Drama, continuation of FullDresser's thread

[The_Hammer]

Annie mentioned in her thread, the drama that she seems to get drawn into and the discomfort that she feels from it, like somehow her program is a reflection of the amount of drama she has in her life. I had to smile at having read this; at about five years into this journey (the first time), when drama would creep into my life, I would run to meetings and talk about how; "I should have more serenity than this!"

As mentioned by a couple of us in Annie's thread, it dawned on me slowly that the world does not now, nor has it ever revolved around me and it never will. Drama will come and go as it always has and will continue to do so for the duration of man's tenure on this Big Blue Marble, with or without me. It is I, who must adopt, adapt and improve. It's the way I act and react to the drama around me that is the real gauge of my serenity, the real indicator of my program. This set of ideas digs deeply into my entire life and the whole of the program I am working or not working; such as the case may be. If I am self-absorbed, I will ignore the plight of others and go on about my business as someone flails and screams for help. If I am dishonest with myself and others, I will never have anything to offer those around me that has any worth, it's tainted with BS. If I am unwilling in my contact with others, I never learn anything, and stay trapped within myself, maybe even to use again and die, an unpleasant but true equal and opposite reaction of my own behavior.

When I am Honest, Open and Willing in my program and my dealings with others and their drama, I naturally transfer the responsibility of said drama to those on the stage-no myself. I am in a; "intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us...", mode that I seem to have very little control over and moreover, I do not want that control, God now pilots the ship and I am a happy passenger on the vessel. The promises of pg. 84 and back do not seem so out of reach, but very possible if not probable. I become a beacon in my otherwise dark and stormy soul, reaching out to others instead of foundering on the rocks. It's a pretty damned comfortable existence in my skin these days. My gosh a'mighty it took a long time and it sure isn't over yet. Difference? I am excited to know and see what drama lays over the horizon, what adventures Mertyl and I discover just over the hill.

Thank God for A.A.

[TonyB]

Thanks for that Jim,
For me, my biggest challenge is to not be apart of the drama and to not perpetuate the self licking ice-cream it can cause. It’s hard though man! There are a lot of sick people in AA and they do a lot of sick things. I had to learn to keep my nose in my own yard and not get swept up in the bull.
One of my favorite things that happened at a meeting was this one time a guy was in there bla bla blaing about someone else’s drama. Then this old timer raised his hand and asked the guy what was “his part” in all of that. It shut him right up. That was the thing, it didn’t have anything to do with him.
If I get rubbed by someone in the halls, I do my best to keep it between that person and myself. I don’t have to run around and shoot my mouth off. That’s another trick I used to pull when I was drinking. Then if you tried to call me on it, that gave me justification to push your face in. Real nice guy, eh?
I do thank God for this program. Who knows where I would be… Jail, Nuthouse or dead….
Sometimes I have to remind myself that people are at different stages of their recovery. My charge is to try to help them (if they want it) to progress in their recovery. To give them a little piece of that HOPE that was given to me. To show them the love that my God has given me. We should all strive to live the St. Francis prayer….
Enough out of me.

[Jazzed_N_AZ]

January 22 The School of Recovery
"This is a program for learning."
Basic Text, p. 16
*
Learning in recovery is hard work. The things we most need
to know are often the hardest to learn. We study recovery to
prepare ourselves for the experiences life will give us. As we listen
to others share in meetings, we take mental notes we can
refer to later. To be prepared, we study our notes and literature
between "lessons." Just as students have the opportunity to apply
their knowledge during tests, so do we have the opportunity to
apply our recovery during times of crisis.

As always, we have a choice in how we will approach life's challenges.
We can dread and avoid them as threats to our serenity,
or we can gratefully accept them as opportunities for growth. By
confirming the principles we've learned in recovery, life's challenges
give us increased strength. Without such challenges,
however, we could forget what we've learned and begin to stagnate.
These are the opportunities that prod us to new spiritual
awakenings.

We will find that there is often a period of rest after each crisis,
giving us time to get accustomed to our new skills. Once we've
reflected on our experience, we are called on to share our knowledge
with someone who is studying what we've just learned. In
the school of recovery, all of us are teachers as well as students.

Just for today: I will be a student of recovery. I will welcome
challenges, confident in what I've learned and eager to share it
with others.

This, I had just read when I logged onto SR. It seemed to fit for some reason.
I don't want to ignore others just because they are going through something I feel they are making into a mountain, especially if I had already done that myself.
I now know when I take my problems to a meeting, or air them anywhere, I am asking for help, even if I don't realize it.

If someone that has another set of eyes doesn't look at "my mountain" then it may stay a mountain. Ya never know who has already made this climb. When I trust God and open my eyes to others, the options become more visible. Then this mountain of mine (and theirs) may turn back into the molehill it may have originally been.
Or, "we" just see the path to overcome it together.

[toad]

Originally Posted by TonyB

I do thank God for this program. Who knows where I would be… Jail, Nuthouse or dead….


Sometimes I have to remind myself that people are at different stages of their recovery. My charge is to try to help them (if they want it) to progress in their recovery. To give them a little piece of that HOPE that was given to me.

To show them the love that my God has given me. We should all strive to live the St. Francis prayer….

Jail, nuthouse or dead........I needed to hear this.

"This is the air I breathe..............Your very Spirit dwelling in me.
"This is my daily bread.................Your every Word living in me.
"And I........I.......I..........I'm lost without you.

