Victimhood - A Dead End To Recovery
I am responsible only for my own sobriety and my own spiritual path. I had to attend a lot of meetings to get to the place where I was comfortable just letting those I had branded, in my early sobriety, as religious addicts, to express their own truth. Hey, if it keeps them sober, what's the difference? After all this is the basic purpose of AA.
I had to make a choice. I could find out what it was that this program had to teach me so that I could get sober and functional again, or I could try to get sober on my own because some of the people in the program turned me off. I tried getting sober on my own for 3 years. Finally, after two more hospitalizations, I gave in and went back to AA. At this point I decided that if it was going to work for me I would have to work it. Not just by going to meetings, although meetings were a very important part of my sobriety for the first three years, but by actually working the steps with a sponsor.
Now, it's also important to say here that there are many who really need to stick with AA as a lifetime commitment. I think if you feel that way, it's really true for you. Don't mess with what works.There are many people whose drive to drink never goes away, and in order to remain sober must continuously attend meetings. They need the structure, the fellowship and the structured service work to assist them in maintaining their sobriety, one day at a time. I applaud those individuals for their vigilance, their commitment and their willingness to be there, extending the hand of fellowship to those who still suffer.
Nevertheless, there are a growing number of individuals who have gone through the program, got a sponsor, worked the steps, did service work and attained a new spirituality that is now the focus of their attention. They go to meetings now and then, they still sponsor a couple of people, but they now attend meetings that help them to grow spiritually. They may tell their story now and then, to someone who needs to hear it, but mostly they explore the more esoteric side of life. They continue to do their maintenance steps, they practice the principles of the program in all their dealings with others, they continue to read about things that will broaden their spirituality, and they almost always have jobs that require them to assist others, whose lives are broken for one reason
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