The new life can't be built in a day. We have to take the program slowly, a little at a time. Our subconscious minds have to be reeducated. We have to learn to think differently. We have to get used to sober thinking instead of alcoholic thinking. Any one who tries it knows that the old alcoholic thinking is apt to come back on us when we least expect it. Building a new life is a slow process, but it can be done if we really follow the A.A. program. Am I building a new life on the foundation of sobriety? The new life can't be built in a day. We have to take the program slowly, a little at a time. Our subconscious minds have to be reeducated. We have to learn to think differently. We have to get used to sober thinking instead of alcoholic thinking. Any one who tries it knows that the old alcoholic thinking is apt to come back on us when we least expect it. Building a new life is a slow process, but it can be done if we really follow the A.A. program. Am I building a new life on the foundation of sobriety?

Tuesday, January 18, 2011
You are reading from the book Twenty Four Hours a Day Hardcover (24 Hours)

http://www.hazelden.org/web/public/thought.view?catId=1901

We are born in innocence. Corruption comes later. The first fear is a corruption, the first reaching for a something that defies us. The first nuance of difference, the first need to feel better than the different one, more loved, stronger, richer, more blessed--these are corruptions.
—Laura Z. Hobson

We are corrupted. To be human is to be corrupted. Our corruptions interfere with our happiness at the very time we are seeking happiness. When we think if only we were prettier, smarter, had a better job, then we'd be happy, we are giving in to corruptions. And these corruptions stifle our growth. We are each who we need to be. We have a supporting role in one another's lives. We can teach and learn from one another.

Recovery is choosing to help ourselves and one another to be as we are; to quit making comparisons; to understand our equality as women; to celebrate our difference, knowing they give intensity to life's colors for us all.

I can celebrate our special and different gifts today. My heart will be lightened.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning

http://www.hazelden.org/web/public/thought.view?catId=1920

We had a good study on the second step last night. I am glad I went.

We had a wonderful meeting, tonight. I was wondering because of the weather if I would be the only one to show up. But I went through the normal preparation of preparing for a meeting. I got the coffee to going and went and got our group tote full of our AA stuff and sign to hang outside the door. Sure enough, one of of members who labels himself as a real alcoholic showed up with another member. The other member had to sit in the back of his car because the side door was still froze up but they managed to get the back door open so he had sit in the back. The coffee was still brewing as he took the pot of coffee out because at their group their coffee pot automatically shut off when you took the pot out. Fortunately, we have plenty of paper towels some offered by the church and some we owned because we have been known to get messy. It is nice to know that we have members who face a blizzard for a meeting because they would face a blizzard to get a drink. There were just five members but we still had to be careful of the time so we wouldn't run over the allotted hour. I am glad I went. I feel much better now like I usually do when I have had my fix of a meeting.

WOW I had a moment

I was at work friday, getting ready to leave for the weekend. I walked into the shop office to clock out and there sits a truck driver and my boss both drinking. the trucker just got done pouring a cup of Jim Beam over ice. I was frozen!! He asked me if I wanted one, I thought to myself HELL YES!!!! Now I do have 24+ years of sobriety and ive been in this situation a number of times over the years, 9 outta 10 times i dont even think about it. this time God did for me what I couldnt do for myself, I clocked out and left and when i got to my truck, I thanked him. proves to me that it is cunning, baffling and powerful and that Im not invincible and thats ok!!

Good for you Fetts! I am sure you have gone through this the entire time you have been sober....so glad that you are holding on and taking care of yourself

I am glad you made it through that ordeal. My old sponsor when asked if he had a drinking problem would reply that there wasn't anything wrong with his swallowing. Just got back from the meeting. We had four that showed up counting myself. My boarder said the weather should have defrosted the frozen water pipe by now. Sure enough the ice had defrosted in the well pump house as was obvious from the broken PVC pipe and the water flowing freely. Glued it back together with water pressure on the pressure gauge. Points on the contacts show electric sparks. I can hear the hot water tank filling up. I was trudging back and forth to the well pump house. The first PVC glue container was dried out. Found another one which was good. Broken pipes are fixed. If I am hearing water to the hot water heater tank then that means the large capacitor controlling the electric motor to the well pump is okay. The main thing for me to remember that getting drunk isn't going to fix the problem. As I learn in rehab I am either part of the problem or part of the solution. One member is fond of saying, "It is what it is."

