The Simple Life

[Wolfchild]

Addict's Shopping List
1.Mr.Clean, 12S12T Strength
2.Nice 'n' Easy HP Mix
3.Take My Will Daily Vitamins
4.Pop 'n' Fresh, Honesty Flavored
5.Exact Nature Miracle Grow
6.Defect-B-Gone
7.Shortcoming Stopper
8.Willing Whip in a can
9.Shake 'n' Make Amends Helper
10.Personal Inventory Desk Calendar
11.Conscious Contact Sticky Tape
12.Service Suds, Extra Clean Power

[Wolfchild]

SOME UNCHANGEABLES
We can't change anybody but ourselves.
We can't change the past.
We can't always get our own way.
We can't always make people do what we want them to do.


SOME CHANGEABLES
We can change ourselves.
We can change our future.
We can change the way we feel when we don't get our own way.
We can change the way we react when people don't do what we want them to do.

[Wolfchild]

The 12 Steps of Insanity
1. We admitted we were powerless over nothing, that we would manage our lives perfectly and those of anyone else who would allow us to.
2. We came to believe that there was no power greater than ourselves and that the rest of the world was insane.
3. We made a decision to have our loved ones and friends turn their wills and their lives over to our care, even though they couldn't understand us.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral and immoral inventory of everyone we knew.
5. We admitted to the whole world the exact nature of everyone else's wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to make others straighten up and do right.
7. We demanded others to either shape up or ship out.
8. We made a list of all persons who had harmed us and became willing to go to any length to get even with them all.
9. We got direct revenge on such people whenever possible, except when to do so would cost us our lives, or at the very least jail time.
10. We continued to take the inventory of others, and when they were wrong, we promptly and repeatedly told them about it.
11. We sought through complaining and nagging to improve our relationships with others as we couldn't understand them, asking only that they knuckle under and do it our way.
12. Having had a complete physical, emotional, and spiritual breakdown as the result of these steps, we tried to blame it on others and get sympathy and pity in all our affairs.

[Wolfchild]

The 12 Steps of Yesterday
1. I believed I could control my drinking and that I was master of my own life.
2. I believed that I was all powerful, the center of the universe, and that I was sane and rational in every respect.
3.I decided to run my own life and expected my will to be carried out at all times.
4. I made a thorough and searching inventory of everyone else and found them lacking.
5. I admitted to no one, including myself, that there was anything wrong with me.
6. I sought through alcohol and other drugs to remove all my responsibilities and to escape the responsibility that is life.
7. I got drunk to remove all these shortcomings.
8. I made a list of all persons who harmed me, whether real or imaginary, and swore to get even.
9. I got even whenever possible, except when to do so would further injure me.
10. I continued to find fault with the world and the people in it and swore I was always right.
11. I sought through lying, cheating and stealing to improve myself at the expense of others, seeking only to get drunk and stay drunk.
12. Having had a complete moral, physical, emotional and financial breakdown as a result of this kind of thinking and living, I tried to drag everyone I loved down to my level. And I practiced these principals in all my affairs.

[Wolfchild]

The Twelve Steps of a Relapse
1. I decided I could handle any emotional problems if other people would just quit trying to run my life.
2. I firmly believe that there is no greater power than myself and anyone who says differently is insane.
3. I made a decision to remove my will and my life from God, who didn't understand me anyway.
4. I made a searching and thorough moral inventory of everyone I know, so they couldn't fool me and take advantage of my good nature.
5. I sought these people out and tried to get them to admit to me, by God, the exact nature of their wrongs.
6. I became willing to help these people get rid of their defects of character.
7. I was humble enough to ask these people to remove their shortcomings.
8. I kept a list of all the people who had harmed me, and waited patiently for a chance to get even.
9. I got even with these people whenever possible except when to do so would get me into trouble.
10. I continue to take everyone's inventory and when they are wrong, which is most of the time, I promptly make them admit it.
11. Sought through the concentration of my willpower to get God, who didn't understand me anyhow, to see that my desires were best, and He ought to give me the power to carry them out.
12. Having maintained my emotional problems with these steps, I can thoroughly recommend them to others who don't want to lose their hard-earned status, but wish to be left alone to practice neurosis in everything they do for the rest of their days.

