by Bill McD.

I think that part of--and a big part, at that--of the reason I "failed" during my first few attempts at sobriety is that I was cavalier about it. And I sure as shit wasn't honest; at one point I remember actually planning a relapse while in treatment. Fought the good fight, as they say, after that, but the deed was basically done.

One of the reasons that I love this list more and more is that we *can* all have different ways of facing up to sobriety. In fact, those differences are the basis of why this works, as near as I can tell. It's a far cry from being told "the way."

I have recently met too many people who diligently follow "the program", but aren't really doing a damn thing. And then they can't figure out why they relapsed. After all, they went to all those meetings.... And then the character flaw thing crops up again, basically starting a vicious cycle--more meetings will help get rid of the flaws, etc. If you don't think, don't *actually* participate, don't listen and at least try to learn, then what good is any course of recovery?