One of the dangers to my sobriety I learned early on. And that was isolation. Separating myself from alcoholics just like me. People, who were sober. Not going to meetings and staying away from the groups.
That would put me in a hazardous place. A place where I would be prone to forget what I had learned in here. How this program works in the lives of people like me. I’ve watched people, who have done this. For the most part they eventually became what are called “dry drunks”. Not drinking but thinking and acting like they did, when they were drinking. Angry, resentful, and a whole lot of other things. And eventually they drank again.
I found out that it’s one thing to be able to live in solitude, being alone, but not lonely, and another thing to isolate. Pulling back from the program and the people in it.
I go to meetings on a regular basis. Meetings keep me current with others and my sobriety. There I am able to find understanding from alcoholics like myself. They know if something is out of place within me, often before I even see it. I can share with them and them with me. More importantly it gives me an opportunity to practice the 12th Step. Being able to carry the message to the new man or woman coming through the doors of this program.
One thing I know is that it reminds me to practice these principles of the program in all of my affairs. I need to hear that and see the examples. Also to be reminded of what this program is about. Just not drinking is not the program. Living it is. And that means understanding and relating to those, who are practicing this program. Meaning living a spiritual life a day at a time.