doorknob

LOL, not really too long.. I've heard it suggested a few times (or more) that since I'm an atheist, my HP could be a doorknob... that's it!

(Of course.. if I was the sl*t I'd like to be, I could say "everybody gets a turn..." )

gmaklay

...hahahahahahah.... Now that's funny right there I don't care who ya R....

Tommyh

ty Adam,me too




as I looked to the sky with the thought "if, Mr. God, you are up there, why the hell do I feel like this"?


I have similier experience,but what I did was look up and say to whoever or whatever may be out there
can you help me stay sober,and at night after I had been sober that day,I looked up and said
thank you
that simple,and it worked

ralph9898

I don't get the logic of this type of thinking. Why specifically exclude anything or anyone who might be able to help? Maybe you can stop drinking without help from God. If so, great, then do it. But if it doesn't work, why not try God? Assuming God is all-powerful, I am sure it would help to have Him on your side.

But if you find that God isn't helping, then try something else. I think anyone who has a major problem should do whatever it takes to fix it. Why limit your possibilities solely b/c you are stubborn? What good does that do? Why not be open minded to different possibilities and try them all until you find one that works?

For me, I used to think I knew it all. I was stubborn, proud, and it was my way or the highway. Something clicked with me when watching a guest on Dr. Phil who had the same stubborn mindset I had. He was a "right fighter," meaning he thought was always right. He looked foolish up there. Dr. Phil asked him "how's your way working for you." He might have been 100% right, but his life was a mess. I realized that if I was so right about everything, why wasn't my life in order?

MagicMan08

I donno when they say hand it over your higher power....to me it essentially means not letting something I cannot control run or ruin my life, so I let it go....this does not mean letting go of responsibility....but you know

My higher power in life is what I can achieve by staying sober. This is not even something I waste time in my life thinking or worrying about really. Nothing can bring me down, except for myself.

I got sober because I got my 2nd DWI in 8 months, went home, broke down(made the post about hitting bottom on here) and realized drinking was effing up any plans I had for my life....and it was happening very fast right in front of my eyes. And I was doing it to myself! Nothing about that had anything to do with a higher power. I admitted I was licked....tossed in the towel and have not looked back since.

Take it however you want to, but don't let something like this stop you from becoming sober. IMHO that second step to me reads like this "Came to believe that something bad enough had to happen to me to realize what drinking had done to my life. And remind me that is it never too late to turn it all around"

allport

What I think you are discounting is the fact that belief cannot be forced, I can't make myself believe in God (why would I want to) if I told you you had to stop believing in god in order to get sober (before anyone jumps on me I am not suggesting any such thing) could you do it?

And if so how?

And why would you want to change an integral part of your psyche just because someone told you to?

You might as well tell me to believe in fairies, i find the idea of god that probable.

Dee74

I'm with Bugs: the common denominator in any program, including the one I also use, is no drinking....EVER.

Whether you allow God a place in that or not is entirely up to you. I've seen it work both ways

D

Pagekeeper

You'll find as many "conceptions," "lack of conceptions," "disagreements of conceptions" and "denials of conceptions" as you'll find people with thinking minds. For me, I think: Why can't they all be equally valid in the face of the unknown? When people speak of "belief" or the lack of "belief" they tend to conceive of it in such a way that it is like a huge umbrella they hang over the heads of everyone. What they don't seem to notice, though, is that while they are covering everyone else's head with their umbrella, their own head is getting rained on.

People may start with a similar premise in their conception or lack thereof, but that premise is as individual to each person as is the very details of our lives and experiences, regardless if one believes in a god or not.

Personally, I no longer bother myself in any painful or strenuous manner when it comes to what another believes or doesn't believe. Because once I hold my own convictions as the ultimate truth, I automatically place an antagonist between myself and another by thinking I am right and they are wrong. For me, being "open-minded" is not agreeing with the things I already believe, it's considering the possibility of value in those things in which I don't agree.

coffeenut

Then do it!

joinedintime

It is really hard to do alone.

Easier to do, not alone.

Whatever your beliefs may be, if you are here within the support group of SR, you are not doing it alone.

