AFTER in Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous, 12 Steps and 12 Traditions

From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)

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AFTER occurs 112 times (Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)

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After a bit, he said, "The way ... BB p.159, A Vision For You

After a bit, he said, "The way you fellows put this spiritual stuff makes sense.

After a few such experiences, often years ... 12&12 p.23, Step One

After a few such experiences, often years before the onset of extreme difficulties, he would return to us convinced.

After a few years with an alcoholic, ... BB p.81, Into Action

After a few years with an alcoholic, a wife gets worn out, resentful and uncommunicative.

... after a friendly talk your husband will ... BB p.112, To Wives

If this kind of approach does not catch your husband's interest, it may be best to drop the subject, but after a friendly talk your husband will usually revive the topic himself.

... after a large amount of failure in ... 12&12 p.16, Foreword

After three years of trial and error in selecting the most workable tenets upon which the Society could be based, and after a large amount of failure in getting alcoholics to recover, three successful groups emerged -- the first at Akron, the second at New York, and the third at Cleveland.

... after a period of sobriety, we are ... BB p.33, More About Alcoholism

Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever.

... after a prolonged period of drinking, I ... BB p.173, Doctor Bob's Nightmare

This went from bad to worse until sophomore spring when, after a prolonged period of drinking, I made up my mind that I could not complete my course, so I packed my grip and went South to spend a month on a large farm owned by a friend of mine.

... after a spree which has brought him ... BB p.35, More About Alcoholism

Friends who have reasoned with him after a spree which has brought him to the point of divorce or bankruptcy are mystified when he walks directly into a saloon.

... after a successful and happy business career. BB p.32, More About Alcoholism

An exceptional man, he remained bone dry for twenty-five years and retired at the age of fifty-five, after a successful and happy business career.

10.

... after a time differentiate the true from ... BB xxviii(xxvi), The Doctor's Opinion

The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false.

11.

After a time I returned to the ... BB p.7, Bill's Story

After a time I returned to the hospital.

12.

... after a while. BB p.109, To Wives

Of those who keep on, a good number will become true alcoholics after a while.

13.

After a while, turn the talk to ... BB p.91, Working With Others

After a while, turn the talk to some phase of drinking.

14.

... after a while we had to face ... BB p.44, We Agnostics

But after a while we had to face the fact that we must find a spiritual basis of life -- or else.

15.

... after all. 12&12 p.23, Step One

To the doubters we could say, "Perhaps you're not an alcoholic after all.

16.

... after all. 12&12 p.113, Step Twelve

We begin to think that A.A. doesn't pay off after all.

17.

... after all. BB p.8, Bill's Story

There had been much happiness after all.

18.

... after all. BB p.11, Bill's Story

It began to look as though religious people were right after all.

19.

... after all. BB p.129, The Family Afterward

He will perceive that his spiritual growth is lopsided, that for an average man like himself, a spiritual life which does not include his family obligations may not be so perfect after all.

20.

... after all." BB p.159, A Vision For You

I guess the old folks were right after all."

21.

... after all, a lively bender was only ... 12&12 p.79, Step Eight

Those who did would sometimes assure us that, after all, a lively bender was only a good man's fault.

22.

After all, are you not looking for ... BB p.144, To Employers

After all, are you not looking for results rather than methods?

23.

... after all, determine the course of our ... BB p.54, We Agnostics

Did not these feelings, after all, determine the course of our existence?

24.

... after all God gave us brains to ... BB p.86, Into Action

Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use.

25.

After all, had he not been sober ... BB p.154, A Vision For You

After all, had he not been sober six months now?

26.

After all, hasn't it been self-interest, pure ... 12&12 p.66, Step Six

After all, hasn't it been self-interest, pure and simple, that has enabled most of us to escape?

27.

... after all, he was a good church ... BB p.27, There Is A Solution

Upon hearing this, our friend was somewhat relieved, for he reflected that, after all, he was a good church member.

28.

After all his pleas for help had ... 12&12 p.144, Tradition Three

After all his pleas for help had been rebuffed, these words rang in his fevered mind: "They have deserted me.

29.

After all, isn't fear the true basis ... 12&12 p.140, Tradition Three

After all, isn't fear the true basis of intolerance?

30.

After all, no man can build a ... 12&12 p.100, Step Eleven

After all, no man can build a house until he first envisions a plan for it.

31.

... after all, nobody ever had to throw ... BB p.181, Doctor Bob's Nightmare

So it doesn't behoove me to squawk about it for, after all, nobody ever had to throw me down and pour liquor down my throat.

32.

