As We See It

[admin]

I was hosting a party on Sunday and had invited women from AA,
church, and work. On Saturday, as I was hearing a 5th step, I was
telling my sponsee about it, and realized that I had NO FEAR about
the party, because, thanks to God and AA, I am CONSISTENT in all
areas of my life! They all know the same me!

[admin]

When I walked into these rooms, I was too arrogant to realize how
desperate I was. I didn't figure that out until later.

[admin]

When I was new there were certain meetings that I had identified as
'toothbrush meetings.' I'd take my toothbrush to the meeting because
I didn't know where I'd wake up the next morning.

[admin]

"My sponsor suggested that I read the black words on the white page
in the blue book."

[admin]

"I was a blackout drinker, so there are some people who know more of
my story than I do. I'm not sure who all of them are."

[admin]

Thanks to Ted S. for today's AWSI:

I was about to go to my regular Thursday noon grp. It was on the
fourth of July and I had this strange desire to look up the
definition of the word "INDEPENDENT" in the dictionary. Something I
"thought" I was becoming as a result of being an active member of
Alcoholics Anonymous. What I found in the dictionary not only shocked
me, but it added strength to my strong desire to continue to stay
sober "one day at a time". The following is the key definition (in
laymens terms) of the word "INDEPENDENT."

"A person who refuses help from any outside source."

Talk about a reality check!!! This was me for many years as a result
of my alcoholism! I did things my way, didn't care when other people
offered suggestions for help. My so called "INDEPENDENCE" would help
me achieve a long happy life, or so I thought. In fact, it is what
almost killed me.

[admin]

Sponsor to Sponsee: "You've been sober way too long to behave that
way. Grow up and put on your big girl panties!"

[admin]

Sponsor to Sponsee: "If God can handle eternity, surely God can handle today."

[admin]

Sponsor to Sponsee: May I suggest the cliche, "Let Go and Let God?"
Along those lines, perhaps you might want to stop to consider how
hard it is to change YOUR mind. Now, what would ever make you think
that it would be possible for you to change anyone else's mind?

[admin]

". . . . and then my sponsor asked me to try to think of what an
adult might do in the same situation!"

[admin]

I recently had a phone call from a young woman that I've watched get
sober. She was celebrating her AA Birthday and her parents and taken
her to dinner and then she took them to a local speaker meeting to
watch her pick up her chip. The speaker that Saturday evening used
profuse profanity from the podium and was very detailed in his
description of "what it was like." This was her parent's first
meeting (and first impression) of Alcoholics Anonymous

On the way home her father said to her, "Honey, your friends seem
very nice, and we really want to be supportive of your changed life
style. We're very proud of you. You don't really hang out with that
angry young man who spoke this evening, do you?" She shared with me
how embarassed she was that her parents were exposed to the filth
that was coming out of the speaker's mouth and asked me how the
speaker thought that he was "practicing these principles in all his
affairs."

It reminded me of something my sponsor shared with me when I first
got to AA and had a problem with my language. She said, "No one has
ever been offended by a lack of profanity." (She also told me that
if I wanted to be treated like a lady, I needed to dress like a lady
and not talk like a longshoreman.)

[admin]

Stop using God. Let Him use you! ("God, I offer
myself to you . . . ")

[admin]

Change is not painful.
RESISTANCE to change is painful!

[admin]

I've discovered that my day goes a whole lot differently when I start
my morning with "Good Morning, God!" rather than "Good God! It's
Morning!"

[admin]

From the mouths of newcomers! ;-)

"What surprises me most is that today I am grateful to be sober . . .
. I was NEVER grateful to be sober!"

[admin]

"The most difficult thing I have ever had to do is follow the
guidance I prayed for."

[admin]

My experience has been that when I TRY this program, I get drunk on
the way home. In order to stay sober, I have to DO this program!

[admin]

I have a change in attitude when rather than thinking about 'how bad
I've got it,' I give thanks for how great I have it!

[admin]

When I took a look at why I had taken those unprinipled actions, I
realized that I still had fear of financial insecurity. When I
looked at why I have financial insecurity, I realized that it's
because I've been trying to fill a God-sized hole with something
other than God!

[admin]

The paradox of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous has taught me
that a problem shared is halved, and a joy shared is doubled!

[admin]

Even though I don't have to be afraid today, there are times when I
still am. What I've discovered is that I've got this Higher Power
dude that follows me around for just such times!

[admin]

Overheard conversation:

"I tried AA. It doesn't work for me!"

"Really? Hmmm, that's interesting. Did you ever go into a bar, take
one drink and not get drunk and say, 'Well, that obviously isn't
going to work, I might as well go home and pay some bills.' or did
you keep trying?"

[admin]

In the end, everything is always all right.
If it's not all right, it's NOT the end!

[admin]

Overheard:

"Turn it over and let God have the problem. If you need to give God
directions on how YOU think the situation should be handled, go
ahead. He'll use it if He needs it . . . but don't count on it!

[admin]

It was a spiritual awakening for me when I realized that there was
more to life than having everything!

[admin]

"Alcoholics Anonymous is like the mafia.

No matter where you go, you're family.

If you leave, you're dead."

[admin]

Sponsee: "I'm just trying to live life on life's terms."

Sponsor: "How about if you try living life on God's terms and life
will take care of itself?"

[admin]

When my attitude stinks, that's the aroma I take out into the world around me.

[mellotripp]

Having everything is being happy with what you got.

[admin]

From a meeting on Step Two: "I never again want to live the way I was
living the day before I walked into Alcoholics Anonymous."

[admin]

When I asked my sponsor, early in recovery, "How
do I 'let go?'" She said, "The same way you take
your hand off a hot stove."

I thought she was talking in hieroglyphics at
first but the more I worked the steps and
gradually began practicing "letting go" and
"turning it over" I began to see that holding on
to stuff HURTS.

It's sorta like asking "how do you ride a
bicycle?" You do it really imperfectly for a
long time and fall a lot then one day you learn
balance and you are riding a bike. I can't tell
you how to ride a bike. You have to learn
balance for yourself.

[admin]

I used to regret that I wasted half my life drinking. Today, I am
grateful that God has given me the rare opportunity to live two lives
in one life time.

[admin]

"If you're a newcomer, I'd like to suggest that you not leave before
the miracle happens. If you're a longtimer, I'd like to ask you to
not leave after the miracle happens. Those of us in the middle, need
both of you."

[admin]

One of the miracles of my sobriety is that today I am better at doing
for others than I am at letting others do for me . . . that's not
always been the case . . . I used to EXPECT others to do for me!

[admin]

"I never needed facts to have an opinion. I thought I was pretty
convincing. I know now that most folks just found me incredibly
irritating."

[admin]

One of the lessons from my ninth step was that if I expect others to
forgive me, I have to be willing to forgive others.

[admin]

Overheard at a party this past weekend: "An alcoholic without a
sponsor is like letting Dracula be in charge of the Blood Bank!"

[admin]

"Although I might have argued the point at the time, I've discovered
that I didn't know why I was drinking until I stopped drinking and
worked the steps."

[admin]

From a newcomer to her sponsor:

"If I wasn't an alcoholic, I'd drink EVERY Day!"

[admin]

"I didn't know it until I got to AA, but there is a difference
between believing that God exists, and believing in God."

[admin]

What we have in common is NOT that we are all alcoholic. There are a
whole lot of alcoholics out there. What we have in common is that we
are all in the solution.