Zencat

And...the good news is...there is a way to achieve good quality sobriety w/o God. I use many different methods as an addiction treatment program. None of them include God or a HP. Sure there things and situations and what not that have a greater capacity of control than I do. But those things have no control over if I drink or not. That would be on me... or so I think. Sure I could be kidnapped and forcibly injected with alcohol. Beyond some wild scenario other than that, I have a choice. In the deeps of my addiction I chose many times to continue my suffering until I sought to suffer no more. I sought treatment.

"You do anything long enough to escape the habit of living until the escape becomes the habit."
-David Ryan

jimhere

You can't find God, or whatever you want to call what you'll find within. You can't find what is not lost. All you have to do is get rid of what is in the way of what has always been there. It is closer to me than me, closer than my next breath. I have found spiritual power within myself.
Jim

AW2486

Your right.. I have to take actions everyday to stay connected to my higher power. Staying in fit spiritual condition and helpling others I believe is only chance I have to stay sober. And that takes action and effort on my part.. everyday.

Peace.

bugsworth

It all boils down to personal responsibility...no matter what method one employs to stay sober the final decision to drink is always up to us.

It seems to me from my observation here at SR that many people like to cling to the "powerless" and "diseased" concept but they ignore the "don't drink" part of the equation. I don't know why but I am always amazed at how many people who relapse don't reach out BEFORE they drink...I found it bizarre when I attended aa also. Where has the personal responsibility over our actions gone? After physical detox is over no one is powerless...to me it is a cop out and a ready made excuse to indulge once again in bad decision making. It is far easier to stay stuck in the row boat than it is to swim to shore...I did it for years...but once I got in the water it was and still is up to me to swim.

penny74

Good for you !!

jimhere

To begin with I'd like to get off of the debating society here and encourage any alcoholic who wants to stop drinking to find sobriety by any means. I'm for anything that helps an alcoholic to recover.

The people I know who have found true peace in sobriety, whether in AA or by another approach, whether they are atheist or agnostic or "theistic" God people like myself have stepped down from the debating society.

And, although I do subscribe to the idea of being personally powerless and having lost the choice in the matter of the first drink (from personal experience), I agree with bugs that once I've stopped drinking I must take personal responsibility for my sobriety and for my life, my actions, and my spiritual growth. I can't blame alcoholism when I act like an ass.

Doctor Silkworth, in The Doctor's Opinion in the book Alcoholics Anonymous said that in order to recover, an alcoholic must live by ideals grounded in a power greater than himself. Ideals are values, standards and principles that I live by. So once I'm sober it is up to me to live by principles higher than my own self-centered ambitions. He also said that if I live by these principles I can re-create my life. Which implies a certain responsibilty.

Later on I am given a choice, "God either is or he isn't. God is everything or nothing." Once again personal responsibilty. I can either live by spiritual principles and have the consequences or not live by spiritual principles and have the consequences.

Right action leads to right thinking which leads to right action. Not an intellectual debate, but a way of living.
Peace,
Jim

Big Book references from Alcoholics Anonymous, First Edition

VeritasAequitas

OP,
Just concentrate on your sobriety one day at a time - looking for someone who isn't lost is a waste of time.

ericamay

Friend, God, and yes, I will say it, Jesus, is with you whether or not you want him to be. Keep looking for the answers. But if you will try, once, to really hear what is waiting for you, you will find it. Sorry to be so avangalistic on ya... But I just had to put it out there. I am a 25 year old female coming from YEARS of partying harder the most of the 50 year old men I know with a scotch addiction. Lol. I hear ya... And I understand your doubt. But he's there... Waiting for you... Even if you don't ask for help

allport

The starving in Africa are waiting for him babe where is he!!

ericamay

I understand your skepticism. I do. Yet He is not in our lives to fix all the wrongs in this world. We are here, as individuals, to right our OWN path. God has not created the segregation and indifference in this world- we have. God wants each and every person to live to the best of their abilities... And for us- that means getting sober and living our life to the fullest. Do the best you can for YOU, and belive it or not, it will have an equal effect on those around you.