WILLING in Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous, 12 Steps and 12 Traditions

From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)

willful

willfully

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WILLING occurs 67 times (Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)

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... willing. BB p.76, Into Action

If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing.

... willing. BB p.79, Into Action

We may lose our position or reputation or face jail, but we are willing.

... willing. BB p.152, A Vision For You

You say, "Yes, I'm willing.

... willing and able to recover on a ... BB p.162, A Vision For You

Understanding our work, he can do this with an eye to selecting those who are willing and able to recover on a spiritual basis.

... willing and honest enough to try. BB p.28, There Is A Solution

If what we have learned and felt and seen means anything at all, it means that all of us, whatever our race, creed, or color are the children of a living Creator with whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try.

... willing -- and many were -- why shouldn't their ... 12&12 p.182, Tradition Eleven

Provided they were willing -- and many were -- why shouldn't their membership be publicized, thereby encouraging others to join us?

... willing and persistent effort to do this, ... 12&12 p.43, Step Four

Without a willing and persistent effort to do this, there can be little sobriety or contentment for us.

... willing, by day or night, to place ... BB p.159, A Vision For You

They were willing, by day or night, to place a new man in the hospital and visit him afterward.

... willing, it shall not be repeated. BB p.81, Into Action

We are sorry for what we have done and, God willing, it shall not be repeated.

10.

... willing newcomer feels sure A.A. is the ... 12&12 p.35, Step Three

Any willing newcomer feels sure A.A. is the only safe harbor for the foundering vessel he has become.

11.

... willing person continue to turn his will ... 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?

12.

... willing -- shall sustain us in unity for ... 12&12 p.131, Tradition One

They live today in the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, which -- God willing -- shall sustain us in unity for so long as He may need us.

13.

... willing start is made, then the great ... 12&12 p.77, Step Eight

But if a willing start is made, then the great advantages of doing this will so quickly reveal themselves that the pain will be lessened as one obstacle after another melts away.

14.

... willing, that he might be able to ... 12&12 p.101, Step Eleven

He hoped, God willing, that he might be able to find some of these treasures, too.

15.

... willing that you should have all of ... BB p.76, Into Action

When ready, we say something like this: "My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad.

16.

... willing to aim toward perfection. 12&12 p.69, Step Six

It is suggested that we ought to become entirely willing to aim toward perfection.

17.

... willing to announce our convictions with tact ... BB p.77, Into Action

When it will serve any good purpose, we are willing to announce our convictions with tact and common sense.

18.

... willing to apply the lessons it learned. 12&12 p.149, Tradition Four

Moreover, it had performed a great service for Alcoholics Anonymous, because it had been humbly willing to apply the lessons it learned.

19.

... willing to believe. BB p.57, We Agnostics

Circumstances made him willing to believe.

20.

... willing to believe in a Power greater ... BB p.12, Bill's Story

It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself.

21.

... willing to believe in a Power greater ... BB p.93, Working With Others

The main thing is that he be willing to believe in a Power greater than himself and that he live by spiritual principles.

22.

... willing to believe, that there is a ... BB p.47, We Agnostics

"Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?"

23.

... willing to believe, we emphatically assure him ... BB p.47, We Agnostics

As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way.

24.

... willing to bring former mistakes, no matter ... BB p.124, The Family Afterward

We think each family which has been relieved owes something to those who have not, and when the occasion requires, each member of it should be only too willing to bring former mistakes, no matter how grievous, out of their hiding places.

25.

... willing to clean house and then asked ... 12&12 p.63, Step Six

But when I became willing to clean house and then asked a Higher Power, God as I understood Him, to give me release, my obsession to drink vanished.

26.

... willing to commence the search for his ... 12&12 p.50, Step Four

Now willing to commence the search for his own defects, he will ask, "Just how do I go about this?

27.

... willing to depend upon a Higher Power, ... 12&12 p.36, Step Three

And the facts seem to be these: The more we become willing to depend upon a Higher Power, the more independent we actually are.

28.

... willing to do anything necessary. BB p.158, A Vision For You

On the third day the lawyer gave his life to the care and direction of his Creator, and said he was perfectly willing to do anything necessary.

29.

... willing to do that if necessary, but ... BB p.79, Into Action

We thought he ought to be willing to do that if necessary, but if he were in jail he could provide nothing for either family.

30.

... willing to get well, little charity, in ... BB p.97, Working With Others

For the type of alcoholic who is able and willing to get well, little charity, in the ordinary sense of the word, is needed or wanted.

31.

... willing to go to any length to ... BB p.58, How It Works

If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it -- then you are ready to take certain steps.

32.

... willing to go to jail if she ... BB p.79, Into Action

He said he was perfectly willing to go to jail if she insisted.

33.

... willing to grow along spiritual lines. BB p.60, How It Works

The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines.

34.

... willing to grow toward it. BB p.69, How It Works

Whatever our ideal turns out to be, we must be willing to grow toward it.

35.

... willing to have a third party in ... BB p.146, To Employers

After your man has gone along without drinking for a few months, you may be able to make use of his services with other employees who are giving you the alcoholic run-around -- provided, of course, they are willing to have a third party in the picture.

36.

... willing to have my new-found Friend take ... BB p.13, Bill's Story

I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch.

37.

