With few exceptions our members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 569-70
From my first days in A.A., as I struggled for sobriety, I found hope in these words from our founders. I often pondered the phrase: “they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource.” How, I asked myself, can I find the Power within myself, since I am so powerless? In time, as the founders promised, it came to me: I have always had the choice between goodness and evil, between unselfishness and selfishness, between serenity and fear. That Power greater than myself is an original gift that I did not recognize until I achieved daily sobriety through living A.A.’s Twelve Steps.
{ 2 comments }
I can so identify with this. I have found myself saying many times over recent weeks “I didn’t know I had it in me”. And I didn’t! And so long as I am mindful that “it” is not me, my own strength, or anything of myself, I trust that God as I understand him will continue to grace me with the strength to do everything I need to do one day at a time.
This too touches me. Since my first attempt at sobriety I was told “if you want what we want. Keep coming back.” And little by little, I started to see that my higher power could and would work in mysterious ways along with the help from my fellow AA members. Now looking back on things I can see that even in the most dark times, as long as I’d heed their suggestions and believe I could do it, my inner strength would prevail.