Dark Holidays? This One’s For You
Ready for a different kind of holiday? This worked for me.
Tag Archives: Step 1
Functional Alcoholic Signs
It’s so tricky to diagnose that I had friends telling me I couldn’t be alcoholic, even though I knew I was.
Step 1: Raising The White Flag
When I first quit drinking, I had a friend in AA that would wish ‘pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization’ on his drinking buddies.
What Do They Mean…Do The Next Right Thing?
Some people just naturally know what their NRT is. Do you?
Step 3 Part 2: ABCs of AA
Bill’s principles of AA… I laughed out loud when I heard this. (Learn what hit the editor’s floor.)
Relief or Release?
What do you want?
What’s This Spiritual Malady?
Sick of the sprees (alcohol, drugs, food, sex, spending, gambling, etc) and wanting something other than defeating obsessions and thoughts of suicide…
Can I Weep With Those Who Weep?
I’m not loving you if I try to brush aside your tears
What Am I Living For?
If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live…
If You’re Doing Fine, Why Try The 12 Steps?
There are many ways to lose yourself, many different paths promising a sense of euphoria, comfort or peace. They’re usually some form of spree…
Step 1: Dangerous Lesson Learned In Kindergarten
A five-year-old’s birthday party set me on the path of spiritual destruction…
Step 1: How Do I Start?
You don’t have to be an addict or even know one to take the 12 Steps
Whad Ya Mean… Self-Seeking?
Like traveling without any running lights…
My Rebel Thoughts Refuse Captivity
‘taking thoughts captive’ was my goal but achieving it eluded me …
Mocking Bird-Brain
Knowing my brain acts like a Mockingbird, I have cut down on what I pay attention to.
Get Into The Cartoon!
… a typical Saturday with Loony Toons, the two of us in our footie pajamas eating breakfast as we sat so close we were in the action.
Quiet Space in Bright Sunshine
In fact, my lack of emotional sobriety happened long before the first taste of alcohol.
This is a test. This is only a test…right?
If this had been an actual emergency…
What Is God’s Will?
I no longer feel I have to ‘prove’ anything to you or to me
Double Overtime
It IS whether you win or lose!
Cupcakes and Sweet Security
A month into Al-Anon I find that I am losing my job.
Not in My Wheelhouse
After cleaning out my wheelhouse I find I’m a little lonely…
Dear Me,
December 31, 2012 Dear Me, I probably know less about you than some people and more than the casual observer, but I do know a few things: You love to […]
Anxiety: Part 2 Hey There! Hold On A Sec!
There’s a lot of ‘holding’ going on during the last three points.
Anxiety: Part 1 Pull on the Nail
Can you find something that weighs on your mind?
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain
My life would make a better movie than it does a life.
STOP…GO…STOP!
So what do we do if we can’t trust our thinking?
Step 3: What Grows in the Dark?
What keeps you awake at night?
How Did I Set My Password For AA Serenity?
During early sobriety it seemed that all the characters around the table except me had a secret password that allowed them to log into a new life of peace and serenity. I’d never seen anything like these hooligans.
Peace on Earth to (Sober) Men
Peace started for me during Step One when I admitted I was not all-powerful; that alcohol had me by the throat!
Victim Veins Revisited
You call it love. For years, all I wrote was bad, tragic and tearful poetry. Then life got better because I got sober and I gave up poetry. Suddenly, this […]
Lucky Unlucky Addicts
The following comment from Resentment Rats is too wonderful to leave in the archives of comments: So much lays beneath what we can easily see in ourselves. And how many […]
Hemma! Hemma!
Hemma! Hemma! That’s what my brother and I used to yell when we wanted folks to hurry up. We used it with our friends at a time when other people […]
Bootstraps or Pigtails
When new to recovery it is a good idea to locate some trusted friends. The kind that will not hesitate to call us on our self-absorption, our rationalizing attitudes and […]
Ask The Right Questions To Get The Right Answers
During my entire life I asked, “What’s wrong with me?”
Relationship Reality: Part 3 Tracking Triangles
A. You accept where you are by facing the reality of your relationships. We’re still working on Step 1 and assessing reality. The first part of that is looking at […]
Relationship Reality: Part 2 Jack and Jill…
A. You accept where you are by facing the reality of your situation. Think of the sides of the triangle as 3 warehouses of one-liners. Try to recall a discussion […]
Relationship Reality: Part 1 The Not-So-Musical Triangle
A. You accept where you are by facing the reality of your situation. Part of facing our reality is looking at the conversations we’re having. As addicts, we’re naturally drawn […]
Step 1: Grieving
A. You accept where you are by facing the reality of your situation. Do you agree that facing reality can be like grieving? I’ve had friends grieve the loss of […]
The Case for Honesty
Truth is truth. Millions of people can attest to the fact that the AA program works just as well for those who are stuck in life as it does for […]
I’m (not) OK, You’re OK
I try to be subtle, find a handy escape route…a way off the party bus.
Why Would Someone Who’s ‘Doing Fine’ Turn to AA?
My disease was so hidden that even I didn’t know about it!
Good Life 
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