Know it well… today’s Daily Reflection;
“He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end.”
Towards the end of my drinking I knew about a different version of “One Day At A Time” and it wasn’t pretty.
I’d come to in the morning (no, I didn’t “wake up” any longer) and my thoughts were “Oh sh**, I’m going to have to live through another one of these? Please God, …read more

Derived from Bill Lash’s experience and posted on Bill’s web site;

The Higher Power is absolute good, everywhere present. Wherever we are, Higher Power IS. The opportunity given us is in recognizing this in the midst of challenging circumstances.
All human beings, all things, have a spark of divinity within them, each is a bit of “localized divinity”, and it is this spark deep down within ourselves that we are searching for, with which we make that most necessary conscious contact. . . BigBook, page 55
Each of us, individually and collectively, are the Higher Power’s Beloved Child, and wonderfully made to express …read more

Well, as simple as it can be between an alcoholic and his possibly drug addicted son.
Yes, Namenlosen, though it hasn’t occurred in the way you and I seemed to plan it (lol), there has been communication between my oldest son and I for the first time in many years. Over ten.
This, is not easy… and at the same time it isn’t really that hard. Fears. The boogeymen. The worst fear? How I perceive what is said, translate it, then respond to it. At its root? That damage that insists on telling me that I’m wrong again!
There is also this strange …read more

Dick, I’m going to give you this one but make a post about it. There’s a reason. Your comments are more like commentaries and since I wouldn’t do it for someone else, I can’t do it for you – allow your extensive comments to be approved. Additionally, I’m sorry but you come much too close to a promotion of your writings in your comments and for me to allow that simply would not be fair to all the other readers here. Not that your writings aren’t good, they are wonderful, but here, as in AA, it is the principle of …read more

Who? Me? You?
No, it doesn’t work that way.
I’m reading another Blog whereon someone takes great pains to decide for a lot of folks whether they truly are or are not real alcoholics, apparently in some mis-guided attempt to weed out some level of our membership by the use of the unaided will.
Disturbing as that may be, fortunately I find myself referring to the same literature this person refers to – The Big Book. Here, I must admit, I take words very literally. So, when I read page 31 and it says “We do not like to pronounce any individual as …read more

From the story “The Vicious Cycle” page 227;
“… the group in New York was composed of about twelve men who were working on the principle of every drunk for himself; we had no real formula and no name. We would follow one man’s ideas for a while, decide he was wrong, and switch to another’s method. But we were staying sober as long as we kept and talked together. There was one meeting a week at Bill’s home in Brooklyn, and we all took turns there spouting off about how we had changed our lives overnight, how many drunks we …read more

I’ve been debating with myself (ever hear anyone other than an alky do that? LOL) whether to tell you what page in the Big Book this is on. I’ve decided not to… think you can find it? Fourth Edition.
“I finally began to separate the religious aspects of my life from A.A.’s spiritual program. Now the big difference to me is that religion is the ritual, and we all differ there, and spirituality is the way we feel about what we do. It’s about my personal contact with my personal Higher Power, as I understand Him.”
A Sober, Clean Day To All
Mark

I believe with all my heart that what I’m about to say to you is important, for me, to let you know about me
I believe in what I’m doing on this Blog and I am extremely grateful to the folks at b5 media for allowing me to be a part of b5.
Thanks to the Second Step of recovery, today I have a different belief system than when I was drinking. That belief system has, as it’s basis, a loving God. For me. Hopefully, I am not, will not, try to force that God down your throat. I was …read more

SCRAM = Secure, Continuous Alcohol-Monitoring Technology
Suffolk gets high-tech leg up on DWI
“Drunken drivers in Suffolk County will be fitted for alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelets, the latest tool of Suffolk County parole officers, county lawmakers announced yesterday.
These high-tech gadgets enable authorities to track blood alcohol levels through the wearer’s perspiration.
The mechanism is enough to have previous DWI offenders sweating their next court date.
“These bracelets have been proven effective in deterring repeat drunk driving in over 30 states,” Suffolk County Legislator Dan Losquadro (R-Shoreham) said, kicking off the pilot program.
The plan would strap bracelets on 20 of the county’s high risk or repeat …read more