We are not a glum lot
Life the gift of recovery!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Home is where the heart is
Posts: 7,061
We are not a glum lot
We have shown how we got out from under. You say: "Yes, I'm willing. But am I to be consigned to a life where I shall be stupid, boring and glum, like some righteous people I see? I know I must get along without liquor, but how can I? Have you a sufficient substitute?"
Yes, there is a substitute, and it is vastly more than that. It is a Fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from care, boredom, and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead. Thus we find The Fellowship, and so will you.
"How is that to come about?" you ask. "Where am I to find these people?"
You are going ot meet these new friends in your own community. Near you alcoholics are dying helplessly like people in a sinking ship. If you live in a large place, there are hundreds. High and low, rich and poor, these are future Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. Among them you will make lifelong friends. You will be bound to them with new and wonderful ties, for you will escape disaster together and you will commence shoulder to shoulder your common yourney. Then you will know what it means to give of yourself, that others may survive and rediscover life. You will learn the full meaning of "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Big Book chapter A Vision For You)
Yes, there is a substitute, and it is vastly more than that. It is a Fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from care, boredom, and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead. Thus we find The Fellowship, and so will you.
"How is that to come about?" you ask. "Where am I to find these people?"
You are going ot meet these new friends in your own community. Near you alcoholics are dying helplessly like people in a sinking ship. If you live in a large place, there are hundreds. High and low, rich and poor, these are future Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. Among them you will make lifelong friends. You will be bound to them with new and wonderful ties, for you will escape disaster together and you will commence shoulder to shoulder your common yourney. Then you will know what it means to give of yourself, that others may survive and rediscover life. You will learn the full meaning of "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Big Book chapter A Vision For You)
Learning to give of ourselves fills the hole in our spirit caused by our former slothful indifference to our responsibilites and to the welfare of others. The incalculable benefits of self-sacrifice replace the baleful results of selfishness. To awaken spiritually and find fellowship with others united in a great purpose gives us a satisfaction and sense of fulfillment we never dreamed possible.
Follow Directions!
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Fredericksburg, Va.
Posts: 9,730
Glum was me the last 5 years of my drinking. M-F my life was:
1. Wake up @ 3:20am
2. Shower, shave and get dressed.
3. Feed the dogs in the garage
4. Put 8 beers in my cooler along with my ice packs.
5. Drive to work.
6. Work.
7. Start thinking about the beer in the truck @ noon.
8. Leave work @ 1PM.
9. Pop top @ 1:05PM
10. Pop tops & drink all the way home.
11. Stop at 7-11 to get more beer.
12. Go home & sit in garage drinking by myself.
13. Fix dinner.
14. Eat dinner
15. Return to garage to finish job.
16. Go to bed.
REPEAT.
Weekends go to garage & drink until it job is done and go to bed.
Once I got sober life began again for me, I am a husband, a father, a member of AA, I live life to its fullest enjoying my freedom from self and alcohol.
I sure do not miss sitting in that garage alone, drinking, listening to the radio, & trying to read the newspaper watching the world pass me by!
1. Wake up @ 3:20am
2. Shower, shave and get dressed.
3. Feed the dogs in the garage
4. Put 8 beers in my cooler along with my ice packs.
5. Drive to work.
6. Work.
7. Start thinking about the beer in the truck @ noon.
8. Leave work @ 1PM.
9. Pop top @ 1:05PM
10. Pop tops & drink all the way home.
11. Stop at 7-11 to get more beer.
12. Go home & sit in garage drinking by myself.
13. Fix dinner.
14. Eat dinner
15. Return to garage to finish job.
16. Go to bed.
REPEAT.
Weekends go to garage & drink until it job is done and go to bed.
Once I got sober life began again for me, I am a husband, a father, a member of AA, I live life to its fullest enjoying my freedom from self and alcohol.
