Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

STEP TWELVE

versed, often going much too far in the opposite direction.
The spectacle of years of waste threw us into panic. There
simply wouldn't be time, we thought, to rebuild our shat-
tered fortunes. How could we ever take care of those aw-
ful debts, possess a decent home, educate the kids, and set
something by for old age? Financial importance was no
longer our principal aim; we now clamored for material
security. Even when we were well reestablished in our busi-
ness, these terrible fears often continued to haunt us. This
made us misers and penny pinchers all over again. Com-
plete financial security we must have—or else. We forgot
that most alcoholics in A.A. have an earning power con-
siderably above average; we forgot the immense goodwill
of our brother A.A.'s who were only too eager to help us to
better jobs when we deserved them; we forgot the actual or
potential financial insecurity of every human being in the
world. And, worst of all, we forgot God. In money matters
we had faith only in ourselves, and not too much of that.

This all meant, of course, that we were still far off bal-
ance. When a job still looked like a mere means of getting
money rather than an opportunity for service, when the
acquisition of money for financial independence looked
more important than a right dependence upon God, we
were still the victims of unreasonable fears. And these were
fears which would make a serene and useful existence, at
any financial level, quite impossible.

But as time passed we found that with the help of A.A.'s
Twelve Steps we could lose those fears, no matter what
our material prospects were. We could cheerfully perform
humble labor without worrying about tomorrow. If our