Thursday 22 November 2018

WALK IN DRY PLACES #essentialsofrecovery

TOO SMART TO STAY SOBER

Humility


I've never seen anybody who’s too dumb to stay sober. But I’ve met a few people who were too smart!” These wise words by an older member sum up what we sometimes see—people who feel turned off by the program because it seems too simple and involves so many people of ordinary education and backgrounds.

Alcoholism is much like other diseases in the way it strikes all people. Diabetes, for example, victimizes people of all intelligence and educational levels. We could never believe that being smart would give us an advantage in dealing with such an illness.

In the same way, the very smart person has no edge over others in gaining sobriety. In fact, pride in such gifts can be a stumbling block. It can be a barrier to the simple acceptance and surrender needed for success in the Twelve Step program.

We do have many very smart people in AA. They are also wise enough to know that nobody can outsmart John Barleycorn.

We can feel grateful for mental abilities and education that help us get along in the world. Our sobriety, however, is a separate type of gift that we did not create.

© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation
Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

No comments:

Post a Comment

I will not allow spam or back links to other sites as I can not moderate where these are going to.