Originally Posted by
D122y 
Toolbox addition? What am I going to do differently?
I am not going to let my wife based peer pressure lead me to take a shot of Cognac.
Next time I drink the water in Mexico, I am going to live with the issue vs try and kill the bacteria with a shot of Whisky.
Those are my relapses. So help me God.
I will deal with new issues as they arise.
Based on online stats available with a Google search, there is no guaranteed way to assure recovery from addiction.
The first thing that pops up is AA has a 5 to 10% success rate.
That is scary, so please be nice.
I still love AA. Lots of people just like me. I disapprove of certain things..blah blah blah...but what do I know.
I am doing ok and I am not drinking anymore.
Thanks to those that agree and disagree. I need supporters and I need folks to challenge me.
I asked for it.
More hugs and tough love feedback is always welcome.
Truly yours in sobriety.
Thanks.
I don't know if it is a matter of agreeing or disagreeing. We just share our experience and knowledge and hope it might help.
In my experience that 5 -10 % recovery rate you mention, would be about right for alcoholics of my type that try and do AA the way you are doing it. Very few of them recover. Even though some build up considerable periods of sobriety,, it is always tenuous at best.
I don't know if you are an alcoholic of my type. Your posts make me think that it is possible you are different to me. And I am fine with that. You may not need to do what the program asks. But some of your writing makes me think your sober life might not be what it should be. It reads like the bedevilments on page 52...
"We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn't control our emotional natures, we were prey to misery and depression, we couldn't make a living, we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy, we couldn't seem to be of real help to other people"
This describes what we call the spiritual malady. One solution for this was alcohol, the other is a spiritual awakening. If we don't fix it with one, we end up with the other. I just couldn't live like this. Take away the alcohol and life just gets worse. But maybe you are not like me.