JUL 26, 21 .. ARE YOU DRINKING MORE ALCOHOL THAN USUAL DURING QUARANTINE?

I am sure many (most) of you have seen and read the various questionnaires Are You An Alcoholic?

Recently I saw this 'Are You?' Questionnaire and just howled! 

A little Blast-From-The-Past (DEC 18, 14). Here is another short phrase that I like.

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When we read How It Works (Chapter 5, pages 58-60 in the A.A. Big Book) we read the following:

If you have decided you want what we have.

The problem is that 'what we have' changes from the day we walk into A.A. until after we have achieved some (call it) respectable 'dry time' of not drinking.

Confused? Let me explain.

When we walk into the rooms of A.A., what most of us we want to do is to stop drinking alcohol one day at a time.

After we achieve respectable 'dry time' (I will let you decide for yourself what this is for you, months, years, multiple decades?) and freedom from the desire and perhaps psysiological need to drink alcohol, then we no longer have as our primary purpose stopping drinking because we have stopped.

The story (A.A. TAUGHT HIM TO HANDLE SOBRIETY) on page 553 of the Big Book states : 

"It's no great trick to stop drinking; the trick is how to stay stopped. To do that, I had to come to A.A. to learn how to handle sobriety-- which is what I could not handle in the first place. That's why I drank."

Why Work The Steps.

The first reason we work the steps is to elicit a change in how we approach life. If we don't change we will drink again.

After working the first five steps we have hopefully begun to clear away the wreckage of the past. 

Now comes the time to change and Step 6 and 7 (character defects and shortcomings) come into our lives.

If we are living with (to name but a few character defects) hate, intolerance and anger, resentments towards others and the world itself, dishonesty, lying, selfishness, blaming others for our woes, contempt prior to investgation, impatience then we are more apt to pick up a drink to ease the tremendous stress of living with these character defects. 

Saying the 6th and 7th prayer on page 76 of the Big Book invites God into the equation to assist us with our desire to change.

BUT the bottom line to all of this is : One must want to change.

 Why Work The Steps.

The steps are a design for living. If followed they will enable us to change, to experience the spiritual awakening promised in the 12th step.

Once more take the questionaire.

Over and Out with a big smile.