Tuesday, February 27, 2007

AA Follow-up

I got a very informative comment on my post that touched on Alcoholics Anonymous the other day. He ended up with these words of wisdom:

Something else that is just as important, if not more so - you need to listen as well as talk. You learn a lot about what to do and how to live without a drink by listening. People come to AA thinking that what they have to say is the important part of the meeting for them, and hopefully learn that sometimes listening is more important.

Something else that you need to do in AA - help others to get sober.

I'm an outsider on this particular issue, but this sounds very reasonable to me. Often when a person has a personal problem - especially one they are embarrassed about - they think they're the only person who ever had that problem. But rarely is a problem unique, and listening to how others cope is often releasing, enlightening, and fortifying.

It's a kind of mutual help society. Of course, when you help other members, you are fulfilling your end of the bargain. I imagine you also learn a lot when you help. And though I know mentoring can be a lot of trouble, I'm sure there's deep satisfaction to be had in helping someone turn their life around.

So even if I'm leery
About aspects of their theory,
I'll praise their working model:
It gets folks off the bottle.

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