No Defense

Page: 43

Step we are on: Step One

Chapter: More About Alcoholism

Subject: Mental Condition, Fred the Accountant, Insanity, Two Fold illness, Nervous, Pre-lapse, Relapse, Normal vs. Abnormal

Good morning we are wrapping up the chapter "More About Alcoholism". That also means we will have finished covering Step One in the Big Book. 

Monday we will move on to Step Two when we begin Chapter 4 - page 44 - "WE AGNOSTICS.” (Not 'those" Agnostics, but "WE" - meaning you too)

I hope you can join us. Now let's finish up the last page in Chapter 3.

• What did they hope about Fred's story? 

We hope it strikes home to thousands like him.

• Had he severely suffered from alcoholism?

He had felt only the first nip of the wringer.

•  Do most alcoholics get off so easy?

Most alcoholics have to be pretty badly mangled before they really commence to solve their problems.

• They have to be put through the wringer, meaning subject to a severe trial or ordeal.

How do many doctors and psychiatrists feel about our conclusions?Many doctors and psychiatrists agree with our conclusions.

Many doctors agree with what's in this book. Certainly not all.

What did one such professional say? (The rest of the paragraph)

This "Professional" is Dr. Percy Pollick, a psychiatrist at Bellevue Hospital - renounced psychiatric facility located in Manhattan.

"One of these men, staff member of a world-renowned hospital, recently made this statement to some of us: "What you say about the general hopelessness of the average alcoholic's plight is, in my opinion, correct. As to two of you men, whose stories I have heard, there is no doubt in my mind that you were 100% hopeless, apart from divine help. Had you offered yourselves as patients at this hospital, I would not have taken you, if I had been able to avoid it. People like you are too heartbreaking. Though not a religious person, I have profound respect for the spiritual approach in such cases as yours. For most cases, there is virtually no other solution."

• Once more, what?

Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink.

"Certain times." At other times we can establish a wedge between pain and obsessively taking that next first drink. This is what confuses many of us. We think since we managed to not-drink once, that we will also be able to do it again.  It isn't necessarily so. 

Alcoholics who have yet to recover, who are still ruled by anger and haven't yet gained mastery over their resentful nature,  will drink. Period.  (And if they are not true alcoholics, they'll stay dry while smoking,  eating and sexing themselves to death.)* And anyone who is able to 'just not drink" - who can set up a defense, either through lifestyle changes, meetings, avoiding slippery places etc. - may have a problem, but they are not the "real alcoholic" described in this book. (And are not AA members. Not even if they say so.)

* Question: Can you name some other 'obsessions' that might perform the same function as alcohol? How about meetings, food, nicotine, caffeine, sex?  What about antidepressants, service work, people-pleasing?

•  Can human beings provide the alcoholic a defense from the next drink? 

Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense.

• What is an alcoholic’s only certain defense?

His defense must come from a Higher Power.

But then, there reportedly are no “musts” in Alcoholics Anonymous.

There might be other defenses at certain times - but none with the certainty of a Higher Power, which to these men and woman meant an omnipotent being, the Creator they called God.

Peace and  Love,

Danny S – RLRA

Real Live Recovered Alcoholic

http://recoveredalcoholic.blogspot.com

"What we are like now" - Fred's Perspective

Page: 43

Step we are on: Step One

Chapter: More About Alcoholism

Subject: Mental Condition, Fred the Accountant, Insanity, Two Fold illness, Nervous, Pre-lapse, Relapse, Normal vs. Abnormal

Good morning.  Please go to page 43. Fred the Accountant has discovered what many of us discover when we do this deal in earnest, in full; that not only does the spiritual solution being presented solve the drinking problem but it will solve ALL problems.

("Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems.)

Here are some other problems, (troubles & frustrations) mentioned in the Big Book:

Depression, Anxiety, Suicidal Ideation, PTSD, fatal illness, poor health, business failures, non-working/dead personal relationships.

So let's see what things are like for Fred now.

• What kind of life did his decision bring him into?

I have since been brought into a way of living infinitely more satisfying and, I hope, more useful than the life I lived before.

• What was his old life like?

My old manner of life was by no means a bad one,

Once again we see that "bottoms" are not measured by ones' status in society. If that were true, Hollywood and sports celebrities could never hit bottom and recover until they lost all, could they? 

