Looking At Recovery

[MajestyJo]

~ The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions ~

I came to a meeting, all sad and alone,
So sick and tired, of the life I had known,

...Aching and dying, deep down inside,...
And feeling the pain, from the things i must hide.

They told me they loved me, and were glad I was there,
Who are these people, and why should they care?

But the more that I listened, the more I could see,
This room full of addicts, were just like me.

I started to share, trying hard not to cry,
and I no longer felt like I wanted to die.

I wanted to live, but hadn't a clue,
Of what to say, feel, or do.

These people were clean, and would show me the way,
So i listened some more, to what they had to say,

They spoke of a God, and "just for one day"
So I thought, "What the hell," and I started to pray.

They said "get a sponsor," and "keep coming back".
they said a program was all I did lack.

They said "Work the steps, or your going to die".
So I got me a sponsor and i started to try.

I shared with my sponsor who I had become,
The people I had hurt, the things I had done,

He told me he loved me, and then shared with me,
The things he had done, and who he used to be.

That's when i knew, and could finally see,
That if i worked the steps, that I too could be free.

Free from drugs, and feeling that way,
Free from obsession, just for today

So I listen to what you have to share,
Tell you I love You, let you know that i care,

Let you know I have found, a much better way,
Its working a program, we call N.A.

It's sharing my experience, strength, and hope as I trudge,
Its living a life, and not holding a grudge.

It's sharing with newcomers, as they wonder in,
And as they start to listen, they know they can win.

If we all really listen, to what's being said,
The thing's that they shared, the book that is read.

If we listen and learn, we will surely see,
How truly delightful recovery can be.

Anonymous

[MajestyJo]

HOW TO JEOPRODIZE YOUR RECOVERY:

ARGUMENTATIVENESS:
Arguing small, ridiculous points of view, looking for excuses to get angry.

CHEMICALS:
Using pills to ease tension.

thingyINESS:
Think you have it made, forgetting to guard against the things that lead to emotional problems.

COMPLACENCY:
Letting up on disciplines, getting lazy on recovery.

DEPRESSION:
Unreasonable despair, staying stuck, giving up.

DISHONESTY:
Little lies, deceits and making excuses.

EXHAUSTION:
Becoming overly tired, being a workaholic. If you don't feel well physically, your thinking is apt to deteriorate.

EXPECTING TOO MUCH FROM OTHERS:
Expecting others to follow your script and to change because you have changed.

FORGETTING GRATITUDE:
Forgetting how things have improved since you first started.

FRUSTRATION:
When things are not going your way.

IMPATIENCE:
Things are not happening fast enough, others not doing what you think they should do when you think they should do it.

SELF PITY:
Why do these things happen to me? Why do I have these problems?

SKIPPING THE BASICS:
Meetings, Fellowship, Meditation, Prayer, Personal Inventory.

OMNIPOTENCE:
Thinking you are all powerful, that you have everything under "CONTROL" ignoring suggestions and advice, having all the answers.

WANTING TOO MUCH:
Expecting recovery overnight, over-emphasizing the material things, concentrating on not having what you want rather than concentrating on wanting what you have.

[MajestyJo]

THINGS THAT CAN STAND IN THE WAY OF YOUR RECOVERY

D.E.N.I.A.L. - Don't Even Notice I Am Lying

Lips are moving, we're off and running.
Ever told a story, joke or lie so many times that even you believe it's true?

H.O.W. - Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness
This ones for you, Dad! Hope you like it.

S.L.I.P. - Sobriety Lost It's Priority / So Long, I'm Perfect
If you don't want to slip, stay out of slippery places!

B.I.B.L.E. - Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
Take it as you will.

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.
My Way - No, My Way! - No My Way!

You're as sick as your secrets.
Most of the time, folks see it, know it, or feel it in some way or another, anyway. Get it?

S.O.B.E.R. - Son Of a !!!!!, Everything's Real
WOW! Life happens at the funniest times!

F.I.N.E.
[I'm] Frustrated, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional

F.E.A.R.
Face Everything And Recover

N.U.T.S.
Not Using The Steps

E.G.O.
Edging God Out

D.E.N.I.A.L.
Don't Even Notice I Am Lying

H.A.L.T.
[Don't get too] Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired

H.O.P.E.
Happy Our Program Exists

H.O.W.
Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness

G.O.D.
Good Orderly Direction

B.I.G. B.O.O.K.
Believing In God Beats Our Old Knowledge

S.L.I.P.
Sobriety Losing Its Priority

A.C.T.I.O.N.
Any Change To Improve Our Nature

P.R.O.G.R.A.M.
People Relying On God Relaying A Message

S.T.E.P.S.
Solutions To Every Problem Sober

K.I.S.S.
Keep It Simple, Sweetheart

Seven missed meetings makes one weak.

HALT: Don't get
too Hungry,
too Angry,
too Lonely, or
too Tired!!

