Russell S. on Step 7, Humility, and the 1 in 200 Statistic

About This Speaker Tape

1 in 200. That is the grim statistic Russell S. throws on the table—the slim chance of staying sober past twenty years. To him, relapse is the easy part; the shock is that anyone stays sober at all. He speaks with a jagged edge, dismissing "sobrietics" and the "horseshit" of those who think they can think their way out of a sickness that makes them monsters.

Russell describes the Seventh Step not as a prayer to be mouthed, but as a brutal collision with reality. He admits he can't "do" humility—he had to be drunk into it, morally and financially bankrupt, staring into the eyes of a stranger at a hospital bed admitting he was powerless. He recounts the "shots" his own sponsors gave him—the blunt, ego-stripping rebukes that took him down a peg. For Russell, the only way to move from the "get out of my face" country to a Higher Power is through the cold, hard truth that hurts enough to actually sink in.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Russell S. opens with a warning to newcomers to ignore his advice.
• 3:15 Discussion on the high relapse rates even after decades of sobriety.
• 6:40 Russell introduces the Seventh Step and the paradox of it being the one step you can't 'do'.
• 12:10 Laughter: Russell discusses calling people 'whores' in a blackout during a previous meeting.
• 18:50 The 'Humble Country' metaphor and the memory of the hospital bed admission.
• 25:10 A story about a sponsee who lied about a 4th of July party and Russell's blunt reaction.
• 31:40 Russell reflects on his sponsor's 'shots' and the necessity of being taken down a peg.
• 38:20 Analysis of the 'worldly clamors' and the priority list of Higher Power, sobriety, and AA.
• 45:10 Reading from the Big Book on the 'crushing of self-sufficiency' and ego-puncturing.