Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

[cpn1004]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

Greetings all from an airport hotel in Minneapolis.

The truth?? AA is a program of ABSTINENCE

You said it DG. I attended a meeting here tonight. The topic? Step One. I had similar issues as you with AA and particularly with this step. I knew I was powerless, but damn, my life was not unmanageable, was it? I mean, no DUI's, no job issues (so I thought), family was fine (so I thought), etc. What was really unmanageable was that I could not drink one beer. If you set one in front of me you better have a dozen on ice. I guess I was a slow learner.

The meeting leader tonight reminded us that the first word in Step One is "We". Nice to recall that we don't have to do this program alone.

Have a great Friday.
Love and Peace,
Phil (heading back to Texas tomorrow).

[Winefree]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

Just home from my Thurs women's mtg and I know have my first commitment. I am now the coffee maker. It will be good to be finally doing something for the program. I just feel somewhat guilty since I won't be able to do it already next week since I will be away for 5 days. It's ok though since someone else said they will help me. It's good to know I will have a back up, since I also have a job that sometimes is unpredictable and I have to stay late.

DG, I love how you analyze and explain things. It makes so much sense to me and I truly can relate.
Phil, that is so great you are attending mtgs all over. I think I should look into the Orlando, Fla area since I will be there for 4 days next wk. I need to have a back up plan if I need it.

Have a great Friday all.

Winefree

[Doggygirl]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

Phil, I will remember that - the first word being "we." I'm sure that's no accident. I love your Global AA Reports!!

WF, how cool that you took on a service job! It's great how everyone pulls together. There aren't many people who can ever guarantee they will be there each and every meeting. So I wouldn't worry about that part! We don't have to be perfect, or even try to be any more. (well, except for Step 1 I guess!)

I normally don't go to my home group meeting on Fridays (this group meets 6X per week at 7AM) due to a business meeting. But I'm going to leave the business meeting early and get to the AA meeting late as Step Coach will be there. He is in 5 weeks of chemo and radiation treatments, so he's not normally able to go to the morning meetings other than weekends. I'm getting excited about helping him celebrate 34 sober years on Sunday.

Mr. Doggy and I were talking about that 34 years, and he was like I used to be - so...why does someone keep going for 34 years and "celebrating" being responsible which should have been going on anyway in life? I realized that for someone like my Step Coach, it's more a celebration of his 34 years of helping other alcoholics than it his about his personal sobriety.

Strength and hope,

DG

[Winefree]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

Glad it's Friday and the w/e is here. Busy week at work. Stayed late tonight so didn't get to my AA mtg. Will have to do some reading and praying before bed. Have a great w/e everyone.

Winefree

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

Hi Everyone: Our computer was out of service for a while, because we were repainting our office & downstairs. Also, my husband is dealing w/a kidney stone going amuck. I've missed MWO but I'm doing fine. I have my meeting tomorrow night & Sun, Mon too. No drinking thinking. Mary

[Doggygirl]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

WF and Mary, I will be thinking of you both this weekend and hoping you get some R&R from your busy weeks!

DG

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

DG: Thanks so much. I know I have to take time to pray & go to meetings in between everything else. My daughter & SIL have been helping. Mary

[Doggygirl]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

Even though the anniversary is officially tomorrow, we all gave step coach his 34 year coin today. A very pretty one too I might add. We celebrated his years of service as an AA member and in particular, we celebrated the many alcoholics who are sober today because of his committment to helping us. His "prescription" for success is a simple one:

1. Don't drink.
2. Go to meetings.
3. Reach out your hand to another alcoholic.

Maybe if I do what he does, I'll get what he's got. Another day of contented sobriety.

DG

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

DG: Lovely, lovely, lovely. Thanks for that. I've heard a variation on your step coach's advice.
-Trust God.
-Clean House.
-Help Another Alcoholic.

Mary

[Doggygirl]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

The other cool thing about this meeting was there was also a 24 hour coin given out. I thought about that as the coins were passed around the table. How cool that those two important events were acknowledged on the same day.

DG

[Winefree]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

DG, that is wonderful. What a great mtg and day for you and everyone present. Those 3 "to do" things to remain sober sound so simple and easy. In some ways that is true and in others it is soooooo complicated. I'm sure I'm going to try for the simple and easy and hope and pray for the best. My higher power just might help to keep it that way, if I try really hard.

Mary, I'm glad you don;t have any drinkin thinkin.........it reminds me of a meeting mid week. One of the members brought us all a list of the slogans from AA. I love it. All concise and listed one after the other. I posted on my fridge, so I can glance at them anytime. It's a quick reminder of where I need to stay.

