Tag Archives: Steps vs Meetings

Are You Free?

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Achieving physical sobriety is not an accomplishment, it is a requirement.

Achieving recovery from alcoholism or drug addiction is not an accomplishment, it is our responsibility.
                                                     
                                                        *

     True freedom means we don’t just get sober and remain untreated lunatics, we work on ourselves until we are well, and then we go serve.
     True freedom means we forgo the psychotropics, the methadone maintenance, and yup, the suboxone. Sorry.

     True freedom means we don’t reward ourselves with sobriety chips just because we stopped hurting other people. 
     True freedom means we don’t pat ourselves on the backs for staying sober or for doing the right thing.

     True freedom means if we go to three meetings a day and we’re still out of our freaking minds, we consider embarking on some REAL WORK.
     True freedom means we don’t just ‘take what we want and leave the rest’, as half-ass measures will yield half-ass results.
     True freedom means understanding that our suffering ISN’T NOVEL, that we are just one of 7 billion who all feel the same things.
     True freedom means means we forgo the whining and complaining. We are not victims. Plus, it’s selfish.
     True freedom means we don’t let our feelings stop us.
     True freedom means we have the guts and the courage to take Steps.

     True freedom means we give 100, not 99% to the Steps.
     True freedom means we don’t leave anything out of our inventory.
     True freedom means we unearth the deepest, darkest, sickest skeletons in our closets. 
     True freedom means we make ALL of our amends, and those we can’t find we pray for God to put them in our path.

     True freedom means we never shy away when our help is sought or needed.
     True freedom means we don’t expect anything in return when we give of ourselves.
     True freedom means we speak up when something is wrong, even if we fear confrontation.
     True freedom means we are willing to step outside of our comfort zones.
     True freedom means we take more action when we start getting depressed.
     True freedom means we don’t live in the past or worry about the future, neither of which exist.
     True freedom means we live in the moment and just do what’s right in front of us (not my phrase).
     True freedom means we have faith and understand that so long as we do our best to live by spiritual principles, we will have everything we need.
     True freedom means we are still and we know that God lives in our hearts. We are at peace.

Why Many Don’t Respond To AA

Posted on by under AA, Sponsorship, Steps vs Meetings, Therapy

     Many alcoholics don’t respond to AA for the same reason we don’t respond to therapy. The guy talking to us doesn’t really know what he’s talking about and has no solution to offer. Sure, the speakers in AA may have a slight affinity to us in that they drank alcohol. But sadly, it often ends there.

     In order for me to listen to you, you have to have felt and used the way I did. And yes, this is sometimes true in AA. But you also must be in the sort of condition I want to be in if I’m going to get sober and take your advice. I don’t want to be a sober mess, running from meeting to meeting, shaking, chain smoking, chugging coffee, restless, irritable, anxious, depressed, empty, lonely, miserable, selfish, and with no purpose whatsoever other than desperately trying to not drink.
     In fact, that was never the solution that AA offered us long ago. Alcoholics Anonymous says that we can recover by taking steps and then live in freedom and peace. But that’s not what you hear in AA. You hear stories, and the staple advice is “just keep comin'”, because this Group Of Drunks can keep you clean. Wow, that’s pretty shitty advice. I know plenty of people and believe me, none of them can keep me sober. For sure, there are two separate programs, both called AA. 
     Sorry, but I’m all set. I’m only going to listen to you if you’ve not only felt and used the way I did, but you are also standing there before me with internal strength, calm, centered, content, secure, stable, happy, productive and fearless. This is what you see when you meet and talk to a recovered person. You can’t tell they were ever some dirty heroin addict or some wreaking drunk on the street. They have been reborn. They are transformed. They have grown new minds and have been filled with the spirit and power of GOD.
     So that’s why people are turned off by AA. Because what you see in meetings today is not what AA ever intended. AA was a 12 Step program of action designed to expel certain spiritual poisons from us to allow for a new Power to come into us, thereby replacing our addiction with something that really works. So if collecting sobriety chips and cranking butts all day isn’t cutting it for you, do yourself a favor and find a recovered person to talk to. Trust me, it will be eye-opening.
God, teach us how to live Your solution and Your principles, that we may serve as examples of real recovery…