The line says..."Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path (our directions).
If this is the case then why is that we have a recovery rate that is below 10% in most parts of the country? Save the studies, I have read them, I am good with numbers, but I have been around for going on 10 years and I know what I have seen. People who come to our fellowship do not stay sober...at least at first...
Perhaps you may say, they just weren't ready...or better yet they weren't willing...or even better than that one is the old line...they weren't doing it for themselves...
My experience is this, I was brought to the fellowship as a hopeless case, I was 23 years old, I was neither ready or willing to do much of anything. I was flown to a rehab facility with a pill bottle in each pocket of my pants still detoxing from the previous nights load. I was getting sober, not for me...I could care less about me...but rather for the people who cared about me and were tired of watching me die.
But in very short order and rapid succession I was introduced to the "program" of AA, I was confronted with the truth about my condition and offered a reasonable solution to the problem I now faced. Those that 12-stepped me were patient but firm and resolute and for that I am grateful. Why me though? Why can't he or she get it?
It is my belief and observation that we as a fellowship often fail the newcomer, either we miss the opportunity to carry the message, or we are too busy working on our own crap to see that God has sent a messenger to tell us to take a break from ourselves. Our "program" remains 100% successful, at least in my own personal experience!
If this is the case then why is that we have a recovery rate that is below 10% in most parts of the country? Save the studies, I have read them, I am good with numbers, but I have been around for going on 10 years and I know what I have seen. People who come to our fellowship do not stay sober...at least at first...
Perhaps you may say, they just weren't ready...or better yet they weren't willing...or even better than that one is the old line...they weren't doing it for themselves...
My experience is this, I was brought to the fellowship as a hopeless case, I was 23 years old, I was neither ready or willing to do much of anything. I was flown to a rehab facility with a pill bottle in each pocket of my pants still detoxing from the previous nights load. I was getting sober, not for me...I could care less about me...but rather for the people who cared about me and were tired of watching me die.
But in very short order and rapid succession I was introduced to the "program" of AA, I was confronted with the truth about my condition and offered a reasonable solution to the problem I now faced. Those that 12-stepped me were patient but firm and resolute and for that I am grateful. Why me though? Why can't he or she get it?
It is my belief and observation that we as a fellowship often fail the newcomer, either we miss the opportunity to carry the message, or we are too busy working on our own crap to see that God has sent a messenger to tell us to take a break from ourselves. Our "program" remains 100% successful, at least in my own personal experience!
I have also been sober quite some years and do my best to carry the message. I attend meetings, share, do a shift on the telephone helpline and I actively sponsor. The reality is, most do 'not get it' - however my job is to carry the message not the alcoholic. I got well when I surrendered completely. In July this year, I flew 4000 miles to be with 65000 others who had surrendered completely.
ReplyDeleteI have to focus on the principles, a programme of attraction not promotion. People get well when they are hungry enough to get well. Some just never get that hungry for AA - there are many other options out there, AA is only one of them.. its important for me to keep right-sized and not to become an AA zealot.
Smiles and blessings.