keithj

I don't have a lot of faith in wake up calls convincing me to stop drinking. I say that based on my own experience with them. I'm a real deal alcoholic, like described in AA's Big Book, and I found that the wake up calls were never sufficient to keep me stopped. They sobered me up for a bit, but that mental obsession always won out.

I think now that I hung on to the delusion that a sufficiently bad event would be enough to make me wake up and get sober. The real wake up call was finally realizing that no wake up calls were coming. That's when I realized I was screwed.

So after the first DUI, I thought I would quit. I did not. After a few more I thought I would quit. I did not. After the first car crash I thought I would quit. I did not. After the next car crash I thought I would quit. I did not. After I received the divorce summons and couldn't go home, I thought I would quit. I did not. After I couldn't visit my son, I thought I'd quit. I did not. You get the idea.

I found the same answer, based on my own experience, that Bill Wilson did. Willpower, fear, and self-knowledge were not sufficient to keep me sober. I was one of those described on page 24 who could not recall with sufficient force the suffering and humiliation of even a week or month ago. I was without defense against the first drink.

And AA offerred me a simple program of action that would help me get the sufficient power in my life to conquer (yes, conquer) alcoholism.