One of the prime goals for this alcoholic is spelled out in the BB and the action of others with this alcoholic and others, who came through these doors. And that’s carrying the message to the alcoholic, who still suffers. Worked for me and so many others I know in here.
Often I will go back and try to remember how it was for me when I came in. And just as often I think I have it only to discover it wasn’t at all the way I’m thinking. One thing I know I’m sure of is that these old timers in here back then were overloaded with Twelfth Step calls. Went on in here for years until rehabs began to open and hospitals began detoxing and helping alcoholics. And suddenly the phones to the homes of alcoholics seemed to go silent. No calls.
Still I remember going to prisons, mental institutions, hospital detoxes, and other places assigned for us by these old timers. Made me grateful. But going to homes or picking people up off the streets began to fade. Especially going to homes to Twelfth Step.
That’s why I find the Fifth Tradition so important to someone like me. Or I should say, the alcoholic who still suffers. And I always think to myself that it isn’t always the new person or someone coming back. It can well be a long term sober person, who is suffering from something and he or she needs not to hear counseling, but a reminder of why we are here in the first place. To stay sober this day.
I’ve seen people with time in here get caught up in their emotions and be dragged down and back into a barroom. Sometimes that’s the end. I know it’s hard to get past some of this stuff, because they may not want to hear it. They are angry, resentful, full of self pity, or whatever else it is dragging them back down. How often we can forget to continue to practice these spiritual principles in our lives each and everyday.
That’s why I and others I know attend meetings and know full well what it is we need to be doing. Reminding each other of what it is we can so easily forget. Even though we might not think this is possible, it is. That’s why I was told and always need to hear over and over again that I cannot stay sober by myself. I need others like myself in these rooms to be there to remind me of why I am here to begin with.
That’s why I need to stay around and keep it simple. To read the BB, to practice the Second Step and the Third and to put these principles into practice. Especially the Tenth, the Eleventh, and the Twelfth each and everyday.
Today I saw someone finally run into prayer which amazed him. He had never experienced what happened before. Nothing new. I think there are others like him, who went through a spiritual awakening. I know I have and have talked to and listened to others with the same results. All because we stopped drinking and were willing to do whatever it takes to stay sober.
Anyway, once again I am reminded of why I am here. Never want to forget. Need to keep my mind and my eyes open. To do what my old sponsor and his widow have told me to do from time to time. One was to remind myself that I’m the only one who can stay sober for me. No one else can do it for me. I need to be number one in my life, when it comes to this and never to forget that.
One day at a time. Thanks.