I was talking to an old friend of mine today and he reminded me of something. He said that his problem was that he kept leading with his chin and kept getting hit on it. Not a good thing. How alcoholic is that?
There was an old joke in AA years ago about three men. Two of them were “normal” and the third was an alcoholic. The three were trapped in a room by a crazy man with a baseball bat. The alcoholic told the other two he was going out the front door. The two other men told him not to, but he went ahead anyway and got hit over the head with the baseball bat. At that the other two men left by the window, while the alcoholic opened the door again, only to be hit over the head with a baseball bat.
I guess it’s a story about our thinking. We never seem to learn from our mistakes and are bound and determined to do it our way. We’re stubborn to a fault and find it hard to change our thinking. At least that’s was true for me.
Nothing pays off so handsomely as restraint of tongue and pen. So said Bill W. As far as I’m concerned that’s the absolute truth. For a long time in this program, it took a while to apply this truth to my life. Think before you speak or act. That was one that came slowly to me.
Thank God that my sponsor was there to pick me up after acting or speaking rashly.
Too often I would say “yes”, when I should have said “no”, and vice versa. It was the good counsel of some trustworthy old timers, who helped me change.
I remember one old timer, who in all humility, said that he never learned much from his own mistakes, but he sure did from the mistakes of others.
We must learn, at least I must, to talk to others about what’s going on with us, but we have to learn to trust others. And whom do we trust? Most assuredly our sponsors, but there are others, friends we develop in this program. Friends we make among those, who have been around a long time and walk their talk.
Eventually we may all lead by example and not lead with our chins. Anyway, my friend got me to thinking. Leading with our chin can lead to a drink. I don’t want to go there.
Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! – their life, your story.