Getting Down to Basics
Posted: December 26, 2011 Filed under: 12 steps, AA meetings, alcohal, change, Courage, Uncategorized | Tags: anne sexton, chinese year of the dragon, st michael the archangel Leave a commentThree things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
Buddha
When we have problems we look to some thing outside of us to fix us. Everything we try, drugs alcohol, food, relationships, shopping, even therapy can’t fix us.
But
If we can get real and get honest with ourselves the truth will set us free.
Denial is a strong prison.
Going to meetings saves us, but meetings can’t do it for us, if we are unwilling to be honest with ourselves.
Sometimes just keeping our selves in the seats at a meeting is enough to get through a day and stay sober, but to really live the life our Higher Power wants for us, we need to get down to basic truth and face whatever it is we are concealing from ourselves.
The New Year coming up will give us opportunities for resolution. Chinese Year of The Dragon. Equal to St.Michael the Archangel, the Dragon leads the Chinese New Year Parades to ward off the evil energy.
Let’s go into 2012 with open eyes and take some action to change our lives for the better. The Planets are lining up and there is much magic ahead.
Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”
Dostoevsky
Love and a Cough
“As it has been said:
Love and a cough
cannot be concealed.
Even a small cough.
Even a small love.”
― Anne Sexton
PARTY SOBER
Posted: December 20, 2011 Filed under: 12 steps, AA meetings, addicts, alcohal, alcoholic, choices, fun, lonliness, Sobriety Leave a commentParty Sober
From Anonymous Sober Driver Contributor
Last year I went to my first sober party ever, the week before Christmas. It was really special, because I was doing chemotherapy at the time and I had no hair, no eyebrows, and no eyelashes. I was in a brace because of an operation I had to remove a tumor.
My sober friends scooped me up and put me in the car and then took me to a meeting and asked if I wanted to go to a sober party. Some people from meetings didn’t recognize me.
But nobody was phased. They were all happy to see me and glad I was sober.
I love sobriety.
I went back to the same party tonight. It was great to say “here I am” – “I’m still here, and here’s my hair”.
I’ve heard people say, “God did for me what I couldn’t do for myself.”
I’ve also heard some people say when they first got sober they didn’t know whether to brush their teeth or load the dishwasher.
At 14 months sober, I remember sitting on my couch in my living room next to my sponsor and deciding which oncologist to go to. Just yesterday I thought about that and I got real still because I for the first time I realized the magnitude of what God doing for us what we can’t do for ourselves is.
I Walk Alone
I kept thinking, “it would be great to go to a movie, or a play, or the arboretum, or something fun.
Ho-hum
Bah-hum-bug.”
Well, here’s my new thing I’m doing – when I think, “I’d like to do this or do that.” Then I promise myself I’m going to go, EVEN IF I HAVE TO GO ALONE. I order the tickets online, or make dinner reservations. Then I text five friends in recovery and ask if anyone would want to join me. But I go no matter what.
NO MATTER WHAT
The worst thing that can happen is I go see a movie by myself then have five sober friends calling me back over the next 24-48 hours.
If I end up going alone, I get in the car, jam my music and go. And I have to say doing something fun alone is one of the most empowering experiences ever!
The Best Christmas Present Ever
Calls, texts, emails, and letters from sponsees are the best Christmas present I’ve ever received next to the Lone Star Rodeo Barbie my Grandmother gave me when I was 7.
It got really dark for me the other day and I was thinking, “I just don’t think I can do this much longer. What’s the use? Are things really better?”. I keep praying for a Power Greater than me to send me a letter in the mail. Something that would fix the pain.
I stepped outside and had a postcard from a person, we’ll just call them the magic sponsee.
It had a list of four things the magic sponsee is praying for in my life. We’ve been together so long, the magic sponsee knows what my four dreams are.
Thanks, HIgher Power!
Oh Boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy! The HOLIDAYS are here! What will they be like this year?
Merry Christmas!
Happy HanukkaH!
Happy Kwanzaa!
Happy New Year!
This is the first day of the rest of your life and it’s going to be AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have a beautiful day!
You are not alone!
Stay in the rooms!
It’s Getting Crowded in Here (Holiday Edition)
Posted: December 18, 2011 Filed under: AA meetings, Sobriety, Uncategorized 1 CommentIt’s Getting Crowded in Here
From one of our Sober Driver New Contributors:
Something about the holidays makes a lot of people from my past show up out of the blue.
In my head.
Yeah, they all stop by to remind me about my past mistakes and to review my lack of achievments since then. Old boyfriends, parents, siblings, grade school teachers, bosses, the stupid perfect neighbors, even the little old lady I flipped off while driving two weeks ago. I mean, how can a fifth grade teacher threatening that I will never get into college if I don’t do my homework and an inappropriate professor show up in my head in the same day?
The old tapes just play over and over sometimes.
A wise woman with a lot of time once said, “When I’m at home alone, it gets big and it gets real.”
My head is not my friend, especially during the holidays.
I stay in the rooms often, because after I’ve been at home alone too long, the critics come out to play.
Stay Connected
The holidays can be so depressing. Life has been so disappointing and discouraging at times, and there has a been a lot of loss for me. I keep hoping to be like people who glow in meetings, saying, “And I’ve gotten it all back ten-fold”, or “the promises have come true in such a short amount of time”.
It seems like every time I share in a meeting lately people say, “Glad you’re here”.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
The trick is to stay connected to my sober support – call one sober person each day, keep my ass in the seat, call my sponsor and pet my dogs. The holidays are hard. But they’re not forever.
Hang in there. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other no matter how painful.
It won’t last forever.
Home Alone For the Holidays
Posted: December 12, 2011 Filed under: 12 steps, recovery, Sobriety, Uncategorized 2 CommentsHolidays can be super lonely. We are all expected to be happy and joyous and have the Christmas spirit. Holidays bring up memories that are not always positive and this time of year can trigger depression. One can feel super alone, even when we are in a group of people, even we are with our families or loved ones.
Reaching out to those less fortunate is a good way to get out of ourselves. Keeping connected to meetings and sponsors and sponsees is a good way to keep communication open. This can be a creative time and we can create our own traditions.
If the holidays tend to make you feel alone, go to a meeting or call some one. You don’t have to believe in Santa or Jesus or have a Christmas tree or give presents. Just get stay connected to what your Higher Power is.
Angels come in strange and unexpected packages. Every day is New Year’s Day!
Look for the miracle.
Sober Driver 