Originally Posted by
IO Storm 
What you were saying then..is..you were led to socialize elsewhere with people who
share common interests rather than common neuroses, hypochondrias and other
spiritual wreckage....
Correct me if I am wrong..but by your not naming anyone you had a problem with
here..your generalization of the put down was taken by a lot us to (be)
personal derogatory remarks.
Hello IO.
I've already explained myself at length to the best of my abilities. And, if that can't be accepted while only lip service is given towards acceptance then I can forgive and let that go as well. Some need more than only one person can provide. Thus this is why this is a We program and not an I program.
Likewise, I have been honest with as much candor as possible. There's no ulterior motives. Nothing up my sleeves (well, aside from some burn scars on my left arm). I can only chalk it up to a limitation of this digital medium where face-to-face short of audio-enabled webcams just can be technically infeasible to many who are active in their addictions.
If anyone wishes to project their own lingering resentments upon myself then I can only let that go. Regarding my own Recovery, my Recovery comes first so I'm quite wary of slippery people, places and things. And, having been wrongly taken advantage of already a few years ago it's not hard to see how an addictive personality can manifest itself.
It's something that my sponsor and I talked about at length and I agree with him. It's so easy to isolate here and simply use it not just as an adjunct to The Program but as a way of exercising one's own personal demons instead of exorcising them. If such forums actually did work on their own then AA would have adopted them right from their own website as well. So I'm painfully aware of the limitations here.
Now, with that out of the way, why should I lie? It just wouldn't be spiritual in light of what happened in my life. And, if the way I'm handling this by going to meetings, talking with my sponsor and working a Good Program leaves a lot to be desired than others then that's not my problem. I only shoot for progress rather than perfection, just like anyone else. Besides, life is short enough. My life can and may end tomorrow which is why I focus upon Today now and not worry or harbor resentments about those other outside issues outside of my Recovery.
When anyone makes such unfounded inferences then they have much more deeply-rooted problems than me. I pray for them to seek knowledge for their Recovery rather than fuel for their resentments for I certainly wouldn't want them to wind up where I was.
I can learn from my mistakes. So can anyone else. Now is that dishonest?
Yours in Recovery, Mark B.