Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
Hi, I'm wondering what everyone's opinions are on 1. Which is better, the 12&12 or the Big Book?, and 2. Does anyone believe they are recovered from alcoholism?
I was taught mostly with the 12&12 and that we are never recovered but always recovering.
I recently moved and at meetings in my new area, there is a group of people who call themselves "recovered" and quote where the Big Book states this. They say that we should read the Big Book as a text book and are very adamant that we become recovered only when we complete the 12 steps and then have a spiritual experience as a result. They also put down the 12&12, saying Bill's big ego wrote it.
I'm trying to stay open minded but these people are very preachy and I'm feeling like I don't want to attend the meetings that they are at. Any thoughts?
I was taught mostly with the 12&12 and that we are never recovered but always recovering.
I recently moved and at meetings in my new area, there is a group of people who call themselves "recovered" and quote where the Big Book states this. They say that we should read the Big Book as a text book and are very adamant that we become recovered only when we complete the 12 steps and then have a spiritual experience as a result. They also put down the 12&12, saying Bill's big ego wrote it.
I'm trying to stay open minded but these people are very preachy and I'm feeling like I don't want to attend the meetings that they are at. Any thoughts?
The very first page in the Big Book states this:
"The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism"
Here is my favorite quote from the Big Book:
"Further on, clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered."
Here are more quotes from the Big Book:
"WE, OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, know thousands of men and women who were once just as hopeless as Bill. Nearly all have recovered. They have solved the drink problem."
"WE, OF Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book."
"In that brief space, Alcoholics Anonymous has mushroomed into nearly 6,000 groups whose membership is far above 150,000 recovered alcoholics."
"He knows that thousands of men, much like himself, have recovered."
"We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others."
" We, who have recovered from serious drinking, are miracles of mental health."
"An alcoholic who has recovered, but holds a relatively unimportant job, can talk to a man with a better position."
"we have recovered from a hopeless condition of mind and body."
"Further on, clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered."
"If he says yes, then his attention should be drawn to you as a person who has recovered."
" He often says that if he had continued to work on them, he might have deprived many others, who have since recovered, of their chance."
" Their very first case, a desperate one, recovered immediately and became A.A. number three. He never had another drink."
"This man and over one hundred others appear to have recovered."
Now, if one claims to be recovering...it is because they have reservations about drinking again, OR they are using the excuse that they are still recovering to hide behind bad behavior, or inaction upon the steps.
Guru