The extent of my exposure to the news goes little beyond what I glean from Yahoo. No Im not in jail.. worseIm a sailor, lately spending much of my time at sea. I was reading about this guy Charlie.. whats his name who was making an obscene amount of money as a TV actor on some situation comedy.. He got drunk, disorderly, conducting an unreliable pattern of activity resulting in being canned from the series blaming everyone in his path for his woes. What exercised me is his blame of alcoholic recovery and AA which somehow he rationalized, in short, with a statistic of a 3% success rate. It seems popular these days to publicly bash AA particularly from high profile losers. What they fail to realize is that recovery is only for those who want it not for those who need it.. which goes beyond the depth of these irresistible sound bits which the public cant seem to get enough of. Have you ever heard of a scandal publication going out of business? (LOL)
Fully aware that for an actor no publicity is far worse than bad publicity I often wonder to what extent these irresponsible statements affect those who need or have considered seeking help for their alcoholic problem through the doors of AA.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words.. My advice, access the AA international convention pictures.. One meeting hall had them dated back to 1976 to the present.. Stadiums filled to capacity with recovering AAs.. held in a different city every 4 years.. Each convention creating a major positive economic impact on their respective locationsthats only the tip of the ice burg.
When I came in I was told that 75% made it and stayed sober and a large majority of the remaining 25% came back after experimenting.. From my personal perspective, to be honest, I as a profiled 75 per center. dont really care what the exact figure might be.. If such is even possible to attain. Any NFL coach will tell you Statistics are for losers.. (LOL) What I do care about is any form of discouragement from irresponsible reported statistics which in todays world no doubt would negatively affect a prospective or struggling soul toward his chances for alcoholic recovery My long term experience suggests, If you want it, you will get sober, stay sober and lead a wonderful lifeguaranteed from a happy sober nobody of public consequence.
I often wonder about the 'stats'. what is the criteria - of 100 mmbers, do 3 or 4 a year die sober? Does that mean the other 96 or so continue to live sober?
Looking at rehabs and detox centres - they make their money surely on repeat business (much like a bar) - so do they really have a vested interest in long term recovery? Or do they need the people to go on the merry go round for a few cycles?
AA the fellowship doesn't make money out of recovery - I don't believe that AA the business is as altruistic as some would portray it, but it's not cynical and anyway, everyone is entitled to make a living - AA the fellowship has but one primary purpose and I believe it satisfies that primiary purpose pretty well.
So here I am, today, sober (again!) and as far as I'm concerned that's a 100% success rate.
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It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you got. BB
Thanks for checking in Tomas! I agree that AA works for those that want it and work it, not for those that need it. I was in the second category for awhile. I like to remember that a decision means nothing unless at once followed by action. Continuous action!
Hey Tomas..............hmmmm statistics from an "ANONYMOUS" program ,how is that calculated? ....thats kind of an oxymoron huh? The statistics I always heard were 1 in 20 make it(5%)I only know ,based on the evidence,what the statistics of my peers who I used with and those that are no longer with us are very accurate. AA is a program for those who want and need it.It works ,if you want to work it....Thanks for stoppin in/.............
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Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.
The only success "said actor" has had is because he is a talented actor and his addictions haven't yet taken all of that away....yet. Everything else that comes out of his mouth is garbage and everyone knows it. I know hundreds and hundreds of people who are accumulating long term sobriety through AA. Enough to have a wonderful support network of sober friends. That's all the statistics I need.
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Keep coming back. It works if you work it. So work it. You're worth it!
From personal observation, the statistics mentioned in the forward to the second edition are still pretty right. There is a qualification, "those who really tried" i.e. took the medicine, did the steps, recovered. My own mini stats, from my nut farm intake of 10 with any chance of recovery, two went to AA and recovered at once, I went to AA about 18 months later and after a relapse, also recovered. The nut farm, which actually had no program at all, from this group could boast a stellar 30% recovery rate! None of the other seven tried AA and within two years all were deceased, four within a few months. 34 years later, of the three recovered alcoholics, one has passed away, still sober, and two of us are still sober and active in AA. So in my case, from those of my intake who went to AA and really tried, 100% recovered and stayed that way.
Thanks for checking in. I have to agree stats have nothing to do with getting drunk or staying sober.....money seems to be more of a henderance to sobriety if anything.
I know today that I can't keep anyone sober or get them drunk, I can just try to be there and help to present the gift to the best of my ability. We can't make them take it.
We have a couple new people at my HG, God bless them, I think if the room was 110 degrees and stunk, had to sit on the floor and all we had was de-cafe they would still show up early the next week to set up.
Can't stop sobriety in action
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Rob
"There ain't no Coupe DeVille hiding in the bottom of a Cracker Jack Box."
I like to remember that a decision means nothing unless at once followed by action. Continuous action! 