From the books ...
Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
LIFE occurs
186 times
(
Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)
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1.
... life.
12&12 p.21,
Step One
2.
... life.
12&12 p.27,
Step Two
3.
... life.
12&12 p.29,
Step Two
4.
... life.
12&12 p.40,
Step Three
5.
... life.
12&12 p.44,
Step Four
6.
... life.
12&12 p.48,
Step Four
But all who are in the
least reasonable will agree upon one point: that there is
plenty wrong with us
alcoholics about which
plenty will have to be
done if we are to
expect sobriety,
progress, and
any real ability to
cope with
life.
7.
... life.
12&12 p.63,
Step Six
To him, this
proposition will be
no theory at all; it
will be
just about the
largest fact in his
life.
8.
... life.
12&12 p.64,
Step Six
9.
... life.
12&12 p.70,
Step Seven
10.
... life.
12&12 p.71,
Step Seven
11.
... life.
12&12 p.71,
Step Seven
12.
... life.
12&12 p.75,
Step Seven
In
every case,
pain had been the
price of
admission into a
new life.
13.
... life.
12&12 p.88,
Step Ten
14.
... life.
12&12 p.98,
Step Eleven
15.
... Life.
12&12 p.99,
Step Eleven
It is by
dying that
one awakens to
Eternal Life.
16.
... life.
12&12 p.114,
Step Twelve
17.
... life.
12&12 p.114,
Step Twelve
18.
... life?
12&12 p.120,
Step Twelve
And what can be
said of
many
A.A. members who, for a
variety of
reasons, cannot
have a
family life?
19.
... life.
12&12 p.123,
Step Twelve
20.
... life.
12&12 p.16,
Foreword
21.
... life.'
12&12 p.152,
Tradition Five
"Of
course, my
answer was
'My
own sobriety and a
mighty happy life.'
22.
... life.
BB p.3,
Bill's Story
23.
... life.
BB p.16,
Bill's Story
He could not, or would not,
see our
way of
life.
24.
... life.
BB p.18,
There Is A Solution
But not so with the
alcoholic illness, for with it there
goes annihilation of all
the
things worth while in
life.
25.
... life.
BB p.35,
More About Alcoholism
All
went well for a
time, but he
failed to
enlarge his
spiritual
life.
26.
... life.
BB p.40,
More About Alcoholism
He was
positive that this
humiliating experience,
plus the
knowledge he had
acquired, would
keep him
sober the
rest of his
life.
27.
... life.
BB p.51,
We Agnostics
28.
... life.
BB p.54,
We Agnostics
Were
nothing left but
pure reason, it wouldn't be
life.
29.
... life.
BB p.63,
How It Works
30.
... life.
BB p.63,
How It Works
31.
... life.
BB p.69,
How It Works
In this
way we
tried to
shape a
sane and
sound ideal for our
future sex life.
32.
... life.
BB p.73,
Into Action
33.
... life?
BB p.86,
Into Action
Or were we
thinking of what we could do for
others, of what we could
pack
into the
stream of
life?
34.
... life.
BB p.97,
Working With Others
The
family should be
offered your
way of
life.
35.
... life.
BB p.99,
Working With Others
The
wife should
fully understand his
new way of
life.
36.
... life.
BB p.124,
The Family Afterward
37.
... life.
BB p.131,
The Family Afterward
At the
very beginning,
the
couple ought to
frankly face the
fact that
each will have to
yield here and there if the
family is
going to
play an
effective part in the
new life.
38.
... life.
BB p.132,
The Family Afterward
39.
... life.
BB p.153,
A Vision For You
Then you
will know what it
means to
give of
yourself that
others may
survive and
rediscover
life.
40.
... life.
BB p.153,
A Vision For You
41.
... life.
BB p.159,
A Vision For You
42.
... life.
BB p.160,
A Vision For You
43.
... life, a
compelling desire to find a ...
12&12 p.117,
Step Twelve
44.
... life a
fair hearing.
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
45.
... life, according,
of course, to our various ...
12&12 p.68,
Step Six
46.
... life actually
depends upon obedience to spiritual ...
12&12 p.130,
Tradition One
47.
... life again,
often begins to assert himself.
BB p.131,
The Family Afterward
48.
... life again,
there will be no stopping ...
