some of you may have heard that comedian and actor Russell Brand just released a
brand new book called recovery where he dives into the 12 steps from various
12-step programs but the question is did he break one of the traditions from
Alcoholics Anonymous by writing this book stay tuned as we dive into this
subject what's up everybody this is Chris from the rewired soul where we
talk about the problem but focus on the solution and yes today we're going to be
talking about Russell Brand his new book recovery as well as the twelve
traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous which are across the board for all 12-step
programs but AAA started it so we'll focus on those traditions so what are
the traditions that's the first question if you're unfamiliar with 12-step
programs there are twelve steps and twelve traditions so what they say is
that the twelve steps are to prevent you from committing suicide and the twelve
traditions are to prevent you from committing homicide that's just a little
12-step AAA humor for you haha so the next question is why were these
traditions made when AAA first started there was only twelve steps and over
time they started creating these traditions and basically they created
these traditions through the entire program didn't implore it upon itself I
highly suggest that if you're interested in the program or new in the program you
check out the twelve steps and twelve traditions it's an amazing book it
really dives in deep into the steps and traditions which the a a big book
doesn't do the Narcotics Anonymous basic tax that's a little bit better but check
out the twelve steps and twelve traditions book you can find it at just
about any AAA meeting or you can pick it up from Amazon by using the link below
now when I first got clean I started going to a lot of 12-step meetings and
one of my favorite ones was a twelve and twelve study where we studied this book
the twelve steps in twelve traditions and we were going through it and I
really liked it because it helped me learn a little bit about the history of
a a how it formed I liked knowing the source and where it came from and as you
go through the traditions it's kind of talking about why each one of these
traditions was made now as we went through these traditions in these book
studies like it started to make sense why they made these twelve traditions
because I am a crazy person and I used to be a very table crazy person the
second I walked into the meeting I was thinking like how can i benefit from
this what can I take from this meeting how can I profit from it to get the
things that I think I need and one of those things I think I need is money so
I can be happy which I later found out is absolutely not true
so these traditions are in place so dirtbags like myself coming into the
program can't destroy the program by doing very immoral things so thank God
for the traditions if it weren't for these traditions they probably would
have been gone years and years and years ago the question that we're gonna be
asking today is did russell brand break tradition 11 tradition 11 reads our
public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion we need
always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press radio and films then
it elaborates our relations with the general public should be characterized
by personal anonymity we think AAA ought to avoid sensational advertising our
names and pictures as AAA members ought not be broadcast filmed or publicly
printed our public relations should be guided by the principle of attraction
rather than promotion there is never need to praise ourselves we feel it
better to let our friends recommend us so in essence this tradition is
basically saying we are a program of attraction rather than promotion but
also something that I gather from this tradition is that we don't want people
trying to turn a profit from the program by you know marketing it to people so
now let's get into my take on this thing so first off it says that press radio
and films all the press that I've seen Russell Brand do while promoting his
books he only talks about 12-step programs no program specifically so I
think clear and also it doesn't list books in
there all joking aside here is the stone-cold truth the reality that we're
facing today in 2017 and for the past decade it's an addiction epidemic that
the men and women who started the 12-step programs had no idea was coming
back in the 1930s when this book and this program was created they had no
idea how many people every single year we're going to be dying due to alcohol
and drug addiction so personally with the crisis that we're facing today I
feel that as people in recovery and in these programs it is our duty to educate
the masses about this simple free program that can help change their lives
for the better and free them from active addiction so Russell Brand has been able
to hit the masses with this book and educate them about these 12-step
programs and this first week of this book being launched it is number 10 on
the New York Times best seller list then we can head over to Amazon go to the
Books section type in the keyword addiction and if you start to scroll
down you will see that Russell Brand's book recovery is on the very first page
of search results this is a huge deal this means that thousands if not
millions of people who would have never been introduced to 12-step programs are
now being educated about them and here's something else that I want to bring out
let's take a look at tradition number five tradition five reads each group has
but one primary purpose to carry his message to the alcoholic who still
suffers each alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having
but one primary purpose that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still
suffers side note if you're a drug addict watching this don't be deterred
by that word alcohol like we're all addicts and that's what we need to start
getting straight anyways in my humble opinion I truly believe that tradition
five should supersede every other tradition our primary purpose is to
spread this message to people who are still
suffering I personally do not think after watching many interviews with
Russell Brand and following his work I do not think he was doing anything
malicious or he's doing anything to gain more fame or he's doing anything to make
a ton of money off this thing like he is very humble I don't think that this was
something that was attacking these traditions if I look at the route the
main reason why Russell Brand spent months if not years typing up this
manuscript it was so he could carry this message to people who are still
suffering not only drug addicts and alcoholics either because this book
dives into sex addiction gambling addiction or addiction to food our
addiction to smartphones and technology our addiction to numbing ourselves out
from the pain that we all face as humans every single day but at the end of the
day I want to say thank you to Russell Brand for writing this book because it
has given me courage to start doing more videos or more writing or more articles
like this see the problem is that a lot of us in these 12-step programs we
tiptoe around these traditions with this completely irrational fear that if we
break one of these traditions somehow or someway we're going to be excommunicated
from this program so a lot of us keep our mouth shut in these kind of public
formats because we're worried that we might break one of these traditions I
want to make it very clear as open-minded as I am about recovery and
I'm a firm believer that whatever program works for you use it but the 12
steps saved my life these free programs saved my life when the American
healthcare system did not provide me with adequate insurance to go to a rehab
center so I want to help spread the message that there is a program out
there that can help any any person out there who is struggling with any form of
addiction so again I salute mr. Russell Brand if you ever watch this
I salute you because you have helped me be a better service to my fellows if you
haven't yet I highly highly highly recommend that you check out this book
whether you're an addict and alcoholic someone who thinks they might have a
problem someone who just deals with pain and suffering in their life I highly
suggest you check out this blog Russell Brand does an amazing job breaking this
thing down in a very practical way and there's also humor in it too and I
really feel that it's going to help thousands and thousands of people I also
think this book does an amazing job tearing down the misconceptions the
myths the preconceived notions people have about these programs he even
touches on the fact that people think that this is a cult so if you haven't
yet be sure to subscribe to my channel because I am going to further break down
this book I'm gonna do a lot more videos talking about 12-step programs to
hopefully provide you with a little bit more information a little bit more
clarity and help you understand how this can help you in your life if you're
struggling with any form of addiction also if you want to check out this book
check the description below there's an amazon affiliate link basically what
that means is that there's no extra charge to you but if you purchase the
book it helps support this channel so I can provide you with more content now
for the question of the day what do you think do you think that Russell Brand
broke tradition 11 by writing this book I want to know in the comments below so
make sure that you reply if you like this video give it a thumbs up and if
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