"ALCOHOLISM" VS DEFECTS OF CHARACTURE

[ROBERT]

This comes out in a lot of meetings--my alcoholic behavoir, or, being a good alcoholic I.....there seems to be a comparison or percieved connection that because of alcoholism, we have characture defects or vice-versa. Appears to me these are two seperate issues--this implies that non alcoholic folks don't struggle with defects of characture as such.My alcoholism is not because of characture defects--there is a chemical reaction in me when alcohol is introduced into my system, setting off the craving-that seperates me from non-alcoholic folks, AND THATS IT!--we all have to deal with defects-I personally got a very late start at this via the 12 steps, and had to do some drastic house cleaning to catch up, and must continue to improve or drink--but my defects don't cause my alcoholism-they may cause me to drink, kick-starting my disease,but not the cause, or vice-versa.You know this attitude when you hear-"So like a good alcoholic, I lied, or, I was selfish, or-----------FILL IN THE BLANKS?

[DebbieV]

I know what you're talking about, I hear it at times in meetings also.

Pg 44 and 45 in on Big Book:
If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of us would have recovered long ago. But we found that such codes and philosophies did not save us, no matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things with all out might, but the needed power wasn't there. Our human resources, as marshaled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly.

I like that paragraph in the book, it reminds me that:
A. I drank because I am an alcoholic not because a lack of morals or personality defect.
B. I have no control over my drinking, I do over my morals and personality defects.
C. That it is a cop out for me to think one has anything to do with the other.

Good Call Robert.

Debbie