I am currently reposting all 100 previously posted blogs that contain what I've learned about staying sober. Because AA has 

continued to work for a drunk like me since 1981, I know it can work for you. And I can promise you'll have some real 

adventures along the way!

               Keep Coming Back!

If you wish to contact me personally with your comments, my email is: o.kay.dockside@gmail.com



Made a Decision

(12)    

    Steps Ten, Eleven and Twelve.  


The Steps and 12 Traditions and Why we “Work” Them.

“The Steps protect me from myself; the Traditions protect AA from me.”

Step 10:  Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well ... it is ... and it isn't.

At day's end when we review the day we can pretty much always identify areas where we might have done better. And we can also identify any person(s) we might have been less than kind to, or considerate of, or have offended in any way. 

But admit it to them? Make an immediate amend?

That's where the not-so-simple part of this step comes in.

What gets in the way? Pride, perhaps.
Ego? Always. 

The Steps, however, are designed to puncture false pride and subdue our ego. There's no point in fighting with our H.P. about that fact, either. The "lessons" just get tougher when we do.

 (I speak from experience!)

The one thing I have learned for sure about Step Ten is that my conscience (HP) will nag the hell out of me until I put things right, when putting something right is required.

 And also, that putting off an amend makes it even harder to do when we eventually - for our own peace of mind - have to make that amend. 

Like ripping off a bandage plaster, it's best to just go ahead and get it over with quickly.

Here are some bullet points for Step Ten: 

1. At the end of the day, either write in a journal or diary, or mentally review, all the things you feel good about having happened that day.

2. Give yourself a gold star for the good stuff! I have even used happy stickers and stars in my journals over the years. Why not?
3. Then consider if there's anything that's happened during the day that doesn't feel good? If there is, remind yourself of the incident. See if you might have handled it better and, if so, resolve to do things that better way next time. 

4. If the incident harmed anyone in any way, make an amend to that person as quickly as possible. Remind them of the incident and own up to your part in it. 

5.  If someone has made us angry, jot that down, too. Then we look at our part. Did we lash back? Were we passive when we perhaps should have stood up for ourselves? If our own behavior didn't meet our expectations, we resolve to do better the next time this kind of situation occurs. 

Make a speedy amend if one is needed.

6.  If we have tried hard during any day and failed in our own expectations, we can still give ourselves another Gold star for recognizing it!  We don't always succeed on a first attempt. 

7. As the 12 & 12 book states: "An honest regret for harms done, a genuine gratitude for blessings received, and a willingness to try for better things tomorrow will be the permanent assets we shall seek."

Don't ever give up! Pride, anger, jealousy, passivity, and all the other negative emotions, are deeply rooted and all are part of being human. We learn how to let go of them, one at a time, over time. 

Staying sober and having high quality sobriety is all about practice, practice, practice - and more practice.

And then all will be well, all will be well, all will be very well. - Ancient Saying/Wisdom

Step Eleven - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

God is not a cosmic Santa Claus. We will not always get what we think we want, but as long as we continue on our path of spiritual growth we will always get what we need. Always!!! Our Higher Power dreams bigger dreams for us than we could ever come up with, so work to get out of His way and see what happens!

But we have to get to know God. God knows how to speak all the languages humans use, but we have to learn to speak God, to learn to understand His/Her voice - and ways. Like every other part of recovery, this takes time and practice. 

Some things to remember about prayer: (1) Even just trying to pray is praying. (2) Our actions can be prayers in motion. (3) There will be times when we don't feel like praying. Pray anyway.

Some things to remember about Meditation: (1) Reading spiritual texts is nice, and we need to do it, but it is not meditation. It is contemplation. (2) There are many forms of meditation, from sitting quietly in silence (or with gentle music), with our thoughts focused on knowing God, or to enjoy physically active meditations like hiking, swimming, or gardening, to actively feel God acting in us and through us. (3) There is no such thing as a poor meditation, there are only different experiences. 

