I have been in the remarkable Program of Alcoholics Anonymous for over 45 years, now. I have been honored to have been hosting a successful Zoom AA meeting for over a year and a half now, and counting. Since entering and working my program in AA, I have obtained entirely new thoughts about all of my life. I have rejoiced, cried, loved, and fought. I have been proper, been politically incorrect, laughed with (and not at), held hands both physically and emotionally. I have been loved, repulsed, seen people close to me transition, had cancer, had close family and friends with cancer.
I have been called great names, called a liar, left a marriage that was more a 16 year divorce that was just waiting to happen. I then remarried and now am enjoying a family situation that I never, even in my childhood, believed was even thinkable for me.
I have successfully sponsored a few and unsuccessfully sponsored many more. I came into this amazing program kicking and screaming, and also defeated. This and more lead me to believe that there may be a few out there that can gain something from my super highs and super lows. I do not volunteer much until asked. If asked, I don’t sugar coat anything. I tell it just like I see it. If one doesn’t want to get my honest opinion they shouldn’t ask. If asked, and I see that this may cause a problem, I usually will warn by asking if they really want to hear what I think.
Now, with all this, my answer to the question posed in the topic about what do I now do with all this information about my spirituality is this. I totally enjoy being Happy, Joyous, and Free. This is mainly because of the new thoughts introduced to me. I now absolutely know that there is a Higher Power in my life. I now choose to call this Power God. This Power is giving me loving guidance and inspiration in all of my affairs. All I must do to obtain this is to watch and listen all around me to see the miracles that are taking place. Then all I do is believe that they are mine also, if I only ask for them and then believe in the results.
Many ask, some quite snidely, how I can be happy with some of the situations such as physical or emotional pain that come into my life. Also, how when the lives of others around me are filled with pain.
My answer is I have had pain, both physical and emotional. Suffered loss of loved ones, too. Since this fabulous Program introduced me to spirituality, I have not picked up a drink, drug, or other mind altering substance. I have been able to do the next right thing, even if it was only to get out of the way. I can feel Happy, Joyous, and Free because my God didn’t make any junk. This means that I can’t take ownership of the things that I can not change. I learned from my new thoughts that God made me in His image. His image is perfect, so any changes in this is of my own doing. What do you really want?
Have you had enough pain and suffering? If you have then the answer is simple – don’t drink and continually do only the next right thing. Say the shortened version of The Serenity Prayer, “God help me”, and get out of the way and let Him. Embrace the new thoughts that you are getting, simply by working your program 24/7/365. Is that Easy? Not always. Simple? Couldn’t be simpler. May God bless you all!
More can be found on our other pages. We have an AA Zoom meeting, blogs, and a podcast, in addition to our Facebook page. They are updated regularly. We hope that you will join us on these sites and comment so that we can share with each other our experiences, strengths, and hopes. The Zoom meeting is every Monday through Friday, 3:00 PM EST. Meeting ID is 6035280704, Password 399778. To locate the blogs and Facebook pages, simply search @Spiritualityandrecovery. For the podcast, search Spotify.com for Spiritualityandrecovery. On iPhone say “Hey Siri, Play the podcast Spiritualityandrecovery”