Member: Rarely
Location: rontherocket@hotmail.com
Remote Name: 206.45.167.253
Date: 22 Feb 2004
Time: 07:55 AM -0500
The joy of living is the theme of the Twelfth Step. So it say in the 12x12. Can we talk about the joy of living a sober life.
Member: Denise B
Location: Missouri
Remote Name: 216.176.171.102
Date: 22 Feb 2004
Time: 12:25 PM -0500
I love living a sober life. I can remember when I never thought it could be possible - and now I can't picture it any other way - because I'm just so happy! It isn't that I'm happy all the time, or that things don't go wrong. It's in how I view things!!! When things come up - I no longer try to "run and hide," in whatever way I can. I don't try to handle these things alone. I have - most importantly - a sponsor, to guide/direct me, so that I am not alone. I listen to my Higher Power. And I also have the group - so that I don't have to face anything alone anymore. That makes me have a happier life right there. And I love the fact that I no longer have to look over my shoulder about everything! Especially flashing lights!!!!! And/or my "friends." Thanks for letting me share. I hope this helps. AA, my Higher Power, and all of you help me. Enjoy today!
Member: davidh
Location: Nashville T N
Remote Name: 68.52.234.57
Date: 22 Feb 2004
Time: 12:56 PM -0500
David alcoholic, In the last years of drinking and using Iwasnt really living at all. I just kind of existed in this dark, grey, dreary world of misery, where like a zombie I always had two things on my mind, me and my chemicals. Today I live in the real world where there is abundant happiness, when I work the steps. There is also pain but not misery. There is peace and contemptment not pannick and stress all the time. THere is love and tolerence not hatred and resentment. This program works when you work it.
Member: Bonny G
Location: Hot Springs, AR
Remote Name: 152.163.253.70
Date: 22 Feb 2004
Time: 02:19 PM -0500
Thanks for allowing me to share on the "joys of living a sober life." I am very thankful to God for the blessings He has brought into my life, "grandchildren" and a loving fellowship within the rooms of AA. I am glad to be living a sober life today so that I can see the glorious blessings. I'm living in a community I never would have picked out on my own, I have both a wonderful group of friends from AA and a church fellowship, and I've got a job, a dream job, that I have only God to thank for. I still have "problems" and "situations" that I would like to see changed, but those are on God's timing and not mine. This fellowship has taught me to be patient and allow God to work in my life. I owe a debt of gratitude to the fellowship of AA. This is truly a place for the alcoholic to learn how to live life on life's terms. Thanks.
Member: Darin
Location: Miss.
Remote Name: 152.163.253.70
Date: 22 Feb 2004
Time: 02:24 PM -0500
Hello all I'm Darin and I am most deffinately a real alcoholic. My return to Alcoholics Anonymous a little over a year ago was not due to any chaotic trouble that I was in. In fact I had a good job and was making decent money. The big book says that "outward appearances are not inward reality at all" and that was the absolute truth for me. I was hurting inside and tired of waiting for the bottom to drop out from under me. I knew I didn't have to go through that crap like I have to many times in the past due to my drinking so I came back to the program and got busy with the steps. Currently on my 8th step I can vouch for the effectiveness of the first 5 steps and say that 6 and 7 are an ongoing thing for me because I still have character defects although they are not as glaring today. My life today is not a pink cloud. The nice thing is that it doesn't have to be. I'm happy to have been given, and accepted the oportunity to recover from my alcoholism and work my way back into society again, one day at a time.
