Debbie329

I had a roommate while I was being processed for my indiscretion Saturday.........she came in after me......her crime ......having a small roach......they threw her right in jail. It's ridiculous but hey she's revenue the county gets paid by the state the state gets paid by the federal government......the people that oversee these small infractions get paid.....while she sits in jail. The longer she's there the more they, they don't have an incentive to do anything else.

tomsteve

apparently marijuana posession,of any amount, is illegal there.which if the case being booked is one of the consequences.
theres probably more to the story. maybe not first offense. probation violation..........maybe a warrant was issued. maybe more than just the roach in her posession.......

Debbie329

Yep pot possession is illegal in Pennsylvania......last year they arrested 25k people for possession and 125 million dollars to prosecute them. In the meantime 40% of murders and 37% of violent crimes went unresolved. Last year in the USA more people were killed by handguns then in the entire afghan war. We are a country at war w ourselves. I waiting for the revolution or the collapse of society.......were well on our way.

Debbie329

The above comment is a statistic just for Pennsylvania w regard to pot possession.....yep it's a real business now isn't it.

zjw

its true a lot of time is wasted on pot offenses etc.. I'm in PA too I have my grips as well i will say tho there are some worse states to live in tho. some better ones too however.

But your right it is kinda scary living in the USA with all that is going on. Of course USA still beats a lot of other places too tho. Its a tough situation.

Debbie329

Yeah it's a serious problem ......I'm getting 7k for destroying my car, of that 7k.....I'm taking about 400 and buying a hand gun and getting a concealed to carry license. I'm taking the gun w me everywhere......because I'm a perfect victim.....white, older, small and thin. Around here we had a drive by shooting less than 1 mile from my house, a cab driver was shot and killed, an old lady was stabbed and raped by a young guy, a neighborhood advocated was shot and killed in his own driveway after coming home from work. That's what's up.

zjw

YEP I'm all for people protecting themselves. I feel ya same issues where i am gotta carry wherever you go. and it was once a very nice area. now you never can be too careful.

Debbie329

I'll start walking around the lake again once I get the gun.

zjw

yep thats a good idea. you'll feel a lot safer!

bullmas

"Double barrel 90 in 90 is the requirement to avoid a Dui on my record. "

Debbie329: Wow your lucky you get that option! Take the 90! A DUI on your record is not worth it ( in Texas at least)

Cheers

MIRecovery

As with all things in sobriety it is all about results. I know 50 to 75 people that have double digit sobriety and they all attribute their success to AA. It is very easy to criticize it is very hard to stay sober

advbike

I've found that either my ego or my higher power is running the show. One or the other. If it's my ego, then I'm judgemental, critical, pissed off, and closed to new ideas. If it's my higher power, I'm open, accepting, and even grateful! It's amazing the difference it makes to stop trying to be in control and fighting the world.

Really, finding your higher power is as easy as learning to recognize and let go of the ego. It's always telling stories..

Debbie329

Mirecovery......I know two people that have been going to aa for double digit years. ....they both drink and drug and have been in jail many times. I guess they didn't get the message.

Debbie329

Bulmas......that's right .......that's why I'm going to do it......I'm preparing myself for the smoothest experience.

Debbie329

Advbike.......I've elected sober recovery as my higher power.......I'm the only one running this show w the help here, medication a psychiatrist and now a new therapist. Oh and now AA. That's all the tools in my toolbox. There is nothing else that I know of to add.

advbike

Are you sure you're running the show?

Just speaking from my own perspective, it took a long struggle for me to realize I wasn't really in control. Life is so much easier when we just accept that and let it unfold naturally.

If you want another tool, I highly suggest reading Awareness, by Anthony DeMello, a great, thought provoking little read.

Berrybean

Hi Debbie - just wanted to say keep posting, and if SR is your HP then try and take some of the advice and info to heart. Having a HP is pretty much about accepting that we don't always know best. You're sounding pretty agitated at the moment - which of course would be expected in your situation - stick with it, and there will be easier days and weeks soon. You won't stay 'jangley' forever.

One thing that I found really useful straight off in AA was that serenity prayer - trying to accept the things I cannot change (maybe stop winding yourself up about government and crime statistics - just for now. That revolution will be far more effective once you're sober Impotent rage is just so distracting. And tiring. That's why it's rubbish for our sobriety and recovery. Plus, it's mostly perpetuated by fear - and also feeds fear. Mneugh. Honestly - it's a good Merry-Go Round to hop off of.

Hope todays better for you.

oak

I have found Kevin Griffin's books useful. He gives a buddhist perspective on the 12 steps. It might not work for someone who has no interest in buddhism. (It's also completely okay to go to meetings and never do the steps. Do what works for you.)

I found a sponsor who has a similar sense of religion/spirituality as I do (which has helped me immensely). I'm atheist too. I still struggle with the religion in the meetings.

I also go to Refuge Recovery, SMART, Women for Sobriety, and LifeRing meetings. I'm less bothered by what I don't like when I try different meetings. And I also go long periods without meetings, which seems to work for me.

I am surprised that all 90 of your meetings have to be AA. I thought that secular meetings had to count too. NA tends to be less religious, if that is an option.

Solushun

3 essential ingredients for recovery are in H.O.W., which stands for Honesty Openmindedness, and Willingness. We need to be willing to learn and have an open mind. Don't worry about the GOD stuff. GOD can be "Group Of Drunks" or Gap Of Disernment.. People who are atheists go in there and get sober.. It's not religion- it's spiritual. But first step is to admit u have a problem. Just start there. If you are so good at fixing urself how is it that u can't stay stopped? I really think we all need to hit our bottoms- hopefully that bottom is not 6feet under. I had fought with the idea that self sufficiency wasn't working for a very very long time. I didn't want to go into aa mtg for 10 years after a coworker told me about it. I blamed everyone else around me for my life to be unsatisfactory but never could see that it was me. Eventually I didn't show up to work, to family engagements, flaked out a lot, my credit score started to plummet, I stopped opening up my mailbox in fear of another bill, stopped answering creditors that wanted their money back, and all I can do is to numb myself and my life got more depressing.. I had many blackouts and once I woke up in a car crash. I apparently T into a vehicle as I went thru a red light. Two people were injured. Not killed. I didn't pass the sobriety test and was arrested. I sat there alone in jail wondering what just happened and maybe- just maybe I have a problem. I really wanted to point fingers at the police or the way the road was laid out bc I was in such denial but just a little light came to my truth. It was just enough to for me to want recovery for the first time. I think there are no coincidences. And these are my own examples of how I believe in spirituality. You know, no one can chase u into recovery, and I hope that you will find YOUR OWN truth and willingness to be a student. At the end of the day we gotta accept what we see in the mirror. To thine own self be true.

Solushun

If someone relapsed it means they stopped doing something- cut back on mtgs, didn't pick up the phone just before relapsing, stopped working the steps, stopped talking to sponsor, stopped talking to any recovering alcoholics and isolated, stopped talking about what is really going on inside and being transparent, the list goes on. There are no graduation dates in AA. Our sobriety requires daily maintenance of our spiritual condition. Kinda like a diabetic will need insulin for lifetime and as long as the medication is not stopped they can have a normal productive life. In short, just because people relapse doesn't mean the program didn't work. It just means they didn't work the program.