effort to understand what AA employees do? What workers in other alcoholism agencies do? Can I distinguish clearly among them?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">6.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">In my own AA life, have I any experiences which illustrate the wisdom of this Tradition?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">7.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Have I paid enough attention to the book <i>Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions</i>? To the pamphlet <i>AA Tradition</i>—<i>How It Developed?</i></span></span></b></div>
<hr color="#000066" />
<div style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099;">Tradition Nine: AA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.</span></span></b></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I still try to boss things in AA?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I resist formal aspects of AA because I fear them as authoritative?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I mature enough to understand and use all elements of the AA program—even if no one makes me do so—with a sense of personal responsibility?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">4.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I exercise patience and humility in any AA job I take?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I aware of all those to whom I am responsible in any AA job?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">6.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Why doesn’t every AA group need a constitution and bylaws?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">7.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Have I learned to step out of an AA job gracefully—and profit thereby—when the time comes?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">8.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">What has rotation to do with anonymity? With humility?</span></span></b></div>
<hr color="#000066" />
<div style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;">Tradition Ten: Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the AA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.</span></span></b></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I ever give the impression that there really <i>is</i> an “AA opinion” on Antabuse? Tranquilizers? Doctors? Psychiatrists? Churches? Hospitals? Jails? Alcohol? The federal or state government? Legalizing marijuana? Vitamins? Al-Anon? Alateen?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Can I honestly share my own personal experience concerning any of those without giving the impression I am stating the “AA opinion”?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">What in AA history gave rise to our Tenth Tradition?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">4.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Have I had a similar experience in my own AA life?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">What would AA be without this Tradition? Where would I be?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">6.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I breach this or any of its supporting Traditions in subtle, perhaps unconscious, ways?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">7.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">How can I manifest the spirit of this Tradition in my personal life outside AA? Inside AA?</span></span></b></div>
<hr color="#000066" />
<div style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;">Tradition Eleven: Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.</span></span></b></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I sometimes promote AA so fanatically that I make it seem <i>un</i>attractive?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I always careful to keep the confidences reposed in me as an AA member?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I careful about throwing AA names around—even within the Fellowship?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">4.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Am I ashamed of being a recovered, or recovering, alcoholic?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">What would AA be like if we were not guided by the ideas in Tradition Eleven? Where would I be?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">6.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Is my AA sobriety attractive enough that a sick drunk would want such a quality for himself?</span></span></b></div>
<hr color="#000066" />
<div style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099;">Tradition Twelve: Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.</span></span></b></div>
<div align="justify" style="color: navy;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Why is it good idea for me to place the common welfare of all AA members before individual welfare? What would happen to<i>me</i> if AA as a whole disappeared?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">When I do not trust AA’s current servants, who do I wish had the authority to straighten them out?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">In my opinions of and remarks about other AAs, am I implying membership requirements other than a desire to stay sober?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">4.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I ever try to get a certain AA group to conform to <i>my</i>standards, not its own?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">5.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Have I a personal responsibility in helping an AA group fulfill its primary purpose? What is <i>my</i> part?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">6.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Does my personal behavior reflect the Sixth Tradition—or belie it?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">7.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I do all I can do to support AA financially? When is the last time I anonymously gave away a Grapevine subscription?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">8.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I complain about certain AAs’ behavior—especially if they are paid to work for AA? Who made <i>me</i> so smart?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">9.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do I fulfill all AA responsibilities in such a way as to please privately even my own conscience? Really?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">10.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Do my utterances always reflect the Tenth Tradition, or do I give AA critics real ammunition?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">11.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Should I keep my AA membership a secret, or reveal it in private conversation when that may help another alcoholic (and therefore me)? Is my brand of AA so attractive that other drunks want it?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="color: navy; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">12.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">What is the real importance of <i>me</i> among more than a million AAs?</span></span></b></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span lang="en-ca">
</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20px;"><b><span lang="en-ca">
</span></b></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9011296955572207404.post-67910742802888481342012-04-03T00:08:00.000-04:002012-06-24T00:44:20.344-04:0012 Promises<span style="background-color: white;">Are these extravagant promises? We think not.</span><br />
<br />
1. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.<br />
2. We will not regret the past, nor wish to shut the door on it.<br />
3. We will comprehend the word serenity.<br />
4. We will know peace.<br />
5. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.<br />
6. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.<br />
7. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.<br />
8. Self-seeking will slip away.<br />
9. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.<br />
10. Fear of people and economic insecurity will leave us.<br />
11. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.<br />
12. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.<br />
<br />
* From the Book ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Chapter 6 - "INTO ACTION" (Page 86) *Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9011296955572207404.post-81228518770907017152012-04-01T23:12:00.000-04:002013-04-14T18:51:51.656-04:00Letter to Anyone New to A.A.<b style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20px;"><b><span lang="en-ca"></span></b></b><br />
<h1 class="style106" style="text-align: left;">
<b style="background-color: white; color: lightblue; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20px;"><b><span style="color: #000066; font-family: Verdana;">Dear Friend,</span></b></b></h1>
<div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<b style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20px;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: #000066;"><em>Thank you for your interest in Alcoholics Anonymous. Links on this page are provided to help explain our recovery program and give a general idea of how A.A. works. You will see that the first and most important step in our program is admission by the alcoholic that he or she is powerless over alcohol, and that life has become unmanageable. It is often helpful for the alcoholic to talk with an A.A. member, because it may make it easier to understand the nature of the illness, and to accept A.A. help.</em> <em><br />Alcoholics Anonymous is a program of a new way of life without alcohol, a program that is working successfully for millions of men and women throughout the world, and in all walks of life. The experience of A.A. members is that alcoholism is a progressive illness that cannot be cured, but which, like some other illnesses, can be arrested by staying away from the first drink, one day at a time.</em> <em><br />We would encourage you to get in touch with the nearest </em></span><a href="http://www.aachathamkent.com/lang/en/meeting_finder.cfm?origpage=29" style="color: orange; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #000066;"><em>A.A. Central Office or Intergroup</em></span></a><span style="color: #000066;"><em> to get further information on Alcoholics Anonymous, speak to an A.A. member or find local A.A. meetings. Many of these offices have web sites and email.</em> <em><br />A.A. members, as volunteers, are happy to offer help by sharing their experience, strength and hope in staying sober. One of the ways members stay sober is by helping other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.</em></span></span></b></b></div>
<div class="style141" style="color: navy; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;">
<b style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20px;"><b><span style="color: #000066; font-family: Verdana;"><em><br />Best wishes, General Service Office</em></span></b></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com