Member: Deb B
Location: Michigan
Remote Name: 68.21.149.214
Date: 22 Feb 2004
Time: 02:43 PM -0500
Hi everyone, I'm Deb, alcoholic Thanks for the topic --the joy of living a sober life. For me the "joy" doesn't apply to just the sober part of my life. I have gone weeks without drinking or using before being introduced to the program, and by all definitions that is a state of being clean and sober. However I was extremely irritable,discontented, full of self-pity etc. My first few months in the program I wasn't in much better shape emotionally. So what being sober did for me, was make me available to hear and apply the 12 steps in my life and seek a relationship with a HP. That is when joy and serenity start to show up in my life and magnify itself if I continue on a daily basis to work the program. To finally feel at times that I am part of the human race instead of always feeling like an outsider. That I don't ever have to plow through situations alone anymore, I will always have a HP who will be with me and a group of fellow alcoholics who think the same way I do and can keep me on a track of Good Orderly Direction. Thanks for letting me share
Member: AZbill
Location: azbill1172@cox.net
Remote Name: 68.226.19.133
Date: 22 Feb 2004
Time: 03:28 PM -0500
HI all, Bill here, alcoholic from Arizona. My life started to improve the very moment I set down my last drink. It has continued to improve. It would be frivolous for me to say I am happy, joyous, and free. I have faced sadness and did not have to drink, I have faced and survived the calamity of a terminal disease and did not have to drink. I have lost jobs and did not have to drink. The upbeat side of sobriety has far overridden the down sides, I have learned to practice these principles in all my affairs. A family I trashed so I could drink has come back into my life. My former wife, my six daughters, and I even gained a hubby in law. I am welcome in there homes and visit every summer in Virginia Beach, (if any of you are nearby email me and let's say HI and make lunch and/or a meeting). I did not swap a barstool for a seat in AA. By that I mean I did not give up isolating in booze to isolate in recovery. I get out amongst them and do life. And the freedom?? Awesome. God loves me so much that He gives me the choice to drink or not to drink on a daily basis. Today I chose not to drink. What an awesome freedom that is. Take care I love you all, Bill
Member: Peggy E
Location: Salem, Oregon
Remote Name: 67.164.52.213
Date: 22 Feb 2004
Time: 03:28 PM -0500
Hi! I'm Peggy, I'm an alcoholic. Thank you for the topic, Rarely. The joy of living...(Big Book): "To those now in it's fold, Alcoholics Anonymous has made the difference between misery and sobriety, and often the difference between life and death. AA can, of course, mean just as much to uncounted alcoholics not yet reached." I have a purpose, "my primary purpose is to stay sober and help the alcoholic who still stuffers." I came into AA after messing up a suicide attempt living the lonely life only an alcoholic knows - That pain that hurts down to the toes. Then love and laughter was there at my first meeting - and hugs - and the "joy of living" really showed in the eyes of this loving fellowship.
Member: Pierre Montebon
Location: Dayton, Ohio
Remote Name: 64.12.96.238
Date: 22 Feb 2004
Time: 07:26 PM -0500
Thank you for the reminder that life should be lived happily and one has to work for it. Obviously happiness has a lot to do with your productivity value, that your needs are met and can provide for a family its basic neccesities and give your children a good future. Try asking people in shelter houses if they are happy or not and compare it with people in middle class houses. Thats because the habits and thinking that people who are winners are actually those of happy people. Vincent Van Gogh, Ernest Hemmingway, Sylvia Plath, were they happy when their works are held as the best of their kind? And why would they be unhappy? Why would those 600 people in Jamestown including women and children, under Jim Jones take poison together, were they unhappy or happy? The Halle Comet cult, were they happy or unhappy? See I know what the problem here is all along, we think its like those things written in the bible which are overtly simplistic that were written about 2000 years ago would stil apply to the modern man, and what would the modern man be left when he thinks he is following those overtly simplistic ideologies made for simpletons of the past? A hypocrite! And worse he doesnt even know that he is one, that makes it very dangerous. When William Wilson already have written the Big BooK and was 3 years sober he was still acutlly very unhappy and he went ob eclinically depressed for the duration of 10 years in his sober life. How can he have written the formula of "Happiness" in his Holy Grail of the sober drunks when in fact he was still very unhappy? That my friend needs real thinking in common sense, but as the saying goes, common sense is not so common. I've seen a lot of people define happiness only when they can put other people down and make them the object of ridicule to compare to themselves that they are far superior than who they were talking about, and I'm telling you this is the definition of happiness for most people, you know why? Because this world is about survival of the fittest. And the best survivors are the best predators. the more wealth you have the better your freedom and respect you get, and that my friend is happiness in the real sense.
