Originally Posted by
digderidoo 
I particularly liked totfit's point that sober is normal.
I guess the issue i have been having is that i'm uncomfortable with this feeling of being different. I have thought for a while that the AA creates a 'them and us' situation and feel that there is a dividing line between myself and other AA'ers in comparison to non-alcoholics. I don't know if i feel comfortable with this scenario the AA sets.
Hey Paul. I underlined a few things from your post that I noticed and would like to post my interpretations. I hope they help. Take what you like and leave the rest.
We are ALL normal, both sober and non-sober people. We are ALL part of the human race and normal is to be different from one another but at the same time, the same. NORMAL is not sober. Normal is not non-sober. The two concepts have nothing to do with one another. Alcohol is just the screen through which you see the world. It is only how you think. It shows how obsessed you are with drinking and how you define yourself. And, you are comparing yourself to others. Rule No. 1: NEVER compare yourself to others.
A.A. does not create the dividing line between alcoholics and the rest of the population. I used to feel the same way about EVERYONE else who was different from me in any way. Guess what? YOU create the dividing line. Taking your personal inventory every day of your life, becoming aware of what you are doing and how you think, will help you to realize that we are ALL just trying to do our best to survive. You separate yourself from others NOW in the same way you used to by drinking. You put up a wall a long time ago and it's just still there. You're just not drunk anymore. Rule No. 2: Just because we get sober, doesn't mean we change. Examine and become aware of your thinking as much as your behavior.
Once you change your thinking and realize that you ARE normal, that there is NOTHING wrong with you, and that we ALL have our own struggles (both "us" and "them"), you will stop being ashamed of your need to take care of yourself. Once you accept yourself as you are, you will no longer be afraid that OTHERS won't accept you. Once you take responsibility for yourself, you acknowledge that you don't need anyone else to prove you are cared about. When these things happen, you will be able to ask everyone and anyone not to drink around you. The day will come soon, I just know it.
Take care.