[Wolfchild]

The Twelve Steps in Plain English
1. Addiction will kill me.
2. There's a power that wants me to live.
3. Do I want to live or die? (if you want to die, stop here)
4. Write about how I got to where I am.
5. Tell another person all about me (let God listen).
6. Want to change.
7. Ask a power greater than me to help me change.
8. Write down who I've hurt.
9. Fix what I can without hurting anyone else.
10. Accept that I'm human and will screw up. Fix it immediately.
11. Ask a power greater than me to show me how to live.
12. Keep doing 1 through 12 and pass it on.

[Wolfchild]

A MECHANICAL APPROACH TO THE 12 STEPS
Step 1: I had an "Old Clunker" parked in the driveway.
I had just about given up on it but decided to make a
wholehearted attempt to restore it.
Step 2: I couldn't fix it, but I came to believe
someone could.
Step 3: I turned the car over to a mechanic.
Step 4: I took an inventory of all that was wrong with
the "Old Clunker."
Step 5: I shared the inventory with the mechanic.
Step 6: I helped take off the old parts.
Step 7: I let the mechanic handle the rest.
Step 8: We made a list of all the parts that were needed
and got together and went over them.
Step 9: I admitted I hadn't checked the oil and fluids
properly, or fixed the other things that were going
wrong. It was my responsibility to take care of the car,
and I had not. I wanted to help, but being unfamiliar
with the process, I allowed the mechanic to fix things.
The car turned out beautifully!
Step 10: I checked the oil, fluids, tires etc. more
regularly, and when I didn't the engine didn't hum,...
Step 11:1 called on the mechanic whenever there was
trouble, asking him to fix the car.
Step 12: That mechanic and I had become such close
friends that we decided to take a trip across the country,
and we stopped to help all that needed it along the way.

[Wolfchild]

The F12 Internetholics Program of Recovery

We...
F1: ...admit that we have no life.
F2: ...believe that a Power greater than ourselves can either restore us to sanity or provide us with unlimited, no-cost Internet dial-up.
F3: ...made a decision to turn our lives over to that Great Webmaster In The Sky ("GWITS").
F4: ...performed a searching moral inventory with the Web search engine of our choice.
F5: ...admitted to GWITS, ourselves and another human being (even if only by email) the exact nature of our obsession.
F6: ...were entirely ready to have GWITS remove our shortcomings and remedy our lack of knowledge about the latest IRC chat technology.
F7: ...humbly asked GWITS to allow us to FTP the file updates.
F8: ...made a list of all persons we had neglected, and posted it on our personal home page.
F9: ...made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would cut into our scheduled netsurf time.
F10: ...continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, blamed it on our outdated software.
F11: ...sought through prayer and meditation to improve our contact with GWITS, by utilizing higher modem speeds and improved bandwidth.
F12: ...had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Keys, tried to carry the message to other Internetholics, and ended up making complete pests out of ourselves.

[Wolfchild]

How **** Happens in NA….
In the beginning, there was the Plan.
And then came the Assumptions.
The Assumptions were without form.
And the Plan was without substance.
Darkness was upon the face of the Membership.
They spoke among themselves saying,
It's a crock of ****, and it stinks.
The Members went to their Areas saying,
It is a pail of dung, we can't live with the smell.
The Areas went to their Regions saying,
It is a container of excrement, it's very strong, none may abide by it.
The Regions went to the World Board saying,
It is a vessel of fertilizer, no one may abide its strength.
The World Board spoke among themselves, saying to each other,
It contains that which aids plant growth, it's very strong.
The World Board went back to the Regions saying,
It promotes growth, and it's very powerful.
The Regions went back to the Areas saying,
This new plan will actively promote growth and vigor of the Fellowship.
The Membership looked upon the Plan, and said that it was good.
The Plan became Policy.
This is how **** happens in NA.

[Wolfchild]

Twelve Excuses For Not Going To Meetings
12. They make me clean up after meetings.
11. Too tired, hard day at work.
10. I read from the Basic Text earlier today.
9. Too much gossip.
8. I go to another fellowship on this night.
7. Finally got a date.
6. Too far to drive.
5. Somebody I do not want to see will be there.
4. I heard it all before.
3. My favorite TV show starts at 8 p.m.
2. I owe the group money.
1. I sponsor myself now.