Member: Kelly M
Location: NH
Remote Name: 205.188.209.140
Date: 23 Feb 2004
Time: 12:56 AM -0500
Hi, Kelly a Grateful, recovering alcoholic. Thanks Rarely for the topic. AA has improved my life 150%. It started the day I surrendered heart and soul to God that I was willing to do ANYTHING to remove my obsession with alcohol. Laying in bed totally beaten, broken ribs from falling down the stairs, In the most unbelieveable emotional and physical pain, sweating and shaking I surrendered. I never said a word... it was a scream from the heart that pierced the ears of God. I have not been the same since that day. I think it had to do with honesty and getting honest with myself. I just followed the program of AA as it is laid out in the Big Book and the miracles started to happen. I was willing to go to any lengths so I took every suggestion. The AA program is easy the hard part was changing (me). I had to smash every bit of my old thinking so I could learn how to live rightly. I had to ask for help and that was difficult but now I do it regularly. If I have a problem I turn it over to God. I talk to another alcoholic and then I (wait). The answer always comes. Only fools rush ahead, and that was my old way, just reacting and thinking later. My old ways did not work and never did. I kept thinking by repeating the same mistakes I would somehow be able to get my way to work eventually. INSANITY= Doing the same things over and over expecting different results. Then my EGO (edging God out) needed serious re-adjusting. Somehow I was under the false illusion that I was special, unique, and in charge. AA gave me humility and my ego became right sized. Today I am happy, healthy emotionally and spiritually and I have faith and hope. I have a solution! I used to think being happy was a good buzz, a fat paycheck and getting my wants met. I was never really happy at all. Today I could care less about that junk. It never was enough. No matter how much it was NEVER ENOUGH to fill that big hole inside me. Living in the solution has given me a life I truely love and it just keeps getting better all the time. Godbless, Kelly :)
Member: Kelly M
Location: NH
Remote Name: 205.188.209.140
Date: 23 Feb 2004
Time: 01:00 AM -0500
Hi, Kelly a Grateful, recovering alcoholic. Thanks Rarely for the topic. AA has improved my life 150%. It started the day I surrendered heart and soul to God that I was willing to do ANYTHING to remove my obsession with alcohol. Laying in bed totally beaten, broken ribs from falling down the stairs, In the most unbelieveable emotional and physical pain, sweating and shaking I surrendered. I never said a word... it was a scream from the heart that pierced the ears of God. I have not been the same since that day. I think it had to do with honesty and getting honest with myself. I just followed the program of AA as it is laid out in the Big Book and the miracles started to happen. I was willing to go to any lengths so I took every suggestion. The AA program is easy the hard part was changing (me). I had to smash every bit of my old thinking so I could learn how to live rightly. I had to ask for help and that was difficult but now I do it regularly. If I have a problem I turn it over to God. I talk to another alcoholic and then I (wait). The answer always comes. Only fools rush ahead, and that was my old way, just reacting and thinking later. My old ways did not work and never did. I kept thinking by repeating the same mistakes I would somehow be able to get my way to work eventually. INSANITY= Doing the same things over and over expecting different results. Then my EGO (edging God out) needed serious re-adjusting. Somehow I was under the false illusion that I was special, unique, and in charge. AA gave me humility and my ego became right sized. Today I am happy, healthy emotionally and spiritually and I have faith and hope. I have a solution! I used to think being happy was a good buzz, a fat paycheck and getting my wants met. I was never really happy at all. Today I could care less about that junk. It never was enough. No matter how much it was NEVER ENOUGH to fill that big hole inside me. Living in the solution has given me a life I truely love and it just keeps getting better all the time. Godbless, Kelly :)
Member: jimr
Location: chicago
Remote Name: 68.165.58.176
Date: 23 Feb 2004
Time: 01:51 AM -0500
The joy of living a sober life in the spirit of the 12th step is seeing others get that "click" in their heads. You can't hear the "click" but you can see it in their eyes. It was the same "click" I experienced when I saw things from a different perspective... like the first time I saw how I played a major role in a resentment I was harboring for someone else, justified or not. To see the positive changes happening in others strengthens my faith in God, myself, the program, and the AA Fellowship. Thanks for the share. Best wishes to all.
