Sharing and Caring

[MajestyJo]

Fact

from: "A Vision for You"

"Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven't got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us."


© 2001, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 164

Over the years I have found that there are some darn well betters. If you don't follow the suggestion, you just mind find yourself back in active addiction and you are questioning why?

The suggestions are go to meetings, and when you are tired of going to meetings, go to more meetings. It is suggested that you do 90 and 90, but I have heard several people say,"I can't get by without 3 meetings a week. I was one of the sick ones, when I got to 90 and 90, I continued going because I was so empty, I needed filling up.

It is suggested that you get a sponsor. Even if you get a temporay sponsor until you find someone you can identify with and feel comfortable sharing with. It is suggested that you get a sponsor who is the same sex as you, because you don't want a bunch of sponsettes running around. If you are gay, it is suggested that you get someone who is opposite your sexual preference.

It is nice when you grow together, but there were times when I out grew my sponsor, they were happy with where they where,and I either needed more or I had to move into an opposite direction, and we could no longer identify and have the same bond.

It is suggested that you get a home group. A place you feel safe and comfortable sharing with the people in the room. You may not identify with all, but we are all on the same path, the road to recovery.

It is suggested that you work the Steps. When you get to Step 12, start again at Step 1, because if you didn't jump over any, you will have grown and will have new awareness and able to be more honest when you go over the Steps. You work the Steps long enough that you can live them.

It is suggested you get active in service. This really helped my self-esteem. Others went before me and showed me the way. Others before them showed them the way so they could pass recovery on to me. It only seemed right that I do service and pay forward what was given to me.

They say if you don't have it, you will lose it. That is my sobriety they are talking about. My disease is mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical and I have to work the Steps on all levels.

Sobriety I was told by my sponsor, means "Soundness of Mind." That is something I have to work on daily.

THE TWELVE STEPS OF EMOTIONS ANONYMOUS


1. We admitted we were powerless over our emotions-that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision o turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The Twelve Promises of Emotions Anonymous


1. We realize a new freedom and happiness.
2. We do not regret the past or wish to shut the door on it.
3. We comprehend the word Serenity, and we know peace of mind.
4. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we see how our experience can benefit others.
5. The feelings of uselessness and self-pity lessen.
6. We have less concern about self and gain interest in others.
7. Self-seeking slips away.
8. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life changes.
9. Our relationships with other people improve.
10. We intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
11. We acquire feeling of security within ourselves.
12. We realize that God is doing for us what we could not do ourselves.

These may seem like extravagant promises, but we think not. They are being fulfilled among us, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.