Singleness of Purpose Amend

I have had a copy of this for a while, I think some of you may enjoy it, others may not.

I recently completed the Eighth Step and have decided that my first
amends should be to Alcoholics Anonymous itself, which I believe I have
harmed to some extent by violating its singleness of purpose.

I used to identify myself as an alcoholic and an addict. I do not
anymore because I now believe other addictions are irrelevant at AA
meetings. But, aside from that, I also used to insist on talking about
my other addictions beyond what was necessary to relate them to alcohol.

I justified this by saying that alcohol was just another drug and so it
was unfair to expect me not to talk about all my addictions. And refused
to attend any other fellowship because I claimed to prefer the wisdom
and sobriety in AA.

I realize now how inconsiderate and self-centered this position was. It is
not a question of what is fair or whether alcohol is just another drug. The
Traditions and primary purpose of AA are what they are whether I agree
with them or not.

In the past, when I was active, I often had dinner at the homes of
people who did not use drugs, but who did drink. I never considered
insisting that I had the right to smoke a joint at their dinner table
because they were drinking wine.

And imagine if I had, and then added insult to injury by saying: "And
not only do I have a right to use any drug I want to around here if
you're going to drink, but I'm going to keep coming back and I'm going
to keep using any drug I want to in your home because I like the food
you serve and your company better than the food and company I find in
the homes of my drug addict friends.

And I have the right to do this because all drugs are the same and I
don't care what the rules or customs of your home are.

Such a gross abuse of hospitality sounds preposterous, but that is
essentially what I was doing by insisting that I had a right to violate
AA's singleness of purpose. I was abusing the hospitality of this
Fellowship.

This is not an apology. I was too sick to realize how selfishly I was
acting, and a mere apology is not necessarily an amends.

I am hoping to amend the harm I did by stating clearly what I did, for
the benefit of others, and, further, by not doing it again.