Committing to the programme means making a decision to set aside my assessment and my right to make my own decisions by myself and to take the actions I myself see fit to take, by my own counsel. When I did not commit in this way, I drank, but this was not relapse. My alcoholism was simply continuing.
Once I committed to the programme, as defined above, it was by definition impossible to drink in the first few weeks and months. It is only by virtue of self-reliance, the belief in my own assessment, and the resultant self-driven action that I could have drunk. Had I drunk under those circumstances, it would not be have been relapse. Firstly, I had not recovered. Secondly, it would have represented deliberate, self-willed rejection of what was plainly offered as a full substitute, accounting for every minute of the day. Whilst the individual is surrounded by AA ideas, practices, and people, the material is front of mind, and the choice is stark: surrender or drink. At this point in the process, all the lights are turned on, and drinking again is a question of choice, not of powerless in the context of insouciant drifting.
The term relapse should rightly be reserved specifically for those situations where the individual has recovered by taking all the Steps. What would it denote? The end result of a gradual drift away from the programme. As one grows up in the programme, one has a degree of autonomy returned by God. Everything is under God's ultimate aegis, but we are delegated considerate responsibility, authority, and accountability, as described in the Twelve Concepts. It is impossible to err too far in the direction of God; the chief error on this side of the perfect equilibrium is indolence, or a failure to act on God's revealed will. In the other direction, namely the direction of assuming too much responsibility and authority, lie all manner of ills, including relapse. The perfect equilibrium (represented by Concept VII) is hard to achieve, because it is dynamic and requires constant attention and adjustment. Inattention leads to straying, straying (in the wrong direction) leads to self-will, and self-will eventually leads to a drink. The person is drinking before they know what is happening. That is what relapse is.