Meditation just means following any practice that will quiet our “monkey minds,” lets us focus on just one thing, and gives us a moment or more of silence inside our busy heads. 

Step Eleven, like ALL the steps, takes practice, practice, practice! A concert pianist learns how to play the scales long before they learn how to perform at the concert level. It’s the same with us in learning to live sober through every situation life throws at us.

 Until prayer and meditation have become a habit in our life, we might forget to do them one day. That’s OK - none of us are perfect - tell your HP, “Sorry I forgot you this morning,” and then pick the practice back up again in the morning up ahead.

The same applies when we forget to pray before we head into any situation. We can do better next time. Or if we remember in the middle of the situation we can say a little prayer in our head to help us get through the rest of it.

Bullet Points for Step Eleven:

(1) God speaks to us in the silence. Some people hear a voice. Others just feel a mental nudge in a certain direction - like, “I should call so-and-so today and see how they’re doing,” or “I should maybe try one of those overseas zoom meetings,” or “what can I do to make this day a ten?”

(2) The practice of Step 11 will gradually lead us down our very own personal spiritual path to a life we could never have imagined for ourselves. 

(3) We will have days where we get discouraged. That’s normal. That’s being a human. But never let yourself STAY discouraged. Keep on practicing what you already know works and you’ll build far more good days for yourself than bad. Keep on doing the doing!

(4) Practicing Step 11 develops our ability to “intuitively know what used to baffle us.” And when we “intuitively know” how to deal with situations our lives become easier - and a lot kinder - and even a lot more fun!

    One time a person dear to me told me she had been diagnosed as not having much longer to live. Her husband, a man I wasn't close with, was there as we sat at her kitchen table. My friend and I joked and even laughed about our jokes at the situation. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her husband didn't approve and that annoyed me. 

    When my friend excused herself to go to the toilet, he and I sat in silence for a minute or two. But I suddenly - intuitively - put my hand on his and said, "I can see we have upset you. But you need to know that's the only way I can handle pain, by jokes and laughter. I love her, too, you know."
   His eyes filled with tears as he said, "I didn't realize that. I thought you didn't really understand the situation, or that you didn't care."
       My point is - my own reaction to him had been one of annoyance. My "intuitive" action came directly from my Higher Power, and led to a greater understanding and healing between us. That's what practicing Step Eleven can give us. What a gift!

Step Twelve -   Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. 

In our book The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions we will read: "When the Twelfth Step is seen in its full implication, it is really talking about the kind of love that has no price tag on it." 

In the early days of my recovery I thought "12 step work" just meant finding "a wet drunk" and offering him or her the message of AA recovery. And I quickly learned I wasn't very good at it either. In fact, the first six or seven people to whom I "carried the message" stayed resolutely drunk.

Over time I found that working with a wet drunk wasn't my gift. I have had some success with it over the years, but I've met many other people in the program who do that job very, very well. That's their gift.

We all have different strengths. I don't mind public speaking; I have had a lot of success (and some failures) as a sponsor; I've started a lot of new meetings, many of which are still going strong. (When I got to AA they often said: "All it takes to start a new meeting is a resentment and a coffee pot." I've bought a lot of coffee pots.) 

Some people are great at putting newcomers at ease; others chair meetings smoothly; some make sure there's something nice for a snack on hand for an in-person meeting (one old fellow I knew baked brownies to bring to his home group for every meeting); some people can lighten any meeting with their humour; others keep track and call people they haven't seen in a meeting for a while to make sure they're OK ... and so it goes. 

We all bring something to the AA table and what we bring is needed by everyone there. That's what the twelfth step is all about. Find your gift (s) and use it (them) for the good of AA - and your own soul's growth.

Bullet Points for Step Twelve: “The joy of living is the theme of AA.’s 12th Step and action is its key word.”

(1) Be active in AA. Carry the message to the still suffering alcoholic.

(2) Be involved in service work.

(3)  Persist in daily prayer and meditation.

