Step by Step
Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013
"The mental twists that led up to my drinking began many years before I ever took a drink for I am one of those whose history proves conclusively that my drinking was 'a symptom of a deeper trouble.'
"Through my efforts to get down to 'causes and conditions,' I stand convinced that my emotional illness has been present from my earliest recollection. I never did react normally to any emotional situation." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "They Lost Nearly All," Ch 12 ("Freedom From Bondage"), p 544.
Today, knowing and accepting that my emotional and spiritual maladies preceded my alcoholism, I must also accept that abstaining from drinking is not enough in my recovery. Drinking was, for me, but a symptom of the "deeper trouble" referenced in the Big Book, and the Steps of AA have to be worked and climbed one by one to cure that symptom. Without tending to the "deeper trouble," my recovery will be less sober and more that of a dry drunk. Whatever my pre-drinking "deeper trouble" was - fear, anger, shame, loneliness, low or inflated self-esteem, resentment, depression or a diagnosed psychiatric condition - I need to confront and either come to terms with it or let it go. Then, and only then, can I move on with the business of sobriety. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013
Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013
"The mental twists that led up to my drinking began many years before I ever took a drink for I am one of those whose history proves conclusively that my drinking was 'a symptom of a deeper trouble.'
"Through my efforts to get down to 'causes and conditions,' I stand convinced that my emotional illness has been present from my earliest recollection. I never did react normally to any emotional situation." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "They Lost Nearly All," Ch 12 ("Freedom From Bondage"), p 544.
Today, knowing and accepting that my emotional and spiritual maladies preceded my alcoholism, I must also accept that abstaining from drinking is not enough in my recovery. Drinking was, for me, but a symptom of the "deeper trouble" referenced in the Big Book, and the Steps of AA have to be worked and climbed one by one to cure that symptom. Without tending to the "deeper trouble," my recovery will be less sober and more that of a dry drunk. Whatever my pre-drinking "deeper trouble" was - fear, anger, shame, loneliness, low or inflated self-esteem, resentment, depression or a diagnosed psychiatric condition - I need to confront and either come to terms with it or let it go. Then, and only then, can I move on with the business of sobriety. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013
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