It's actually life and death...
This morning at a meeting, one of the regulars had relapsed again.
This engendered discussion about the grave nature of alcoholism and addiction. Those of us who are still "high functioning" or were "high bottom" or who have not yet "gotten THAT bad" often easily overlook the reality.
One of the long timers who I greatly admire and respect and look up to commented "I've been around these tables 26 years, and I long ago lost track of how many people I've seen almost make it, go out again, and never come back."
It got me thinking and I realized that in the roughly 3 years I've put in around the tables in my serious efforts of sobriety - I've seen 4 friends DIE.
Dead.
Gone.
Relapsed one too many times.
Sure.... dead is where it ends up for all of us - sober or not. But for me, personally, I want to go out at the end of a long, rich, rewarding, happy life. Not off a cliff or OD'd or blacked out and drowned or in the ICU after killing a family.....
Sometimes, when we're caught up in it and justifying and rationalizing and seeing ourselves as "not as bad as those other folks" - it's easy to dismiss the reality.
If you've found your way to this forum - the chances are very, very, very good that recovery for you is the difference between life and death.
Literally.