Friends of Bill W.

Originally Posted by Lady_Di

Reminds me of a murderer that was turned in by someone that they had done a 5th step with...

I have seen the FBI suit up and show up, infiltrate one of our meetings. It is an amazing world in which we live and between meetings and the internet, it never surprises me anymore the things people will share like no one is remembering what in the heck they are saying. People are listening! And acting on those things that they do hear.

Listen and learn.



ODAT,
Di

Well, that damn well means I ain't ever gonna share openly and honestly...just in case MI5 turn up


2 months today...woohooo!

At last night's meeting (with the other fellowship) we had a reading that was about the 'triangle of self-obsession'. It piqued all sorts of things for me which I really need to think more upon and write about.

This weekend is the North West AA Convention. As I can't afford to attend I'm going to go this afternoon, tell them I'm a newbie and they should let me in. It would be awesome to spend some of the day with lots and lots of other sober alcoholics.



Remember...honesty costs lives...and let's be careful out there people!

[Lady_Di]

Originally Posted by Incubus

Well, that damn well means I ain't ever gonna share openly and honestly...just in case MI5 turn up


2 months today...woohooo!

At last night's meeting (with the other fellowship) we had a reading that was about the 'triangle of self-obsession'. It piqued all sorts of things for me which I really need to think more upon and write about.

This weekend is the North West AA Convention. As I can't afford to attend I'm going to go this afternoon, tell them I'm a newbie and they should let me in. It would be awesome to spend some of the day with lots and lots of other sober alcoholics.



Remember...honesty costs lives...and let's be careful out there people!

Grats on the 2 months. As for monitoring what you share in the privacy of your 5th step, I think it means pick wisely whom you put your trust into. Caution is a good thing, as we are not a bunch of saints within those hallowed halls. Heck, outside those hallowed halls as well!

I know plenty of old timers I would trust with anything, that will go to their grave with what they have heard. Often times they forget most of it, truth be told. They know the power of letting go of the past, except what can be used to be helpful and in service to others.

Experience, strength and hope... share it.

It works.

Discretion is as always, the better part of valor. I think one thing I suggest to any new comer is to sit back and watch, listen. People show their true colours. Folks that stick to only sharing their own experiences, versus those that essentially gossip and name drop. This is part of learning to live life on life's terms, the way things are, not the way we wish things were. I learn even from those gossips and name droppers, I learn what not to do. I learn from each and every soul that walks in those doors.


I have known others be very distrustful of sharing straight from the heart in their 5th step. They go so far as to find a priest, psychiatrist/pyschologist or a very elderly ear that can hardly remember what day it is anymore. Some use it as an excuse to not work the steps. We do tend to love to put those things off, especially the things that can be most helpful sometimes. The point is to share parts of yourself you have kept in the dark shadows of your life. I prefer someone that can give me a kick in the pants, reality therapy. Facing things head on.

Just remember we are not alone. This is most assuredly a We program.

Thanks Lady_Di ...to be fair, I was teasin' a bit; FBI men 'infiltrating' meetings sounds a little Mulder & Scully.

However... after saying that, it did put honesty and trust on my mind for the day.

My day started with a disappointment in being refused a free pass into the convention but was quickly followed by a divine gift horse, which I decided not to look in the mouth. It kick-started the li'l emotional roller-coaster ride I've been on today.

It's all good!

Much hope and strength. A few risks. A faux pas. So many lovely folks. A feeling of unity.

Now very tired, happy and going to bed.

The end.

[LeftWriteFemme]

April 1

RAIN

The rain makes shadows of water. It spills onto the ground like tiny worlds. What had been airborne and mist is now earthbound and integral, feeding, cutting, learning the world. Once I contemplated theories and mystery. Now, washing dishes is a spiritual service. The view was lovely when I was above it all but now I course through the veins of life. There may come a time when I am untouchable again but by then I will have been a part of it all. I will carry the world with me always, an orbiting servant not just above but through.


Engrave compliments in your mind.


*
Clock and Calendar Girl


I depend on the count and measure of time to get me through.
The swing of the pendulum carries me from moment to moment
and the divisions between days are like the rungs on a ladder;

I climb from month to month and age to age.
When I hold my breath I count the tic, tic, tic
till the difficult time passes and I can inhale once more.

Harder things require X’s in their numbered boxes
to help me transverse the larger distance and rockier terrain.
Take away my clock and I go deaf,
remove my calendar and I go blind.
Tools are tools even if they only aid sight and sound.

[Lady_Di]

Originally Posted by Incubus

Thanks Lady_Di ...to be fair, I was teasin' a bit; FBI men 'infiltrating' meetings sounds a little Mulder & Scully.

However... after saying that, it did put honesty and trust on my mind for the day.