BB p.164,
A Vision For You
When a
few men in this
city have
found themselves, and have
discovered the
joy of
helping others to
face life again, there
will be
no stopping until everyone in that
town has had his
opportunity to
recover
-- if he can and
will.
49.
... life among
Alcoholics Anonymous is more than ...
BB p.161,
A Vision For You
50.
... life and
death.
BB p.561(563),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
51.
... life and
death, Bill, and nothing but ...
12&12 p.138,
Tradition Two
This is a
matter of
life and
death,
Bill, and
nothing but the
very best will do!'
52.
... life-and-death errand.
BB p.75,
Into Action
He should
realize that we are
engaged upon a
life-and-
death errand.
53.
... life and
happiness for others.
BB p.124,
The Family Afterward
Cling to the
thought that,
in
God's
hands, the
dark past is the
greatest possession you
have -- the
key to
life and
happiness for
others.
54.
... life and
have begun, by our behavior ...
12&12 p.85,
Step Nine
As
soon as we
begin to
feel confident in our
new way of
life and have
begun, by our
behavior and
example, to
convince those about us
that we are
indeed changing for the
better, it
is
usually safe to
talk in
complete frankness with
those who
have been
seriously affected,
even those who may be only a
little
or not at all
aware of what we have
done to them.
55.
... life and
insists on giving away the ...
BB p.129,
The Family Afterward
He may not
see at
once that he
has
barely scratched a
limitless lode which
will pay dividends only if he
mines
it for the
rest of his
life
and
insists on
giving away the
entire product.
56.
... life, and
it comes first.
12&12 p.159,
Tradition Six
57.
... life and
my will over to the ...
12&12 p.36,
Step Three
If I
keep on
turning my
life and my
will over to the
care of
Something or
Somebody else, what
will become of me?
58.
... life, and
the beginning of his emergence ...
12&12 p.26,
Step Two
And so it is: the
beginning of the
end of his
old life, and the
beginning of his
emergence into a
new one.
59.
... life and
the lives of your children?
BB p.108,
To Wives
Is it
right to
let him
ruin your
life and the
lives of your
children?
60.
... life and
was only living, one might ...
BB xxxi(xxix),
The Doctor's Opinion
He had
lost everything
worthwhile in
life and
was only
living,
one might
say, to
drink.
61.
... life anew.
BB p.114,
To Wives
62.
... life, as
it has a way of ...
12&12 p.113,
Step Twelve
63.
... life as
it has affected other people.
12&12 p.79,
Step Eight
64.
... life as
we had been living it.
BB p.25,
There Is A Solution
But we
saw that it
really worked in
others, and we had
come to
believe in the
hopelessness and
futility of
life as we had
been
living it.
65.
... life as
we once did and a ...
BB p.151,
A Vision For You
There was an
insistent yearning to
enjoy life as we
once did and a
heartbreaking obsession that some
new miracle of
control would
enable us to do it.
66.
... life as
we see it, there is ...
BB p.49,
We Agnostics
67.
... life at
last, and in the midst ...
BB p.1,
Bill's Story
I was
part of
life at
last, and in the
midst of the
excitement I
discovered liquor.
68.
... life, at
least from the alcoholic angle, ...
BB p.149,
To Employers
69.
... life better
than the best he had ...
BB p.11,
Bill's Story
Then he had, in
effect, been
raised from the
dead,
suddenly taken from the
scrap heap to a
level of
life better than the
best he had
ever known!
70.
... life brought
about by years of alcoholism.
12&12 p.117,
Step Twelve
71.
... life business
of winning fame, money, and ...
12&12 p.123,
Step Twelve
72.
... life can
bring the much-desired result.
12&12 p.40,
Step Three
73.
... life, can
expel the obsession to drink ...
12&12 p.15,
Foreword
74.
... life completely
on life's terms, I cannot ...
BB p.417(449),
Acceptance
Until I could
accept my
alcoholism, I could not
stay sober;
unless I
accept life completely on
life's
terms, I cannot be
happy.
75.
... life confirm
this ageless truth.
12&12 p.98,
Step Eleven
76.
... life deals
him.
12&12 p.122,
Step Twelve
He
learns that he can be
content as
long as he
plays well whatever cards life deals him.
77.
