Page 291 - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

Alco_1893007162_6p_01_r5.qxd 4/4/03 11:17 AM Page 276

276 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
application of A.A. techniques, and we find ourselves
tackling it with surprising vigor.
The last fifteen years of my life have been rich and
meaningful. I have had my share of problems,
heartaches, and disappointments because that is life,
but also I have known a great deal of joy and a peace
that is the handmaiden of an inner freedom. I have a
wealth of friends and, with my A.A. friends, an un­
usual quality of fellowship. For, to these people, I am
truly related. First, through mutual pain and despair,
and later through mutual objectives and newfound
faith and hope. And, as the years go by, working to­
gether, sharing our experiences with one another, and
also sharing a mutual trust, understanding, and love—
without strings, without obligation—we acquire rela­
tionships that are unique and priceless.
There is no more aloneness, with that awful ache,
so deep in the heart of every alcoholic that nothing,
before, could ever reach it. That ache is gone and
never need return again.
Now there is a sense of belonging, of being wanted
and needed and loved. In return for a bottle and a
hangover, we have been given the Keys of the
Kingdom.