like driving a car with wheels that are out of alignment

 

 

Having an alcoholic mind is like driving a car with wheels that are out of alignment.

If you just hold the steering wheel normally, without making any effort to compensate for the misalignment, the car begins to drift sideways... potentially into oncoming traffic.  You have to apply a little ongoing, consistent effort against the drift to keep the car moving forward in a straight line, safely in the middle of the lane.

The same is true of the alcoholic mind -- it also needs a little ongoing, consistent effort applied against the pull of alcoholism in our thinking, or it too will drift... also potentially into oncoming traffic.

Comments

[Dave]

I got used to having head-on crashes often.

[Cattie P]

Wow Mr. SP I have been using that analogy for years in meetings. I often use it to explain why we need to continue to work a program of recovery, years after getting sober. I say, my frame was wrecked (alcoholism), I took it to the frame shop to get bent back into shape (recovery), but it is never quite truly re-aligned. I need to take myself in for regular alignments (meetings, steps, service) in order to have myself properly aligned enough to keep going without struggling too much to keep on the road. If I don't go in for regular alignments, I get uneven tire wear and more easily will drift off the road into a ditch (a dry drunk) or worse have a terrible accident (relapse). It is just easier to do regular maintainence that to question why I need so many alignments to keep going in a reasonably functional way.

[Nicole Vickers]

Well-said, Mr.SP! What an analogy between an alcoholic mind and a not-so-good car. But We must not be like that. We must be like a well-conditioned car, we'll always be at our best. =]