[admin]

Wisdom is knowing the right path to take. Integrity is taking it.

[admin]

a friend of mine gave me a calendar for 2007 that has a quote on it
for each day . . . here's one that showed up recently (from the "why
I don't drink anymore" file:)

"I can't think of anything worse after a night of drinking than
waking up next to someone and not being able to remember their name,
or how you met, or why they're dead."

[admin]

"One of the reasons I was finally willing to take the actions my
sponsor recommends was because I discovered that he was right."

[admin]

"I had a severe case of the "yeahbutts," which, now that I'm a
sponsor I realize are closely related to the "butteyes."

[admin]

Overheard:

Sponsee: "I will go to hell before I will make amends to that person."

Sponsor: "And just where is it that you think you are?"

[admin]

"Step Six says that it's the step that "separates the men from the
boys." Step Eight is the step that separates alcoholics that are
willing to go to any lengths to stay sober from those that are
willing to take the risk of drinking again."

[admin]

As a result of working the Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, my life can
end a whole lot differently than it was being lived."

[admin]

Overheard in a meeting: "At my first meeting, I said I had no money.
A man gave me a Big Book for free and said, 'Here, if you're lucky,
that's the last thing you'll get on your own terms.'"

[admin]

"As we go into this holiday season, if you start to feel a little
stressed out, a little like you can't handle life coming at you,
that's a good time to look at Step Two. It's the step that has our
'Sanity Claus'."

oh. groan.
;-)

[admin]

"When I'm grateful, it's hard to be an a$$hole."

[admin]

I know some folks drank for good times and some folks drank for bad
times . . . I drank every time!

[admin]

Since I've been sober in AA, I've had some bad days. Before I got
here, I had bad years!

[admin]

Heard in a meeting from a woman with about 24 years sober: "The
worst day of my life was the day I found out that I am average."

[admin]

"I didn't know that God is all I need, until God was all I had."

[admin]

My worst days are never so bad that I am beyond the REACH of God's grace.
And my best days are never so good that I am beyond the NEED of God's
grace.

[admin]

"The real power of prayer is that the truth is said loud enough that
sometimes even the person praying (that would be me) hears the words
. . . as in, 'God, help me to change [fill in the blank] . . . ' or
'God, help me to accept [fill in the blank] . . . ' My experience
has been that when I pray, it's best if I listen too!"

[admin]

ism - incredibly short memory

[admin]

"What I learned was that the Old-Timers wanted something FOR me, they
didn't want anything FROM me."

[admin]

"I am grateful that I made my bed this morning. It was one of the
first things I learned to do in early sobriety. I was told, "If you
aren't willing to make your bed, how will you be willing to make your
life?" It's always a good barometer for me for how "willing" i am if
the bed is made. It let's me go into the day with just a little bit
of "Good Orderly Direction."

[admin]

There is no slogan that says, "Let go and help God!"

(or as a former sponsor said to me, "Let Go and Let God Be God!")

[admin]

Joy is not just about me. It's about a journey with God and the
people around me.

[admin]

"When I came back after a slip, a guy said to me: 'I have
information for you that might be difficult for you to hear. You are
NOT going to stay sober on the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.
You are one of those people that is going to have to use the PROGRAM
of Alcoholics Anonymous.' --- then he offered to show me the
difference."

[admin]

Sobriety is not a sentence. It's an opportunity!

[admin]

When I came back from my slip, I didn't know what to tell you all.
My sponsor suggested that I could just be honest and tell you that I
am broken, I am crazy, and I don't know what to do.

It was exactly what I was and what I needed to do.

[admin]

Heard at the end of a meeting:

"Don't leave before the miracle happens!

But, don't leave AFTER the miracle happens, either!"

[admin]

An old-timer comes home from his home group meeting, gets ready for
bed, and is on his knees saying his evening prayers.

He's in the middle of his "God blesses" saying "God bless the guy who
says the same thing no matter what the topic, God bless George, the
'cake lady,' God bless . . . " suddenly he pauses and looks up. Then
says, "You know God. I wonder if there is AA in heaven. If there
isn't AA in heaven, I don't know if I want to go there. These folks
are so important to me, I don't want to spend eternity without them."

There's a bolt of lightening and a loud clap of thunder and then the
old timer hears a voice saying, "I have good news and bad news. The
good news is, there IS AA in heaven. The bad news is, You're
speaking tomorrow night."

[admin]

I didn't know that I was an alcoholic until I was being helped into
A.A. ----- with a boot up my butt!

[admin]

for today's AWSI:

"If you see a newcomer that's really hurting, please be nice to him.
Show him where the coffee is and give him a Big Book, let him sit
with you. It might be my brother."

[admin]

From a Big Book Study reading the Chapter "To the Wives"

"My wife has never seen me drunk. However, she has seen me visit
that strange world of alcoholism where everything is distorted and
exaggerated. Thank goodness for the steps --- and that those visits
get further and farther between."

[admin]

Overheard:

Sponsee: "How many really great AA speakers do you think there are?"

Sponsor: "I really don't know, but I'm guessing that it's at least
one LESS than you think!"

[admin]

AA member to speaker after the meeting: "Thanks! That was a great
AA talk!"

AA Speaker: "It wasn't me, it was God!"

Speaker's Sponsor (standing nearby): "It wasn't THAT good!"

[admin]

for today's AWSI:

Sponsee: So, when's a good time to go to meetings?

Sponsor: My sponsor told me to go to meetings when you want to, when
you don't want to, and eight o'clock!

[admin]

Thanks to Pat for today's AWSI (about getting a sponsee to do a fourth step):

"I wrote my fourth step as the result of lies, deception, and
treachery on the part of my sponsor!"

(I've heard the story . . . Pat wasn't getting to his fourth step, so
his sponsor called him and invited him to a basketball game . . .
when Pat got to the house, his sponsor handed him a notebook and pen
and told him to sit down and write --- while his sponsor went in the
other room and watched the basketball game on TV ;-)

[admin]

Heard in a Big Book Study reading the Chapter "To The Wives"

"There I was, five margaritas in and I suddenly realized that my
intention had been to go to the grocery store."

[admin]

today's AWSI!

(heard at a 12-step study during a reading on humility):

"Humility is the ability to say grace before eating crow."

[admin]

from a meeting on Step Three:

"My experience has been that when I pray for God's will it is always
a good idea for me to talk with my sponsor or go to a meeting to find
out what it is --- rather than the idea that I come up with!"

[admin]

today's AWSI from a meeting on gratitude:

"The only thing better than seeing the miracles in my life, is seeing
the miracles in YOUR life!"

[admin]

Heard from a newcomer in a Big Book Study (thanks to Suzanna for today's AWSI):

"When I finally read Chapter 3 in the Big Book I realized that I'm
NOT crazy --- I'm an alcoholic!"

(and in response to the laughter in the room, "Who knew?" --- the
response from the group? "Everyone but you!"

[admin]

today's AWSI:

"The longest journey is from the head to the heart."

[admin]

"When I was drinking I went to extremes. I was either a victim or I
was an assassin. It wasn't a character defect I gave up easily when
I got sober."

[admin]

today's AWSI:

Overheard at a Group's Business meeting when someone who did not have
a service commitment made themselves available to be coffee maker for
the group:

Sponsee: "But I don't even DRINK coffee."

Sponsor: "That's okay, sweetie. They don't care if you drink
coffee. They care if you MAKE coffee."

[admin]

Heard in a meeting on Step Ten: "My sponsor suggested that I might
have to do fewer 'promptlies' if I would treat other human beings
like human beings."

