Step 6 and 7 Took Him Two Years – Tom A.

About This Speaker Tape

5th Tradition Group -

A child prodigy of alcoholism Tom A. describes a life that began with sneaking beers on an elementary school roof in the fourth grade and escalated to being led out of school in handcuffs by age thirteen. He spent seventeen months in a boot-camp style rehab in St. Petersburg Florida at fifteen but spent the next decade as a 'meeting attender' rather than a member dodging accountability and dating newcomers in a cycle of 'Intervention Love.' The turning point came in Chicago where he encountered a disciplined hardcore group and a sponsor Mike M. who demanded he pray on his knees regardless of his disbelief. By trading his defiance for a calculated slow-motion approach to the steps—spending two years on Steps 6 and 7 alone—Tom moved from a state of 'untreated alcoholism' to a life of commitment and stability.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Tom A. introduces himself and mentions his sobriety date of March 1, 1980.
• 3:15 Story about sneaking beers and climbing onto the elementary school roof in fourth grade.
• 7:40 Laughter: Discussing the 'highlight reel' of his drinking, including a wet Burger King floor in Jacksonville.
• 11:20 Description of being 'hoodwinked' by his parents into entering a 17-month rehab program in St. Petersburg.
• 16:45 Discussion on the 'missing the point' phase of early sobriety and the desire to just be a 'regular guy'.
• 21:10 Experiences with the Young People's Meeting in Naperville, Illinois, and the 'third-grade classroom' atmosphere.
• 26:30 The 'addictive engine' metaphor provided by his sponsor regarding running on things other than alcohol.
• 31:15 Contrast between 'cheap AA rhetoric' and the disciplined structure of the hardcore Chicago group.
• 36:40 Admission of fraud and bouncing 40 checks in a month while still claiming 'this too shall pass'.
• 40:10 Sponsorship: Mike M. instructs him to pray on his knees regardless of his belief in a Higher Power.
• 45:20 Discussion of the 12 Steps: spending two years on Steps 6 and 7.