September 7

September 7 – AM          Page 7, Bill’s Story, Chapter 1

It relieved me somewhat to learn that in alcoholics the will is amazingly weakened when it comes to combating liquor, though it often remains strong in other respects.  My incredible behavior in the face of a desperate desire to stop was explained.  Understanding myself now, I fared forth in high hope.  For three or four months the goose hung high.  I went to town regularly and even made a little money.  Surely this was the answer—self-knowledge.
But it was not, for the frightful day came when I drank once more.  The curve of my declining moral and bodily health fell off like a ski-jump.  After a time I returned to the hospital.  This was the finish, the curtain, it seemed to me.  My weary and despairing wife was informed that it would all end with heart failure during delirium tremens, or I would develop a wet brain, perhaps within a year.  She would soon have to give me over to the undertaker or the asylum.

September 7 – PM          Page 77-78, Into Action, Chapter 6

Under no condition do we criticize such a person or argue.  Simply we tell him that we will never get over drinking until we have done our utmost to straighten out the past.  We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that nothing worth while can be accomplished until we do so, never trying to tell him what he should do.  His faults are not discussed.  We stick to our own.  If our manner is calm, frank, and open, we will be gratified with the result.