[bluidkiti]

March 1

Quote of the Week

"A.A. spoils your drinking."

When I was drinking, I didn’t know anything about Alcoholics Anonymous. I had vaguely heard of it, but my image was of old men in trench coats smoking cigarettes and drinking lots of coffee. I had never heard of the Twelve Steps, and when I saw car stickers with the triangle in the circle, I had no idea that it referenced the A.A. program. I didn’t even know my best friend had gotten sober until I needed help. Thank God he and the A.A. program were there for me.

When I left the life of drinking, I entered a whole new world. There were meeting rooms, slogans on the walls, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, and lots of happy, sober people who had a solution. I began learning a new way of life, but at ninety days I wasn’t ready for it. I went back out and drank. But the A.A. program had already begun to work because suddenly my drinking wasn’t the same.

I experienced what I’d heard in meetings: A head full of A.A. and a belly full of alcohol don’t mix. I had become aware of the disease—the physical allergy of the body coupled with the obsession of the mind. I had also become aware of the solution—the loving help of a Higher Power and the freedom from bondage the Twelve Steps offered. I kept going to meetings, and finally my sobriety took hold and I stopped drinking for good. Today, I’m glad that the A.A. message spoiled my drinking, because if it hadn’t, I may not be here.