By Rote

Could be filed under “WTF Are They Teaching You In Those Rehabs?”

Rote? Rote…

• The process of committing to memory without logical aid.
  Students were forced to learn by rote without really understanding the content.

Consider this very quickly!!! When you repeat the “Our Father” or the Serenity Prayer at the end of a meeting, do you give any consideration to any of it’s meaning – at all? Or, do you simply repeat it without any thought process…

With the understanding that saying this out loud will have little, if any effect on those who do it and, with the thought that this is not meant to beat you down but to let you know that we understand;

“I want to thank my God for being here today and for being sober and with that, I’m just going to listen…”

Sure you are. Perhaps those who offer this share in a meeting might think about how many folks who’ve been sober for decades begin their sharing with this rehab babble. The chance that you’re saying this because it is the thing to say is very high! Those of you who do this know exactly who you are – check your belly button barometer.

Sober? Please, please, oh please people – if you’re only days or weeks away from your last drink (drug), don’t have a sponsor or have a sponsor in name only, have only “worked” (major differences in definitions here) the steps under a “supervisor,” not a sponsor, don’t have a home group, are more concerned about “graduation” than long-term recovery, you’re a ways away from “sober.”

And memorizing “How It Works” without putting the principles into practice will get you drunk way more often than it will keep you sober (dry). Don’t do it by rote, do it because you have “it.”

[Hey - you, yeah you... "addicted" to alcohol? Well, well - if you're like me that means you're alcoholic! Really... ]