Thursday, March 09, 2006
A Dark and Stormy Night
Hello from Victoria. As some of you know, I've been home to Houston and now I'm back up here again.
It is a very dark and very stormy night. So dark and so stormy that I consider not going to a meeting tonight. I am thankful that the thought was a fleeting one. This meeting is one of the two that was recommended to me last week, and it was well worth the trouble to get there. I will definately be going to it again next Wednesday. Another meeting takes place there this Friday, and I plan to go to it, too.
The topic tonight was the 7th Tradition, and the difficulty that we alcoholic/addicts have for asking for truly meaningful help.
Well, I realized that this was a big topic in my last post. As an addict, I know that I have to ask for God's help on a daily basis, so that I get another 24-hour reprieve. If I keep my Higher Power (who I call God) at the center of my life, things generally go well. And even if they don't, my mind doesn't go too far out of kilter because of it. But let me start taking the credit or start to try to make the rules, then watch out. My mind will start going places it ought not go, and troubles, big or small, will begin to weigh on me. And when that happens the resentments appear, and then it all goes out of control.
Tonight I am grateful to be in a place of gratitude. A few of the things I am grateful for include:
** a great meeting tonight.
** seeing some of the people that I met last week and enjoyed.
** being able to share some experience, strength, and hope with a man who was coming back after a relapse.
** realizing that my words to the man who was coming back were not mine alone, but were inspired by the relationship that I have with my God today.
** for this season of Lent, and the fact that I have so far stuck with my resolve not to "Drive the BMW" until Palm Sunday at the earliest. "Not Driving the BMW" means that I am not allowed to Bitch, Moan or Whine about anything!! :-) I saw this in a Candadian newspaper last week, and realized that it would be a perfect Lenten discipline for me!!
** that the Ash Wednesday words spoken by the priest, as he imposed an ashen cross on my foreheard were, "From dust you came and to dust you shall return." I remember this several times each day, and it helps me to feel humble, centered, and at peace.
It is a very dark and very stormy night. So dark and so stormy that I consider not going to a meeting tonight. I am thankful that the thought was a fleeting one. This meeting is one of the two that was recommended to me last week, and it was well worth the trouble to get there. I will definately be going to it again next Wednesday. Another meeting takes place there this Friday, and I plan to go to it, too.
The topic tonight was the 7th Tradition, and the difficulty that we alcoholic/addicts have for asking for truly meaningful help.
Well, I realized that this was a big topic in my last post. As an addict, I know that I have to ask for God's help on a daily basis, so that I get another 24-hour reprieve. If I keep my Higher Power (who I call God) at the center of my life, things generally go well. And even if they don't, my mind doesn't go too far out of kilter because of it. But let me start taking the credit or start to try to make the rules, then watch out. My mind will start going places it ought not go, and troubles, big or small, will begin to weigh on me. And when that happens the resentments appear, and then it all goes out of control.
Tonight I am grateful to be in a place of gratitude. A few of the things I am grateful for include:
** a great meeting tonight.
** seeing some of the people that I met last week and enjoyed.
** being able to share some experience, strength, and hope with a man who was coming back after a relapse.
** realizing that my words to the man who was coming back were not mine alone, but were inspired by the relationship that I have with my God today.
** for this season of Lent, and the fact that I have so far stuck with my resolve not to "Drive the BMW" until Palm Sunday at the earliest. "Not Driving the BMW" means that I am not allowed to Bitch, Moan or Whine about anything!! :-) I saw this in a Candadian newspaper last week, and realized that it would be a perfect Lenten discipline for me!!
** that the Ash Wednesday words spoken by the priest, as he imposed an ashen cross on my foreheard were, "From dust you came and to dust you shall return." I remember this several times each day, and it helps me to feel humble, centered, and at peace.
# posted by 12StepSteve @ 12:16 AM 
