Page 214 - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

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GRATITUDE IN ACTION 199
that was where I got my first job. There really is a
Higher Power looking after us.
One of the most fundamental things I have learned
is to pass on our message to other alcoholics. That
means I must think more about others than about my­
self. The most important thing is to practice these
principles in all my affairs. In my opinion, that is what
Alcoholics Anonymous is all about.
I never forgot a passage I first read in the copy of
the Big Book that Bobbie sent me: “Abandon yourself
to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to
Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of
your past. Give freely of what you find and join us.” It
is very simple—though not always easy. But it can be
done.
I know the Fellowship of A.A. doesn’t offer any
guarantees, but I also know that in the future I do not
have to drink. I want to keep this life of peace, seren­
ity, and tranquility that I have found. Today, I have
found again the home I left and the woman I married
when she was still so young. We have two more chil­
dren, and they think their dad is an important man. I
have all these wonderful things—people who mean
more to me than anything in the world. I shall keep all
that, and I won’t have to drink, if I remember one
simple thing: to keep my hand in the hand of God.