Alcoholics Anonymous
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Preamble The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organisation or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety." |
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The 12 Steps of AA
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs. Newcomers do not have to accept or follow theses steps if they feel unwilling or unable to do so. What matters is that they do not pick up a drink on a daily basis, this can be extremely hard to do without having some form help. AA can and does give this help and support 24 hrs a day. |
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Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935 by
two men who suffered from the illness of alcoholism. AA is now a world
wide organisation and has more than 3 million members on a daily basis.
Alcoholism IS AN ILLNESS and is recognised by the world health organisation as such. It is a three fold illness "Mental" "Spiritual" and "Physical" AA is NOT a religious based program. The spirituality spoken
about about in AA is the broken spirit that most alcoholics suffer
from (the despair, the loss of all hope) and that they endure on a
daily basis. God is spoken about in the fellowship, but this is a
God of each individuals own understanding and conception. Some members
find religion, and others never find the need to go to any form of
religious organisation. Within AA are people from all religious denominations
and creeds. |
You don't have to be an alcoholic to go to AA, all you
have to have is a problem with alcohol and have a desire to do something
about it.
It makes no difference what age you are, ages within AA span from early teens to those in who are in thier 70's or 80's. It makes no difference what you drink, whether it is beer, wine or spirits. It makes no difference the amount you drink or how often you drink. What does matter is the effect on yourself and those around you. For the families and friends of those with a drink problem there is an organisation called Al-Anon which can provide help. It does not matter if the problem drinker is in the fellowship of AA or not, if someone in your life is causing you problems because of their drinking please contact your nearest Al-Anon group. |