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A Piece of Cake

When I was a couple of years sober I asked my grand sponsor with 30+ years why it seemed that some people with serious time on the program stopped coming to meetings. "Do they all go out and drink?" I asked. He said "Some probably do and some get just well enough to stay sober without the meetings." And then I asked him why he keeps going back and he said, "some people are satisfied with one bite of the cake, some people are satisfied with one piece of the cake, but as for me... I want the whole damn cake."

Among all the suggestions we give newcomers, I find "ninety meetings in ninety days" the most important. By the end of ninety days most people have had at least a taste of the sobriety cake. It's a sweetness not easily forgotten.

There's a certain power or presence that exists in a meeting that I've not found elsewhere. It talks about this power in the other big book where it says "where more than one are gathered in his name" Together we have more power than we do separately, even just one alcoholic talking to another. Lack of power is my dilemma. I find it at meetings.

Could I stay sober without meetings? Maybe. But AA has become such an important part of my life why would I want to try? I guess I want the whole damn cake too.