... after all, only a bare start on ... 12&12 p.39, Step Three

Of course the sponsor points out that our friend's life is still unmanageable even though he is sober, that after all, only a bare start on A.A.'s program has been made.

33.

... after all, only a look. 12&12 p.58, Step Five

The objective look at ourselves we achieved in Step Four was, after all, only a look.

34.

After all, our problems were of our ... BB p.103, Working With Others

After all, our problems were of our own making.

35.

... after all, they say. BB p.128, The Family Afterward

Dad is not so spiritual after all, they say.

36.

After all, we are experienced. 12&12 p.133, Tradition Two

After all, we are experienced.

37.

After all, your family is reunited, alcohol ... BB p.119, To Wives

After all, your family is reunited, alcohol is no longer a problem and you and your husband are working together toward an undreamed-of future.

38.

... after and extricated from endless scrapes and ... 12&12 p.118, Step Twelve

As matters get worse, the husband becomes a sick and irresponsible child who needs to be looked after and extricated from endless scrapes and impasses.

39.

... after another. BB p.110, To Wives

He has been placed in one institution after another.

40.

... after another clinched this determination until it ... 12&12 p.141, Tradition Three

One dramatic experience after another clinched this determination until it became our universal tradition.

41.

... after another melts away. 12&12 p.78, Step Eight

But if a willing start is made, then the great advantages of doing this will so quickly reveal themselves that the pain will be lessened as one obstacle after another melts away.

42.

... after becomes a military casualty. 12&12 p.113, Step Twelve

Maybe there are serious domestic or romantic difficulties, or perhaps that boy we thought God was looking after becomes a military casualty.

43.

... after being entirely free from alcohol for ... BB xxx(xxviii), The Doctor's Opinion

There is the type who always believes that after being entirely free from alcohol for a period of time he can take a drink without danger.

44.

After coming from our first meeting, or ... 12&12 p.83, Step Nine

After coming from our first meeting, or perhaps after we have finished reading the book "Alcoholics Anonymous," we usually want to sit down with some member of the family and readily admit the damage we have done by our drinking.

45.

After consulting with his wife and partner ... BB p.80, Into Action

After consulting with his wife and partner he came to the conclusion that it was better to take those risks than to stand before his Creator guilty of such ruinous slander.

46.

... after country where the A.A. seed was ... BB xxiii, Foreword to Fourth Edition

Display entire Foreword to Fourth Edition

In country after country where the A.A. seed was planted, it has taken root, slowly at first, then growing by leaps and bounds when literature has become available.

47.

After dinner I decided to take a ... BB p.41, More About Alcoholism

After dinner I decided to take a walk.

48.

... after doing all we can for months, ... 12&12 p.111, Step Twelve

For example, we may set our hearts on getting a particular person sobered up, and after doing all we can for months, we see him relapse.

49.

After doing that, he must decide for ... BB p.95, Working With Others

After doing that, he must decide for himself whether he wants to go on.

50.

... after each futile effort to reach solid ... BB p.107, To Wives

As animals on a treadmill, we have patiently and wearily climbed, falling back in exhaustion after each futile effort to reach solid ground.

51.

... after group saw these possibilities, they finally ... 12&12 p.141, Tradition Three

As group after group saw these possibilities, they finally abandoned all membership regulations.

52.

... after he gets hurt some more. BB p.95, Working With Others

This he may do after he gets hurt some more.

53.

... after he has been drinking, for he ... BB p.113, To Wives

But don't remind him of this after he has been drinking, for he may be angry.

54.

After high school came four years in ... BB p.172, Doctor Bob's Nightmare

After high school came four years in one of the best colleges in the country where drinking seemed to be a major extra-curricular activity.

55.

... after his next binge, ask him if ... BB p.112, To Wives

But after his next binge, ask him if he would really like to get over drinking for good.

56.

... after leaving the hospital a fast-moving trolley ... BB p.38, More About Alcoholism

Within a week after leaving the hospital a fast-moving trolley car breaks his arm.

57.

... after make clear three pertinent ideas: BB p.60, How It Works

Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:

58.

After making our review we ask God's ... BB p.86, Into Action

After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.

59.

... after making their resolutions; most of them ... BB p.34, More About Alcoholism

Some will be drunk the day after making their resolutions; most of them within a few weeks.

60.

After many painful discussions, they finally gave ... BB p.173, Doctor Bob's Nightmare

After many painful discussions, they finally gave me my credits and I migrated to another of the leading universities of the country and entered as a Junior that Fall.

61.

... after many years' experience as Medical Director ... BB xxvii(xxv), The Doctor's Opinion

I say this after many years' experience as Medical Director of one of the oldest hospitals in the country treating alcoholic and drug addiction.

