Sober 32 years since 10/31/1978, Bob has a fascintaing ability to describe the Nature of his wrongs - what is at the heart of his unacceptable behavior.
Freedom is one of the great benefits of the program. Abstinance without freedom drives some to put a pistol in their mouth.
Step 5 did not appeal to him at first. The Steps looked like punishment for being a bad drunk.
He stayed sober at first on intensive work with other alcoholics but not very happy.
The 5th Step promises on page 75 did not come true for him after his first 5th Step. Instead he felt ashamed, depressed and tired.
He did Step 5 that first time, not to get closer to God or become more effective, but rather to not feel like such a knucklehead in meetings where they talked about the 5th Step.
It is interesting to follow him through the years to see how his attitude changed toward what Bill W called "this vital step".
(50 min) (17.3 MB) (id#1153)