Wednesday, August 02, 2006
A.A.: More About Alcoholism: Surrender to Win
"Many of us felt that we had plenty of character. There was a tremendous urge to cease forever. Yet we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it -- this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish."
Alcoholics Anonymous
More About Alcoholism
Page 34
The problem with just wanting to quit, even with great motivation to do so -- doctor's warning, threat of divorce, parole condition, fear of the loss of children, threat of job termination, etc.) -- is that it's still all about me. "I want to quit because I don't want the bad stuff." "I can keep these things from happening to me, if I just quit." "I just need to make up my mind, once and for all, to quit." "I can do this if I really try." Sound familiar?
Yes it's true that one has to want to quit... and I really did want to quit. But it wasn't until I accepted that I couldn't do anything about my drinking that I learned how to quit. Nothing I tried worked. I was out of options -- powerless!
I wanted to quit drinking and I knew it was possible to live sober, but I knew that there was nothing that I could do about it. So, I gave up trying to quit and instead followed the advice of a friend who had been through what I was going through and seemed to have found the key. He explained how he had applied the first three steps of Alcohlics Anonymous in his life and he gave me the opportunity to do the same.
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Surrender to win!
Get the latest edition of:
Alcoholics Anonymous
AA Services
aa addiction alcoholism recovery sponsornet substance abuse
Alcoholics Anonymous
More About Alcoholism
Page 34
The problem with just wanting to quit, even with great motivation to do so -- doctor's warning, threat of divorce, parole condition, fear of the loss of children, threat of job termination, etc.) -- is that it's still all about me. "I want to quit because I don't want the bad stuff." "I can keep these things from happening to me, if I just quit." "I just need to make up my mind, once and for all, to quit." "I can do this if I really try." Sound familiar?
Yes it's true that one has to want to quit... and I really did want to quit. But it wasn't until I accepted that I couldn't do anything about my drinking that I learned how to quit. Nothing I tried worked. I was out of options -- powerless!
I wanted to quit drinking and I knew it was possible to live sober, but I knew that there was nothing that I could do about it. So, I gave up trying to quit and instead followed the advice of a friend who had been through what I was going through and seemed to have found the key. He explained how he had applied the first three steps of Alcohlics Anonymous in his life and he gave me the opportunity to do the same.
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Surrender to win!
Get the latest edition of:
Alcoholics Anonymous
AA Services
aa addiction alcoholism recovery sponsornet substance abuse
# posted by Bill B. @ 10:14 PM 
