Hello family! Raelene, alcoholic, here.

I'd been in this program three years and still could not stay sober. I kept relapsing. I would consistently put together 50-70 days, and then would relapse. Like lots of folks, I thought I knew the Big Book front to back, but I couldn't apply it. My life was so out of control I couldn't even manage my feelings, and my feelings always drove me to drink. I kept trying to do this program my way. I kept trying to solve my drink problem with self-will and with self-knowledge, but it availed me nothing except more suffering. Finally, I understood I had to surrender. And in surrender, I have been able to work the Steps genuinely and thoroughly to become free from the obsession to drink. I have learned not by might, not by will, not by brains ... only by surrendering, do I have each new 24 hours sober per day.

God Bless each of you. Thanks!