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[00:00:00.800 – 00:00:03.540] Now, the program in the fellowship has definitely changed. [00:00:03.540 – 00:00:06.480] The program in the book has never changed. [00:00:06.480 – 00:00:09.240] Let's go to Roman numeral twenty. [00:00:09.240 – 00:00:17.520] Let's see how effective this thing used to be when the program in the book and the program in the fellowship were the same. [00:00:17.520 – 00:00:25.600] It said, "While the inca- in-internal difficulties of our adolescent period were being ironed out, public acceptance grew by, uh, of A.A. [00:00:25.600 – 00:00:27.070] grew by leaps and bounds. [00:00:27.070 – 00:00:34.020] For this, there were two principal reasons: the large number of recoveries and reunited homes.

[00:00:34.020 – 00:00:36.520] Now, these made their impressions everywhere. [00:00:36.520 – 00:00:38.780] Of alcoholics who came to A.A. [00:00:38.780 – 00:00:42.640] and really tried, fifty percent got sober at once and remained that way. [00:00:42.640 – 00:00:48.200] Twenty-five percent sobered up after some relapses, and among the remainder, those who stayed on with A.A. [00:00:48.200 – 00:00:49.070] showed improvement. [00:00:49.070 – 00:00:51.440] Other thousands came to a few A.A. [00:00:51.440 – 00:01:01.640] meetings, at first decided they didn't want the program, but great numbers of these, about two out of three, began to return as time passed." Now, if my math is correct, that's seventy-five percent of those people

[00:01:01.640 – 00:01:02.360] who came to A.A. [00:01:02.360 – 00:01:07.240] in the early days and worked the program that's in the book, stayed sober eventually. [00:01:07.240 – 00:01:12.680] I don't know in my area, I don't know what it's like in your area, but we, we can't talk about seventy-five percent. [00:01:12.680 – 00:01:15.220] We can't talk about fifty percent. [00:01:15.220 – 00:01:17.840] We can't talk about twenty-five percent. [00:01:17.840 – 00:01:22.260] I doubt if we could talk about ten percent, truthfully. [00:01:22.260 – 00:01:31.400] And I re– the reason for that, I believe, is that the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous got away from the program that's in the book called Alcoholics Anonymous, and that worked.

[00:01:31.400 – 00:01:38.960] And so what we're gonna do this weekend, as, as Charlie said, we're gonna talk about the fellowship that's in the program called Alcoholics Anonymous. [00:01:38.960 – 00:01:49.080] And we're gonna ask each and every one of you to go back to your groups and listen to the conversation that you hear around the tables and see how closely it tallies with the program that's in the book called [00:01:49.080 – 00:01:49.940] Alcoholics Anonymous. [00:01:49.940 – 00:01:53.500] And if it doesn't, we suggest you do something about it. [00:01:53.500 – 00:01:56.700] That's our charge to you this weekend. [00:01:56.700 – 00:02:06.740] You know, a lot of we older A lot of we older members [00:02:06.740 – 00:02:09.900] of Alcoholics Anonymous tend to blame this problem on the newcomer.

[00:02:09.900 – 00:02:19.440] The newcomer comes in here, and they want to talk about the only thing they know to talk about. [00:02:19.440 – 00:02:29.680] And too many of we older members have said, "Well, we can't identify with those people anymore, so we're just gonna stay home." And when we do, we've abdicated [00:02:29.680 – 00:02:31.940] our responsibility for Alcoholics Anonymous. [00:02:31.940 – 00:02:36.020] We've turned it over to the sickest of the sickest, who are the newcomers. [00:02:36.020 – 00:02:46.080] And then we stand back and say, "Look what they're doing to our A.A." No, I think that's our responsibility, to be sure that every newcomer that [00:02:46.080 – 00:02:54.600] walks in the door, that we tell them, "That stuff you've learned, wherever you learned it, is probably good information, but that is not A.A. [00:02:54.600 – 00:02:55.420] information.

[00:02:55.420 – 00:02:56.800] Here's A.A. [00:02:56.800 – 00:03:02.740] information." And we start, start talking about the program of recovery in the book Alcoholics Anonymous. [00:03:02.740 – 00:03:12.060] And we take them by the hand, and we lead them through this program of recovery, so they can have a spiritual awakening also. [00:03:12.060 – 00:03:17.860] I think they call that sponsorship, and that's sorely, sorely lacking in A.A. [00:03:17.860 – 00:03:18.320] today. [00:03:18.320 – 00:03:20.880] But I think that's our responsibility. [00:03:20.880 – 00:03:22.900] It's not the responsibility of the new people.

