David O. - The Aquarian Alcoholic: A 21st Century Perspective of the Twelve-Step Program

The Aquarian Alcoholic

A 21 st -Century Perspective
of the
Twelve-Step Program

By

David 0., Ph.D.

Copyright 2003 David O. Christensen. All rights reserved.

Any part of this book may be freely used for reviews, articles, or other constructive purposes with the source credited.

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

A cataloguing record for this book that includes the U.S. Library of Congress Classification number, the Library of Congress Call number and the Dewey Decimal cataloguing code is available from the National Library of Canada. The complete cataloguing record can be obtained from the National Librarys online database at: www.nlc-bnc.ca/amicus/ index-e.html

ISBN 1-4120-1312-7

ISBN 978-1-4122-1746-0 (ebook)

This book was published on-demand in cooperation with Trafford Publishing.

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Contents

CHAPTER ONE
TWELVE STEP READINESS

CHAPTER TWO
THE MORE I KNOW OF GOD

CHAPTER THREE
THE MORE I KNOW OF ME

CHAPTER FOUR
THE MORE I CAN LET GO

CHAPTER FIVE
THE MORE I WILL BE FREE

You have outgrown the time of childrens tales. Seth.

This book is not for everyone. It was written for those individuals who confronted by the need to stop drinking through the Twelve-Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous, are faced with the idea that in order to become sober, they must accept and believe in spiritual principles that they simply cannot accept or believe in. If you are one who is inclined to believe that someone or something out there somewhere (a God) directs and controls your destiny and that you have little or no control over the events in your life, then you probably should not pick up this book. If you wish to identify with a universal power or wish to expand on that intuitive feeling of universal oneness, then this book may help identify some direction in which to grow.

The Twelve-Step Program was introduced in the mid-nineteen-thirties as a method for people, plagued by the need to drink, to overcome their addiction to alcohol. The program was introduced through the organization known as Alcoholics Anonymous, commonly referred to as AA. Since then, the Twelve-Step Program has been adopted by many other organizations seeking to help relieve various addictions. One can find help in Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Smokers Anonymous (SA), Overeaters Anonymous (OA), and a host of other anonymous organizations all of which employ the Twelve-Step Program as a means of recovery.

The use of the Twelve-Step Program has grown to the extent that Twelve-Step Program is almost a household phrase and most individuals are at least aware of the purpose behind it. This book is about the Twelve-Step Program but it is not directed at the average individual suffering from an addiction, although the average individual can learn from it. This book is directed at the individual in harmony with 21 st -century thinking, the individual who desires to leave older philosophies behind and whos thinking is beyond the scope of the average person. The claim of this book is that the Twelve-Step Program works perfectly when the steps are worked at a higher level of effort and understanding than usually followed within the framework of most of the anonymous organizations.

This book was written from the perspective of alcoholism, the addiction to alcohol. However, the same principles presented within apply to many other addictions. This book was written by an alcoholic in recovery whose only desire is to help relieve some of the struggles faced by new members starting out on the Twelve-Step Program who find it difficult or impossible to retain or to accept dogmatic beliefs in conjunction with their recovery.

This book would not have been complete without the help of my wife Carol and my good friends Bill B. and Keith B. Their comments and support are most graciously appreciated.

CHAPTER ONE
TWELVE STEP READINESS

The Aquarian Alcoholic

Most people spend their lives in search of an answer. They know not what the question is or seldom see the answer when they find it. They search in churches, in schools, in positions and titles, and even in bottles but die never knowing. The answer can be found. The answer is in you. The answer is you. Shelby Odine.

Both Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and this book focus on a Twelve-Step Program of recovery from addictions (specifically the addiction to alcohol). The Twelve-Step Program was conceived and popularized by the organization known as Alcoholics Anonymous. The twelve steps listed in this book are quoted from the book titled Alcoholics Anonymous. Additionally, the twelve promises listed in this book have been paraphrased from the promises as stated in the book titled Alcoholics Anonymous. The book titled Alcoholics Anonymous is the first listing in Suggested Reading at the end of this book. This book, The Aquarian Alcoholic, is meant to supplement the book titled Alcoholics Anonymous for certain individuals in recovery.

Before starting on the twelve steps, there are other considerations to be made, probably the largest of which is determining if one is in fact an alcoholic or if one simply desires to work the Twelve-Step Program for some other reason. (Tradition three of the organization Alcoholics Anonymous states that the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking.) Other considerations include the final goal of the individuals recovery program, the individuals current state of being, some useful recovery tools, and what really works to overcome the alcoholic condition. Chapter One of this book addresses these topics.

This book was written under the title The Aquarian Alcoholic. What is meant by that title? Mankind is now in the 21 st century, the new millennium. Many people call it the New Age or the Aquarian Age. Within each calendar year, the earth revolves around the sun through each of the twelve zodiac signs. The signs of the zodiac are literally twelve segments of the visible night sky. Our sun has its own journey through the cosmos and from the vantage point of the earth, also seems to pass through the twelve zodiac signs. The Aquarian Age is the long period of time that it takes the sun to move through the zodiac sign of Aquarius. It is simply a very long period of time equated to a particular segment of the visible universe.

Because life is always evolving forward and each historical age shows some improvement over the previous age, each age is assigned some expected signs of progress. People of the Aquarian Age are expected to move away from dogmatic beliefs. A better understanding of mans relationship to the spiritual realm is expected. Aquarians should help others better and love others more. In all, people of the Aquarian Age should show great improvement over people of the previous age emotionally, spiritually, and in self-awareness. The recovering Aquarian Alcoholic should also follow this expected pattern, being less inclined to follow dogma and the dictates of others, being more spiritual, and having a much greater understanding of self and the relationship of self to the universe. How is this accomplished? Going beyond popular conformist beliefs and gaining a greater understanding of a higher power and of the inner self is the method of accomplishment recommended.