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This is A.A. General Service Conference-approved
literature*
Copyright © 1976 by A.A. World Services, Inc.
All Right Reserved
MANY OF US THOUGHT WE WERE SPECIAL
“”A.A. won’t work for me. I’m
too far gone.””
“”It’s nice for those people, but I’m president of the P.T.A.”” I’m too old. Too
young. Not religious enough. I’m gay. Or Jewish. A professional person. A member
of the clergy. Too smart. Or too uneducated.
At this moment, people all
over the world are thinking that A.A. probably won’t work in
their case for one or several of these reasons. Perhaps you
are one of these people.
We in A.A. believe alcoholism
is a disease that is no respecter of age, sex, creed, race,
wealth, occupation, or education. It strikes at random. Our
experience seems to show that anyone can be an alcoholic. And,
beyond question, anyone who wants to stop drinking is welcome
in A.A.
Our co-founder Bill W., in
telling about A.A.’s earliest days, wrote:
“”In the beginning, it was four
whole years before A.A. brought permanent sobriety to even
one alcoholic woman. Like the `high bottoms,’ the women said
they were different; A.A. couldn’t be for them. But as the
communication was perfected, mostly by the women themselves,
the picture changed.
“”This process of identification
and transmission has gone on and on. The skid-rower said
he was different. Even more loudly, the socialite (or Park
Avenue stumblebum) said the same. So did the artists and
the professional people, the rich, the poor, the religious,
the agnostic, the Indians and the Eskimos, the veterans and
the prisoners.
“”But nowadays all of these,
and legions more, soberly talk about how very much alike
all of us alcoholics are when we admit that the chips are
finally down.
“”In the stories that follow,
you may encounter men and women whose race, age, sexual preference,
or any number of other conditions are similar to yours. They
came to A.A. and found that Alcoholics Anonymous worked just
as well for them as it had for hundreds of thousands of others
of us who thought we were “”different.”” We found help, and
we found friends with whom we could identify and share our
experiences.
We are no longer alone.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS® is
a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength
and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem
and help others to recover from alcoholism.
- The only requirement for membership
is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees
for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our
own contributions.
-
A.A. is not allied
with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution;
does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses
nor opposes any causes.