Member: Vernon P
Location: Illinois
Remote Name: 64.12.96.238
Date: 23 Feb 2004
Time: 07:11 AM -0500
Hi. My name is Vernon and I'm an alcoholic. Thanks for the discussion topic of joy. I used to try to carefully distinguish between joy and happiness. Happiness, I would say, is based on "happenings", which makes it dependent on what goes on around me. Joy on the other hand is from within, and can be had despite my surroundings. That probably is true, but I don't spend a lot of time thinking about which state I'm in anymore. I think that's the case because now as a sober alcoholic I believe that even the negative "happenings" can somehow produce happiness. Life is now a journey. Happy happenings or unhappy happenings: they are all part of the journey and joy is the outcome. It will stay that way so long as I avoid the first drink and maintain a fit spiritual condition. For all my brothers and sisters out there who, like I, experience "unhappy happenings": it's part of your journey, it's our road of happy destiny. Keep trudging!
Member: Ruby B
Location: In the mountains
Remote Name: 67.51.231.185
Date: 23 Feb 2004
Time: 10:31 AM -0500
Hi all, I always thought happiness was just around the corner, if i had a better job, that new car, the kids would do better in school, my husband would pay more attention to me, then i'd be happy. I got all of those things but still wasn't happy. But i'm finding out that God works in mysterious ways. He allowed me to use my free will to lose everything. Did He want me unhappy... NO!!! i believe He wanted me to stop looking at everyone else and focus on Him. This morning I was late heading to school and had to stop and get gas. There was elderly couple ahead of me in line at the checkout and they were having problems with the creditcard machine. At first, I could feel myself thinking "hurry up" then i remembered to "sit with a situation instead of reacting to it" "find the positive" As I did this i no longer saw two old people trying to annoy me (old thoughts) but instead was completely touched by their interaction with each other. And when they were finally done the women turned to me and thanked me for being patient. I thanked her for putting a smile on my face and happiness in my heart. Happiness came to me because i changed my perspective on something that used to annoy me. Thanks for letting me share and i pray that God puts happiness in each of your hearts. Love, Ruby
Member: Tom A.
Location: Carlisle, AR
Remote Name: 66.112.69.84
Date: 23 Feb 2004
Time: 03:24 PM -0500
Thanks Rarely for the topic! Tom A. here, a grateful sober alcoholic by the grace of a wonderful Higher Power and this fellowship. Been "trudging the road to Happy Destiny" for serval twenty-four hours. They told me in the beginning that this program would show me a new way of life without the use of alcohol. I remember during my drinking days that I drank to get feeling good, but somehow that didn't work. Today at 72 years of age and 43+ years sober in this fellowship I can honestly say I am truly Happy, Joyous and Free and wouldn't want it to be any other way. Knowing that I am an alcoholic and that I will always be an alcoholic has brought joy to my life and the lives of those around me. Love and prayers to all to post and read this Staying Cyber site. Love and prayers from an alky who cares. God Bless - Tom A.
Member: Jessica L.
Location: albany, Or
Remote Name: 170.104.83.5
Date: 23 Feb 2004
Time: 03:53 PM -0500
Hi my name is Jessica and this is my first time writting. Living sober is wonderful. I can't believe how diffferent I feel. I always knew that there was something wrong with me, but now I know what it is and I am taking the steps to fix it. I'm glad I have found this site and am even happier that I'm clean and sober. I am new to recovery so it's still a rough road ahead. Thankyou everyone for your comments and sharing.