62.

... after many years of experience, that we ... BB xxviii(xxvi), The Doctor's Opinion

We feel, after many years of experience, that we have found nothing which has contributed more to the rehabilitation of these men than the altruistic movement now growing up among them.

63.

... after month. 12&12 p.144, Tradition Three

Ed not only stayed, he stayed sober -- month after month.

64.

After much argument they allowed me to ... BB p.173, Doctor Bob's Nightmare

After much argument they allowed me to return and take my exams, all of which I passed creditably.

65.

... after nausea. BB p.172, Doctor Bob's Nightmare

I seemed to be able to snap back the next morning better than most of my fellow drinkers, who were cursed (or perhaps blessed) with a great deal of morning-after nausea.

66.

After one of those days of inferno, ... BB p.4, Bill's Story

After one of those days of inferno, I wobbled from a hotel bar to a brokerage office.

67.

... after one was all smelled up with ... BB p.178, Doctor Bob's Nightmare

It then occurred to me that after one was all smelled up with beer nobody could tell what had been drunk, so I began to fortify my beer with straight alcohol.

68.

... after public relations and arrange meetings. 12&12 p.134, Tradition Two

Headed by the chairman, they look after public relations and arrange meetings.

69.

After reading this book, a junior executive ... BB p.147, To Employers

After reading this book, a junior executive can go to such a man and say approximately this, "Look here, Ed.

70.

... after rescue from shipwreck when camaraderie, joyousness ... BB p.17, There Is A Solution

We are like the passengers of a great liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck when camaraderie, joyousness and democracy pervade the vessel from steerage to Captain's table.

71.

... after rest and treatment he will be ... BB p.142, To Employers

If he says yes, does he really mean it, or down inside does he think he is fooling you, and that after rest and treatment he will be able to get away with a few drinks now and then?

72.

After satisfying yourself that your man wants ... BB p.142, To Employers

After satisfying yourself that your man wants to recover and that he will go to any extreme to do so, you may suggest a definite course of action.

73.

... after serious drinking bouts and tells you ... BB p.109, To Wives

He is remorseful after serious drinking bouts and tells you he wants to stop.

74.

After several failures to find others, a ... BB p.158, A Vision For You

After several failures to find others, a fourth turned up.

75.

... after some relapses, and among the remainder, ... BB xx, Foreword to Second Edition

Display entire Foreword to Second Edition

Of alcoholics who came to A.A. and really tried, 50% got sober at once and remained that way; 25% sobered up after some relapses, and among the remainder, those who stayed on with A.A. showed improvement.

76.

... after story of how humility had brought ... 12&12 p.75, Step Seven

We heard story after story of how humility had brought strength out of weakness.

77.

After such an approach many take up ... BB p.19, There Is A Solution

After such an approach many take up their beds and walk again.

78.

After taking this preliminary trial at making ... 12&12 p.85, Step Nine

After taking this preliminary trial at making amends, we may enjoy such a sense of relief that we conclude our task is finished.

79.

... after the dinner, and then proceeded to ... BB p.179, Doctor Bob's Nightmare

I got tight that night, stayed sober Monday till after the dinner, and then proceeded to get tight again.

80.

After the husband joins A.A., the wife ... 12&12 p.118, Step Twelve

After the husband joins A.A., the wife may become discontented, even highly resentful that Alcoholics Anonymous has done the very thing that all her years of devotion had failed to do.

81.

... after the man with the double stigma ... 12&12 p.143, Tradition Three

Not long after the man with the double stigma knocked for admission, A.A.'s other group received into its membership a salesman we shall call Ed.

82.

... after the market closed. BB p.4, Bill's Story

It was eight o'clock -- five hours after the market closed.

83.

... after the meetings, where so many skeptical, ... 12&12 p.110, Step Twelve

We can be the ones who take on the unspectacular but important tasks that make good Twelfth Step work possible, perhaps arranging for the coffee and cake after the meetings, where so many skeptical, suspicious newcomers have found confidence and comfort in the laughter and talk.

84.

... after the next bender which, if an ... BB p.142, To Employers

If he temporizes and still thinks he can ever drink again, even beer, he might as well be discharged after the next bender which, if an alcoholic, he is almost certain to have.

85.

... after the phone-answering service, answers the mail, ... 12&12 p.134, Tradition Two

The secretary sees that literature is on the table, looks after the phone-answering service, answers the mail, and sends out notices of meetings.

86.

... after the place full time. 12&12 p.168, Tradition Eight

So somebody had to look after the place full time.

