“All we are saying… is give peace a chance.”— John Lennon, from the song Give Peace a Chance
Some people call AA an “Attitude Adjustment.” A lot of the early guys used something called the Four Absolutes, Honesty, Purity, Unselfishness, and Love, as a kind of yardstick to measure how much self-will might be showing up in their attitude.
When they felt themselves getting worked up again, they would pause and ask themselves a few simple questions to measure the amount of self-will they currently have: Is it true or false? What’s the next right thing to do? How does it affect the other guy? Is my action ugly or beautiful? And then maybe talk it over with each other. A lot of AAs still do this.
Later on in the steps AA promises our whole attitude and outlook on life will change, provided we keep making progress toward removing our self-willed attitude from the picture. While considering the decision in Step Three, we see we are promised a trade, self-will for the enjoyment of peace of mind.
Are you ready to give peace a chance?
