The principle that we shall find no enduring strength until we first admit complete defeat is the main taproot from which our whole Society has sprung and flowered. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 21-22
Defeated, and knowing it, I arrived at the doors of A.A., alone and afraid of the unknown. A power outside of myself had picked me up off my bed, guided me to the phone book, then to the bus stop, and through the doors of Alcoholics Anonymous. Once inside A.A. I experienced a sense of being loved and accepted, something I had not felt since early childhood. May I never lose the sense of wonder I experienced on that first evening with A.A., the greatest event of my entire life.
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Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain.
Oh yeah, that feeling of defeat---and the beautiful feeling of turning defeat into surrender. Knowing that in surrendering ourselves, we are being embraced and held up, not the same as the beating down of defeat, albeit it was necessary. On occassions when life feels like it's doing its best to kick my butt, I'm feeling overwhelmed and confused? I remind myself of that feeling, and try and reconnect with it, feel it, do it. Surrender to Something much greater and wiser than myself. Knowing that my HP and the folks of AA will help me thru it. Thx, Doll, this one really touched me..Wren
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"Never argue with an idiot... They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience..."
