I knew this thread title did not mean "Softie Bootie Depressions" (cottage cheese aka cellulite)
Happy Friggin' 20 doggone unbelievable incredible miraculous and often innovative YEARS of continuous sobriety and brain re-tooling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are the BALM, DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You have approximately 7,305 DAYS of uninterrupted sober breathing!!! (I even allowed for an extra day every fourth year for leap-years)
You did One Day At A Time consistently 7,305 times in a row!! That's 175,320 hours of Serenity Prayers, Step Work, 12th Step calls, ordering water and coffee at dinner, detaching with love, saying slogans over and over, calling sponsors, calling sponsees, working your butt off for a better life.
Can i get a Holla' Holla'????????????????????????? Woo Hooooeyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!
In your current state of convalescence, I say order a Maine Lobster in your pajamas, a Liter of San Pelligrino Mineral Water, and shake that puppy up and pop the screw-top.... then bask in the thrill of joy today, no matter today's ouchy situation! You deserve it!!!
Happy Soberversary, our dear Dean xxx Thank you for being such a steady, helpful, attentive, good example to all us Sobervibers! You are an Inspiration & I'm so proud to watch you give & grow. Thank you for being a staple contribution to our MIP board. Your stalwart, calming influence creates a real stability here & I'm so glad & grateful you keep coming back for us. Enjoy your Sobriety especially Today in celebration of two decades of recovery. Thank you for sharing this & your experience, strength & hope. You're truly valued & loved. Happy Birthday :) Danielle xxx
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Progress not perfection.. & Practice makes Progress!
Thanks Danielle. I just got back from celebrating with 10 others at our AA club. I was about in the middle as we had 3 women with 22, 29, and 39 years! We've got a lot old timers here with 40, 50, 60 years. Many of them have known Bill W. Makes me feel like somewhat of newbie lol.
(cleaver you, for combining the two) How great indeed to celebrate this birthday, and happy you were in the middle, so there were people there, when you got up to share.
Like everyone else here, just want to know the condition of your leg.
How does it feel to be entering the 21st year, (I know what you might say, well just like yesterday, )
Your recovery from that leg problem seems like it is going really well, hope so, and hope Sunday is a good one for you, Post Birthday Boy!
Like you said in your post "XX" does seem like a newbie when you throw in 30, 40, 50 years... but with the humility you show... you'll be there doing it one day at a time...
Dave
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"A busy mind is a sick mind. A slow mind, is a healthy mind. A still mind, is a divine mind." - Native American Centerness
Congrats on 20 years Dean.... I can tell you almost 6 months into year 21 it's just... more of the same one day at a time!
There are still guys in my home group with more sobriety than me, which I'm very grateful for. Some of the guys who had 8, 10, 15, 20 when I first came along have passed on, some still around. Of the fellow AAs who came to my wedding, all but two have more sobriety than me (one has more than 2x) and the other two are close.
In my first meetings, I heard that I needed to get away from my old drinking friends. That one was a piece of cake... I didn't have any friends at the time! LOL. Now I have so many that I really felt bad that I couldn't invite them all to the wedding - the place just wasn't big enough and the fire inspector would have nailed us all.
I've found that if you keep doing what you're doing, you keep getting what you got. I've applied that to my meetings and my life, and hopefully can apply it to my new marriage as well. The only thing different about me now that I have that ring on my finger is that we can do something else besides wedding preparation in our spare time!
Some of the guys who had 8, 10, 15, 20 when I first came along have passed on, some still around.
St. Petersburg probably has more long tmers than Akron with all the retirees down here.
We have all kinds of folks with 30,40,50 something years. I'm sure that there are some with 60+. Many have met Bill W. One guy that I know "Kansas City Bob" had 57 years about 5 years ago. I haven't seen him since and he may has passed. He was 86 years old. Bill Wison came out to the AA club that he got sober in around 1950 to talk to them about some of the things that they were doing that were in oposition to the 12 traditions (to straighten them out ). More on that later.
-- Edited by StPeteDean on Monday 27th of July 2009 01:49:10 PM
"Kansas City Bob" had 57 years about 5 years ago. I haven't seen him since and he may has passed. He was 86 years old. Bill Wison came out to the AA club that he got sober in around 1950 to talk to them about some of the things that they were doing that were in oposition to the 12 traditions (to straighten them out ). More on that later.
One of the old timers here met Bill W at the 1949 convention. He since passed away, he'd be sober 61 years today. I think he died 2-3 years ago. So I'm only two degrees from the founder. Not that it's all that important... I am not into the cult-worship of Bill & Bob. They were human beings that were inspired by a spiritual experience and came together at the right time. I've read some of the early history and stories - fascinating stuff. They put a lot of their own hard lessons into the steps and traditions. Their legacy is one of humility and service - I'm sure if I were to meet either one of them, they'd be down to earth, real people like everybody else. But it is nice to say I shook a hand that shook the hand of Bill Wilson too