Balance in life...
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Fredericksburg, Va.
Posts: 9,730
Well this post will probably be scattered all over the place..... kind of like my brain! LOL
No matter what I have done, I keep my sobriety as my #1 priority in my life, I know myself well enough to know that if I put something ahead of my sobriety I stand a good chance of losing my sobriety and if I lose that I lose it all.
Meetings do not keep me sober, they kept me sober long enough to work the steps with my sponsor. What keeps me sober is applying the steps in all the areas of my life to the best of my ability, going to meetings, service work, and working with my sponsees.
I go to 4 meetings a week now, and am doing very well, but I remain ever vigilante of my spirituality, if I need a meeting I go!!! If the family has something going on, on one of my meeting nights I will skip that meeting unless it is my home group where I have a service commitment.
Balance I have found to be crucial, when I was new to sobriety I had to dedicate as much time to meetings, talking with others in the program, and working the steps with my sponsor as I did drinking........... in my case that meant every day I was either going to a meeting or to my sponsors house.............. now here is the odd thing, I actually spent more quality time with my family then I did when I was drinking........... but when I was drinking there was no quality family time.
As my sobiety becomes more solid I spend more time with my family and doing other things, evenings I work with one of my sponsees I usually do not go to a meeting, so there are plenty of weeks I only go to 3 meetings a week.
The program of AA is not about staying sober and going to meetings 365 days a year for the rest of ones life the program of AA is the 10th thru the 12th step:
No where in the steps does it even mention meetings, in the 12th step it says "and to practice these principles in all our affairs", which is living life on lifes terms!
As time goes by I strive to maintain balance in all the affairs of my life, God, family, AA, and work. My sobriety is number one in all of those areas because all of those areas depend upon me being sober, they all tie together and they all fall apart if I drink again.
No matter what I have done, I keep my sobriety as my #1 priority in my life, I know myself well enough to know that if I put something ahead of my sobriety I stand a good chance of losing my sobriety and if I lose that I lose it all.
Meetings do not keep me sober, they kept me sober long enough to work the steps with my sponsor. What keeps me sober is applying the steps in all the areas of my life to the best of my ability, going to meetings, service work, and working with my sponsees.
I go to 4 meetings a week now, and am doing very well, but I remain ever vigilante of my spirituality, if I need a meeting I go!!! If the family has something going on, on one of my meeting nights I will skip that meeting unless it is my home group where I have a service commitment.
Balance I have found to be crucial, when I was new to sobriety I had to dedicate as much time to meetings, talking with others in the program, and working the steps with my sponsor as I did drinking........... in my case that meant every day I was either going to a meeting or to my sponsors house.............. now here is the odd thing, I actually spent more quality time with my family then I did when I was drinking........... but when I was drinking there was no quality family time.
As my sobiety becomes more solid I spend more time with my family and doing other things, evenings I work with one of my sponsees I usually do not go to a meeting, so there are plenty of weeks I only go to 3 meetings a week.
The program of AA is not about staying sober and going to meetings 365 days a year for the rest of ones life the program of AA is the 10th thru the 12th step:
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs
As time goes by I strive to maintain balance in all the affairs of my life, God, family, AA, and work. My sobriety is number one in all of those areas because all of those areas depend upon me being sober, they all tie together and they all fall apart if I drink again.
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