• What would he not trade for?

but I would not exchange its best moments for the worst I have now.

This is not a mind bender. He’s making the simple point that life is better now than it used to be. That’s all.

• Would he have liked to return to his old way of living?

I would not go back to it even if I could."

Is this a strong endorsement for the life produced by living our life according to the directions the 1st 100 prepared for us? Why would anyone refuse to put it to the test?  It cannot happen by just going to meetings.  It can only be experienced if we do what they did and the Big Book gives us clear-cut directions which will not fail.

• What does Fred’s story do?

Fred's story speaks for itself.

Please notice how Fred is not centering his support of this spiritual program on alcohol and drinking problems.  His endorsement focuses on all of his life. One might say "all our affairs".

Real-life and real-time stories give us authority and credence. We ought to be able to use our own lifestyle, relationships, health as our credentials when presenting this spiritual solution to those who are lacking in all these areas. 

Alcoholics have many, many problems and troubles. Drinking is only one of many symptoms. Eradicating one symptom, like EtOH (by "just not drinking" & "going to meetings") by trading it for another obsession, like food, sex, drugs (nicotine, caffeine, etc)  - will fail to convince anyone to get on the spiritual path proposed by these co-authors.

"What we are like now" is just as important in building confidence and maximizing usefulness as "What we were like". 

Tomorrow:

• What were their hopes?
• Had Fred severely suffered from alcoholism?
• He had felt only the first nip of the wringer.
• Do most alcoholics get off so easy?
• Most alcoholics have to be pretty badly mangled before they really commence to solve their problems.
• How do many doctors and psychiatrists feel about our conclusions?
• Many doctors and psychiatrists agree with our conclusions.
• What did one such professional say?  (the rest of the  paragraph)

Peace and  Love,

Danny S – RLRA

Real Live Recovered Alcoholic

http://recoveredalcoholic.blogspot.com

Fred's Drastic Discovery

I would have to throw several lifelong conceptions
out of the window. That was not easy. ~ Fred 

A Quick, Strong Remedy

Page: 42

Chapter: More About Alcoholism

Step we are on: Step One

Subject: Mental Condition, Fred the Accountant, Insanity, Two Fold illness, Nervous, Pre-lapse, Relapse, Normal vs. Abnormal

Good morning. Fred is telling us how he finally “came to believe” and subsequently made a decision to go forward with the program. It sounds like a Step Three experience, doesn’t it? 

• Did he have difficulty accepting the concept of the program?

Though I had been only a nominal churchman, their proposals were not, intellectually, hard to swallow.

• How did he feel about putting the concepts into action?

But the program of action, though entirely sensible, was pretty drastic.

These were revolutionary and drastic proposals, but the
moment I fully accepted them, the effect was electric.~ Bill W

 Drastic?

Drastic - Acting strongly and quickly, as a remedy. ~ The Winston Simplified Dictionary – 1938

• What would he have to do?

It meant I would have to throw several lifelong conceptions out of the window.

 Fred doesn't tell us here what specifically those conceptions were. Most of us give up things like "praying" for outcomes or illusions of self-empowerment anything that is antagonistic to the Judeo-Christian spiritual principles presented in this book.  For all we know Fred had to give up voodoo, humanist or modern psychological ideas. We all have some prejudices that need to be discarded before this God idea is going to work.

• Was it going to be easy?

That was not easy.

•  What happened to Fred as soon as he made up his mind to adopt the program? 

But the moment I made up my mind to go through with the process, I had the curious feeling that my alcoholic condition was relieved, as in fact it proved to be.

When was Fred’s obsession removed? Was it after 90 meetings 90 days? Was it after his fifth step? Had he even begun ‘the steps’ yet?  

I would have the elements of a way of
living which answered all my problems. ~ Bill W

Believe it or not, much like the minister's son on page 56 (coming up in a few weeks in this review), he was ‘converted’ and his obsession to drink was removed upon a Step Three experience – the very night he was approached by a man with all the answers – another recovered alcoholic from AA . 

He came to believe making his beginning, then deciding to go through with the drastic proposals given him.

Here the mere decision to adopt the program of action was powerful enough to heal. Amazing. Just like Bill W. in the Mayflower Hotel Lobby.

