Daily Reflection

JANUARY 16
HITTING BOTTOM
Why all this insistence that every A.A. must hit bottom first?
The answer is that few people will sincerely try to practice
the A.A. program unless they have hit bottom. For
practicing A. A. 's remaining eleven Steps means the
adoption of attitudes and actions that almost no alcoholic
who is still drinking can dream of taking.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 24
Hitting bottom opened my mind and I became willing to try
something different. What I tried was A.A. My new life in
the Fellowship was a little like learning how to ride a bike
for the first time: A.A. became my training wheels and my
supporting hand. It's not that I wanted the help so much at
the time; I simply did not want to hurt like that again. My
desire to avoid hitting bottom again was more powerful
than my desire to drink. In the beginning that was what kept
me sober. But after a while I found myself working the
Steps to the best of my ability. I soon realized that my
attitudes and actions were changing—if ever so slightly.
One Day at a Time, I became comfortable with myself, and
others, and my hurting started to heal. Thank God for the
training wheels and supporting hand that I choose to call
Alcoholics Anonymous.