One man once wrote that art is the perfection of habit. If that’s true, then what one man said in the meeting today makes a lot of sense. Repetition is what this alcoholic needs.
Repetition was what kept me drunk. I kept repeating the same thing everyday I was out there. And then I came here and found that, if I wanted to stay sober, there were a number of things I needed to do daily, including prayer and the Steps.
But more than that. I need to go to meetings and hear much of the same things I heard, when I came to this program. The same things which have worked for this alcoholic. Too many times, when things get off track in meetings, I fail to hear what I need to hear.
How much that played into what happened to someone, with a lot of years, who was coming back today after having drank again, I have no idea. But I do know what worked for me and what has been so important in my staying sober. Those old timers, who kept repeating what I needed to hear, which was so vital to helping me stay sober.
Ask any athlete, any marksman, any craftsman, what it was that helped them to become successful in what they were doing and they would tell you it was repetition. Continued practice of the skills they were trying to develop.
The same with me. I definitely don’t want find myself drifting off into complacency and end up frustrated and lost. I know the way to avoid that trap. To not only continue to practice this program, but to continue to read the literature and to attend meetings on a regular basis so I can hear what I need to hear. Repetition.
One of the things I heard over and over again was that I can’t stay sober by myself. I believe that and need to hear it repeated. Apparently that was one of the things this person with long sobriety forgot. And the way to forget is not hearing what we all need to hear again and again. One man pointed out how that, when he tends to relax and become complacent, he has a tendency to isolate and how dangerous that is to his sobriety.
Lot of good things said today in the meeting, which I needed to hear. I’m sorry that I have no idea what that person heard today, but I can only hope that the ears were open, as well as their mind and heart, to listen, as only the dying can, and that they too heard what so many of us heard.