Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition

CHAPTER 9 - THE FAMILY AFTERWARD

that future happiness can be based only upon forget­-
fulness of the past. We think that such a view is self-
centered and in direct conflict with the new way of
living.

Henry Ford once made a wise remark to the effect
that experience is the thing of supreme value in life.
That is true only if one is willing to turn the past to
good account. We grow by our willingness to face
and rectify errors and convert them into assets. The
alcoholic's past thus becomes the principal asset of the
family and frequently it is almost the only one!

This painful past may be of infinite value to other
families still struggling with their problem. We think
each family which has been relieved owes something
to those who have not, and when the occasion re-­
quires, each member of it should be only too willing
to bring former mistakes, no matter how grievous, out
of their hiding places. Showing others who suffer how
we were given help is the very thing which makes life
seem so worth while to us now. Cling to the thought
that, in God's hands, the dark past is the greatest pos­-
session you have—the key to life and happiness for
others. With it you can avert death and misery for
them.

It is possible to dig up past misdeeds so they become
a blight, a veritable plague. For example, we know of
situations in which the alcoholic or his wife have had
love affairs. In the first flush of spiritual experience
they forgave each other and drew closer together. The
miracle of reconciliation was at hand. Then, under
one provocation or another, the aggrieved one would
unearth the old affair and angrily cast its ashes about.
A few of us have had these growing pains and they