Let go and let God.
Think, think, think
One day at at time
Easy does it
Keep it simple stupid
and a few more that slip my mind at the moment.

Winefree

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

These slogans & concepts are all great tools for when times get tough. I'm doing fine. I did go to my discussion meeting last night, a welcome break from taking care of ailing hubby. He was fine wo/me. The discussion centered around the holidays. I have Thanksgiving here w/extended fam...lots of kids running around, dogs barking, etc. Last year, I got drunk & missed out on the fun & got only the work. This year I'm going to be sober that day. I won't miss a thing & will be able to ask for help as needed.

There was a guy there who has been struggling. He was sober for 9 years & relapsed this year. He has been having a very hard time getting back to real, lasting sobriety. It was very difficult to hear what he had to say. If nothing else, his sharing taught me the consequences of taking a drink after being sober for a period of time. None of us is immune! I know I have to be on my guard ALL THE TIME. I am planning a meeting tonight. My husb knows how much they mean & sends me out of the house willingly. With this kidney stone issue (which will be taken care of tomorrow), he's under the influence of Percocet, & today he'll be in a football coma as well. All is well here. Mary

[Doggygirl]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

Hi all. I love all the "isms." At first I thought they were completely corny. Well many of them anyway. Now I like them and realize they are "short and sweet" and stick in my head for quick recall as needed. We need to expand the list! Maybe that should be it's own thread so we can collect them all in one place as we think of them, and/or come across new ones. WF, that's a good idea putting them on your fridge. I should hang them up here in my home office where I spend lots of my awake time. Hope all is well for you at home with Mom, etc.

Mary, it's great that Mr. Retteacher is so supportive. I feel fortunate in that regard here too. Mr. D always sends me off willingly to meetings. When he went to hear me speak he said "I'm grateful to have my wife back." Sounds like Mr. R is appreciating the positive changes in you!! LOL about the football coma. We don't have that here unless I turn on the game and then I'm the one in the coma! I hope the kidney stone problem is resolved tomorrow and Mr. R gets back to normal and feeling better soon.

Todays meeting was really good. It's a 12&12 and we reviewed step 3. We always read the steps in the Big Book rather than the 12 & 12. My sponsor works the steps via the BB rather than the 12 &12 too. I read the steps in the 12 & 12 as cross reference, but it seems like many of the old timers believe that all the step instruction we need can be found in the BB. So that's how I'm learning it too. There was a range of people there today from the guy who got his 24 hour coin yesterday to Step Coach who of course is 34 years sober today. And lots of variety of sober time in between. A prevailing message for me today was not to get hung up on being "perfect" in Step 3 or any step, but to stay willing, and to stay active in the step work.

Mary, it is very sobering (pun intended!) to me to think about relapse even years down the line. It is very easy for MY mind to think...."well, that person must be weak...blah blah..." That is exactly what AL would like me to think so I will get complacent myself. AL is cunning, baffling, powerful and PATIENT. If "what it takes" to stay sober is going to AA meetings several times a week, sponsoring people, scrubbing the bathroom, etc. until I take my last breath, then that's what I will do. I can never afford to forget what drinking was like for me, and how fast I slid right back into the old hell hole when I relapsed. And how VERY difficult it was for me to get back on the wagon. I can really empathize with the person in the meeting who is struggling mightily with that. More motivation to 1) remember how that went for me and 2) not do it again.

Me and my sponsee went through Step 1 together yesterday. We read out loud together all the references in the front part of the BB having to do with being powerless over alcohol, and having an unmanageable life. We went sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph. We took turns reading and we discussed how all those things applied in our own lives. The insanity really is incredible. I still :H at the story of the whiskey in the mild seeming "OK" because that is exactly how my mind would try to work that one. At any rate, sponsee is feeling quite good today having "officially" done step 1.

Have a good day all!

DG

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

DG: I don't know how many times I've heard the "whiskey in the milk" referenced at meetings. And yes, I forgot about the patient part of alcohol. During difficult times, I'm on my guard. It's when I'm complacent that the twisted thinking starts.

Yes, the slogans seem so corny, but there is a kernal of truth in each & every one. I think there is a reading on each slogan in the back of one of the daily readers...I think so.

-Keep it simple.
-Let go & let God. (One of my favs)
-Live & let live. (Another one)
-Let it begin w/me.
-Keep it simple.
-But by the grace of God.

That's all I can think of right now. I also like the golden rule. It is a rule that crosses all religions & traditions...versions of it from Confusionism to Native Amer. spirituality.

Mary

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Nov 1 - Nov 8

DG: You look so darn cute in that photo. M