The Wine of Success | Ego, Humility & Emotional Sobriety

# The Wine of Success

Many people believe alcoholism only shows up during pain, failure, loneliness, trauma, loss, or chaos.

But today’s reading from *As Bill Sees It* reminds us of something deeper…

Success can intoxicate us too.

Alcoholics do not only drink over suffering.
Many of us also became emotionally intoxicated by:
• Attention
• Praise
• Validation
• Achievement
• Recognition
• Money
• Influence
• Feeling important
• Being admired
• Control
• Pride
• Ego

“We drank of success as of a wine…”

That line is powerful because it exposes how the ego can become just as dangerous as the bottle.

Many people get sober physically but never address emotional sobriety.

The alcohol may leave…
but the need to feel superior, needed, admired, validated, chosen, powerful, or “bigger than” can quietly remain underneath.

That is why recovery requires ongoing humility, self awareness, emotional regulation, accountability, and spiritual grounding.

Sometimes success itself becomes the new addiction.

We can become addicted to:
• Being praised
• Looking successful
• Social media attention
• Being the rescuer
• Status in recovery
• Business success
• Being needed by others
• External approval
• Image management
• Control

The ego begins whispering:
“You’ve arrived.”
“You don’t need guidance anymore.”
“You know more than everyone else.”
“Look how important you are.”

That is what Bill Wilson warned about when he spoke of “big shot ism.”

The danger is not confidence.
The danger is forgetting where healing came from.

True recovery teaches us:
• Humility over arrogance
• Gratitude over entitlement
• Service over self importance
• Growth over image
• God over ego
• Truth over performance

The reading reminds us that we are sober “only by the grace of God.”

That does not diminish hard work.
It simply keeps us spiritually grounded.

Because recovery is not about becoming worshipped.
It is about becoming whole.

Real emotional sobriety asks us to examine:
✨ Am I still teachable?
✨ Am I becoming prideful?
✨ Do I need constant validation to feel okay?
✨ Am I building a peaceful life or performing one?
✨ Have I confused influence with healing?
✨ Do I still make time for prayer, reflection, and honesty?
✨ Am I helping others from love or from ego?
✨ Have success, attention, or praise started changing me?
✨ Would I still be okay if nobody applauded me?

There is nothing wrong with success.
There is nothing wrong with rebuilding your life.
There is nothing wrong with becoming confident, financially stable, respected, healthy, or influential.

The danger begins when we slowly stop depending on God, stop being honest with ourselves, stop listening, stop growing, and start believing we are above the very principles that saved us.

That is why spiritual maintenance matters.

Recovery is not just about abstinence.
It is about learning how to stay emotionally sober through BOTH pain and success.

Because sometimes the wine of success can intoxicate the ego far more quietly than alcohol ever did.

✨ TheHealingCheff.com
✨ She Chose Herself 2012

#Recovery #EmotionalSobriety #HealingJourney #AsBillSeesIt #TheHealingCheff