MIPBB Study: Foreward

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

MIPBB Study: Foreward

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

For them, we hope these pages will prove so convincing that no further authentication will be necessary. We think this account of our experiences will help everyone to better understand the alcoholic.

I knew I was an alcoholic by the age of 15. I'd never admit that....But I didn't drink like normal people. I started....I finished the job in most cases. I did this for roughly 35 years....And I mean roughly. I was beaten down so bad....Had lost everything...I'd given up on life. A brother paid my way into a 30 day rehab...And I was terrified. A counselor gave me the Big Book and told me it was my recovery plan. I didn't even know what it was...But I dove into it. I saw myself in this book...Still do.

I didn't need any further authentication to prove I was an alcoholic. There it was in black and white. I could relate to all of it. I just had to do what they did....Precisely....Exactly. And I didn't have to be perfect at it....I just had to give it my all. I did. I checked myself out of rehab after 14 days....Took my book....Found a meeting place near where I lived...Asked a guy that talked about the steps in meetings to take me through the steps right out of the gate...And went to two to three meetings a day my first 6 months. I was working my ninth step when I got my 90 day chip. I just got 22 months without a drink....And when I got there....I could barely make it 22 minutes without one....That's how far down the scale I'd gone. This book was convincing enough for me.

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

I knew you old timers would chime in.....Good stuff. And true Mike H. This isn't so much a book that you read...As it is a text book that you study....And DO. It is important to read all the forewards....I figure for this study we will just do the first edition. If anyone wants to comment on the other three....Feel free....No rules here.
And yes Pappy...They don't preach to you about who or what your God should be....Leaving that for you to decide on your own. I found mine through the process of working the steps. Doing what they did.
Anyone else wants to add something....Hop aboard....If you're new...And want to join us...Ask questions. We'll take it a chapter at a time...But these will always be open. I also agree with you Pappy about the book being devinely inspired....Look at the lives of the hopeless alcoholics it has saved....Amazing.

-- Edited by Stepchild on Sunday 5th of May 2013 05:19:37 AM

Pythonpappy · MIP Old Timer

Yes, ... ... ... it was the wording and phrasing like, 'hopeless state of mind and body' that I too, so much identified with ... it finally did get my attention when my mind cleared up enough for some of this stuff to sink in ...

I have read through the BB many times now, and in my humble opinion, pretty much every word to me was 'divinely inspired' ... ... ... everything in this book is designed to lead us in a direction to find a spiritual 'higher power' ... so God is mentioned many times, but is not required as 'the' higher power ... it is the method they used that led them to 'recovery' and that is finally what I came to seek too ... the book beginning here is a great eye opener ...

Pappy

Fyne Spirit · MIP Old Timer

The foreword's in general make compelling reading. I particularly like the last past of the foreword to the second edition. I find some folks seem to like to knock the first 100 unfortunately, but by the time the second edition came around there was a lot more evidence to support what the first 100 had to offer. By then AA had been up and running for about 20 years and I believe something like 150,000 had recovered. Certainly in the early days one didn't so much go to AA as do AA. But I would guess that a lot more than 150,000 had a passing look at AA and decided not to take the medicine, much the same as today. But the experience was still there that of those who came along and really tried (took the medicine) 50% recovered at once, and a further 25% after some relapses. The remainder showed improvement.

My experience is similar today. We have lots of folks going to AA, some joining AA the fellowship, and some earnestly "doing AA" the program. And of those that really try, the recovery rate seems to be just as good today as it was back then.

God bless,
MikeH.

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

Many do not comprehend that the alcoholic is a very sick person.

I didn't understand why I drank like I did....I just knew when I started....I didn't stop. I found out reading The Doctors Opinion.....The idea of an allergy was the first thing that made sense to me. It explained a lot.

pinkchip · MIP Old Timer

I believe the forward contains valuable information about how AA took on a life of it's own and then spread like wildfire. Just like a contagion, the treatment also spreads when it's the real deal. My sponsor made the point to me that it was about "the pulse of AA." I didn't understand it then, but AA is so powerful and has grown and grown. I now understand it as me being part of a large and wonderful movement and it's cool.

