"Remember that we deal with alcohol--cunning, baffling, powerful!"Pg 58 AA book
"Selfishness--self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles." pg 62 AA book.
I always thought that the root of my troubles was alcohol. If that was the case then when I stopped drinking alcohol my troubles should be over. But in my case my troubles got worse, because I did not have a panacea for the pain anymore. Therefore I had to get down to working the steps to eradicate the root of my troubles. When temptation comes in the form of ,"alcohol--cunning, baffling, powerful", I have a defense mechanism which is promised at the end of step 9-
"If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame." Pg 84 AA book.
I think that everyone in my life knew that self-centeredness was the root of my troubles, except for me. I was the last to know. They could see it in my actions, but I couldn't. It took Steps 4 through 9 to show it to me. I had to see it with my own eyes. Thanks for this posting. Blessings, Mike D.
