Reading Instructions To Help Keep It Together

Did you ever notice when you don’t read the instructions in assembling a product like a wagon, desk, or an automotive engine, you end up with a piece or two left over? Mostly it’s a nut or a bolt or something like that. You’re left wondering if these are just extra parts, or even worse a vital piece that will somehow, at the most inopportune time, decide to show just how important it is, resulting in the product crumbling apart?

                Well, getting and staying sober is exactly like that.

                Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are extremely important to help ensure the alcoholic remain sober, but it’s not just about attending meetings. Sitting in the back and leaving as soon as the Serenity Prayer is said doesn’t work in the long run. It’s important to work on connecting with people, people who have had similar experiences. A vital part of these meetings are reaching out and listening to how other alcoholics have dealt with the ups and downs of life and remained sober. That’s a pivotal part of what Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are about.

                Nearly every alcoholic, who is truly seeking recovery, is tired of how life has unfolded for them. Life isn’t working and a limit is met, it’s called bottoming out. They become fed up and figure there has to be a better way. Now mind you, a lot of alcoholics struggle at first because they still want to do things ‘their way’ or they get sober for a few months and life is suddenly working again, so they feel they are in the clear. They stop attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and find themselves back in the same boat they were in before, sometimes worse.

Over time though, with the combination of love and support of others from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and the alcoholic reaching out and asking for help, they find a path that works for them. It isn’t necessarily exactly like what others have done, and that’s the beauty of this simplistic program.

No one adheres to perfection.

Not attending meetings is like not reading the instructions. If you don’t at least attend them you’ll find yourself, at the most inopportune time, falling apart physically, spiritually, and emotionally again.