[admin]

today's AWSI (and another
perspective on "what THEY will think":

"I am grateful that MOST of the time I do not spend too much time
worrying about what other people are thinking --- heck! I don't know
what I am thinking most of the time, so I'm probably wrong about what
they are thinking, anyway!"

[admin]

Overheard in a meeting on the Traditions: "I have no opinion outside
of my own issues."

[admin]

I recently shared that I'd had an epiphany about something and a
delightful woman said to me, "It's been my experience that sometimes
an epiphany is an 'ah-ha' moment, and sometimes it's an 'oh, crap!'
moment. Which one was yours?"

(It was the latter ;-) --- which my sponsor describes as 'a rude
awakening' as well as 'a spiritual awakening!')

[admin]

today's AWSI:

"The difference between me and God is that God never plays at being ME!"

[admin]

today's AWSI:

Sponsee: "I have meetings that I like. Why should I go to those
OTHER meetings?"

Sponsor: "Because that's where you'll meet MY teachers!"

[admin]

today's AWSI and
another perspective:

I don't know of any other fellowship that does not involve itself in
controversy. Does not involve itself in arguments with the media or
religions. Does not have to convince society that it works. Does not
have leaders. Does not exist to make a profit, has no prejudice of
any kind. Has the largest concentration of alcohol/drug addicted
individuals, yet no need for any outside security. How does it work?

(Just fine, it works just fine! ;-)

[admin]

today's AWSI:

The topic for the discussion meeting was: am I responsible for the
effect my drunken behavior had on others?

A new person shared this thought: "I may not be able to do good to
someone today, but at least I can try to do them no harm."

I may have caused the fire -- but I don't have to pour gasoline on it
by drinking today!

[admin]

My life did not magically change when I first got sober . . . I
remember my sponsor explaining it to me this way: "Your life is like
a freight train going full speed down the tracks. Just like a
freight train can't stop on a dime, neither can the mess that you've
put into action. God's work takes time."

[admin]

today's AWSI:

At about six months of sobriety I hit a bottom in sobriety --- much
worse than where I was when I first got sober (husband left (well, he
'went out of town on business' and forgot to come home), I was
evicted from my home, car was repossessed, and I was sued as an
officer of the business my husband had walked away from).

I was talking (whining?) to my sponsor about all the stuff that was
happening to me and didn't seem to be happening to any of the other
people that I knew in the program.

She explained it to me this way: "Your life has been like a garbage
truck. You kept throwing stuff back there and throwing stuff back
there and throwing stuff back there. Then you got sober, which was
like stepping on the brake. All that stuff had no where else to go
except to come forward and rain all over your head. Now you get the
opportunity to deal with all the stuff that you kept throwing in the
back of the garbage truck."

Oh.

(yes, she DID use the word "opportunity" something about that line
on page 133 in the Big Book that says, "...but if trouble comes,
cheerfully capitalize it as an opportunity...")

[admin]

today's AWSI:

I remember hearing an oldtimer telling someone who was fretting about
another's return to drinking: "Some of us stay here, and some of us
ride that garbage truck all the way to the dump and there's nothing we
can do about that choice in someone else."

[admin]

today's AWSI:

"I met with my sponsor last night and two things kept coming up . . .

"What are you doing to make the change that you want?"

...and my lunch.

[admin]

today's AWSI:

"Recently I walked to the very point of the confluence of the
Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. This is what occurred to me:

The Missouri is an angry boiling river, with whirlpools and churnings
etc. Anyone who lives here knows that. The Mississippi (Father of
Waters) is a big, slow, placid river - carries tons of dirt etc.
Where they meet, there is a seam, but very shortly, the big, slow,
placid river overcomes the angry one.

Lesson to me: Peace trumps anger.

So I am grateful that AA has taught me this: Would I rather be anger
and resentful, or would I rather be slow and peaceful? Would I rather
be right, or would I rather be happy? The Mississippi shows nary a
ripple after it absorbs the Missouri."

[admin]

"Looking behind us," his sponsor said, "is putting the tenth step into
practice in our lives on a regular basis. Looking to see if anyone
needs a door held is that reminder."

[admin]

today's AWSI:

I am grateful that I have learned that just because I have overheard
a conversation, does not mean that I need to participate in the
conversation --- even though I know that they are WRONG!

(Of course, sometimes in order to not offer my opinion, I just have
to leave the room!) ;-)

[admin]

from AWSI:
My experience has been that it's not enough to just get into the
middle of the AA lifeboat. I have to be doing something in the
middle of the lifeboat . . . and I have to be vigilant for the people
on the edge of the lifeboat that have their feet dangling in the
water . . . the ones that are holding on to the lifelines with white
knuckles but a smile on their face saying, "Oh, I'm fine. I'm just
fine. Everything is fine." (A friend of mine calls them
"fringe-ers" --- 'cause they're on the fringe of AA)

[janbear]

Thanks to Bridget G. for today's AWSI --- from the Jaywalker's Big
Book Study on Saturday morning, we were reading the Preface and
Forewards --- in the Foreward to the Second Edition (page xvi), is
the sentence, "He sudddenly realized that in order to save himself he
must carry his message to another alcoholic."

"I suddenly realized that's how God speaks to me --- suddenly. As
in, I suddenly realize that I shouldn't take that, it's not mine, or
I suddenly realize that I've said at least five more words than I
should have said, or . . . . well, you get the idea!"

[janbear]

Sponsor to Sponsee: "So, how many times have you tried to pray
yourself out of a situation that you have behaved yourself into?"
.
.
.
.
.
ouch.

[allaflutter]

On page xvii the paragragh ends with "It also indicated that strenuous work, one alcoholic with another, was vital to permanent recovery"

The word that jumps offf the page at me is "strenuous work". Bluidkitti metnioned it wasn't enough to jump in the life boat and she had to be doing something.
That something is the strenuous work. The otehr word that strikes me is "permanent". It is a one day at a time journey...however I cling to the hope that there are more clean and sober days ahead. I ensure that by remioaning active and participating in my own recovery. I do that by sharing my ESH with another alcoholic and seeking out the winners when a problem arises in this thing called life on life's terms and seek their guidance and expereince. Which brings us fuill cirle to the first word of Step One.."WE"

It would be interesting to research howmany times the Book refers to that little two letter word that even in its smallness remains so very powerful.

[janbear]

AWSI:
Thanks to my sister sponsee Beth H. for sharing this story about
"looking back" (one of my favorites of hers --- right after the
"lavender Huffy" <grin>)

My 2nd day out of detox I picked a strategic spot at the speaker
meeting - in the 2nd row next to the wall (I knew I'd look new if I
sat in the back row but might have to talk to someone if I sat in the
front row). When it came time to say the Lord's Prayer at the end of
the meeting I had a wall to one side of me and no hand to hold... my
brain immediately launched into "what a loser - can't even say the
Lord's Prayer right - you are supposed to be holding hands..."... I
hung my head, hooked my thumb in my pocket and began the prayer.
Suddenly I felt someone take my hand and realized that one of the
people in the front row had turned around, seen my dilemma, and taken
my hand. I cried through the rest of the prayer. I have never found
out who it was that took my hand, but they are the reason I came back
the next day. From that day to this, I look behind me when the prayer
begins to be sure that all hands are joined.

.

