The twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous have saved countless lives from death by alcohol. The Steps have the power to free anyone who earnestly works them from their hellish enslavement to alcohol or drugs.

It is generally known that the AA program works to help alcoholics achieve and maintain sobriety.

Less well-known is the extraordinary quality of life that results from working the steps. Everyone I know who has embraced and practiced the 12 steps as a way of life testifies to the joy, peace and improved relationships that are the hallmark of a principle-driven life.

Step 10, "continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it." is one of the reasons for this joyous improvement in a life formerly focused on self.

There is nothing I know of in this world that is more effective, works faster and costs less to use than a heartfelt apology. I used to think that if I had hard feelings with someone else, that if I apologized first that somehow I would lose. I almost always waited for the other person to apologize first--mostly the apology I felt I was owed never came.

Today I believe that a prompt and sincere apology on my part is a victory. I always feel immediate relief of my own anger, whether or not the other party reciprocates. They usually do, and if they don't, they only cheat themselves of the relief that comes from a resolved conflict.

An apology...

When a prizefighter steps into the ring he knows he must "go the distance" if he is to win or even have a chance of victory.

Alcoholics and addicts are in struggle that is in many ways like the battle a boxer faces. Time and again they step into the ring and are bloodied and knocked unconscious by a foe that is always triumphant. Worse, theirs is a fight that will continue on a daily basis until they find recovery or die. There are no clear-cut bells offering a moment's respite and it transcends 15 rounds.

Why do so few recover and the vast majority seem hopelessly doomed? What is the magic difference and what brings it about?

Simply put, it is the willingness to go to any length to get sober and recover.

There is an extremely easy test that can be employed on an alcoholic or addict that will give better odds than Jimmy the Greek on their chance of sobriety .

Ask them, or better yet, put them in a position to DEMONSTRATE, their willingness to go to any length to get the help they need. If they hem, haw, rationalize, or procrastinate then their odds of recovering are zero.

Harsh isn't it? But it is the truth.

If, however, the suffering addict is at the point where he is willing to try ANYTHING to save himself, his odds go up tremendously.

Asking them to attend an AA meeting is one simple task that can tell you a lot about an individual's chances at any given...

Alcoholism is a chronic, progressive and ultimately fatal disease. It not only kills its victims in a veritable smorgasbord of death (liver failure, suicide, choking on one's own vomit, car crashes and other fatal accidents to name a few), it also devastates family members of its victims and its terrible cost is borne by the entire community.

Our jails are filled to overflowing with people who likely would not be there if alcohol and drugs were taken out of the equation. Of course they are not ALL alcoholics, but many if not most are.

Alcoholism is also uncurable. That is to say medical science recognizes it as a disease, but has not discovered a way to make a "normal" drinker out of an diagnosed alcoholic; or even make one stop the drinking that is killing him.

Complete abstinence from alcohol and drugs is the only proven way to arrest this fatal condition. Simple! Just don't drink.

Because of the physical dependence inherent in addiction, and the mental obsession accompanying it, this is difficult for most alcoholics to even try. And those who have tried can recite a laundry list of failed attempts to stay sober.

Alcoholics Anonymous has proven itself as the most successful and accessible remedy. A sufferer desperate for help need only attend an AA meeting to start this healing process. An appointment is not necessary and there is never a charge to attend.

There are several different...

Commitment. How important is it in life, success and recovery from addiction?

In the classic movie, Ben-Hur, Charlton Heston's character spends some time as a galley-slave on a Roman warship. He and his fellow rowers are chained to their oars while rowing to the cadence of a drummer who sets the speed of the ship.

None of the hundreds of rowers on the Roman Trireme are volunteers, yet they will row their hearts out, literally, because of that chain. If their vessel is sunk, so are they. As the drummer intones "Ramming speed!" each oarsman knows he must row for his life.

Andy Andrews tells of how Cortez motivated his men to victory by commanding them to burn their own boats prior to commencing an invasion. This seemingly drastic tactic ensured that each man in his expeditionary force had a vested interest in winning.

Those of us in recovery sooner or later realize we are in a life-or-death struggle with addiction. A struggle that grievously affects those around us as well. Victory is possible if we can commit unflinchingly to do whatever it takes to achieve it.

Recovery and the chance at life and success it offers requires a total life-long commitment. Is it worth it? Ask any of the multitude who have made that commitment, honored it and found freedom and joy in the process.

The galley slaves and Cortez's men were put in their position against their wills. Once their situation was made...

Alcoholics Anonymous (lovingly called the "big book" of AA) makes many promises to those who thoroughly follow the path of the AA program.

Here are are some of them: "If we are painstaking about this phase of our development we will be amazed before we are half-way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook on life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. We will intuitively understand situations that used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves." AA Big Book pg 83-84.

The same book also promises, or warns, that if the alcoholic stops working his program he will inevitably fall again.

Relapse is defined as a return to drinking or drug use after a period of abstinence with the intention to permanently quit drinking or using.

Often called a "slip" by AA members, such an evident failure to stay sober is disappointing and a source of anquish to the alcoholic. Family members or loved...