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Author: [[Richie Stephens, John Altschuler, and Dave Krinsky]] Full Title: The Gangster’s Guide to Sobriety Category: #books For whatever reason, I always felt stressed, but after swigging down some deep draughts of warm beer on that bus, I felt relaxed. After a few more, I even felt confident. Suddenly, I didn’t care what anybody thought of me. Everything was right with the world. Fuck. This is what it’s all about. This is why all these people are drinking. This was just what I had been missing. And just what I needed! “Why do people drink?” We all shrugged our shoulders. It just seemed to be the thing to do in Ireland. “The reason that people drink,” he said, “is to get out of their heads.” Yes! It now made perfect sense to me in this moment. The can of beer I was drinking on the way home from Galway that day was doing just that. It took me out of my head. Moving the goal line like this is a method a lot of addicts employ, and I was masterful at it. It allowed me to keep on abusing myself while telling myself it was a conscious decision, that “I could quit anytime.” STEP TWO NOW I HAVE TO BELIEVE IN GOD?! AHH, FOR FUCK’S SAKE… A HIGHER POWER CAN RESTORE ME TO SANITY? My head was still foggy at this point. But a couple of things I can remember from that meeting hit me in the fucking heart. This one American dude put up his hand and started sharing some stories with the group. He said he was “restless, irritable, and discontented.” When I heard those three words, I thought, Fuck me pink. Restless, irritable, and discontented?!? That’s how I feel when I’m not drinking. I thought that it was only me who had these feelings. I didn’t know what an alcoholic was really, and it struck me that apparently all alcoholics felt this way. The revelation was Holy shit, there’s more of them that feel the same way as I do. I’m not unique. STEP FOUR THE SHIT LIST MAKE A SEARCHING AND FEARLESS MORAL INVENTORY OF YOURSELF

AI Summary

The Gangster’s Guide to Sobriety by Richie Stephens, John Altschuler, and Dave Krinsky presents wisdom from the contemplative traditions.

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