I am glad you are here. This is a web page
specifically to thank all of those along the way for my
continued sobriety. My sobriety date is June 22, 1976. That is 29.5 years I have been without a drink or other
mind altering substance.
I have no illusions. I could never have stayed sober on my own. I
am blessed along my path to sobriety with great sponsors, great friends, a great family and through the healing of
the 12 Steps a God of my own understanding who loves me unconditionally and does for me what I could
not do for myself.
I could not have stayed sober on my own resources alone ~ period ~ without my Higher Power. God alone
knows how hard and long I tried. Until I "let go absolutely", I couldn't put down the drink.
I am going to try to
tell a bit about me and alcoholism in story and pictures on this page.
"AS BILL SEES IT**
Dividends and Mysteries
"The A.A. preoccupation with sobriety is sometimes misunderstood. To some,
this single virtue appears to be the sole dividend of our Fellowship. We are
thought to be dried-up drunks who otherwise have changed little, or not at
all, for the better. Such a surmise widely misses the truth. We know that
permanent sobriety can be attained only by a most revolutionary change in the
life and outlook of the individual--by a spiritual awakening that can banish
the desire to drink."
"You are asking yourself, as all of us must: 'Who am I?'...'Where am
I?'...'Whence do I go?' The process of enlightenment is usually slow. But, in
the end, our seeking always brings a finding. These great mysteries are,
after all, enshrined in complete simplicity. The willingness to grow is the
essence of all spiritual development."
1. LETTER, 1966
2. LETTER, 1955
**From the book As Bill Sees It Page 171 Bill Wilson is the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
In the beginning it was enough to do some simple
things. Go to meetings, don't drink, call people who willingly gave me their phone numbers, don't drink, read
the slogans on the walls of the meeting rooms, don't drink, get a sponsor (someone who would help me do the simple
but not necessarily easy things that the AA book suggested), don't drink........well, you get the idea.
These
are the slogans that I saw on the walls of the meeting rooms. Over time they ceased being trite and took
on a whole world of meaning. I also learned these words are absolutely true and absolutely work in my life if
I practice them.
"Live and Let Live" to pay
attention to my own troubles and leave others alone. I have all I can do to handle myself.
"Easy Does It" has an unwritten half - "But Do It". "First Things First" - without sobriety,
I would HAVE nothing else. Period. Alcoholism leads to insanity and death. We never regain
our tolerance for alcohol if we are REAL Alcoholics. And I am definitely a REAL ALCOHOLIC.
Candle
of Hope from Norway
Obtaining and maintaining a "Spiritual Way of Life"
means to me that I "MUST" do the things pointed
out in the Big Book (the Book called "Alcoholics Anonymous") It says in this
book that there are only suggestions there. However, someone has counted the "Musts" and there are about
122 of them.
The "suggestions" in the
Big Book, are things I MUST do if I wish to obtain and maintain a
spiritual way of life without drinking. It is like this: these
are "suggestions" in the same way as if I am in an airplane about to
jump because it will crash land (like me before sobriety) "it is
'suggested' that I pull the rip cord."
The authors of the book
Alcoholics Anonymous say in another section - These are the things we DID
to obtain and maintain sobriety. They don't say "Don't drink and go
to meetings". If that had worked for me I wouldn't have needed the
12 Steps. Or meetings or a sponsor to guide my way or service
work (going to meetings is NOT service work) or any of those things.
They say get into action if you want what we have. The action of the
Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and of carrying THIS message.
Another AA friend says
the book tells us to chase drunks and by that he means out here in the
real world. Going to a meeting where the drunks already are, is not
finding the "man/woman" who still suffers.
I have included here, links
to AA sources for the books and the main AA Web Site. These links
are also available from the drop down menu, which is on ALL of my pages.
Pointing the mouse at any one of these
books will take you to 1.) The Big Book Online; 2.) The Main Alcoholics Anonymous Web Site; and 3.)
The Twelve and Twelve Online. You can visit all of these sites from here. They are the mainstays of
the program of Alcoholics Anonymous and why and how the programs works so well.
This website would not be complete without
my actual story - what it was like, what happened and what it's like today. So...........I have included
a link here to just that - the story of my journey from active alcoholism to sobriety to contented, happy
recovery from the "seemingly hopeless state of mind and body" that is active alcoholism.
