Thread: relapsed again
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Old 10-28-2009, 02:25 PM   #5 (permalink)
keithj
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 2,659
Quote:
Originally Posted by beaglenut View Post
In my better moments I hit a meeting every day, use my sponsor.
What do you use that sponsor for? I know a lot of people in AA that have a sponsor and use them for advice and a sounding board. While a sober friend may be sufficient for some, most alcoholics can not stay sober on that alone.

That sponsor's real purpose is to guide you through the Big Book and show you how they and others have used those directions to have a spiritual awakening that allows freedom from alcoholism. If you read the 10th step promises, it describes that freedom.

Quote:
Originally Posted by beaglenut View Post
I know I am powerless over alcohol...So why do I keep relapsing.
It's that idea that tips me off a little and guides my response to you. You're powerless over alcohol, and you have to ask why you keep relapsing? The better question is, if you are truly powerless, how do you ever keep from relapsing?

That comment makes me think that your sponsor hasn't done a very good job of communicating what powerless means. It means that you are going to keep relapsing, and there isn't a damn thing you or any other person can do about it. Powerless means being doomed to spend the next 5 years like you spent the last 5.

You, or me for that matter, simply do not have the power to stop that next relapse. My only hope, is to tap into a power greater than myself that will keep me protected. That leads me right into Step 2, and deeper into the Big Book.

How do I tap into that power? That is exactly what the BB is about. It's main purpose is to enable you to find a power greater than yourself that will solve your problem.

So then I make a decision to turn my will and life over in Step 3, and I carry out that decision through the actions of Steps 4-9. It's all very simple.

Quote:
Originally Posted by beaglenut View Post
God, give me strength.
God will, provided you do the things necessary to remove that from yourself which is blocking the sunlight of the spirit.
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