My day started with a disappointment in being refused a free pass into the convention but was quickly followed by a divine gift horse, which I decided not to look in the mouth. It kick-started the li'l emotional roller-coaster ride I've been on today.

It's all good!

Much hope and strength. A few risks. A faux pas. So many lovely folks. A feeling of unity.

Now very tired, happy and going to bed.

The end.

Its all good.


Yes, it is about getting real. Real honest.

And the proof was self evident for you yesterday, from the sounds of it. You honestly sharing you could not pay, someone heard you and stepped up to the plate. No doubt they want you to do the same when you have a few more months under your belt and the finances to help others. Remembering all those that have helped me, I have a real responsibility to Pay It Foward.


Which reminds me of a very important movie I highly recommend. It is also a good old book...

Magnificant Obsession


there is a very obvious part of the story that is very much akin to what we do here, in fact I would go so far that they were very much illuminating the 12 steps in action and showing where this legacy comes from... 2000 years ago, the Golden Rule and Sermon on the Mount, etc

this wonderful obviously sober old man brings in a man, in from the storm so to speak... gives him shelter and food, an ear to listen, broad shoulders

His one and only request for this kindness was to do the same for someone else, but if anyone finds out you have done this kindness it does not count...

has to do with Paying It Forward and for doing so with the right reasons in heart and mind

doing so for self agrandizement is just wrong, imnsho, that is ego getting in the way of being of service


In Service Always,
Di

*** Everyone serves, even the Queen of England serves her people, the question is...

who do you serve? ***

[Lady_Di]

oh, and the goal was to do that good deed everyday, once a day... if anyone finds out you did it, gots to do another one...

I love Magnificant Obsession.

Anonymity at work in Hollywood, for sures. It was such a 12 step movie.

[LeftWriteFemme]

April 2

PADUANS


The pussy willows bloom looking much like crested poultry. The coldest part of my heart is fighting to thaw in this early spring. Weather is not of the mind to be rushed. Neither my hopes nor the changing calendar can persuade the warmth into the May mornings. It’s May for me, too, no longer the early sobriety of January. The years have marched on; I wait for the delivery of my returning brains. Long term sobriety has begun but I am still beset with the chill of fragility. I desire dignity and find myself strutting like a fowl with blooming plumage, addled and gawky.
“Don’t worry,” says my sponsor, “the pussy willow is in no way less for showing itself in the rawness of growth.”


Listen to the sounds of your life.
*

Unfettered


“The difference between a demand and a request
is apparent to everyone.”
A drunk once said this and I hold it to my heart.
I can not be bullied or swindled into a corner;
neither will I allow you to put a rope around my neck
like a wayward calf.

I obey because it works for me
and if you teach me that you are untrustworthy
or careless I will obey you no longer,
this doesn’t make me less obedient
it just takes you out of the lead.

Sometimes I hold the reins
and most times they are in the hands of God,
but never shall my reins be in the hands of another,
this is what I drank over
and this is what I could drink over again.

No one person is my salvation
and I cannot allow anyone to be my demise.
If you consume me like a drink,
I will kill you as surely as any drug.

[LeftWriteFemme]

April 3

ACCEPTANCE, ACTION, CHANGE


Acceptance equals action. Without action, acceptance is a death sentence. Action puts me in the hands of my Higher Power; inaction puts me at the mercy of others, or worse, self-justification. For acceptance to glow with life, it must be moving.
Action equals change. Action without change is repetition. The moon does not change. It orbits flat on its face, forever dark on one side and a mere reflection on the other. Change sparks possibilities in mundane endeavor.
Change equals acceptance. Change without acceptance is a walk off a cliff. For change to endure, agreement is necessary. A one-sided argument is fascism and fraudulence. The heart of change is acceptance, beating the blood of hope to the extremities. Whether we circle the heavens or the bowl depends on the cohesion of acceptance, action and change.


Listen to new music, sing old music.

*
Give Me a Goose Any Day

The geese breaking wind resistance,
the close ones,
the far ones,
the ones behind trumpeting
this is the gang who gets me sober
and keeps me that way.

Maybe you think that God is not a flock of geese,
but it has been my experience
and the honking and the mess are part of it all.
I spend my days making sure I am one of them.

Sometimes I am even in the lead,
which may seem like a place of honor and prestige,
but is actually a lot of hard work.

Sometime I am the cheering squawker
who makes my encouragement heard.
Other times I am the one waddling around
leaving an untidiness behind me.

All of this just makes me part of the flock.
I am especially fond of my nest mates
though they are often the ones I chase
and bluster at the most.

I feel a sense of identity and pride
when I see any goose flying high
and I know that because we don’t do it alone
we are able to do it together.