“Talking about what bothers me helps it lose its power over me.”

“I’m learning to be a mother, a friend, a grandmother, and a sister. My friends are a close-knit support group, and they’re as near as the telephone.”

“When we love, we will see in others what we wish to see in ourselves.”

“Pride in my intelligence blinded me to how much I did not know.”

“Truth is not a bludgeon to be used indiscriminately ... When I am asked for an opinion or advice, I give it to the best of my ability with as much gentleness, understanding, and tolerance as I can scrape up.”

“I have no idea how I made it this long, or what has kept me sober. But if I were to guess, I’d say that it has something to do with the slogan, ‘Keep coming back -- no matter what.’”

“We all know whose inventory we take in AA, right?”

“I can no longer use the illness of alcoholism as an excuse for anything. There is a catch, however. If I fail to use my recovery in service to others, I will become sick again.”

“I’ve found the comfort, love, and support I need to pick up the pieces and try again after my setbacks ... I’m not alone in my journey.”

“There are more amends to be made, letters to be sent, Twelfth Step work to be done, responsibilities to be assumed, and honest talks to be had with loved ones. Life is meant to be lived by facing the challenges it brings. Otherwise, I’m not living, just existing.”

“Sometimes we register surprise, shock, and anger when people find fault with AA. We are apt to be disturbed to such an extent that we cannot benefit from constructive criticism. This sort of resentment makes no friends and achieves no constructive purpose. Certainly, this is an area in which we can improve.”

“You never know until you go out to meet it what any given day is going to be, but the way you go to meet it surely makes a difference.”

“I have had to face my past, one episode at a time, and become willing to look at the truth. I could feel the pain and fear, like trolls under the bridge, waiting to jump out and challenge my self-esteem.”

“’Absolute humility would consist of a state of complete freedom from myself, freedom from all the claims that my defects of character now lay so heavily upon me. Perfect humility would be a full willingness, in all times and places, to find and to do the will of God.’”

“Some days I feel almost normal, almost sane.”