1-2
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Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows.
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When the authors use the term "most of us," they mean that it is very likely that we suffer from the same lack of willingness that they did. To help us diagnose our own alcoholism, the define it as being bodily and mentally different from our fellows. Though this is perhaps an unpleasant admission, we have to agree that in the light of our past experiences this is true.
3-5
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Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his liquor drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persisstence of this illusion is astonishing.
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"Therfore" means we accept what has come before. Our unwillingness to admit our alcoholism leads us to try countless times to control our drinking. We become obsessed with the idea that this time our drinking will not get out of control, that we will enjoy our drinking as we did early in our drinking careers. Usually, if we drink enough to enjoy it, we lose control. The illusion that we have power over alcohol and that we can control it remains with us long after it is evident to everyone around us that we can not.
7-8
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We learned that we had to full concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery.
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There are several ways we learn that we must admit powerlessness over alcohol. We learn by reading the book up to this point and by example of the authors as well as millions of recovered alcoholics. Sometimes we learn by our own mistakes. Repeated failed attempts to control our drinking brings us to the point where we have to admit to ourselves that we are powerlessover alcohol.
To fully concede is to admit that we are alcoholic. Any reservations we have must be set aside. This is not merely complying with the precepts of this program so as to avoid the negative results of drinking, but a complete and total surrender to the fact that we can not drink any alcohol at all and we never will be able to drink alcohol normally.
Who are we to admit our alcoholism to---our group, the police, our spouse? We are to make our admission to ourselves. No one else matters. We must speak to our hearts when making this admission.
These are the directions on how to take our first step. The authors' promise was that they would show us precisely and specifically what they have done to recover and supply us with clear-cut directions. The directions are that we must admit we are, in fact, alcoholic and that we make this admission to ourselves. From the moment we make this admission, we can begin to recover.
DEFINITION:
30:7----Conceded: to admit as true. The opposite is to deny or refuse.
9
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The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed.
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Every word in the book up to this page has been to help smash our delusion. The third sentence of this book explains the authors hope that we can be convinced we are bodily and mentally different from our fellows by reading this book. If we are not convinced by these pages, we may have to continue in our current ways until our own experience allows us to see the truth of what the authors say.
10-14
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We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovered control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals---usually brief---were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our typer are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better.
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This is a definition of alcoholism which we may be able to identify. We can look at our drinking history and see if at some point we lost the ability to control of our drinking. The sign is that we may be a real alcoholic.
Alcoholism is diagnosable. In AA we determine for ouselves if we are alcoholic. Alcoholism is primary---it is the cause of our problems not the result of them. Alcoholism is progressive---gradually we get worse. Alcoholism is chronic---we usually have this illness for a long time before we try to do anything about it. Alcoholism is fatal---if not arrested it will inevitably lead to our deaths. Alcoholism is treatable---the AA program has over 60 years of success.
Our inability to control our drinking destroys our confidence in ourselves and in all human aid. We despair of ever recovering. Prior to our understanding of the physical and mental aspects of this disease we thought ourselves weaklings. Now we understand that will power is of very little use against alcoholism. Our hope of recovery rests in finding a Power greater than ourselves.
We suffer from an illness, a state of unsound physical and mental health. This illness, just like many other illnesses, can not be conquered by will power. Only a spiritual awakening can bring about the profound changes needed for us to recover.
Source:
A Annotated AA Handbook
a companion to the Big Book
Frank D.