The Spiritual Malady

The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says: “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 our might, but the needed power wasn’t there. Our human resources, as marshaled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly. Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power?  Well, that’s exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem. That means we have written a book which we believe to be spiritual as well as moral. And it means, of course, that we are going to talk about God. Here difficulty arises with agnostics. Many times we talk to a new man and watch his hope rise as we discuss his alcoholic problems and explain our fellowship. But his face falls when we speak of spiritual matters, especially when we mention God, for we have re–opened a subject which our man thought he had neatly evaded or entirely ignored. We know how he feels. We have shared his honest doubt and prejudice. Some of us have been violently anti–religious. To others, the word “God” brought up a particular idea of Him with which someone had tried to impress upon them during childhood. Perhaps we rejected this particular conception because it seemed inadequate. With that rejection we imagined we had abandoned the God idea entirely. We were bothered with the thought that faith and dependence upon a Power beyond ourselves was somewhat weak, even cowardly.” (Pg. 45-46 from the chapter  “We Agnostics”)

Discover Your Higher Power

Many of us come to find out after receiving help from Above It All Treatment that alcohol is but a symptom of this disease we suffer from. If alcohol was our main problem and it was just a matter of not drinking then most of us would not have to go to a detox, AA, or alcohol drug rehab we would just have to stay away from alcohol, our life would go back to normal, and our problems would go away when the booze were taken out of the equation but For most of us it didn’t work like that. We suffer from a spiritual malady that no matter how much willpower we exert it is not enough to fix our thinking problem. We found that when the drinking stopped our lives were still unmanageable if not more so. It’s not until we do the work to recover from this disease that centers in the mind that we can begin to function normally. It isn’t until we turn our will and life over to a power greater than ourselves that we can begin to live free, and stay sober.

Here at Above It All, we believe in the spiritual awakening that occurs as you go through your recovery. Do not put off your rehab because you do not believe in or are mad at God. Find your own version of faith; in all things including yourself. We believe in the 12 Step process and we believe in you.

Surrender – The First Step to Recovery

“We know that little good can come to any alcoholic who joins A.A. unless he has first accepted his devastating weakness and all its consequences. Until he so humbles himself, his sobriety–if any–will be precarious. Of real happiness he will find none at all. Proved beyond doubt by an immense experience, this is one of the facts of A.A. life. The principle that we shall find no enduring strength until we first admit complete defeat is the main taproot from which our whole Society has sprung and flowered. When first challenged to admit defeat, most of us revolted. We had approached A.A. expecting to be taught self-confidence. Then we had been told that so far as alcohol is concerned, self-confidence was no good whatever; in fact, it was a total liability. Our sponsors declared that we were the victims of a mental obsession so subtly powerful that no amount of human willpower could break it. There was, they said, no such thing as the personal conquest of this compulsion by the unaided will. Relentlessly deepening our dilemma, our sponsors pointed out our increasing sensitivity to alcohol–an allergy, they called it. The tyrant alcohol wielded a double-edged sword over us: first we were smitten by an insane urge that condemned us to go on drinking, and then by an allergy of the body that insured we would ultimately destroy ourselves in the process. Few indeed were those who, so assailed, had ever won through in single-handed combat. It was a statistical fact that alcoholics almost never recovered on their own resources.”

– From the chapter on Step One from The AA Twelve and Twelve

 

As alcoholics trying to get sober the first step whether we plan to go to an alcohol rehab, AA, or other alcohol programs is to admit that we are powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable. It isn’t until we admit complete defeat that we can move forward. If we do not surrender to the fact that we are alcoholics many of us will not be willing to go to any lengths to receive help and stay sober. We must realize we suffer from an allergy of the body and a spiritual malady that no amount of will power can fix.

If we are to recover from this seemingly hopeless state of mind and body we must be rid of the things that bind us through doing this work on ourselves.

Above It All Treatment is here to help – Call Now!