Member: Candy P
Location: Calgary, Canada
Remote Name: 24.71.223.142
Date: 23 Feb 2004
Time: 06:33 PM -0500
Hello everyone, my name is Candy and I am an alcoholic. This is my first time here, so I hope it is okay that I just introduce myself. I have been sober 6 1/2 years. Sobriety date is June 2, 1997. I heard of this website through a member in my soon-to-be home new home group. I like this idea as much as the chat room meetings. Looking forward to hearing from other recovering alcoholics from around the globe. Love and Hugs to all Candy P.
Member: kelly h
Location: nj
Remote Name: 141.150.201.51
Date: 23 Feb 2004
Time: 07:40 PM -0500
Hi everyone,my name is Kelly this is also my first time here also I am a grateful recovering alcoholic and just wanted to say Hello!and thank you all for being here to talk to.I am so grateful I found this website and am able to share with other fellow AA's since I have never shared neither at my home group meetings or online it kind of helped me because no-one can see me.Ya know FEAR!Well hopefully with the help of God and my new friends at AA I will overcome that eventually. You see i have only 54 days sober & clean. Thanks for listening.
Member: Les
Location: San Diego
Remote Name: 198.81.26.72
Date: 23 Feb 2004
Time: 07:44 PM -0500
I certainly find my sober life a joy.
Member: Cecil H.
Location: Prestonsburg, KY
Remote Name: 206.28.60.148
Date: 24 Feb 2004
Time: 08:21 AM -0500
I'm Cecil - a high bottom alcoholic. I only drank 10 years, and never even wanted to stop drinking. Uncle Sam (U. S. military) decided I would stop drinking, put me on anabuse(sp?), and got me dried out. With a clear mind, I had to agree that I had no business drinking (besides I would have been booted out if I went back to the booze). I was (and could be again) a violent alcoholic. I was an accident waiting to happen. I was a threat and a cause of misery for everyone I loved. I stayed dry for 2 years (good old fashioned white knuckle sobriety/dryiety), but I didn't know how to live or love. I wanted to drink again, even though life was much better outwardly without the alcohol. I called AA (I had been forced to attend a few meetings), and I found hope. That first year was a pink cloud. I no longer had to stay sober on my own. I still had a headful of old ideas though, and joy still wasn't apart of my life. For me mostly, joy was bottled! As the saying goings "If drinking doesn't drive you to your knees, sobriety will" applies. I had found a HP which at first was AA as a whole, but which I later came to call God. For me, it took about 5 years of staying dry/sober my way; before I emotionally surrendered/became teachable. I had dropped out of AA a couple of times, and tried to stay sober on my own. These times of denial/depression which I call dry drunks were necessary for me to realize how truly powerless I am. I became desperate enough to do a honest inventory and found great joy in an emotional connection with my HP. I could feel God, rather than just thinking God. It was truly wonderful, as I know that my resentments, fears, harms etc. had blocked HP (and you) out of my life. I've had at least one dry drunk since, several disasterous love affairs, and life in general; but today I know where is joy is to be found. It's up to me to be willing to reach toward that source of love and joy. When I don't use the principles of AA, and especially when I allow myself to become selfish; then I find there is little joy to be found anywhere. However, when I use the steps I find joy everywhere. Thanks for reading my longwinded share.