All he had to do was make that decision to proceed with the program.  He did not need a sponsor's coaxing. No inventory yet. No spiritual retreats or Big Book preaching. No counseling. No bubble baths or structured living and accountability. He needed to decide in God’s favor.

• What else, of a very important nature, did he discover?     

  "Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems.

WOW. All his problems. And I thought this Twelve Step deal was only about alcoholism. 

Has your spiritual experience in AA solved all of your problems?  If not . . . . then why not? Have you really even had it then?

Peace and  Love,

Danny S – RLRA

Real Live Recovered Alcoholic

 Dan On Facebook

Piling on Is Allowed

Page: 42

Step we are on: Step One

Chapter: More About Alcoholism

Subject: Mental Condition, Fred the Accountant, Insanity, Two Fold illness, Nervous, Pre-lapse, Relapse, Normal vs. Abnormal

Good morning. We are still hearing Fred's account. We're going to see just how thorough and direct was the approach to Fred? Compare this to some of the "12 Step calls" you've ever been on.  Hopefully, there were great similarities.

It is important to let our prospect know just what he is in for.  If we skip this part of the instructions the typical drunk is apt to agree to just about anything he thinks will provide him with hope for some relief. (Often just to get back into the "Big Bed.")  By outlining the drastic proposals ahead of him should he accept, decreases the chance of failure greatly. Most newcomers haven't got a CLUE of just what they are getting into when we agree to 'sponsor'  them. Many end up running for the hills or seeking out chickenshit sponsorship more conducive to their prejudices-- spiritual and otherwise. 

• What two questions did they ask Fred?

and then asked me if I thought myself alcoholic and if I were really licked this time.

 To what did he concede?

I had to concede both propositions.

• What did they pile on him?   Two Sentences

They piled on me heaps of evidence to the effect that an alcoholic mentality, such as I had exhibited in Washington, was a hopeless condition. They cited cases out of their own experience by the dozen.

By the dozen! This is a place for those drunkalogues! (In an eyeball-to-eyeball approach to a puking drunk - not in a meeting) 

"Drunkologues" are stories ("What we were like") that clearly illustrate the mental obsession and physical craving combination - the vicious cycle. This is a  hard hitting, powerful approach. There's no time for bullshit and it requires energy and commitment plus the ability to recall a preponderance of evidence out of our own histories illustrating that we are real alcoholics. More importantly, it requires that we have had a spiritual awaking as the result of these steps and recovered from chronic alcoholism.  Otherwise, what do we have to pass on?

We aren't here to show what wonderful AA raconteurs we are. We are agents of God - saving lives.

"Still Recovering" sounds noble and appealing in some circles - but false humility won't cut it here. Too many of us true alcoholics have developed a keen bullshit detector and will never follow through with the drastic actions working with anyone who has failed to make a visceral connection - that he has truly walked in our shoes.

They wanted to make certain he was fully convinced he was hopeless. If he was.

• What did this do for him? 

This process snuffed out the last flicker of conviction that I could do the job myself.

• Once he admitted defeat, what did they tell him?

"Then they outlined the spiritual answer and program of action which a hundred of them had followed successfully.

What a vicious cycle! Alcoholism is a two-fold disease of body
AND mind brought on by primary illness: Spiritual disease. 

"Then they outlined the spiritual answer and program of action which a hundred of them had followed successfully."

What a vicious cycle! Alcoholism is a two-fold condition of body
AND mind brought on by primary illness: "Spiritual disease"

They outlined the WHOLE PROGRAM. Not the first three steps. Not how many meetings they should attend. All 12 steps. Right at the outset.

There is no timid, scraping overture to get someone to start going to meetings and setting up cupcakes with the hope of later bait-switching him into a spiritual lifestyle. That may work for suggestible, hurting, hard-drinkers but experience shows again and again that this approach never works for the real alcoholic.

These co-founders, approaching others, were straight forward about God. They were up-front with prospects about the extreme measures involved right at the start of their meeting a prospect.

Twelve Step work is not a chicken-poop proposal for paling around with suspected membership candidates. It is about building credibility by through the power of identification - explaining common symptoms of chronic alcoholism - not talking about our favorite sports teams

Where is this “outline” of the “spiritual answer” and “program of action”?

If you cannot do it from memory then it is summarized on pages 59 and 60 of the Big Book, "Alcoholics Anonymous". Pull it out and use it from start to finish and explain to him what is involved. That is an outline!

