When I came into the program of AA, I was physically, morally, and spiritually bankrupt. I didn’t know what was wrong. I only knew that I was a 36-year-old former bar bouncer and now a Detroit copper that, from the outside, had a pretty good life going on. I also knew something was seriously wrong in my life. When I first heard what was being said in AA and saw people, who I knew from when we used to drink and fight together, actually smiling, laughing, and seemingly enjoying life, I knew that was what I wanted. I heard early in the second paragraph of How it Works “If you want what we have and are willing to go to any lengths to get it” then COD, come on down. I wanted it badly and was willing to go to ANY lengths. Some of the formerly meanest dudes in Detroit told me to sit down, shut up, and listen, and for some reason, that is just what I did. Then they told me and showed me how this spiritual, not religious, program could and would change my life if only I let it. Having an addictive persona, I jumped in with both feet, ready, able, and willing to do anything that would help me get rid of the insane thoughts that I constantly had. These people who became my sponsors told me that to make it easier all I had to do was fake it until I made it. With no prior religious or spiritual experience, I was like a thirsty, dry sponge just waiting for the moisture of hope to flood me. The hope turned into results that I no longer have to fake. I don’t have to only think that it works because I now know it works. It has been working in my life for almost 45 years now and I am not in the same spiritual and mental desert that I was. I am not the same person that I was. Today I am truly too blessed to be stressed and Happy, Joyous, and Free. I am willing to go to any lengths to keep it and to give as much away as I can and/or will be taken by others. I only hope that you can find as much and more for yourself here. This is what Spirituality has done and continues to do for me. This is what we will explore in this blog by working together to educate and enrich us all.
great intro ! i can identify with the sentiments expressed. i was done and wanted ti learn as much as possible to stay done and have the insanity removed ! i knew if i drank again i’d die yet something inside of me was screaming for a drink that’s insane ! the people in AA led me through a spirituality that allowed a power bigger than me to remove the insanity of a want for drink ! which allowed me to continue to listen and my human spirit to reconnect with true self and grow !!
Thanks, Tom. We will continue growing together, just as long as we stay out of the way ourselves.