From the books ...
Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
TRYING occurs
54 times
(
Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)
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1.
... trying.
12&12 p.68,
Step Six
The only
urgent thing is that we make a
beginning, and
keep trying.
2.
... trying and the certain penalties of failing ...
12&12 p.74,
Step Seven
We are
obliged to
choose
between the
pains of
trying
and the
certain penalties of
failing to
do so.
3.
... trying on our own power.
BB p.62,
How It Works
Neither could we
reduce our
self-
centeredness much by
wishing or
trying on our
own power.
4.
... trying to arrange 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.
5.
... trying to arrange the family show to ...
BB p.122,
The Family Afterward
Is not each
trying to
arrange the
family show to his
liking?
6.
... trying to arrange the lights, the ballet, ...
BB p.60,
How It Works
Each
person is like an
actor who
wants to
run the
whole show; is
forever trying to
arrange the
lights, the
ballet, the
scenery and the
rest of the
players in his
own way.
7.
Trying to avoid this humbling experience, they ...
BB p.72,
Into Action
8.
... trying to be a number one man, ...
12&12 p.122,
Step Twelve
9.
... trying to be kind?
BB p.61,
How It Works
Is he not really a
self-
seeker even when
trying to be
kind?
10.
... trying to be, rather than for what ...
BB p.123,
The Family Afterward
But the
wise family will
admire him for what he is
trying to be, rather than for what he is
trying to get.
11.
... trying to carry A.A.'s message to the ...
12&12 p.24,
Step One
12.
... trying to conceal.
12&12 p.56,
Step Five
They will tell how they
tried to
carry the
load alone; how much
they
suffered of
irritability,
anxiety,
remorse, and
depression; and how,
unconsciously seeking
relief, they would sometimes
accuse even their
best friends of the very
character defects they
themselves were
trying to
conceal.
13.
... trying to conceal a number of scrapes, ...
BB p.140,
To Employers
Your
man has
probably been
trying to
conceal a
number of
scrapes, perhaps
pretty messy ones.
14.
... trying to convert a newcomer who sat ...
12&12 p.163,
Tradition Seven
"I
heard all this quite
plainly, as I was
piously
trying to
convert a
newcomer who
sat next to me.
15.
... trying to deal rightly with God by ...
12&12 p.59,
Step Five
At this
stage, the
difficulties of
trying to
deal rightly with
God by ourselves are
twofold.
16.
... trying to do.
12&12 p.84,
Step Nine
Then we are
ready to go to these people, to tell
them what
A.A. is, and what we are
trying to do.
17.
... trying to do.
12&12 p.185,
Tradition Twelve
As a
rule, the
average newcomer wanted his
family to
know immediately what he was
trying to do.
18.
... trying to do something about all these ...
12&12 p.112,
Step Twelve
Can we find a new
joy of
living in
trying to do
something about all these things?
19.
Trying to do this is an act ...
12&12 p.40,
Step Three
Trying to do this is an
act of
his
own will.
20.
... trying to do up to this point:
12&12 p.107,
Step Twelve
So let's
consider briefly what we have been
trying to do up to this
point:
21.
... trying to do, we make no bones ...
BB p.78,
Into Action
Telling them what we are
trying to do, we make no
bones
about our
drinking; they usually
know it anyway, whether we
think
so or not.
22.
... trying to enforce upon the rest of ...
12&12 p.176,
Tradition Ten
23.
... trying to fight this booze racket alone."
BB p.158,
A Vision For You
Then he
added, "He
sure
didn't do much for me when I was
trying to
fight this
booze racket alone."
24.
... trying to find emotional security by being ...
12&12 p.116,
Step Twelve
We were still
trying to find
emotional security by
being
dominating or
dependent upon others.
25.
... trying to find how different we were ...
12&12 p.123,
Step Twelve
The
doctors weren't
trying
to find how
different we were from one another;
they
sought to find whatever
personality traits, if
any, this
group of
alcoholics had in
common.
26.
... trying to form groups in other cities.
BB xvii,
Foreword to Second Edition
Besides these, there were
scattered alcoholics who had
picked
up the
basic ideas in
Akron or New
York who were
trying to
form groups in other
cities.
27.
... trying to get.
BB p.123,
The Family Afterward
But the
wise family will
admire him for what he is
trying to be, rather than for what he is
trying to get.
28.
... trying to get a new attitude, a ...
BB p.72,
Into Action
We have been
trying to get a new
attitude, a new
relationship with our
Creator, and to
discover
the
obstacles in our
path.
29.
... trying to glimpse.
12&12 p.101,
Step Eleven
It ought to be
followed by a
good look at where we
stand now, and a
further look at what might
happen in
our
lives were we able to
move closer to the
ideal we have been
trying to
glimpse.
