Being clever won’t get you sober
“But when alcohol arrived in my life, the innocence of my youth evaporated, and in its place, a whole new world opened up to me – where living after dark became my new life.”
My name’s Bill and I’m an alcoholic. I made a cup of hot milk and honey tonight and it immediately transported me back to my childhood – a period during the 1960s where potions and lotions were the cure for all ills; hot milk and honey was for temperatures, compounds that tasted of kitchen cleaner were for sore throats. We lived in an era that if you were well enough to get up, you were well enough to go to school, when cod liver oil was given more as a punishment – you definitely thought twice before feeling ill again! Finally, a thick gooey malt extract was administered by the spoonful if you were ‘a bit under the weather’.
Life was simple then, where a bottle of lemonade was considered a luxury.
But when alcohol arrived in my life, the innocence of my youth evaporated, and in its place, a whole new world opened up to me – where living after dark became my new life. I saw more milkmen on their rounds, at 5 in the morning, than I did of my own family: leaving the nightclubs as the day was just beginning, feeling tired – that was how I now lived. Seeing the world starting a new day as I went home to sleep became normalised in my young life. I was only 14.
Twenty-five years later, I walked into my first meeting.
I’d known since I was that young boy that my drinking was seriously out of control, and AA started its journey of change within me.
An enthusiasm for recovery is all that’s needed – learning to live sober is an uncomplicated process of sitting, listening, finding some honesty, and understanding that no one else can do your recovery, except yourself.
Having respect for all that sobriety entails is not only imperative, it is actually the lifeblood of any long-term recovery; trying to over-complicate a recovery doesn’t work, and trying to turn the 12 Steps into a technical exercise won’t work either.
Recovery from alcoholism is a spiritual pathway, not a degree course in alcohol abuse.
Being clever won’t aid a recovery, because the spiritual journey of any recovery depends on having a series of spiritual experiences – it is not an academic exercise. There are no exams, no lectures, and no right or wrongs, only a persistent and ongoing wish to never drink again.
So, if you think you’re clever, that’s ok; If you’re uneducated, that’s ok also, because the only thing you need, to spend the rest of your life sober, is in the Traditions – Tradition three. All that’s needed is simple – it’s unambiguous – and that’s a desire to stop drinking.
Bill the Shirt
Bristol