Member: Craig L (Dogmanor@yahoo.com)
Location: Aloha, Oregon
Remote Name: 24.21.49.242
Date: 24 Feb 2004
Time: 09:49 AM -0500
Craig L, another "real alcoholic", (page 21). As a child I was always less than. I came to believe you and God hated me for what I was and I only wanted to escape my fears. Alcohol and drugs seemed to offer a solution at first and for many years they at least offered me an escape. Finally the day came when there was not enough alcohol or drugs to make me feel okay. I was hopeless and alone. When I had no more fight left I finally came to AA. I didn't do anything perfectly, but I kept coming back, because I was afraid of drinking. As was mentioned earlier my life improved every day and continues to do so over the years. I also have my daily challenges and fears, but today I don't need to run. I have a faith and Joy I had never known before the 12 steps. I can only keep that Joy, when I show up to tell others it works and what I did to get here.
Member: Valerie H.
Location: Thief River Falls, MN
Remote Name: 156.99.90.179
Date: 24 Feb 2004
Time: 12:55 PM -0500
Topic is sobriety. I have been able to find good, spiritual sobriety through the efforts of other AA members, The Big Book, spirituality, and learning to live life One Day at a Time. I am thankful for sobriety, though I have had happiness and despair in my sober life. I am so grateful to AA and my Higher Power. Thank you for the ability to share my hopes and sobriety with others.
Member: Rarely
Location: rontherocket@hotmail.com
Remote Name: 206.45.165.21
Date: 24 Feb 2004
Time: 01:51 PM -0500
I sure enjoyed the posts this week they are a joy in them selfs. I look back over my sobriety and picked out a few of the high lites that spring to my mind. of course I have missed many of equal importance. It was a joy in living the first time I fell in love sober... The first time I turned it all over to God. And liked how he handled every thing....It was a joy in living when my sponsor treated me like a member who had come of age.... A joy the first time I shared at a speakers meeting....and then years later to share at a convention with over 3000 members present... The first time she said, " I love you." and I could except that cause I had done so much work on self.... A joy when I got my 30 year sober medallion.... The first time I sat 7 rows off the ice at the 7th game of the Stanley Cup final.... The first time I broke par in golf, the game I love to play.... A joy Ill never forget as I looked at mother nature having just climb to the top of a mountain...A joy when I got my first promotion on the job... The first time I splashed on some expensive shaving lotion and was told I smell so good... And its the biggest joy of my life to be sober today and love all of you. Ron.
Member: Rob M
Location: Indiana
Remote Name: 64.12.96.238
Date: 24 Feb 2004
Time: 02:00 PM -0500
The joy of being sober is that sobriety brings joy to my whole family, not just me. We do more things centered around family. I have been able to focus more and have found joy in providing for my family in ways that reduce our stress and provide us time together and the materials for fun. A new dependable car, a boat, things that staying sober and working hard can provide. Of course it's not the material part of it thats so important it's the feeling of strength and well being building inside of me and around my family and it keeps growing. Of course not all days can be perfection, but with the strength of my family I am finding joy in a sober life on the road to recovery.
Member: Beverly M
Location: Bellingham, Wa
Remote Name: 198.81.26.103
Date: 24 Feb 2004
Time: 03:53 PM -0500
Hi Beverly M. an alcoholic in Wa. I love this tipic. The Joy for me in soberity is over welmming. I never once expected my life to get 3,000 times better. I know that I have a lot more to come. This month I get to celabrate my 2 years. In that 2 years I found a new family that loves me and cares for me. They do not want anything in return. Recently I lost my place to live. My sponcer and she is also my best friend opened her home to me. She dose not want money or anything from me. Except one thing and that is to keep working on myself. As long as I am working on doing something for my self i can stay. What a Joy. I have never had friends like that. They all wanted my money or sex or what I can give them. Last saturday we had our birthday meeting at my home group and a friend that I look at as a mother came and handed me a card. I opened it and it said To my Daughter. I have never in my whole life had a card that said Daughter on it. For the first time I cried so many happy tears it was over welmming for me. Some times I do not understand these joyfull feelings. I am sure that the old timmers know excaclly what I am saying. But for me I am just trying to grabb a hold of it and understand. But for now I am just injoying it. Thanks for letting me share. Love to all my brothers and sisters in this program
