SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

- Secular 12 Step Recovery (https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/secular-12-step-recovery/)

- - no meetings still sober (https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/secular-12-step-recovery/406727-no-meetings-still-sober.html)

“To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the purpose of this book”.
quote from foreword to the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous.
if i hadn’t read that, i doubt i would have ever gone.
the word “recovered” appears several times in the book; i considered it a promise.

why is he still going? you assume he “needs to” - he is likely there to share his experience, strength and hope (esh) with others, especially newcomers. he is there to share how he recovered, so that others can, too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sortofhomecomin (Post 7396151)

I think it's interesting that some people on this forum openly describe themselves as 'recovered alcoholics'. Not 'recovering' or even just 'alcoholic' but recovered. I went to AA meetings in Dublin for 10 months every day - sometimes twice a day - and only one person would introduce himself as a recovered alcoholic and some of the others would slag him off about this, behind his back. Then again it begs the question why does he need to attend AA meetings if he's recovered? This bloke looked very healthy and I had no reason to disbelieve his statements that he was off booze for 20 years. I'm just trying to tease all this stuff out for myself.

I'm pretty much with Ken on this one. At least I think I am. I know the point people are attempting make when they use the term recovering, and I use it because it's like the thing to do, especially in AA, but to me recovered and recovery can sometimes be interchangeable. I understand the "one drink is all it takes part of alcoholism," but if a person commits to never taking that drink, I'm fine with calling that person recovered. And I believe many recovered alcoholics have truly made that commitment.

But the semantics involved in this thing don't mean much to me. We either get well or we don't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sortofhomecomin (Post 7396151)

I don't think it makes a difference to anyone else but I'm still happily 'recovering'.

The way I see it I'm breathing, I'm living, I'm experiencing, I'm growing, and getting closer to dying...lol...

the - ings have it for me.

How does that compare quality wise to other fine denizens of this thread. No idea.

I'm just glad the quality of my recovering is sufficient to keep me securely in recovery.

I wonder if there's much research done on the semantics of recovery; I find it really interesting how the labels we use to describe ourselves can affect our sober experience.

Here are two positions which basically sum up the recovered vs. recovering discussion/debate within AA circles.

Recovering alcoholic: Only alcoholics would choose to argue over petty b.s. such as this.

Recovered alcoholic: Whats petty about saving lives? People are dying every day because of lazy members of AA who will not read the book.

Personally, I think many of the disagreement we (those in AA) experience today are nothing new. They've been on-going since AA began.