Why the Principles Must Be More Powerful Than the Problem – Steve M.

About This Speaker Tape

Tri-State AA Convention - 2003

A white car a jail cell in Washington and a woman in shorts that barely covered her backside—these are the wreckage markers for Steve M. He spent years as a 'coward with a big mouth,' drifting between Nebraska and California drinking dry gin chased with Squirt to numb a spiritual sickness he describes as a mass of fear. The turning point arrived in 1974 via a woman named Libby and a man named Bob B. who carted him to a state hospital. Steve doesn't claim moral superiority he simply views the program as a set of spiritual principles that if practiced as a way of life expel the obsession to drink. He reflects on the 'dark night of the soul' and the necessity of collective history arguing that knowing where the program came from is as vital as the steps themselves to avoid returning to the person he was when drinking.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:45 Laughter: The 'AA dance' and the broken-down car metaphor.
• 5:12 Steve shares his sobriety date: May 26, 1975.
• 10:15 Discussion on the importance of AA history and the encounter with General Kimston.
• 15:40 Definition of alcoholism: 'I can't live with drinking and I can't live without drinking.'
• 22:10 The 'two ways' people approach recovery: fixing the inside vs. fixing the outside.
• 31:05 The 'Bill's Bar' era: descriptions of colorful characters like Vibrator Hartman and Leonard Larson.
• 42:20 The story of the white car theft and the jail cell in Washington.
• 55:10 Step 1: The encounter with Libby and the first call to Bob B.
• 1:05:30 Reflections on the 'dark night of the soul' and spiritual choking.
• 1:12:00 Closing thoughts on the 'jet engine for life' and the power of the first nine steps.