From the books ...
Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
EFFORT occurs
19 times
(
Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)
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to display the full page from the Big Book
1.
... effort.
BB p.26,
There Is A Solution
This we did because we
honestly wanted to, and were
willing
to make the
effort.
2.
... effort could
this be accomplished, then all ...
12&12 p.150,
Tradition Five
But once these
men had
hit upon
a
cure, once it
became apparent that only by their
united effort could this be
accomplished, then all of them would
feel bound to
devote themselves
solely to
the
relief of
cancer.
3.
... effort is
considerable, we physicians must admit ...
BB xxix(xxvii),
The Doctor's Opinion
4.
... effort is
involved in avoiding excesses which ...
12&12 p.66,
Step Six
Not much
spiritual effort
is
involved in
avoiding excesses which
will bring us
punishment anyway.
5.
... effort is
less peace and less brotherhood ...
12&12 p.37,
Step Three
The
sum of all this
mighty
effort is
less peace and
less brotherhood than before.
6.
... effort is
made "to practice these principles ...
12&12 p.114,
Step Twelve
Our
basic troubles are
the same as
everyone else's, but when an
honest effort is made "to
practice these
principles in all our
affairs," well-
grounded A.A.'s
seem to have the
ability, by
God's
grace, to take these
troubles in
stride and
turn them into
demonstrations of
faith.
7.
... effort necessary
being that required to follow ...
BB xxix(xxvii),
The Doctor's Opinion
On the other
hand -- and
strange as this may
seem to
those who do not
understand -- once a
psychic change has
occurred, the very same
person who
seemed doomed, who had so many
problems he
despaired of
ever
solving them,
suddenly finds himself
easily able to
control his
desire for
alcohol, the
only
effort necessary
being that
required to
follow a few
simple rules.
8.
... effort on
our part.
BB p.85,
Into Action
We will see that our new
attitude toward liquor has been
given us without any
thought
or
effort on our
part.
9.
... effort, the
well-understood fact that in God's ...
12&12 p.124,
Step Twelve
Service,
gladly rendered,
obligations
squarely met,
troubles well
accepted or
solved with
God's
help, the
knowledge that at
home or in the
world outside we are
partners in
a
common effort, the well-
understood fact that in
God's
sight all
human beings are
important, the
proof that
love freely given surely brings a
full return, the
certainty that we are no
longer isolated and alone
in
self-
constructed prisons, the
surety that we
need no
longer be
square pegs in
round holes but can
fit and
belong in
God's
scheme of things -- these
are the
permanent and
legitimate satisfactions of
right
living for which no
amount
of
pomp and
circumstance, no
heap of
material possessions, could
possibly be
substitutes.
10.
... effort to
bring the man's family into ...
BB p.159,
A Vision For You
They
experienced a few
distressing failures,
but in those
cases they made an
effort to bring the
man's
family into a
spiritual
way of
living, thus
relieving much
worry and
suffering.
11.
... effort to
discover the truth about the ...
BB p.64,
How It Works
It is an
effort to
discover the
truth about the
stock-in-
trade.
12.
... effort to
discover what these liabilities in ...
12&12 p.42,
Step Four
Step Four is our
vigorous and
painstaking effort to
discover what these
liabilities in each of us have been, and are.
13.
... effort to
do this, there can be ...
12&12 p.43,
Step Four
Without a
willing and
persistent effort to do
this, there can be
little sobriety or
contentment for us.
14.
... effort to
face, and to be rid ...
BB p.64,
How It Works
Though our
decision was a
vital and
crucial step, it could have
little permanent effect unless at once
followed by
a
strenuous effort to
face, and to be
rid of, the things
in ourselves which had been
blocking us.
15.
... effort to
harvest food or construct shelter, ...
12&12 p.42,
Step Four
If
men and
women didn't
exert themselves to be
secure
in their
persons, made no
effort to
harvest food or
construct shelter, there would be no
survival.
16.
... effort to
live on self-will and run ...
BB p.76,
Into Action
We
attempt to
sweep away
the
debris which has
accumulated out of our
effort to
live on
self-will and
run the
show ourselves.
17.
... effort to
reach solid ground.
BB p.107,
To Wives
18.
... effort, unless
I could assure him, which ...
BB xxxi(xxix),
The Doctor's Opinion
Following his
physical rehabilitation, he had a
talk with me in which he
frankly stated he
thought the
treatment a
waste of
effort,
unless I could
assure him,
which no one ever had, that in the
future he would
have the "will
power" to
resist the
impulse to
drink.
19.
... effort which
we are going to describe.
BB p.19,
There Is A Solution
All of us
spend much of our
spare time in the
sort of
effort which we are
going to
describe.
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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