Member: THOMAS A
Location: SPOKANE, WA
Remote Name: 66.189.209.70
Date: 24 Feb 2004
Time: 08:54 PM -0500
HI ALL THOMAS ALCOHOLIC 12 STEPS WHAT A FEELING IT WAS WHEN I GOT THERE, IT WAS LIKE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR SO CLEAN SO PURE THINGS JUST REALLY BECOME SO MUCH CLEARER IN LIFE. AND IT FEELS GREAT TO SHARE THE CHANGE WITH OTHERS. MY WIFE IS A ALCOHOLIC AND I TRY TO SHARE WITH HER, HOPING SHE WILL STOP DRINKING, AND OPEN HER EYES TO WHAT SHE IS MISSING, OR NOT REMEMBERING WHEN SHE IS USING. SHE IS IN SO MUCH DENIAL AS WE ALL WERE ONCE. MAYBE SHE NEEDS A DUI LIKE ME TO SEE THE LIGHT, AND JOIN ME AND DO THE STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
Member: Barb Mc
Location: PA
Remote Name: 68.236.43.21
Date: 24 Feb 2004
Time: 09:36 PM -0500
Barbara, Alcoholic. What a great topic. When I remember all the anger, fear and darkness that was my life while I was drinking I wonder why God chose me to enter this program. When I look at what I have now I cannot imagine alcohol could make it any better. Because of AA I have found a peace and serenity I never thought possible. No life isn't all peaches and cream. I have my ups and downs just like everyone else. While I was drinking I would never even think of trying to deal with anything. Now the promises have come true for me and I know how to find solutions to problems in my life. To get up in the morning and know exactly what I did the night and day before. To know that if I'm needed my children won't hesitate to call me. To know that they now want to talk to me instead of just checking to see if I was still alive. To know that no matter where I go AA will be there for me. Perhaps not in the form I'm used to but it will be there and I will find people that will hold out their hands to me. I am never alone. And in the words of my departed sponsor, "Hot damm. Ain't that great." I no longer curse the birds singing outside my window for waking me up. I can enjoy their joy in living and make it part of my day. I can sit with my elderly mother, watch a sunset and just enjoy being in her company. Ain't that a kicker? Instead of trying to kill myself with alcohol and get out of this life I can enjoy what has been given to me. It doesn't get better than that. How do I do this? I don't drink and go to meetings. It works. Thanks for being here for me.
Member: Adam H.
Location: New York, NY
Remote Name: 64.232.156.194
Date: 25 Feb 2004
Time: 10:15 AM -0500
Adam, alcoholic. When my eyes opened this morning, I was on the right side of the dirt. I knew where I was (my apartment), who I was with (nobody...which can also be a blessing sometimes), and how and when I got there (last night on the subway...where I got on and off at the right stations on my own two feet instead of crawling on my hands and knees). The first thing I did was eat breakfast instead of puking up dinner, and the first thing I felt was gratitude for another day alive and sober rather than "F**K! I didn't die in my sleep, and therefore I have to live...Gawd, I need a drink!". It's 10AM in New York and I am currently at work, where I am a responsible teammate and co-worker who shows up on time and does the job...whereas before AA at 10AM, New York or anywhere else, I would just now be in a serious dillema over whether or not I even cared to show up). I am having lunch with friends from another country who respect and care about me for who I am--and I them...which is in sharp contrast to my life before where there were no friends, no lunch, and I respected and had respect from no one. When I am stressed today, I actually go into the john or outside and pause for five minutes before going back...previously, there would have been no pause and I would have stomped on and over anyone who got in my way. Tonight, I have a good idea of where I will be and what I will be doing--most likely I'll be a meeting with other people I love and care about, and later with them at dinner before going back home. And finally, when I close my eyes at night, it won't be because of passing out from too much alcohol and the feeling won't be one of hoping that I'll die in my sleep. Obviously, it's not a glamorous life or a particularly exciting life, but it's a pleasant one and I ACTUALLY WANT TO LIVE IT! That sums up a lot of what the joy of living sober is to me...that I actually get to have some semblance of a normal life with normal activities, that I get to work with and be friends with people whom I normally would not care about. And man...that whole deal about not waking up (or coming to) in the morning wishing I had died in my sleep is a wonderful thing! That I even want to be an active, responsible participant in my own life is the best part of all. I'm grateful to AA for this life. Thanks for letting me share.
