Archive for 2012

Self-worth means that you would never allow anyone to treat you worse than you would treat them.

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: Self-worth means that you would never allow anyone to treat you worse than you would treat them.
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

It's been said that people will only treat you the way you allow yourself to be treated. If you're in a bad relationship, or if your...

<p><div id="element4"></div><div id="element6"><div>It's been said that people will only treat you the way you allow yourself to be</div><div>treated. If you're in a bad relationship, or if your friends rip on you all the time,</div><div>you must not like yourself very much. If you did, you wouldn't be in that</div><div>relationship, and you wouldn't have those friends. </div><div></div><div>Though you can't control how any certain individual treats you, you can control who you allow to be in your life. Those who are closest to you affect your world. Jack Canfield says that the 5 people closest to you ARE you. If you combine the qualities of all of them, you get you. </div><div></div><div>Think of who is closest to you...who you talk to every day. Are those people happy, successful, in loving relationships, positive about life? If not, why are they the closest to you? </div><div></div><div>Some people feel that it's more important to be needed than to be happy. They usually get treated poorly. They have the kind of friends who thrive on drama, or need money they never pay back, or favors they never return. You can tell a lot about a person by their friends. </div><div></div><div>This is not to say that the minute a friend of yours has a problem, you should never ever talk to them again. It's great to help people, but the drains should never be in your closest circle. You'll spend your whole life so worried about helping them be better, that you'll become more like them in the process. You won't have much positive to say. You'll lose focus of your own hopes, dreams, and goals, and you won't be much fun to be around. Then, when you need something, those people just won't be there. They're too used to you being the strong one, the provider, the shoulder to lean on. It may not even occur to them that you would ever truly need anything. Don't be an uneccessary martyr.</div><div></div><div>When you speak to someone on the phone, after you hang up, how do you feel? This is the easiest way to tell who is a drain and who should be in your closest circle. If you feel lifted, happy, make more time for that person. If you feel deflated, worried, or even a little depressed, allow some distance to develop between you and that person. You're not abandoning anyone, you're just letting them find their own strength, rather than being there to wipe their nose every time they sneeze. </div><div></div><div>Self-worth means that you would never allow anyone to treat you worse than you would treat them. Not even if you really really love them. </div></div></p>

Self-worth means that you would never allow anyone to treat you worse than you would treat them.

It's been said that people will only treat you the way you allow yourself to be treated. If you're in a bad relationship, or if your...

I let go of my unhealthy habits and leave them in 2012.

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: I let go of my unhealthy habits and leave them in 2012.
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

I let go of my unhealthy habits and leave them in 2012. I let go of suffering and turn it into wisdom. I let go of debilitatting self-...

I let go of my unhealthy habits and leave them in 2012.

I let go of my unhealthy habits and leave them in 2012. I let go of suffering and turn it into wisdom. I let go of debilitatting self-...

Let go.

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: Let go.
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Let go. Why do you cling to pain? There is nothing you can do about the wrongs of yesterday. It is not yours to judge. Why hold on to the ve...

Let go.

Let go. Why do you cling to pain? There is nothing you can do about the wrongs of yesterday. It is not yours to judge. Why hold on to the ve...

The decision to get clean and sober is such a big life shift that it has to come from deep within the individual.

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: The decision to get clean and sober is such a big life shift that it has to come from deep within the individual.
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

That is what they refer to when they talk about “surrender.” No one else can surrender for you, or make the decision for you. Even o...

