“We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.” — Alcoholics Anonymous (1939) · Chapter 6 · Into Action
The first of the Promises in Chapter 6 — the list of what begins arriving before the amends are even half done.
Fitting for the Fourth: the freedom promised here isn’t freedom to do anything — we had that, and it nearly killed us. It’s freedom from. From the obsession, the hiding, the morning inventory of damage. Independence Day for an alcoholic isn’t the day all the rules disappeared; it’s the day the dictator did. Celebrate accordingly. And if today’s parties are hard, find a meeting — many groups run extra ones on holidays for exactly this reason.
The Promises · Freedom