Laughter, spirituality, Higher Power, getting sober and staying sober. The meeting today and afterward.
A mixture of time in the program. Youthful members and old timers. Three days to over 40 plus years. Interesting to listen to those, who still had no concept of a Higher Power. To one old timer, whose HP is vague, except that he is convinced of the power of this program. Then those, who talk about an overwhelming God. I listened and talked with a member afterward, who confessed that religion had made a concept difficult because of the way they learned early on. Sounded familiar.
Getting sober and staying sober seemed to be concrete for most of the people there today. Most said it was pain, near death, that opened the door to this program. I could identify. A couple came in on a much higher plane it seems. But almost everyone never wanted to drink again. All wanted to be able to maintain their sobriety as they learned and practiced this program to the best of their ability.
But spirituality and laughter came later on the way home. The person I was with talked about the first time they laughed after they came in. Up to the point this happened they couldn’t laugh. Then something happened one day and for the first time in years they broke out laughing. I could identify. It was almost like one of the Promises, a new freedom. We both talked about what this program had done for us.
And then we talked about the spiritual life we are living or trying to live. Again, the statement that in spiritual matters it’s dangerous to go it alone. How I learned that the hard way and wished I had known that way back when. And we talked about spiritual problems. Character defects. Sounded like two alcoholics talking together. Oh, that’s right. It was.
The bottom line is that it was a beautiful day up here and a beautiful day to stay sober. But even the worst days can be beautiful. It’s up to me to practice my program. To reach out to others in and out of the rooms. To go to meetings and listen and learn. That other first Promise, we’ll know a new happiness is always within reach. I think about them often.
Another day sober and thinking about staying sober.