AA Is Not Self-Improvement — Sobriety Is Self-Discovery – Chuck C.

About This Speaker Tape

Chuck C. shares his experience of over 34 years of continuous sobriety, beginning with his definition of sobriety as "the ability to live comfortably, peacefully, and joyously with myself." He emphasizes that AA is not a self-improvement society but a program of self-discovery, and that the greatest line in the Big Book is "we cease to fight anything, anybody." He walks through the first three steps with characteristic humor, describing Step 1 as a two-fold admission of defeat, Step 2 as a secondhand admission of insanity, and Step 3 as getting out of the driver's seat.

He recounts his bottom vividly: the Friday before Christmas 1945, his boss gave him a raise instead of firing him, and he got drunk on the way home. As a periodic drinker for 11 years, he had never lost control that fast before. He went into a blackout lasting nearly five weeks, drinking seven quarts of whiskey every few days. When he came to in mid-January, everything between him and himself had burned away, and for the first time in 42 years he admitted total defeat.

His first AA meeting story is unforgettable. Standing in a doorway in Beverly Hills, he nearly left because the happy people inside did not look or sound like him. But someone spotted him turning to leave, came to the door, and lit up when Chuck said he was looking for sobriety. That man rocked him to sleep and told him three things: one drink is too many and a thousand are not enough, today is the day we do not drink, and stay close to us. Chuck bought all three lessons and never let go.

Over the following years, sobriety unfolded in stages: six months of meetings every night, then discovering he could help other drunks, then rediscovering his family, then business success, and finally at six years finding a Higher Power of his own. He closes with the Prayer of St. Francis, declaring that in dying to self we are born to eternal life, and urges the audience to simply work the program and prove it true.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Introduction and sobriety date: over 34 years without a drink or conscious desire to drink
• 3:00 Defines sobriety as the ability to live comfortably, peacefully, and joyously with yourself
• 6:00 AA is not a self-improvement society but a self-discovery society
• 8:00 We cease to fight anything, anybody — the greatest line in the Big Book
• 12:00 Walks through Steps 1, 2, and 3 with humor: defeat, insanity, and getting out of the driver's seat
• 18:00 Growing up half Methodist, half hard-shell Baptist — 30 years searching for Higher Power and never getting saved
• 23:00 His bottom: Friday before Christmas 1945, boss gave him a raise, got drunk on the way home and blacked out for nearly five weeks
• 30:00 First AA meeting in Beverly Hills: almost left because the happy people did not look like drunks, but a man came to the door and lit up
• 36:00 Three lessons from his first night: one drink too many, today is the day, stay close to us
• 42:00 Stages of recovery over 34 years, the Prayer of St. Francis, and dying to self as the path to life