12 Steps Away From a Drunk
The logic here is that if I’ve taken all 12 steps and incorporated them into my life, then I m 12 steps away from a drunk. I know that this statement will ruffle some feathers in the one drink away from a drunk crowd. But really guys, just open your mind and think about it for a minute. I know that I didn’t do all the step work I’ve done and continue to do in my 37 years of sobriety to be teetering on the edge of a shot glass.
Ok so I’m a heretic some of you are thinking. Probably from a Blue state which is true. However, I just can’t wrap my head around being one drink away from a drunk. The thing is I don’t drink alcohol. God removed that obsession from me on day 1 of my sobriety. I’m one of the “allergic types” of drinkers that Dr. Silkworth talks about in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (BBAA). If I use alcohol, I break out in all kinds of stuff like lying, stealing, obsessing, and not caring about anything or anybody but myself. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
In the chapter in the BBAA entitled More About Alcoholism it refers to a scientific cure or treatment for alcoholism. It states “science may one day accomplish this (stop us from drinking), but it hasn’t done so yet.” And guess what guys, science never will solve the problem. For those of you waiting for the whoopie pill, sorry. The reason why science will not solve the problem is that it’s not a scientific problem! It’s a spiritual malady coupled with an obsession of the mind and a physical allergy. If you doubt this take yourself back to the Dr.s Opinion in the BBAA. Read the chapter again. Dr. Silkworth identified the problem, Dr. Carl Jung (see Bill’s Story) identified the solution, a vital spiritual experience and Bill and Dr. Bob put it all together and into action!
So, you see grasshoppers I’ve done my homework. Thank God I am 12 Steps away from a drunk. This is not a program of maintenance but a program of transformation. According to the dictionary “maintain” means to stay the same. BBAA says we must perfect and enlarge our spiritual life. This is accomplished by a process of transformation through the application of the 12 steps to our daily life. And it works. We stay sober for the rest of our lives by using this 12-step program. By now I’m sure some of you have thrown me under the bus and totally discounted what I had to say here. And that’s OK. May God grant you all permanent sobriety as outlined in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.
