Principles

Principles: A rule of conduct, especially of right conduct: as, the principle of racial equality.

Principles before personalities. Try asking someone what that means sometime. Most people don't know. I think I know what a personality is but I'm a little hazy on the principle concept, even though my sponsor brings it up every time I call. I mean, it's only our 12th Tradition, the summing everything up into one neat package tradition. Why would I know about that?

To me, the big implication is that when I'm sitting around the table at a meeting, no one is any more important than anyone else. When I was drinking I always made sure to judge everyone. You were less important than I was (this was a very small crowd) and therefore not worth my notice or more important, and the object of my envy.

The Program strips away these titles. I run into a lot of More Important People (MIPs, for short) who don't have that much to say despite their belief that they do. That's what money and power and a fancy degree or title does, frequently: makes boring people think that they're profound. And, man, do I hear a lot of great stuff from people I used to ignore: the Less Important People, the LIPs.

It's great going to meeting chaired by someone who spent a few years in prison or living on the streets, and look at all the people successful by society's yardsticks sitting in the crowd. It doesn't make any difference who is doing what. Principles help us rate our fellows impartially. Just because some of us are born into wealth or with great natural intelligence doesn't make us better than someone else, any more than having blond hair does.

It's our obligation to use our gifts wisely but they don't make us better than anyone else.