are we in recovery or recovered ??
 

some in AA say "they are in recovery"
others in AA say "that they are recovered"

I believe that I'm recovered unless I take another drink
then all goes out the door

their was once a man who was healed
he was then told
"now stop your sinning or something worse may happen to you"

this explains all so clearly to me my brief times of sobriety
and then what happened when I returned to the bottle
something worse usually happened to me

thus I believe that for me drinking is a sin

yes, for a short time I truly was healed
but
I once again deceived myself with the thought of
I can now drink like a normal person


MM

I AM RECOVERED*

I got alcohol out of my life with abstinence

I got alcohol out of my life with Recovery

I got alcohol out of my mind with a Spiritual Awakening


*However, I must keep one thing in mind. I can be "recovered" from a gunshot wound but that does not make me bulletproof.

:uzi:

I consider myself in recovery. I suppose you could say I'm recovered from the desire to drink but Ive still got lots of work to do.

That's what works for me.

Sent from my iPhone using SoberRecovery

For me, I'm "in recovery". It's really my life journey of learning to live my very best life.

This is a topic like NA beers. We seem to never tire of it. :) After writing about it 10 or more times here I decided I like the word recoveringed best.

The big book says recovered. So those that strictly adhere to the bigbook use this word.

I heard that Bill W. said (or wrote somewhere) that they used the word "recovered" because people oustide of the fellowship wouldn't understand the meaning of recovering. That makes the most sense to me.

I know as far as alcoholism is concerned, I can't drink like a normal person and if I pick up a drink I'm going to be in deep trouble and will probably die. I therefore can't say I'm not an alcoholic, I have not recovered from that. I'm in recovery and recovering so long as I don't pick up that first drink.

Bottom line for me is that I understand all the above. The rest is IMO just a word game. People use different words for different reasons, I think ego comes into play with some people who insist it's one over the other. In actuality, I never really use either word. I have no reason to ever state to anyone, other than here in these threads, whether I'm recovered or recovering.

I think it there is a point for most people where you go from recovery to recovered. For me I was still in recovery until about 8 months when I feel like I went into being recovered. Although, with that said I am not sure if there was ever a time in my life I could call myself 100% sober until now. So what did I recover if I never lost it before? ;)

This sums it up perfectly for me.

I will always be recovering for the rest of my life. I may not take a drink, but the disease is still there trying to convince me otherwise. It is a daily effort to work my program and fight evil. :)

I think I am pretty much recovered or healed as I like to call it :)

I looked at the title for this thread and said …oh, not again.

Recovering and recovered are verbs. They refer to something (an object for the verb). When people say I’m a recover/ing/ed alcoholic they are referring back to an unspecified object. In other words, they are in the process of, (in the case of recovering) or have already regained (in the case of recovered) SOMETHING. That SOMETHING is left undefined.

It is left up to the listener to define what that SOMETHING is.
The variety of things that can be recovered or be recovering are enormous. Hope, health, sanity etc. The list can go on and on. That SOMETHING is unspecified, making the statement somewhat vague and open to interpretation. The worst possible interpretation (made by the listener) would be that the person who is alcoholic has recovered the ability to drink normally. Without defining exactly what has been recovered, it leaves open this possibility.

In a room that includes people not familiar with recovery, this is a misunderstanding I never wish to take place, so I will use recovering (even if recovered is more apt).

Nope, still recovered :)

much said regarding (recovered) in the AA Big Book
 

1.

... recovered. BB There Is A Solution, p.17 View THERE IS A SOLUTION chapter

Nearly all have recovered.

2.

... recovered. BB There Is A Solution, p.29 View THERE IS A SOLUTION chapter

Further on, clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered.

3.

... recovered. BB Working With Others, p.90 View WORKING WITH OTHERS chapter

If he says yes, then his attention should be drawn to you as a person who has recovered.

4.

... recovered. BB To Wives, p.113 View TO WIVES chapter

He knows that thousands of men, much like himself, have recovered.

5.

... recovered. BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxv View THE DOCTOR'S OPINION

This man and over one hundred others appear to have recovered.

6.

... recovered alcoholics. BB Foreword to Second Edition, p.xv View FOREWORD TO SECOND EDITION

In that brief space, Alcoholics Anonymous has mushroomed into nearly 6,000 groups whose membership is far above 150,000 recovered alcoholics.

7.

