Hi all my name is Joanie and I am an alcoholic. The topic for the week is getting so busy in this life that I forget to take care of myself. This can happen when I least expect it, I run on nothing and have no reserve this makes me vulnerable to outside pressures that dont normally happen in my life . Easy does it is the magical slogan that guides me to come back to reality. Bieng busy is one thing but trying to be superwoman is another. I must remember that I am human and that I must take care of myself first .Love to all
Hi, I'm LD and I'm an alcoholic. Being too busy, overload. Good topic. I have been trying to take more time for myself but something else is always left out. Unfortunately it is usually a meeting or my alcoholic mother. I wish I had time for everything I needed but all I can do is pray about it. Hopefully online meetings can help me bridge that gap between meetings. Thanks.
Hi, LDH and welcome! Great topic as usual, Miss Joannie -- and I don't yet have the answer. I'm the kind of person (do y'all identify?) that has two sppeds -- on, and off. Pacing myself and living in moderation are still foreign to my psyche! I will promise myself I'll meditate, for example, and alluva sudden the whole day has whipped by!
Most of the things I'm doing are service kinds of things -- sponsoring, meetings, working for the church -- but that doesn't matter because I'm not SAVORING my life!
When I finally slow down, I find myself saying "thank you" constantly, for the beauty of this place and my wonderful friends. The answer for me, I believe, is to meditate regularly and say "no" to mySELF -- and then pay attention. Ah ha! The addict in me is still healthy, I'm afraid!
Thanks, Joanie, and welcome, LDH.
I have been feeling the same way lately, Joanie. I really love the slow, quiet life, but I am so busy these days that I rarely have a moment to "stop and smell the roses." Being busy and active is one of the gifts of sobriety, but it IS hard to keep balance, sometimes. I think I need to get back to the daily hour or so of prayer and meditation that brings such a welcome sense of calm. I can't run anymore (arthritic ankle), but I have a Nordic Track machine, and while exercising (I use it outside!), it's wonderful to pray and try to open my mind and heart up to God, while breathing the cool fall air. It DOES work, and helps me so much through the day.
And, I guess, I just have to accept that life can be busy sometimes! And I'm glad of that, too, since I am wide awake through it all, instead of sleepwalking my way through life under the influence.
A good week to all -
Well this topic is certainly appropriate for me also. I have a lot going on in my life now that keeps me very busy. I can also identify that I should be spending more time working on myself, although I guess some of the things that I’ve been doing really do help me with me and are helping to make me a better person, but I could certainly use some more self examination. I also like being busy. Sometimes I’ll complain that I have so much to do, and I would just like to relax for a day or whatever. But I really do it all because I want to and I like it. I’m very fortunate to have all that I have today and that I’ll able to do all these things. Like Barbara said “balance” is difficult but when I pray or meditate and continue to ask God to help me everything seems to work out. I also agree that just being in the game instead of passed out in the corner is a great gift. ‘Live life to good purpose’ is one of my sponsors favorite sayings, and that’s all I’m trying to do. I just have to remember why I have a life and that it’s such a wonderful one, because of God and AA, without them I have nothing.
Welcome LDH and KEEP COME'N BACK
The moment we catch even a glimpse of God's will , the moment we begin to see truth, justice and love as the real and eternal things in life.......we are no longer deeply disturbed by all the seeming evidence to the contrary that surrounds us in purely human affairs. We know that God lovingly watches over us. We know that when we turn to Him, all will be well with us , and hereafter.
Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us. We no longer live in a completely hostile world. We are no longer lost and frightened and purposeless.
Not practicing Easy Does It leads to resentments, leads to obbsession that this time it will be different, leads to a drink , leads to a drunk, leads to prisons, hospitals and coroners office.
Start with nights rest, add in one meeting Mix in one part Gratitiude A pinch of honesty a heavy dose of helping others Read a few lines from the Big Book, Call the Sponser Meditate and Pray ( on knees) Enjoy a vat of Sobriety!
Mix as needed and execute to enjoy the day. Ignore and head towards the disease. Dis-Ease
Off the wall in PA Thanks for listening:
Hi. I'm Chris H from Calif. and I just lost my entire comment on this computer of mine due to impatience--which is a big part of my entire addiction preblem--I only seem to want one thing in life---MORE! Anf faster! I love the comment about the light switch-- I seem to be either 110% on or off and never much in between. I guess I have no reastat! More life, more clothes,more food, more work----anything to'FILL THE HOLE'. I believe it's the true nature of my disease--filling this hole with alchohal, filling it with drugs, filling it with shopping...etc. To me, it's a whole that can only be filled with consciious contact with God--I guess that's why it truely is a spiritual disease to me. Here's my best remedy based upon my sober experience- helping others...service...with no expectation of return. Here's why it works for me- It's truely the only time when I am relieved from the "bondage of self"--the only time when I get to experience true fullfillment.My sponsor recently shared that he had read in the New England Journel of Medicine that a survey of people close to death wre asked what they could have changed in their lives if given the oppurtunity. Here's what they said: Over 90% wished they had done more to "help others." God gave me a great gift when he showed me that I didn"t have to regret my alcohalic past--that I could share my experience strength and hope with others and REALLY make a difference in another person's life. It works and , in my experience , it's the only thing thaat works--one alcoholic helping another. If I never accomplish anything else in my life, this will be the most important and gratifying thing that I have done in my life.
You mean ther are alkies in California? Yikes... Nice to have you Chris. Welcome
Hi i'm Bob and I'm an alcoholic. I am and was the prime example of having no balance in my life.But its good to be sober today just for me.Have a sober day.
