Today I listened to a number of people, who thought they were part of a medical or pharmaceutical convention, and it reminded me of why I was there at a meeting. I could see how it’s possible for AA to lose its way and drift off to oblivion. When we become “experts” in any fields, other than alcohol, we can easily get lost.<\/p>\n
When I was out there drinking, I was an expert in everything. All you had to do was bring up a subject and I “knew” all there was to know about it. That “certainty” got me in a lot of trouble. When I bring that same “expertise” and “certainty” into an AA meeting, trouble is bound to follow.<\/p>\n
How grateful I am that our founders were endowed with the wisdom to foresee the fate AA might suffer, if a whole lot of “experts” in all fields of endeavor were to choose what AA was all about. Fortunately for all of us they spelled out AA’s primary purpose in the Traditions. They help us to keep our focus on the reason we came here in the first place. They remind us that we know only one thing well and that’s alcohol. They knew that if we wandered off on our own that sooner or later we would forget why we’re here and we would drink again and for us to drink is to die.<\/p>\n
The reason I go to meetings is that I don’t want to drink again. I go there to be reminded of that fact and to hear what it is I need to do to stay sober. If I want to know anything else, I can pick up a book, get on the Internet, turn on the TV, or talk with someone about it. I can even go to college and study a subject of interest to me. But when I’m in a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, I’m to leave my brains at the door and go in and listen and participate in sharing with others like myself, who are there to stay sober.<\/p>\n
Near the end of the meeting today, we were all brought back to reality. A drunk stormed into the room, shouting at the top of his lungs. When he left we all knew exactly why we were there. We knew that he was us and we were him. What a twelfth step he performed on a meeting involved in intellectual pursuits, other than alcohol.<\/p>\n
I was thinking how grateful I am at this moment to be so fortunate as to find this program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today I listened to a number of people, who thought they were part of a medical or pharmaceutical convention, and it reminded me of why I was there at a meeting. I could see how it’s possible for AA to lose its way and drift off to oblivion. When we become “experts” in any fields, … <\/p>\n