(4) Experience the greatest joy AA offers, of seeing and helping others to recover.

(5) Don’t be discouraged by those who won’t be helped. Move on and help those who want what A.A. has to offer.

(6) Practice the principles of the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions in all your affairs. No matter what tough thing may happen, remember others have made it through some truly terrible situations and stayed sober. Taking a drink will only make a bad situation get worse.

(7) When lonely - reach out to another alcoholic. They may really need a call from you today. 

(8) Trust God that your every need will be met. God did not bring you this far to drop you on your head.

(9) Seek not to dominate others nor to hide from human society. Balance is our goal! Alcoholics are problem people. Living the program gets rid of our problems.

(10) Keep on doing the doing. Don’t worry. Be happy.

And now, having had a good look at all twelve steps, here's the shortest bullet points list for them all. These have been around the rooms of AA for a very long time and are easy to remember:

Step One - Honesty

Step Two - Hope

Step Three - Faith

Step Four - Courage

Step Five - Integrity

Step Six - Willingness

Step Seven - Humility

Step Eight - Brotherly Love

Step Nine - Justice

Step Ten - Perseverance

Step Eleven - Spiritual Awareness

Step Twelve - Service

 

I am currently reposting all 100 previously posted blogs that contain what I've learned about staying sober. 

Because AA has continued to work for a drunk like me since 1981, I know it can work for you. 

And I can promise you'll have some real adventures along the way!

                                                  Keep Coming Back!

           If you wish to contact me personally with your comments, my email is: o.kay.dockside@gmail.com

Made a Decision
Most of this first printed - Monday, May 3, 2021 

(11)

                          Steps Six, Seven, Eight and Nine. 

      “The Steps protect me from myself; the Traditions protect AA from me.”

Step Six - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

I wasn't entirely ready when I first did Step Six, but I was ready to get rid of my most 

glaring defects, the ones that clearly were causing me problems. Apparently that was

 enough to start with as it kept me sober. 

In the time since I've released others to my Higher Power, to the best of my ability,

as they became evident to me. 

But a sponsor of mine once gave me a coffee mug bearing a slogan that read: 

"Anything I've ever surrendered had my claw marks all over it."

Sadly, that has remained pretty much true throughout my entire sober journey. 

In the beginning that was because I didn't always recognize when my character 

defects had returned to wreck my serenity. 

Today, while I've become slightly better at seeing them, I still don't always recognize when my character defects have returned to do damage.

In complete conflict with our literature, I somehow early on believed the Sixth (and 

Seventh) Steps were a one shot deal. I would surrender my character defects the

 same way I had surrendered my alcoholism and - hey presto - I'd be free of them. 

Not so. 

The removal of our desire to drink, once it truly has been removed, is a gift. It is

actually a one time event (unless we willfully fire up the whole mad craving for 

booze again by picking up a drink). But the removal of all our other defects takes 

both vigilance and work.

Our literature tells us we will never be rendered white as snow and that our character

 defects, like our addiction(s), are removed only on a daily basis - contingent upon the

 maintenance of our spiritual condition. 

I have come to believe this means I must do the first three steps every morning, to 

actually pay attention when I do them, and to make use of all the other steps as 

needed, whenever they're needed. 

Bullet Points for Step Six:

Having now done your Fourth and Fifth Steps, you have identified your obvious 

defects of character. Ask yourself if any of these defects have served you well?

 Have any of these defects - anger, resentments, dishonesty, whatever - ever led 

to a drinking binge in your past?

Would it serve your sobriety and your loved ones if those character defects were

 gone?

Are you willing to let them go to the best of your ability?

If so, you have a partner in your Higher Power who supports you in that, so it's  

time now to move forward with Step Seven ...

Step Seven - Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Humbly? Now there’s a new word for most alcoholics. 

It means: "In a way that shows or suggests a modest or lower estimate of

 one’s importance; as in - the servant bowed humbly before his master."

Becoming humble does not humiliate us. Humble and humility are two very 

different words with very different meanings. 