Hello I am Doug and I am Alcoholic.
It seems to me that when I am too busy to centre my self on life, it means that I am not thinking of others first. I am being self centered, ego-centric as it says in the Big Book. This is the root of all our troubles Bill said. My sponsor tells me at these times to take my "Just for Today" card and do something off the list. When I am living in my problems I am not part of the solution, so I need to find the reason for my discontent. Step ten tells me that it is my defects of character that cause me this ill, snd the reason for my irritability, and discontent, as in the doctor's opinion, is resentment. The number one offender. Resentment kills more alcoholics than anything else the Big Book tells me, and if that includes booze, then I had better look to my resentments and write a step ten. Then I will erlieve the resentment and be at one with the world. I can then be happy joyous and free. The strnge thing is that it works
Hello I am Doug and I am Alcoholic.
It seems to me that when I am too busy to centre my self on life, it means that I am not thinking of others first. I am being self centered, ego-centric as it says in the Big Book. This is the root of all our troubles Bill said. My sponsor tells me at these times to take my "Just for Today" card and do something off the list. When I am living in my problems I am not part of the solution, so I need to find the reason for my discontent. Step ten tells me that it is my defects of character that cause me this ill, snd the reason for my irritability, and discontent, as in the doctor's opinion, is resentment. The number one offender. Resentment kills more alcoholics than anything else the Big Book tells me, and if that includes booze, then I had better look to my resentments and write a step ten. Then I will erlieve the resentment and be at one with the world. I can then be happy joyous and free. The strnge thing is that it works
Gidday! My name is Robyn and I'm an Australian alcoholic online for the first time. I loved reading the meeting - first time. On the switch topic - on or off - when I choose God I switch on, when I choose self I switch off - but refuse to believe it - a powerless person on a schedule from hell. Coming back to the moment is one of the hardest discipline's I can undertake when in full flight. God, for me, is found only in the moment but my mind loves to ramble around in the past, the future, and over there all of which are unavailable to me of course. Self sets me up all the time that way. Hence the rush. If I concentrate on the five senses and what I can actually see, feel and touch, etc, I am reminding myself of my humanity and also allowing God to be God. Although I must admit this is the first time I've been to a meeting to close and yet so far. With thanks to you all. I hope to join you all again. Now if I can just send this message I'll be right. Bye!
Good topic. Thanks. When I 1st read the topic, thought I wouldn't comment because it didn't really apply to me, these days. Key words: These days. It sure used to. At one time, thought "freedom from financial insecurity" meant having lots of money. So, as soon as I was able, began buying all the stuff I couldn't afford when I was using. H.P. let me dig my way to the spirtual bottom again, this time with a checkbook.
I thank Him for that, because after my life became unmanageable, AGAIN, I had the tools of AA to get back on track. Between prayer, meditation (to me, that means "listening" to H.P.), and plain old dumb luck, I've simplified my life immensely. Sold some of the stuff, lost part of the stuff, changed to a lower paying, home-based job & have never been happier. Now, I understand one more of the promises, as it applies to me. Now, I'm not too busy to enjoy this life.
ODAAT, folks!
Good topic. Thanks. When I 1st read the topic, thought I wouldn't comment because it didn't really apply to me, these days. Key words: These days. It sure used to. At one time, thought "freedom from financial insecurity" meant having lots of money. So, as soon as I was able, began buying all the stuff I couldn't afford when I was using. H.P. let me dig my way to the spirtual bottom again, this time with a checkbook.
I thank Him for that, because after my life became unmanageable, AGAIN, I had the tools of AA to get back on track. Between prayer, meditation (to me, that means "listening" to H.P.), and plain old dumb luck, I've simplified my life immensely. Sold some of the stuff, lost part of the stuff, changed to a lower paying, home-based job & have never been happier. Now, I understand one more of the promises, as it applies to me. Now, I'm not too busy to enjoy this life.
ODAAT, folks!
Oops! Didn't mean to comment twice! Signed back on to rectify my lack of manners on last message. Hi, I was & am Gloria, and I'm an alcoholic.
Thanks room great topic! It's what I needed to hear. My life has been very crazy and hectic, that's when I need prayer and meditation, and try to keep things as simple as possible.
Good morning everyone, my name is Howard and I am an alcoholic. Greetings from Baltimore. I am new to this meeting and have really enjoyed "listening' to all of your experience. I lived my life both drunk and sober jumping from crisis to crisis. Everything was an emergency, somehow, and neeeeeded MY attention. Self-centered, indeed. I have since learned a great deal in the past 2-3 years of my sobriety about balance. What had the most impact is when one of my sponsors had me read pp. 83-88 everyday for two weeks, morning and night. There was a passage in there about prayer and meditation which applied to my "jumping". It said we considered our plans for the day...very simple. I learned that consider does not mean planning every single moment of my day. I learned that all I had to do was keep in mind maybe 3 or 4 things that truly needed my attention. Let God handle the rest. Today I am very general about it...i.e. go to work, go to a meeting, have dinner with my wife. Other things will show up when God knows I am ready to handle them. I also learned that if I have trouble practicing these principles in all my affairs....I may have too many affairs. Thanks for listening and for letting me ramble.
I really enjoyed the concept of an o and off switch. Funny, I just got help from Austrailia! Now this is really "Far Out" Thanks for the tip, Robyn.
I definitely have to many afairs, thanks for that jewl too , Howard and Welcome to both of you.