“Let us always love the best in others, and never fear their worst.”
From The Language of the Heart
JANUARY 25
“The Twelve Concepts”
AA CO-FOUNDER, BILL W., PUBLISHED IN GRAPEVINE SEPTEMBER 1990
“We should always realize that change does not necessarily spell progress. We are sure that each new group of workers in world service will be tempted to try all sorts of innovations that may often produce little more than a painful repetition of earlier mistakes. ... And if mistaken departures are nevertheless made, these Concepts may then provide a ready means of safe return to an operating balance that might otherwise take years of floundering to rediscover.”
From AA Grapevine
JANUARY 26
“Not on Fire”
MESA, ARIZONA, MARCH 2010
“There has to be something to be grateful for if I am only willing to change my attitude and look for it.”
From AA Grapevine
JANUARY 27
“A Maze of Half-Measures”
ROCHESTER, MICHIGAN, APRIL 1986
“It took two years to learn that I wasn’t getting anywhere because I was always in such a hurry.”
From AA Grapevine
JANUARY 28
“Awareness”
VIETNAM, SEPTEMBER 1974
“Demands, hopes, yearnings, and desires tie us to the static horror and the utter futility of the forever departed past and the never-arriving future. To want nothing—to know that we cannot make anything happen—brings inner and outer joy, total fulfillment.”
From Spiritual Awakenings
JANUARY 29
“I Had Lost the War!”
TORONTO, ONTARIO, NOVEMBER 1952
“There was no use in my wondering why or when I became an alcoholic for the very simple reason that it wouldn’t change my condition; even if I did find the answer, I would still be an alcoholic.”
From Step By Step
JANUARY 30
“Tools for Life”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, JANUARY 2006
“Whenever I am gripped by fear of an unknown future and all my projections are negative, I do what my sponsor directed me to do. I wriggle my toes and come back into the safety of the moment.”
From Beginners’ Book
JANUARY 31
“One Little Secret of a Happy Life”
November 1946
“Tomorrow is never ours until it becomes today.”
From Beginners’ Book
FEBRUARY 1
“Mesmerized by Sanity”
LONDON, ENGLAND, FEBRUARY 1997
“These days I find that nothing is as precious as my sanity. I used to be addicted to drama and could only function on excitement and high levels of adrenaline. It’s very different today. ... It’s all very ordinary and average and sane, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
From Spiritual Awakenings
FEBRUARY 2
“Tradition Two”
AA CO-FOUNDER, BILL W., JANUARY 1948
“We have, in AA, no coercive human authority. Because each AA, of necessity, has a sensitive and responsive conscience, and because alcohol will discipline him severely if he backslides, we are finding we have little need for manmade rules or regulations.”
From The Language of the Heart
FEBRUARY 3
“Paradoxes of Sobriety”
KEEGO HARBOR, MICHIGAN, JUNE 1998
“AA has taught me that I’m the architect of my own success or happiness. The quality of my sobriety is up to me—it will be what I want it to be.”
From Beginners’ Book
FEBRUARY 4
“Spirituality”
ALVA, OKLAHOMA, JANUARY 1952
“The Twelve Steps are not steps to take progressively in order to arrive at a conclusion, but a code for living—the constitution of a way of life.”
From