To Watch Loneliness Vanish
Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness. Even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didn’t quite belong. Either we were shy, and dared not draw near others, or we were noisy good fellows constantly craving attention and companionship, but rarely getting it. There was always that mysterious barrier we could neither surmount nor understand.
That’s one reason we loved alcohol too well. But even Bacchus betrayed us; we were finally struck down and left in terrified isolation.
Life takes on new meaning in A.A. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends—this is an experience not to be missed.
~ 1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 57 ~
~ 2. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 89 ~
Author
Jackie27
I am officially 63 years young. I am a Mom of a 27 year old daughter and son-in-law, a 22 year old son, and three awesome grandchildren that have never seen me pick up. I have found that I am able to be addicted to ANYTHING if my mind allows my disease to rear its ugly head. I try to be vigilant. My goal continues to be to work a good program and I don't apologize for it to anyone.
3 Comments
I have always been the opposite of what is said here. I cut people off before they can have the chance to do so to me. I also love my time alone. Especially now as a healthy & recovering addict. I don’t like people to get too close and always seem to keep them at a distance even if I truly like them. I pray to my higher power now that you will help me open my heart to real relationships. I want to know what it feels like to miss someone and actually want their company… I am seeing an amazing man now and I pray my old ways of not caring and not allowing myself to catch feelings can change:
Addiction is a disease of isolation. Many of us, from a young age, have a feeling of being disconnected from others. That feeling that we just don’t fit in or belong anywhere. We can effectively be alone in a room full of people, even our loved ones. Working with fellow alcoholics or addicts is a solution to overriding this feeling of loneliness. It is through this process that we discover we are not terminally unique. That there are others that have been where we have been and know our struggles. Isolation is a dark room where negatives develop. We create a negative feedback cycle where we isolate and this feeds the negatives which make us further isolate. Alcoholism is cunning, baffling, and powerful.
If they were right aboutmy problem, they Must be right about the solution…
and being on the fence, not sure if I even want to give sobriety another chance… never having given the steps a real chance, nor being an active member in the fellowship, I’ve continued to drink or use for the last 30 years with mostly insignificant results when I come around the rooms, I Must take heed to what this reading says… ” you will not want to miss” answers that fence question, thanks Bill!