[allaflutter]

in early recovery...I ddi sit next to the door and scooted out that door befoer the rpayer began.. I felt so undeserving and unworthy. When I met my sponosr she did not allow me to scoot out..Even befroe we stood she grabbed my hand and lead me into the circle. When we talked about it later she simply said "Honey, they say berfore the praeyr to have a moment of silence to remember the still suffering alcoholic...You are one of those ..Imagaine you are in the center of the circle and all of these people are praying for you...You are a child of God and He didn't bring you this far to drop you on your head and He does not have step children. You are one of the bunch now>"

From then on I truly felt a part of this tremendous journey

[admin]

today's AWSI:

"We're funny people, we alcoholics. We unplug the phone and then
whine to our sponsors that no one ever calls us."

[admin]

from AWSI:

Thanks to Max for letting me share this exchange with you:

I was new in recovery. My wife and I were arguing <Meaning I was
yelling> and the phone rang. It was someone newer than I. I changed
from #1 butthead to RICKY RECOVERY. "Sure, first things first...Easy
does it...One day at a time!"

When I hung up my wife quietly asked..."Is there a chance you could
treat me like a newcomer?"

Ow...that hurt. It did get me to realize that how I treated her was
wrong. That old behavior needed to be old behavior. If I was still
doing it it's Current Behavior. That was over 17 years ago and I try
never to forget.

[admin]

today's AWSI:

"So there I was saying the Third Step prayer every day like my
sponsor 'suggested.' I didn't like it, I didn't believe it, but I
was doing it. Then one morning, I just said, 'Screw you, God! My
faith is YOUR problem!' When I shared that experience with my
sponsor she told me that I had just (her word may have been
"finally") taken the Third Step."

Oh.

[allaflutter]

Service work is not just a matter of doing for folks in recovery...It really is practicing random acts of kindness throughout our day with others as well.

There are times a person makes a biased assumption or judgemetn..I do not have to get my shackles up and react in an ugly way. I can respond with kindness...and sometimes...not responding at all is the next right action.

[janbear]

Thanks to Devlin for today's AWSI:

"The only time I get depressed is when I'm thinking about myself!"
.
.

[allaflutter]

So very true

When the self is the center of our attention depression can and does sink in....So whatis the solution...We get out of self
We make a call
We write an email
We hold others up in prayer..
We offer a smail or an encouraging word to someone struggling

We ask God to remove from us the self centered thougths and feelings

We remind ourselves it is by self forgettting we become willing to "Understand rather than to be understood."

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light; and
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive---
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
St. Francis of Assisi 1181-1226

[janbear]

Heard from someone with six months sobriety in a meeting on "A Vision For You"

"I don't have time to be dull, glum, and boring! I'm too busy with
you people!"

[allaflutter]

Frequently in early recovery it was suggested to me to read what was then page 449 of the BB. Today it ispage 417..on Acceptance.. It took me a long time to understand acceptance does not mean I have to like certain things

[janbear]

.
Overheard after the meeting:

Sponsee: But I'm not sure if I can do that step. I'm not sure that
I'm sincere.

Sponsor: Sincerity is NOT a requirement, just do the steps. The
steps don't know that you're not sincere!

[allaflutter]

There are so many I have heard that say "I can't give that...I can't do that..." etc

None of us could do this on our own..Not only is it a "We" journey. It is also one that must include a Power Greater than ourselves...With God...all things are possible

Take the one foot drop to the heart. In the heart with trust and reliance on that Power we can do anything. It is the space between the ears where the fears, doubts, and the "I can'ts" live...

[janbear]

from: AWSI

...ever reminding us to place principles over personalities.

My sponsor explained that the way that I put this tradition into
practice in my life is to place the principles that I've learned
through the 12 steps and 12 traditions over MY personality, not over
YOUR personality.

My experience has been that sometimes that can be as simple as keeping
my mouth shut . . . which sounds pretty simple until I have to resist
the urge to say the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

[janbear]

Thanks to Kathy Y. for today's AWSI:

I wasn't sure if I wanted God to remove my character defects . . . my
character defects were my only skill set when I got here!

[allaflutter]

Thanks to Kathy Y. for today's AWSI:

I wasn't sure if I wanted God to remove my character defects . . . my
character defects were my only skill set when I got here!


They were also my survior skills...But....had to be willing to go to any lengths..
Neither was I certain I wanted to "Change everything" ... Fortunately God did for me what I couldn't do for myself.

[janbear]

From AWSI
Overheard in a meeting on "A Vision For You"

"I wasn't quite sure what 'shivering denizens' were, but it sounded
bad --- and somehow I knew that I had lived there for a long time!"

[allaflutter]

'shivering denizens' and the road that led me to the gates of hell and death. Thank God I have been "rocketed into the Fourth Demension" and do not have to live like that again.

[admin]

"My ego almost wouldn't let me come back . . . it kept telling me
that I couldn't raise my hand and pretend I was a newcomer again.
Then I realized, 'I wouldn't be pretending!' "

[admin]

I had shared in the meeting about the time when I heard folks talking
about having slips and I thought, "I haven't had one of those,
EITHER! Maybe I should just have a slip and then I could get to have
a 12-step call ('cause I came to my first meeting, no one 12 stepped
me!), and I could get to go to Detox (I'd just come to my first
meeting, hadn't been to Detox), and I could get to go to treatment
(didn't go to treatment . . . ), and I could get to go to the women's
halfway house and be a Belle (didn't get to . . . )

After the meeting Jack said to me, "If you ever wonder if you're an
alcoholic, let me just point out to you that social drinkers don't
sit around thinking that they want to 'get to go' to those places!"

Oh.

[admin]

Oldtimer to Newcomer: "Yes, it is hard. But it has been my
experience that it is easier to STAY sober, than it is to GET sober."

[admin]

"Alcoholics Anonymous is a selfish program . . . but a strange kind
of selfishness --- it's about 90% give and 10% gimme."

[admin]

today's AWSI:

I heard this from a fellow that picked up a 2 month chip earlier this week:

"They were the longest two weeks of my life. Of course I was
conscious the whole time and maybe that had something to do with it."

OMG, I CAN relate! ;-)

[admin]

today's AWSI (heard from Mary at
the Greenwood Forest Group in Cary, SC):

"I need to bounce things off my sponsor. Left to my own devices, I
can put a crouton on an ice cream sunday and tell myself it's a
salad."

[janbear]

In a discussion on the AWSI from 04/20 from Tom I
that AA is a selfish program --- but a strange
kind of selfishness . . . it's about 90% GIVE and
about 10% GIMME:

"It has been my experience that when I am giving
in AA (i.e., getting out of self) I get back so
much more than I give, which means I have to give
more, which means that I get more back, so I have
to give more, which means that I get more back,
which means that I have to give more, which means
that I get more back, which means . . . . . well,
we could increase the list ad infinitum! I have
never come out even when I get out of self --- I
ALWAYS come out well ahead (which means . . . .
oh, we could just go on forever! ;-)"
.
.
.

[janbear]

AWSI: Being an alcoholic is like being pregnant. You either are or you
aren't. But either way, the farther along you are, the more it shows!

[janbear]

Thanks to Scott L. for today's AWSI:

"AA is the fastest growing fellowship in the world --- that no one
wants to join!!"

[allaflutter]

The fastest growing and the most diverse. I am so grateful to be a part of this journey.

[janbear]

Thanks to Scott L. . . . I remember when I was new, "Front Row Bob"
would come into the meeting and go up front and rearrange the Slogans
so that they would read:

"Live easy, but think first."
.

