| WELCOME TO THE 16th EDITION |
| ALCOHOLIC REPRIEVE |
| NUMEROUS THOUGHTS |
| by |
| Bingocliff |
| "YOU MAY ASK" |
| I came into recovery with all the tolerance and patience as a world best drunk. I was numb all over. My brain had turned to mush. I didn't give a hoot if you pulled a loaded shotgun on me and blew my head apart. I began recovery with 2.9 strikes against me. So, you may ask what happened? To be truthful, I began to witness life in a way I thought was only possible in a dream. Slowly I became to understand and accept that I had a disease that was about to kill me. Then I had second thoughts about dying. Yes, I wanted to live. So I fell in love with the one thing that was possible for the miracle to happen. Alcoholics Anonymous! I began to listen, read, and absorbed all that was suggested to me and began to enjoy a sober life with the tolerance and patience of a miracle on feet. 9/17/03 |
| In all my years as an active alcoholic, I insisted on making mountains out of mole hills. No matter what transpired during each drinking day, I reacted in a pessimistic attitude. I cared less of situations happening around the globe. If it was no benefit to my disease to keep me active, I wanted no part of it. I hurt many people and myself along this path of drunken days. I couldn't even succeed in suicide when three sheets to the wind. That is being drunk in a blackout. You see, I had no emotions within thyself. I was always looking to ways to be active with my disease of drinking. It was the only priority I had to living in the now. So, you may ask what happened? I was to learn early in my sobriety by what was taught by the hands of Alcoholics Anonymous; that of 'EASY DOES IT,' 'KEEP IT SIMPLE,' "LET GO AND LET GOD,' 'ONE DAY AT A TIME,'etc. It is amazing how much emotions were instilled within thyself. And, as for over reacting? I know that with the optimism I've grown with, I need not make any mountains out of mole hills. 9/18/03 |
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| "A Bad Neighborhood?" |
| I love what this alcoholic heard at a meeting recently. "My mind is like a bad neighborhood, I dare not go there alone." How do we prevent the stinking think-ing from invading our minds? It does not matter how many days of sobriety that I have; I just know that to remain sober, I must continue to work the program that I have been taught. This entails that I do my daily readings each morning upon awakening. That throughout each day I keep a focus on my Higher Power and recite the 'Serenity Prayer' when neccessaey. That I keep in contact with the fellowship of f2f meetings, not to have a second thought of using the telephone, if need too. By having worked the suggested steps of AA, (that took months and months to do; and still, today do updates of all steps in keeping a fresh perspective of my recovery), I believe that each new day is simply that. This all prevents the stinking thinking from even entering my bad neighborhood and sticking like glue. 10/12/03 |
| "Honest the Truth" |
| I work the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. In chapter five of the Big Book, entitled "How it Works," not once does it mention about sponsorship. It does speak out about one important ingredient for sobriety. That is honesty. I have never to date had myself a sponsor. I fell in love with meetings and the fellowship. It was true at first, that I believed only in these meetings to keep me sober. It took time to grasp the under-standing of a Higher Power. But the more I became optimistic with my life sober, the more I became to believe in a God of my understanding. I have witnessed many of the fellowship go back out and then return. Some with many days/months/years of sobriety. And some not to return. I believe the reasoning more than anything was the concept of not being honest with thyself. Whenever a newcomer asks me to be sponsor, I only speak out about this. To be honest, read the Big Book, and go to meetings. It works if you work it and be honest. 10/16/03 |
| BINGOCLIFF |
| My name is Cliff an alcoholic. Let me just say, that I am not Bingocliff because I love the game Bingo. I don't play. The hardest thing for this alcoholic to ever have done was to quit drinking. Having picked up the character defects along the way made it that much harder. But the fact is that I finally put the cork back into the bottle. What AA and the twelve steps have done for this alkie, was to remain sober up through to today. It also gradually dispersed of character defects that were the ruin of this person. It took time to work each step through. When finally reaching step twelve, I could see a beautiful change that had occured with this alcoholic person. Today I continue to work the suggested steps of AA to remain sober. It works each day one day at a time. I am a miracle, and once that miracle happened, I yelled BINGO! 12/17/03 |