Thank you Rob for giving this valuable life lesson a hearing. I, too, believe that a person has to quit for their own sake. I like the way you did it--with Rush "in spirit". Very clever. AA will say you'll always have the desire to drink. I wonder if you would disagree?
re AA see #251
I would hesitate to try to count the thousands of AA meetings I've attended, and I've never heard that statement.
Those that live with the desire to drink are living in "white knuckle sobriety", and it's a helluva way to live.
AA is not about not drinking. That's the easy part.
AA is about living sober.
"AA will say you'll always have the desire to drink."
I've been sober in AA since 1970, and I have NEVER heard that remark. Nor has that experience been true for me.
I do believe the desire to drink can crop up at any time. Given enough rotten circumstances -- and if I've strayed too far from what I need to remember and practice -- it's possible that the thought of taking a drink will cross my mind. BUT, there's a big difference between thinking about a drink and actually taking a drink. Thus far, "I haven't found it necessary" to destroy my sobriety. Thank God. Hope that helps.
I would disagree with that. I've been sober for more than a decade and it's been a very long time since I spent any time at all thinking about drinking. The obsession has been gone for at least five years now. The worst I get now is a drunk dream once a year. Not even the panicky oh $hit my life is screwed. it's danm now I've gotta be an AA newbie again. That's it.