[allaflutter]

in one of my early meetings it was explained .."Think First of God..But Live easy"

I miss seeing those slogans in the meetings here.

[janbear]

Thanks to Bill S. for today's AWSI:

"When I got to these rooms, the seven deadly sins were my only skill
set. It was no wonder that I was incapable of having a true
partnership with another human being!"
.

[allaflutter]

Not only a skill set they were my survival tools... When they said "Change everything" they really meant it

[janbear]

.
Thanks to Diana C. for today's AWSI:

"Alcoholics Anonymous gave me a second chance for a first class life."

[janbear]

Thanks to Beth A. for today's AWSI:

So much of my life is a matter of perspective. I was talking with my
sister and realized that we grew up in the same house, but in
completely different families."
.

[janbear]

Thanks to Randy C. for today's AWSI:

"When I wrote my fourth step I became painfully aware of the fact
that I am malignantly self-obsessed."
.

[janbear]

Thanks to Jack for today's AWSI:

"Somedays the most spiritual thing I can do in a day is go to work.
The second most spiritual thing I can do is stay there."

[allaflutter]

I can also be physicaly, mentally, and spiritually present in the NOW

[janbear]

Thanks to Angie for today's AWSI (from a meeting on "Step Four"):

"When I first got here I kept insisting that people had to hear 'my
truth.' My sponsor would cringe when I would say that and I would be
offended. Then I did a fourth step and discovered that 'my truth' is
a LIE! That explained so much!"
.

[allaflutter]

In last ights meeting the member reading the Traditions read teh page on 561 prior to the short form of The Traditons. . What stuck out was the line that says that "we must work together and hang togethere, else most of us will die alone".

I was chattng with a couplle newcomers that have been struggling and the general theme of theri struggles was the need to be independent and to try to do this alone. I tried to do it alone and failed mserably.. I need the other members. I need the fellowship and I am humbled by the generosity of all those who give so generously and willingly, and have learned I too must give away what was so freely given to me in order to keep it.

[thereishope]

Well said allaflutter
No one can do this alone, we will fall everytime we try to walk it alone. We need others and we need the connection and the love and support of our recovery family. The program is a GOD given miricle and i am so thankful to be a part of it, its not always perfect, nor would i want it to be, but it is a beautiful family.

[janbear]

thank you both for sharing here. I always appreciate your words. And you are so right, I cant do this by myself. This is a "We" program. I need all the help i can get and you both help me in my recovery

[janbear]

Thanks to Bill S. for today's AWSI (from a meeting on Step Four):

"When the Seven Deadly Sins were my only skill set, it was hard to
have a true partnership with another human being!"

[janbear]

From AWSI:
Alcoholism is so cunning, baffling, powerful, and patient that some
alcoholics don't have to take a drink to die from the disease.
.

[allaflutter]

From AWSI:
Alcoholism is so cunning, baffling, powerful, and patient that some
alcoholics don't have to take a drink to die from the disease.
.


Yep...The "ick" and the "ism" Seen it often

[Wuzzadrunk]

Together we can do what i cannot do for myself

[allaflutter]

Wazza

Very pleased to meet you

You're right Key word is "WE" ... Pls keep posting

[mellotripp]

Our alcoholism is not the root of our malady, we drank like we did because of who we were.

[Cooker]

Our alcoholism is not the root of our malady, we drank like we did because of who we were.

True. And the only way that I have found to change me is the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions.

[janbear]

Thanks to Greg H. for today's AWSI:

Heard after a meeting by someone who did not arrive in time to hear
the group's announcement about the signing of meeting of verification
papers--they must be placed in the basket when it is passed at the
beginning of the meeting.

"Why am I here if you're not going to sign my paper?"

Apparently this man had not yet received the Gift of Desperation.
.

[janbear]

From AWSI:
Although this isn't from an AA meeting, it sure seems that it would
apply to just about any AA meeting that I've ever attended:

This is a story about four people: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and
Everybody was asked to do it.
Everybody was sure Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it
was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but
Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody
when actually Nobody asked Anybody.

I think this is one of the reasons my sponsor taught me about "quiet
service" . . . doing the stuff that I'm not asked to do and that
often goes unnoticed (i.e., picking up the coffee cups left behind
after a meeting, washing coffee cups at the fellowship, putting the
books away after a book study, etc.) . . . Somebody has to do it, but
Nobody remembers who did (but I always feel better when it was me ---
and I don't know about you, but I'm all about feeling better! ;-)

[janbear]

Thanks to my sister sponsee Sherry B. and the Jaywalkers Meeting on
Step Three for today's AWSI:

"My sponsor took advantage of my desperation and told me to say the
Third Step prayer everyday. I started it every morning by saying, 'I
don't believe this crap, but . . . ' Then, after a few weeks I
realized that I wasn't thinkiing about suicide anymore."

[janbear]

Thanks to Dave C. for today's AWSI:

"When I first got to Alcoholics Anonymous, I didn't know that I was
an alcoholic. I thought I was just a jerk, and I didn't really have
any desire to not be a jerk . . . then I got here and you told me
that I AM a jerk, but that I'm also an alcoholic --- and that the
twelve steps would help with both of those!"

[allaflutter]

Yep that old friend DENIAL.. It is not a river in Egypt..

Thank Go they told me the truth when I came in.

[janbear]

Thanks to my sponsor Peg M. for the reminder that

"When I keep a commitment, it is integrity in action."

Integrity is one of those principles that I learn from putting the
Steps and Traditions into practice in my life . . . keeping a
commitment (with my group, my sponsees, my job, my family) is part of
practicing these principles in all my affairs . . .

Who knew these things? (oh, my sponsor!!! ;-)

[allaflutter]

When I first discovered that there is not a single “don’t” in the Twelve Steps of A.A., I was disturbed because this discovery swung open a giant portal. Only then was I able to realize what A.A. is for me:
A.A. is not a program of “don’t”s, but of “do’s.
A.A. is not martial law; it is freedom. HAPPY JOYOUS AND FREE
A.A. is not tears over defects, but sweat over fixing them. It is not a vale of tears and we are not a glum lot.
A.A. is not penitence; it is salvation. Surrender to win
A.A. is not “Woe to me” for my sins, past and present. We have been freed from chemical peace of mindA.A. is “Praise God” for the progress I am making today. And Thank You God for saving my life and my soul

A.A. is not giving up or being a failure. It is giving over to a Power Greater than ourselves

[allaflutter]

Thank You to my friend and sister in sobriety for this thought

Remember the 3 R's -
Respect for self, Respect for others and Responsiblity for all your actions!

[janbear]

Heard from someone coming back from a slip: "Life got too good and
it all started with - 'I think I'll skip the meeting tonight!' "
.

[janbear]

Thanks to Joe B. for today's AWSI (heard in my old stompin' grounds
of Fairfax, VA):

"AA may not smooth out the road ahead, but it sure gives me a better
set of shock absorbers!"
.

[janbear]

thanks to Pam R. for today's AWSI:

"I want to be the star of every show. Unfortunately, I usually have
a walk-on, non-speaking part."
.

[janbear]

Thanks to Debbie D. for today's AWSI:

"If you don't have a sobriety date, I encourage to get one of those.
It has been my experience that Alcoholics Anonymous makes so much
more sense when I got a sobriety date!"
.
.

[allaflutter]

Amen to that

[janbear]

Thanks to sister sponsee Carleen L. for today's AWSI:

"Did you know that unmanageable means beyond control? Man, oh, man,
am I slow. If I got it all at once, what would I do with the rest of
my life?"