[Wolfchild]

THEN THERE WAS ONE
10 Recovering addicts, all in a line, one got to thinking
Then there were nine.
9 Recovering addicts, one said, One joint can’t hurt
Then there were eight.
8 Recovering addicts, looking up to heaven. One cut out meetings
Then there were seven.
7 Recovering addicts, doing service just for kicks, one started grumbling
Then there were six.
6 Recovering addicts, glad to be alive, one drank beer
Then there were five.
5 Recovering addicts, greeters at the door, one played guru
Then there were four.
4 Recovering addicts, glad just to be, one felt he was different
Then there were three.
3 Recovering addicts, knowing what to do, one rewrote the steps
Then there were two.
2 Recovering addicts, having some fun, one started lying
Then there was one.
1 Recovering addict, talking to H.P. If only one is clean
I'm grateful that it’s ME!!!!

[Wolfchild]

Twelve Ways NOT to Carry the Message
1. Take, Take, and Take.
2. Sponsor the opposite Sex.
3. Use..
4. Float out on a "cloud of religious zeal".
5. Your only message is on a bumper sticker or tee-shirt.
6. Check the caller ID, and then don't answer the phone.
7. Retire from service work.
8. When you share don't talk NA recovery.
9. Your recovery only applies when at a meeting.
10. Your recovery is sexually transmitted.
12 You can list one reason to be ungrateful.

[Wolfchild]

Your addiction...
I am your addiction.
I hate your meetings. I hate your 12 steps. In fact, I hate anybody who has anything to do with a recovery program. Allow me to introduce myself…
I am known to many in your program as “cunning, baffling and powerful.” And yet, I did not come uninvited. You chose me. In fact, you welcomed me with open arms.
I was your courage, your strength and your hope. I took away your feelings of being shy, angry, lonely, tired, hungry and happy. Eventually, I took away any feeling you ever had until you were nothing but an empty shell- void of any feelings at all.
When we first met, you said that you didn’t deserve all the good things you had in life. I was the only one who agreed with you and was more then happy to take it all away from you. But now you claim to have found a better way? You say that you have found a Higher Power? HA! I thought I was your higher power.
Wasn’t it me you used to turn to every morning and pray that I would stay down in your guts?
Wasn’t it me that you used to ask to steady your nerves and give you courage to face the world again?
I thought it would be you and me forever - friends to the end. And damn it, I almost had you until the end. But I let you slip away from me. I had you wrapped around my finger. I could make you beg, borrow and steal just to have me. I had you at the point of believing that suicide was the only way out until your so-called Higher Power came to the rescue.
But that’s OK. I’m patient, I can wait. You can’t see me, but you’ll always remember me. And every once in a while, I’ll remind you that I’m still here- waiting for you to return. So until we meet again… (If we meet again), I wish you a long painful, suffering death like you could have had with me.

[Wolfchild]

Facts about Service Based Recovery
The S.B.R. syndrome is a serious affliction that effects thousands each year.
The damage done by this affliction has far reaches into the recovery world that leaves scars that are felt long into the future. Often times the damage isn't even noticed for years.
S.B.R can be found within the confines of all 12 step programs although we find the highest ratio of occurrence in the fellowship called Narcotics Anonymous.
S.B.R. effects the lives of family members, it convinces the sufferer that family issues are secondary to those 'service commitments' and often times lead to broken homes.
S.B.R costs your community thousands of dollars each year in lost productivity. This effect can be especially prevalent at the early spring of each year when many sufferer's go on a pilgrimage to a place called 'WSC' where they go through 7-10 days of rigorous re-enforcement and interaction with other sufferer's, who for some reason can't even see that they are effected by this.
S.B.R is contagious and particularly dangerous, it may effect anyone you know who is involved in a 12 step recovery program. It is spread through podiums, microphones and hard-headed suggestions.

Do you or someone you know suffer from S.B.R.?
How can you tell if you suffer from service based recovery?
Ask yourself the following questions.....
When is the last time you attended a recovery meeting out of town and during that trip you found yourself outside discussing some tradition, policy, or business related to NA?
When you look at your calendar (schedule) of 4 weekends per month how many days aren't service meetings?
Have you taken time away from work to attend service meetings, and not taken time to attend recovery meetings? Or, did you become self employed so you could devote your time to service?
Can you recite the Concepts from memory, but have to look up on the wall to remember the 7th step wording?
When was the last time you sat down with a newcomer and discussed anything without mentioning service?
At the last election did you find yourself nervous and hopeful?
When you have to decide an Issue for your Home Group, do you weigh the issue against your group conscience, or did you just know how to vote?
Do you really believe you know what’s best for the fellowship?
Do you remember how you felt getting involved for the first time?
Do you spend more of the fellowship's $$ than you donate?
Do you fear not being involved in service?

