“Don’t drink, go to meetings and ask for help.”That basic Tenet has been waterboarded into me from the very beginning.The first two directives are easy, but that third one trips me up every time. Like many of us, I’m the product of an alcoholic home. Projecting the illusion that everything is great was always […]
Back in the day when I was a newcomer, I looked at the old timers and wished I had their quality of sobriety automatically granted to me.It’s fun to think something will just be handed over without any effort.If only the world worked that way. It didn’t occur to me that their level of wisdom
I grew up in a nice, middle class neighborhood, with nice, middle class values.I’d watch television shows featuring happy, normal families and happy, normal people.All around me, normal people were going about their lives. I felt like a pretender, a square peg in a round hole.Something was wrong. Some element was missing…I just didn’t know
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Attitude isn’t everything…Attitude is the only thing. We’re given two legs and only one sense of humor. If given the choice, it’s better to lose the leg. Rule 62 ‘Don’t take yourself so damn seriously.’If I couldn’t see the irony and absurdity in life, I’d go crazy. I don’t need that any more than you
For a long time, in my heart of hearts, I knew my drinking and recreational drugging was out of control. It was dominating my life, and was no longer fun (after all, if it’s not fun, what’s the point?). My father, who already had a few years of sobriety under his belt, had been inviting
My opinion only, but I believe Alcoholics Anonymous is basically about four things. Okay, Okay,I grant you that it’s about everything.But when you distill it and get right down to the guts of it, it’s pretty much about: Willingness, Humility, Accountability, The Joy of Living. This is not a temporary hobby or a whimsical diversion.
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“. . .if you wish, you can join us on the Broad Highway.”– page 55, 4th edition, Alcoholics Anonymous – I don’t want to brag, but I have a gift for complicating anything.The one thing I’ve managed to not complicate is the importance of the Home Group. I’ve always had a Home Group, and
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THE RULES “Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery.” That’s like: “When you jump out of the airplane, it’s suggested you pull the ripcord.” Suggestions. Please. They’re the rules. By the time I arrived in Alcoholics Anonymous, I was ready to pay attention and cooperate. There was
“A.A. and acceptance have taught me that there is a bit of good in the worst of us and a bit of bad in the best of us; that we are all children of God and we each have a right to be here. When I complain about me or about you, I am complaining
It never fails.Every year around the time of my anniversary, people shake their head and say, “Boy, are you lucky to have sobered up at such a young age!”Well, yes and no.Yes, because I am truly blessed to have found AA so soon.No, because it just means I ruined my health and burned life to
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