I know Pappy posts some of these...I get some of them in my mail everyday....just read this one for today...
A.A. Thought for the Day
"The length of time of our sobriety is not as important as its quality. A person who has been in A.A. for a number of years may not be in as good mental condition as a person who has only been in a few months. It is a great satisfaction to have been an A.A. member for a long time and we often mention it. It may sometimes help the newer members, because they may say to themselves, "If they can do it, I can do it." And yet the older members must realize that as long as they live, they are only one drink away from a drunk. What is the quality of my sobriety?"
The lesson for me to remember is that I now focus on the "quality" of my sobriety. I beat myself up over and over for my relapsing. I didn't understand how I had over two years sobriety under my belt and still managed to drink again. When I first got sober, I was mourning alcohol for a good while.....when I relapsed, I was mourning my sober time....Truth is, I was not in a good place for months and months before my relapse.....I had decreased the number of meetings I went to, slacked off service work I had been doing, stopped praying as much and not doing all the things I had learned to do in AA to help keep me sober. I now realize that it does not matter if I have one month, one year or ten years of sobriety......If I do not work this program on an everyday basis I will be miserable and I will end up drinking myself to death. And I really have a strong desire to not end up being a dry drunk.....miserable in my sobriety.....and just going through the motions rather than really enjoying being sober, laughing and enjoying a happy and satisfying life. It is up to me to work the program, I know. I also know that I need AA to help me....I cannot do it all by myself.
-- Edited by leavetherest on Saturday 9th of July 2016 07:05:10 AM
Some of these readings I really wonder about. As a newcomer where my mind is all over the place and I have no control over my thoughts - but think I do - this might sooth me to a degree. We all come in so very judgmental about ourselves and everyone else. I remember being told to find the winners or in other words - the quality sobriety. I remember constantly judging myself: Is this quality? Am I good enough yet?
I try not to perpetuate the vicious cycle of comparing and judging... but I am only human. It's instinctual and a survival mechanism.
Every day is a fresh start. Clean slate. I owe myself that... only then do I possibly have a chance of projecting it outward too.
xo
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Thanks for everything. Peace and Love on your journey.
Good post, Tasha. Hopefully, one day I will have that kind of thinking. I am not there yet.
For now, I have to be harder on myself than I have been.....and I have to use others in the rooms, who have been able to stay sober, as examples so that I can learn from them. One or two people upset me????? That is going to happen. When it happens with more than that, there is something going on with ME. Like Tanin pointed out, when I want to blame anyone else----instead of blaming others, I need to get my ass to a meeting....listen to what others who have been able to stay sober and seem happy in their sobriety share.
I agree with you both: 'Quality' and 'Quantity' are two different things, and here is the reason why.
I often see people who have 5,10 even 20 years of active sobriety act like they just came through the door. Their emotions are all over the place.
Then, you have the 13 steppers to worry about. You know who I'm talking about: Recovering alcoholics who see us as 'fresh fish' rather then a person in need of help. How, absurd.
Seriously, though: Any Individual who would rather sink their teeth into some poor soul (fresh out of rehab) then to do a good fourth and fifth step themselves, is in my book a creep and a coward.
Anyway, these are just a few of A.A's little annoyances. Luckily, their are enough qualified participants to fill the void. Maybe, that will continue.
P.S. I'm sorry for the rant.
-- Edited by Mr_David on Saturday 16th of July 2016 06:02:27 PM
Any length of sobriety is an amazing thing, as an alcoholics' natural state is drunk!
The one thing we all have in common is today, and today's job right in front of me.
"It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of Gods will into all of our activities."
Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter 6, Into Action, pp85
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"God can move mountains but it helps to bring a shovel!"
Any length of sobriety is an amazing thing, as an alcoholics' natural state is drunk!
The one thing we all have in common is today, and today's job right in front of me.
"It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of Gods will into all of our activities."
Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter 6, Into Action, pp85
That is what I believe! Every day I stay sober is major!!!!! Every day I get through any little (or in my mind...big...) annoyance, setback, hurt, sadness, resentment, etc., without picking up a drink is a Blessing to me. And that BB excerpt you posted is one of my favorites now because it explains what happened in my case which led to my "stinking thinking". Every single day I have to do every single thing I possibly can to protect myself from myself. There are no "vacation" days for me every again when it comes to working this program and all those emotions and things above will have no power over me if I do so.