[janbear]

Thanks to Jack M. and the meeting on Step Three at the Jaywalker's
for today's AWSI:

"When I start to think that I KNOW what God's will is for me (or for
you), it has been my experience that it is usually MY will that I'm
trying to convince myself (or you) is really God's will. I am almost
always wrong (which then involves those other pesky steps!)"
.

[janbear]

Thanks to Cathie D. for today's AWSI:

"A bottom isn't a bad thing if you can climb up and out, even if you
need others to help you. If it weren't for bottoms none of us would
have reached new heights!"

[allaflutter]

That is so true

And having to climb out of a deep bottom made me appreciate more the gift of seeing those new heights and vistas

[janbear]

Thanks to Jodi for today's AWSI . . .

"My sponsor taught me that it's not 12-step work if it's not out of
my way and I'm not inconvenienced."

In her note to me, Jodi added that she was reminded of this recently
after she returned from vacation. Before she left she gave
instructions to a couple of newcomers she'd been picking up for
meetings to call other women in the program for rides. When she
returned her sponsee told her that they had called other women for
rides but that everyone they called told them that they couldn't give
them a ride because [the sponsee] lived too far out-of-the-way.

(note. although I'm kind of surprised at this, at the same time,
I've witnessed this kind of response . . . while I know that I can't
change "them", I do have the power to change me, to hand out my phone
number, answer the phone when I'm called, and reach out . . . I guess
it's that "somebody, anybody, nobody, and everybody" thing again!

[allaflutter]

It is terribly sad to hear this...I too have been in he same predicumant.. The sad part is I live so close that many drive by here to get to several meetings..

I overheard a long termer once say "I don't believe in this 12 step tuff..let them come in to the meetings and I'll chat with them."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.. where would Aa be if we had not had folks oing into the hospitalas and carrying the message.. It is true I cannot change them...I can only change me.

I am also remionded of an aarticle in the Grapevine that has meant a great deal to me which I will also include here for a thought to ponder:


Who's sitting next to you?

I know who you are. You are "X" who attends the ABC Meeting at the XYZ club where AA's meet in Anywhere .

I saw you there the other night at the 8 pm meeting. I don't know how long you've been sober, but I know you've been coming around for a while because you spoke to a lot of people who knew you. I wasn't one of them.

You don't know who I am. I wandered into your meeting place alone the other night, a stranger in town. I got a cup of coffee, paid for it, and sat down by myself.

You didn't speak to me. Oh, you saw me. You glanced my way, but you didn't recognize me, so you quickly averted your eyes and sought out a familiar face.

I sat there through the meeting. I was okay, a slightly different format but basically the same kind of meeting as the one I go to at home.

The topic was gratitude. You & your friends spoke about how much AA means to you. You talked about the camaraderie in your meeting place. You said how much the people there had helped you when you first came through the door -- how they extended the hand of friendship to make you feel welcome, and asked you to come back. And I was wondering where had they gone, those nice people who made your entrance so welcoming and so comfortable.

You talked about how the newcomers are the life blood of AA. I agree, but I didn’t say so. In fact, I didn't share in your meeting. I signed my name in the book that was passed around, but the chair person didn’t refer to it. He only called on those people in the room whom he knew. So who am I? You don't know, because you didn't bother to find out. Although yours was a closed meeting, you didn't ask if I belonged there.

It might have been my first meeting. I could have been full of fear and distrust, knowing AA wouldn't work any better than anything else I'd tried, and I would have left. I might have been suicidal, grasping at one last straw, hoping someone would reach out and pull me from the pit of loathing and self pity from which, by myself, I could find no escape.

I might have been a student with a tape recorder in my pocket, assigned to write a paper on how AA works - someone who shouldn't have been permitted to sit there at all but could have been directed to an open meeting to learn what I needed to know. Or I could have been sent by the courts, wanting to know more, but afraid to ask. It happens that I was none of the above. I was just an ordinary drunk with a few years of sober living in AA who was traveling and was in need of a meeting.

My only problem that night was that I'd been alone with my own mind too long. I just needed to touch base with my AA family. I know from past experience that I could have walked into your meeting place smiling stuck out my hand to the first person I saw and said, "Hi, my name is ___ I'm an alcoholic from___. If I'd felt like doing that, I probably would have been warmly welcomed. You would have asked me if I knew Old So & So from my state, or you might have shared a part of your drunk-a-log that occurred in my part of the country..
Why didn't I? - I was hungry, lonely, and tired. The only thing missing was angry, but three out of four isn't a good place for me to be.

So I sat silently through your meeting, and when it was over I watched enviously as all of you gathered in small groups, talking with one another the same way we do in my home town.

You and some of your friends were planning a meeting after the meeting at a nearby coffee shop. By this time I had been silent too long to reach out to you. I stopped by the bulletin board to read the notices there, kind of hanging around with-out being too obvious, hoping you might ask if I wanted to join you, but you didn't.

As I walked slowly across the parking lot to my car with the out of state license plates you looked my way again. Our eyes met briefly and I mustered a smile. Again, you looked away. I buckled my seat belt, started the car, and drove to the mo-tel where I was staying.

As I lay in my bed waiting for sleep to come, I made a gratitude list. You were on it, along with your friends at the meet-ing place. I knew that you were there for me, and that I needed you far more than you needed me. I knew that if I needed help, and had asked for it, you would have gladly given it.

But I wondered....what if I hadn't been able to ask?

I know who you are....Do you remember me?

This article was in the 1991 Grapevine. It caught my attention because there are times I have not reached out to a new face...And other times I have gone into rooms feeling the pain of the violations of HALT and others didn't reach out...and the familiar feeling of "not belonging" crept in.

I remain committed to passing on what was so freely given to me and I have also made a committment that when i find a set of wheels I will go the extra mile to get others to meetings...because I know what it feels like to need a meeting and not have the means to get there..Even with the 24 hours behind me I still need and hopefully will always need the direct F2F contact in the meetings.. I still need to see the person who is struggling as well as the new hope in the eyes of others and the light that comes on in someone's eyes as the fog lifts and they begin to see hope, love, and find a faith that really does work.

Thank You for this post

Hugs

[janbear]

I can relate to your feelings allaflutter. I tend to kick myself when i have caught myself not welcoming a newcomer in our meetings. I have read that before and i took notice of it as well. I also know the pain of suffering myself and not being reached out to. I am one of the oldtimers in our group and it seems as though people forget oldtimers can suffer too from the pains of our new life. But i also have to admit here that i am not always good about reaching out when i am in need. I cant really expect people to read my mind. I have to remember that.

[janbear]

Thanks to Debbie D. talking about Tradition Twelve and 'principles
over personalities.'

"In the time that I've been sober, I've lived in four different
cities and had four different home groups. In every home group where
I've belonged, there has been at least one person that I just knew
would really be much happier in a different home group. Everytime
I've gone down that road, I've been reminded that the Twelfth
Tradition means practicing the principles over MY personality, not
over YOUR personality!"
.

