THE STEP LADDER

"Wait!  You did not tell me 

they were REAL steps!"

LADDERS OF SUCCESS

Yes, well...the meeting topic  yesterday was "When I arrived at the door of Alcoholics Anonymous, what did I do to fill the hole left, by not drinking, not fraternizing with my 'friends', not fighting, and not drinking--grin.

How did I fill up that huge emptiness, that hole in my body, my life--of time spent drinking, of 'fun'...and finally of misery, of chaos, of hopelessness?

For one thing, there was a great hole, but it was not in me. I was in it! It was as if I was caught in this immense, ummm, black-hole. It kept filling up with more and more crapola, and kept getting larger, as might a stomach being constantly fed.

The only way out of this hole--of which drinking large daily amounts of booze was a true symptom--was a ladder being handed down from above. Isn't it interesting that this ladder contained Twelve Steps?

All I had to do was start climbing--take that first step, admit my powerlessness.  And there was a light which began shining dimly at first, a light of hope, that here was an opportunity to begin anew, again, once more.

When I was ready, God put the ladder in my path.  You people met me, helped me, prayed for me, told me to "Don't drink!  Come back next week". And I did just that--thirty-five and a half years ago.

However many times I Fk'd up, I always was given another chance--by God, that is.  Not to mislead you--from my first meeting in AA, I never drank again. God did for me what I could NEVER do for myself. And I simply kept following that beacon of hope, which shone brighter with each period of painful change.

Each plateau of growth seemed to have added a few more Watts to the bulb lighting the way.  I have two bulbs shining the way now, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the religion of my childhood. God has really smiled on me, Peeps!

Oh, I forgot to mention...that ladder of Twelve Steps? It has extensions, each having Twelve Steps.  I am beginning to again take someone through  the steps. I will once more pull out the extension for myself...and re-learn and re-take those Twelve Steps.  This is "How It Works" for me today.

In gratitude, I am your steveroni.
Thank you for your love.

PEACE!