No Ego's

. A whole month ? ? ?

Went to a bunch of meetings,

just forgot to post.

Friday, 4-3-15,

Step in the Right Direction,

men's meeting.

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Brian has not yet had his drivers license reinstated

so it has been my pleasure to take him to some meetings.

The meeting topic was the Eleventh Step.

Following Friday's meeting he posed some typical questions;

what made this meeting so special ? ? ?

is it weird that I can feel the serenity in the room ? ? ?

why did I not hear any drunk-a-logs ? ? ?

There is no such thing as a bad meeting, it is just that

some meetings are better than others,

why is this a better meeting ? ? ?

The answers :

The men at this meeting are very serious about their recovery

and the smiles, the closed eyes, the nodding heads all add to

the sense of serenity which can almost be felt.

There are no egos.

The topic is the only thing discussed and living in today,

not drinking today and doing the next right thing

are the focus of everyone's message.

Today, wishing you a better meeting.

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ME and the Boss

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Tuesdays Promises 4-3-15

The Promises Group

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Tuesday @ 5:00

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Ninth step promises,

#11 from page 84

of the Big Book.

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We will intuitively

know how to handle

situations which used to

baffle us.

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Great meeting as usual, lots of strength and hope

shared by all who participated.

The person who selected this promise related that

their sponsor had recently died but because of

what he learned in the rooms it was not a reason

to drink.

Many others who knew the deceased

praised his recovery and his example of how

the program should be lived.

Great to see a few new faces at the meeting.

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ME and the Boss

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Head To The Hills

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 He who stays in the valley will never see over the hill.

 Many of life's journeys have milestones that are

marked by hill tops.

 Be smart and do not to judge your life by one hilltop

 that you have reached.

 Winning the championship game? 

The birth of a child or grandchild?

 The pinnacle of success?

 The age of forty? (Seventy ???)

 Retirement?

 Be wise to know that this hill top is just a better vantage point

to see where you might want to go next.

 Celebrate the milestone.

 Have gratitude that you have reached that milestone. 

Use the knowledge and strength you have gained from climbing the small hills

to reach for the summit of the tallest mountain on the horizon.

Many say that when you go over the hill you begin to pick up speed

going down the other side.  Use that speed as momentum to start up the next hill.

As long as you are moving forward with your head held high, and your eyes are fixed

on the next milestone you will be able to cross the lowest valley in your life in peace and comfort.

Up hill or down hill, never travel alone.

When life puts a fork in the road have a someone help you read the map.

If they have traversed this swamp before your hope is they know the shortest route

to higher ground.

Higher ground may be just as good as a hill if you are up to your tush in alligators.

If you had ask your friend for advice at the last fork in the road, maybe you would

not have found yourself in the swamp.

Where you think you are going and where your Higher Power wants or lets you go may

be two separate directions.

Pray for guidance.

The stories of the wisest masters tells us that if you want to find your way out of the desert,

follow God.

Whether you are in the valley of despair or on the highest mountain,

today's journey will begin with the first step.

What you have earned from yesterdays travels will pay the road tolls for today's journey.

 If you do not learn and earn from today's journey, 

tomorrow's forecast may be down hill and out of control. 

Celebrate, keep your head up, focus on the next hill top,  move a muscle, change a thought,

and live your life to it's fullest.

Life is a roller coaster ride.
Sit in the first car.
Fill the car with friends and family.
Throw your arms up in the air,
and scream as loud as you can from the top of every hill.

Enjoy the ride.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

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 ME and the Boss

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Mantram

"The mantram becomes one's staff of life and carries one through every ordeal.


Each repetition has a new meaning, carrying you nearer


and nearer to God."   ~Mahatma Gandhi

Don't have a mantra yet,

borrow one of mine:

"God grant me the serenity to accept

those thingsI cannot change, (Other People)

courage to change the things I can, (Me),

and the wisdom to know the difference."

Or:

Be kind, be loving, be patient and tolerant, be forgiving,

be the person God wants you to be.

Or:

God help me.

Or:

Seek out a sponsor, a friend, a person in the rooms who has what you want, and ask

them if you may borrow their mantra.

Everybody who is seeking spiritual progress has a mantra, a prayer, a way to seek

the will of their loving Higher Power.

God loves you or He would not have led you to the rooms so that you can get

clean, sober up and be able to better do His will.

Today, repeat after me, repeat after your sponsor, repeat after a true friend,

there is a better way.

Today, may you be blessed with one day of sobriety, may you find your mantra,

and may you find a pathway to spiritual progress that is happy, joyous and free.

Michael_e

Mystical Faculties

"The sway of alcohol over mankind
is unquestionably due to its power to
stimulate the mystical faculties of
human nature, usually crushed to earth
by the cold facts and dry criticisms
of the sober hour.
Sobriety diminishes, discriminates,
and says no;
drunkenness expands, unites,
and says yes."   ~ William James



"We will intuitively know how to handle situations
which used to baffle us."




Who doesn't love to hear the word "YES", but, and the yes buts will allow us to feed into the mystical faculties of justification. There was always a very good reason that we took every drink and drug that we ever used to find the mystical world of Alice and Puff and the many pink elephants that tripped the light fantastic on our brains.

As we learn more about our disease, the stinking thinking, the backward brain, we come to rely upon our intuition and discover that we have always known the right from the wrong, Mother was always right, Father knew best, but the Devil had control of the mystical faculties and we were powerless over alcohol.

Today, it is O.K. to say no, it is all right to limit ourselves to doing the next right thing for family, friend and fellowship, it is good to discriminate against mean people, evil places, and the things that caused the guilt and shame, the remorse of why did I do that.

Today, "We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves,"
and we will live by faith,we will learn to justify our right actions,and we will become the people that our Higher Power wants us to be.

Today, we will learn that the "Mystical Faculties" were nothing but a figment of our sick imagination, curable by the grace of a loving God of our understanding.

Just say no....

Quotes from BB, p 84