Early April AA Thread

[bettygirl]

Early April AA Thread

cool det, so you are diving in, huh? i know my sponsor is helping me immensely. it's someone you can always talk to, who knows YOU, and can explain the stuff you might not get right away. good to hear from you, by the way...come and talk with us whenever you want to.

i go through a lot of questioning in AA...i am a thinker and analyzer and i really just need to STOP IT! ha! i met with my sponsor today, and she is so amazing! she really wants me to feel comfortable and to be sober, so she works with me where i am at "spiritually," and doesn't expect me to be anything other than who i am...i really appreciate that about her. i was dead honest with her about how i've been feeling and how i felt at the meeting this morning, and she was so supportive and great! i am so glad i picked her (or did she pick me?! )

anyway, i am in a better head space and feeling like the spiritual atheist that i have been for some time now again. i was kind of moving away from that conncection with everyone and everything, and starting to feel isolated and annoyed, but talking with her and hearing a great share this morning really helped.

onward!
peace everyone!

hi to mary, dg, sol, phil etc...and anyone else who peeks in

[retteacher]

Early April AA Thread

deter: My sponsor is someone who helped me through the steps. The 12 steps are a design for living (according to Bill W.), & I've found them just that. I try to stay in the middle of AA so that I don't relapse again. The relationships I've forged in AA are some of the strongest I've ever had.

I just had a morning brunch w/my AA girlfriends. It was awesome...food & fun. We played a bonding game which we all really needed & benefitted from.

Mary

[Solitaire]

Early April AA Thread

Hello there!
I had a crazy week: A friend of a "heavy drinker (let's call her B)" contacted me through our AA office on Monday. She was drunk by 9am, but Miss B sent me a text on Tuesday morning, I was at her house at 8am. I have NEVER seen the devastation of alcohol to that extent in my life!!!!! Young, 2 kids, 16 and 6, etc.
I had no clue what to do, so, I just held on to the Serenity Prayer, and I surrendered to my HP. I brought her to my home ( I've never done that before), because I knew that she was going to drink. We spent the day talking, crying, etc. Took her to a meeting, and dropped her off at her house at 10pm. She was back at my house at 7am, committed to going to rehab (wonderful 12 Step treatment facility), Her boss was at my house at 8am and agreed to pay for rehab!!! Between 9 and 3 we sorted out her kids, potbelly pig, dog, etc.!!! She is now in good hands. I am grateful....
Thursday afternoon I met up with my sponsor, and discussed my week with her. She burst out laughing and said: "Could you have done any of this if you were not sober?"
We all know the answer....
The Promises are coming true for me, the obsession to drink is no longer there, and yet, I am sure that I am only one drink away from being what I was... I don't think I will drink today!

THE A.A. PROMISES

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and selfpity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us—sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.

[retteacher]

Early April AA Thread

Sol: You are an inspiration! I had a similar experience this week. My sponsor's daughter is an alcoholic...in a destructive relationship as well. Between my sponsor, myself, & another AA woman friend, we managed to get her into detox, & as soon as she's well enough, into treatment. Her blood alcohol level was .345 which is an almost lethal level. We did true 12th step work this week!

We read the promises at the end of most of our meetings. They're coming true for me!

Pat yourself on the back. You probably saved Miss B's life this week.

Mary

[Determinator]

Early April AA Thread

Solitaire, what a lovely story. save some energy for yourself too eh? xxxx

Mary, well done!

big day for me. covered step 5 today at noon meeting and it was really an amazing time sharing.
tonight sponsor and I will go over steps 4 and 5.

Betty, I love spiritual atheist! I'm stealing that if you don't mind sharing.

off to read BB

[Doggygirl]

Early April AA Thread

Hi all!

Sol and Mary - I loved reading the stories of your 12th step work. I feel I have been very self-oriented of late and reading what you have done humbles me, and also helps me realize that a reason I've been "off-kilter" lately is that I've been more absorbed in self than in helping others. Thank you for sharing. I hope both women are able to find the miracle of recovery.

Sol - thank you for sharing the 1940's preamble! I haven't seen that before either.

cpn1004;1492715 wrote: I was at a meeting in Las Vegas early in my recovery. At the end of the meeting we stood to hold hands and say the prayer. The man next to me whispered "I'm pretty much an atheist, but I've been sober for 8 months. That's some kind of miracle."
So I guess one can get sober in AA and not fully embrace the higher power issue but still believe in miracles.
Kind of cool, don't you think?
Yes!

bettygirl;1493206 wrote:

i'm sick...not feeling like much of anything...just checking in.

peace!
Hope you are feeling better now!

Determinator;1493665 wrote: hidy ho peeps! big day for garlic breath..... I got a sponsor! for the first time ever. I'm really trying to take AA seriously. rather excited here.

xxxx

retteacher;1493964 wrote: We played a bonding game which we all really needed & benefitted from.

Mary

Can you share more about the "bonding game?" What did you do?

Deter - I am glad you are sober today just like I'm glad I'm sober today and the others here are sober today. Whatever it takes to get there and stay there is worth doing. Things happen often around AA that rub me the wrong way. But that happens in the rest of life too, really. I don't always know how or why it works, but my compulsion to drink is completely gone these days and I know I'm also a better person as a result of the fellowship than I was without it. Sometimes the things that irk me the most about AA are the things that push me to grow it seems. I wish you well. Take what you need and all that. Good luck with Step 4/5. I hope you find some healing in it - I know I did.

