We are people who normally would not mix
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Birmingham, AL
Posts: 1,924
We are people who normally would not mix
We are people who normally would not mix. But there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful.
We are like the passengers of a great liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck, when camaraderie, joyousness and democracy pervade the vessel from steerage to Captain's table. Unlike the feelings of the ship's passengers, however, our joy in escape from disaster does not subside as we go our individual ways. The feeling of having shared in a common peril is one element in the powerful cement which binds us. But that in itself would never have held us together as we are now joined.
The tremendous fact for every one of us that we have discovered a common solution.~
We are like the passengers of a great liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck, when camaraderie, joyousness and democracy pervade the vessel from steerage to Captain's table. Unlike the feelings of the ship's passengers, however, our joy in escape from disaster does not subside as we go our individual ways. The feeling of having shared in a common peril is one element in the powerful cement which binds us. But that in itself would never have held us together as we are now joined.
The tremendous fact for every one of us that we have discovered a common solution.~
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: The Swish Alps, SF CA
Posts: 2,144
Originally Posted by RufusACanal 
We are people who normally would not mix. But there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful.
We are like the passengers of a great liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck, when camaraderie, joyousness and democracy pervade the vessel from steerage to Captain's table. Unlike the feelings of the ship's passengers, however, our joy in escape from disaster does not subside as we go our individual ways. The feeling of having shared in a common peril is one element in the powerful cement which binds us. But that in itself would never have held us together as we are now joined.
The tremendous fact for every one of us that we have discovered a common solution.~
We are like the passengers of a great liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck, when camaraderie, joyousness and democracy pervade the vessel from steerage to Captain's table. Unlike the feelings of the ship's passengers, however, our joy in escape from disaster does not subside as we go our individual ways. The feeling of having shared in a common peril is one element in the powerful cement which binds us. But that in itself would never have held us together as we are now joined.
The tremendous fact for every one of us that we have discovered a common solution.~
The whole town gets together to build the barn....
AA is a lot like that here, it's a big fellowship here, and it's a young one (full of young people) so there is a lot of socializing, sleeping together, catfights, dogfights, drama, but when sobriety is on the line, "the town rallies to build the barn.", differences get swept aside.
It's fun to watch these kids, they gonna be alright......I was lucky to get sober here......
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 700
Originally Posted by RufusACanal
But there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful.
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Pugetopolis
Posts: 2,384
Originally Posted by RufusACanal
We are people who normally would not mix. But there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful.
We are like the passengers of a great liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck, when camaraderie, joyousness and democracy pervade the vessel from steerage to Captain's table. Unlike the feelings of the ship's passengers, however, our joy in escape from disaster does not subside as we go our individual ways. The feeling of having shared in a common peril is one element in the powerful cement which binds us. But that in itself would never have held us together as we are now joined.
The tremendous fact for every one of us that we have discovered a common solution.~
We are like the passengers of a great liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck, when camaraderie, joyousness and democracy pervade the vessel from steerage to Captain's table. Unlike the feelings of the ship's passengers, however, our joy in escape from disaster does not subside as we go our individual ways. The feeling of having shared in a common peril is one element in the powerful cement which binds us. But that in itself would never have held us together as we are now joined.
The tremendous fact for every one of us that we have discovered a common solution.~
How true, I hang with people I would have never drank with.
However, what brings us together won't keep us together. Alcoholism brings us here, but alcoholism is an illness of self-centered isolation, and it won't keep us here. In fact it will seperate us, and if I stay sick, I stay seperate. And if I stay seperate long enough, the insanity of alcoholism returns. Or maybe I just drift away somewhere and blow my head off. In the past I would mistake hanging out at the hall and sitting in meetings where we shared our sickness and huddled together in fear of "What is out in the parking lot doing pushups" for true fellowship. In fact, if you would have asked me in those early days why I was here I would have said for the fellowship. I didn't know what fellowship was, I just needed a body next to me to share my fear with. Stay sick, stay alone, drink again, die alone.
If being in the same room with a bunch of people that share the same problem was sufficient to recover from alcoholism, the county jail would have worked. But by trying to stay sober with that philosophy I was never able to be sober in AA for more than sixty days at a stretch in ten years.
What keeps me plugged in to the fellowship I have found is a common solution embodied in 12 Steps found in a book called Alcoholics Anonymous.
Kinda sad that a lot of places these days it is hard to find a common problem in AA much less a common solution.
Jim
God's Kid
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 1,820
This passage always reminds me of my first sponsor.
She was a house wife who drank at home. Was old (60), well spoken, well dressed and (in my eyes) seemed like a decent member of society.
I was a sex worker who'd had her child taken from her. 19, could hardly speak to anyone as that required me to look people in the eye and all my clothes had holes in them. Only decent clothing I had was a pair of doc martin boots!
I think I was about 6 months sober when she gave me a apron for christmas and I can clearly remember thinking, she does not know me very well!
Normally would not mix? Hell yeah. She saved my life.
She was a house wife who drank at home. Was old (60), well spoken, well dressed and (in my eyes) seemed like a decent member of society.
I was a sex worker who'd had her child taken from her. 19, could hardly speak to anyone as that required me to look people in the eye and all my clothes had holes in them. Only decent clothing I had was a pair of doc martin boots!
I think I was about 6 months sober when she gave me a apron for christmas and I can clearly remember thinking, she does not know me very well!
Normally would not mix? Hell yeah. She saved my life.
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