Do You Know:

I'll have to take a bit of a short cut and identify myself briefly as a social-drinking, Turkish-bath, take-the-pledge, call-the-doctor, general-hospital, health-farm, leave-of-absence, job-losing, long-vacation-in-Florida-will-fix-me-up, sanitarium, mental-hospital alcoholic, in the order named. When A.A. was first presented to me I felt that here at last was the answer. I couldn't get enough of it fast enough. I read the book, attended several meetings, met many of the group, and lived A.A. so vigorously the first two weeks that in that short time I knew all the answers, got "cured" --and then got drunk. The group picked me up and explained that in my initial elation I had become over-confident, that there was much solid groundwork to be laid, and that an entire pattern of thinking and living had to be changed. Furthermore, it might not be easy and the time might be long before I was able to rehabilitate myself both socially and economically. The first year was tough going and I suffered five or six slips of increasing intensity, until I reached the point where I felt that for me there was no help. I about gave up, but the group did not, and in some way its faith was transmitted to me. I started in once more, attending meetings regularly, gradually making real progress; and I went some nine or ten months before I crash-dived again into Bellevue. This was surely the end, for it came the very week I was being called to an interview for an excellent position, doing the type of work that I had long wanted. In some way I pulled myself together, got the job and started off again, only to run into trouble once more about ten months later. Then I seemed to slip back considerably. During the next six months I bounced around erratically, but managed by virtue of an understanding boss to hold my job. Somehow, once more I pulled out of the maelstrom, and for the past year-and-a-half have been completely dry.