pg. 62 BB "Selfishness-self centeredness! That we believe is the root of our problem..A very good rundown on your question. I know personally for me I was "all about me" early on in my life. I was drinking by 12 and the self-centeredness of my life became more embellished by my active using and even in recovery I work hard to ensure I am aware of that shortcoming .I believe it is both moral and part of our illness. I actually have that as my avatar statement. We learn to be of maximum service to God(of our understanding )and others,leaving the self-centeredness in the backround..Part of our spiritual journey thru the aplication of our principles and guidance by our Higher Powers..I am in remission but still at times see that monster of "all about me" creep up,but thru daily work I remain aware and ever teachable....One day at a time.......
__________________
Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.
Selfish and selfcentered are characteristics of people which sometimes becomes a career for those of weak egos and poor self esteems. In my case trying to improve on my ego standing and esteem and drinking at the same time exacerbated the condition and I often went overboard trying to shine the light on myself and keep it there. I hung with a lot of alcoholics just like me and we spent soooo much time lying and trying to one up each other. When the church is involved it becomes a moral issue or a sin which is also a part of my drinking history and I never confessed it then because drinking was normal in my life and not a problem in anyway while lying was and I didn't think lying in unison with a bunch of other bottle brothers was very bad. When I got into recovery the 4 thru 10th steps became more important for me to keep myside of the street clean and my character and personality more supportive of the spiritual and rightly social life style. I confess better in the step life than I did before I got here and have even had one priest tell me that he never met a person that knew themself as I did. LOL didn't get a diploma on that just a nod from my sponsor. Keep coming back (((hugs)))
The cause of alcoholism is genetic, it's most prominent underlying symptom is self centredness, and the remedy is to get rid of this selfishness "we must or it kills us". "Simple but not easy. A price must be paid. It meant the destruction of self centredness."
I would say both. It's not a choice to be immoral, but the disease itself prevents us from living by spiritual and moral principles. It stops emotional growth and thereby creates a vicious circle of self-centeredness which leads to more drinking and then the drinking causes more self-centeredness.
We need to be sober and have a sober frame of reference to learn from life, our mistakes, and to truly learn how to fit in within the larger world. Alcoholism took that from me and I had to relearn it in AA. I also didn't know I was as selfish as I was. I was proclaiming to be the world's biggest martyr and victim and I thought that was me being "selfless" because after all, I had been crapped on so royally by everyone, so me even showing up for work or doing something remotely responsible was a huge endeavor that I should get kudos for.
I didn't realize how out of whack my priorities and my morals were prior to AA. It was that set of morals though that sustained my drinking career all the way up until it bit me and the ass....hard.
__________________
Keep coming back. It works if you work it. So work it. You're worth it!
I don't know...I see both as an experience. I don't believe that alcohol makes it any worse than any other factor in life. I see a lot of both sides in the rooms. AA, on occasion, actually encourages us to be selfish where our sobriety is concerned. Like anything else, it depends on the pendulum swing. Anything, including selflessness, in excess is a problem. I would think it to be more of a moral issue since, according to the dictionary, morals pertain to, or are concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong. Maybe that's why they say to check our motives. It's a confusing issue.