Humiliation feels awful; humility feels right.

Trust your gut. 

Alcohol may have given us many occasions (and actions) causing us humiliation,

but learning humility gives us a right attitude toward “A Power greater than 

ourselves.”

Bullet points for Step Seven:

Chances are good before coming to AA we had tried every way we could think of to 

stop drinking - and failed.

Asking a Power Greater than Ourselves to save us from ourselves gives us our first 

good experience of humility. So it's now time to again "bow humbly before our Master" and ask for our shortcomings to be removed. Your life will become much easier for it.

Many of our shortcomings are hard-wired in. Some defects require many times more than one surrender. Just like our craving for alcohol, keeping them at bay is also "contingent upon the maintenance of our spiritual condition." It's a one day at a time process.

Step Eight - Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

There's no ambiguity about Step Eight. It's time again for pencil and paper ...

Fortunately, most (perhaps all) of the people whom we have harmed we have

already identified in our Fourth Step. They're the ones we generally had huge 

resentments against.

Bullet Points for Step Eight:

Dig out your Fourth Step and write down the people written in there on your Step Eight list. Add any other people whose names have come to mind since writing your Fourth Step. Make a notation beside those people with whom you still have contact. That's your priority list. 

Make the amends on your priority list and then find those you may need to locate. Some will no longer be in your neighborhood, town or city. Once you locate them, if it's feasible to connect with them in person, make an appointment to do so.

 If they live in distant states or countries, set up a Facebook or Zoom appointment. 

Sometimes we may even have to just write them a letter. Letters aren't ideal, but an 

amend letter is far better than not making a needed amend.

Don't be surprised if people needing your amend show up out of the blue!

 Make your amends immediately when they do - and stay awed on how your Higher 

Power set this up. 

Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when 

to do so would injure them or others. 

Of course it's scary. I've never met anyone eager to do Step Nine, myself included.

 But I've never found more relief in my life than I've had after making a much-needed 

amend.

Amends will be required throughout our recovery. With the best of intentions, being 

human, we'll still get angry, still put our wants over the needs of others, and still behave badly to others on occasion. 

The "spirit of rebellion" is strong in us.

We'll know an amend is needed when we can't shake the thought of a person, especially if that person insists on renting space in our brains when we're trying to sleep. 

No matter how we may try to justify to ourselves that no amend is needed, odds are one is. So pray for the right words, make the connection and just do it.

You'll sleep better for it!

Helpful tip: Use “I messages" in your amends. An "I message" conveys personal 

responsibility and not blame.

 Example: I regret how my alcoholism caused this rift between us," is an "I message."

A "you message" - will sound something like: “If you had tried to have more understanding of my alcoholism there would never have been a problem between us.” 

See the difference?

 "I messages" work very well in life situations of all kinds. They have a way of smoothing out life's bumps. We are wise when we cultivate the habit of using them.

Most people will accept your amend with good grace, some will not. No worries.

Your actions may never repair a fractured relationship (although some will improve 

over time), but they will always bring about more healing for you.

Bullet Points for Step Nine:

 Meet with each person on your list, one by one. A facetime online meeting will work

 just fine. Pray for clarity and healing before each meeting and then have at it. 

Clean up your side of the street. 

Be truthful, unless a particular truth would cause pain to that person or someone 

they value.

There’s no need to mention their part in any problems that have arisen 

between you, stick with your contribution to any estrangement.

Tell them your regrets for what having the disease of alcoholism has caused between you.

Explain how living the program of AA - one day at a time - is bringing a healing to you 

and to people important to you.Thank them for their time in listening today. 

Do this with every person on your list.

Note: Many people write an amend and read it at the graveside of people they have 

harmed who have passed. If you think that will bring you some comfort, do it.

In next week's blog we'll have a look at Steps 10, 11 and 12.

 I can hardly wait! 