... life doesn't
treat him right.
BB p.61,
How It Works
He
begins to
think life doesn't
treat him
right.
78.
... life drinking
ourselves into forgetfulness or had ...
12&12 p.123,
Step Twelve
79.
... life either
with alcohol or without it.
BB p.152,
A Vision For You
80.
... life everywhere.
12&12 p.187,
Tradition Twelve
81.
... life for
him.
12&12 p.119,
Step Twelve
And
above all he is
finally convinced that
reckless romancing is
not a
way of
life for him.
82.
... life for
many more.
12&12 p.112,
Step Twelve
And if these are
facts of
life for the
many alcoholics who have
recovered in
A.A., they can
become the
facts of
life for
many more.
83.
... life for
the many alcoholics who have ...
12&12 p.112,
Step Twelve
And if these are
facts of
life for the
many alcoholics who have
recovered in
A.A., they can
become the
facts of
life for
many more.
84.
... life for
us; you can't keep us ...
12&12 p.173,
Tradition Nine
Groups have
tried to
expel members, but the
banished have
come back to
sit in the
meeting place,
saying, "This is
life for us;
you can't
keep us
out."
85.
... life-giving grace
of God; His gift to ...
12&12 p.129,
Tradition One
86.
... life, God
was going to be our ...
BB p.62,
How It Works
Next, we
decided that
hereafter in this
drama of
life,
God was
going to be our
Director.
87.
... life had
given us, we felt it ...
12&12 p.123,
Step Twelve
88.
... life, had
secured a position, and was ...
BB p.79,
Into Action
89.
... life has
been given us or, if ...
BB p.28,
There Is A Solution
A
new life has been
given us or, if you
prefer, "a
design for
living" that
really works.
90.
... life have
I had a headache, which ...
BB p.172,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
Never once in my
life have I had a
headache,
which
fact leads me to
believe that I was an
alcoholic almost from the
start.
91.
... life, he
can readily get under way ...
12&12 p.50,
Step Four
92.
... life he
finds that real happiness is ...
12&12 p.122,
Step Twelve
93.
... life he
really wants to live.
12&12 p.130,
Tradition One
94.
... life, he
will never take advantage of ...
BB p.146,
To Employers
95.
... life I
lived before.
BB p.43,
More About Alcoholism
96.
... life in
him.
12&12 p.36,
Step Three
97.
... life in
the sense that you can ...
BB p.54,
We Agnostics
We could not
prove life in
the
sense that you can
prove
a
straight line is the
shortest distance between two points,
yet, there it was.
98.
... life in
the world of big business.
BB p.136,
To Employers
99.
... life, in
which he so gloried, is ...
12&12 p.25,
Step Two
His
whole philosophy of
life, in which he so
gloried, is
threatened.
100.
... life instead
of how much you can ...
BB p.120,
To Wives
You, as
well as your
husband,
ought to
think of what you can
put into
life instead of how
much you can
take out.
101.
... life is
a vale of tears, though ...
BB p.133,
The Family Afterward
We cannot
subscribe to the
belief that this
life is a
vale of
tears,
though it
once was
just that for
many of us.
102.
... life is
all about.
BB p.49,
We Agnostics
People of
faith have a
logical idea of what
life is all about.
103.
... life is
good.
BB p.151,
A Vision For You
It is
joyous intimacy
with
friends and a
feeling that
life is
good.
104.
... life is
ideal and my business is ...
BB p.180,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
My
home life is
ideal and my
business is as
good as can be
expected in
these
uncertain times.
105.
... life is
measured against that of other ...
BB p.123,
The Family Afterward
106.
... life is
not a dead end, not ...
12&12 p.107,
Step Twelve
He has been
set on a
path which
tells him he is
really going somewhere, that
life is not a
dead end, not
something to be
endured or
mastered.
107.
... life is
not a theory.
BB p.83,
Into Action
The
spiritual life is not
a
theory.
108.
... life is
still unmanageable even though he ...
12&12 p.39,
Step Three
109.
... life is
when lived on a spiritual ...
BB p.116,
To Wives
110.
... life itself.
BB p.151,
A Vision For You
111.
... life itself
to us, it is imperative ...
12&12 p.177,
Tradition Ten
112.
... life little
by little.