If you have really looked at these, welcome. If you find that maybe you are stuck in recovery based service, get to a RECOVERY MEETING and share. Remember the position will get filled (you don't need to do it all).

[Wolfchild]

12The Twelve Steps of SBR Anonymous
If you want real recovery, and are willing to go through any lengths to get it, then you are ready to take certain measures. These are the steps that make real recovery once again possible.

1. We must admit that we are powerless over our participation, that our lives had become encompassed in service issues.
2. We must come to believe that the fellowship would be all right without our leadership.
3. We must make a decision to resign our service positions to benefit our recovery.
4. We must make an honest assessment of our behaviors while in service.
5. We must get honest with ourselves, and other members about the exact nature of our actions.
6. We must become entirely ready resign all of our commitments.
7. We must humbly resign and decline nominations at any level.
8. We must make a list of all traditions we had abused, and became willing practice them on a personal basis.
9. We must make direct amends to the fellowship wherever possible, except when to do so would expose others.
10. We must continue to attend recovery meetings, and when we are nominated promptly run away.
11. We must seek through prayer and meditation to improve our willingness to work the twelve steps of the program we found recovery in.
12. Having felt the results of these freeing steps, we remain available to all other sufferers, and to welcome them and love them, and when they are ready we share these steps.

We feel that our approach to the problem of Service Based Recovery is completely doable, We believe that the sooner we face the problems of our own making, just that much faster do we become responsible, and self supporting members of our normal fellowship.

The only way to keep from returning to active denial is not to take that first position. If you are like us you know that one is too many and a thousand never enough. We put great emphasis on this, for we know that when we control in any form, or substitute one for another, we release our service based recovery all over again.

Thinking of home group commitments as different from others has caused a great many service junkies to relapse. Before we came to SBR many of us viewed recovery meetings separately, but we cannot afford to be confused about this. Even the home group position is a position. We are people suffering from service based recovery who must decline on all nominations in order to recover.
These are some of the questions we have asked ourselves: Do we understand that we have no real control over members? Do we recognize that in the long run, we didn't lead the WSC -they led us? Did committees and commitments take over the management of our lives at different times? Do we fully accept the fact that we created more harm than good? Do we know that our affliction changed us into something we didn't want to be: manipulative, controlling, self- willed people at odds with ourselves and our fellow members?

Our only hope is to live by the example of those who have faced our dilemma, and have found a way out. Regardless of who we are, what 12 step fellowship we came from, or what we have done, we are accepted in Service based recovery Anonymous. Our dilemma gives us a common ground for understanding one another.
As a result of attending a few meetings, we begin to feel like we finally belong. It is in these meetings that we are introduced to the Twelve Steps. We learn to work them in the order they are written and to use them on a daily basis. The steps are our solution. They are our survival kit.

[Wolfchild]

A B C's of Recovery

A is for attitude
A positive is good

B is for behaviour
Change it we should

C is for changes
In our lives we will make

D is for Determination
We know it will take

E is for effort
Recovery will need

F is for faith
Growing stronger indeed

G is for God
Strength from above

H is for hope
A feeling to love

I is for involved
In groups that care

J is for joy
Comes with the journey

K is for kindness
With others we will share

L is for life
We're living instead

M is for meditation
Done every day

N is for "newcomer"
Let's show him the way

O is for opportunities
In recovery they're great

P is for patience
Learning to wait

Q is for quest
For serenity we'll find

R is for recovery
First in our mind

S is for simple
Keep it we must

T is for training
From people we trust

U is for up
The direction to go

V is for victory
We'll gain as we grow

W is for willingness
To make our wrongs right

X is for expectations
Our goals are in sight

Y is for yearning
For peace and harmony

Z is for zenith
Height attained through recovery

[Wolfchild]

Ten Ways to Carry the Message
1. Show up.
2. Have a home group.
3. Carry the message.
4. Be a member, not a visitor.
5. Offer a ride.
6. Read the N.A. literature.
7. Give it away.
8. Have a N.A. Sponsor.
9. Live the Steps.
10. Live the Traditions.