'Pass it on...'
Redmayne
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Manchester, England, UK.
Posts: 1,543
'Pass it on...'
On the pages of the book 'Alcoholics Anonymous' there is a line to the effect, 'remember we deal with alcohol, cunning baffling,powerful.' It's existence and effects on certain individuals of defeating the most astute brains for years.
One of the basic tenets of A A, which came into existence in around 1935 when a conversation took place between it's two co-founders, Bob Wilson and 'Dr. Bob', was the phrase,'pass it on'....which is in existence even today. Which is what, in the course of that conversation, they did.
So here's what I've learned today, expounded by, Clancy.I., who himself learned it from another...who passed it on to him...
If you are a 'real alcoholic' ( see Chapter 3 of the book,'Alcoholics Anonymous') and your problem is alcoholism.
Your problem is not alcohol, your problem is that you THINK the answer to your problem is alcohol.
Of course, in real terms, it isn't as we in recovery know only to well. Alcohol, bankrupts you, physically, mentally and spiritually...
Whilst I'd known for some time, in recovery I was a 'real alcoholic' , even gaining a reasonable measure of understanding as to what that term meant, enough at least to know that total abstinence from drinking alcohol was, in mine and others arresting, what is effectively a progressive disease/illness.
I was also happy that my illness was alcoholism, and that alcohol was but a symptom, and that drinking it in the manner it, not me demanded! It made me an alcoholic...with all the resultant misery that ensued.
I'd never been able to consider the fact that alcohol itself wasn't my problem,the problem was that I THOUGHT it was the answer...and therefore the problem, lay in my mind and the delusional thoughts it, enhanced by the consumption of alcohol, produced!
Mind blowing!!!
One of the basic tenets of A A, which came into existence in around 1935 when a conversation took place between it's two co-founders, Bob Wilson and 'Dr. Bob', was the phrase,'pass it on'....which is in existence even today. Which is what, in the course of that conversation, they did.
So here's what I've learned today, expounded by, Clancy.I., who himself learned it from another...who passed it on to him...
If you are a 'real alcoholic' ( see Chapter 3 of the book,'Alcoholics Anonymous') and your problem is alcoholism.
Your problem is not alcohol, your problem is that you THINK the answer to your problem is alcohol.
Of course, in real terms, it isn't as we in recovery know only to well. Alcohol, bankrupts you, physically, mentally and spiritually...
Whilst I'd known for some time, in recovery I was a 'real alcoholic' , even gaining a reasonable measure of understanding as to what that term meant, enough at least to know that total abstinence from drinking alcohol was, in mine and others arresting, what is effectively a progressive disease/illness.
I was also happy that my illness was alcoholism, and that alcohol was but a symptom, and that drinking it in the manner it, not me demanded! It made me an alcoholic...with all the resultant misery that ensued.
I'd never been able to consider the fact that alcohol itself wasn't my problem,the problem was that I THOUGHT it was the answer...and therefore the problem, lay in my mind and the delusional thoughts it, enhanced by the consumption of alcohol, produced!
Mind blowing!!!
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Lawrence, KS
Posts: 250
Originally Posted by Redmayne 
I'd never been able to consider the fact that alcohol itself wasn't my problem,the problem was that I THOUGHT it was the answer...and therefore the problem, lay in my mind and the delusional thoughts it, enhanced by the consumption of alcohol, produced!
Mind blowing!!!
I also really appreciated your reply on a prior thread, where you mentioned someone once told you that maybe it wasn't your time yet. So humbling, I can so relate, as a long-term recovered friend of mine told me the exact same thing a couple months ago. It made me mad.
Thing is, I don't want to be at rock bottom in order to get better! Argh!
But back on topic, it's soooo true it's all in our heads. I love being sober. I love being tipsy. I love blacking out drunk. I don't like the dependency and the extenuating effects it has on my life, but I guess I don't "not like" them enough to let go and recover. But the problem does indeed exist in my mind. It's a trickery, a mind game, a distorted way of thinking. So in that light, perhaps I could convince myself that I am, indeed, actually at rock bottom?
Redmayne
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Manchester, England, UK.
Posts: 1,543
Thank you...
Hi and thank you for your comments on this and my previous post, on reflection of all you say about how much you love being sober and don't like the extenuating effects drinking has on your life, etc...
Another oft used phrase heard in both A.A. meetings and from those in recovery is that their decision to both get into recovery and in doing so, seek prolonged sobriety was based on the fact that they got 'sick and tired of being sick and tired' often heard well before they hit a state of 'rock bottom' which involved them losing everything.
Including, in some cases their lives! Not wishing to sound over dramatic, as much as some make light of it both recovery and sobriety is a serious business, although there's always room for humor.
It's, as it says in the book 'Alcoholics Anonymous' a selfish program at the end of the day, as it's , as you say, all in your mind. No one can do it for you, it's a bit like spirituality. No one can teach spirituality, you can only create the environment, often through experiential learning, in which they will learn. You then become spiritual, for just as much as you adopt a way of life that leads to prolonged sobriety...
'Only you can create a beautiful mind' says the Dalai Lama, just as only you can make you happy...
Another oft used phrase heard in both A.A. meetings and from those in recovery is that their decision to both get into recovery and in doing so, seek prolonged sobriety was based on the fact that they got 'sick and tired of being sick and tired' often heard well before they hit a state of 'rock bottom' which involved them losing everything.
Including, in some cases their lives! Not wishing to sound over dramatic, as much as some make light of it both recovery and sobriety is a serious business, although there's always room for humor.
It's, as it says in the book 'Alcoholics Anonymous' a selfish program at the end of the day, as it's , as you say, all in your mind. No one can do it for you, it's a bit like spirituality. No one can teach spirituality, you can only create the environment, often through experiential learning, in which they will learn. You then become spiritual, for just as much as you adopt a way of life that leads to prolonged sobriety...
'Only you can create a beautiful mind' says the Dalai Lama, just as only you can make you happy...
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