One Day at a Time - Do You Know Bill W?

[mick2360]

Woke up when I was ready. No headache, no shakes, no sickness. After fifteen years, it is still a miracle to me that I can hold a coffee cup without my hand shaking, spilling the damn stuff all over. I need to remember how bad things got for me so that I can be prepared when the thought of the 'good times' rolls into my head. There were many, many times when I 'intended' only a drink or two and ended up closing the bar. There is no such thing as one drink for me. There is no such thing as a social drink. My addiction tells me it is possible, that i have learned with the passing of the years. But experience tells me that if I want mornings like this, alcohol cannot be a part of my life period.

Holding my coffee with one hand. I don't spill a drop. A small thing for some, for me, I have climbed Everest.

Thanks for listening.

[jonthepain]

There were many, many times when I 'intended' only a drink or two and ended up closing the bar.

Wow I had forgotten about that. I'd stop in just before lunch (sometimes just before work) for a "quick one" and before I knew it, it was 2am, time to go home. Blowing off all my responsibilities yet another day.

Thanks for reminding me. I've truly got a lot to be thankful for.

[DarkSkies]

April 3, 2009

Forgiving

If we are sorry for what we have done,
and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things,
we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson.
If we are not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others,
we are quite sure to drink. We are not theorizing.
These are facts out of our experience.

Reprinted from Alcoholics Anonymous [Second Edition], Page 70.

Thought to Ponder....

The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.





"Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
Theres still time to change the road youre on.
And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it wont go
In case you dont know,
The pipers calling you to join him,"



Any Led Zep fans here? I read the above and thought of those lines. We always have at least 2 paths we can take in life. It's up to us to decide. Some food for thought.. if we want to be forgiven we need to learn how to forgive others as well.

[jonthepain]

the wife and I started volunteering at the local girl's prison last night. we are leading a bible study.

so of course we told them a little bit about ourselves - my wife was locked up for a time when she was their age (they are mostly 15 and 16 in the pod where we were at.) so i told them that i am a recovering alcoholic, and will have 5 yrs sober this coming June 1. and they all applauded - which i was not prepared for. is that something you all do in groups or meetings or something? anyway i was kind of embarassed.

so a lot of the girls are recovering addicts (yeah me too but i didn't share that right off the bat) but the one girl cracked us up cuz she said,

"I'm a recovering criminal."

[DarkSkies]

"Recovering criminal", I love it! Yeah I guess you could put me in that category too. We all did some pretty bad stuff back in the day. The worst of if is usually the stuff you do to yourself.

And Jon, the clapping thing is a little addictive as well. Hit an anniversary meeting sometime where they're celebrating anniversaries. So much clapping your ears hurt.

It's good to have people recognize the positive things we do in our sobriety.


April 7, 2009

Transformation

Our eyes begin to open to the immense values
which have come straight out of painful ego-puncturing.
Until now, our lives have been largely devoted to running
from pain and problems.
Escape via the bottle was always our solution.
Then in AA, we looked and listened.
Everywhere we saw failure and misery transformed by humility
into priceless assets.
-As Bill Sees It, p. 156

Thought to Ponder....

Learn to listen; listen to learn.




That's why God gave ya 2 ears and one mouth. Listening is a way to learn and grow.

[jonthepain]

That's why God gave ya 2 ears and one mouth.

ha that's great. i'm gonna hafta remember that.

[jonthepain]

the spanking was in reference to bill w's comment on punishment. re: dental students - as if

today's reading and bill's reference to a person with a magic wand reminded me of one of the gals in our prison group - she said that she really admires her counselor cuz she tells her stuff that she doesn't necessarily want to hear, and that it makes her mad for a few days, but eventually she really appreciates the truthfulness.

i have a friend who pisses me off occasionally cuz he tells me stuff that i need to hear. eventually i get over it.

it's rare to find someone that cares enough about you to tell you stuff that they know may jeopardize your relationship but that you need to hear.

i guess the trick is, on the other end of that, is if it's absolutely needed or not. i am still working on being circumspect in what i say to people.