I sure do not miss sitting in that garage alone, drinking, listening to the radio, & trying to read the newspaper watching the world pass me by!
where the light is
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 2,763
Yes, there is a substitute, and it is vastly more than that. It is a Fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from care, boredom, and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will mean something at last.
Learning to give of ourselves fills the hole in our spirit caused by our former slothful indifference to our responsibilities and to the welfare of others. The incalculable benefits of self-sacrifice replace the baleful results of selfishness.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 26,425
a sense of humor and enjoying life are critical to my sobriety...doesn't have to be like that all the time...but it had best be some of the time.
If everything were serious and somber all the time, I'm not sure I would see a point in being sober.
Sure, I have responsiblilities, but that isn't all that is in my life today. I enjoy talking, teasing and playing around which is something i never did drinking. Drinking was somber and definatly un-fun
If everything were serious and somber all the time, I'm not sure I would see a point in being sober.
Sure, I have responsiblilities, but that isn't all that is in my life today. I enjoy talking, teasing and playing around which is something i never did drinking. Drinking was somber and definatly un-fun
Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Lake Tahoe CA
Posts: 1,098
I have been going to AA every day since my last relapse. I have 35 days today. My homegroup is certainly not a glum lot. They are gently and kindly loving me, because I'm not there yet. I cry at the drop of a hat. Yesterday I started tearing up while reading aloud the 12 traditions. Don't have a clue
as to why. This group is literally saving my life as I struggle to understand the steps. I'm not questioning the steps, it's still hard to feel the connection to a higher power and figure out exactly what I should do in working them.
I received my 30 day chip last week. A woman with 22 years sober also presented me with a necklace she had made for me. It is a beautiful silver neckace with pink tourmaline stones. In it she enclosed a note that said, the necklace had 30 stones, none of them perfect, all just a little different and they represented my first thirty days in sobriety. I cherish the necklace as much as my 30 day chip. This woman doesn't really know me at all, but she cared so much about me.
I'm sorry if this is a little off topic to this thread. I just felt a need to share this with others that are involved in AA. Thank you.
as to why. This group is literally saving my life as I struggle to understand the steps. I'm not questioning the steps, it's still hard to feel the connection to a higher power and figure out exactly what I should do in working them.
I received my 30 day chip last week. A woman with 22 years sober also presented me with a necklace she had made for me. It is a beautiful silver neckace with pink tourmaline stones. In it she enclosed a note that said, the necklace had 30 stones, none of them perfect, all just a little different and they represented my first thirty days in sobriety. I cherish the necklace as much as my 30 day chip. This woman doesn't really know me at all, but she cared so much about me.
I'm sorry if this is a little off topic to this thread. I just felt a need to share this with others that are involved in AA. Thank you.
Follow Directions!
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Fredericksburg, Va.
Posts: 9,730
No apology needed mtnmagic, thanks for sharing that, especially about the necklace..... BTW I have been sober over 2 years, worked the steps, I am a 55 year old good old boy that looks a bit rough and I still tear up on occasion....... and to be honest, I have no shame in shedding a tear or 2.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 5
Nobody wants to get sober and be miserable; in AA I saw people who seemed genuinely happy. There is a *ton* of laughter and talk at the meetings I go to, and that is exactly what I need, and what I think newcomers need to see (even though they might not understand it at first).
I noticed that people who were genuinely happy to-the-core seemed to be those that had worked the steps of AA, had sponsors, and attended meetings. That's what I wanted in the beginning, and so I did that. And I can honestly say that today, life is magnitudes better, and more exciting than it used to be (though life is life - not everything is perfect all the time!).
We are definitely not a glum lot!!!
I noticed that people who were genuinely happy to-the-core seemed to be those that had worked the steps of AA, had sponsors, and attended meetings. That's what I wanted in the beginning, and so I did that. And I can honestly say that today, life is magnitudes better, and more exciting than it used to be (though life is life - not everything is perfect all the time!).
We are definitely not a glum lot!!!
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