"A Way Out - AA Speaker Meeting" is held on Thursday evenings 7:30-8:30pm at 1515 W. North Street, Anaheim, Orange County, CA. The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We have A WAY OUT on which we can absolutely agree, and on which we can join in brotherly and harmonious action. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism!
Pg 44 “If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of us would have recovered long ago. But we found that such codes and philosophies did not save us, no matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, needed power wasn’t there. Our human resources, as marshaled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly.”
Pg 15 “I soon found that when all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day. Many times I have gone to an old hospital in despair. On talking to a man there, I would be amazingly lifted up and set on my feet. It is a design for living that works in rough going.”
Pg 66 “This was our course: We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick. Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. We asked God to help show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended we said to ourselves, “This is a sick man. How can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. They will be done.”
Pg 62 “Selfishness--self-centerdness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt.”
Pg 87 “What used to be the hunch or occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind. Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this assumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it.”
Pg 44 “To be doomed to an alcoholic death or to live on a spiritual basis are not always easy alternatives to face.”
Pg 132 “We have been speaking to you of serious, sometimes tragic things. We have been dealing with alcohol in its worst aspect. But we are not a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn’t want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life. We try not to indulge in cynicism over the state of the nations, nor do we carry the world’s troubles on our shoulders. When we see a man sinking into the mire that is alcoholism, we give him first aide and place what we have at his disposal. For his sake, we do recount and almost relive the horrors of our past. But those of us who have tried to shoulder the entire burden and trouble of others find we are soon overcome by them.”
Pg 87 “As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day “Thy will be done.” We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves.”
Pg 34 “Whether such a person can quit upon a nonspiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he has already lost the power to choose whether he will drink or not.”
Pg XXVIII “Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the normal one. They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks-drinks which they see others taking with impunity.”
Pg 33 “To be gravely affected, one does not necessarily have to drink a long time nor take the quantities some of us have. This is particularly true of women. Potential female alcoholics often turn into the real thing and are gone beyond recall in a few years. Certain drinkers, who would be greatly insulted if called alcoholics, are astonished at their inability to stop.”
Page 124 “Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes like seem so worth while now. Cling to the thought that, in God’s hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have- the key to life and happiness for other. With it you can avert death and misery for them
Pg 125 “Another principle we observe carefully is that we do not relate intimate experiences of another person unless we are sure he would approve. We find it better, when possible, to stick to our own stories. A man may criticize or laugh at himself and it will affect others favorably, but criticism or ridicule coming from another often produces the contrary effect. Members of a family should watch such matters carefully, for one careless, inconsiderate remark has been known to raise the very devil. We alcoholics are sensitive people. It takes some of us a long time to outgrow that serious handicap.”
Pg 57 “ Circumstances made him willing to believe.”
Pg 25 “there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet.”
PG 25 “If you are as seriously alcoholic as we were, we believe there is no middle of the road solution.”
“Perhaps there is a better way--we think so. For we are now on a different basis; the basis of trusting and relying upon God. We must trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. We are in the world to play the role He would have us, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity.”
A Way Out welcomes four of our favorites to share their thoughts and experiences on step 3. Alex V. Erik S. Tess E. Penn S. thank you all!
“The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the fist drink.“
”As soon as I regained my ability to think. I went carefully over that evening in Washington. Not only had I been caught off guard, I had made no fight whatever against the first drink.....“
Karen shares her experience strength and hope from page 25.
Kyle talks about his experience with the program of recovery.
“Perhaps there is a better way - we think so. For we are now on a different basis; the basis of trusting and relying upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. We are in the world to play the role He assigns. Just to the extent that we do as we think He would have us, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity. We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can laugh at those who think spirituality the way of weakness. Paradoxically, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear.“
"We began to ask medical advice as the sprees got closer together. The alarming physical and mental symptoms, the deepening pall of remorse, depression and inferiority that settled down on our loved ones-these things terrified and distracted us. As animals on a treadmill, we have patiently and wearily climbed, falling back in exhaustion after each futile effort to reach solid ground. Most of us have entered the final stage with its commitment to health resorts, sanitariums, hospitals, and jails. Sometimes there were screaming delirium and insanity. Death was often near."
Tonight we celebrate the fifth Thursday of July 2020 with our special format. Three INCREDIBLE speakers on STEP 9. Enjoy!
Homegrown Blake shares on: “The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success. On that basis we are almost always in collision with something or somebody, even though our motives are good. Most people try to live by self-propulsion.”
For those who were unable to attend, here is the Tradition and Concept 7 workshop. See you in august!
”Yet we had been seeing another kind of flight, a spiritual liberation from this world, people who rose above their problems. They said God made these things possible, and we only smiled. We had seen spiritual release, but liked to tell ourselves it wasn't true. Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself. We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend. Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us.”
all the way from the UK! “A certain American business man had ability, good sense, and high character. For years he had floundered from one sanitarium to another. He had consulted the best known American psychiatrists. Then he had gone to Europe, placing himself in the care of a celebrated physician (the psychiatrist, Dr. Jung) who prescribed for him. Though experience had made him skeptical, he finished his treatment with unusual confidence. His physical and mental condition were unusually good. Above all, he believed he had acquired such a profound knowledge of the inner workings of his mind and its hidden springs that relapse was unthinkable. Nevertheless, he was drunk in a short time. More baffling still, he could give himself no satisfactory explanation for his fall.”
This recording is specifically uploaded for those who missed the “a way out traditions and concepts workshop.”
Heather took it to another level! A Way Out celebrates our 3-year anniversary with our favorite speaker. It’s tradition!! “Being convinced that self, manifested in various ways, was what had defeated us, we considered its common manifestations.”
Page 151: "Now and then a serious drinker, being dry at the moment says, "I don't miss it at all. Feel better. Work better. Having a better time." As ex-problem drinkers, we smile at such a sally. We know our friend is like a boy whistling in the dark to keep up his spirits. He fools himself. Inwardly he would give anything to take half a dozen drinks and get away with them. He will presently try the old game again, for he isn't happy about his sobriety. He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end."
Normally we don't post the workshops online, however with the current state of things the need is there since not all the members could attend virtually this month. However, if you enjoy it, let us know! This month we briefly recap Tradition 4 and Concept 4, and go into detail in covering Tradition 5 and Concept 5 on the zoom platform. They are about 1 hour each for a total workshop of two hours.
” We had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics“
Page 86 ”Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives.”
Zoom ID: 137 333 084 Thursdays 730 to 8:30 PM PST join us LIVE “When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self imposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is, or He isn’t. What was our choice to be?” page 53
Jay describes his personal journey of how he formed a relationship and dependence upon God.
Normally we don't post the workshops online, however with the current state of things the need is there since not all the members could attend virtually this month. However, if you enjoy it, let us know! This month we briefly recap Tradition 3 and Concept 3, and go into detail in covering Tradition 4 and Concept 4 on the zoom platform. They are about 1 hour each.
Our speaker shares from one of our favorite passages on page 100
Steffi shares from Pages 83 through 88 on steps 10 and 11
Our first meeting using the ZOOM platform. Pg. 89 “Practical experience shows that nothing will so much as insure immunity from drinking as intensivework with other alcoholics...”
“Men and women drink essentially because of the effect produced...”
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