Page 7 - This is A.A. an Introduction to the A.A. Recovery Program

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Who we are
We in A.A. are men and women who have discov-
ered, and admitted, that we cannot control alco-
hol. We have learned that we must live without it
if we are to avoid disaster for ourselves and those
close to us.
With local groups in thousands of communi-
ties, we are part of an informal international fel-
lowship, which now has members in 150 coun-
tries. We have but one primary purpose: to stay
sober ourselves and to help others who may turn
to us for help in achieving sobriety.
We are not reformers, and we are not allied
with any group, cause, or religious denomination.
We have no wish to dry up the world. We do not
recruit new members, but do welcome them. We
do not impose our experience with problem
drinking on others, but we do share it when we
are asked to do so.
Within our membership may be found men
and women of all ages and many different social,
economic, and cultural backgrounds. Some of us
drank for many years before coming to the real-
ization we could not handle alcohol. Others were
fortunate enough to appreciate, early in life or in
their drinking careers, that alcohol had become
unmanageable.
The consequences of our alcoholic drinking
have also varied. A few of us had become dere-
licts before turning to A.A. for help. Some had
lost family, possessions, and self-respect. We had
been on skid row in many cities. Some of us had
been hospitalized or jailed times without number.
We had committed grave offenses — against soci-
ety, our families, our employers, and ourselves.
Others among us have never been jailed or
hospitalized. Nor had we lost jobs or families
through drinking. But we finally came to a point
where we realized that alcohol was interfering

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