Posts by: Rick W.

The Importance of a Home Group

The Importance of a Home Group

When I first came into AA, I didn’t have the understanding of the home group I have today.  That said, I will say that my first home group was a place that allowed me to identify.  There were people in that group that told my story, shared feelings and emotions that I felt and had, …

Action & More Action

Action & More Action

Greetings family, I drove to Abilene, TX (about 3 hours West of Fort Worth) yesterday for a service commitment and heard a speaker say in a lead that her sponsor had told her early on, “It doesn’t matter how you feel, it matters what you do.” For some reason, of all the great things she …

Seconds and Inches

Seconds and Inches

Have you ever heard of the phrase, “If/Then”? IF this happens… THEN this occurs? I was recently sitting down with a sponsee who is 29 years sober and in the middle of A.A. doing some work in the Big Book. We were sharing our thoughts with each other about the providence (definition: timely preparation for …

The Relationship Between General Service and Intergroups

The Relationship Between General Service and Intergroups

In a 2011 letter, former General Service Board Chair, Ward Ewing, sums up the relationship, “In some places, a reciprocal relationship exists between Intergroups/Central Offices and the Area structure. In these cases, an Intergroup may have a liaison to the Area and the Area may have a liaison to the Intergroup – in some instances …

The Promises Are Conditional

The Promises Are Conditional

In Chapter 6, “Into Action,” we find what are commonly referred to as the 9th Step Promises just after it outlines the amends process after creating our amends list from Step 8. As many members of A.A. know, the amends process is part of the continuing action suggested to us as we go deeper in …

Guided Audio Meditation for A.A. Members

Guided Audio Meditation for A.A. Members

Many members of A.A. believe that their Higher Power (or God) is found in the stillness – in the quiet. Most first-time meditators find it strange to sit in silence, to sit with their innermost thoughts and feelings, to sit and do nothing — the very thing that, oddly enough, the mind tends to resist. …

The Solution to My Problem

The Solution to My Problem

I continue to be amazed at the things I hear in A.A. meetings these days.  I hear a lot of “BB” and not enough “AA.” I have never been able to find in our program of action the phrase, “90 meetings in 90 days” or “just don’t drink and go to meetings” or “no big …

Teachable Moments

Teachable Moments

What Have Been Your Biggest Teachable Moments? There are many teachable moments on our journey to becoming recovered alcoholics available to us if we are willing to do the inventory needed to embrace them. There are at least 21 specific examples in the first 165 pages of the big book where the author calls them …

Do You Learn Better With Video?

Do You Learn Better With Video?

ME TOO! Since God gave me a few creative and technical skills to work with, from time to time I create simple videos to share with my sponsees on a particular topic. This past week it seems the stars have aligned for many of my sponsees and I began to see a recurring theme... "Why ...