January 9
Knowing Changes Something
Learning that alcoholism is an illness may bring enormous relief. Conduct that seemed incomprehensible begins to make sense. We can stop using every drinking episode as fresh proof that we are simply bad. Yet people around us may still be living with consequences that an explanation cannot remove. Both things deserve an honest place in recovery.
What we understand now can shape what we do next. We can accept available help, become willing to examine our conduct, and begin repairing what can be repaired. This is a serious responsibility, though shame seldom helps us carry it well. We need neither a lifelong prosecution nor an excuse to leave everything as it stands. Understanding our condition can make us more compassionate toward the person who suffered and more willing to participate in the recovery now offered. Those responses can grow together.
How might understanding my alcoholism change the responsibility I am willing to accept?
Understanding brings something I am responsible for now.
For the A.A. nerds: As Bill Sees It, No. 32, “Moral Responsibility.”