[00:03:22.900 – 00:03:25.680] It's the responsibility of we older members. [00:03:25.680 – 00:03:35.720] And we need to stand up and stand pat and insist that in our meetings, we talk about alcoholism, recovery therefrom, the program [00:03:35.720 – 00:03:36.320] in the book. [00:03:36.320 – 00:03:40.700] And I'll just bet you we can see more people recover from alcoholism. [00:03:40.700 – 00:03:46.440] Probably never will get back to seventy-five percent, but we can certainly do better than we're doing today. [00:03:46.440 – 00:03:48.500] Now, we're not gonna preach anymore. [00:03:48.500 – 00:03:51.780] That's all the preaching for this entire weekend, I guarantee you.

[00:03:51.780 – 00:03:53.160] Hope you don't believe that. [00:03:53.160 – 00:04:02.200] Now that we know a little bit about the history, let's go back to the table of contents. [00:04:02.200 – 00:04:10.080] Let's look at it for just a moment, and let's see if we can't see the same pattern in this book that the first one hundred used. [00:04:10.080 – 00:04:13.080] Do all of you have one of these little folders like this? [00:04:13.080 – 00:04:13.850] Yeah. [00:04:13.850 – 00:04:16.159] Okay, we're gonna put a picture up here on this screen. [00:04:16.159 – 00:04:24.560] I know some of you will hardly be able to see it at all from its location, but you'll have a picture in that book which will match it if you can't see it.

[00:04:24.560 – 00:04:34.460] You know, I'm, I'm in the printing business, and I have been all my life, and I, I print books like this. [00:04:34.460 – 00:04:38.000] I've been in conversation with many people on how to lay out a book. [00:04:38.000 – 00:04:47.200] And when I started reading this book, Alcoholics, and I guess I must have brain damage or something, but, uh, it never dawned on me that this book was laid out any particular way. [00:04:47.200 – 00:04:51.680] After all, a bunch of old alcoholics wrote it, so what would they know about laying out a book, I thought. [00:04:51.680 – 00:04:53.920] So I didn't pay any attention to that. [00:04:53.920 – 00:04:59.440] Come to find out, though, this book is– had, they've had lots of good information, lots of good help with laying out this book. [00:04:59.440 – 00:05:03.500] This book is laid out in a particular manner to bring about certain ideas.

[00:05:03.500 – 00:05:06.220] Each chapter is very, very important. [00:05:06.220 – 00:05:08.580] Each page is very, very important. [00:05:08.580 – 00:05:11.640] Each paragraph is very, very important. [00:05:11.640 – 00:05:16.340] One paragraph leads to the next, and the information in that paragraph and that page leads to the next. [00:05:16.340 – 00:05:18.180] And that's the way it goes in this book, Alcoholics. [00:05:18.180 – 00:05:23.220] Everything is important, and it's laid out in a certain sequence to bring about certain ideas. [00:05:23.220 – 00:05:27.600] Most books have three particular goals, especially this one does.

[00:05:27.600 – 00:05:30.880] And the first goal in this book, it tells us what the problem is. [00:05:30.880 – 00:05:32.420] That's the, the goal number one. [00:05:32.420 – 00:05:37.560] And they're gonna use the doctor's opinion, Bill's story, basically to tell us what the problem is. [00:05:37.560 – 00:05:40.640] And then the second goal is gonna be the solution. [00:05:40.640 – 00:05:43.180] They're gonna give us a solution to the problem that they described. [00:05:43.180 – 00:05:46.740] And they know we're gonna have problems with that solution just like they did. [00:05:46.740 – 00:05:49.980] So they're gonna talk chapter two, there is a solution.

[00:05:49.980 – 00:05:52.456] Chapter three, more about alcoholism. [00:05:52.456 – 00:05:56.875] The solution has to do with spiritual matters, and they know that we're gonna have some of those problems. [00:05:56.875 – 00:06:01.916] So they wrote down chapter four called We Agnostics, for those of us who had problems in that area. [00:06:01.916 – 00:06:05.976] Then the s- the third goal is actions necessary for recovery. [00:06:05.976 – 00:06:12.856] And beginning in, in– We're gonna begin with how it works in chapter five, and, uh, and chapter six is Into Action. [00:06:12.856 – 00:06:14.996] Chapter seven is Working With Others. [00:06:14.996 – 00:06:22.795] So this book is laid out in particular reasons to bring about certain ideas all the way across, all the way through the book, and that helped me in study of the book.

