One may hear someone share at a meeting that they are one drink away from a drunk. For myself nothing could be further from the truth. I believe that someone who has taken all twelve steps and is applying the principles of the Steps in their lives are 12 steps away from a drunk.
This is much truer rather than being only a drink away from disaster. The 12 Step process removes the craving for alcohol and drugs. To be only one drink away from a drunk conjures up an image of a shivering person wringing their hands and debating with themselves if they should take that first drink or not. This is not a comfortable way to live. By taking and applying the steps in your life you can sit back with relevant ease and not worry about drinking or using.
Mind you one must be vigilant however when it comes to keeping watch over one’s sobriety. There’s a statement in the chapter “To the Wives” in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous that states that “God has either removed the drink problem or he has not.” Remember Step One states that we are powerless over alcohol. It usually takes divine intervention for this problem to be solved.
In the taking of the Twelve Steps, we learn how to live a happy, joyous and free sober life. The Big Book tells us that we may go anywhere we choose to go to. We can socialize in any setting we happen to be in. In applying the 12 Steps to our life our desires and motives change. We no longer seek out sordid pastimes as they are no longer appealing to us. We seek out friends who are usually also sober, but we may have some non-alcoholic friends also. Our thinking has been placed on a much higher plane and we no longer find enjoyment in things we did when we were drinking. We have a host of new friends and activities upon becoming sober.
We don’t fear alcohol or drugs, but we have a healthy respect for them. We now know that we are allergic to them as we learned in the Dr.’s Opinion in the Big Book. This allergy becomes moot as we take the Twelve Steps and incorporate them into our lives and remain sober. We still have adversity crop up in our lives, but we now have the proper tools to deal with it. As long as we live by the principles found in the Twelve Steps, we are able to remain sober. And for this I am very grateful.
