Golden Opportunity

Alanews, Dubuque, Iowa--"The question arises if there actually is such a person as a hopeless alcoholic. We don't think so. We don't believe any person is ever placed on this earth and destined to become burdened with an obsession which would be so strangling as to preclude any hope of recovery. It's probably axiomatic to say that despair is the only barrier to hope. If one talks to an alcoholic who is in despair--who believes there is absolutely no hope--if you meet such a man, your answer is tailor made. We believe that every man, no matter how far he may have strayed from the normal way of living or how numerous his transgressions, will some time in his life, at least once, maybe oftener, be presented with an opportunity to return to a decent way of life. The very fact that this despairing alcoholic met you--you, who are a living, visible proof of recovery--the very fact he came in contact with A.A., that he had a chance to hear about the program and see what it actually has accomplished--all this constitutes the opportunity and the means he claimed he'd never get. Whether or not he accepts the opportunity is beside the point, but this person can never again honestly say he did not have the opportunity. It is up to us to help him realize that this is his opportunity."