What Was The Topic Again?
If I ask for a lead on anger, the topic is anger, right?
If I ask for a lead on acceptance, the topic is acceptance, right?
If I ask for a lead on feeling left out, the topic is feeling left out, right?
And then, from my experience, the discussion will probably flow along the lines of solutions from the Twelve Steps that will help me/us get through these times, right?
Then why, oh why, oh freakin’ why, when a lead is given for the First Step, does everyone have to practice “Can you bottom this?” Or, more precisely, “become drunkalog infested contests of ‘can you bottom this?’
So - yo! Here’s the First Step - “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.” If you have to adapt AA to the newcomer each and every time one shows up, at least keep the discussion on topic!
I’d like to say “Happy Anniversary” to my good friend Mike P. from Wading River, NY! 17 Years Sober! (Have you ever heard the phrase sober and crazy?)
He and I were told from the beginning that since we knew nothing about staying sober we needed to keep our big mouths shut, that we had two ears and one mouth for a good reason. Thank God for those oldtimers that we learned from!!!
Tags: 1st-step, powerless, Recovery, sober, sponsorshipRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Experience, Strength and Hope, First Step, Reality
4 opinions for What Was The Topic Again?
Gary L
Jan 12, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Why you ask? Because …”the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn’t think so”. Ask an Alky to talk about himself and reticence is rarely the result.
I think First timers should be welcomed by a small group with a mixture of short and long term sobriety and taken off to the side (if possible) for a more personal sharing of ES&H. Let the rest of the meeting focus on a step, tradition, or reading. I’d be interested in other alternatives to “first step meetings”. Cause lets face it, if we “adapt AA to the newcomer each and every time one shows up”, there won’t be any time left for the bleeding deacons to tell us how AA has changed since they got here.
(is there an emoticon for trying to keep a straight face while acting innocent? Who me? Rule sixty what?)
Mark
Jan 13, 2007 at 7:17 am
“is there an emoticon for trying to keep a straight face while acting innocent? Who me? Rule sixty what?”
lol - I’ll see if I can find one…
“other alternatives to first step meetings”
Well, (here’s a great phrase) “where I got sober” - beginners’ meetings worked rather well :)
(same emoticon)
Mike P
Jan 19, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Well Well I’m tearing up , thank for that one Mark ….I’m so glad to be away from a place that has no beginners meeting on it schedule , i think thats part of the problem ,and also not enough speaker meetings in the sense that you and i know it . I did for a brief time have one going at white bluff you know 0to 60 60 to 90 and so on , dam i think these meeting where and are so important to my sobriety thats where when i first came around got answers to basic trouble in early sobriety , and now i go to not only see what happens to people when there Sobriety Loses Its Priority ” S L I P”
I know how hard it is to try to fit in some where everyone is right , keep tyring or I may have to come down there and kick Hunter’s AKA the king of A A “self proclaimed” I still sponsor him from 900 miles away not working to good lmfao,help him if you see him,tell him BECAUSE I SAID SO ,,,,No Ego here ya think lol
Thanks for being such a good friend
Mike P
Mike P
Jan 19, 2007 at 12:57 pm
by the way the Phase is STARK RAVING SOBER, Thank You Very Much give Lonnie a big kiss for me
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