I saw so many people in pain at that meeting. Sober people, living life, facing difficulties without a drink. God bless 'em.
Honestly, it does something to my heart when I see someone stay sober when they've lost their job, lost their wife / husband, facing a kid with alcoholism or addiction, losing a kid, getting sued, going bankrupt, being homeless...
It's great when life is good, but we need not to lose our perspective about where we came from. And where we can go back to - with one sip.
So, when I see someone who is devastated in almost every way and can still say with sincerity that they are grateful to be sober, I feel like I have heard something real. Something with weight. Something so much more helpful to a newcomer than all that cheerful-ness about how life is so freaking great. But maybe that's just me...
"When a big, healthy-looking young fellow stood up there and said, 'I'm a success today if I don't drink today,' I thought, 'Man, I've got a thousand things to do today before I can brag about not taking a drink for God's sake!' Of course, I will still drinking at the time. (Today there is absolutely nothing in the world more important to me than my keeping this alcoholic sober; not taking a drink is by far the most important thing I do each day.)" Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd ed. p. 447
7 comments:
It's probably good for a newcomer to see both sides; that life CAN be good sober AND that we can stay sober in spite of difficult times.
When I can learn to remain sober in the midst of chaos .....
I agree with dAAve that newcomers need to see all stages of life being dealt with soberly and thoughtfully; it may be the only solid demonstration of goodness they see in a day of their life.
I agree with you both Lynda and Dave. However, I see people come to meetings who are unwilling to admit they are having problems - privately they will say that they think that if they had good sobriety, they would not be having problems. I think we perpetuate that in meetings. I am particularly seeing people right now who are having tremendous financial difficulty and feeling that they should have X number of $ because they are sober X number of years. So, that's where I am coming from with this post.
But I do agree, people do need to see something appealing at meetings or they wouldn't want to come back.
Stopping by to say hello. Beautiful rose, enjoying fall roses myself.
Staying sober is much simpler (don't drink) than dealing with all those other problems I hear at meetings every day.
It sounds as if it was a powerful meeting. Knowing that drinking is not going to solve any problems but magnify them is powerful for all concerned.
I'm so glad you put 2+2 together on the meds. Every medicine is a drug. A legal drug. Every drug changes your body.
This is a hot topic for me. Most patients we see over age 50 come in with a sheet of paper listing an average of 8 to 12 meds.
Doesn't anyone question what 12 different medicines would be doing to their body??!
Now let's hope the migraines don't come back.
Post a Comment