The Promises of AA
In Chapter 6 (Into Action) of the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book, the authors share what many members call “The Promises”. These outline a vision of peace, purpose and connection that comes from working the Twelve Steps.
Whether you’re new to recovery or supporting someone on their own journey, these Promises offer a clear, hopeful picture of what life in sobriety can feel like.
If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through.
- We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
- We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
- We will comprehend the word serenity
- We will know peace.
- No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.
- That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.
- We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.
- Self-seeking will slip away.
- Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
- Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.
- We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
- We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us — sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.
“The Big Book”, Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, pp. 83–84
For many of us, addiction leaves behind a weight of regret, fear, shame, and loneliness—feelings that don’t always disappear when we get sober. These words speak to that experience, while pointing toward something better: a life of peace, purpose, and genuine connection, made possible through the Twelve Steps.