BB p.102,
Working With Others
While you were
drinking,
you were
withdrawing from
life little by
little.
113.
... life more
bearable.
BB p.97,
Working With Others
114.
... life --
of course we did.
BB p.54,
We Agnostics
But we
believed in
life --
of
course we did.
115.
... life of
our Fellowship requires the preservation ...
12&12 p.150,
Tradition Five
116.
... life of
sane and happy usefulness.
BB p.130,
The Family Afterward
117.
... life of
the Fellowship itself.
12&12 p.15,
Foreword
118.
... life of
the world is dependent upon ...
12&12 p.181,
Tradition Eleven
119.
... life of
this world.
BB p.102,
Working With Others
Now you are
getting back into the
social life of this
world.
120.
... life --
or else.
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.
121.
... life originated
out of nothing, means nothing, ...
BB p.49,
We Agnostics
122.
... life over
to a newfound Providence, then ...
12&12 p.35,
Step Three
Now if this is not
turning
one's
will and
life over to a
newfound Providence,
then what is it?
123.
... life over
to God as we understood ...
BB p.60,
How It Works
Being convinced, we were
at
Step Three, which is that
we
decided to
turn our
will and our
life over to
God as we
understood Him.
124.
... life over
to the care of whatever ...
12&12 p.35,
Step Three
No matter how
much one wishes to
try,
exactly how can he
turn his
own will and his
own life over to the
care of
whatever God he
thinks there is?
125.
... life over
to the care, protection, and ...
12&12 p.35,
Step Three
126.
... life over
to the Higher Power?
12&12 p.39,
Step Three
So how,
exactly, can the
willing person continue to
turn his
will and his
life over to the
Higher Power?
127.
... life preservers,
they almost invariably got well.
12&12 p.22,
Step One
But a
few did, and when these
laid hold of
A.A. principles with all the
fervor with which the
drowning seize life preservers, they
almost invariably got well.
128.
... life rather
than give?
BB p.122,
The Family Afterward
Is he not
unconsciously trying to
see what he can
take from the
family life rather than
give?
129.
... life's responsibilities
with his own resources, never ...
12&12 p.43,
Step Four
130.
... life rigidly
by this kind of prayer, ...
12&12 p.103,
Step Eleven
131.
... life run
on self-will can hardly be ...
BB p.60,
How It Works
132.
... life seem
so worth while to us ...
BB p.124,
The Family Afterward
133.
... life seemed
to be centered around doing ...
BB p.172,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
134.
... life seems
the only normal one.
BB xxviii(xxvi),
The Doctor's Opinion
To them, their
alcoholic life seems the only
normal one.
135.
... life so
as to shield him from ...
BB p.120,
To Wives
We
never,
never try to
arrange a
man's
life so as to
shield him from
temptation.
136.
... life so
he will be shielded from ...
BB p.147,
To Employers
He
will appreciate knowing you are not
bothering your
head about
him, that you are not
suspicious nor are you
trying to
run his
life so he
will be
shielded from
temptation to
drink.
137.
... life story.
BB p.73,
Into Action
138.
... life successfully,
as we became conscious of ...
BB p.63,
How It Works
139.
... life such
obedience brings.
12&12 p.174,
Tradition Nine
140.
... life's terms,
I cannot be happy.
BB p.417(449),
Acceptance
Until I could
accept my
alcoholism, I could not
stay sober;
unless I
accept life completely on
life's
terms, I cannot be
happy.
141.
... life that
he talks or thinks of ...
BB p.126,
The Family Afterward
He may
either plunge into
a
frantic attempt to
get on his
feet in
business, or he may be so
enthralled by his
new life that he
talks or
thinks of
little else.
142.
... life that
is incredibly more wonderful as ...
BB p.8,
Bill's Story
143.
... life, that
our Creator expects us fully ...
12&12 p.65,
Step Six
144.
... life, that
she doesn't know what it's ...
BB p.128,
The Family Afterward
He may
tell mother, who has
been
religious all her
life, that she doesn't
know what
it's all about, and that she had
better get his
brand of
spirituality while there
is
yet time.
145.
... life; that
such a change could hardly ...
BB p.567(569),
Appendix II, Spiritual Experience
146.
... life; that
unless he is now willing ...
12&12 p.50,
Step Four
147.
