There is no cure for alcoholism, BUT…

[Boleo]

Some have recovered:

“We, OF Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body”
(Forward to the First Edition)

There is a remedy:

“I personally know scores of cases who were of the type with whom other methods had failed completely. These facts appear to be of extreme medical importance; because of the extraordinary possibilities of rapid growth inherent in this group they may mark a new epoch in the annals of alcoholism. These men may well have a remedy for thousands of such situations. “
(Doctors Opinion)

There is a Solution:

“There is a solution”
(page 17)

My wife and I abandoned ourselves with enthusiasm to the idea of helping other alcoholics to a solution of their problems.
(Page 15)

There is a solution. Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation”
(page 25)

There is a reprieve:

“We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.“
(Page 85)

The problem can be removed:

“We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us.”
(Page 85)

We can recover:

“We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others.” (Page 132)

[trucker]

The wife and i have a friend.......been friends for years.

Same age as my wife...got to know her when she would cycle past our house every morning on her way to work.

Man she used to make me laugh.....she would ring that little cycle bell and pull a stupid face on the way past....had me and the wife in stitches on a lot of miserable wet mornings.

She loved life.....always of on a cruise or holiday..she would say "Ive just got to see it"......the wife and her polished off plenty of vino over the years..
good friends......anyway.

She is dying and has been for a while.......she is now in a home
she has MS..
We go to see her..........but I'm convinced she dont want us there.
She cant talk........or see........or sit still........any more
All the life has gone........her sparkle has gone.........she is just a shell.

She dont get a reprieve........in fact I'm convinced from conversations i had with her before she got to bad ....that she doesn't want to live.

And theres me..........with a reprieve......if i apply a simple set of steps to my life...
i have the opportunity to live the rest of my life.

Today i wanna express my gratitude for the reprieve given to me by god and the twelve steps.

Life can be beautiful ...if only at times i look at it from the right angle.

god bless .........shaun.

[Puddy]

The above two are a couple of great posts

[JJB]

an Indian poet said about slaves:

"they remain slaves because they can't see what is beautiful in this world"

Made me think of alcoholics.

[todd6138]

i would find it hard to see anything beautiful about getting my a## whipped into submission and working 16 hrs a day outside.

[JJB]

sorry Todd i meant it more for alcoholics I certainly wasn't condoning the slave trade!!
It reminded me of another SR's signature "the slave becomes the master and the master becomes the slave" which i find quite powerful to describe a recovering alcoholic.
I think that as an alcoholic I often reach out for another drink because i can't see why i shouldn't. Alcohol makes me/us so negative about life that we don't see any point in giving it up and going out and finding other things in life. As an alcoholic i am convinced that there is nothing else.
In this way alcohol keeps me as a slave ; And it can go so far that the alcohol ends up making us decide that life is so bad that we might as well kill ourselves because there's nothing worth living for.
I want to find the beauty in life and make my master (alcohol) my slave.

[todd6138]

i was mainly going for laughs; i apologize if you thought it angered me- thank you for your insightful response!