“If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
“Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us—sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.”
Alcoholics Anonymous p83-84
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Congrats, Dean. Keep it up!
Ryan
RyanR’s last blog post..Faces of Math
Congratulations!Â
I’m just now getting caught up on my reading after a week away. Your post last week is most excellent reading.Â
I’m not sure I would call it inspirational, but it is certainly educational, informative, and thought provoking.  I’ve got it bookmarked, as I am sure I will refer to it in the future.
And let me assure you that your experience has already benefited others (i.e., me!)
I’m glad this works for you, really.
I do have a question, though: is there a similar program that would be suitable for atheists?
(Not asking for myself, just curious. And please don’t read anything into it – again: I’m not trying to be snarky or anything, I’m just curious.)
Congratulations – and don’t get cocky.
I say it every anniversary – and I mean it. "Pride cometh before a fall" is particularly true with us drunks.
Mark,
Here’s an AA atheist’s take on the program. To quote the most pertinent bit:
You can try Moderation Management, which is at least a starting point for some to finding their way to abstinence and for others who may not need to go to full abstinence. It doesn’t stress spirituality. Also there’s Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS) which go out of their way to eliminate the spiritual component.
I for one thing the important thing is to find help. AA freaks some people out due to the spiritual component, but if you pick up and read the actual AA book (simply titled "Alcoholics Anonymous," as I quoted here) you’ll see there’s an entire chapter there dedicated to the agnostics and the atheists and how they shouldn’t worry too much about this. Meditating and asking a higher power outside yourself for help simply works, and you can choose your own concept of God if that applies to you. I talk fairly regularly to fairly non-religious people at AA meetings–some people seem way too hung up on this, but hey, it’s their journey not mine per se–and they say that to them the higher power is what they find in their fellows, in a philosophy of Good Orderly Direction (G.O.D. get it?).
Women may also want to look at Women For Sobriety, which is a very non-12-step program and doesn’t stress spirituality much.
Or just say "fuck it" and go to AA and start talking to people. There are good meetings and bad meetings, but if you meet people who are serious about recovery and can talk to them, it will help regardless of what you think of the spiritual component.
Given AA’s success rate, or rather lack thereof, I don’t think that anyone who is bothered by the God talk in AA should waste any time looking for a similar non-God program.Â
Dave Justus’s last blog post..McCain’s Service
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