From Bob D. and Scott L. AA

The difference between trust and faith, a moshel

Imagine you're at the circus and the guy is about to walk out onto the high wire. He's on the platform and pushes a wheelbarrow in front of him onto the wire and he then he steps on to walk across. You will probably be thinking, I'm sure he will make it. I mean he does this act all the time. He's a professional at this and is completely trained, etc. That's faith chevra. Getting into the wheelbarrow, that's trust.

Hatzlacha!

"Those who do not recover are people ..., usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average." Alcoholics Anonymous

I understand that if a person is less than honest with himself he cannot recover.

But I question the word "incapable" and thus question the idea that it really isn't their

fault.

Sobriety is a necessity for living. One must do absolutely everything and anything to achieve it.

I've heard many recovered AA members say that they have met more people who "unwilling" than "incapable". Personally I always read it as a challenge of sorts, for lack of a better word. Like saying oy nebach you're just incapable, to kind of get the person to challenge that notion and get honest. But, I have no real mesorah for that view, lol.

I used to watch gambling videos with people playing poker. I did this even when I wasn't gambling or when I was on a hiatus I should perhaps say. I just realized I haven't watched a poker video or played any kind of a card game, even for fun in over a year. The last time I actually gambled was March 22, 1014. At some point I went from not gambling to not wanting to be a gambler. That wasn't the vision for me. That was about the point I stopped watching gambling videos. Isn't that in essence a "psychic change"? I think it's similar with lust. If I don't want to be that kind of a person, I'm not going to watch the videos and take in the sights. So if I'm still taking in the sights, then I really still want to act out.

serenity wrote:

Serenity, Please tell us about life in the olden days.

I don't want to brag or anything but I was

In the year 1014?

In the year 1014, we didn't have Heinz baked beans
In the year 1014, of a laptop, I could only dream
In the year 1014, GYE wasn't on the scene

In the year 1014 we didn't need filters on our machines, we had the RIF to follow in halacha, sadly Jews were massacred in Cardova. Now it's been 1,000 years, Jews have cried a billion tears, it's for them I commit, it's for them I say, I'll stay sober another day.

(can't remember who sang that song "In the year"

Ego is in full glory today. I hope I can quiet it down before Hashem backs away and allows me to have another fall to knock it down a notch. I don't think I can do it on my own, so some prayer and meditation is in order.

If you can put porn ahead of your wife and kids, which is something that will harm them, then surely you can put your sobriety, which they will only benefit from, ahead of them.

I'm very grateful to the community of guys here. You are all helping me stay sober.

The reading on the morning call strikes me as being particularly meaningful and pertinent to the overwhelming majority of people here on GYE. I will try and highlight some parts that strike me as particularly relevant. Here it is:

Though there is no way of proving it, we believe
that early in our drinking careers most of us could
have stopped drinking. But the difficulty is that few
alcoholics have enough desire to stop while there is
yet time. We have heard of a few instances where
people, who showed definite signs of alcoholism, were
able to stop for a long period because of an overpowering
desire to do so. Here is one.
A man of thirty was doing a great deal of spree
drinking. He was very nervous in the morning after
these bouts and quieted himself with more liquor. He
was ambitious to succeed in business, but saw that he
would get nowhere if he drank at all. Once he started,
he had no control whatever. He made up his mind
that until he had been successful in business and had
retired, he would not touch another drop. An exceptional
man, he remained bone dry for twenty-five
years and retired at the age of fifty-five, after a successful
and happy business career. Then he fell victim
to a belief which practically every alcoholic has
—that his long period of sobriety and self-discipline
had qualified him to drink as other men. Out came his
carpet slippers and a bottle. In two months he was
in a hospital, puzzled and humiliated. He tried to
regulate his drinking for a while, making several trips
to the hospital meantime. Then, gathering all his
forces, he attempted to stop altogether and found he
could not. Every means of solving his problem which
32 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
money could buy was at his disposal. Every attempt
failed. Though a robust man at retirement, he went
to pieces quickly and was dead within four years.
This case contains a powerful lesson. Most of us
have believed that if we remained sober for a long
stretch, we could thereafter drink normally. But here
is a man who at fifty-five years found he was just
where he had left off at thirty. We have seen the truth
demonstrated again and again: “Once an alcoholic, always
an alcoholic.’’ Commencing to drink after a
period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as
ever. If we are planning to stop drinking, there must
be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion
that someday we will be immune to alcohol.
Young people may be encouraged by this man’s experience
to think that they can stop, as he did, on
their own will power. We doubt if many of them can
do it, because none will really want to stop, and hardly
one of them, because of the peculiar mental twist already
acquired, will find he can win out. Several of
our crowd, men of thirty or less, had been drinking
only a few years, but they found themselves as helpless
as those who had been drinking twenty years.
To be gravely affected, one does not necessarily
have to drink a long time nor take the quantities
some of us have. ...
Certain drinkers, who would be greatly insulted if
called alcoholics, are astonished at their inability to
stop. We, who are familiar with the symptoms, see
large numbers of potential alcoholics among young
MORE ABOUT ALCOHOLISM 33
people everywhere. But try and get them to see it!

Thanks for all the great posts! Keep em comin!

dittos to the post of gibor120

serenity, I truly appreciate the direct quotes you post. Most of these ideas are ones mentioned here on the forum. Most are not necessarily chiddushim. However, when you directly paste them they have a certain clarity and meaning that really hits home. I for one am much the better for them.

Your efforts are noted and appreciated.

Thank you.

Thank you gibbor and yira! Your acknowledgement is appreciated.

Today is a good day so far, hopefully I won't get in the way of that!