Peace

of Ass.
If your ass falls off “Put it in a bag and take it to a meeting.”

Hardy Har Har. A regular riot. Now let’s get serious for moment – shall we?

If my “Ass is falling off” what that really means is that I must be living on page 52 of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous – and some of my creeping agnosticism is the order of my day.

That means I am off beam and not centered on God and His will, but MY will. It means that I probably haven’t done my Morning Prayer and meditation. The “Put it in a bag and take it to a meeting” suggestion is telling me to turn it over to human aid.

What will happen is that I may feel better at and perhaps for a short time after that meeting – but the reality is that I am still people centered and not God centered for my happiness. That is something which has been true all my un-recovered life.

This is how so many of us – me included – felt when we lived as “Meeting Makers” — without a Program and not as a recovered member of a Twelve Step Fellowship. Today as life throws its curves and bumps in front of me, there is no longer the urge to “Get to a meeting” to settle myself.

I no longer get “Squirrelly” if I miss a few days, or even a week of meetings. As far as I know, no one regularly characterizes me as a “Serene” man. But certainly I do KNOW serenity, which is one of the hundreds of promises made to me by the authors of the Big Book — provided I take other simple steps. (And in the case of “knowing serenity” – that means I’ve completed my amends)

If the lack of a meeting began to once again affect my serenity — to take me closer to a drink — I’d have to take a real serious look at my spiritual condition.

Being dependent upon meetings to keep my head on straight doesn’t sound like very much freedom to me – and freedom is what I want.

But there is a price for such freedom. They guy who goes from meeting to meeting to dump his crap in the face of the newcomers who have come my meetings looking for hope for a solution to alcoholism doesn’t need to hear how unmanageable life is even though I don’t drink. He doesn’t have to hear from me a bunch of slogans that don’t even have a root in the Program but come out of the brains of some psych-babblers in a treatment center.

He can instead hear me tell how freakin’ GREAT life is when I have a God in my life, a proven Program to keep me close to Him and away from the next first drink. THAT’S what he wants to hear.

His question is, ‘Is there some way – some how – that I can get up and go through a day without ending up drunk?“

And I can tell him YUP! AND you can be happy about it too! And then I can show him how. And believe me . . . it isn’t telling him “Keep coming back – it works if you work it”. My sponsor didn’t show me how to kill alcoholics. He showed me how to pass on a life SAVING Program for alcoholics.

But the complacent part is still a threat, I am warned that is easy to let up on this Step Ten practice and those four “Things”* – and before you know it unmanageability starts to creep in again and there I go heading for trouble – and eventually to alcohol – the subtle foe.

We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. “Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities.” (85:2)

And THAT is living a day at a time. The twenty four hour plan. One Day At A Time – whatever you like to call it. It’s NOT about not drinking a day at a time – watching the clock and hoping to make it to midnight so I can say “I’m a winner – because I didn’t drink today”. That kind of sobriety is just about the shittiest life to live that I can imagine – I don’t want any part of it.

Man, I can’t EVER drink again for the rest of my LIFE! That’s a fact! But I can LIVE a day at a time, which is what I am taught by my Big Book and by those who follow this path.

I was a little leery when I first realized, “Holy crap! These people aren’t just praying in the morning and thanking God at night. . . they are doing this crap ALL DAY LONG!” – the ones that have recovered and stay that way anyway. The “Plug in the juggers?” and the “Just don’t drink today” folks – eh . . not so much.

I can’t EVER drink again and although I am not cured of alcoholism (I still have to follow the directions) my experience proves to me that I sure have made a full recovery and I don’t have to remain still sick and suffering from alcoholism anymore.
(“Oh don’t say “ever” – you’ll jinx your sobriety.” Oh really? When did the Program work VooDoo into it? Give me a break!)

Drastic problems require drastic actions – and although it wasn’t easy to adopt this new design for living, it sure has been simple. Not doing Step Ten continuously IS the complacency – doing Step Ten constantly IS the vigilance that rids me of it. It is the price of freedom.

Peace,

Danny S

* If you are a real alcoholic and don’t know what those four things are – then you probably haven’t even begun AA – I don’t give a crumb how much time you’ve got or how many meetings you go to. You are a newcomer and don’t know squat!

