I am certain you meant well in breaking your anonymity but at the media level it is an important tradition. The BB was written as a guide for new comers with information, stories and helpful directions. It’s a helpful guide, not a sacred text. Some people are new longer than others and we have to be patient with them. The directions in the BB are suggestions that can work. However, if you get right down to it Dr Bob himself practiced a six step version (page 263 in the BB) that also worked.

“Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us.” It is that simple.

Being able to stay sober for a year or more does not disqualify you for membership. I have seen plenty of people with one, two, three, ten, twenty years of abstinence in the program of AA relapse. Does that mean they are not ‘real’ alcoholics? It is baffling and clearly we all have different paths. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. Leave it at that.