Boleo

hI have often heard it said at meetings;

"I just have to realize that I am one drink away from my next drunk".

Back when I thought the AA program was about psychological tricks and
tips, I agreed with this slogan. Now that I believe it is the
spiritual principles learned in the steps that keep me sober, I have
changed my slogan to:

"I just have to realize that I am one infinitely powerful God away
from my next drunk"

I know this might sound cocky to some, but for those who believe in
the 10th step promise (page 85 of the Big Book)

"We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality -
safe and protected".

sailorjohn

But never left without the daily choice. The spiritual stuff is to give you the armor, but regardless, you are still left with the free will to exercise the daily choice.

lizw

Makes a lot of sense to me. And (for me) there are many ways I can 'get away' from God/shut myself off from the sunlight of the spirit and a lot of them start on that slippery slope called resentment. Our books pretty good eh? It does say resentment is the number one offender.

sugErspun

I don't agree.

My book says that the insanity of alcohol returns, and then we drink. I do not believe I have a choice in not drinking today - if I do, that is reliance on self....and I know where self-reliance has got me in the past.

I think I have asked this before - If it is true that the insanity of alcoholism returns (because I am providing safe-harbor to fear and resentment) and then I drink. Can one honestly say that I chose to be insane? Is insanity a choice?


I don't think sobriety in AA has very much to do with free will. We are living miracles, but somehow want the credit for it.

nandm

I think the "Choice" comes in to play as a choice to follow a spiritual path of life which arms us against that first drink. That is how I view the choice to drink or not drink each day.

Just my 2 cents....

RufusACanal

"Semantics; the study of how meaning in language is created by the use and interrelationships of words, phrases, and sentences."

sugErspun

I know, I know...probably one of the touchier subjects in AA. Not meaning to start a debate - rather just offer my experience with it.

I stopped many times by just choosing to not drink every day...inevitably came the day where I made the wrong choice.

When I made a choice at the 3rd step - the notion that I was going to keep me sober was gone. I decided that I had tried everything else - why not give this 'god' thing a shot...it seemed to work for others. I didn't know what god is, but I was willing to believe that maybe I don't know everything..

I have been sober ever since..and not once have I thought to myself "I am not going to drink today", or has it even occured to me that I wouldn't be sober. The thought process that used to dominate my life is gone and I attribute most of that to my letting go of 'choice' in regard to alcohol. Because my choice in regard to alcohol - will eventually kill me.

navysteve

In my own findings I feel that just to the extent that I am free to drink or do other wrongs, I am not really free.

Tommyh

God has restored my sanity concerning drinking.So,I`m sitting here thinking,I could get my car and go get a drink if I wanted too...but I just don`t want too
the desire to drink has been removed
so,choice really hasn`t much to do with it right now for me..it must be another gift from the HP.
out with the bad,in with the good

Clutch B

For me, the choice of whether to drink is in the willingness of the 3rd step.

When I'm willing to let my higher power be in control, I make a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of my higher power. When I turn my will over, I don't drink.

When I lose the willingness to let my higher power be in control, I take my will back. The insanity of alcohol returns. I'm darned lucky if I don't get drunk.

So yes, I think there is a choice. But only if I'm willing to let someone else be in charge.

jimhere

In the darkness of active alcoholism there is no choice but to drink.

In the sunlight of the spirit there is no choice to drink because the problem has been removed.

Tazman53

Just my opinion based upon my limited experience, but I exercise choice every day, every minute, the choice is not for me whether to drink or not, the choice is whether or not I am going to continue to work on maintaining my spiritual fitness, am I going to do his will or mine, that is the choice.

If my choice is to maintain my spiritual condition and do his will and not mine, then a drink is not an option nor a choice for me, if I am choosing to continue to do Gods will, then I will not drink because it is not an option.

Now if I choose to not work on my spiritual condition, if I choose to do my will and not God's, then the insanity will slowly (maybe quickly) return, then exercising my will I may choose to drink again thereby demonstrating that the very sanity that God restored me to at one time has left me because I chose not to do his will and not maintain my spiritual fitness.

For me the choice I make daily is to whether or not I want to maintain my spiritual fitness and continue to let God care for me or not.

Boleo

The insanity returns between steps 3 and 4:

"It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feeling we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die. "

Sanity is restored in step 10:

"And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone-even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality—safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition."

Tazman53

Boleo it says:

"by this time" sanity began to return for me slowly after I did the third step and as it says in the BB, by the time I was finished the 10th step it had returned. For me the return of my sanity was a process that for the most part was complete by the time I did the 10th step...... but I still have an occasional insane thought, luckily none that indicate that a drink would be a good idea! LOL

Ago

except of course on these forums where the laws of the space time continuum are somehow put in abeyance and we let fly at each other with bared teeth.

What happened to that thing Bill talks about, something about something we have found something we can absolutely agree on.....something about recovery, the quote escapes me at the moment

Tommyh

Ago,I believe AA`ers is just like politics
some on the right,some on the left,and some in the middle

Ago

well everybody needs to fall in line with MY program dammit!!!!!

don't you people know who I am??!??!?!??!

WTF!?!???!?!

lolol hahahahaha ooooh hahahahahaha omfg I am DYING here hahahahaha



/looks around and realizes he has NO idea what this thread is about....

/runs away