... willing to have them removed, our thinking ... 12&12 p.74, Step Seven

But when we have taken a square look at some of these defects, have discussed them with another, and have become willing to have them removed, our thinking about humility commences to have a wider meaning.

38.

... willing to listen as the dying can ... 12&12 p.24, Step One

Then, and only then, do we become as open-minded to conviction and as willing to listen as the dying can be.

39.

... willing to look for something better. 12&12 p.38, Step Three

Each of us has had his own near-fatal encounter with the juggernaut of self-will, and has suffered enough under its weight to be willing to look for something better.

40.

... willing to maintain a certain simple attitude. BB p.27, There Is A Solution

He can go anywhere on this earth where other free men may go without disaster, provided he remains willing to maintain a certain simple attitude.

41.

... willing to make amends. BB p.76, Into Action

We have a list of all persons we have harmed and to whom we are willing to make amends.

42.

... willing to make amends to them all." 12&12 p.77, Step Eight

"Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

43.

... willing to make amends to them all. BB p.59, How It Works

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

44.

... willing to make amends where we have ... BB p.69, How It Works

We must be willing to make amends where we have done harm, provided that we do not bring about still more harm in so doing.

45.

... willing to make the effort. BB p.26, There Is A Solution

This we did because we honestly wanted to, and were willing to make the effort.

46.

... willing to make use of our experience, ... BB p.153, A Vision For You

Should you wish them above all else, and be willing to make use of our experience, we are sure they will come.

47.

... willing to overlook his past performances. BB p.141, To Employers

You are willing to overlook his past performances.

48.

... willing to partake and be strengthened and ... 12&12 p.100, Step Eleven

Let us become willing to partake and be strengthened and lifted up by the sheer spiritual power, beauty, and love of which these magnificent words are the carriers.

49.

... willing to place spiritual growth first -- then ... 12&12 p.114, Step Twelve

But when we are willing to place spiritual growth first -- then and only then do we have a real chance.

50.

... willing to receive that grace of God ... 12&12 p.113, Step Twelve

Well, we surely have a chance if we switch from "two-stepping" to "twelve-stepping," if we are willing to receive that grace of God which can sustain and strengthen us in any catastrophe.

51.

... willing to reveal the very worst, we ... 12&12 p.84, Step Nine

While we may be quite willing to reveal the very worst, we must be sure to remember that we cannot buy our own peace of mind at the expense of others.

52.

... willing to set these matters straight. BB p.67, How It Works

We admitted our wrongs honestly and were willing to set these matters straight.

53.

... willing to set things right. 12&12 p.108, Step Twelve

We had to begin to make our peace, and so we listed the people we had harmed and became willing to set things right.

54.

... willing to sit quietly on the sidelines ... 12&12 p.135, Tradition Two

The elder statesman is the one who sees the wisdom of the group's decision, who holds no resentment over his reduced status, whose judgment, fortified by considerable experience, is sound, and who is willing to sit quietly on the sidelines patiently awaiting developments.

55.

... willing to stay right size. 12&12 p.122, Step Twelve

He's willing to stay right size.

56.

... willing to straighten out the past if ... BB p.70, How It Works

We have listed the people we have hurt by our conduct, and are willing to straighten out the past if we can.

57.

... willing to take advice and accept direction ... 12&12 p.59, Step Five

Only by discussing ourselves, holding back nothing, only by being willing to take advice and accept direction could we set foot on the road to straight thinking, solid honesty, and genuine humility.

58.

... willing to take the measures necessary to ... 12&12 p.52, Step Four

If I am unable to change the present state of affairs, am I willing to take the measures necessary to shape my life to conditions as they are?

59.

... willing to talk to one of them. BB p.112, To Wives

Your husband may be willing to talk to one of them.

60.

... willing to tell him that he is ... BB p.92, Working With Others

If his own doctor is willing to tell him that he is alcoholic, so much the better.

61.

... willing to term themselves "problem drinkers," but ... 12&12 p.33, Step Two

Some will be willing to term themselves "problem drinkers," but cannot endure the suggestion that they are in fact mentally ill.

62.

... willing to try humility in seeking the ... 12&12 p.76, Step Seven

It is really saying to us that we now ought to be willing to try humility in seeking the removal of our other shortcomings just as we did when we admitted that we were powerless over alcohol, and came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

63.

... willing to try this. 12&12 p.57, Step Five

It seems plain that the grace of God will not enter to expel our destructive obsessions until we are willing to try this.

64.

... willing to turn the past to good ... BB p.124, The Family Afterward

That is true only if one is willing to turn the past to good account.

65.

... willing to work for humility as something ... 12&12 p.73, Step Seven

To get completely away from our aversion to the idea of being humble, to gain a vision of humility as the avenue to true freedom of the human spirit, to be willing to work for humility as something to be desired for itself, takes most of us a long, long time.

66.

... willing to work hard at the elimination ... 12&12 p.50, Step Four

By now the newcomer has probably arrived at the following conclusions: that his character defects, representing instincts gone astray, have been the primary cause of his drinking and his failure at life; that unless he is now willing to work hard at the elimination of the worst of these defects, both sobriety and peace of mind will still elude him; that all the faulty foundation of his life will have to be torn out and built anew on bedrock.

67.

... willing to work toward ourselves. 12&12 p.65, Step Six

That is something we are supposed to be willing to work toward ourselves.

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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