StarCat

It's because they help talk to that nagging voice in the back of our minds, the one that says that the alcoholic needs us and will suffer horrible fates if we don't help, and it will be all our fault.

It's one thing for someone who is not an alcoholic to say that the alcoholic needs to experience the consequences of their own actions in order to change is one thing. Sure, we know what happened in our case, but it's hard decisions, and it's difficult to convince ourselves that not helping is the best way to help.

It's something else entirely for a recovery alcoholic to say the same thing. These are people who have been there, and come out the other side. They know what helped them, and what slowed them down. They know what they needed to finally decide things really were going to change this time.
The recovering alcoholics on this forum have been on the front line. They know what they're talking about, and it didn't come from any book or slogan, it came from real blood, sweat, and tears. It's genuine, heartfelt, and more important than anything else, it's the truth, which is something people like us are not used to hearing.

That is why it helps so much. That is why the only person I trusted early in my own recovery was a recovering alcoholic with quite a few years under his belt. He didn't give me the answers, how to fix XABF or to fix myself, and he openly admitted that he had no idea what I was going through, only that it was very difficult... In spite of all of this, he gave me the most important gift of all...
My sanity.
He walked into the dark closet of alcoholism and lit up all the secrets inside, as bright as day. And I knew I didn't have to carry around the lies anymore, that there was no shame in the truth, and no wrong to be done by admitting it.

That God for the recovering alcoholics who come here and share their stories.
They're some of the strongest, bravest people I know.