DRINKING ALCOHOL TAUGHT ME HOW TO FLY
THEN IT TOOK AWAY THE SKY

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

NOT A GLUM LOT---WHAT'S GLUM?

AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
OR
A State Of Thankfulness



God will do for me what I cannot do for myself. I'd guess the corollary to that is, God will not necessarily do for me what I CAN do for myself? Well, it seems to me that the longer I practice this program, these Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, the more I can do for myself. And yet it seems as though the longer I stay sober, the more wonderful things happen to/for me, with very little effort. It's as if God continues--in multiples--to pile the gifts onto this old guy.

It used to be I counted my friends on one hand--well, to be honest, on one finger! And that "friend" didn't really know me. This very morning I'll begin my day REAL early, with about sixty true friends, of whom some do not always agree with my behaviors, but love me nonetheless. What a wonderful gift THAT is!.

The gift, straight from God--my wife, Anna--to whom I kept saying, at AA meetings, "I like what you said". (Watch out for those words, girls, that means the bull is circling.) Then, there are those other words, which SHE said to me, as we were leaving a meeting (watch out for these words, guys!) "We have to talk". And we've been together ever since, that was about 1990.
And it is not all perfect, nor ever was, but we try to remember to say, at appropriate moments, "You may be right!" to one another. Now, THOSE four words are worth embedding into our minds, hear this. YOU MAY BE RIGHT. The saying thereof does not in any way, claim that I'm not right, or that you are entirely correct.

Dear God Almighty, I'm beginning to sound like a teacher! Me don't LIKE that.

Maybe time to back down a bit.
Didja all know that in BB page 132, count DOWN 16 lines, and take two words out from the beginning of the following line. Then, count UP from bottom of page, and take out two words from the right side of the page, well, we have nestled EXACTLY in the center of that page, those OTHER six words I love: "We absolutely insist on enjoying life..."

Psssst, my other six words are: ..."willing to grow along spiritual lines..." in chapter How It Works.
Well, I'm rambling, just like it happens at some AA meetings. But there's always someone to say, a bit too loudly, "Thank you, Steve."...even when I didn't KNOW I was finished! Thank you, all.
Love you ALL.
Steve E.

5 comments:

Laura said...

Thank you, Steve! As a newbie here, I appreciate your words, many or few. God is aweseome, isn't he? A little bit of living that lines up with what He meant for us gets blessed abundantly when we acknowledge His hand. Love it.

Hugs.

Lou said...

S'aRoni, you're a busy guy. Glad you took the time to give us a few nuggets of the good stuff.

You go great with a cup of coffee!

Kathy Lynne said...

You may be right???? Okay, I'll try it. My H is not an alcoholic and not in a program though I wish he was. I met him in a bar and according to him, I patted the bar stool and said come sit next to me. LOL! Coulda happened. I heard someone refer her dating while active as falling off the barstool at the same time and meeting on the floor.

MY favorite words...though only five....Half measures availed us nothing....

J-Online said...

Thanks Steve!!

Patricia Marie said...

Just stopping by to say "hello". And this is Pat not Patrick a.k.a Micky.