Sponsoring unqualified, unwilling prospects is a waste of time when our energies might be better spent with a real alcoholic who is willing to pay the high price. Freedom is costly.

It is only fair that a man ought to be able to answer, “Yes I am willing to go to any length” knowing what “any length” means. He might think it means meeting once, ask for a 12 X 12 reading or a friendly Q &A chat about a few Big Book chapters over coffee.

He is WRONG!

Only after Fred the Accountant had admitted complete defeat were they willing to let him in on our spiritual Solution. This is the way it should be. We should never get into the Solution until we have made certain our prospect is completely defeated.

Remember, Bill was ready to do anything to avoid death or wet brain insanity when Ebby showed up, two months sober, and gave Bill some hope that he might not have to die drunk after all. But then Ebby mentioned God and Bill was turned off with the idea and continued drinking until he thought he was going to die of a heart attack during DTs.

After Bill left Town’s Hospital, he devoted a part of just about every day to looking for a serious drinker. He ran every one of them off by talking about his Solution.

He failed to tell them about the scientific hopelessness of alcoholism. The first time he tried it the way Dr. Silkworth described alcoholism to him was when he was sitting in front of a prominent surgeon in Akron, Ohio.

Dr. Bob was willing to let this rummy from New York have only 15 minutes of his time but Bill changed his approach, described alcoholism as Dr. Silkworth had described it to him and the 15 minutes lasted 15 years for Dr. Bob, 36 years for Bill and we are here because Bill gave the good Doctor a killer case of alcoholism.

Peace and  Love,

Danny S – RLRA

Real Live Recovered Alcoholic

http://recoveredalcoholic.blogspot.com

Superman's Dead

Page: 42

Chapter: More About Alcoholism  

Step we are on: Step One

Subject:  Fred the Accountant, Self Esteem, Relapse

• What did he learn about self-knowledge and willpower?

I saw that will power and self-knowledge would not help in those strange mental blank spots.

Real alcoholics experience mental blank spots. They're gaps in consciousness where "obsession" kicks in. We characterize these unconscious gaps as "insanity," —  a peculiar mental twist that precedes the first drink, setting off the physical craving. They also call it the "queer mental condition," "strange mental blank spot" or "peculiar mental twist". We will discover these as we go on in this book.

•  What did he recollect not being able to ever understand?

I had never been able to understand people who said that a problem had them hopelessly defeated.

•  How did the newly acquired knowledge affect him?  Two  sentences

I knew then. It was a crushing blow.

Here, they are not referring to any "Aha" experience,  flash of intellectual insight or some tear-jerking soliloquy of a share session in a church basement. They're talking about a  CRUSHING impact upon the over-inflated, self-esteem bloated ego of the unrecovered alcoholic.

The more dejected we get the worse we feel — the closer to the solution we get. This is a theme repeated over and over in this book. When working with others, the WORSE thing to do to an alcoholic is to make him feel better! If you want to kill an alcoholic slowly and painfully, drag out the process as long as you can  — put him on a slow SELF-ESTEEM drip.  (Including "Assets" on an inventory sheet will do it.)

This is the deadly practice of the typical rehab facility today where quick-trained counselors — the "certified" addictions experts have been trained to do just that. Their livelihoods ultimately depend upon systematically applying what we know from horrific experience DOESN'T work.

Remember this? “We learned we had to fully concede to our innermost selves we were alcoholics.  It is the first step in recovery.”

• Who came to see him?

"Two of the members of Alcoholics Anonymous came to see me.

• What was the first thing they did?

  They grinned,

We’ll do it every time.

• What did Fred think of what they did?

which I didn't like so much,

They’ll do it every time.   

Don’t think that the suffering alcoholic is going to be impressed with your wonderfully winning, sober, alcohol-free personality. He isn’t. 

Tomorrow:

• What two questions did they ask Fred?
• To what did he concede?
• What did they pile on him?   (Two sentences)
• What did this do for him?
• Once he admitted defeat, what did they tell him?

Peace and  Love,

Danny S – RLRA

Real Live Recovered Alcoholic

http://recoveredalcoholic.blogspot.com

The Alcoholic Mind

Page: 41

Chapter: More About Alcoholism  

Step we are on: Step One

Subject:  Fred the Accountant, Struck Drunk,Two Fold illness,  Relapse

Good morning. Fred is telling 'the boys' about how he has come to some amazing conclusions regarding what has been ailing him.

