Big Book Living Alive

We are the reason for most of our issues. We drive ourselves to destruction because of fear and pain. We make our own problems when we don't want to stop and listen. Why? Because `you cant heal a sick mind with a sick mind`. In order to change we must get rid of selfishness. We need to have a way to turn our own self and our problems over to a greater power.  I cannot stop drinking on my own....

We are the only species that has free will. That is why we never see a tree hit a car. But that self will can cause us to do things and behave in ways that will only harm ourselves. Self will makes us an island and we are isolated and alone. it is a personal decision and without it we are stuck at step 2. The main issues are in our mind and we need to be willing to change our minds. This is a pers...

This weeks theme is decision v. action.  Learning to turn over our will, and our mindset, to higher power. This is a process, and it takes takes time and energy to accept. Giving up control is a large ego deflator, and can keep us from building the foundation for success that the first step, steps that are action based, are meant to help us achieve. Step 1 and step 2 set the ground worke...

Pain points create change. Whether big consequences, or small repercussions, belief must precede change. And change is the process of belief transforming into faith. We cannot start down the path until we realize that we need to believe and that you can change. This program is a guide to change and a roadmap to the restoration to sanity. You May Also Like: ✓ New episodes of the Big Book Living Ali...

Dare to believe that there is a better way. Fear of change can prevent any of us from progressing and growing as a person. This can be emotional or spiritual growth that needs to be challenged to dare to believe differently. We all need to be a little more like Christopher Columbus who went west to go east and didn't fear falling off the edge of the known world in search of his goals.  You Ma...

We agnostics was Bill W adding additional knowledge and instructions to help the still suffering alcoholic who may believe or have had a religion/spirituality to the side as we drank. Many of life's changing event are preceded by a spiritual change. Meditate on these ideas, see if they can bring peace. page 45 - how do you find the power, if we find it then the power solve the problem because you...

The vital spiritual experience is a releif not another burden. When we have spent years on self will and self sabatoge, it is like a drowning man who is pull out of the water by a lifeguard. The older membership shows us how their experience, strenght and hopw changed theri life. And if you listen you should hear a call to action as this is not them time to stay in your chair. The spiritual experi...

More stories of bad choices, denial and failure to listen to the warning signs. Heavy drinkers is not the same as alcoholic. The true alcoholic always has the desire to fall back into old habits. In the battle alcohol we must be vigilant.  The As we said before; We have to be willing to finish what we start.  It doesn't matter how long or short we are in sobriety - the insanity of our th...

More About Alcohol Stories of snap decisions and bad choices show us that we must be vigilant. The desire to fall back into old habits is hard to break. We have to be willing to finish what we start. Stopping at step 3, get stalled before finishing the steps or just think that 'I got this' is a dangerous path. You May Also Like:  ✓ New episodes of the Big Book Living Alive Joe & Charlie p...

Restored to Sanity Insane: `in a state of mind which prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction` So insanity is just a state of being "Less Than Whole". This is part of the truth about the disease of alcoholism.  But, we have to stand in the light of our decisions. We need to concede that we are powerless over alcohol. We are sober before that first drink and knowing how we w...

You cannot have a Spiritual Awakening if you will not accept the idea of a Higher Power or you fear letting God in. Putting up barriers make it hard, if not impossible, to find relief. It is only once in a great while that we are given a chance to have a 'vital spiritual experience'. Don't squander it because of nearsightedness and mis-understanding. It took world famous doctors, and groups practi...

Willing to change . Can the idea of something new or different keep us from sobriety...Hell Yea.  'If you are unhappy with the program, or feel you are not able to change to make the program work, then please go find another path  or go back to the way you were and we will refund all your pain an suffering.' is what a counselor of mine used to say. If we don't approach the program with t...

The solution is change . It's working hard to see how we were and what we could be. This is the spiritual experience. Please read Appendix II. On page 569 the book explains the spiritual experience and spiritual awakening are how we find the solution; personality change. Change can be fast, slow or still evolving, but it is how we change our outlook on life that allows us to control the obsession...