... life, that
we were in full flight ...
BB xxvi(xxiv),
The Doctor's Opinion
It did not
satisfy us to be
told that we could not
control
our
drinking just because we were
maladjusted to
life, that
we were in
full flight from
reality, or were
outright mental defectives.
148.
... life their
road will be smoother.
BB p.114,
To Wives
149.
... life, though
your husband continues to drink.
BB p.111,
To Wives
150.
... life through
drinking and we certainly do ...
BB p.38,
More About Alcoholism
151.
... life through
work and self-sacrifice for others, ...
BB p.15,
Bill's Story
152.
... life to
conditions as they are?
12&12 p.52,
Step Four
153.
... life to
find one much better.
BB p.120,
To Wives
154.
... life to
his employer and business associates.
12&12 p.186,
Tradition Twelve
155.
... life to
suit ourselves.
BB p.88,
Into Action
We do not
tire so
easily,
for we are not
burning up energy foolishly as we did
when we were
trying to
arrange life to
suit ourselves.
156.
... life to
the care and direction of ...
BB p.158,
A Vision For You
157.
... life, toward
our fellows and toward God's ...
BB p.25,
There Is A Solution
158.
... life --
unacceptable to me, and I can ...
BB p.417(449),
Acceptance
159.
... life until
self-searching becomes a regular habit, ...
12&12 p.88,
Step Ten
160.
... life, usually
for the first time in ...
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
161.
... life was
becoming impossible, and if we ...
BB p.25,
There Is A Solution
We were in a
position where
life was
becoming impossible, and if we had
passed into the
region from
which there is
no return through human aid, we had but
two alternatives:
One was to
go on to the
bitter end,
blotting out the
consciousness of
our
intolerable situation as
best we could;
and the
other, to
accept spiritual help.
162.
... life was
by no means a bad ...
BB p.43,
More About Alcoholism
My
old manner of
life was by
no means a
bad one, but I would not
exchange
its best moments for the
worst I have
now.
163.
... life was
not easy for the two ...
BB p.156,
A Vision For You
But
life was not
easy for the
two friends.
164.
... life, we
are no longer deeply disturbed ...
12&12 p.105,
Step Eleven
165.
... life we
try to build.
12&12 p.49,
Step Four
166.
... life were
sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many ...
BB p.44,
We Agnostics
167.
... life where
I shall be stupid, boring ...
BB p.152,
A Vision For You
But am I to be
consigned to a
life where I
shall be
stupid,
boring and
glum,
like some
righteous people I
see?
168.
... life where
this same principle is involved.
12&12 p.86,
Step Nine
169.
... life which
brought us to this apparently ...
12&12 p.132,
Tradition Two
What are these
facts of
A.A.
life which
brought us to
this
apparently impractical principle?
170.
... life which
does not include his family ...
BB p.129,
The Family Afterward
171.
... life which
includes deep resentment leads only ...
BB p.66,
How It Works
172.
... life which
knows no alcohol, he may ...
BB p.146,
To Employers
173.
... life which
we could never face up ...
12&12 p.113,
Step Twelve
These were
problems of
life which we could
never face up to.
174.
... life which
we specified, as a greedy ...
12&12 p.31,
Step Two
175.
... life will
be placed on a much ...
BB p.86,
Into Action
176.
... life will
change.
BB p.84,
Into Action
177.
... life will
emerge when they are overcome.
BB p.117,
To Wives
A
better way of
life will emerge when they are
overcome.
178.
... life will
have to be torn out ...
12&12 p.50,
Step Four
179.
Life will
mean something at last.
BB p.152,
A Vision For You
180.
Life will
take on new meaning.
BB p.89,
Working With Others
181.
... life with
everyone?
12&12 p.156,
Tradition Six
So
why shouldn't we
share our
way of
life with
everyone?
182.
... life with
these motives and God will ...
BB p.102,
Working With Others
Keep on the
firing line of
life with these
motives and
God will keep you
unharmed.
183.
... life without
alcohol.
BB p.152,
A Vision For You
184.
... life without
faith!
BB p.54,
We Agnostics
185.
Life would
be wonderful.
BB p.61,
How It Works
186.
... life, would
produce untold grief; there might ...
BB p.125,
The Family Afterward
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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