One might say he has 'conceded' to his 'innermost self' that he is indeed alcoholic.

• How was he drinking?

I had commenced to drink as carelessly as though the cocktails were ginger ale.

• What did he remember his A.A. friends had prophesied?

I now remembered what my alcoholic friends had told me, how they prophesied that if I had an alcoholic mind, the time and place would come - I would drink again.

QUESTION:  Were they correct in their prophecy?

When we are given the opportunity to make a Twelve Step Call on a prospect, having talked only about alcoholism and our experiences while drinking; and the prospect does not indicate he has identified with the "description of the alcoholic" presented to him; the reality of their problem - perhaps leave them with this one thought.  “Maybe you really don’t have a serious problem with drinking.  Maybe you can handle this on your own now that you have a pretty good picture of what alcoholism really is but if you have an ALCOHOLIC MIND, you will drink again.  Here is my telephone number in case you would ever like to call me in the future.”

Please Turn to Page 42

• What did they say would happen in spite of his determination to not drink? 

 They had said that though I did raise a defense, it would one day give way before some trivial reason for having a drink.

• How well did his self-knowledge serve him?

Well, just that did happen and more, for what I had learned of alcoholism did not occur to me at all.

If you think there is no such a thing as being Struck Drunk, then boy do you not know much about us real alcoholics.
If we alkies are to "Think the drink through" we either forget to do it - or if we remember and actually attempt to do so, we all come to the same conclusion that

"IT WASN'T SO BAD LAST TIME - THIS TIME, IT WILL BE DIFFERENT"

From this experience, what did he come to know?
I knew from that moment that I had an alcoholic mind.
He remembered their prophecy and now knew he had a problem with which he needed help.

 This is only the first use of the term "Alcoholic Mind" in this book. It's a reference to the mental obsession part of the two-fold description of alcoholism.

An Alcoholic Mind? Is the mind of an alcoholic different from the mind of a non-alcoholic? From a drug addict? From a sex addict?

Yes, it sure is!

While all of these 'solutions' are symptomatic of spiritual illness and obsessive, unmanageable behaviors, drinking EtOH is the obsessive choice of the alcoholic. His brain is inexorably linked to what has worked for him in the past––what numbed his conscience from the agony of guilt for having played God, IE. Resented.

Alcohol has been his solution.

We learn and realize (If it applies to us) that alcoholism "Centers in the mind". (23:2)  We will NEVER be led to believe by the co-authors of this Book that alcoholism centers in a lack of meetings, or at the disco, or the wedding reception or in the smell of sawdust or with the slip under the skirt. None of these will even be remotely implied.

We will, however, be told that an un-recovered alcoholic STILL has an "alcoholic mind" - a very specific term they use to refer to one thing: Obsession. Or "Insanity" if you prefer.

Agree or disagree - like it or not - that’s the way they describe it. And boy are they consistent with it in this book.

TOMORROW

·         What did he learn about self-knowledge and willpower?

·         What else did he come to understand?

·         How did the newly acquired knowledge affect him? (Two sentences)

·         Who came to see him?

·         What was the first thing they did?

·         What did Fred think of what they did?

Peace and Love,

Danny S – RLRA

Real Live Recovered Alcoholic

http://recoveredalcoholic.blogspot.com

More About Fred's Blackout

1940s NYC Taxicabs (This was taken during a taxi-driver strike. 
For all we know, THIS guy was Fred's driver)

Fred The Accountant gets plastered  . . . (real name Harry Brick) . . . . plastered in DC, now lands in Brooklyn (Floyd-Bennett Field). Instead of his wife, there is a cab waiting for him. 

He says of his taxi-ride: 

"I know little of where I went or what I said and did."

Note:  Have you had similar experiences, blackouts?

From Wikipedia: "Research on alcohol blackouts was begun by E. M. Jellinek in the 1940s. Using data from a survey of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members, he came to believe that blackouts would be a good predictor of alcoholism. However, there are conflicting views as to whether this is true.The negative psychological effects of an alcohol-related blackout are often worsened by those who suffer from anxiety disorders."

