Notz,
thank you for this post.
It reminds me of myself and my attitude when I was starting out...

I had an enormous ego! I kept thinking I wasn't "as bad" as these people. My first sponsors were very pointed in letting me know that was denial and was an excuse to drink...
It's not fun being stripped of these things, but it was necessary if I was to dry out then get sober.
My bottom nearly cost me my family and my career. Right then those were the two most important things to me. As I began to feel better, sobriety became #1 and it still is...

12th Step calls kept me sober...it showed me exactly what was waiting for me if I took that first drink. I will always be grateful for these fine people who let me into their lives.
Two of them are dead from drinking. One was a young mother who left 2 girls. During one of our groups for children, the oldest daughter told us to stop telling her about this disease...she wanted to learn how to live after her mother died, how was she going to make it without her.
She was 12 years old.
The mother was dead two weeks later. At her wake, the daughter sobbed and kept asking, "What am I going to do, what am I going to do..."

I don't count the days I've been sober. Staying sober today is the most important thing to me. Adding up the days was a goal for me at first...a wee bit of pride still. However it did keep me coming back.

What works for me may not work for someone else.
Jmo, but all of us have to find our own way while keeping in mind what others have learned...
We share because we care.

Peace and Power to you,
Cap