Emotional Sobriety. Группа авторов

to place my trust in my Higher Power.

      I encountered a man with two children, a boy and a girl, at the box office. Three baseball fans. Three tickets. I asked the dad if he wanted them. I couldn't accept any money (give freely what has been freely given), but I warned him and the kids that they'd be stuck with me for the afternoon. I promised to be on my best behavior, and politely declined his beer offer. A soda, I thought, would be fine.

      I got what I came for. It was a tense contest. In a late inning, the Tigers put a man on first, and the next batter took off with the pitch. He lined the ball to right field, and the runner, who'd gotten a terrific jump, was rounding second. The Yankees' right fielder came up with the ball cleanly, but he rushed his throw to third. It landed in the coach's box, kicked off the railing in front of us, and caromed just over our heads. A vicious scramble ensued. The little boy got showered with beer, but his dad emerged with the ball. He handed it to his son, soaked but happy, the proud new owner of a Major League baseball.

      A Yankees' beat writer led off his column the next day with that throwing error, the beer-drenched boy, and the dad who retrieved the ball. Reading the reporter's account, I realized that God was the one who brought all that together. It spread out from him, through me. A dad saved some money, a little boy won a souvenir, and a newspaper guy found a lead for his report, because I had trusted that God would show me how to act in this simple situation.

      The Tigers, truly awful that year, beat the soon-to-be-World-Series-champion Yankees. Our wedding was a memorable, elegant event for which we received all the help that we needed. I have retired from gin mill work forever, God willing.

      Today, I face difficulties that make distasteful jobs and the distribution of free tickets pale in comparison. My greatest challenges are before me. But my experience with the Third Step, even in the smallest matters, gives me the courage to meet whatever lies ahead, twenty-four hours at a time.

      Pete P.

      Manhattan, New York

      SECTION TWO

The Acid Test

      "Then comes the acid test: can we stay sober,

       keep in emotional balance,

       and live to good purpose under all conditions?"

       – Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 88

      As active alcoholics, we usually responded to a problem by drinking. Then we indulged in self-pity, resentment, fear — which didn't solve the problem. As sober AA members, we can choose a different path, as did the writers of these stories. Instead of giving up, or giving in to despair, these AAs were able to respond to life's challenges and stay sober — and "keep in emotional balance and live to good purpose."