87.

After the sermon, he quietly got up ... BB p.80, Into Action

After the sermon, he quietly got up and made an explanation.

88.

... after the third or fourth, pounded on ... BB p.24, There Is A Solution

How often have some of us begun to drink in this nonchalant way, and after the third or fourth, pounded on the bar and said to ourselves, "For God's sake, how did I ever get started again?"

89.

... after their mother has accepted dad's new ... BB p.134, The Family Afterward

This may hang on for months, long after their mother has accepted dad's new way of living and thinking.

90.

... after these bouts and quieted himself with ... BB p.32, More About Alcoholism

He was very nervous in the morning after these bouts and quieted himself with more liquor.

91.

After they have seen tangible results, the ... BB p.99, Working With Others

After they have seen tangible results, the family will perhaps want to go along.

92.

After they have succumbed to the desire ... BB xxix(xxvii), The Doctor's Opinion

After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again.

93.

... after they whole-heartedly met a few simple ... BB p.50, We Agnostics

This happened soon after they whole-heartedly met a few simple requirements.

94.

... after this chapter was written. BB p.121, To Wives (Note)

(*) The fellowship of Al-Anon Family Groups was formed about thirteen years after this chapter was written.

95.

After three years of this, I wound ... BB p.175, Doctor Bob's Nightmare

After three years of this, I wound up in the local hospital where they attempted to help me, but I would get my friends to smuggle me a quart, or I would steal the alcohol about the building, so that I got rapidly worse.

96.

After three years of trial and error ... 12&12 p.16, Foreword

97.

... after time, my instructors held up to ... 12&12 p.26, Step Two

Time after time, my instructors held up to me the basic principle of all scientific progress: search and research, again and again, always with the open mind.

98.

... after time newcomers have tried to keep ... BB p.72, Into Action

Time after time newcomers have tried to keep to themselves certain facts about their lives.

99.

... after time the desperate experiment of the ... BB p.35, More About Alcoholism

What sort of thinking dominates an alcoholic who repeats time after time the desperate experiment of the first drink?

100.

... after time, their uncertain flames blew out ... 12&12 p.139, Tradition Three

Time after time, their uncertain flames blew out and couldn't be relighted.

101.

... after time, this apparent calamity has been ... BB p.116, To Wives

Time after time, this apparent calamity has been a boon to us, for it opened up a path which led to the discovery of God.

102.

After two weeks of drinking, he had ... BB p.137, To Employers

After two weeks of drinking, he had placed his toe on the trigger of a loaded shotgun -- the barrel was in his mouth.

103.

After we came to A.A., we had ... 12&12 p.30, Step Two

After we came to A.A., we had to recognize that this trait had been an ego-feeding proposition.

104.

After we come into A.A., if we ... 12&12 p.115, Step Twelve

After we come into A.A., if we go on growing, our attitudes and actions toward security -- emotional security and financial security -- commence to change profoundly.

105.

... after we have finished reading the book ... 12&12 p.83, Step Nine

106.

After we have made the list of ... 12&12 p.83, Step Nine

After we have made the list of people we have harmed, have reflected carefully upon each instance, and have tried to possess ourselves of the right attitude in which to proceed, we will see that the making of direct amends divides those we should approach into several classes.

107.

... after we have tried this for a ... BB p.86, Into Action

We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while.

108.

... after what I had learned. BB p.40, More About Alcoholism

I rather appreciated your ideas about the subtle insanity which precedes the first drink, but I was confident it could not happen to me after what I had learned.

109.

... after what we thought was happiness. 12&12 p.72, Step Seven

But whenever we had to choose between character and comfort, the character-building was lost in the dust of our chase after what we thought was happiness.

110.

... after what you have told us that ... BB p.38, More About Alcoholism

We admit we have some of these symptoms, but we have not gone to the extremes you fellows did, nor are we likely to, for we understand ourselves so well after what you have told us that such things cannot happen again.

111.

... after which the pant-leg and stocking racket ... BB p.177, Doctor Bob's Nightmare

This worked nicely until my wife and I went to see Wallace Beery in "Tugboat Annie," after which the pant-leg and stocking racket were out!

112.

After your man has gone along without ... BB p.146, To Employers

After your man has gone along without drinking for a few months, you may be able to make use of his services with other employees who are giving you the alcoholic run-around -- provided, of course, they are willing to have a third party in the picture.

Passages from the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions are reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc. The A.A. Preamble, copyright © The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., is reprinted with permission. Permission to reprint does not in any way imply affiliation with or endorsement by either Alcoholics Anonymous or The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.

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