“That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.” – The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 60
With reading the above mentioned statement, we may not entirely grasp the gravity of its suggestion. Many times, in a California alcohol rehab, we may put the counselor or therapist to whom we feel the most connected on a pedestal. Perhaps after leaving this rehab, we begin to refocus our attention from the counselor/therapist to our sponsor, assuming we are working with one. If not our sponsor, maybe we put the onus of our belief of that power greater than ourselves on another person, boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband, public figure, etc.
This is a definitive problem and can further the concept of having a lack of power. As we attempt to rely on others, we find that, invariably, the human condition, which includes the inevitable mistakes and whatnot, is not a stable and reliable source for us. We find this direction, if we attempt it, isn’t the best within where to reach/attach our faith.
It may be a struggle to come to the notion that we cannot rely upon others as an insurance policy against our drinking and/or using. With everything we hear about working with others, being available, being of service, it can be, especially in early sobriety, confusing as to where we are to place our firm assurances.
When we rely on others for our sobriety, we are setting ourselves and the other person up for failure and for the possibility of him or her building a large resentment toward us or, conversely a resentment from us toward the person with whom we want to believe will save us and/or keep us sober. When that other person doesn’t act, behave, give, respond, in the way we need, this can be used as our impetus to drink and/or use, before we have a spiritual foundation on which to stand. This can, given resentments are our number one offender, propel us toward taking a drink and, therefore, quite possibly drive us straight through the gateway of misery into the waiting arms of death.
In order for us to follow the well-worn path to success in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous using the design for living provided for us in the The Big Book, it is strongly suggested we find a power great than ourselves and that power may very well need to come in the form of a burgeoning concept of our Higher Power. This is to be a power greater than ourselves and that does not mean another living being or inanimate object, as people can let us down and material items can get lost and/or break. We are not saviors for others, as they cannot be for us, & just as we cannot, of our own will, save ourselves.