Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Misery


I have got the worst cold. I feel miserable. I worked for 10 hours yesterday, but I am hoping to only work 4 today. I have to give a presentation at 11:00 that I have been working on since February. Maybe the dripping nose, the package of kleenex, and the gravelly voice will induce sympathy for me? And thereby get my proposals approved? It could happen.

I went to a noon meeting yesterday and really loved it. There was a woman who talked about all the "work" that one needs to do to stay sober. She went on and on in this vein. After her, a haggard looking man shared about all the years he came in and went out of AA, and the people who told him what to do, and the lectures he had to endure. Then he found a group who told him that if he wanted to stay sober, he would do certain things. If he didn't want to do them, "don't let the door hit you in the ass." He responded to that approach and has been sober for 6 years. He was in and out for 16 years prior to that.

I think I forgot what it was like to sit in a room where there are business people sitting next to ragged looking street people. It has been years since I have regularly attended a noon meeting. I got sober at one! I think I shall continue to attend this noon meeting because it is diverse and little rough around the edges, and that is the kind of AA I like.

The pink thing above is the baby blanket I hand knit for a doctor at work.  Today is her baby shower, and I shall take this to the shower and then leave.  No pregnant person needs me coughing on her!

"Our admissions of personal powerlessness finally turn out to be firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful lives may be built."  -- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 21

14 comments:

Pammie said...

Alka Seltzer Cold Plus.
A Big Bear Hug from a handsome man.
Kleenex with Aloe.
4 Project Runways in a Row.
Double Stuff Oreos and Milk.
Cotton P.J.s
Soft Fan blowing in the room.
Nap.
Your co-pay for this advice..just blow me a kiss ;)

~Tyra~ said...

My very first meeting as a noon one.

Anonymous said...

Hope you are feeling better soon. I am going to a noon meeting today too!

dAAve said...

I approve your proposal.

Lou said...

I like rough around the edges too.

Get better so you can go for a run.

One Prayer Girl said...

My very first meeting was a noon women's meeting. Ended up saving my life.

Trailboss said...

Your poor dear. With the title I was almost expecting Kathy Bates. I hope you get the time to relax and rest. Feed a cold and starve a fever. So go eat!

Scott W said...

I think Pam has the answers.

J-Online said...

The blanket is beautiful. I know how many hours that must have taken. A truly wonderful gift from the heart.

I hope you feel better soon.

Syd said...

Lots of chicken soup is what I use. I hope that you feel better.

I used to go to a noon open AA meeting that was just as you describe. It was next to a shelter and there were business people and street people side by side. I liked the roughness of it.

Zanejabbers said...

By the time you read this, I hope you will have had a very successful presentation and are home nursing yourself back to being well. Sounds like a good nooner to me.

steveroni said...

A cold is 'against the law' for me, I simply have to refuse them. Hate them.

And it's all Adam's fault.

Met my wife at a noon meeting, it was on the Thirteenth Step about 20 years ago. Ooops, she's gonna kill me for writing that!

Akannie said...

Feel better soon, mon Cherie!

(And NAP--definitely nap!)

Kathy Lynne said...

Isn't it amazing that this simple program of 12 Steps can hit each person in a different way? And people react to different approaches differently. I'm all for anything that works...and we can get so eager to share what worked for us that we don't pay attention to how others feel about it. There is that self centeredness again. I need to watch that.

Hope the presentation went well and that you are in bed doing all the get well measures suggested.