Poor William's Almanack, June 22, 2009, Twelve-step Programs

Ben Franklin's bifocals Monday, June 22, 2009

[1837 - Paul Morphy, chess great, born
in New Orleans, Louisiana]

[1887 - Sir Julian Huxley, biologist, philosopher, born in London]

[1898 - Erich Maria Remarque, novelist,
born in Osnabruck, Germany]

[1903 - Carl (Owen) Hubbell, baseball HoF pitcher,
born in Carthage, Missouri]

[1906 - Billy (Samuel) Wilder, Academy Award-winning director,
born in Sucha, Galicia, Austria]

[1909 - Michael Todd (Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen), producer,
born in Minneapolis, Minnesota]

[1909 - Buddy Adler, film producer,
born in New York City]

[1910 - Katherine Dunham, dancer, choreographer,
born in Joliet, Illinois]

[1921 - Gower Champion, Tony Award-winning
choreographer, born in Geneva, Illinois]

[1921 - Joseph Papp (Papirofsky), Pulitzer & Tony Prize-winning
producer, born in Brooklyn]

[1941 - Ed Bradley, journalist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]

Writer Henry Miller Henry Miller and Laurence Durell
[1964 - US Supreme Court rules Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer cannot be banned]

Twelve-step Programs

The twelve-step model is quite successful and has helped millions. Hardly anyone over the age of twelve doesn't have something that they are recovering from. Many of us are recovering from so many dead ends, blind alleys, and dry holes that we have lost count. Most of the twelve-step programs have in common a recognition of the need for change, and a commitment to change a certain behavior. Where these programs fail some folks is that they may not deal effectively with the inner cravings that are the first cause of the problem behavior. Just ask your friends in AA about the dried-out drunks they have known.

William, who has never been comfortable with higher math, tries to follow a one-step program. It is based on the premise that the only step that you have effective control over is the one you are taking. If you take care to put each foot down surely in an excellent direction, you may some day look back on the path you have followed with a degree of satisfaction.

William's Whimsical Words:

Those who look too far ahead are just as likely to stumble as those who are always looking over the shoulder.

BACK to Summer 2009

BACK to Almanack Main Page

Content and text copyright ©2006, Will Henry.
HTML and design copyright ©2002, ABC Internet.
All rights reserved.
No claim made as to animated gifs and still jpeg images.
Last updated on June 20, 2009