If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got.
or
If you keep doin' what your doin'
you'll keep gettin' what your gettin'

A.B.C. - Acceptance, Belief, Change

A.C.T.I.O.N. - Any Change Toward Improving One’s Nature

E.G.O. - Edging God Out

F.A.I.L.U.R.E. - Fearful, Arrogant, Insecure, Lonely, Unsure, Resentful, Empty

F.E.A.R. - Face Everything & Recover /False Expectations Appearing Real

G.O.D. - Good Orderly Direction

H.A.L.T. - Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired

H.E.L.P. - Hope, Encouragement, Love, Patience

T.I.M.E. - Things I Must Learn

Progress not perfection.

Change the things I can.

AA slogans, sayings, and assorted inspirations


The steps keep us from suicide; the traditions keep us from homicide.



The only thing alcoholics do in moderation is the 12 steps!



The elevator is broken - take the steps!



Step 13: My life is unmanageable, and I want to share it with you.



It's alcohol-ism, not -wasm.



Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.



Gossip hurts - and sometimes kills.



Pain is necessary, suffering is optional!



If nothing changes, nothing changes.



If you do what you always did, you'll get what you always got.



Some things have to be believed to be seen.



Feelings aren't facts!!!



In AA, first we remove the anesthesia, then we operate.



Fellowship is the meeting after the meeting.



Let us love you until you learn to love yourself.



Isolation is the dark room where we develop our 'negatives'.



Compare and despair.



Don't compare you insides to other people's outsides.



Let go or get dragged.



If your spinning your wheels, try getting out of the driver's seat.



If your ass falls off, pick it up, put it in a paper bag, and carry it to a meeting.



Remember the cost of your last drink or drug when observing the 7th tradition.



Take an action, then let go of the results.



Carry the message, not the mess.



Don't tease your disease.



It's the first car of a train that kills you, not the caboose.



Relapse is NOT a requirement.

Relapse begins long before you pick up the drink/drug.



If you hang around a barbershop long enough, eventually you'll get a haircut.



Those who matter, don't mind; those who mind, don't matter.



Expectations are preconceived resentments.



Serenity isn't freedom from the storm; it is peace within the storm.



Don't speak unless you can improve on silence.



You don't need to "find God"; He isn't lost.



Tell it to your sponsor, or you will be telling it to a bartender.



Surrendering means you don't have to fight any more.



Surrender Dorothy!



I didn't use drugs, drugs used me.


You can be just a crazy sober as you were drunk, you'll just remember it the next day.

AA Sayings - The Complete? List - "Easy Does It", "Keep it Simple Stupid", and many more.

SPONSOR: Sober Person Offering Newcomers Suggestions On Recovery

Original Source Unknown

[honeydumplin]

"To admit that I am wrong about something is difficult,
but it sure does provide a lot of good humility."

The first year without a drink was like going to a circus inside of my own head one day at time. On one particular occasion, I had more or less touted the basic benefits of a formula that was being used to fabricate what is commonly referred to in the industry
as a "rolling offset". In short, a ten inch pipe that jumped up twenty inches, laterally across another thirty-eight and three quarters, then stopping four to five inches short of
a wall in order to make the next weld.

After all these measurements off the wall, square roots, cotangents, and take-offs, I was fully convinced that it was going to be in the exact location that had been planned and in this effort, my work would shine for all to see.

While this piece was still sitting there waiting to be hoisted into the air, this guy walks up and with nothing more than a simple tape measure, proceeds to tell me that it was going to hit in the middle of the wall.

"Well, the math must be wrong," I blurted.

Being fully assured in my mind that it was right, we hung this six foot monstrosity only to find out that it was indeed in the wall.

I was so mad. Not so much that I was wrong, but because "he" was right, and "I" was so stubborn.

It really wasn't that big of a crisis or anything, because we just set the piece back down and added on another few feet to get it through the wall. It was admitting that I had made a mistake that was getting the best of me.

In conclusion, pride was swallowed—my crow eaten while it was still warm.

"I was wrong."

When I said that to this guy, he lit up like a Christmas tree. It was at that moment that that tinge of humility began to settle over me. This mistake had really made this guy's day, and it was no longer destroying mine.

Some times, letting go of a tendency to always be right is a very hard thing to do.

[MajestyJo]

Dec 16, 2004

Guidance

from: "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous"


"I [Bill W.] was in this anything-but-spiritual mood on the night [in December 1938] when the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous were written. I was sore and tired clear through. I lay in bed at 182 Clinton Street with pencil in hand and with a tablet of scratch paper on my knee. I could not get my mind on the job, much less put my heart in it. But here was one of those things that had to be done....


Finally I started to write. I set out to draft more than six steps [used by Oxford Groups]; how many more I did not know. I relaxed and asked for guidance. With a speed that was astonishing, considering my jangling emotions, I completed the first draft. It took perhaps half an hour. The words kept right on coming. When I reached a stopping point, I numbered the new steps. They added up to twelve."


© 1957, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pages 160-161


Many people say, it is all in the Big Book. That may be, but what kept me sober were the Twelve Steps. Without them, I would not be sober today. I will be every grateful for the Twelve and Twelve, they are a blueprint to living for me.

Many people say, The Twelve Traditions are for the group. They are also spiritual tools which I need to apply to my own life.

This is a spiritual program based on no particular religion, don't leave anyone outside the circle. We all qualify for recovery.