30.
... trying to grow in the image and ...
12&12 p.63,
Step Six
He
goes on to
explain that
any
person capable of
enough willingness and
honesty to
try repeatedly Step Six on all his
faults -- without
any
reservations whatever -- has
indeed come a
long way
spiritually, and
is therefore
entitled to be called a
man who is
sincerely trying to
grow in the
image and
likeness of his
own Creator.
31.
... trying to help one another.
12&12 p.178,
Tradition Ten
At
first, the
society was
composed entirely of
alcoholics trying to
help one another.
32.
... trying to help serious drinkers who should ...
BB p.147,
To Employers
They often
jeopardize their
own positions by
trying to
help serious drinkers who
should have been
fired long
ago, or else
given an
opportunity to get well.
33.
... trying to help the next alcoholic who ...
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
34.
... trying to help those we criticize; we ...
12&12 p.67,
Step Six
Here we are not
trying to
help
those we
criticize; we are
trying to
proclaim our
own righteousness.
35.
... trying to hold their faces up to ...
12&12 p.141,
Tradition Three
In that
time nothing could
be seen but
two struggling,
nameless groups of
alcoholics
trying to
hold their
faces up to the
light.
36.
... trying to impose upon you for money, ...
BB p.96,
Working With Others
Be
certain he will be
welcomed by your
family,
and that he is not
trying to
impose upon you for
money,
connections, or
shelter.
37.
... trying to live.
BB p.130,
The Family Afterward
One more
suggestion: Whether the
family has
spiritual convictions or not, they may do well to
examine the
principles
by which the
alcoholic member is
trying to
live.
38.
... trying to live by this formula than ...
12&12 p.71,
Step Seven
But we are
sure that no
class
of people in the
world ever made a
worse mess of
trying to
live by this
formula than
alcoholics.
39.
... trying to live on a spiritual basis, ...
BB p.118,
To Wives
If your
husband is
trying
to
live on a
spiritual basis, he will also be doing
everything in his
power to
avoid disagreement or
contention.
40.
... trying to make these arrangements our actor ...
BB p.61,
How It Works
In
trying to make these
arrangements our
actor
may sometimes be quite
virtuous.
41.
... trying to persuade him.
BB p.90,
Working With Others
If he does not
want to
stop drinking, don't
waste time trying to
persuade him.
42.
... trying to play God ourselves.
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
We could
actually have
earnest religious beliefs which
remained barren because we were still
trying to
play God ourselves.
43.
... trying to practice A.A.'s Twelve Steps.
12&12 p.112,
Step Twelve
We
know this because we see
monotony,
pain, and even
calamity turned to
good use by those who
keep on
trying to
practice A.A.'s
Twelve Steps.
44.
... trying to proclaim our own righteousness.
12&12 p.67,
Step Six
Here we are not
trying to
help
those we
criticize; we are
trying to
proclaim our
own righteousness.
45.
... trying to produce some such emotional rearrangement ...
BB p.27,
There Is A Solution
In
fact, I have been
trying to
produce some such
emotional rearrangement within
you.
46.
... trying to pull us down.
BB p.145,
To Employers
Sometimes we
alcoholics have an
idea that people are
trying to
pull us down.
47.
... trying to put our lives in order.
BB p.77,
Into Action
At the
moment we are
trying
to
put our
lives in
order.
48.
... trying to recover, he will tell you ...
BB p.146,
To Employers
If he is, and is still
trying to
recover, he will tell you about it even if it
means the
loss of his
job.
49.
... trying to run his life so he ...
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.
50.
... trying to see what he can take ...
BB p.122,
The Family Afterward
Is he not
unconsciously trying to see what he can take from the
family life rather than
give?
51.
... trying to stay sober, it can be ...
12&12 p.160,
Tradition Seven
When you
add to this the
habitual supposition
that people ought to
give money to
alcoholics trying to
stay sober, it can be
understood why we
thought we
deserved a
pile of
folding money.
52.
... trying to take in the deep meaning ...
12&12 p.99,
Step Eleven
As
beginners in
meditation, we might now
reread this
prayer several
times very
slowly,
savoring every
word and
trying to take in the
deep meaning of each
phrase and
idea.
53.
... trying to tell him what he should ...
BB p.78,
Into Action
We are there to
sweep off our
side of the
street,
realizing that
nothing worth while can be
accomplished until we do so,
never trying to tell him what he
should do.
54.
... trying to turn everybody -- friends, wives, husbands, ...
12&12 p.115,
Step Twelve
We had
failed to see that though
adult in
years we were still
behaving childishly,
trying to
turn everybody --
friends,
wives,
husbands, even the
world itself -- into
protective parents.
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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