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  That is what they refer to when they talk about “surrender.”  No one else can surrender for you, or make the decision for you.<br />
Even once the individual has finally decided that they have had enough of this addiction madness, it can be very difficult to treat the disease well.  This is because addiction is inherently complex, in spite of what so many people want to believe instead.  It is not simple, nor is the solution.  The disease of addiction and alcoholism are very complicated, and the effect that addiction has on a person’s life is very complicated as well.  Just look at how many different things can be affected by a pattern of destructive drug or alcohol use: physical health, family relationships and functioning, friendships,spiritual growth, emotional health, mental status, and so on.  To say that addiction is simple is just plain wrong.  No, it is complicated, and that makes it difficult to treat.<br />
So then when you confront people with this truth about how addiction is complex, they will generally retort with “OK fine, addiction is complicated, and the effects of addiction can be complex and far-reaching, but surely the solution is still simple.  Recovery is simple.”  People cling to the idea of simplicity, because it gives them permission not to have to think.  People are lazy like that, and so they love simplicity.<br />
But recovery is anything but simple, and is necessarily complicated just like addiction is.  Why?  Because so many of the complexities that addiction forced into our lives can become tipping points that lead us back into relapse. In other words, addiction was complicated, and it screwed up our lives in many ways, and so on recovery we have to address ALL of those issues or we run the risk of relapsing because of it.<br />
For example, many addicts and alcoholics let their health fall by the wayside due to their addiction.  They have a choice in recovery: strive for better health, or continue to ignore their health problems or issues.  The fact is that IF they choose to ignore their health issues, those issues will lead them to relapse.  I have seen this happen over and over again, and in fact, it is probably the second most common cause of relapse that I see in recovery.<br />
Another example is that of relationships. (Which happens to be the most common cause of relapse, by the way).  People who have screwed up relationships in addiction now have a challenge in recovery: learn how to communicate effectively and treat people well, or suffer a relapse.  And guess what?  Dealing with relationships is anything but simple.  It takes work, it takes commitment, and it is just plain difficult to make all of our relationships flow smoothly in life.  And yet this is just one of the many challenges that the addict or alcoholic faces in recovery.  Fail this challenge in a big way, and relapse results.  Note that this is the number one reason that all addicts and alcoholics end up relapsing (or should we say it is the number one excuse?).<br />
So ultimately you have to use an holistic approach to recovery, one that is necessarily complex, if you want any sort of chance at maintaining lasting recovery.  It is not easy because you cannot just ignore difficult problems in your life.  You have address everything as a whole or some detail has the potential to bring you down and cause a full relapse.<br />
People claim that a solution such as a 12 step program can address all of this in a simple way, but they are stretching the truth a bit.  Sure, the 12 step program CAN actually work, but that does not mean it is simple.  No, there are still dozens of major challenges for any person in early recovery to face and overcome if they are to stay clean and sober, and the 12 step program does not deserve 100 percent credit for anyone’s recovery.  It is a framework that can help with problems, but it does not solve the actual problems or overcome your challenges for you.  Sorry, some hard work is still gonna be involved, no matter how “simple” you believe your solution to be!<br />
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The decision to get clean and sober is such a big life shift that it has to come from deep within the individual.

That is what they refer to when they talk about “surrender.” No one else can surrender for you, or make the decision for you. Even o...

spirituality emerges as a science

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: spirituality emerges as a science
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Stripped of all its outer encrustations, spirituality emerges as a science, as scientific as any other, as verifiable in its results. Let an...

spirituality emerges as a science

Stripped of all its outer encrustations, spirituality emerges as a science, as scientific as any other, as verifiable in its results. Let an...

When God does a miracle and remains anonymous, clear-cut directions in the Basic Text for Alcoholics Anonymous that have rarely failed any of us who have put it to the test.

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: When God does a miracle and remains anonymous, clear-cut directions in the Basic Text for Alcoholics Anonymous that have rarely failed any of us who have put it to the test.
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

It is so easy to take the existence of Alcoholics Anonymous for granted. We either forget or are unaware of the many coincidences or improb...

