I am not Powerless....
Sober Alcoholic
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,539
I tend to agree with Inda regarding the "lovey-dovey" mind-set. The program has not changed, but the people in AA have. The fellowship has changed from one comprised almost exclusively of low bottom drunks to one that now includes those who are “scarcely more than potential alcoholics”. This has brought with it a change in the “culture” of AA.
Drunks with different bottoms need slightly different approaches. Some need more confrontation along the way, and doing right by them might involve telling them something that is not easy for them to hear. Nevertheless, if the bottom line motivation for doing so is their welfare, and there is no nicer way to effectively get the point across then, OK, it may be necessary. Bottom line is "lovey-dovey" is good unless it’s a waste of breath. Some people need to be hit hard with reality. Failure to do so may in fact be long term cruel. It’s often a fine line, but the bottom line is people are different.
What is truly needed IMO is to accesses that power greater than ourselves to show us how to work with a particular alcoholic in the most loving yet most effective way possible, because if love is not involved in what we do in AA then something is wrong.
Drunks with different bottoms need slightly different approaches. Some need more confrontation along the way, and doing right by them might involve telling them something that is not easy for them to hear. Nevertheless, if the bottom line motivation for doing so is their welfare, and there is no nicer way to effectively get the point across then, OK, it may be necessary. Bottom line is "lovey-dovey" is good unless it’s a waste of breath. Some people need to be hit hard with reality. Failure to do so may in fact be long term cruel. It’s often a fine line, but the bottom line is people are different.
What is truly needed IMO is to accesses that power greater than ourselves to show us how to work with a particular alcoholic in the most loving yet most effective way possible, because if love is not involved in what we do in AA then something is wrong.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 1,191
Originally Posted by TSDD 
Do you believe that at some point in time you will be able to have a couple beers with the guys and not be subject to the phenomenon of craving?
Do you beleive that at some point that all by yourself you will have complete defense against taking the first drink?
If so, I'd advise you not to try it. If not, that sort of implies you're still powerless over alcohol.
Do you beleive that at some point that all by yourself you will have complete defense against taking the first drink?
If so, I'd advise you not to try it. If not, that sort of implies you're still powerless over alcohol.
As I mentioned originally, of course in and of myself I am as powerless as I was the day I walked into AA. But through the process of the steps I have gained access to a power not of myself, but one that I can live by. A power that we can all share.
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 1,191
Originally Posted by muvinon
Sorry, but this thread would appear to me to be a chance to reinforce a faulty idea.....that people "just don't get it" anymore.
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 1,191
Originally Posted by DayTrader
It's God's power, flowing through me, as part of my daily reprieve that I get from maintaining conscious contact and trying to walk the spiritual path via my actions.
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,452
Has anyone ever heard of it explained this way?
To think of it like we were or we were not.
Like a concession.
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, was like an agreement...a concession that they believed they were powerless, versus that they were not.
This view doesn't look at it from a place of time...past tense, or present, and certainly doesn't base whether you are or are not powerless over alcohol based on a word.
I wonder if anyone looks at it this way.
To think of it like we were or we were not.
Like a concession.
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, was like an agreement...a concession that they believed they were powerless, versus that they were not.
This view doesn't look at it from a place of time...past tense, or present, and certainly doesn't base whether you are or are not powerless over alcohol based on a word.
I wonder if anyone looks at it this way.
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