Peace

of Ass.
If your ass falls off “Put it in a bag and take it to a meeting.”

Hardy Har Har. A regular riot. Now let’s get serious for moment – shall we?

If my “Ass is falling off” what that really means is that I must be living on page 52 of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous – and some of my creeping agnosticism is the order of my day.

That means I am off beam and not centered on God and His will, but MY will. It means that I probably haven’t done my Morning Prayer and meditation. The “Put it in a bag and take it to a meeting” suggestion is telling me to turn it over to human aid.

What will happen is that I may feel better at and perhaps for a short time after that meeting – but the reality is that I am still people centered and not God centered for my happiness. That is something which has been true all my un-recovered life.

This is how so many of us – me included – felt when we lived as “Meeting Makers” — without a Program and not as a recovered member of a Twelve Step Fellowship. Today as life throws its curves and bumps in front of me, there is no longer the urge to “Get to a meeting” to settle myself.

I no longer get “Squirrelly” if I miss a few days, or even a week of meetings. As far as I know, no one regularly characterizes me as a “Serene” man. But certainly I do KNOW serenity, which is one of the hundreds of promises made to me by the authors of the Big Book — provided I take other simple steps. (And in the case of “knowing serenity” – that means I’ve completed my amends)

If the lack of a meeting began to once again affect my serenity — to take me closer to a drink — I’d have to take a real serious look at my spiritual condition.

Being dependent upon meetings to keep my head on straight doesn’t sound like very much freedom to me – and freedom is what I want.

But there is a price for such freedom. They guy who goes from meeting to meeting to dump his crap in the face of the newcomers who have come my meetings looking for hope for a solution to alcoholism doesn’t need to hear how unmanageable life is even though I don’t drink. He doesn’t have to hear from me a bunch of slogans that don’t even have a root in the Program but come out of the brains of some psych-babblers in a treatment center.

He can instead hear me tell how freakin’ GREAT life is when I have a God in my life, a proven Program to keep me close to Him and away from the next first drink. THAT’S what he wants to hear.

His question is, ‘Is there some way – some how – that I can get up and go through a day without ending up drunk?“

And I can tell him YUP! AND you can be happy about it too! And then I can show him how. And believe me . . . it isn’t telling him “Keep coming back – it works if you work it”. My sponsor didn’t show me how to kill alcoholics. He showed me how to pass on a life SAVING Program for alcoholics.

But the complacent part is still a threat, I am warned that is easy to let up on this Step Ten practice and those four “Things”* – and before you know it unmanageability starts to creep in again and there I go heading for trouble – and eventually to alcohol – the subtle foe.

We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. “Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities.” (85:2)

And THAT is living a day at a time. The twenty four hour plan. One Day At A Time – whatever you like to call it. It’s NOT about not drinking a day at a time – watching the clock and hoping to make it to midnight so I can say “I’m a winner – because I didn’t drink today”. That kind of sobriety is just about the shittiest life to live that I can imagine – I don’t want any part of it.

Man, I can’t EVER drink again for the rest of my LIFE! That’s a fact! But I can LIVE a day at a time, which is what I am taught by my Big Book and by those who follow this path.

I was a little leery when I first realized, “Holy crap! These people aren’t just praying in the morning and thanking God at night. . . they are doing this crap ALL DAY LONG!” – the ones that have recovered and stay that way anyway. The “Plug in the juggers?” and the “Just don’t drink today” folks – eh . . not so much.

I can’t EVER drink again and although I am not cured of alcoholism (I still have to follow the directions) my experience proves to me that I sure have made a full recovery and I don’t have to remain still sick and suffering from alcoholism anymore.
(“Oh don’t say “ever” – you’ll jinx your sobriety.” Oh really? When did the Program work VooDoo into it? Give me a break!)

Drastic problems require drastic actions – and although it wasn’t easy to adopt this new design for living, it sure has been simple. Not doing Step Ten continuously IS the complacency – doing Step Ten constantly IS the vigilance that rids me of it. It is the price of freedom.

Peace,

Danny S

* If you are a real alcoholic and don’t know what those four things are – then you probably haven’t even begun AA – I don’t give a crumb how much time you’ve got or how many meetings you go to. You are a newcomer and don’t know squat!

