“After all, our problems were of our own making. Bottles were only a symbol.”
– Big book of Alcoholics Anonymous page 103
I admire this statement. Reading this statement when I first got sober though was more like eating humble pie. Immediately my fragile ego defense system kicked into blame, and I am pretty sure I found excuses why my problems were everyone else’s fault. There is truth here and our problems were of our own making. This is a big piece to digest, however it is liberating at the same time. The more I look at it these days, the more grateful I am to know this simple fact.
It is an interesting fact that if my problems are of my own making, then the steps offer a solution, and this means I can begin to solve these problems from change within. I no longer have to look outward for a solution to my troubles, I no longer have to search. How do I find it within me though?
The answer awaits in the 12 steps. The steps are a solution to the problems I experience in day to day life. Alcoholism, was a result of my internal struggles, the bottles were only a symbol to a much greater problem. Alcoholics Anonymous is an inside job. Time and again, there is reference made to the answers being within us through the literature. If this is true, if the answer really is within, then I have found the answer I have searched outwardly for, my entire life. What a relief that brings.
Reference:
http://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/en_bigbook_chapt7.pdf