"Call on new prospects while they are still jittery. They may be more receptive when depressed. See them alone if possible. Tell them enough about your drinking habits and experiences to encourage them to speak of themselves. If they wish to talk, let them do so. If they are not communicative, talk about the troubles liquor has caused you, being careful not to moralize or lecture. When they see you know all about the drinking game, commence to describe yourself as an alcoholic and tell them how you learned you were sick."
One of the great aspects of Alcoholics Anonymous is that those of us in recovery using the A.A. 12 Step Program are uniquely positioned to help still drinking alcoholics. And we're careful to emphasize that A.A. is not the only game in town - if you can find something that works for you by all means go for it - we try not to be overly sanctimonious about what we're doing (failing often :) ). The point here is that no one with an alcohol problem likes to be lectured to by someone who doesn't have an alcohol problem. When I started to attend meetings regularly I immediately knew I was with my people - you all were speaking my language. When I described the reaction in my body that happened when I consumed alcohol there were a lot of smiles and knowing nods. No one told me to use my willpower or try to cut back or drink non-alcoholic beer. There were plenty of people who drank more than I did and I was a bad drunk.
"Be careful not to brand new prospects as alcoholics. Let them draw their own conclusion. But talk to them about the hopelessness of alcoholism. Tell them exactly what happened to you and how you recovered. Stress the spiritual feature freely. If they are agnostics or atheists, make it emphatic that they do not have to agree with your conception of God. They can choose any conception they like, provided it makes sense to them. The main thing is that they be willing to believe in a Power greater than themselves and that they live by spiritual principles."
Most of our Steps are covered in several paragraphs, maybe half a chapter here and there, but the Steps that talk about finding a higher power take up a ton of real estate. We knew this was going to be a hard sell. We knew that using the phrases "higher power" and "not a religious program but a spiritual one" might convince some skeptics but that a lot more would stiffen their spines and resist, resist, resist, so we don't push this at all. Finding a higher power can be difficult but most of us come around and all of us will admit that we were powerless over alcohol.
What are spiritual principles, anyway? Here's one suggestion from a recovery center:
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