Disgusted With Meetings?

Maybe this will help someone: Some time ago, I found myself being disgusted with meetings, especially the discussion meetings. I just HAD to get them out of my life for the most part and I began going solely to speaker meetings instead.

I made sure that my home group was a speaker meeting and that I went on all of the outgoing commitments. You will NOT see me having a discussion meeting as my “Home Group” these days.

Together with the Home Group meeting, that brought me to an average of three speaker meetings a week automatically.

Then if I felt like going to any more than that, I selected either a BBS or another speaker meeting to attend.

That solved the discussion meeting problem for me.

I make sure I get to the speaker meetings a little early as often as I am able. I stay a bit afterwards – usually at least a half hour or more – keeping myself visible and available to the newcomer. (“Arrive early – Stay late”)

Between the outgoing speaking commitments and visibility I get therewith, I get approached for sponsor ship once in a while now. And because I am there before and after the meetings (Observing and getting into conversations with new arrivals) I can also seek out and approach candidates.

My Big Book tells to to “SEARCH OUT” other alcoholics – not to sit in meetings and wait for them to fall into my lap.

Combine this attitude and ACTION with the DAILY prayer my Big Book tells me to do on page 164, I find myself placed in the paths of enough alcoholics with whom I can work.

If this didn’t work, I’d be combing alleyways and going out to third parties for prospects. I have had to do that on occasion int he past, but for the last several years that has not been necessary.

So I go to meetings, not “to see what happens to people who don’t go meetings” – what sick son-of-a-bitch came up with THAT! . . .

. . . but to maintain a healthy newcomer flow in my life. THAT’S where THIS message gets carried – ONE alcoholic talking to another – NOT one alcoholic talking to sixty meeting attendees, to “straighten them out” or correct their watered down message in case a newcomer is sitting in the room. THAT’S too hard on my fragile little ego. HA!

But if I were to pray that page 164 prayer regarding sick and suffering alcoholics and it went unanswered, I would have to re-evaluate my recovery:

“Why has God answered “NO” to my asking to show me?” How is my transmitter?

Might it be that He knows my house is not in order? – that my attempts to transmit could harm someone? If I am so able, if I have been given the power to help others, then why would not God place His business with me? Maybe he knows something I am not able to admit – even to my own self in secret.

Provocative thoughts huh? I’ve been there – and absolute honesty was imperative in accepting an answer. The God of my understanding is only going to tell me the truth – whether I like it or not.

Peace,

Danny S

The Cure For Meeting Malaise

Meeting are a boring pain in the ass and YOU CAN’T WAIT to get out of each one! And that’s your DIRTY LITTLE AA SECRET!

I know – don’t bullshit me pal! You know it’s true.

So here’s the solution! I swear it is!

I get most of my guys right now from meetings. I get there early – I stay late. I circulate. I advertise. Prospecting IS promotion AND attraction. I leave the old misquoted sound byte for Tradition Eleven (Attraction not promotion) where it originates and belongs.

I let people know I am an active sponsor and always available. I hand out my little prospecting cards which tell folks I am available for work. I keep my eye out on the crowd and pretty much try not to groan out loud listening to the speaker. HA!

(Yes, Joe and Jane middle-of-the-road AA – you AND your sad-sack drunkaloge is one one big freakin’ bore to real alcoholics!)

Sometime people come to meetings specifically looking for me. Sometimes I have to chase them. Someone like Cliff B. may have to yell at me and tell me to get my ass down to the local Sally if find myself in a dry spell. And hurtin’ But I am always WITH CHILD when it comes to drunks with whom to work. THANK GOD!

AA as a Fellowship is not boring when I am using it as it was designed – as a society and supportive means of upholding our PRIMARY PURPOSE.

And if you are unable to do this, because you don’t work with others, or arent’ qualified to sponsor others because you havent recovered – then what the hell are you doing in AA meetings anyway?

Drinking our coffee? Trying to screw our gals? Pleasing the spouse, boss or courts? Fine –then suffer!

Is your “Drinking Story” boring? HOW TO KICK IT UP —-> KICK

Peace,

Danny S