“It’s not about intensity. It’s about consistency.”
After being in AA for a while, we start hearing a simple idea: there is only one reason alcoholics drink — they didn't spend time maintaining their spiritual condition. We can't blame the boss, or the spouse anymore. Not money. Not stress. There is one reason, and one reason only. It sounds clean and simple. But if we’re honest, how many days have we not felt in fit spiritual condition and still stayed sober?
Plenty have had days full of anger, selfishness, self-pity, fear, and bad attitudes. Days where prayer felt flat. Days where we weren’t exactly shining examples of spiritual health. And we still stayed sober.
So what happened on those days?
Maybe sobriety isn’t held together by how intense we are spiritually. Maybe it’s about consistency. Now, we show up to meetings regularly. We pick up the phone. We take suggestions. We stay connected even if we don’t feel very connected.
When we really look at it, isn’t something being revealed to us? Many of us came to believe even more when we realized we stayed sober through events we used to drink over. The same kinds of arguments, disappointments, fears, and pressures showed up — but the drink didn’t. And when we quietly ask ourselves the big question, “What changed?” the answer brings a quiet sense of inner peace.
What is a situation you used to drink over that you’ve now stayed sober through — and what do you think changed?