[00:06:22.795 – 00:06:31.396] I hear people today talking about going to a step study meeting, and they're always referring to studying the steps out of the Twelve and Twelve. [00:06:31.396 – 00:06:41.616] But if you'll notice that these chapters correspond with the steps also, and any time you're studying the Big Book, you're studying the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. [00:06:41.616 – 00:06:51.976] In that Doctor's Opinion and Bill's Story, we're gonna see nearly all the information, a little bit of it in chapter two and three, but most of it will be [00:06:51.976 – 00:06:54.056] in the Doctor's Opinion and Bill's Story. [00:06:54.056 – 00:07:04.076] We'll be able to see everything that we need to in order to see what our problem really is, and we'll be able to see where we're absolutely powerless [00:07:04.076 – 00:07:07.476] over alcohol, and our lives have become unmanageable. [00:07:07.476 – 00:07:09.696] And really, that's step one.

[00:07:09.696 – 00:07:15.016] Step one, if we wanted to boil it down to just one word, would be powerless. [00:07:15.016 – 00:07:22.576] Then we can– when we can see that powerless condition, then obviously the answer to that's gonna be power. [00:07:22.576 – 00:07:27.876] And remember, Ebby told Bill it has to be the aid of a Power greater than human power. [00:07:27.876 – 00:07:38.496] So through chapters two, three, and four, we're gonna be able to see that power, and we're gonna get some new information about spirituality, [00:07:38.496 – 00:07:43.496] so we'll be able to come to believe that maybe that Power could help us also. [00:07:43.496 – 00:07:46.016] And there we're dealing with step two. [00:07:46.016 – 00:07:47.536] That's the power.

[00:07:47.536 – 00:07:50.916] We came to believe that a Power greater than ourself could restore us to sanity. [00:07:50.916 – 00:08:01.296] Well, if we, uh, know we're powerless, and we know we need the power, then the only other thing we need to know is how do you find that power? [00:08:01.296 – 00:08:05.056] And that's what chapters five, six, and seven are about. [00:08:05.056 – 00:08:09.616] There we will see the last ten steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. [00:08:09.616 – 00:08:13.176] And if we follow them, we will have a spiritual awakening. [00:08:13.176 – 00:08:16.936] We will have found the power, and we're no longer powerless over alcohol. [00:08:16.936 – 00:08:26.696] I read this book for years before I saw that sequence, the same identical sequence that Bill and Bob and the first one hundred had to know.

[00:08:26.696 – 00:08:28.376] What is the problem? [00:08:28.376 – 00:08:29.736] Step one. [00:08:29.736 – 00:08:31.756] What is the solution? [00:08:31.756 – 00:08:32.516] Step two. [00:08:32.516 – 00:08:36.156] What is the program of action necessary to find it? [00:08:36.156 – 00:08:38.476] Steps three through twelve. [00:08:38.476 – 00:08:41.336] Now, you begin to study the book in this manner.

[00:08:41.336 – 00:08:51.496] It becomes a very fascinating book to see how each chapter ties into the next chapter to convey these certain ideas [00:08:51.496 – 00:08:53.676] in the proper sequence. [00:08:53.676 – 00:08:55.416] Table of Contents. [00:08:55.416 – 00:09:03.356] Okay, let's go over for just a few moments to the Preface, Roman numeral eleven. [00:09:03.356 – 00:09:14.476] In the second paragraph on Roman numeral eleven, "Because this book has become the basic text for our society and [00:09:14.476 – 00:09:21.976] has helped such large numbers of alcoholic men and women to recovery, there exists a sentiment against any radical changes being made in it. [00:09:21.976 – 00:09:26.396] Therefore, the first portion of this volume describing the A.A.

[00:09:26.396 – 00:09:35.956] recovery program has been left untouched in the course of revisions made for both the second and third editions." And I think there's two ideas there. [00:09:35.956 – 00:09:43.036] First, when we see the words basic text, I think we're alerted to the type book we have in front of us. [00:09:43.036 – 00:09:46.036] All kind of books in the world today. [00:09:46.036 – 00:09:55.196] You got novels, novels written on fact, novels written on fiction, biographies, autobiographies, concordances, many kind of books. [00:09:55.196 – 00:10:03.256] But we also have a book called a textbook, and many of us don't have very fond memories of textbooks. [00:10:03.256 – 00:10:07.396] Every time I saw the word textbook, all I could think about was cheat . [00:10:07.396 – 00:10:08.006] I don't know why.

