A Sober Life

I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul. – William E. Henley Things do not just happen, we make them happen. For years I thought that my getting well was dependent upon my family getting well. I rooted my recovery in the recovery of others. I was the typical [...]

One is happy as the result of one’s own efforts.— George Sand Happiness is not an accident. It comes from following the spiritual voice found in each of us. This isn’t always easy. Sometimes, the voice tells us to do things we’re afraid of. For Example, if we’re lonely and the voice tells us to [...]

Those adolescent urges that so many of us have for complete approval, utter security, and perfect romance–urges quite appropriate to age seventeen–prove to be an impossible way of life at forty-seven or fifty-seven. Since A.A. began, I’ve taken huge wallops in all these areas because of my failure to grow up, emotionally and spiritually. << [...]

Do It Our Way?, p. 329 In praying, our immediate temptation will be to ask for specificsolutions to specific problems, and for the ability to help other peopleas we have already thought they should be helped. In that case, weare asking God to do it our way. Therefore, we ought to considereach request carefully to [...]

I am reflecting back on today…Good friends…Good food…It’s great to be alive…

Love is the reward of love.—Johann von Schiller When we used alcohol and other drugs, we shared little as possible. There was little love in our hearts. We had become selfish. This caused us to be lonely. Then something happened to change all of that. Remember the first time you walked into a meeting? You [...]

You are reading from the book Today’s Gift.All music is what awakes from you when you are reminded by the instruments. –Walt WhitmanA small group of friends sat in a room around a record player. It was a heavy old thing, with parts that had to be operated by hand and only one speaker–nothing like [...]

Denial…Thinking you don’t have a problem…Everybody likes to get drunk…Throw up…Get DWI’s…Do it again next week Arrogance…I don’t need any help I can do this on my own Self Pity…It’s not my fault I drink like this…I’ve got a bad life or bad luck  Inactive…Do nothing & expect things to get better on their own [...]

The only reason to drinkStaying  sober“There’s only one real reason I can ever have for taking a drink,  and that’s because I want to.”This remark at a meeting sums up AA’s position on why we drink.  We never really drink because of pressures and troubles. We drink because we want to, because we feel like [...]

  Humility“I’ve never seen anybody who’s too dumb to stay sober. But I’ve met a few people who were too smart.”  These wise words by an older member sum up what we sometimes see…. people who feel turned off by the program because it seems to simple and involves so many people of ordinary education [...]