Page 91 - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

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70 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
persons is often desirable, but we let God be the final
judge. We realize that some people are as fanatical
about sex as others are loose. We avoid hysterical
thinking or advice.
Suppose we fall short of the chosen ideal and
stumble? Does this mean we are going to get drunk?
Some people tell us so. But this is only a half-truth.
It depends on us and on our motives. If we are sorry
for what we have done, and have the honest desire to
let God take us to better things, we believe we will be
forgiven and will have learned our lesson. If we are
not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others,
we are quite sure to drink. We are not theorizing.
These are facts out of our experience.
To sum up about sex: We earnestly pray for the
right ideal, for guidance in each questionable situa­
tion, for sanity, and for the strength to do the right
thing. If sex is very troublesome, we throw ourselves
the harder into helping others. We think of their
needs and work for them. This takes us out of our­
selves. It quiets the imperious urge, when to yield
would mean heartache.
If we have been thorough about our personal in­
ventory, we have written down a lot. We have listed
and analyzed our resentments. We have begun to
comprehend their futility and their fatality. We have
commenced to see their terrible destructiveness. We
have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will
toward all men, even our enemies, for we look on
them as sick people. We have listed the people we
have hurt by our conduct, and are willing to straighten
out the past if we can.
In this book you read again and again that faith did