Page 137 - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

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116 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
cuss this with him when he is sober and in good spirits.
Ask him what you should do if he places you in such
a position again. But be careful not to be resentful
about the last time he did so.
There is another paralyzing fear. You may be afraid
your husband will lose his position; you are thinking
of the disgrace and hard times which will befall you
and the children. This experience may come to you.
Or you may already have had it several times. Should
it happen again, regard it in a different light. Maybe
it will prove a blessing! It may convince your husband
he wants to stop drinking forever. And now you know
that he can stop if he will! Time after time, this ap­
parent calamity has been a boon to us, for it opened
up a path which led to the discovery of God.
We have elsewhere remarked how much better life
is when lived on a spiritual plane. If God can solve the
age-old riddle of alcoholism, He can solve your prob­
lems too. We wives found that, like everybody else,
we were afflicted with pride, self-pity, vanity and all
the things which go to make up the self-centered per­
son; and we were not above selfishness or dishonesty.
As our husbands began to apply spiritual principles in
their lives, we began to see the desirability of doing so
too.
At first, some of us did not believe we needed this
help. We thought, on the whole, we were pretty good
women, capable of being nicer if our husbands stopped
drinking. But it was a silly idea that we were too good
to need God. Now we try to put spiritual principles
to work in every department of our lives. When we
do that, we find it solves our problems too; the ensuing
lack of fear, worry and hurt feelings is a wonderful