Unmanageable Was the Word

DURING my first few months in AA, I heard older members discuss at closed discussion meetings the pros and cons of two opposing interpretations of the last half of the First Step. . ."that our lives had become unmanageable." Some said that this means "that our lives had become unmanageable" because of alcohol. Others said that this means "that our lives had become unmanageable," period. That is, with or without alcohol.