05/07/2026
Oldtimer said, "Cunning, baffling, powerful! This is how the Big book describes alcohol's (and drugs) effect on the addict/ alcoholic mind. For alcoholics and addicts, this is a primary truth we must accept, or else we perish. This is difficult for a mind that has been warped by years of drinking and using. Alcohol and drugs distort our reality with pleasure, and the pursuit of this pleasure became our primary purpose, which we pursued with unbridled passion.
Even in the face of the all too obvious destruction it brought to our lives, we remained enslaved to our addictive pleasures. It enhanced our s*xual instinct, then enslaved it to serve its sordid purposes. It enhanced our social instinct, then left us isolated and wallowing in a pit of loneliness and despair. It enhanced our sense of security, then took everything from us and left us with nothing. Drugs and Alcohol gave us wings, then took away the sky.
To the outside observer, it appears the alcoholic/addict drinks and uses too much, but for the addict/alcoholic, the reality is we cannot use or drink enough to satisfy a maniacal craving for alcohol and drugs that takes us to the gates of insanity and death. We cannot see their version of the truth, and this keeps us baffled about the nature of our problems, of which we have many.
Sweet relationships become battlegrounds and a test of wills as we defend our right to consume that which is destroying our lives. We see ourselves enjoying life with our drinking and using. They see us on a su***de mission we commit one drink,hit,line,pill,needle at a time. We feel in control in our stupor when exactly the opposite is true.
It is when sober that the real problem of the addict/alcoholic manifests. We are restless, irritable, and discontented when sober, so we seek our solution. Drugs and Alcohol relieves us of these feelings of insecurity and gives us a sense of ease and comfort, even as it systematically destroys our lives.
The true power of addiction wields over us is the delusion of control and choice. We can't say for certain, on any given day, whether we will use or drink or not. And once we start to drink use, or both we cannot control how much we will consume Only when confronted with a crisis that overwhelms our delusional mind with a reality we can no longer postpone or evade, do we consider sobriety as a viable option to the way of death drugs and alcohol delivers.
This is when the true power of addiction exerts itself. Even though we are not using or drinking, we remain under the influence of addiction. Not with getting high or drunk, but with an obsession that overpowers our strongest desire to not drink or use. We think willpower, common sense, or reason should bring a sufficient defense against the first hit, drink,pill,line needle and yet we return !
This is when we experience that we have truly lost the power of choice when it comes to drugs and alcohol. This insanity repeats itself over and over again with every desperate attempt to abstain from alcohol and drugs. These countless vain attempts to quit using and drinking on human power drive home our desperate need to bring a Power greater than human power into our lives.
When we came to the rooms we acknowledged that addiction was too much to overcome by ourselves. We had to have help, and it had to come from a Power greater than human power. It had to come from the source of all power. That one is God. Fortunately, the Steps provides us with the path to this Power source.
This path is the essence of every addicts and alcoholic's recovery from a hopeless state of mind and body. It is a path open to all who earnestly seek it. When we work the Steps, we remove from our psyche the selfish ideas, emotions, and attitudes that block the Power we need from entering our lives. As a result, we find contentment with life on life's terms and become a channel for the peace, prosperity, happiness, and joy that come with freedom from our bo***ge to this terrible disease .
