Since I’m not an alcoholic, recovering or otherwise, I don’t belong to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) but I am close to several people in this ‘12-step fellowship’ who have changed their lives for the better through it. Most of them say its ‘programme for living’ would help anyone, drinker or not, to cope more successfully with mental stress. I’ve certainly found the memorable sayings and catchphrases in which their fellowship abounds to be useful in confronting my own anxieties — and sometimes very funny, too. And not being subject to AA’s rules about engaging with the media, I’m at liberty to share them here.
Some are simple in their profundity. ‘One day at a time’ counsels against setting yourself too-daunting targets; ‘keep it in the day’ against worrying about a future that has not yet arrived. ‘It’s never too late to restart your day’ offers an alternative to writing it off. ‘Do the next right thing’ — even if it’s only shining your shoes — is practical advice along the same lines. And if you’re inclined to turn dilemmas over and over in your head without reaching a conclusion, remember that ‘analysis is paralysis’. One might say that a problem shared is a problem halved. In AA, they say: ‘The mind is a dangerous place, don’t go in alone.’
But halt! Or rather, ‘HALT’ (hungry, angry, lonely, tired). If you’re any of those, your actions may be precipitate or ill-judged. ‘Don’t just do something, stand there’ is the answer. Best ‘sit with your feelings’ until they fade. After all, ‘this too will pass’. But failing that, ‘fake it to make it’ — so that, even if you’ve lost faith in your programme or the code by which you live, you can rediscover its value by going through the motions.
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