 

I am currently reposting all 100 previously posted blogs that contain what I've learned about staying sober. Because AA has continued to work for a drunk like me since 1981, I know it can work for you. And I can promise you'll have some real adventures along the way!

                                                                     Keep Coming Back!

                 If you wish to contact me personally with your comments, my email is: o.kay.dockside@gmail.com

Made a Decision 

                   Steps One through Five

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The Steps and 12 Traditions - Here's Why we “Work” Them:

                 “The Steps protect me from myself; 

                                the Traditions protect AA from me.”

        The Steps are "How It Works" and the Traditions are "Why it Works."

“A.A.’s Twelve Steps are a group of principles, spiritual in their nature, which if practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to become happily and usefully whole.”   

And:

“A.A.’s Twelve Traditions apply to the life of the Fellowship itself. They outline the means by which A.A. maintains its unity and relates itself to the world about it, the way it lives and grows.”  

                     (From the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, my favorite AA book).

 

When we initially do all 12 steps we do them to the very best of our ability. More will be revealed about ourselves as we continue along our road of recovery. We will “work” some of these steps every single day and others we will dip back into when we realize more work there is needed.

 An example of that is the Fourth Step. Some people do a Fourth Step once. Some do one once a year every year. Others do another Fourth Step only when they feel the need. And sometimes we will do a Fourth Step item on just one item once the need for it has been "revealed" to us. 

So don’t let anyone “should on you”. There is no right or wrong way to do any of the steps - just as long as we do them.

Here follows are some bullet points and a few personal comments on all 12-steps. 

Step One - We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.

Step One is the ONLY step we have to take 100 percent. It is our foundation for recovery.

In it we will remember what got us to AA in the first place. If you are struggling with Step One, consider the following:

Bullet points for Step One:

1.  Think back to your drinking times. Did your drinking cause you problems in your life? Often? Did you ever swear off alcohol, but then found reason to drink again … and then again? 

2. Did  you ever feel “powerless” in your ability to stay away from having a drink?

3. Did your drinking ever get out of control? Did it sometimes (always?) become “unmanageable?”

4. Were any aspects of your life - relationships, job, finances - affected by your drinking?

5. How did you feel when you finally admitted to yourself that you were powerless over alcohol? What was that moment of clarity (surrender) like?

6. Remember - If you want to drink, that’s your business. But if you want to quit, that’s the business of AA.  Accepting Step One puts you firmly onto your own path for recovery.

Step Two - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

This step is the “whoa” step for many newcomers. They balk at the whole idea of a Higher Power, because they either don’t believe there is a God, or they do believe there is a God - one who seeks to punish them for all their “bad behavior.” 

Many newcomers struggle for months, even years, with the entire God concept … but as our Big Book tells us, we only have to turn to a God as we understand Him (or Her).

My first sponsor once asked me to list on paper all the qualities I would want to have in a Best Friend.

 I wrote things like humour, loyalty, strength, intelligence, a sense of fun, a lot of laughter, courage, etc.

My sponsor then said, “OK then - that’s now your God as you understand God. Those are the qualities you’ll ultimately find in your Higher Power. Rely on THAT God. Stop overthinking it.” 

(And you know what? She was right.)

Bullet Points for Step Two:

1. We do NOT have to be believers in the beginning. Many newcomers believe that AA in itself offers a “Power greater than ourselves” able to keep its members - and maybe us - sober. After all, people in AA are sober and staying sober where we could not.

2. AA members over time generally (but it is NOT a requirement) come to rely on a “God of our own understanding.”

3. Some members can never accept anything but the G.O.D. ("Good Orderly Direction) of their AA group as their Higher Power. And that's fine

4. AA is NOT a religion.

5. AA, however, is a spiritual program.

6. Sanity is achievable. 

Step Three - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

What? Turn our will and our lives over to something other than ourselves? No way! 

That’s the usual reaction when confronted with the reality of having to take our paws off our own life and invite God to take over. 

Pause now and consider where our own control and guidance has left us in our lives. Maybe this God idea could point us toward a better quality of life? 

