Emotional Sobriety II. Группа авторов

other day, I was in a pet store, and they'd just gotten in some boa constrictors—not too big, perhaps six feet or so. At any rate, I was standing at the glass case looking at them the way you stand and look at snakes, not thinking of buying them or anything, just looking, enjoying the intricate patterns and colors, when I was interrupted by a stifled cry. I turned to see my wife standing in back of me, eyes wide in horror, the twitch definitely pronounced, while her head shook back and forth slowly. “No,” she was whispering in terror, “not snakes. Please, not snakes. Anything but snakes.”

      And that just goes to show, it sometimes takes an Al-Anon longer to get straightened out than it does the alcoholic himself. Hell, I wasn't even thinking of buying a boa constrictor.

      Not at the price they were asking.

      G.P.

      Elbert, Colorado

      SECTION TWO

      The Miracle of Manageability

      “I may have a bad moment, a low hour, or a terrible day, but if I stay dry, the day will pass,” says A.H. of Park Forest, Illinois. “I can't afford to get too irritated…. I've gone to sleep with a small resentment and woke up alongside an ugly giant.” He then takes us through the rollicking roller coaster of his life as a pianist in a small Dixieland band, an exciting, simple life—and manageable because of our program.

      The lives of active alcoholics are typically managed by alcohol, and when the relief of recovery puts the power back in our own hands, it's a sight to behold. One of the story titles in this section suggests, “Let's Take Happiness Out of the Closet.” Perceptively observing that "we are not a glum lot" too often takes a back seat to sober-sided sobriety, D.C. of Bend, Oregon is concerned that some of us feel a member is only working the program if he or she is miserable, and that some of us conjure up a negative thought just to have something to say at a meeting. “I am vowing,” she says, “to give loud support to successes, not just encouraging … troubles and failures. I now see successful living as a natural God-given by-product of successful sobriety. I say, go for it!”

      “Thank God, as a result of AA and sobriety, I am liberated from dreaming the impossible dream and free, finally, to start living the possible dream,” says J.W. of Islamorada, Florida, who reminds us what it was like to drink in order to transform what seemed like an ugly world.

      “All the excitement and interest and wonder of adventure are mine to explore, ever-new, ever-changing, ever-becoming.” Ever manageable. This is echoed by a former drama queen from Madison, Wisconsin who still struggles with what she “might think of as having a 'mundane' life,” after living only for the next big event, unaware that all of life is lived moment to moment.

      Our quest for manageability never ends. Mary S.'s letter to her husband's morning group is a powerful, poignant reminder that sobriety offers us the ability to manage not only our lives, but our peaceful, sober deaths as well.