Originally Posted by
MaxC 
i was wondering Keith if you could explain what you mean by going to AA vs. working their recovery program.
Max,
I've been involved with AA for a while, and for me, it was an absolute life saver. No doubt about it, I was a hopeless drunk who couldn't stay sober for any length of time. I went to AA meetings, had service positions, tried to work with a sponsor, but fizzled out and returned to drinking. Then I couldn't get stopped again.
When it got to where I couldn't go on another day like I was, I surrendered to the AA program. I was willing to do whatever it took to stay sober. I got hooked up with a group of guys who talked about having a spiritual awakening as the result of taking the 12 Steps. They told me that for them, it was essential and vital that they have that spiritual experience in order to live life sober.
And they showed me how to go about it. They showed me that the Big Book of AA contained precise directions for having a spiritual awakening that would solve my problem. Just like they promised, I had a spiritual awakening as the result of the Steps. My life changed in incomprehensible ways. The drinking problem was gone.
So, the short version is, that for alcoholics like me, meetings and fellowship were not sufficient. I'm not knocking them, they just weren't the actions required to overcome alcoholism. The 12 Steps were.