<p><p>It is so easy to take the existence of Alcoholics Anonymous for granted.  We either forget or are unaware of the many coincidences or improbable situations and occurrences that formed the path that led to the miracle of the Fellowship from which came the Program of recovery from the deadliest disease known to mankind.  While there is a lot of folklore and romantic stories regarding our history, there is no doubt that exceptional circumstances surround our beginning.  </p><p>Probably the first such event was the efforts Rowland Hazard’s parents extended in trying to find a solution for their son’s drinking problem.  After every domestic effort failed, they contacted the highly acclaimed psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud, M.D., to learn if he would be willing to try to help their son.  He informed them that he was too busy with a project to devote the necessary time to their son so they went to their second choice; Carl Jung, M.D.  Dr. Freud was a cocaine addict and an atheist.  Dr. Jung was a man of faith and believed our only hope was in a spiritual experience; a complete change in the way we think and the way we feel.  </p><p>After Rowland found sobriety through his association with the Oxford Group in New York, his folks sent him to their summer home in Manchester, VT for a vacation at their expense.  Being known as a “town drunk”, those who knew him well were impressed with his recovery.  One of his friends mentioned that there was a drunk in Shaftsbury, a small community a few miles south of Manchester, who was trying to make a living painting houses and when not working, was shooting pigeons off the roofs of the homes and barns.  Did Rowland have any idea how to help this poor soul?  Rowland drove down to where Ebby Thatcher was “having fun” and had no trouble locating him.  Rowland told Ebby how he had suffered miserably from his drinking and how he had found his Solution.  Ebby was interested until he heard that it had something to do with God and then he wanted to end the visit.  Rowland returned to Manchester, finished his vacation and returned to New York.</p><p>Ebby was a fun loving, happy alcoholic most of the time.  On one of his escapades, and trying to make it home before daylight, he had some difficulty making it around a corner and drove his auto through a dining room of a home and stopped in the kitchen where the lady was preparing breakfast.  Ebby jumped out of his car and said,  “Good morning Maam.  I thought I’d drop in for a cup of coffee.  Two sugars and a little cream please.”  She and her husband didn’t see the humor in it so they called the police who took Ebby to jail.  When Ebby appeared in court, he found himself in front of a Judge who had seen him too many times for drunkenness.   The Judge informed Ebby that he appeared to be a hopeless case and would therefore draw up the papers for commitment to an insane asylum for alcoholic insanity.  The Judge mentioned this to some friends, one of whom was Rowland Hazard who asked the Judge if he might not consider letting him have another visit with Ebby before finalizing the commitment.  The Judge released Ebby to Rowland’s custody with the assurance that if Ebby ever showed up in his court for drunkenness, there would be no further consideration.  It would be the “Funny Farm” for a very, very long time.  Of course, Ebby, with Rowland’s endorsement, joined the Oxford Group in New 	York and found that he too could stay happily sober by adopting their way of living.</p><p>As we know, Ebby two months sober heard that his old and very dear friend and drinking buddy, Bill Wilson, was in very serious trouble with his drinking.  Ebby went to the trouble to learn where Bill was then living and gave him a call.  Bill eagerly invited Ebby to come see him and to celebrate their reunion after a number of years apart, Bill purchased two quarts of “bathtub gin” and prepared for a catching up visit with Ebby.  There is no question that Bill was very disappointed when Ebby refused to drink but was willing to listen to what Ebby had to report on how he had found contented sobriety.  While Bill initially rebelled at the idea of a loving God as the Solution to his alcoholism, he finally surrendered to that concept and lived the rest of his thirty-six years of life sober and very active in trying to help other alcoholics.  Where would we be today if Ebby had not inconvenienced himself to try to help his alcoholic friend, Bill Wilson?  Or do you think that hard headed Bill Wilson would have accepted the experience of anyone except the one he knew to be a really serious problem drinker?  In their earlier days of drinking together, Bill would often look at Ebby’s drinking and would say to himself, “If I ever get as bad as Ebby, I’ll quit.”  When they met this time, Ebby was sober and happy.  Bill was looking forward to death.</p><p> </p><p>After Bill left Townes Hospital on December 18, 1934, he spent a part of almost every day seeking another serious drinker to tell his story to.  After four months of complete failure to “get another drunk sober”, he decided he was wasting his time and would become a more responsible husband.  When his wife Lois came home from work, he announced that he was going to quit wasting his time chasing drunks.  He was going to get a job and get Lois out of that department store.  They were going to become a respectable couple again.  We would expect her to have said, “Well, it’s about time.  You haven’t done anything to help in over two years.”  But, to his surprise, Lois looked at him and said, “Bill, for the first time in our seventeen years of marriage, you have been sober for four months.  I so love you sober.  You are not wasting your time.  You are staying sober.  You keep on trying and I’ll continue to earn our living.”  Really?  Yep, really!</p><p> </p><p>Bill was an entrepreneur and had formed a little combine to take control of a machine company in Akron Ohio.  Through Bill’s research, the members were convinced that they had purchased a sufficient number of shares of this Company that when they held the Stockholders Meeting on May 11, 1935, they would be able to vote their shares, which would represent a majority vote, and they therefore would gain control of the Company.  