tay-lyn

Responding to a new memebers' post made me create this new thread.

Recently I had a friendly 'debate' with another member about 'struggling' with our disease. He seemed to feel that there wasn't a struggle if you truely surrendered. But for me there is always a struggle. I believe alcoholism is a battle you can either win or lose to. We win when we stay sober, we lose when we pick up the drink. Simply not drinking doesn't make our disease go away. It is always there and we always need to treat it with recovery.

When responding to this memebers' post, I included this quote which is in my thoughts every day. It really sums up what I was getting at in my friendly debate with my good friend.

"Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. When asked which dog wins, he said....'whichever dog I feed'."
George Bernard Shaw


To stay sober, you'll need to feed the good dog (sobriety) everyday for him to win. If you don't feed him, you'll in sense be feeding the bad dog (drinking), which will eventually win.

Juss my thoughts today.

Tay.

fallingdown

Hi Tay-lyn, I have a t-shirt that has a similar quote on it, it says "One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves that are inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false priod, superiority and ego. The other is Good. It is love, joy, peace, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, nobility, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Oddly enough I never really thought of that in terms of sobriety until you posted it so I thank you for bringing it to this forum.

Missymae737

Thanks for your words of wisdom....:ghug

1963comet

RK2007

That's a really good analogy, I really like it - and useful too!!!

For variety, I'm changing the dogs to tanks and the food to the tank drivers pay...

Aysha

I really needed to hear that.
Thanks for sharing Tay!!

Freedom1990

Hmmmm, some interesting analogies here.

I can say that yes, it was a struggle for me early in recovery.

However, as I continue to work an active program of recovery, those things that were so foreign to me early on such as being honest, open, and willing, are now second nature for me

Yes, I will always be an alcoholic, and no, I will never be cured.

However, I have been taught a new way of living that brings me much joy. Each day is no longer a struggle for me

Dee74

...and I still say there's only a battle, if you let there be one

D

Dean62

The names of the two dogs are "self will" and "His will". The only "self will" we need is the will to turn it over to "his will" every day. Then we can allow things to be done for us that we could not do for ourselves.

Big Book first edition.
Very powerful stuff but how is it possible?


I read the end of Chapter 6 "Into Action" from the Big Book first edition every morning starting with the quote above which explains how we "ceased fighting".

Give it a read. AA Big Book -- Chapter 6

BUTTERFLY-7

I could I.D with you I always told my Husband about the Good Angel, and the Bad Angel,A l.o.l what I want to do I cant and what I got to do I don't do I believe the Apostle Paul Inspire by the Holy Spirit Talk about that in the

New Testament the Good Old Book the Bible about the fight he had in his Flesh!