Rainy Tuesday

It is a beautiful morning out there. My flowers are being watered by their heavenly caretaker. I was going to run this morning, but I have decided not to, and it is a good thing because it is almost 7 o'clock, and here I sit in my jammies, not kicking it in gear very quickly this morning.

Last night there were 49 people at the 5:30 meeting. I think about 20 of them raised their hands for being in their first 30 days. That meeting is very humbling. I find the opportunities and responsibilities from having that many new and hurting people in one room to be awesome... not as in 'awesome dude,' but as in awe-inspiring.

Here is a phenomena I have noticed over the years, but have noticed more recently. Those who have had periods of sobriety, gotten drunk, and then have come back seem to go off on these lectures about how tenuous sobriety is - with stern warnings about what can happen. Most of us have already heeded that warning years ago, and that is why we are sitting at a meeting - in no crisis, just sitting there on a perfectly nice sober day. I will sometimes ask someone returning "what happened?" and find the answers may vary in small details, but it is always the same. Sobriety Losing Its Priority (SLIP). They found a new boy/girl/friend. They got a new job, they went back to school... all these are great, but then they stopped going to meetings, they stopped calling their sponsors, they stopped praying. Anyway, I think it is much more helpful to hear how people DO stay sober than hearing how they DIDN'T stay sober.

One guy came back and told this little story: The morning meeting was on his way to work. When he first stopped going to meetings he would look at the cars in the parking lot as he drove by, noting who was there, and think about what he was missing inside. After a while, he didn't care whose car was there, he didn't miss what was going on inside. After a little while longer, he would drive by, and angrily think "f*** you people!" I think only an alcoholic would understand this kind of twisted thinking - but I sure do.

I better get ready for work. Have a great and sober day everyone.

"Our chief responsibility to the newcomer is an adequate presentation of the program. If he does nothing or argues, we do nothing but maintain our own sobriety. If he starts to move ahead, even a little, with an open mind, we then break our necks to help in every way we can." -- As Bill Sees It, p. 105