I was asked to chair a big speaker meeting for the month of June. I had all kinds of reasons lined up in my head why I was going to say "no." I'm glad I came to this thread first because after reading it, I know the right answer is "yes."

Thanks for being here.

DG

[retteacher]

Early April AA Thread

DG:
-I got big sheets of paper & wrote about 2 dozen attributes on them: meticulous, focused, compassionate, kind, friendly, etc. I got a list from an old Oprah magazine, added some myself, & elicited some from the 6 women at the brunch. (I can give you the list if you'd like it.)
-I posted these sheets on the front of my hutch doors so that everyone could read them.
-I then made out 6 cards w/the women's names on them.
-I had them pick a card for another woman at the brunch. They picked at random so that they wouldn't be picking a "special" friend.
-I asked them to study the list of attributes & write the 3 best for their person...thinking of specific times that could relate to the attribute.
-We then took turns sharing w/our person why we picked the attributes we chose.

The women wanted to add to this exercise by writing on the back of the card the attributes we thought we had...in other words, the attributes we thought our partner would pick. That was interesting too. Sometimes we picked attributes that corresponded w/what the other woman chose, sometimes not.

Everyone went home w/her card to look at in times of lowered confidence.

It was great.

Mary

[retteacher]

Early April AA Thread

PS: What inspired me to do this was:
1. I knew I'd be having my friends over for lunch...this can be done in a mixed gender group too.
2. The list of attributes from Oprah's mag.
3. Many people complain that they cannot think of the list of assets/attributes for their 4th step.

M

[bettygirl]

Early April AA Thread

interesting, mary...good idea that i might bring up with some of my women aa friends. thanks!

and yes, thanks for doing the work, guys...thats what it's all about, eh! marvelous!

dg, good for you...i'm sure you'll be good at chairing!

det, you are plugging along, man!

i am sort of struggling...not with drinking thoughts, just kind of been melancholy lately...can;t seem to find my spark again. i don;t know if i'm off the pink cloud (although it's been almost 7 months, seems that should have been gone long ago), or what...maybe it's just a faze...ready for spring, all the bad news in the world...LIFE!!! this too shall pass, spring is basically here, i am healthy, got good people around, there is a lot to be happy and joyous about! no drinking thoughts, so that in and of itself is a really good thing.

take care all! i am always so glad to come here and see new posts and new thoughts.

peace

[retteacher]

Early April AA Thread

BG: I do think that our moods come & go. Thank God, we don't have to drink over them.

[bettygirl]

Early April AA Thread

YES! thank goodness! i don't ever have to drink again

feeling better today, went for a nice trail run and then ran back home for a total of a bit over 4 miles...not long, but enough to get me out of that funk!

hope everyone is well, and you are sober, joyous and free

i'm heading to a 90 minute sunday night meeting that i love.

peace~

[Doggygirl]

Early April AA Thread

Hi all! Mary, thanks for sharing your positive attribute exercise. That sounds like a really interesting thing to do with a group. I will definitely try that sometime! I would love your list if you could share it.

BG - I definitely think it's *normal* for our moods to go up and down. I know when I was drinking I was always trying to take whatever mood I was in, and just change it the "easy way" (haha) with AL. It's been a learning experience to just sit sometimes with whatever mood I'm in. Or do some actual WORK to change it naturally. I often find throwing myself into a project will pull me out of a funk.

It's quite an adventure to learn about my sober self and I'm still learning after nearly 5 years. I guess we will always be learning? Anyway...are there any new projects you've been considering?

Would any of you like to come and speak in my town in June?????

DG

[Solitaire]

Early April AA Thread

DG, PICK ME, PICK ME!!!
Wouldn't that be a good excuse to actually meet? Imagine comparing notes. Stepping and just being....
Well, if my ship comes in before then, you will be the 1st to know...
FIVE years?!?! Just the other day, 5 hors/days/months sounded impossible...
Hugs xxx

[retteacher]

Early April AA Thread

DG: The attribute/asset on Oprah's list: charming, relaxed, outgoing, levelheaded, intuitive, observant, patient, open-minded, intelleigent passionate, easygoing, articulate, generous, sensitive, clever, empathetic, optimistic, decisive, funny, responsible, confident, compassionate, energetic, caring, meticulous, organized, charismatic, imaginative, creative, persuasive, enthusiastic, punctual, adventurous, loyal, curious, persistent, focused. We added: honest, courageous, steady, forgiving, warm.

With all those to choose from, the 3 we picked for our game partner could be very specific. It turned out that a few tears were even shed as a result of this.

mary

[bettygirl]

Early April AA Thread

morning or afternoon or evening, whatever, I just hope it's good for you

just checking in to say hello!

its a beautiful day in the PNW and I plan on taking full advantage of it. I've got sedums and ivy to plant, and some indoor plants that need re-potting, so a visit to the nursery is in order, and who knows what I might find there!
I decided to go back to school (thanks to the example of dg!). I am just going to go to the local community college and start a degree in psychology, working towards a counseling degree. is that what you are doing dg? it must speak to us, eh? I am going to go for a certificate in chemical dependency counseling first, as that takes 90 hours of certain course work, and then I can move on to finish the last two years at the local university...i'll probably end up going there when my daughter starts her first year! weird! but very cool...

anyway, I hope all is well, or as good as can be, and that everyone is grateful to be sober today.

peace!