To Fully Concede

“We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery.” –Alcoholics Anonymous big book page 30

Are you ready to fully concede? What exactly is it we are conceding anyhow? What have we learned? Concede is defined as to accept as true. Therefore, if I am fully conceding to my innermost self that I am alcoholic, then I am accepting this as an absolute truth in my heart.

What a powerful statement. The sentence beginning with “We Learned” implies there have been lessons learned. The teacher is our lived experience. The lessons are the lost jobs, failed relationships, and broken homes resulting from our alcoholism.

When I accepted that I was alcoholic fully in my heart, change began. I was at peace and the solution for me was obvious. The debating society in my head began to settle down. I didn’t need to figure it out all out anymore. I had lost, alcohol had won, I was defeated. With this acceptance, the new found solution for change was the 12 Steps.

The gift of sobriety has brought me many treasures, and given me the tools to handle difficult times. With acceptance of my alcoholism, came a way of life today that I could not imagine when I was getting sober. It simply was beyond my comprehension. Like a polar bear could not comprehend palm trees and the south Florida sun, I simply couldn’t even begin to imagine the life I have today. These gifts are the result of the lessons learned with hitting bottom. Those lessons are the real gifts I have learned. For they brought me to concede, and with those concessions, I became open to a way of life that allowed me to be teachable and grow.

References:


http://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/en_bigbook_chapt3.pdf
** https://www.google.com/search?q=concede+define&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Scroll to Top