The Types of Drinkers. Before we can apply the solution, we need to know who it applies to. This week Joe & Charlie discuss the types of drinkers. These are the people like us and not like us. ie: moderate v. hard drinkers And then you have to look at small list of REAL alcoholics.  This in not the complete list: Lack of control Jeykll & Hyde Nice until he drinks Gets drunk at the wro...

The Solution. The power of fellowship and power of vital spiritual experience are a solution to the drinking problem. They need to be taken in the proper doses and they course of action is never ending. You can refill this script over and over and ... It's not just meetings that make the prescription work. The patient must get a Big Book and work the steps. This is the solution, there are no quick...

Bill takes the steps in the hospital with Ebby. In the early days you took most if not all the steps at the same time. But, there were only originally 4-6 steps since the program was based on the Oxford Group basic six tenants. Bill would expand these to be the 12 steps as we know them. 'Takes the steps to the best of Bills ability', this is important. We MUST give ourselves over totally and compl...

Bill has a spiritual awakening and is able to add the strength of a higher power to the growing program of his sobriety. As Bill goes thru step 2 he learn that the path to understanding the Spiritual portion of his recovery cannot be used as a hammer with others. Step 1 is the foundation of the program, but without a Higher Power you cannot secure a cornerstone of growth to continue the build...

By 1934 Bill has relapsed again, meets dr. Silkworth again, realizes that he can't stop. But then he gets a call from his old friend Ebby. He wants to come over. Ebby was sober and in a group called the Oxford group. One of the groups tenants was to help others in need. Bill cannot believe his drinking buddy is clean and sober, the men argue about a higher power as religion v. spirituality and Ebb...

Bill meets Dr. Silworth and the process of change is set in motion. He comes to understand that his ailment is a dual process. He has the obsession of the mind  and the diseas of the body, and this combined procss makes it very hard to combat with willpower alone. Where is the line between willpower and desire? Just becasue we know the problem does not mean that we have the cure. We need to c...

Bills Story - Part 1. Bills story is the first chapter in the Big Book. Telling us about Bill W and the ups and downs of his life due to alcohol. In telling his story we look for similarities to our story. Not all details are the same for every person or their individual history. But, if we listen to them then we may see something in that story that relates to us and our story. And that is how the...

The 12 Step Visit. The Step Visit was used to bring in the new member to the program and jump start the recovery process. By the time the new person got the their first meeting they had already taken steps 1 and 2. And it was at the first meeting that they then took step 3. We don't do that today, but the process of taking the steps and the order of the steps hasn't changed. Just the timing of how...

The reaction of the mind . Why is the first drink never enough and the last one of the night leaves us wanting more. The mind of the alcoholic is not like normal drinkers. We crave the alcoholic feeling and the mind keeps us coming back for more. You May Also Like: ✓ New episodes of the Big Book Living Alive Joe & Charlie podcast every Monday @ 2pm est. Website: https://bigbooklivingalive.com...

The reaction of the body. How an alcoholic metabolizes the alcohol they consume is different from normal drinkers. The breakdown of the product, the long term chemicals retained in the body and the overall affect of the substance that differ from regular drinkers is discussed this week. You May Also Like: ✓ New episodes of the Big Book Living Alive Joe & Charlie podcast every Monday @ 2pm est....

The Effect. How alcohol interacts with a person is different for the alcoholic then a normal drinker. The effect is a cycle of continued drinking because the cause is the first drink. This is the obsession of the the mind and the disease of the body working together against the normal, rational desire many people experience when they drink. ✓ New episodes of the Big Book Living Alive Joe & Cha...

The Allergy. After centuries of being outcast and forgotten, one Doctor was able to diagnose the dual nature of the alcoholic's addiction. This theory was used by Bill W. to develop the prescription for Recovery. Even though Dr. Silkworth did not want his opinion to list an author in the first edition, after many recoveries and the changing views of the medical community his name has been listed a...