Bill was to become President of the Company so he and Lois would move to Akron and he would take up his duties.  The Company would flourish and they would all profit from the venture.  Bill had developed a reputation for being very good at analyzing companies and learning more about them then they would care to have known by those who trade in stock.  Unfortunately, on this occasion, Bill failed to learn that the Chairman of the Board of the Company owned a large block of stock that he had not registered.  The result of which was that their plans to gain controlling interest went down the toilet.  The investors were exceedingly upset and returned to New York, leaving Bill stranded with a two week unpaid hotel bill, Ten dollars in his pocket and an admonition to get the mess straightened out before he returned to New York.  So far as we know, this is the only time Bill failed to do a good job in his analysis of a company.  Coincidence?  Maybe!  And had they been successful in their “take over” effort, would Bill have had the determination to devote the amount of time that was necessary to produce the book ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS?  And without the success of the Big Book, there would have been no reason for the Twelve Traditions.  In fact, if they had been successful, there would be no Alcoholics Anonymous, as we know it, today.  Yes, just another coincidence.</p><p> </p><p>The disappointment of his failure almost cost him his sobriety, but he remembered that when all else failed, work with another alcoholic would save his day.  So he got on the telephone and after twelve telephone calls, found a person who said she knew of a serious drinker who they had prayed would find a solution for his drinking problem.  While Bill believed the twelfth telephone call to be a waste of time, the response he received was, “Oh yes, you are manna from heaven.  You are the answer to our prayers.  Please come on out.”</p><p> </p><p>Bill’s efforts led him to Robert Halbrook Smith, MD, a prominent rectal surgeon in Akron.  But Dr. Smith wasn’t very eager to meet this rummy from New York on Mother’s Day, 1935.  If fact, his first thought as he came to on that Sunday morning was to get himself a badly needed drink.  His wife, Ann, intercepted him as he headed to his bottle and told him that the man from New York was looking forward to meeting him.  Dr. Bob informed his wife that he very desperately needed a drink so she replied that he would not drink and he said he would and she said no you are not and he said yes I am and finally they cut a deal where she would say nothing more about his drinking if he would not drink until after they had gone to the Seiberling Estate to meet this man from New York and spend no more that fifteen minutes with him.  When they met at the screen door of the Gate House, Bill looked into the blood shot eyes of the sweating, shaking, Doctor and said, “Dr. Smith it is so good to meet you.  I’ve been looking forward to this.”  And Dr. Smith looked at the Bill and said, “Yes Mr. Wilson.  It is good to meet you too but we must be very brief.  I have but a few moments.”  And Bill Wilson said, “I understand Dr. You must be very thirsty.  You look as if you need a drink.”  And that is the magic of the “Language of the Heart.”  The magic is that the prominent surgeon listened to a stranger whose only qualification was that he was a recovered alcoholic and the fifteen minutes lasted a lifetime for both men.</p><p> </p><p>Reflecting a moment, we can see a great indebtedness to two wonderful ladies.  Lois who would not let Bill quit and Ann who would not let the Dr. miss a very important meeting with a rummy from New York.  If the two alcoholics had had their way, we wouldn’t be here today?</p><p> </p><p>In the Fall of 1937, Bill Wilson made a trip back West and stopped in Akron to visit with Dr. Bob.  While they had stayed in touch since they first met, they had not taken time to analyze what they were accomplishing.  While sharing the success they had experienced, and putting their respective numbers together, they came up with forty hopeless alcoholics who had significant sobriety.  They looked at each other and realized they were on to something of tremendous significance.  They immediately began exploring ways and means of propagating this vital information.  They came up with a number of what would appear to be great ideas.  To get support for these wonderful suggestions, Dr. Bob called a meeting of the Akron and Cleveland AA’s.  When the twenty some were assembled, Bill began presenting these propositions and one by one they were shot down.  The final idea was a book that would outline the Problem – Alcoholism; the Solution – God as we understood Him and the Program of Action that would produce the Solution – victory over alcohol.  That idea was about to be eliminated when Dr. Bob spoke up in favor of it stating that the vital information they had developed had to be preserved so it would not be garbled by word of mouth.  It was reported that a vote of the “slimmest majority” approved the idea.  Had the Big Book not been approved and put into circulation, there would be no Alcoholics Anonymous today, as we know it.  Only since April 1939 has the hopeless, helpless alcoholic had a chance to escape death or insanity from drinking.  Prior to that time, only a few, a very few did not wind up in the morgue or an insane asylum.</p><p>There are many more examples of “God doing a miracle and remaining anonymous” in the structuring of this fantastic Program that came from a handful of alcoholics of the hopeless variety.  Isn’t it tragic that so many have paid the price of admission and are told, “Don’t drink and go to meetings,” thereby being denied the Power that comes from following the clear-cut directions in the Basic Text for Alcoholics Anonymous that have rarely failed any of us who have put it to the test.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p></p>

