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Miracles In Progress 12 Step Recovery Forums -> Alcoholics Anonymous -> Alcoholics Anonymous -> Trying to Plug In
Post Info TOPIC: Trying to Plug In
Unruly


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Trying to Plug In
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I am traveling in St. Louis and trying to plug in.  I called my sponsor and he told me to get to a meeting and I tried to but I couldn't get to one.  I talked to a guy from Intergroup in St. Louis who put me in contact with a local member who gave me a number to a local clubhouse but no one answered.  I am without a car so I am stuck in the hotel.  I just wanted to plug in with people who are like me.  I have been sober for 10 years but feel I have been dwindling my meetings.  I got to two a week but need to get more or supplement my program with other contacts or something.  Busy with family, work, etc but ten years ago I had nothing and was about to die.  I dont want to be a casualty to the same old story of stopped going to meetings.  I love sobriety and don't want to lose it.  So maybe I can get a connection here.  This is totally new for me.  Anyone there?

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Phil


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Alcoholics Anonymous: St. Louis Central Service Office
2683 S Big Bend, Maplewood, MO 63143  Call: (314) 647-3677.

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Live each day as if it were your last...because tomorrow? It might be.
Sobrietyspell


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Welcome to MIP, Unruly. Congrats in making a life of 10years Sobriety. I hope it has been a Journey of Adventure & Awakenings for you. You haven't said anything about how your Program is for you & how you work it. Obviously you have been doing something right to manage in staying away from the first drink 1Day@aTime. I'm 2yrs sober & currently working 6&7 readying for 8&9. For me, I would not be sober Today if it wasn't for this Fellowship, these Steps & regular attendance at AA Meetings. These disciplines help me to etch a life of structure, exploration & a healthy way to continue to grow & do things that are good for my soul & for others.

We did Step Twelve at my Home Group this afternoon & though it is not a Step I can work to any thoroughness, I was glad of the opportunity to hear another member's E,S&H around how he came to AA, how it was & how it is Today. He had a beautiful humility about him & though he said for him it wasn't his thing to be able to Sponsor others, he kept busy in Service in many other ways. Even in recently coming to know this member who had not taken a drink in quite some time I could feel the truth & honour in his presence that I felt inspired, trusting & even 'sponsored' in quiet conversation before & after meetings. Evidently there are many ways you can touch others with your Sobriety & Service. 

I'm looking forward to the possibility of a Spiritual Awakening as a result of taking these Steps & having a message I can carry to help touch others the way they have touched me. Steps 10, 11 & 12 are our maintenance or Growth Steps & I have heard it said that there is no ceiling on how we can develop in our Recoveries. I also like how we say in our Program that 'helping other Alcoholics is the Bright Spot of our lives'. This Program is helping me to turn from trying to help others in a codependent controlling way to helping others for its own reward i.e. helping someone who may be suffering more than me & then letting go of the outcome. That the simple act of reaching out & offering what I have with no demand for return feeds me from the inside out & others find for themselves what they may also need. I'm not in charge of that.

My boyfriend's Sponsor has 14yrs Sobriety coming up & had never worked the Steps as fearlessly & thoroughly as they are set out in our Big Book until he helped my boyfriend turn around from a low rockbottom of having lost everything to now 16mths later having completed his first rotation of the Steps & having a Spiritual Awakening & Sponsees of his own. His Sponsor says that he feels like he has had the gift of the Program sitting in front of him for all this time & until Carl (my boyf), he hadn't actually unwrapped the present & experienced the fullness of what can be had & is on offer with the Steps.

I say all this because I received a sense of loneliness & isolation in your words & I wondered if there was more you can do to bring a greater wealth of happiness & joy into your Sobriety where you feel renewed everyday & inspired to attend meetings to offer a sharing of what AA & our Fellowship as you say have freely brought into your life. I also felt your underlying passion & gratitude for what you have & your longing not to lose it. I didn't want this to be the case for the longest time as to begin with I simply wanted to learn how to live Sober & then get on with the rest of my life. It's becoming apparent for me that if I want to keep what I have I have to give it away. But, of course, I have to work these Steps to the best of my ability in order to have something I can share with others.

I am learning that the length & depth of these Steps are not just about learning how to live with me, people, places & things but also how to pass it on so that others may gain the happinesses & freedoms that I have found in the working & exercising of these Steps & Principles on a daily basis. It often isn't easy & I'm sure you can identify with this but when I relax & accept (after I've learned something new!) I do find that it Is Simple. I hope there is something here that you feel a connection with & I hope I haven't said anything overly assumative. It was good for me to say as it helped me to gain a clarity of what I will have to do for me in order to enjoy a more fruitful & fulfilling Sobriety for myself. Of course, you can take what you like & leave the rest as I have learned that it is best that I share for myself & let go of any outcomes. I don't know what's best for anybody but I can offer what I may have from my own experience.

I am in admiration for what you have achieved & I hope you get what you need in the next few days & maybe even reach out to some old & new friends in recovery that will help bring new meanings for your Program. I don't know about you but I love that one of the aspects of this Program is that it can help us to become renewed with each new day. This is what I'm hoping for as I put in my footwork. Thanks for coming to MIP & sharing with us where you're at. I love meeting new members from around the world & hearing of your successes as well as how we might struggle & drift too. Everyday is different, isn't it! God bless, Ruly. Good luck in St Louis. Remember to pick up the phone & share how you care! Keep coming back, Danielle x

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jonijoni1


MIP Old Timer

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Hi Unruly, and welcome!!

I love your post, thank you soooo much for coming here and sharing!

".... but ten years ago I had nothing and was about to die..." Boy, did you ever help this alcoholic this morning! We can lose it all just as quickly as we landed in those jackpots of olde. Great reminder for me this morning.

I hope you find this forum helpful in the times where you are not able to attend a meeting, or just want to pop in and share. It's a great supplement, I find. Glad to see you here, and I hope you get what you need here, as many others do, including myself.

Have a great sober day out of town, and again, welcome!!

Joni

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StPeteDean


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Welcome unruly,

surely, in a city as big as St. Louis, there are 50-100 meetings a day, and public transportation (or meetings in walking distance). Did you ask the intergroup office for a ride to a meeting? You need to call them back and ask for one, as well as for the times and places of a dozen meetings in your local area.  This is website  meeting lookup data base for St. Louis.  Use that and a little mapquest, and I'll bet you dinner at the AA convention that you can find a meetings within a 1 mile radius of your location.   http://www.aastl.org/ 

Here's today's schedule for "north city"

http://www.aastl.org/meetings.php?MeetingDay=Thursday&Dist=1&Time=&x=73&y=14

and "south city"  http://www.aastl.org/meetings.php?MeetingDay=Thursday&Dist=2&Time=&x=63&y=8

sounds like this is more of a motivation problem than one of logistics smile.gif

Dean

-- Edited by StPeteDean at 06:57, 2008-12-04

-- Edited by StPeteDean at 07:00, 2008-12-04

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