Ray A

Ray A. is a recovering alcoholic who's been sober in Alcoholics Anonymous since April 26, 1984. Hitting bottom after a 25-year drinking spree, he showed up in the rooms of AA homeless, alone and unemployable. He worked the Steps and made significant progress in recovery. Yet, like many alcoholics, Ray never achieved emotional sobriety. He would eventually suffer an emotional relapse and his life would unravel again. Six years into another low bottom, he would go through a conversion experience. He discovered then that, despite his best intentions and considerable effort, he had never fully worked the Steps, for he had never fully understood and practiced the principles behind them. Practice These Principles was born out of this new journey of healing and growth toward the full sobriety that Bill W. once called "the next frontier" in AA. The AA Grapevine published Ray's story in its October 2009 issue under the title "Rebel Without a Cause." For more, please log on to www.PracticeThesePrinciplesTheBook.com