When God does a miracle and remains anonymous, clear-cut directions in the Basic Text for Alcoholics Anonymous that have rarely failed any of us who have put it to the test.

It is so easy to take the existence of Alcoholics Anonymous for granted. We either forget or are unaware of the many coincidences or improb...

The First Recovered Alcoholic

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: The First Recovered Alcoholic
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

English: Hand-colored photograph of Carl Jung in USA, published in 1910. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) While AA uses the June 10, ...

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<a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jung_1910-crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:left;"><img alt="English: Hand-colored photograph of Carl Jung ..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="570" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Jung_1910-crop.jpg/300px-Jung_1910-crop.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 300px;">English: Hand-colored photograph of Carl Jung in USA, published in 1910. (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jung_1910-crop.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
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<span class="full-image-float-left ssNonEditable" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 8px 0px;"><img alt="" src="http://thump.squarespace.com/storage/RowlandHazard.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1306705612607" style="border: 0px none; width: 150px;" /></span>While AA uses the June 10, 1935 meeting between Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron Ohio as the origin of the program, roots of the program date back further to the man pictured here, Rowland Hazard. A hopeless drunk with unlimited financial resources, he sought the help of Dr. Carl Jung some time in 1930 or 1931. After Hazard relapsed immediately upon leaving Jung's care, the psychologist told him his only hope was to have a vital spiritual awakening.  Hazard joined the Oxford Group, shared his experience with Ebby Thatcher, and the rest is history.  Without Hazard, there is no seminal meeting in Bill's kitchen and no Alcoholics Anonymous.</div>
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The First Recovered Alcoholic

English: Hand-colored photograph of Carl Jung in USA, published in 1910. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) While AA uses the June 10, ...

The fact that Living Sober is conference-approved AA literature is one of the great mysteries of the AA fellowship.

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: The fact that Living Sober is conference-approved AA literature is one of the great mysteries of the AA fellowship.
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Living Sober. I'm not sure who wrote this tragic little book, but the fact that Living Sober is conference-approved AA literature is o...

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Living Sober.  I'm not sure who wrote this tragic little book, but the fact that Living Sober is conference-approved AA literature is one of the great mysteries of the AA fellowship.  Put nicely, there's just very little in Living Sober that you can line up with the philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous.  In fact, much of it runs completely counter to the Big Book.  I like to think of it as an operator's manual for the willpower.<br />
And last night, we found ourselves reading one of my favorites, the chapter"USING THE 24 HOUR PLAN."  This little treatise suggests that anyone can stop drinking for 24 hours, and that sobriety is really just stringing those 24-hour successes together.   One could argue that since AA has largely become a pep rally for abstinence, "Using the 24 Hour Plan" could be our new "How It Works."<br />
I've got nothing against keeping it simple in the early phases of sobriety.  Getting past the physical urge to drink or use drugs is arguably the hardest thing we do, and unless we're locked up somewhere, it does require willpower.  Getting clear of that craving-- that maddening itch that needs scratching-- can be helped by breaking it down into digestable time segments.  I get it.<br />
The problem, as I see it, is that many never get past One Day At A Time.  They grind it out, the physical obsession quiets, and they feel better.  They equate that physical restoration with recovery.  The condescending term used in AA for this feeling is a "pink cloud."  "Be careful," nods the sage oldtimer, "you're on a pink cloud."  This diagnosis is rarely followed with precise direction as to what the newcomer might do to guard against the looming relapse, unless you consider "keep coming back" to be meaningful advice.<br />
What happens?  The mental obsession kicks in, and the alcoholic finds themselves defenseless against the first drink.  They are left confused and befuddled as to how they could have possibly thought that picking up again was a good idea.  They believe they have failed, when the truth is, by not presenting the dire nature of their condition and the path to recovery through the 12 steps with urgency, AA has failed them.<br />
AA is not a "don't drink one day at a time" program.  The program of recovery presented in our textbook offers a solution to the drink problem, relief from the mental obsession through treating the spiritual malady that is our alcoholism.  Our first step does not say "Admitted we were powerless over alcohol, unless it was within 24 hours, in which case we were hunky-dory."<br />
Powerlessness is unconditional.<br />
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The fact that Living Sober is conference-approved AA literature is one of the great mysteries of the AA fellowship.

