Me and my slang....

I guess that I irritate people sometimes with my slang. Please accept my apologies, but I am not going to change anytime soon. I'm kind of like Bill Wilson. He used to refer to himself as "a rum hound from New York, a gin hound from New York, never referred to himself as an Alcoholic. Never introduced himself as, Bill W. an Alcoholic. Actually never started off any talk introducing himself. I sometimes state I spent time at "the Hilton with the bars, the Ha Ha Hilton, but haven't been to the Refrigerated Hilton yet. Some people would like me to state "jails, institutions, or death". Oh well, that's not me. They told me to be Honest with myself. I introduce myself as Bob, a drunk and a dope fiend. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Old story of Bill Wilson

This is documented. Bill had a history of Depression and fought it throughout his life. When he was sober for several years he called his Spiritual advisor, Father Ed Dowling, in St. Louis. Bill stated he was having trouble and needed to talk to him or he may drink! Father Ed told Bill, I know what your trouble is, but you will need to wait until I arrive in New York. I need to tell you this Face to Face. Bill agreed and told him to hurry up! Father arrived in New York and Bill met him at the Train Station. They went to a Diner and talked over Lunch. Father Ed told Bill, "If you don't want to drink, then you must do what I will tell you to do". Bill said, "OK, what do I have to do?" Father Ed said, "Bill, you have to work the steps!" Bill said, " I wrote the steps!!" Father said, "I know, but you never worked them!" It is documented that Bill worked a 5th Step with Ed at that time. The whole story is; He worked all the steps at that time. That's refreshing to know. Everyone one of us, even the guys who started all this, need an occasional push. We are all JUST HUMAN, and can fall short a whole lot of the time.

Drunk goes into a bar......

sits down and asks the Bartender for a double of Jim Beam and water chaser. The Bartender pours the drink and takes his money. Comes back with the change and the Drunk pushes the Double aside and says, "give me a double of Jim Beam". Bartender pours the Double and takes his money. The Bartender says, "what are you doing?" Drunk says, "I've been going to those AA meetings and they said, whatever you do, don't take that first drink!"

Sought....

(c) That God could and would if He were sought..... Bill was a brilliant thinker and writer. He learned from the best. Father Ed was someone that Bill spent a lot of time with over the years. A lot of us talk about finding God. Not a surprise that Bill used the word SOUGHT. In the Big Big Big Book it states; seek ye first the Kingdom of God.... Bill choose the word sought, as it being from the root word seek. You need not find God, he isn't lost! Seek is when you look around "in search of". I seek God in everything around me and everything I do. Sometimes I mess up and make a wrong choice and see, hopefully in short order, that I need to back up and do it over. I can do that if I seek God in all I do. I'm seeking right now and hopefully always. What do you think? Time for a cup of coffee, see ya later. Bob

YOU WON'T FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.....

A friend of mine says that to people who are new in recovery and they talk of their drinking and drugging. He tells them Drinking and Drugging are not the problem. The problem is not following directions! I also believe that. If someone with Cancer and has little time to live is given a book and told to read it and follow all the directions in it, and they will not die. They will probably memorize it and follow all the directions. Us on the other hand are told the same thing and we may or may not read the book, and only work the steps we think might help us. We are a strange bunch, aren't we? If millions of people, who have recovered, did all the work necessary to recover, and we can see those results, why do we hesitate? Bill W. said, "we have to be sold". Boy, is that the truth. That's why we need a good Sponsor and meetings to keep us working the steps. If you leave me to my own devices, I won't follow directions. I have 37 years of proof! But, if I am amongst a group of people who are the same as me. I stand a better chance, and so do they. We do this together. Time for a cup of coffee, see ya later. Bob

A God of OUR understanding....

When I was newly sober I told my Sponsor, "I thought we have to make something up." He took me to the Book and showed me what the step says, "God as WE understood Him". He stated that picking a God of your own understanding came from Bill's Story, where Ebby (never was a member of AA) who was from the Oxford Group, told him to make one up. I now understand that. But, my sponsor told me to go out and find out what WE understand. So I went on a mission, asking every one I could, "what do you understand?" I kept a list and when my sponsor asked me to show him the list. We reviewed it and came to an understanding that the general concensus was; God is typically Loving Caring Understanding Forgiving, and on and on. So I looked into my own life and saw that this is what my Mother taught me as a child. So I just needed to reintroduce myself to the God I grew up with. Boy was that easy! Time for a cup of coffee. See ya later! Bob

My little Gina.....

Gina is my 7 y/o Rott who had her right front leg amputated a month ago, due to bone cancer. I have been posting updates on Gina on my Facebook page. Man is she doing great! I walked her into the vet at 10AM and picked her up at 5PM. Put the leash on her and she walked out. What if something so terrible would happen to me? I would spend the first 6 months feeling sorry for myself and then go into the blame game, and eventually I would decide to GET OVER IT! She is out in the backyard chasing her toys around and jumping around with her 2 sisters and 1 brother. She depends on me, but I LEARN from her. I took her to the Sober Club in Euclid last Sunday morning. There were 5 people there and they wanted me to bring Gina in for a few minutes. They all wanted to see how well she is doing. She walked in and paraded around getting all the hugs and petting she could. One of my friends said, "She's still got one more leg than you". She is always teaching me about ACCEPTANCE. Whatever is in front of me, I will do what she does, DEAL WITH IT. Boy, do I love that little girl. She is a therapy dog at Euclid Hospital, and she will be back at work soon! Time for a cup of coffee, see ya later. Bob