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"The Storm"







"The alcoholic is like a tornado roaring his way through the lives of others. Hearts are broken. Sweet relationships are dead. Affections have been uprooted. Selfish and inconsiderate habits have kept the home in turmoil. We feel a man is unthinking when he says that sobriety is enough" ~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 82~



I know that not all of us have experienced the fury of a tornado. Living in Florida, I have lived through not only several tornados, but also a few hurricanes too! The above passage is very subtle in it’s message. It does not only cover the damage caused by the behavior of the alcoholic, but also the necessity of the clean up after the fact.



In a tornado the winds are very strong. They whip around everything, sometimes causing damage. The damage can be very light, or in a lot of cases it is very extensive. In fact the tornado can cause complete devastation. Not only structurally, and environmentally, but has the potential power to kill! It is my contention that the alcoholic is like the devastating type of tornado.



O.K. I hear you saying, “Isn’t that a bit harsh in making a comparison between the alcoholic and the tornado?” Let’s just think about that for a moment. Alcoholic behavior is described as selfish. In being selfish we act on our own accord, leaving out the account of what effect that action has on not only others, but the environment as a whole. We act with very little thinking. So how do we really know how much damage we have really done?



If someone does a thorough inventory of their life they start to see the extent of this damage. Again this not only involves just human life, but everything we touched. We caused turmoil in everything we did. In some cases we probably did damage far beyond what we recognized. Some of this damage may have resulted in death, either human or some other living being.



So maybe now you get the idea of how devastating the disease of alcoholism really is. It causes extreme damage not only to us, but also to our surroundings. Still nowhere is this damage more evident than our own homes. There it is like a tornado that sits in one place for years and years. Causing complete devastation!



How many hearts have been broken? What kind of sweet relationships are dead? Where has all of the affection gone? This where the comparison between the tornado and the alcoholics gets a little bit strained. In a tornado people will seek shelter from the wind if they have enough prior warning. Yet with the alcoholic this destructive wind builds up over a great period of time. It is sort of like the victims of this storm endure the full force of the wind, only to have it go and then come back again. Never really having a place to seek shelter. This is until they have had enough. Most sane people will recognize our devastating power and get out of our way. It is only then that we start to wonder why it is that we no longer have the affection of those in whom we supposedly love.



Sometimes there are those who just keep on standing in the path of our destruction. It is those people who suffer the most. For they are the ones who love us the most, and keep on getting hurt the worst. It is when they finally break; that we lose something that will never be replaced. That is what is called a sweet relationship. Once dead, it is never the same. For somewhere deep inside that person there lies the idea that they tried everything they could to love us, only to be pounded (either literally or figuratively) into the ground by our destructive force, over and over again.



So what about the clean up? How do we go about “fixing” all the damage? Steps 8 & 9 address this: Step#8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. Step#9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Well it is a bit harder than it sounds in making amends. It has been my experience that making the list and direct the amends to the people is the easy part. The hard part is living up to our words.



We have to start walking the walk. It is only then, that the amends start to work. It is then and only then, that we start to see our loved ones, friends, and neighbors peeking there heads out of the storm shelter. In some cases they never do! All we can do is be willing to do the best we can in making these amends, and do our best in cleaning up our lives.

Will it ever be the same? Nope! Nothing is ever the same!!!!! Each day is a new one. We have to live for today, and not worry about yesterday or tomorrow. The only thing we can hope for is for God to show us the way in keeping the storm from ever building again.
--Ed C.