Veritas1

"A man of thirty was doing a great deal of spree drinking. He was very nervous in the morning after these bouts and quieted himself with more liquor. He was ambitious to succeed in business, but saw that he would get nowhere if he drank at all. Once he started, he had no control whatever. He made up his mind that until he had been successful in business and had retired, he would not touch another drop. An exceptional man, he remained bone dry for twenty-five years and retired at the age of fifty-five, after a successful and happy business career. Then he fell victim to a belief which practically every alcoholic has—that his long period of sobriety and self-discipline had qualified him to drink as other men. Out came his carpet slippers and a bottle. In two months he was in a hospital, puzzled and humiliated. He tried to regulate his drinking for a little while, making several trips to the hospital meantime. Then, gathering all his forces, he attempted to stop altogether and found he could not. Every means of solving his problem money could buy was at his disposal. Every attempt failed. Though a robust man at retirement, he went to pieces quickly and was dead within four years.

This case contains a powerful lesson. most of us have believed that if we remained sober for a long stretch, we could thereafter drink normally. But here is a man who at fifty-five years found he was just where he had left off at thirty. We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: “Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.” Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever. If we are planning to stop drinking , there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol."

nandm

To help smash the delusion that we are like other people is the purpose of this illustration. If we are alcoholic, over time we get worse, never better. The ability to control our drinking never returns, no matter how long we abstain.

Spree drinking, nervousness and drinking in the morning to calm our nerves are signs of alcoholism. We can compare the progression of our own drinking to this fellow. Are we showing signs of alcoholism?

This man possessed high ambitions and common sense but was still alcoholic. Do we think that our good intentions will protect us from alcoholism? How about will power and firm resolve? This fellow's reliance on resolve kept him sober for 25 years, but then failed him. Do we have this belief? Will we also fall victim to it? How have past periods of abstinence worked to restore our ability to control our drinking?

After self-discipline repeatedly fails to work, we begin to lose confidence in ourselves and seek help from others. When the help of our families, spouses, friends and doctors all fail we are left seemingly hopeless. Unless we can find something greater than human power, we may be doomed as this fellow was.

To stop drinking permanently requires the abandonment of all reservations. Some of us have fallen prey to the idea that we will quit drinking until the current crisis we are facing passes, then we can begin again. Perhaps a judge has threatened us with fines or imprisonment. Or maybe our spouse is ready to leave us. We quit drinking for the length of the sentence or until the spouse cools off. We may attend A.A. meetings. When the crisis has passed, we stop going to meetings and resume our drinking. This is compliance rather than surrender. Compliance will only keep us sober for as long as the threat of unfavorable consequences hangs over our heads.

DarrenW

Good quote. We all wish we could drink like normal folks. If I drink, I will die shortly afterward.

Tommyh

The Simple Approach to the 12 Steps!

1. There's a power that will kill me.
2. There's a power that wants me to live.
3. Which do I want? (If you want to die, stop here. If you want to live, go on.)
4. Using examples from your own life, understand that selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear control your actions.
5. Tell all your private, embarrassing secrets to another person.
6. Decide whether or not you want to live that way any more.
7.If you want your life to change, ask a power greater than yourself to change it for you. (If you could have changed it yourself, you would have long ago.)
8. Figure out how to make right all the things you did wrong.
9. Fix what you can without causing more trouble in the process.
10. Understand that making mistakes is part of being human (When you make a mistake, fix it, immediately if you can.)
11. Ask for help to treat yourself and others the way you want your higher power to treat you.
12. Don't stop doing 1 through 11, and Pass It On!!

--Author Unknown

paul99

I like this - thanks for posting!