[allaflutter]

As we see it...from our ESH-- there really is no middle of the road. We all must find our our path but the principles remain constant.. I had a conversation with another gal just last night who stated she was sitting on the fence about Steps 2 & 3. What came across loud and clear to me in early recovey is...the vital absolutely necessary ingrediant of WILLINGNESS.. All step two ask us to do is to be willing.. There are no buts...no exceptions..Just willingness..Wilingness to believe.. From where I came from and the desperate state of mind and body I was in I did not have to dig very deep for that willingness.. it even tells us in the 12 x 12..We do not have to take a giant leap...We only need the willingness.. and an open mind.. When the gal was chatting with me last night she said "I can't...I refuse" It has been my expereince and a hard lesson to learn that when I say "I can't"..I am closing off & blocking out and for me...slapping HP in the face .. How dare I!! How dare I say I can't blieve when HP saved my life and led me to the solution.. How dare I say it is the wrong time, it isn't wrapped pretty enough.. It is too small, too big.." The emphasis in our books and in our shares at meetings have always been..."Your Own Conception.." Your own belief" No one has to believe in the God I have... When we get to step 12 we find it says "Having had a A Spiritual Expereince as a result of these steps" It isstaed in past tense..Important note to concider......which means if I did the footwork ad did as it sstaed before the steps..Thoroughly, and honestly...and are WILLING TO GO TO ANY LENGTHS....As desperate as I was...as sick as I was...as much pain as I was in...I had to be willing to be "fearless and thorough from the very start"... I tried easier softer ways.. I tried going it alone...God knows how independant I am...and stubborn.. But my back was up against the wall and my butt hole is sucking plaster.. & it was suggeted to think about "If drowning in the ocean...do you really think it wise to refuse to grap hold of the life preserver.. refusng to grab a hold there is a greater risk of a hungry shark that thinks I might be their next meal..

So if you are sitting on the fence...if you do not want a crack going the other way on your butt..then pick up the key of Willingness.. itreally is easierthan you think. Our aalytical minds and doubts and fears are what keeps us on th fence..But if you look down you will find many others have climbed off the fence..some avig come from even worse conditions..But look closely..You will see they are no longer hurting or alone..There is a vast number of folks to grab your hand and walk with you and show you notonly how they did it but wll aso demonstrate there really is joy in life..There is Hope!!! And there is also fun in sobriety.. we are not a glum lot

It works if you work it..If you work it you will find you are worth it!!!

If not...then your misery will be refunded to you...in full measure.

[janbear]

Thanks to Max for forwarding this on from a meeting on prayer and meditation:

"Before I came to AA, the only time I prayed was just before the jury came in."

[allaflutter]

Oh there were prayers.. and the prayers were laced with anger..Why me God?" How can you let this happen??" Why can't I have the things others are saying they got from you? Do you hate me" and on and on.. Me...Me ...Me...
Whine whine whine

And then God didn't even offer any crackers to go with the whine... I had to go and get them myself....and the parents locked the cupboard..so the rage continued...So I stole them... Became a liar a cheat and a theif...and justified it...and raged more

Today I know He didn't do anything to me..He loved me enough to carry me through those storms and allowed me to come to Him willingly and the still small voice said "I love You..You are my child..You will learn from these expereince and will be able to share what you have learned with others..In that way You will be one of my chosen and You will be doing my work" I am grateful He spoke to my heart..the two things on the side of my head called ears wasn't working well when my mouth was in gear...and He knew it. I sure am glad and blessed He is an all knowing God.

[janbear]

Thanks to friend Chuck B. for today's AWSI:

AA #1: "If you want to hide something from an alcoholic, put it in
the Big Book!"

AA #2: "Yup! The answer is hidden at the top of page 112!"

[janbear]

My experience when I was still out there is that I would hit a
bottom, then pick up a shovel and start digging. And you know what
you have to do when you start digging, don't you? Have a beer!

It wasn't until I came to Alcoholics Anonymous and hit a bottom in
sobriety that I learned that I could pick up the phone and call my
sponsor or a friend in the program and hear a solution

[janbear]

It isn't the big things that make me crazy --- I know to call my
sponsor and talk about the Big Things. It's the little things that
happen that I don't think to mention that can drive me over the edge
and get me into insane thinking.
.
.
.
list owner's note . . . that's one of the reasons I am grateful that
no matter how long I'm sober, my sponsor still has me call her once a
week at an assigned day and time . . . keeps the big things right
sized and the little things get mentioned.

[janbear]

Overheard in the parking lot before the meeting:

The sponsee going on and on and on and on about what "they" have done to her.

Sponsor: Each day you have to let three people off the hook for what
"they" do to you.
Sponsee: And what about the fourth person?
Sponsor: What works for me at that point is starting my day over
which means that I start over at 'one'.
.

[janbear]

Thanks to Jamie C. from the Three Legacies Group
in Gaylord, MI for today's AWSI:

the meeting was about Step 11 and how through
prayer and mediation, combined with continuing
our personal inventory and keeping current on our
amends, we aim to become more "giving than
getting".

My sponsor shared, "All my life I prayed, 'Gimme,
gimme, gimme!' As the result, I got to AA with
absolutely nothing. You people and this Program
taught me to pray, 'Take away Š take away Š take
away!' Today, I get those occasional glimpses of
Serenity and I have more of me than I ever dreamt
possible."
.
.

[janbear]

Thanks to long-timer Bill M. (just celebrated 41 years sober) for this one:

"No matter how long we're sober, there are times when life is still
going to be a soup sandwich. No matter how we try to pick it up, the
whole thing is going to fall apart. That's when we have to rely on
the experience, strength, and hope of others. They may not know how
to pick it up, either. But they probably know how to CLEAN it up!"
.

[janbear]

Thanks to my sponsor, Peg M. for today's AWSI:

"My experience has been that when I'm in a bad place but I can see
the light at the end of the tunnel, that it is often my sponsor with
a flashlight. She's usually saying something like "this is the path
that I walked, but be careful there, don't step in the dog poo------
Oh! I see you already have!"

[janbear]

overheard

Sponsee: I just don't know if I can do that!

Sponsor: My experience has been, that when it gets painful enough I
will either drink or write. I know what happens when I drink, so I
choose writing. What will your choice be?
.
.

[janbear]

thanks to friend Philo for today's AWSI:

I got sober in a treatment program officially called the "chemical
dependency program" or CDP. However those of us in the program
called it "Claudia's Dance Palace" because we were going to learn "a
few new steps!"
.
.
.

[janbear]

Thanks to my friend Skip B. (and one of his early sponsors!) for today's AWSI:

"Then my sponsor said, 'Son, you worry me! You let your alligator
mouth override your hummingbird ass!' "

[janbear]

When I was a year sober my sponsor suggested that I was now well
enough to admit that I was really sick and that I probably needed
outside help. Let me just tell you . . . she was NOT talking about
chocolate!

[admin]

Thanks to Tommy H. in Baton Rouge for today's AWSI:

Sponsor to Sponsee: The problem is that half of your brain
manufactures BS and the other half believes it!

[admin]

Thanks to Kathleen B. and her sponsor Beth H. for sharing this
exchange from Kathleen's early sobriety:

Sponsee: So. How many meetings do I have to go to each week?

Sponsor: I go to at least four meetings a week. Four would be a
good number for you as well.

Sponsee: FOUR! The Judge only makes me go to TWO!

Sponsor: Then plan on going to SEVEN and FOUR will be easy!

[admin]

Thanks to Beth A for today's AWSI:

When I was new I'd call my sponsor with a problem and I'd pour out
this terrible tale of woe and she'd say, "So what?"

Excuse ME!?!?!? So WHAT!?!?!!?

With time I came to see the wisdom of her response . . . most of my
terrible tales of woe really are "so whats"!

Today I know that with many things, I don't have to fix it or change
it. I can just say 'so what' and go on about my day. Most of those
things seem to take care of themselves.

