In my white-knuckling phase, I kept asking, Am I an alcoholic? I couldn’t be; I just wasn’t that bad — not like other problem drinkers I knew!
Reading in Step by Step: Real AAs, Real Recovery, I gleaned a bit of wisdom from an old-timer:
Quit asking if you are an alcoholic.
[A]sk myself a simple question: Am I or am I not powerless over alcohol? I didn’t have to compare myself or my experiences with anyone, just answer the simple question. In 1945 I had male evidence in twenty four years of irrational or “alcoholic” drinking to prove I was “powerless over alcohol.” But, I wasted valuable time wondering whether a certain adjective applied to me. (J.L.S., pages 7-8)
Don’t Waste Precious Time
Take all the time you need, but hurry up!
The impulse to compare ourselves to other people’s stories is dangerous. When I made remarks to my sponsor about how I couldn’t relate to so-’n-so’s story because I never did those things— their response was always, “Not Yet.”
Among the other program principles I have come to believe is drinking will take me places I’d never dreamed I would go. (But when I did my Fourth Step, hey I discovered I went to places I never imagined I’d go . . . )
This morning as a new year opens up, what questions are you asking, dear reader?
If You Wonder If. . . maybe rephrase your question, and ask a better question:
Am I or am I not powerless over alcohol?
You Might like this link: Do You Have a Problem?
I am not powerless over assuming responsibility for my own recovery. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 21
Happy Day of Small Beginnings! Zechariah 4:10
Love in Christ,
Sober and Grateful
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