Even non-alcoholics will "blackout" when they ingest enough alcohol. Being a "blackout drinker" does seem impressive to those who don't drink much anyway - but unfortunately, to the real alcoholic, this hardly matters. He will not find this particularly enlightening or useful for identification purposes. Yes EVERYBODY does blackout when drinking THAT MUCH  (It's just that not everyone drinks THAT MUCH.) 

E.M. Jellinek with Mrs. Marty Mann

Our friend Dr. Jellinek was not an alcoholic, and yet he also blacked out while conducting his famous experiment. "I was a blackout drinker" does not make an impression on we alcoholics who understand alcoholism. That is because EVERYONE is a blackout drinker. 

Tell us about obsession and physical craving if you want to catch our attention - not results that happen to anyone who happens to drink too much alcohol.

   
Just reviewing, where did Fred wind up?

Then came the hospital with unbearable mental and physical suffering.

Note:  Have you suffered unbearably after drinking?

Mental suffering: Depression, anxiety, regret, remorse?
Physical suffering: Hangover symptoms, shaky, headache, nausea, aching, fuzzy thinking, fatigue?

For more info on Jellinek check out:
Jellinek, E. M., The Disease Concept of Alcoholism, Hillhouse, (New Haven), 1960.

TOMORROW:

• How was he drinking?
• What did he remember his A.A. friends had prophesied?
• What did they say would happen in spite of his determination to not drink?
• How well did his self-knowledge serve him?
• Well, just that did happen and more, for what I had learned of alcoholism did not occur to me at all.
• From this experience, what did he come to know?

Peace & Love,

Danny S – RLRA

Real Live Recovered Alcoholic

http://recoveredalcoholic.blogspot.com

BLACKOUT!

eventually everyone "blacks out" when over-imbibing. 
Even non-alcoholics. It’s a human physical fact.

Page: 41

Step we are on: Step One

Chapter: More About Alcoholism 
 

Subject: Mental Condition, Fred the Accountant, Insanity, Two Fold illness, Nervous, Pre-lapse, Relapse, Normal vs. Abnormal

 

• What did he remember of all this?

I know little of where I went or what I said and did

Note:   Have you had similar experiences, blackouts? Non-alcoholics and alcoholics BOTH experience an amnesiac effect when too much alcohol is ingested.

Many non-alcoholics, who have no problems with alcohol, can recall blacking out when they had abused alcohol in the past. (“Don’t remember a thing”.) 

That is because eventually, everyone will "Blackout" with enough over-imbibing. Even non-alcoholics. It’s a human physical fact.

Blackouts are NOT symptomatic of alcoholism even though it is symptomatic of an alcohol abuse event. Some non-alcoholics blackout every time they drink!

Drinking "too much" is not a qualification either. Sometimes we hear an alcoholic attempting to qualify as “One of us” with a history of “Blackouts”.

This means nothing to a real alcoholic because everyone blacks out when they drink too much – not just alcoholics. It is simply incidental to this particular story, just as incidental as the whiskey/milk concoction in Jim's the salesman's story before it.

• Where did he wind up and with what?

Then came the hospital with unbearable mental and physical suffering.

Note:  Have you suffered unbearably after drinking?

As soon as his mind cleared, what did he do?

"As soon as I regained my ability to think, I went carefully over that evening in Washington.

• Had he resisted the first drink?

Not only had I been off guard, I had made no fight whatever against the first drink

• Was he conscious of the fact he had taken a drink?

This time I had not thought of the consequences at all.

Have you ever found yourself drinking and couldn’t remember where you were or what you were doing when you took the first drink?  If you haven’t had that experience and you are in a Group, ask how many have found themselves drinking but couldn’t remember where they were or what they were doing when they took the drink. This is the sure sign of OBSESSION. 

Un-recovered alcoholics can no more mentally wrest themselves from the automated behavior of DRINKING than can a rabbit decide he isn't going to reproduce. 

Real Alcoholics have a spiritual pain that raises an obsession to be anesthetized or else faced.  And rather than face a loving God's correction - he will flee, into the arms of the obsession . . . . . to drink . . . no matter what. He feels better. For years and years, it works every time. And that is why he cannot break free from the obsession. It is preferable to death - but only for a while.

Peace & Love,

Danny S – RLRA

Real Live Recovered Alcoholic

http://recoveredalcoholic.blogspot.com