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SamIam · 08-09-2012, 10:43 PM

I picked up my third year chip last May. I don't go to as many meetings as I did three years ago, but I still go to meetings. I don't read the Big Book much because I find it out-dated and stilted. Good grief, they still hang on to that chapter called "To Wives." Give me a break. AA started out as very much of an old boys' club. Bill Wilson was a stock broker and Dr. Bob was - well, a doctor. Some meetings in the early days wouldn't even allow a female alcoholic through the door. One woman writes about standing in the hall outside of the meeting trying to hear what was going on.

Some people treat that damn Big Book as if it were directly dictated to Bill W. by god. It's simply a book written back in the 30's about the experiences of a hundred or so people trying to stay sober. The Big Book does have some good stuff in it if you disregard some of its more egregious passages. The fellowship of AA keeps me sober more than anything else. That and the knowledge that alcohol no longer works for me and will never work for me again. The memory of the hell of my last 2 years of drinking will never leave my mind. Not ever. Those awful memories keep me sober as well.

I don't have a personal "Higher Power" who keeps me sober. If someone else does, good on them. Alcoholism (and other addictions) is an extremely pernicious condition. Alcoholics are far more likely to die rather than recover, and many times relapse seems to be an almost random event. I've seen people who did everything by the book go out for no apparent reason and end up killing themselves. Other people seem like completely hopeless cases, never go to AA or treatment, never "get religion," but still sober up and stay that way for the rest of their lives. But people in this last catagory are still as sick as any other alcoholic.

No one absolutely no one deserves to become an alcoholic and they especially don't deserve to die of alcoholism. I have seen my share of good people give it their best effort and still fail. I never critisize them because there but for the grace of whatever go I.

08-09-2012, 10:43 PM	#238
SamIam Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Not here Posts: 2,655	I picked up my third year chip last May. I don't go to as many meetings as I did three years ago, but I still go to meetings. I don't read the Big Book much because I find it out-dated and stilted. Good grief, they still hang on to that chapter called "To Wives." Give me a break. AA started out as very much of an old boys' club. Bill Wilson was a stock broker and Dr. Bob was - well, a doctor. Some meetings in the early days wouldn't even allow a female alcoholic through the door. One woman writes about standing in the hall outside of the meeting trying to hear what was going on. Some people treat that damn Big Book as if it were directly dictated to Bill W. by god. It's simply a book written back in the 30's about the experiences of a hundred or so people trying to stay sober. The Big Book does have some good stuff in it if you disregard some of its more egregious passages. The fellowship of AA keeps me sober more than anything else. That and the knowledge that alcohol no longer works for me and will never work for me again. The memory of the hell of my last 2 years of drinking will never leave my mind. Not ever. Those awful memories keep me sober as well. I don't have a personal "Higher Power" who keeps me sober. If someone else does, good on them. Alcoholism (and other addictions) is an extremely pernicious condition. Alcoholics are far more likely to die rather than recover, and many times relapse seems to be an almost random event. I've seen people who did everything by the book go out for no apparent reason and end up killing themselves. Other people seem like completely hopeless cases, never go to AA or treatment, never "get religion," but still sober up and stay that way for the rest of their lives. But people in this last catagory are still as sick as any other alcoholic. No one absolutely no one deserves to become an alcoholic and they especially don't deserve to die of alcoholism. I have seen my share of good people give it their best effort and still fail. I never critisize them because there but for the grace of whatever go I.