I woke up in a detox bed in rehab.....Broken, beaten and hopeless. I was intoduced to AA in my few weeks there and I completely gave myself to this program. For the first time in many years of a battered life I had hope. One thing someone told me when I started....Which holds just as true today....as anything else....As I've seen the results of many.....Is this....
You get out of AA......what you put into it.
Simple math people. Half measures = Nothing
Thank You God...Thank you AA...Thank all of you.....God bless you.
I thank you all....From my heart....I've learned so much from all of you...I just went and saw my counselor from rehab....She wasn't real happy with me when I left there early to immerse myself in AA after 18 days....But she was pretty tickled to see me today. And I picked up two speaking engagements to speak with the clientele. It's funny...When I was there we had speakers come in and talk about what it was like...What happened and what it is like now. While I agree with that for AA meetings....When I was in rehab I didn't even know what AA was...With the exception of what I had learned in the book....And I was still trying to figure that out. I had a thousand questions. I told her I'd like to come in and just talk about AA...Open discussion....Answer questions about the steps...Meetings...Sponsors....Anything. She loved the idea. I'm booked.....And I love it. Thank you God.
Congratulations on your 3 year sobriety birthday! You've helped and inspired a whole lot of people....and, made a lot of friends. Thanks for everything you give.
....When I was in rehab I didn't even know what AA was...With the exception of what I had learned in the book....And I was still trying to figure that out. I had a thousand questions. I told her I'd like to come in and just talk about AA...Open discussion....Answer questions about the steps...Meetings...Sponsors....Anything. She loved the idea. I'm booked.....And I love it. Thank you God.
That sounds like a great idea. There are a few newcomer meetings out here that have a format you might be interested in - they pass out small slips of paper to everyone at the start of the meeting, and people can anonymously write down questions during the speaker's talk. These get collected during a short break after the speaker, and in the second half of the meeting, the speaker reads and answers these questions. Giving the new folks the option to ask questions anonymously can allow them to ask things that they might otherwise not feel comfortable asking at group level. Anyway, congrats again!
Tell you the truth...I don't plan on speaking much....I sat in the chairs these people are in. I don't need to explain to them why they are there. I'll put my focus on what I did when I got out....That was a big unknown for me. What I've seen work....And not work. Offer suggestions and fill in the blanks for some of these people. I think they'll get something out of it....With God's help I might get through to a couple of them.
sorry I missed this one ... Congrats man ... I really identified with you when you got to this web site ... considering we both had to 'get old' first before we 'grew up', LOL ...
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
I don't log on much to share anymore, but I do read often. I can always count on your posts to carry the AA message, complete with passages and page references from the book. And I love it. Congratulations on 3 years + a few more 24 hours now. I'm sure you're going to do great as a speaker at the treatment center.
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I asked God for all things that I may enjoy life. He gave me life so that I may enjoy all things.
Beautifk Step child thank you for your continued message of HOPE..BE BLESSED CONGRATULATIONS...Each time one celebrates I go back to my own day of utter defeat and surrender and am so grateful and locked in spirit with those who are working daily to remain Free from active addiction and living LIFE!!
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Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.