Step by Step
Monday, Aug. 19, 2024
“There are many things worse than dying, but is there any death worse than the progressive, self-induced slow suicide of the practicing alcoholic? The alcoholic suffers death many times over. Alcohol wrings the guts out of life, eats into the brain in such a way as to make the alcoholic blind to the truth. I served 12 years in prison, never suspecting that without alcohol I would not have been in prison at all. Had it not been for AA in prison …I’ll never know, but my educated guess is that I would not be alive today.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “They Lost Nearly All,” Ch 1 (“A Five-Time Loser Wins”), p 457.
Today, like a prison inmate, we all experienced the multiple deaths of a drinking alcoholic in the losses of family, friends, jobs and milestone events like a child’s birth or wedding, people and experiences that cannot be reclaimed. And, like an inmate, we may not even yet realize that we may never have suffered those losses because of alcohol. But, today, we are sober and in recovery, and the Program has taught us to think now in terms of life because, through surrender to Step One, we choose life over death. Now we must surrender the regrets and pain from those losses and make progress toward the new life to come. And whatever life has planned for us, we can do it now because we are sober — because we chose life. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2024
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