Step One

In Alcoholics Anonymous, the first step is to admit,  "we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable." (The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, https://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/smf-121_en.pdf, viewed July 21, 2019.)

Today is a Facebook friend's second anniversary of taking that first step.  He showed a picture of the chip he got from AA celebrating two years.  More importantly he showed a pic of his mug shot which I presume was taken the day he took that first step.

Couple of things come to mind.

First, when I walk past AA meetings, it is not a rare sighting to see someone who could use help in dealing with their addictions outside looking in as the participants discuss their lives before and after they took Step One.  I suspect they know they have an issue, but are not for whatever reason ready to deal with it.

Which brings me to my next point, which I was reminded about the hard way.  I believe that no one can do Step One for someone else.  I may be fully cognizant that someone else has a problem even though they may not be a danger to themselves or others (that is another story,) but I cant fix things for them.

Of course, that brings a new challenge that I have to figure out how to deal with.  Again, that is another story for another time.

The last thing I was reminded of was the time I had to do Step One about something in December 1987.  I woke up after a three day drinking binge I engaged in after being thrown out by my parents in a stranger's bed.  I realized, that if I stayed in Houston, I would die a quick death.  I knew I had to leave in order to live and ended up starting a new life in Denver.

It was one of the best decisions I ever made.