[00:10:08.006 – 00:10:16.056] Remembered about how back in school when we used a textbook, you had to read and study and do things you didn't want to do, take tests, and all that kind of jazz. [00:10:16.056 – 00:10:17.456] Lots of work involved in it. [00:10:17.456 – 00:10:19.646] And for some people in A.A. [00:10:19.646 – 00:10:24.376] today, the very idea of a textbook just completely turns them off. [00:10:24.376 – 00:10:34.836] But if you would take a textbook in its simplest form, really all it is is a means of taking information [00:10:34.836 – 00:10:44.896] from the mind of one human or a group of human beings, put it down in the written word, then transfer that information to the [00:10:44.896 – 00:10:47.676] mind of another human being who's using the textbook.

[00:10:47.676 – 00:10:50.376] And that's all teaching is. [00:10:50.376 – 00:10:53.596] A lot of people today say you can't teach in A.A. [00:10:53.596 – 00:10:54.936] I don't see why you can't. [00:10:54.936 – 00:11:04.956] Teaching is nothing more than transferring information from the mind of one person to the mind of another, increasing the knowledge of the one who's [00:11:04.956 – 00:11:05.696] being taught. [00:11:05.696 – 00:11:11.236] We all teach every day, and we're all being taught every day. [00:11:11.236 – 00:11:17.696] I don't see how in the world we could ever sponsor and help anybody if we couldn't teach them what we already know.

[00:11:17.696 – 00:11:20.296] Now, that's what a textbook does, too. [00:11:20.296 – 00:11:26.516] A textbook usually assumes that the reader of the book will have very little knowledge of the subject matter. [00:11:26.516 – 00:11:29.536] Normally starts at a very simple level. [00:11:29.536 – 00:11:36.776] Then as the knowledge of the reader increases, the material presented becomes more difficult. [00:11:36.776 – 00:11:40.016] The idea of a textbook on mathematics. [00:11:40.016 – 00:11:44.296] Let's say my friend Joe here knows nothing at all about mathematics. [00:11:44.296 – 00:11:45.796] He can't add.

[00:11:45.796 – 00:11:46.836] He can't subtract. [00:11:46.836 – 00:11:48.336] He can't do any of those things. [00:11:48.336 – 00:11:49.896] Oh, he can count. [00:11:49.896 – 00:11:55.196] In fact, he could probably count to twenty-one if he's standing there naked and got everything where it belongs. [00:11:55.196 – 00:11:57.096] He, he might make twenty-one. [00:11:57.096 – 00:11:58.616] Twenty and a half, actually. [00:11:58.616 – 00:12:08.826] And if I handed him a textbook on mathematics and I said, "Joe, I want you to go to chapter five and work the algebra problems,"

[00:12:08.826 – 00:12:11.746] well, being a good fella, he would go to chapter five and look at them. [00:12:11.746 – 00:12:14.486] But he can't even add and subtract. [00:12:14.486 – 00:12:16.685] They, they just look like marks on paper to him. [00:12:16.685 – 00:12:24.886] But if I say, "Joe, chapter one in this textbook on mathematics deals with the value of numbers in addition and subtraction. [00:12:24.886 – 00:12:33.586] If you'll read it and study it and let me help you, by the time you're through with chapter one, you'll know how to add and subtract." And sure enough, he learns how to do that. [00:12:33.586 – 00:12:36.325] And then I say, "Now let's go to chapter two. [00:12:36.325 – 00:12:43.006] Based on what you've learned in one, you can go to chapter two and learn how to multiply and divide." And sure enough, he does that.

[00:12:43.006 – 00:12:53.066] And then I say, "Now you can go to chapter three, and you can learn, you can learn fractions and decimals." And we gradually prepare his mind for the new [00:12:53.066 – 00:12:54.846] information in chapter five. [00:12:54.846 – 00:13:05.406] I think the greatest mistake being made in AA today, newcomer comes the door, we hand them the book, and we say, "Go to chapter five and do what it says, and you'll be okay." [00:13:05.406 – 00:13:09.366] And they go to chapter five, and they run into a series of algebra problems. [00:13:09.366 – 00:13:12.946] Step one said, "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol. [00:13:12.946 – 00:13:19.786] Our lives had become unmanageable." Newcomer said, "Man, I'm not powerless over anything." They have no idea what we mean by that statement. [00:13:19.786 – 00:13:26.406] Step two said, "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." The newcomer said, "Don't tell me I'm crazy.

