Please, I pray I don’t go to that place where I believe I can live on yesterday’s sobriety…
Borrowed from last year;
Constant = Unchanged, Consistently recurring over time, persistent…
Page 20: “Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs.”
Page 73: “But they had not learned enough of humility, fearlessness and honesty, in the sense we find it necessary, until they told someone all their story… He is under constant fear and tension – that makes for more drinking.”
Page 155: “He told me how he lived in constant worry about …read more

TO ALL MEMBERS
Greetings On Our 10th Christmas
1944
Yes, it’s in the air! The spirit of Christmas once more warms this poor distraught world. Over the whole globe millions are looking forward to that one day when strife can be forgotten, when it will be remembered that all human beings, even the least are loved by God, when men will hope for the coming of the Prince of Peace as they never hoped before.
But there is another world which is not poor. Neither is it distraught. It is the world of Alcoholics Anonymous, where thousands dwell happily and secure. Secure because …read more

And a few other boring characters…
From Mel’s article “Open-Meeting Bores”
The challenge? AA … “is greatly imperiled by the great blanket of boredom that stifles many meetings from coast to coast.”
Mel’s research and conclusion: “Having arrived at the conclusion that boring meetings and groups were caused by boring members, I began to look for some means of identifying just who these members really were. Surprisingly, they were the same fellows I have seen in my own bathroom shaving mirror from time to time.”
The first in Mel’s cast of boring characters;

Making use of the slogan “Live and Let Live” – from the book “Living Sober.”
“An ancient sage said that none of us should criticize another until we have walked a mile in the other person’s boots. This wise advice can give us greater compassion for our fellow human beings. And putting it into practice makes us feel much better than being hung over.
‘Let Live’ – yes. But some of us find just as much value in the first part of the slogan: ‘Live!’
When we have worked out ways to enjoy our own living fully, then we are content to let …read more

I was speaking with a female friend yesterday. A couple of months ago her daughter gave birth to her first grandchild.
Not long after the baby was born the mother and, more specifically, the father, returned to their addictions. Mom could very well be a “social” experimenter but Dad is certainly one of “us.” He has come and gone a number of times in the last 9 years yet has not been able to remain clean or sober.
Within a short time, the baby’s parent’s had resorted to calling in bogus prescriptions for xanax, again. The law enforcement community here knows the …read more

To continue the “What A Concept” thoughts…
We return to “Living Sober” and page 12;
“We’ll meet some people in A.A. or elsewhere who won’t be exactly crazy about us, either. So all of us try to respect the rights of others to act as they choose (or must). We can then expect them to give us the same courtesy. In A.A., they generally do.”
I’m not so sure I want to develop expectations along those lines.
This goes on to say: “Usually, people who like each other – in a neighborhood, a company, a club, or A.A. – gravitate toward each other. When …read more

Yeah, yeah…
Folks, please, if you find yourself in meetings where there is someone who never shares until the end of the meeting and then begins their sharing with “During this meeting I have observed blah, blah, blah,” then offers up some magnificent wisdom based on a few years away from a drink, that is a certain example of something you’ll want to leave there and take the rest. You might want to run it past your sponsor especially if it sounds like it applies to your case.
On the same thought – if you are approached by anyone, in a meeting …read more

Yes, I’m being a bit facetious…
From “Living Sober” on page 11;
“To begin to put the concept of ‘Live and Let Live’ into practice, we must face this fact: There are people in A.A., and everywhere else, who sometimes say things we disagree with, or do things we don’t like.”
Ya’ think?
“Learning to live with differences is essential to our comfort. It is exactly in those cases that we have found it extremely helpful to say to ourselves, ‘Oh, well, Live and Let Live.’”
How often did you wind up with a resentment and drink at someone simply because you didn’t like what …read more

I’m about to head off to “work.” Bleccchhh!
Yet, its at work now that I have been given the opportunity to watch someone who is keeping it green for me. He simply cannot, will not, whatever – stop drinking. All day, every day, through the night into the morning and so on and so on. At 9:15 am he has been unable to string two coherent words together to make a sensible comment over the phone and his workers are telling him to stay home. He owns the business!
Which brings to my mind one of the profundity pushers’ statements …read more

Last year we made an attempt to determine what is the message that we carry in Alcoholics Anonymous and received a couple of excellent responses;
Joe said: “The message that I carry is AA’s message. 12 steps which guarantee a spiritual awakening to be the result. My obligation is to try to share my experience with those twelve steps with other Alcoholics and to practice the 12 disciplines in all my affairs. Most important to me is that I be cognisant that this is AA’s program and AA’s steps! Not mine! My program is what brought me to AA! One path …read more