[The_Hammer]

Originally Posted by Jazzed_N_MD

January 22 The School of Recovery
"This is a program for learning."
Basic Text, p. 16
*
Learning in recovery is hard work. The things we most need
to know are often the hardest to learn. We study recovery to
prepare ourselves for the experiences life will give us. As we listen
to others share in meetings, we take mental notes we can
refer to later. To be prepared, we study our notes and literature
between "lessons." Just as students have the opportunity to apply
their knowledge during tests, so do we have the opportunity to
apply our recovery during times of crisis.

As always, we have a choice in how we will approach life's challenges.
We can dread and avoid them as threats to our serenity,
or we can gratefully accept them as opportunities for growth. By
confirming the principles we've learned in recovery, life's challenges
give us increased strength. Without such challenges,
however, we could forget what we've learned and begin to stagnate.
These are the opportunities that prod us to new spiritual
awakenings.

We will find that there is often a period of rest after each crisis,
giving us time to get accustomed to our new skills. Once we've
reflected on our experience, we are called on to share our knowledge
with someone who is studying what we've just learned. In
the school of recovery, all of us are teachers as well as students.

Just for today: I will be a student of recovery. I will welcome
challenges, confident in what I've learned and eager to share it
with others.

This, I had just read when I logged onto SR. It seemed to fit for some reason.
I don't want to ignore others just because they are going through something I feel they are making into a mountain, especially if I had already done that myself.
I now know when I take my problems to a meeting, or air them anywhere, I am asking for help, even if I don't realize it.

If someone that has another set of eyes doesn't look at "my mountain" then it may stay a mountain. Ya never know who has already made this climb. When I trust God and open my eyes to others, the options become more visible. Then this mountain of mine (and theirs) may turn back into the molehill it may have originally been.
Or, "we" just see the path to overcome it together.

Yep Mykl, "until in desparation, we turned to one another..."

Right on brother, thanks for that. I find that those eyes are in my program everywhere. I have to have the willingness, the humility, to seek them out and say; "hey man, I'm in a vat a my own dung." And the honesty to remove myself from the dung of others, it serves no one but my ego to involve myself in the affairs of others. , Jazzed

[sticker]

thanks jazzed I hadn't got to that reading yet today...I love this one in particular. It is so fitting that it hits on my anniversary of my first day clean.
Yep thanks to HP,NA and all the ppl that have helped me in my journey I made it through another one. But I need to always remain a student of recovery

[The_Hammer]

Originally Posted by sticker

thanks jazzed I hadn't got to that reading yet today...I love this one in particular. It is so fitting that it hits on my anniversary of my first day clean.
Yep thanks to HP,NA and all the ppl that have helped me in my journey I made it through another one. But I need to always remain a student of recovery

Right bro, and like Tony said, it sure aint easy sometimes. For me, when all the planets are aligned, all the elements of my program are solid. Yea, so it aint that often! LOL, This program is so damned simple but there aint a thing easy about it!

[toad]

Originally Posted by sticker

It is so fitting that it hits on my anniversary of my first day clean.


Yep thanks to HP,NA and all the ppl that have helped me in my journey I made it through another one.

congratulations sticker.............

[The_Hammer]

Originally Posted by sticker

thanks jazzed I hadn't got to that reading yet today...I love this one in particular. It is so fitting that it hits on my anniversary of my first day clean.
Yep thanks to HP,NA and all the ppl that have helped me in my journey I made it through another one. But I need to always remain a student of recovery

Exactly what this thread is all about. In reality that's all that we are.

[recoveringnky]

Originally Posted by sticker

thanks jazzed I hadn't got to that reading yet today...I love this one in particular. It is so fitting that it hits on my anniversary of my first day clean.
Yep thanks to HP,NA and all the ppl that have helped me in my journey I made it through another one. But I need to always remain a student of recovery

Just what my sponsor taught me and I pass on to my girls...always remain "teachable" a student....it's then that we'll hear the message!

Hugs and congrats sticker!!!

Kym

[The_Hammer]

Originally Posted by recoveringnky

Just what my sponsor taught me and I pass on to my girls...always remain "teachable" a student....it's then that we'll hear the message!

Hugs and congrats sticker!!!

Kym

I know how important it is to be teachable. Part and parcel of my giving into my pain medication last year was just that, a lack of humility. I knew it all. I deserved that medicine because I hurt; right? The ego had turned into believing my own lies and on down the spiral I went, all the while missing the fact that I had become unteachable and that paradox created a whole new level of hell for me. It was time to get brutally honest, again.

[recoveringnky]

(((((((BIG HUGS JIMMY))))))))))

[Fulldresser4]

Great thread....I'm going to really have to pray on this one. But in the mean time, what ya'll are saying is that I'm NOT the center of the universe????? I was kind of waiting for you guys to do this..

And if you don't I'll get you my pretties

Note to self - quit using humor as a self-defense mechanism. DUH!

[toad]

Originally Posted by Fulldresser4

Note to self - quit using humor as a self-defense mechanism. DUH!

a lot of truth in this statement that applies to my life

[The_Hammer]

What I am trying to get at is that the self-centeredness and ego are a function of the original cause, the lack of honesty, openness and willingness that comes from believing that I am; "OK", I don't need my program or to work it for whatever reasons I con myself into believing. Remember what I said about the pain medicine?

[Jazzed_N_AZ]

Originally Posted by sticker

... It is so fitting that it hits on my anniversary of my first day clean....

Almost missed that one...well, actually I did.

But happy belated aniversary anyway!!