Originally Posted by Gottalife

Interesting topic Dave.

Words are indeed powerful, and they are one of the main ways we convey the message of alcoholics anonymous.

We had a chap years ago who introduced himself as an ex-drunk. He found permanent recovery in AA and died sober after more than 20 years. So it didn't do him any harm. He always seemed to me to be fairly miserable in his view of life, so he wasn't someone is spent a lot of time with. Perhaps that's why his introduction never caught on.

However, for me I believe it is important to be consistent with the program as described in the Big Book. I usually introduce myself as an alcoholic, sometimes as a recovered alcoholic, but never as recovering, the exception being the time spent between step one and a spiritual exerience. The latter is simply not true, it does not fit with my experience nor the experience of those who went before.

I know what alcoholism is, the obsession of the mind, the spritual malady, the phenomenon of craving, and I know the crippling effect it had on my life, shutting me off from any kind of meaningful existence. I'm not suffering from that today. I followed the directions, had a spiritual experience and all that was taken away.

I recovered the opportunity to live a full life, the booze could no longer sabotage that.

I often wonder what the newcomer must make of the inconsistency I would create if, at 34 years sober I introduced myself as still recovering. I am saying to him that the first sentence of the foreword of the first edition of the Big book, in which AA introduced itself to the world, is not true. The foreword to the second edition where it says 150000 have recovered must also be untrue.

Then page 90, where I am asked to introduce myself to a newcomer as someone has recovered, should be ignored. They must wonder what other parts of the program are true, and which should be ignored.

To me there is a clear demarcation between recovering and recovered. Recovering is anywhere between steps 1 and 9, where the spiritual experience/awakening takes place. See step 9 promises.

Then at step 10 "We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime." This is not about recovering, this is about growing spiritually for the rest of our lives. Faith without works is dead.

I don't labour the point. I think people are free to inroduce themselves any way they like, within reason. I just don't think I have the right to undermine the program that worked for me and millions of others. Its a personal responsibility.