Originally Posted by
August252015 
I clearly missed the irony.
I also don't think that getting down about the prospects for recovery or societal acceptance (which has grown over the years, if not as fast or significantly as the problem) does any good.
I certainly don't get "down" about the prospects for recovery. If I did I would not be doing what I've been doing for the past ten years! I get "down" about the consequences of not recovering. Or "down" about folks who still think that the only reason you drink is because you're "bad". Any alcoholic who has been in recovery for say 19 years and has been trying to help others recover does not get "down". For in the rooms and elsewhere I've seen so many happy faces. That's the way I want more people to be!
By the way, when Bill W and Dr. Bob got AA going Alcoholism was the major affliction. Now it's stuff like Fentanyl, imported from China, sold on internet "dark sites", paid for in Bitcoin and delivered by ordinary mail. See today's article in the N.Y. Times. This has led to an enormous increase in overdose deaths. Yes, I get "down" about that. And I get "down" about using prisons (particularly privately owned profit making prisons) as a solution, and I get "down" about prison correctional officer corruption, "down" about gang control of prisons, like Rikers Island.
I get "down" but I don't give up trying to make things better, or at least trying to keep them from getting worse. I can't just sit back and rely on the Serenity Prayer and say I can't change anything. We can change things if we get together, work together That's what this country is all about.
So good for you, August, for trying to help, doing what you do. Keep it up!
Bill.