... recovered alcoholics carried their message to still ... 12&12 Foreword, p.17 View FOREWORD

With the publication of the book "Alcoholics Anonymous" in 1939, the pioneering period ended and a prodigious chain reaction set in as the recovered alcoholics carried their message to still others.

8.

... recovered, and have been given the power ... BB The Family Afterward, p.132 View THE FAMILY AFTERWARD chapter

We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others.

9.

... recovered, but holds a relatively unimportant job, ... BB To Employers, p.146 View TO EMPLOYERS chapter

An alcoholic who has recovered, but holds a relatively unimportant job, can talk to a man with a better position.

10.

... recovered from a gastric hemorrhage and seemed ... BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxxi View THE DOCTOR'S OPINION

He had but partially recovered from a gastric hemorrhage and seemed to be a case of pathological mental deterioration.

11.

... recovered from a hopeless condition of mind ... BB There Is A Solution, p.20 View THERE IS A SOLUTION chapter

Doubtless you are curious to discover how and why, in the face of expert opinion to the contrary, we have recovered from a hopeless condition of mind and body.

12.

... recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of ... BB Foreword to First Edition, p.xiii View FOREWORD TO FIRST EDITION

We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body.

13.

... recovered from serious drinking, are miracles of ... BB The Family Afterward, p.133 View THE FAMILY AFTERWARD chapter

We, who have recovered from serious drinking, are miracles of mental health.

14.

... recovered immediately and became A.A. number three. BB Foreword to Second Edition, p.xvii View FOREWORD TO SECOND EDITION

Their very first case, a desperate one, recovered immediately and became A.A. number three.

15.

... recovered in A.A., they can become the ... 12&12 Step Twelve, p.112 View STEP TWELVE essay

And if these are facts of life for the many alcoholics who have recovered in A.A., they can become the facts of life for many more.

16.

... recovered is the main purpose of this ... BB Foreword to First Edition, p.xiii View FOREWORD TO FIRST EDITION

To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book.

17.

... recovered long ago. BB We Agnostics, p.45 View WE AGNOSTICS chapter

If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of us would have recovered long ago.

18.

... recovered, of their chance. BB Working With Others, p.96 View WORKING WITH OTHERS chapter

He often says that if he had continued to work on them, he might have deprived many others, who have since recovered, of their chance.

19.

... recovered on their own resources. 12&12 Step One, p.22 View STEP ONE essay

It was a statistical fact that alcoholics almost never recovered on their own resources.

20.

... recovered through A.A. 12&12 Foreword (Note), p.15 View FOREWORD

(*) In 2003, it is estimated that over two million have recovered through A.A.

Well I've never read a thread discussing this so it's not new to me. Just an FYI who feel as thought they are beating a dead horse.:herewego

If it isnt one debate its another. :)

ones who attend college know a lot about debating
a good debater can debate both sides of the issue

if issues or debates such as this bother you why do you post ??

to just to let us know that this is by far not new to you ??

congratulations

Mountainman

I'm recovered from the ravages of active alcoholism for +30 years now. I'm in recovery to make sure I don't repeat and need to be recovered again, which personally I don't thing I can at this stage of recovery.

BE WELL

it's open for discussion for ones interested
anything and everything that causes (me) to think about sobriety
comes as a positive thing

MM

I believe I will always be in recovery, and as always rootin for everyone. :egypt:

http://www.dazzlejunction.com/graphi...tmas-moose.gif

I think this is one of those terms that is an inside deal. Like alcoholic, dry drunk, etc. Only a person themselves can really know what their relationship to booze/life/addiction is.

I'm in recovery.

Other people say they are recovered, and I believe them.

Many of the issues and tendencies that led me to reach for a drink, pill or other unhealthy behaviors and substances are still alive and kicking in me.

For me, taking the substance out was a great and necessary first step towards addressing other things. I'm still a neophyte in the addressing the other things part.

semantics IMO. I believe you could substitute growth for recovering the two are the same. I personally like the concept of movement. I am recovering or growing. I am changing. They say that you emotional maturity stands still when you being drinking and partying - I tend to agree. This for me probably puts me at about 22-24yo in a body of a 39yo. I have started to grow again and the image I have is closer to my real age - vs the invincible 22yo. This took growth and movement and change, which all came from recovery and the process of recovering. Whatever adjective you choose I think is up to the individual and does not matter. The underlying reason has significance and perhaps might tell you something about yourself.