AGAINST THE FIRST DRINK:

Before I came to AA, I had no defence against the first drink. Mine was

the classic ”rubber arm”, although to be honest, the twisting was usualy

But after I joined and started working the steps, things started to change. As much as anything, not taking a drink became something worth working for.

My recovery was something I wanted to hold on to. The step 5 promises say, “the feeling that the drink problem has disappeared wil come often strongly”, and this was true for me. But as my

sponsor pointed out at the time, this is both a promise and a warning, ‘often’ being another way to say, ‘not always’. No, we were not there yet.

Protection from the first drink only fuly came for me at Step 10. The wreckage of my past kept me insulated from my Higher Power. I cleared

that wreckage away in Step 9, and then committed to correct any new

mistakes on a daily basis in Step 10.

As the step 10 promises say (and this is also true for me) “we feel as though we had placed in a position of neutrality, safe and protected … the problem has been removed”. But the very same paragraph holds another

warning – “this is how we react so long as we keep in fit

done by my own good self.

spiritual condition”.