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Real Change or Just Another New Years’ Resolution?
I wish I had a nickel for all the times I made myself promises, so-called New Years Resolutions but seldom did things change except for maybe a day or two, and then it was right back to drinking like I always had. One NYE after another, the years ticked by with no change despite all…
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This Too Shall Pass
Oh, how I used to hate it when AA thumpers would speak in platitudes. My life was falling apart and in their happy, sing-songy way, would spout off the seemingly endless stream of AA slogans. How it drove me crazy, “One day at a time,” “Think, think, think” and on and on. I literally wanted…
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For Women, About Women, By Women
AA is for everyone regardless of sex, race, sexual orientation, age–you name it. The disease does not discriminate. I usually attend meetings with mostly men–women might make up about 20% of a meeting in general so when a special conference for women is available, I always jump at the opportunity. It’s really great to…
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The Sunshine of the Spirit
One of the incredibly powerful and beautiful things about being involved in this fellowship is that we share everything. As one very wise woman said, “we recover all over each other,” whether we’re up and down. We share life’s beautiful moments and laughter; then allow our fellow AA’s in to guide us through life’s darkest…
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Wherever you go, there it is
I travel a lot, more than would like to but one thing I found when I travel, wherever I go, there I am and there it is. I take me and my character defects with me, I get hungry, not angry but lonely and definitely tired. My body doesn’t often know which time zone it…
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MCY! MCY! MCY! PAA! PAA! PAA!
What do you get when you combine Unity, Recovery, and Service with unbounded energy and enthusiasm, and Monster Energy drinks? Welcome to MCYPAA XL! I was introduced to Michigan Convention of Young People in AA (MCYPAA) at this summer’s Michigan State Convention in Kalamazoo where the MYCPAA group presented the sobriety countdown, complete with DJ…
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The Buddhist Path to a Higher Power
When I first realized I had a problem with alcohol, I looked for an outside fix. If the stars would just align and everything would go the way I’d planned, I’d have no reason to drink–so I thought. I did a tour of churches in the town where I lived, knowing I was spiritually sick,…
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Movie Review: Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot
I’m not a movie critic, nor do I play one on TV, but I can recommend Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot as a mostly entertaining movie that revolves around the real-life spiritual awakening and journey through the 12 steps of an alcoholic cartoonist and quadriplegic, John Callahan (he died in 2010). I felt like the movie did…
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Angels of Negation
Sometimes love is found in the whistle of a breeze, Or beneath ten pairs of Fairy Wings, But here love is found in the slur of angry words, Here love is found in talk of the absurd, A competition in raised voice, Each seeks approval in degradation of choice, Sadness begins to fall A masked…
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Visiting Akron, the Birthplace of the Fellowship
It’s an amazing part of my sober journey, and I strongly recommend that some day, you make it part of yours if you haven’t already.