That quote "It is what It is" has gotten me thru some real tough spots in life. If I am willing to accept what is, then I can get about using the Serenity Prayer. I believe there is always a solution...and yet for me...getting to the part where I need to "Let it Go". (which is the solution sometimes) can take much longer than it needs to. Thank God for this program...I have a choice today

Have not had a drink in over 6 years,
had a good friend shoot himself,and another
die in a car accident.

This is a really courageous stretch for me . . . joining in this thread. For quite some time, I've accepted that I am some kind of alcoholic. If I am engaged and involved in my life, I just don't feel the need to drink. When I get bored or lonely, that changes. My life has recently come apart and I recognize that I am drinking too much. Not really sure how I should approach this. At my age, I'm not sure whether it matters a whole hell of a lot. I don't have that many years left.

We had a good meeting last night. We were going through the last of the fourth step in the 12 by 12. One lady it bothered because it really hit home hard and she was crying. She was amazed how we could be laughing. She was trying really hard to endure and just got her one month chip. Her husband was complaining that she was going to too many meetings and needed to be home with him. She was saying that the program was affecting her manipulation in her marriage and she was trying to work a honest program. We suggested that her husband should go to Al-anon and maybe then he would be trying to encourage her instead of trying to discouraging her. We explained to her that the hardest place to work the program is in the home. Most of the new comers we come across don't need any more guilt than what they already have. We told her that Lois almost bailed on the AA program before she helped to start Al-anon.

http://www.steppingstones.org/loisstory.html

I have great empathy for the married woman, I went thru the same thing with my ex-husband. I ended drinking again after over 6 yrs of sobriety. I am responsible for choosing to drink. My husband didn't realize how selfish he was being. If I were going for Cancer treatment, would he try to stop that? He just didn't "get it". Its so sad all that we went thru (I had to go to rehab and be away from my precious children and him). We all went thru so much pain, and then the marriage ended. He still didn't "get it". Sobriety has to be #1 in my life, without it I cannot have anything. He still blames "those AA people"... I can't change that. "It is What it is". I have not had a drink in over 4 yrs... There have been many challenges, but I Love this life, in a way that I would NOT give up for anything or anyone.

Don't forget!
A Daily Reprieve,Contingent On Our Spiritual Condition!

That is just so beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Some of us are sicker than others and I am living proof.

We discussed the fifth step in our regular 12 by 12 group that meets on Monday night.

5) Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

It is three admits.

I am glad one member showed up to have his paper signed last night. It made waiting in the rainy weather worthwhile. I kind of figured with the stormy weather and the high gas prices that attendance would be short.

We had a good meeting, tonight. I am glad that I showed up. There were three of us. One member who just comes randomly but doesn't have to have his paper signed any more. One member who has been trying to come regularly but just on Tuesdays. He admitted to having a beer and I told him the important thing is not that he had a beer but that he came back. I know from personal experience that, "Keep coming back" means the difference in my having sobriety or not.

i quit sept 2010 ironically it was thru someone whom i met on here n attempted a relationship but as i found out were all in a a for a reason

I'm starting to realize I miss AA more than I ever thought I could. I've been going through a lot of BS lately & right now I sit here drunk wishing I had an AA friend to talk too but of course I tossed them all away for what I thought I wanted. Maybe a meeting today...

yes i would suggest that im goin thru a very trying time myself but its not worth it to me to just give up and revert to past bad habits