Recovered Alcoholic

  January 20, 2026 “Regardless of worldly success or failure, regardless of pain or joy, regardless of sickness or health or even of death itself, a new life of endless possibilities can be lived if we are willing to continue our awakening, through the practice of AA’s Twelve Steps.” AA Co-Founder, Bill W., December 1957, “The Greatest Gift of All”, The Language of the Heart I remember sitting in my home group listening to one of the men speak at my home group. I was astonished when he revealed that his son had been shot and killed by a local gang member by cross fire. In other words, his son was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This man had expressed how grateful he was that he was sober, and that he was able to meet with the young man who killed his son in prison. At that time, he was regularly visiting him.  In that same group, one of the members, my sponsor's husband's sponsee, actually killed someone in a drunk driving incident but went ...

    "There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which can not fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation."      --HERBERT SPENCER This quote first appeared in one of the Stories in the Back of the Book, first edition, titled An Artist’s Concept. The story was dropped from subsequent editions and the quote was moved to appear at the end of Appendix II called "Spiritual Experience". This would be on page 570 in the Third Edition and Fourth Edition. I like reading the material that is the closest to the beginning of the formation of the AA construct to get a better comprehension of our program at our roots.  Here is a snippet from that story... "The next day I met over twenty men who had achieved a mental rebirth from alcoholism. Here again it was not so much what these men told me in regard to their experiences that was impres...

  So many examples I could give on this topic in just this past couple of months, but I will limit it to today. Feeling better, I was outside painting wooden hearts for a upcoming Valentine craft fair and enjoying a wonderful dry, sunny, no wind, day when I decided it would be totally fine to let my new kitten out in the yard with us (me, the dog, chickens and other cat) and I was thinking how comical it would be if the kitten climbed up the tree and got stuck. Then I started thinking about how I judged someone briefly a few months ago for allowing their cat to get stuck somewhere.... (it was a judgmental thought that came in and I allowed it to surface because I refuse to stuff it or pretend it's not surfacing...stuffing it gets me sick, not having the thought)  Anyway, like clockwork in Hilarie's realm, the kitten of course ran up the tree and got stuck. Insert clown sh*t show music!! This is not uncommon for me which is going  against  my instinct when i...

How has participating in service, group conscience, or supporting A.A. beyond your home group helped you better understand your responsibility to A.A. as a whole? As part of my personal walk in AA, I was quickly able to establish a very strong, focused and resolved connection to my HP who I know fundamentally got, an kept me sober long enough to get me here so that you could give me some tools to not only stay sober, but to stay connected, grow and mature rooted in some sustainable principles-not rules, dogma or expectations.  My first go at life I wasn't provided with any real foundation, armour, or instruction set- so being launched out like that will turn some into "survivors"  who solely rely upon themselves and their maladjusted ways, and perceptions, of how to"do life" which systematically infects others to a degree I never considered before because I was that inconsiderate, but didn't think so...LOL!!  My way was so exhausting...

 I thought of the passage below right away from the program of Alcoholics Anonymous which is located in the front of the Big Book which starts with the contents, and ends on page 164. The pages that follow 164 are referred to as the "stories in the back" which are essentially the alcoholic's personal experience with the program-kinda like personal testimonies of something working, but not the program itself. So while many of us have a great deal of insight and wisdom, again, it's just that person's experience with the Steps that brought them to a HP.  "We, of ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, know thousands of men and women who were once just as hopeless as Bill.  Nearly all have recovered.  They have solved the drink problem. We are average Americans. All sections of this country and many of its occupations are represented, as well as many political, economic, social, and religious backgrounds.  We are people who normally would not mix. But there exists...

  “The first thing my sponsor told me was, ‘I don’t have time to help you stay sick ... but if you want to get better I’d be glad to help.” Temple, Texas, October 1990, “The Man I’ve Always Wanted to Be,” Emotional Sobriety I love this! I couldn't comprehend the concept of enabling vs helping.  "Helping" is being supportive of someone to reach a desired goal Enabling is doing it for them so that I don't have to take the time to actually teach them-or maybe I don't want to deal with the backlash of telling them "no" or "I can't"; or perhaps maybe I want them to need me or be dependent upon me for whatever reason my twisted and sick brain has convinced me the best course of action for the human being-which is actually usurping God's role and inserting myself as thier HP, which is not only not helpful, it can be down right deadly.  When I was first getting sober I had pretty much been stripped of all things-including a car, so I was essent...