Where Is It Written?

WHEN I FIRST began to feel sober and knew I wanted to stay that way, my thoughts were of how to accomplish it on a forever basis; alcoholic thinking diminishes slowly. After I listened to many stories at many meetings and read the Big Book and other AA literature, one thought began to stir and grow: The key was in Step Twelve--not the key to getting sober, for that was obviously through the other Steps, but the key to staying sober. I could recover from my illness, and stay recovered for as long as I chose to. The word "cured" had to be eliminated. When I found out that alcoholism is an illness and that there is no cure, only a chance for recovery, I had to understand the difference.