[00:13:26.406 – 00:13:32.585] Yeah, I do stupid things when I'm drunk, but when I'm sober, I'm like other people." They have no idea what we mean by that statement. [00:13:32.585 – 00:13:42.406] Well, if you're not powerless and you're not nuts, then you don't need step three to be thinking about turning your will and your life over to the care of something you don't understand in the first place. [00:13:42.406 – 00:13:44.746] We present them with an impossible situation. [00:13:44.746 – 00:13:54.786] If we can do nothing else this weekend, I hope we're gonna be able to get over the idea of the value of the doctor's opinion in the first four [00:13:54.786 – 00:13:55.526] chapters. [00:13:55.526 – 00:13:59.186] There is where we learn what the problem is. [00:13:59.186 – 00:14:02.286] There is where we learn what the solution is.

[00:14:02.286 – 00:14:05.706] That prepares us for chapter five. [00:14:05.706 – 00:14:13.986] You see, chapter five starts with step three, and it's very difficult to start with three unless you got one and two behind you. [00:14:13.986 – 00:14:16.126] Hopefully, we'll be able to see that. [00:14:16.126 – 00:14:22.146] I think the other thing that is so important, there exists a sentiment against any radical changes being made in it. [00:14:22.146 – 00:14:29.546] The first edition of The Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, and by the way, this happens to be a second printing of it. [00:14:29.546 – 00:14:33.206] You'll notice how big this second printing is. [00:14:33.206 – 00:14:42.806] Uh, the actual lettering size is the same as your book today, but you'll also notice that it had very wide margins on the pages.

[00:14:42.806 – 00:14:47.246] The alcoholic mind says the bigger the book, the better it'll sell. [00:14:47.246 – 00:14:51.006] So that's why they called it a big book. [00:14:51.006 – 00:14:52.166] It's a big book. [00:14:52.166 – 00:14:56.406] They printed it on the thickest, the cheapest old paper they could find. [00:14:56.406 – 00:15:01.306] Cheap paper's thick, is real thick, and you'll notice how thick this book actually is. [00:15:01.306 – 00:15:03.886] Doesn't say a bit more than the book does today. [00:15:03.886 – 00:15:09.186] But, you know, the, actually, the thicker it is, certainly the more money it's worth.

[00:15:09.186 – 00:15:11.926] I, I think I can see their ideas behind some of this. [00:15:11.926 – 00:15:16.426] What really amazes me is you notice the color on the dust jacket. [00:15:16.426 – 00:15:23.946] I can just see some alcoholic in New York City walking down the street with this under his arm, trying to remain anonymous. [00:15:23.946 – 00:15:28.686] The brighter the color, the quicker it catches the eye, and the better it's gonna… [00:15:28.686 – 00:15:32.286] I can see Bill Wilson all the way through this book, real con. [00:15:32.286 – 00:15:38.286] The first printing came out in 1939. [00:15:38.286 – 00:15:42.146] By 1955, the fellowship had changed.

[00:15:42.146 – 00:15:47.046] The stories in the back of the book were there for the newcomer to be able to identify with. [00:15:47.046 – 00:15:55.586] In '55, since bottom had come up, age had come down, more and more women coming in, they said we need to change those stories in the back of the book. [00:15:55.586 – 00:16:04.086] So in 1955, they deleted some stories, added some more, came out with a second edition, but the recovery section remained the same. [00:16:04.086 – 00:16:07.246] 1976, they did the same thing. [00:16:07.246 – 00:16:14.946] Deleted some stories in the back of the book, added some more, came out with a third edition, but the recovery section remained the same. [00:16:14.946 – 00:16:24.266] And I think what's so important for me today is whether I'm reading a first, second, or third edition, we have never changed the recovery section. [00:16:24.266 – 00:16:27.626] I wonder why we've never found it necessary to change it.

[00:16:27.626 – 00:16:29.606] Because it works. [00:16:29.606 – 00:16:30.126] Because it works, doesn't it? [00:16:30.126 – 00:16:31.166] Yeah, you betcha. [00:16:31.166 – 00:16:32.766] And why does it work? [00:16:32.766 – 00:16:35.126] I have three reasons, I think. [00:16:35.126 – 00:16:37.686] Alcoholics haven't changed a bit. [00:16:37.686 – 00:16:39.986] They still get drunk.

