'When AA was quite young, a number of eminent psychologists and doctors made an exhaustive study of a good sized group of so-called problem drinkers. The doctors weren't trying to find how different we were from one another; they sought to find whatever personality traits, if any, this group of alcoholics had in common. They finally came up with the conclusion that shocked the AA members of that time. These distinguished men had the nerve to say that most of the alcoholics under investigation were still childish, emotionally sensitive, and grandiose.'
I'm not sure why, but I thought this would be a good time to bring this topic up ... seems to me that some of these character traits are showing up across this board on occasion ... as well it should, because how else do we identify and work on correcting something if we cannot see it ? ... ...
They say that we stop 'maturing' when we start drinking ... so if someone started drinking at 14 or 15 y/o, then stops when they are 35 or 40 y/o, then they revert back to picking up the maturing process of that 14 or 15 y/o ... so you see why we have adults with teenage emotions here ... the longer we are in AA the clearer this becomes ... and we must learn to deal with these traits with every new-comer ... and with ourselves too ...
Pappy
-- Edited by Pythonpappy on Wednesday 9th of January 2013 11:50:29 PM
__________________
'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
By the way ... I think I'm about 18 or 19 y/o ... maturity wise that is ... stuck in a 60 y/o body ... LOL ... WELL, ... that's what my wife thinks and that's all the really counts these days, right? ...
__________________
'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
An eminent psychiatrist in NZ gave a talk on the 12 steps back in the 70's. He said they would turn "greedy self lovers" (shock - horror!) into generous other lovers.
I still have my 4th step and review it now and again. It's an amazing document in that it was done (with the help of my sponsor) at a time where I could hardly string a sentence together, let alone grasp spiritual concepts, yet it is very accurate. I still have the same defects today but God seems to have reduced most to the point where their manifestation is usually momentary and their effect far from soul destroying.
Apparently, a large perecentage of alcoholics are neurotics as well which might be why we have rule 62. It has been said that psycho-analysis is a disease that purports to be it's own cure. Keep looking inwards and you will always find something to be worried about. On the other hand, I have found that accepting that I will always have faults and always make mistakes isn't really a problem because I have a program and a God that allows me to learn from my mistakes, grow through the pain, without the need to drink. Like you guys have said, progress rather than perfection.
Ahhhh! Thank you! That really made me smile tonight! Needed THAT! I thought, "MOI????? GRRRRRANDIOSE ?????? (rolling those "r's lol) HECK! I cough, and I see my funeral!!! lol! Thanks for reminding me of these two rules: a) Dont sweat the small stuff...and b) Its ALL (almost) small stuff!!!! :)
