Hi Bob.....
Here is part of my journey...shared with the hope it helps
you and anyone reading.
When I say I was in AA for 4 years before I quit...
I was attending meetings....a few weeks or months during
those years. Some stretches of sobriety here and there.
I was not interested in Step work...nor did I begin it.
Perhaps I should have followed the program directions?
Anyway....after reading "Under The Inflence" by Milam & Ketcham
I understood why I kept returning to drinking.
My brain and body had lost the abiltiy to process alcohol correctly.
Eureka!
I re-connected to the God of my childhood....back to AA I flew
By starting step work....I shifted from shakey sometimes sobriety
into solid AA recovery.
Thus I began my fantastic new life ...it's awesome!