Worth a try?

Bullet Points for Step Three:

1. "MADE A DECiSION" to give AA a fair trial run.

2. Attend lots of meetings online and (when it's safe and possible again) in person.

3. Each new day we ask a God of our own understanding (often called Higher Power, or HP) to keep us sober for that day.

4. Thank HP at bedtime for our having had another sober day.

5. Find an AA member with experience in living by the 12-Steps of Recovery to “sponsor” us by guiding us through all the steps. A good sponsor will share his/her own experiences with us and explain how working the steps has kept them sober.

Step Four - Made a searching and thorough inventory of ourselves.

Step Four is where the "take action" steps begin, where the rubber meets the road. Here is where we begin to actually “work the steps.”

Many newcomers fear Step Four, but once they move forward will discover they've been afraid of a paper tiger. There is no harm for us in any of the steps. 

Step Four introduces us to the truth about ourselves - and the truth will set us free!

Bullet Points for Step Four:

1. The Big Book of AA outlines how to do Step Four. Read it and think about it.

2. Take up any questions you may still have with your sponsor.

3. Set aside a morning or afternoon when you won't be disturbed. Sit down with pen and paper or a notebook and go to it. Use the Big Book outline as your guide. Take prayer breaks if needed.

4. Some people prefer to write their Fourth Step autobiographically and that can work, too. The goal here is not perfection. The goal is to get this stuff down on paper. My first attempt at a Fourth Step was biographical. I later did Fourth Steps using the Big Book outline as my guide.

5. Remember to add the positive things about yourself to your inventory. No one is all bad - not even terminally-unique you.

6. If this is your first time doing a Fourth Step you should be able to complete it in two to four hours. That will get on paper the immediate things for working on in your early recovery. (More will be revealed in future Fourth Steps.)

7. If a Fourth Step Workshop is available to you, sign up for it - then show up and take part.

Step Five - Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Why?

If God knows all our secrets and forgives them, why do we have to hang all our dirty laundry out there in front of a person?

Because to walk a spiritual path we must learn all about humility and obedience to God’s will. Our Higher Power needs us to step out here in faith that Step Five is one of our most important steps along that path.

And it really is.

Bullet Points for Step Five:

1. No one wants to do a Fifth Step. Do it anyway.

2. AA’s founders recommended doing a Fifth Step immediately after getting our Fourth Step down on paper. (I say the same). 

3. Set aside a morning or afternoon with your sponsor, a trusted friend, your priest or rabbi, or anyone you trust (but not a live-in partner) and read your Fourth Step aloud to them. 

4. We are as sick as our secrets. Get everything (ALL of it) out in the open. 

5. Your Higher Power didn’t bring you this far to drop you on your head. Do the most thorough Fifth Step you can. The benefits will very soon reveal themselves to you.

We'll have a look at Steps Six, Seven, Eight and Nine in the next blog. 

Till then, keep sober and keep smiling. Smiles are contagious!

 

I am currently reposting all 100 previously posted blogs that contain what I've learned about staying sober. Because AA has continued to work for a drunk like me since 1981, I know it can work for you. And I can promise you'll have some real adventures along the way!


                                                                     Keep Coming Back!

                 If you wish to contact me personally with your comments, my email is: o.kay.dockside@gmail.com



First posted - April 2021

Made A Decision

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              Some Bits and Pieces Today, includes some topic

                          suggestions for Meetings

           

About Prayer:   “Most people don't pray, they only beg.”

About Meditation: “There is no such thing as a bad meditation. There are just different experiences at different times.”

                                                                            * * * 

Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family back. His recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his relationship with God, however he may define Him.

                                  

Big Book Quote

                                                  * * * 

Letter follows that was written to a sponsee in her early recovery:

Dear ________:

“God don't make no junk” and God made YOU.

So to think you are not good enough, or unworthy in any way, is putting yourself ahead of God's own opinion of you.

 Look in the mirror and say, out loud, "I love you."

