Diary of an A.A. Drop-out.

The first thirty days of no A.A. is always the hardest; Especially when you have been doing this in and out gig for 10 years. 12 step recovery helps alot of people. God knows it helped me in many aspects of my life. But in this all or nothing world that Founder Bill Wilson and his followers have created, there is no room for questioning. No room for descent. "the disease of alcoholism is cunning, baffling and powerful." But so is A.A.

Is the program effective? Aparently yes, for 12% of the people who come through the doors. But what about the other 88% of us? Are we destined to Jails, institutions and death? If we allow this self fullfilling prophecy to materialize, then definately yes. But there is a third option. That option is Life. But how do we survive without A.A.? After 10 years of hearing "How it Works" at the begining of every meeting, It never occured to me to ask WHY it works.

Well, there are three essential elements of A.A. that we must take with us when and if we decide to jump ship. Those are: 1. Developing and maintaining a spiritual path. 2. Creating a support system that you can rely on. 3. Being of service to others. Surely your now ex-sponsor will ask: "If that's the case then why don't you just stay?" The answer is that A.A. does not have a monopoly on spirituality, support systems and service to others. Talking to most twelve steppers you would think these concepts were invented in A.A. when in fact these are concepts which are universal to any religion or spiritual philosophy.