Pythonpappy · MIP Old Timer

Yes, the alcoholic is very sick indeed ... ... ... whether an allergy or DNA inherited, it is still an illness!

Like Stepchild, I CANNOT take one drink without an incredible craving to have more ... what other sickness gives such immediate pleasure followed by a total desire to reach oblivion and become useless ??? ... ... ... and I did it over and over knowing the end results would never change ... this is truly a sickness of mind, body, and soul ... sort of like eating yourself to satisfy your hunger ... in the end, you're dead and forgotten ... and someone else has to clean up the mess ... ... ...

vixen · MIP Old Timer

The fact that the forward states I am sick took away the idea that I was "bad". It scared me, to think of it as a disease, at first. I soon embraced the idea and the idea that in the BB I could find a solution, which is different from being cured. I will always have this illness but I don't have to suffer from it if I work the steps and don't take that first drink.

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

vixen wrote:
The fact that the forward states I am sick took away the idea that I was "bad". It scared me, to think of it as a disease, at first. I soon embraced the idea and the idea that in the BB I could find a solution, which is different from being cured. I will always have this illness but I don't have to suffer from it if I work the steps and don't take that first drink.

Call it hope....I was definetly lacking in the hope department.

vixen · MIP Old Timer

I call it hope...and I call it a miracle too. :)

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

vixen wrote:
I call it hope...and I call it a miracle too. :)

No question about that.

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

We are not an organization in the conventional sense of the word. There are no fees or dues whatsoever. The only requirement for membership is an honest desire to stop drinking. We are not allied with any particular faith, sect or denomination, nor do we oppose anyone. We simply wish to be helpful to those who are afflicted.

If this paragragh sounds familiar....It should. It is the inspiration for our preamble.

http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/smf-127_en.pdf

Pythonpappy · MIP Old Timer

No dues or fees ... ... ... 'WHAT!!!' ... ... ... you mean I don't have to 'pay' for the most valuable thing I am to receive in my entire lifetime ???

What a concept! ... to only have a desire to get well ... (makes me think, what idiot would refuse to be given a free cure for a fatal disease ??? ... ... ... one that they KNOW they are dying from ???)

vixen · MIP Old Timer

There are no dues or fees but the price I paid to be a part of this program is VERY high indeed. Thousands upon thousands of dollars were spent to get me through the doors. Now I gladly put money in the basket and thank God that's the only cash I am spending on my disease today.

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

vixen wrote:
There are no dues or fees but the price I paid to be a part of this program is VERY high indeed. Thousands upon thousands of dollars were spent to get me through the doors. Now I gladly put money in the basket and thank God that's the only cash I am spending on my disease today.

Probably the highest tuition you could pay.

Pythonpappy · MIP Old Timer

Vixen, you make a good point ... the price I paid to finally surrender to the solution was extremely high indeed ... which brings me to another observation, ... there are those who paid with their very own lives who never got to experience a life sober, and they paid with their lives for our benefit ... It would be very callous of me to not thank them or think of them as I go on to enjoy my sobriety ...

Love ya and God Bless,
Pappy

R.I.P. Alex (Ruhig) and the many others

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

Amen to that Pappy. Too many....Too young. But for the Grace of God...Go I.

justadrunk · MIP Old Timer

Yes, I was shocked how little I knew, considering I had been on the battle ground for 10 years. I really had no clue there was hope or a reprieve, it seemed that I was just doomed. If only AA had commercials on TV ; )

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

justadrunk wrote:
Yes, I was shocked how little I knew, considering I had been on the battle ground for 10 years. I really had no clue there was hope or a reprieve, it seemed that I was just doomed. If only AA had commercials on TV ; )

True...AA is everywhere....All people have to do is accept it. I really think the more hopeless you are....The better your chances....There is a part in We Agnostics...Page 48 that kind of sums that up.

This sort of thinking had to be abandoned. Though some of us resisted, we found no great difficulty in casting aside such feelings. Faced with alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open minded on spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other questions. In this respect alcohol was a great persuader. It finally beat us into a state of reasonableness. Sometimes this was a tedious process; we hope no one else will be prejudiced for as long as some of us were.

I fought it a lot of years....And I was beaten to a state of reasonableness. And I was probably as prejudiced for as long as some of them were.