Frequently I go back to the Doctor’s Opinion. Especially the part where he describes the disease concept. Particularly the part where he talks about the alcoholics inability to distinguish between the true and the false.
I can remember one drinking event in a barroom one night. That was a night there was a shooting incident. Two men were killed and I narrowly escaped being shot. Yet I was back in the same barroom the next day, drinking again. No concept of the truth. The false was what was true for me. It was always that way when I was drinking.
But today I know the truth. Mostly, that is, I think. Of course I know that the truth can change from time to time. What is true today may be different tomorrow. However, some truths never change. One of those is that once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. That’s me. I will always be an alcoholic and always powerless over alcohol.
No matter how long I stay sober, it is possible to be in harms way. That’s the truth. It would be false to think I can’t. But there has been another truth in my life. As long as I practice the principles of AA I have a chance at another day sober. That has been my experience to date. I also know that this practice has never been perfect. But I also know the truth, when I’m told, that it’s progress not perfection. The truth seems to be that, if I can remain willing to put this program into action every day is what keeps me sober.
The truth for me is that I have to practice these 12 Steps, which were given to me. Follow the Traditions to the best of my ability.
Try to work with others and carry the message, whenever I can.
Go to meetings on a regular basis, participate and listen. Talk to another alcoholic on an almost daily basis. Pray and meditate and depend on my higher power. All this has helped me know the truth, that I can stay sober a day at a time.
The greatest falsehood is that because I’m an alcoholic that I have to drink. AA has proved how false that statement is.
I was thinking about this this evening.