Posts by: Rick W.

Concept Six: Is A.A. Really a Business?

Concept Six: Is A.A. Really a Business?

As I have found myself traveling down the inverted service triangle in Alcoholics Anonymous, I have long believed (and our service manual supports this) that A.A. is really a business – primarily a “printing business,” but a business, nonetheless. That said, it’s really hard to wrap our heads around this idea because when we first …

Southwest Regional Forum Presentations

Southwest Regional Forum Presentations

Greetings family... As many of you may know, I am currently serving the Fellowship of A.A. in the General Service structure as the Panel 73 Delegate for Area 65 Northeast Texas. This past weekend, the Southwest Region had our "Southwest Regional Forum" in El Paso, Texas and delegates, staff, and trustees in attendance gave some ...

Concept Three – Right of Decision in My Leadership Role

Concept Three – Right of Decision in My Leadership Role

(This post was contributed to Take the 12 by Brandy H., Panel 73 Convention Chair, Area 65 Northeast Texas at the request of the creator of this website after hearing her present on this topic at the 2023 NETA65 Fall Assembly and Service Workshop) …………………………………………………………. “I was asked to give a brief presentation at area …

On a Scale of 0-10

On a Scale of 0-10

Last night in my home group’s Big Book study, the chair of the meeting read several passages out of “We Agnostics” and gave a great share on the topic before opening it up to a show of hands. He reminded us that our literature says there are only really two options: 1.) Drink to the bitter …

Sponsor Factory

Sponsor Factory

In February of 2013, after having had the same sponsor for 16 years, I decided it was time to find a new sponsor. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with that sponsor I’d had for such a long time, it was simply that I had changed and needed something different. I was at a …

Burning Our Lives To The Ground

Burning Our Lives To The Ground

This weekend, I had the incredible honor of being asked to speak at SERCYPAA 2023 and it was an amazing experience. The excitement, dedication, and commitment in that hotel all centered around recovery was quite honestly – overwhelming at times. To have an opportunity to spend the weekend with over 500 young (or “young at …

Descriptive & Prescriptive

Descriptive & Prescriptive

This morning, I was sitting in a study with some spiritually minded-folks and the leader of the study mentioned that in the literature we were studying, there are things that are “descriptive” and things that are “prescriptive.” For some reason, that jumped out at me. Later this afternoon, I took the time to look up …

Inside the Mind of an Overthinker

Inside the Mind of an Overthinker

I came home from my home group last night and spent some time thinking (“Danger Will Robinson, DANGER!! LOL!).  The topic was on the 7th Step which I was so grateful for because I don’t sit in enough meetings about 6 & 7 anymore.  I truly believe at over 3 decades of sobriety that Steps …

NEW Grapevine & La Viña Apps

NEW Grapevine & La Viña Apps

I had the honor and privilege of attending the 73rd General Service Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous as the Panel 73 Delegate for Area 65 (Northeast Texas) last month in NYC.  I was assigned to the conference committee on Grapevine & La Viña.  During both our committee meeting and during the general session of the conference, ...