Do it every day until you like what you see.

Do it every day until you believe it.

 And until you do love you, remember

God loves you.

We in AA love you.

I love you.

 Self-love comes over time when we stay on track in our recovery. I know that you listen to AA taped talks, so do more of them. They'll build you up, unlike so much of the negative stuff to be found online.

 Stay safe and well. Keep on doing-the-doing.
Keep sober!

                                          

                                                                        * * *

 
For Those who Still Want to Drink

 I have seen a lot of people come into AA and then leave and return to drinking.

Some of them have died drunk.

Some of them have suffered permanent brain damage from that trip back to the hell of alcoholic drinking.

 And some make it back “into the rooms” to continue their sober journey.

Of those older, battered, and now wiser who do return, I have never once heard any of them say:

 IT WAS GREAT!

 I LOVED DRINKiNG AGAIN!

 MY FAMILY WAS SO PROUD OF ME FOR PICKING UP A DRINK.

 Nope, not a single one of them I have known personally has ever said that - or anything remotely like it - once they got back in the AA lifeboat.

                                                                        * * * 

 
 I once posted the following on my Facebook Page under the heading -  

Some good questions to ask ourselves:

 What is trying to emerge in my life?

What is my gift to share?

What is my purpose?

Why am I here on the planet? 

 And I got back this response from a fellow AA member still very new in recovery:

“Been fucking asking this all my life. Screaming out to God who am I and what do you want from me?”

 My response, based entirely on knowing how we ALL have a disease of perception:

 Perhaps your answers COULD be:

What is trying to emerge in my life?  Good Balanced Recovery

My gift to share? ... Good Balanced Recovery.

 Purpose? ... To learn to love myself, and teach others how to love themselves, and our planet.

 Why am I here? ... To love the planet, and all those on it, back to health by applying numbers 1,2, and 3, above.

 
                                                                                 * * * 

               If you think you have a problem with alcohol,

                                  you probably do.

    

                                                                            * * * 

When we are asked to chair on a topic it's always best to come up with our own ideas when we can,
but here are a few suggestions for when our brains draw a blank.

 1. Any of the 12 steps.

2. Gratitude

3. Service work forAA - and how it keeps us sober.

4. Sponsorship

5. Any one of the slogans ... one day at a time; first things first; keep it simple; let go and let God; etc.

6. Helping others in recovery. Reaching out to those in need.

7. What to do when we feel "stuck" in our recovery.

8. How do we greet newcomers and make them feel welcome and needed. (Especially important in these times of zoom!)

9. AA Literature. Why we need to read it.

10. Our favorites among the AA selection of books and brochures.

11. The many benefits of forming AA friendships.

12. Relapse. Alcohol is cunning, baffling, powerful - and patient!

13. Dealing with grief and staying sober.

14. The healing power of laughter - especially learning to laugh at ourselves.

15. Morbid reflection, how it leads to depression and how to avoid it. (Gratitude! Trust God. Help others.)

 ... and so on.

 
                                                                       * * * 

 

 How do I know if my spiritual experience is real?

 “... it is certain that all recipients of spiritual experiences declare for their reality. The best evidence of that reality
is in the subsequent fruits. Those who receive these gifts of grace are very much changed people, almost invariably
for the better. This can scarcely be said of those who hallucinate."

                  (From an AA talk by Dr. Bob  in 1960)
 

 
                                                                          * * * 

 
We alcoholics are sensitive people. It takes some of us a long time to outgrow that serious handicap.

                 Big Book, 4th Edition, pg. 125

                                                                                                     * * * 

 Let us resist the proud assumption that since God has enabled us to do well in one area we are destined to be a channel of saving grace for everybody.

           A.A. COMES OF AGE, pg. 232

  
                                                                               * * * 

                                        To help each other, is to help ourselves.


                                                                               * * * 

 And one final thought for today:

             It's easier to stay out of trouble than to                      get out of trouble.

                                                * * *