Back to Basics (Who Told You To Stop Doing The Basics?)

Stick With the Basics - AA Grapevine, March 1978 - By: AAs | Claremont, California One of the lines I heard when I first came into AA was "There are no musts in AA, but there are a good many 'you'd betters.' "I've been in the program for a number of years now, and I find a refresher course in these essentials is always helpful. So, I got together with some AA friends, and we made the following list of what seem to us the "you'd betters" or basics of AA for anyone who wants to achieve sobriety and keep it. Recognize your problem and know that you can't stay sober by willpower alone. Get to as many meetings as you can. (Meetings are insurance against drinking, so the more meetings we attend, the greater our insurance. It is also at the meetings that we share our "experience, strength, and hope with each other.") If you are a newcomer, get yourself a sponsor--someone who seems to make sense to you, has quality sobriety, as well as quantity, and is of the same sex. Live twenty-four hours at a time. (Concentrate on living a full life today. There isn't a thing we can do about yesterday, and tomorrow never comes.) Surrender your will and your life to a Higher Power. (In other words, get out of the driver's seat.) Be willing to listen and learn. Follow the Twelve Steps, which are the cornerstone of the program. Practice the Serenity Prayer. Use the slogans: "First Things First," "But for the Grace of God," "Easy Does It," "Live and Let Live," and "Think." Abide by the Twelve Traditions. Realize that it is the first drink that triggers off more drinking. If you are tempted to take that first drink, either call another member or call on God (He's always home) or put off taking the drink until tomorrow (which, if you are living twenty-four hours at a time, never comes). Try to live honestly in every aspect of your life. If you have a slip, confess it publicly to your group. Keep the program simple. (Don't analyze. Utilize.) Avoid excess of any kind--that is, don't get too hungry, too angry, too lonely, too tired, too anything. Carry your share of the work of the group. Avoid resentments and self-pity--two dangerous attitudes that we alcoholics cannot afford to have. When you can't cope, turn your problems over to a Higher Power rather than turning to the bottle. Remember that you can't keep your sobriety unless you give it away. (Helping others is the foundation stone of recovery.) Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. --AA Big Book, pg 58 They repeatedly say, "We ought..." but never "You must!" --AA 12&12, pg 129 Do any of these "basics" mean more to you than the others? Which one? Why? What is an AA "basic" for you?