I Should Do What Now?

Attract: To get the admiration, attention, etc. of; allure.

I love the concept of "attraction, not promotion." It is one of the tenets of The Program that I found irresistible almost immediately. No one tried to get me to stop to drinking. No one wagged their finger in my face. I wasn't presented with any stunningly obvious facts about the problems that alcohol was causing in my life. It doesn't do any good to tell someone sitting in jail for assault and battery on a police officer that they have to stop drinking, or else. I knew I was a drunk. I didn't need any confirmation of that clear truth.

Our book tells us that alcoholics are incredibly immature. That this offends us simply confirms the truth of the statement. If you tell me to do something -"Horseface, don't stick your screwdriver in that 440 Volt electric outlet" - my tendency is to do it. The best rationale for my motive is "spite." I can't come up with anything more logical than that. I do, however, watch people closely. If I see someone behave in a way that I like, I mimic them. What can I say? I have the emotional development of an eight year old.

Don't tell me what to do.