foolsgold66

That is just excellent Mentium. Way to go on 8 weeks and getting a sponsor!

ProgressNotPerfection

Great realizations, I think. I do believe that the first step is the one that deals with the alcohol part of our problem - and the rest deal with the untreated alcoholic personality - and the goal of those twelve steps is to become emotionally sober.....

.... best of everything to you on your journey.

soberhal9

I have depression and anxiety. That is not a character defect. Your ADD is not a character defect. and getting mad is not the same as a resentment.

The 12 steps are NOT therapy. AA is not therapy. If I could get sober from therapy I would have a long time ago. Once I got a sponsor worked the 12 steps as outlined in the book. I recovered. I believe that you are making the 12 steps more complicated than it really is. Once you sit down and a sponsor brings you through the steps you'll see how easy it really is. Some people DONT have any resentments, that's fine. And if you don't believe in God, pray to the spirit of the universe, universal consciousness, the great mystery in the sky, whatever spiritual Power YOU are willing to believe.

bigsombrero

Great thread.

Getting "sober" in scientific terms, was the easy part. Adopting a "sober" life philosophy, however, has been a much more interesting and complicated endeavor.

thebluewolf

I never really think of the language in The Big Book as judgemental; I guess I think of myself as flawed rather than having a defective character though

I agree that the real work for me is not the drying out period but the staying sober. I quite enjoy spirituality and The Big Books' advice to strive to be a better person. I can be fairly quick to lose my temper and hold grudges; sometimes via fear. So, for me anyway, asking my H.P. to remove anger, fear resentment etc helps me ( I hope ) to be a better person and overall less grumpy

LiaAc

I know I am a bit late on replying to this. Sorry about that!

I am only in my 2nd day of recovery and already I am experiencing what you're talking about. I am feeling and experiencing everything, mentally and emotionally, that lead me to taking pills in the first place.

My biggest issue has been getting to the root of the problems. If you don't, it's all too easy to fall back into old habits. It seems to be very common for those in recovery. It takes one moment to give up the substance, and weeks....months...even years...to work on staying sober.

Congrats on your sobriety and finding a sponsor.

matt4x4

If I stick to whats printed in black in the Big Book of AA then I have an extremely high chance to recover. If I start changing things around and making stuff up as I go along. Winging it. I am dead.