Member: Stephen C
Location: North Stratford,N.H.
Remote Name: 165.121.146.24
Date: 25 Feb 2004
Time: 12:59 PM -0500
hi,to everyone well im only 9months sober and i feel like thing are getting better and very greatful for this program and so im trying to do 90days and 90 meeting and im starting to feel better and also get out of myself and have very surport for friends and a sponser,im from new hampshire and so wish everyone the best anddont let anyone tell you your not worth it,because you are worth it and also if no one has told you today,that they love you well i do
Member: robert w
Location: holiday,fl
Remote Name: 65.161.137.44
Date: 25 Feb 2004
Time: 02:13 PM -0500
Alky by the name of Bob: The joy of being sober is waking up and knowing i have a choice to drink or not to drink. Driving my car and not being afraid of seeing a cop in the rearview mirror. To look into a mirror and not hate the guy looking back at me. To walk down the street and not have to hide from someone i have hurt or owe money to and knowing i can walk up to them and make amends. Being able to handle situations that at one time i could not even think about. ( I lost my mother,father,mother inlaw and granddauhter as well as having a heart attack and by pass operation in 1994 and never thought of drinking). Joyous & Free Thanks Bob
Member: Joe B.
Location: Charleston,W.V.
Remote Name: 205.188.209.140
Date: 25 Feb 2004
Time: 02:29 PM -0500
Hi gang, greetings from W.V.I think the last 3 steps are the most important, and 12 especially so. Just being free of addiction/s is not enough, its the living happy that matters. I can take whatever comes my way now. thanks for listening
Member: AndyD
Location: Detroit
Remote Name: 68.41.155.151
Date: 26 Feb 2004
Time: 12:28 PM -0500
Hey all, they joy of living free is very simple to me. I don't wake up thinking that every day is gonna suck until I get to the bar. I find pleasure in the things that others used to tell me about. It's great to be looking forward to things other than alcohol and much more rewarding. That is the beauty of the 12th. -Andy
Member: Mike L
Location: kzoo Mi
Remote Name: 68.188.141.27
Date: 26 Feb 2004
Time: 12:58 PM -0500
The joy of living is what the program about for me. My sponsor likes to say that it,s easy to quit drinking, the hard part is to stay not drinking. That's what the joy of living is for me. It's my reason not to drink. All the other times I tried to quit I would last a few months but my outlook on life was the same."What's going to **ck up in my life now". When I figured out that life is good and even my mistakes couldn't change it, that's when the program began to make sense to me. Instead of dreading the new day, I now look forward to the challenges because I know that I can overcome them, and even the ones I can't beat teach me something to use the next time. To me, that's the joy of living and the joy of AA
Member: Nate W.
Location: Spokane, WA
Remote Name: 24.18.115.53
Date: 27 Feb 2004
Time: 03:07 PM -0500
Nate an alcoholic, the joy of living is a hard step for me by all the stuff going on with myself and my family, but being sober helps the situation. If I were to go out like I used to then everything would go wrong, but being sober is a big joy of living.
Member: PappyPaw
Location: Sourt Central Mi
Remote Name: 66.231.35.10
Date: 28 Feb 2004
Time: 09:45 AM -0500
PappyPaw I am a grateful recovering alcoholic. It is a joy to look out and be able to enjoy the day unfold in front of us. It is Today as I would have it. I have the Spiritual tools I need and the guidance I need to use them. Thanks for allowing me to share and thank you for the spiritual gifts. PappyPaw