[00:16:39.986 – 00:16:42.166] They get in jailhouses. [00:16:42.166 – 00:16:43.826] They get in divorce courts. [00:16:43.826 – 00:16:45.686] They get in knife fights. [00:16:45.686 – 00:16:47.506] They get in gun battles. [00:16:47.506 – 00:16:48.536] They get in car wrecks. [00:16:48.536 – 00:16:49.626] They get in penitentiaries. [00:16:49.626 – 00:16:50.786] They get in cemeteries.

[00:16:50.786 – 00:16:55.386] They're still doing the same fun things today they did back in 1939. [00:16:55.386 – 00:16:57.125] Haven't changed a lick. [00:16:57.125 – 00:16:59.486] Alcohol hasn't changed. [00:16:59.486 – 00:17:01.226] The names have changed. [00:17:01.226 – 00:17:02.246] The bottles have changed. [00:17:02.246 – 00:17:03.505] The colors have changed. [00:17:03.505 – 00:17:07.106] But alcohol is the same thing today it was in 1939.

[00:17:07.106 – 00:17:09.346] Human nature never changes. [00:17:09.346 – 00:17:15.366] It's the same today as it was in 2,000 years ago, and that's what this book deals with. [00:17:15.366 – 00:17:19.046] It deals with alcoholics, alcoholism, and human nature. [00:17:19.046 – 00:17:22.126] Therefore, we've never found it necessary to change it. [00:17:22.126 – 00:17:25.986] I think that's probably one of the greatest miracles of Alcoholics Anonymous. [00:17:25.986 – 00:17:28.506] You know how we love to change things. [00:17:28.506 – 00:17:33.226] Everybody that's ever read it certainly has rewritten it at least twice in their minds.

[00:17:33.226 – 00:17:36.306] Collectively, though, we've never found it necessary. [00:17:36.306 – 00:17:36.606] Joe? [00:17:36.606 – 00:17:40.206] Let's go to the forward to the first edition, Roman numeral page 13. [00:17:40.206 – 00:17:48.666] It said, "We," and I think that's probably the largest word in Alcoholics Anonymous, "We can do what I can't do. [00:17:48.666 – 00:17:58.825] We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than 100 men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body." They're already beginning to tell us again [00:17:58.826 – 00:18:00.086] as to what the problem is. [00:18:00.086 – 00:18:10.486] It's a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body, and a little later on tonight, we're going to separate those two ideas, the, the body from the mind, and to talk about them in great detail.

[00:18:10.486 – 00:18:19.986] And it says, "To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book." You notice that the word precisely how we have recovered is in italics. [00:18:19.986 – 00:18:23.125] Charlie would have you to believe that it's, uh, squiggly writing. [00:18:23.125 – 00:18:23.926] It isn't. [00:18:23.926 – 00:18:24.806] It's italics. [00:18:24.806 – 00:18:27.206] Squiggly writing. [00:18:27.206 – 00:18:27.486] Yeah. [00:18:27.486 – 00:18:29.806] And anytime you see squiggly…

[00:18:29.806 – 00:18:31.125] Oh, he's got me doing it now. [00:18:31.125 – 00:18:35.526] Anytime you see italics in this book, it becomes very, very important. [00:18:35.526 – 00:18:37.046] Probably ought to read it again. [00:18:37.046 – 00:18:39.166] And it says precisely. [00:18:39.166 – 00:18:45.266] Later on in the book, we're gonna find words such as specifically, exactly, with clear-cut directions. [00:18:45.266 – 00:18:49.466] So this book is not a book on just about how to recover from alcoholism. [00:18:49.466 – 00:18:57.206] This book is gonna tell us precisely, specifically, exactly, with clear-cut directions, on how to recover from alcoholism.

[00:18:57.206 – 00:19:00.466] And if I want to recover from alcoholism, guess what? [00:19:00.466 – 00:19:07.026] I need to do it precisely, specifically, and exactly, and try to follow the clear-cut direction as best I can. [00:19:07.026 – 00:19:09.286] Otherwise, I may not recover from alcoholism. [00:19:09.286 – 00:19:13.666] I think we see a couple of things here that's extremely important. [00:19:13.666 – 00:19:16.986] First, we are more than 100 men and women.