Living Sober. I'm not sure who wrote this tragic little book, but the fact that Living Sober is conference-approved AA literature is o...

In order to be willing to believe in a power greater than myself, I needed to set aside all of my ideas and concepts about "God."

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: In order to be willing to believe in a power greater than myself, I needed to set aside all of my ideas and concepts about "God."
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

"The Great Spirit does not toil within the bounds of human time, place, or casualty. The Great Spirit is superior to these human qu...

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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8628862@N05/4035957098" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Great Spirit" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="132" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2424/4035957098_12213c4402_m.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="200" /></a></div>
<blockquote>
"The Great Spirit does not toil within the bounds of human time, place, or casualty. The Great Spirit is superior to these human questionings. It teems with many rich and wandering drives which to our shallow minds seem contradictory; but in the essence of divinity they fraternize and struggle together, faithful comrades-in-arms. The primordial Spirit branches out, overflows, struggles, fails, succeeds, trains itself. It is the Rose of the Winds." </blockquote>
In order to be willing to believe in a power greater than myself, I needed to set aside all of my ideas and concepts about "God."  I wiped the slate clean, even of the word "God." My conception of a higher power could not be tethered to human expression, not because I was special or intelligent, but because all language and expression carried some baggage, and I needed to be free of that.  It was the only thing that would work.  I needed to experience a power greater than myself, not define it. <br />
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In order to be willing to believe in a power greater than myself, I needed to set aside all of my ideas and concepts about "God."

"The Great Spirit does not toil within the bounds of human time, place, or casualty. The Great Spirit is superior to these human qu...

The Dilemma of No Faith

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: The Dilemma of No Faith
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

AA meeting sign (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Yet we can't well content ourselves with the view that all these recovery failures...

The Dilemma of No Faith

AA meeting sign (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Yet we can't well content ourselves with the view that all these recovery failures...

The imposter program that's quietly taken up residence in our rooms, slowly, over decades, with such quietness that most don't even realize the deception has taken place.

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: The imposter program that's quietly taken up residence in our rooms, slowly, over decades, with such quietness that most don't even realize the deception has taken place.
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

It's part of the amends I'm trying to make to the people I told to "not drink and go to meetings" when they needed so...

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  It's part of the amends I'm trying to make to the people I told to "not drink and go to meetings" when they needed so much more, when they needed the actual program of Alcoholics Anonymous, and not some silly pep-rally for abstinence. <br />
When I said the 3rd step prayer with my sponsor, he asked me if I would make a deal with the God that I was still unsure existed but wanted desperately to find.  He asked me if in exchange for being relieved of the insanity of alcoholism, would I help God's children?<br />
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The imposter program that's quietly taken up residence in our rooms, slowly, over decades, with such quietness that most don't even realize the deception has taken place.

It's part of the amends I'm trying to make to the people I told to "not drink and go to meetings" when they needed so...

www.dreamwarriorrecovery.com

Self-worth means that you would never allow anyone to treat you worse than you would treat them.

I let go of my unhealthy habits and leave them in 2012.

Let go.

The decision to get clean and sober is such a big life shift that it has to come from deep within the individual.

spirituality emerges as a science

When God does a miracle and remains anonymous, clear-cut directions in the Basic Text for Alcoholics Anonymous that have rarely failed any of us who have put it to the test.

The First Recovered Alcoholic

The fact that Living Sober is conference-approved AA literature is one of the great mysteries of the AA fellowship.

In order to be willing to believe in a power greater than myself, I needed to set aside all of my ideas and concepts about "God."

The Dilemma of No Faith

The imposter program that's quietly taken up residence in our rooms, slowly, over decades, with such quietness that most don't even realize the deception has taken place.

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