[allaflutter]

No God
No Peace

Know God
Know Peace

[janbear]

Heard in a meeting on Step 9 (reading from the Big Book):

"The book says 'selfish and inconsiderate'. 'Inconsiderate'. What
an inappropriate word for things I did to my friends and family.
Yes. I get to make amends. But I don't get to give them that time
back. That's why after making DIRECT amends, it has been necessary
for me to make living amends. Change the way I act and live . . .
selfless and considerate come to mind."

[janbear]

If you can see something that needs to be done, you've been called to
do something!

OR, as my sponsor explained it . . .

"The first person to complain (or suggest a change) is the first
person to volunteer!"
I learned that if I was going to bring up new business in an AA
business meeting or at Intergroup, I better be prepared to be of
service!

[janbear]

"After all the experience I have, I still sometimes forget that God
has by best interests at heart."

[janbear]

From the chairperson of the meeting to a newcomer:

"I've had seven husbands and if you don't do what the Big Book
suggests, you could be Number Eight!"
.

[janbear]

.
Thanks to Beth H. of Cary, NC for today's AWSI:

"My experience has been that expectations are the filter through
which I interpret my circumstances. If I was told that I'm staying
in a penthouse suite at a hotel, and I got there and the hotel only
had two floors and the only difference between my room and the others
was that I had HBO, I would probably be disappointed. BUT, if I was
told I was going to prison and was taken to the SAME room at the SAME
hotel, I would be overjoyed! Same room. Different expectations!"

.

[janbear]

Thanks to Christy for today's AWSI:

"I'm from the kind of family, that when you shake our family tree,
bottles fall out."

[janbear]

Thanks to Trilee (36 years sober) for today's AWSI:

"When I was new, things were alot different. For one thing,
EVERYBODY smoked and there was NO decaf coffee!"

[janbear]

Thanks to Don F. for today's AWSI:

"I didn't know that I wanted what YOU had, I just knew that I did NOT
want what I had!"

[janbear]

Thanks to Bill S. for passing this on:

A long-timer recently shared at my home group: "Love generously,
care deeply, speak kindly. Life isn't about waiting for the storm to
pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain."
.
.
.

[janbear]

I know that God anwers my prayers . . .

Sometimes the answers have been "Yes!"
Sometimes the answers have been "NO!"
and there are times, when the answer seems to have been "You've GOT
to be kidding me!"
.

[janbear]

Thanks to Tony for today's AWSI:

A pat on the back is a hug in passing!
.

[janbear]

Thanks for the two folks that noticed that George's Six word submission of

"love and tolerance is our code." is actually EIGHT words in the Big Book:

"Love and tolerance of others is our code."

George's reply when I pointed that out to him was:

"Well, that's embarassing, but a good reminder to find someone to
take through the Big Book!"
.
.

[janbear]

Thanks to Ginny for today's AWSI:

"I have not only never seen a social drinker trying to prove that
they are an alcoholic . . . I have never seen a social drinker trying
to prove that they are a social drinker!"
.
.
.

[annalittlebit]

Good One Jan!!!!!!!!!!!! :1:

[allaflutter]

Thanks to Ginny for today's AWSI:

"I have not only never seen a social drinker trying to prove that
they are an alcoholic . . . I have never seen a social drinker trying
to prove that they are a social drinker!" ...

I was a social drinker...Anytime anyone said they were having a drink ..I would say... "so cial I...so cial I"

and then the drink took me

[janbear]

It's been my experience that some of the greatest disappointments
that I have had in my life have come from getting that which I
insisted on having!
.

[janbear]

Belief is watching someone push a wheelbarrow across a tightrope and
believing they will make it to the other side.

Faith is getting in the wheelbarrow.
(six words).

[janbear]

Thanks to Suze for today's AWSI:

I thought of myself as a "connoisseur" when I got here, when what I
really was, was a common sewer. I knew that Ripple went with meat,
and Thurnderbird went with fish . . . and even that sounds fancier
than I was! I took my Ripple to McDonald's and Thunderbird to Long
John's!

[janbear]

The paths God has taken me on have been an interesting journey. Not
probably what I would have picked, but I'm sure glad that God is God
and up to the challenge of me! ;-)
.

[janbear]

Sponsor to sponsee: "I've been where you are. I've felt like you
feel. I know that it hurts like hell. What I can tell you is that
it has been my experience that you will not feel this way forever,
and I am willing to walk through it with you."

[janbear]

Thanks to Bill S. for today's AWSI:

"There are a lot of statistics floating around today about AA's
success rate then and now. The only statistic I need to know is that
100% of the people who don't take a drink today won't get drunk!!!"
.

[janbear]

Thanks to Beth H for today's AWSI:

From Harold L. of St. Louis, MO: "Sobriety is contagious . . . is
yours worth catching?
.

[janbear]

Before I came to Alcoholics Anonymous, I didn't know that "God could
and would." But I also wasn't aware that I couldn't and wouldn't!
.

[janbear]

Sponsee: What do they mean, 'stick with the winners'? How do I know
who the 'winners' are?

Sponsor: My sponsor explained it to me this way . . . 'getting sober
is like waking up in a mine field. Follow the folks that don't blow
up.'

[francie21805]

:85: Thanks! I hadn't heard that one before.

[letgo]

Me neither - that's a good analogy.

[janbear]

I recently participated in an AA conference in Cornwall, Ontario. On
this day before (U.S.) Thanksgiving, I would like to share with you
the prayer that was offered before the banquet . . .

Most gracious God of our understanding,
We thank you for our AA fellowship, but let us not forget those who walk alone.
We thank you for our AA faith, but let us not forget the many who walk in fear.
We thank you for the food that we are about to eat, but let us not
forget the many who walk in hunger.
For all our many blessings, We give you thanks O God.
Amen.
.
author unknown

[allaflutter]

Awesome prayer Jan..Thank You for sharing that

[janbear]

.
Thanks to Sheila F. for sharing this that she overheard from Patty O.:

"I'm not a toast burner . . . but then again, I did burn a house down
once and I suppose there was bread in it."
.
.

[janbear]

It's been my experience that I learn about tolerance when I hear
others being intolerant, I learn about humility from the arrogant, I
learn about gratitude from listening to the ungrateful, I learn about
sharing the solution when I hear others wallowing in the problem. TO
ME I sound so healthy until I realize that I am learning these things
because I am seeing my character defects and shortcomings reflected
in others . . .

... sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly! ;-)

[allaflutter]

So very true

[janbear]

Thanks to my friend Pat G. for forwarding this (from her friend Rose):

"When I am in fear, I should be, because it's when I get confused and
think that I am in charge again! When I find myself in fear, I have
to remind myself who/what is in charge and then I can come back to
the present moment where everything is always okay."
.

[admin]

Thanks to "Crash Don" (I bet there's an interesting story there!!!
;-) for today's AWSI:
.
.
"Did you know," said the long timer to the new comer, "that you can't
solve a problem with the same thinking that caused the problem in the
first place? Ask God to help change your thinking, and then run it
past a sponsor BEFORE you take an action on what you think God said!"


-----


Thanks to Bruce M. for today's AWSI:

Take the alcohol out of the alcoholic, and you're still left with the
"ic" . . . which is why we have the twelve steps!

[janbear]

.
"I tried most of things the Big Book talks about in Chapter 3, except
for the 'natural wine' part. I drank Ripple, and I'm fairly certain
that Ripple had never seen a grape!"