Recovered Alcoholic

  Hope "per the robot" says:  Hope is not a mere wish or optimistic feeling, but a confident, unwavering expectation of future good based on the faithfulness and promises of God. It acts as a secure "anchor for the soul," that is rooted in God . I like this interpretation of Hope. Prior to sobriety (and still sometimes when I'm temporarily off the beam), all my hope went into whatever I was anchored into in that particular time and space. So this includes, but not limited to; jobs, relationships, money, the outcome of other people's choices in life, how people are receiving me or what they think of me, who's in "office" ect. So let me rephrase the bots definition of hope with one of the many exterior things I would place my hope in.... Hope is not a mere wish or optimistic feeling, but a confident, unwavering expectation of future good based on the faithfulness and promises of what people think of me. It acts as a secure "anchor for the so...

  “Selfishness-self- centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.  Driven by a hundred forms of fear,  self-delusion,  -a form of self-deception where an individual ignores or rationalizes away evidence to maintain a specific, often more comfortable, perception of reality ( softer and easier way ) self-seeking,  an excessive, often exclusive, focus on one's own interests, profit, or desires, typically at the expense of others. It is characterized by selfish, narcissistic, or egocentric behavior, where personal gain is prioritized over the well-being of others. and self-pity,   an excessive, self-absorbed focus on one’s own misfortunes, often fostering a feeling of being a helpless victim and a "why me?" mentality. It hinders personal growth and strains relationships by creating emotional distance, reducing empathy for others, and fostering negativity. "we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate.'  meaning they may actually...

I also thought about how this lesson allowed me to stop placing so much “weight” on other humans or earthly entities. For example - a sponsor who ends up relapsing. Without believing that God is the solution and spiritual help is my only hope, something like this happening would have blown my mind in the beginning and I’m sure it did back then! I put humans on pedestals internally and if they faltered, it was a big shock to me.  But once I truly grasped “the God idea” and started to place all my eggs in the God basket - that all changed for me. I see everything in terms of spiritual fitness and spiritual condition that happens through the maintenance of practicing the AA principles. It’s no longer seen as willpower or some humanly strength that I saw it as in the beginning. Thank you for your insightful share about something that I have struggled with communicating about what I personally derived from the human aid concept. Because of my background in extremes, ...

Grateful that I never have to approach anything casually again. Because people in AA commitmented to me and taught me what that looked like, I truly value commitment and now am able consider myself and others on a deeper level.  Casual is defined as:  relaxed and informal, or without commitment or permanence; occasionally or irregularly. That is just not how I approach life anymore, not to be labeled as this, that or another...just not how I perceive things-including sex; but coming in here that was certainly NOT the case!!!  As a part of my dis-ease which includes but not limited to, is the addiction to excitement and drama, so I got high from juggling men- "cas" was how I rolled! I couldn't follow through, commit, consider or value others, even if I wanted to- let alone myself, so I was pretty unreliable and irresponsible even though I didn't think so. If someone needed me to be responsible I would approach it as: How is...