Member: phillis
Location:
Date: 9/10/00
Time: 8:46:56 PM
dump him honey
Member: Michael B.
Location: AZ
Date: 9/10/00
Time: 8:59:08 PM
Hi! My name is Michael, and I am a recovering alcoholic and addict, sober today only by the Grace of God and the Fellowship. Welcome newcomers!
If I'm still the first one here, I would like to talk about gratitude, which is something I've struggled with in my sobriety due to chronic health problems.
I will say that one of the strategies I've used successfully to remain grateful despite my health problems is making out a gratitude list each night before I go to sleep.
When I do this,I invariably find myself grateful for my sobriety, if nothing else. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my first sponsor, who suggested that I make up a gratitude list each night.
Member: crazed
Location:
Date: 9/10/00
Time: 9:09:49 PM
ahhhhh,gratitude now thats agood topic. today i look at all the things i am grateful for............well anyway im gratefull that im not drinking today....... and im still alive on earth. crazed
Member: Steve F.
Location: Wenham, Massachusetts
Date: 9/10/00
Time: 9:19:15 PM
Steve, alcoholic
Gratitude is very important to my sobriety. I pray every morning and every night, and in these prayers, I tell God how grateful I am. In the morning, I tell Him that I am grateful that He has brought me safely through the night, to the beginning of a new day. At night, I tell Him how grateful I am that he has helped me stay sober that day.
Member: Jimmy
Location: Saskatchewan
Date: 9/10/00
Time: 9:42:55 PM
I agree with bill M. who said: "To those who write letters instead of comments here, please get a life. Do you really think you are the only one that has a Big Book?" ....Share your experience not your memorization skills.....also,what's with the sarcastic/rude people? R U having a bad day (program)?
Member: William.A.
Location: High-Point,N.C.
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 12:59:50 AM
usually when,I encounter this type of meeting I sit on my hands and look at all the things that the grateful people seem to be sharing about as long as you do not wake them up at 2:00a.m. talking about drinking...
Member: William.A.
Location: High-Point,N.C.
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 12:59:52 AM
usually when,I encounter this type of meeting I sit on my hands and look at all the things that the grateful people seem to be sharing about as long as you do not wake them up at 2:00a.m. talking about drinking...
Member: Steve W.
Location: Ormond Beach, Fla
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 1:04:28 AM
I'm an alcoholic & the name of my problem is Steve. Gratitude is "the act of being grateful" therefore I have to show my gratitude or it's all just TALK. I'm greatful I have a car today so I keep it clean and maintained; I'm greatful I have a loving wife and son today so I show it by being the best husband and father I can be; I'm greatful to A.A. for helping me stay sober today so I show it by service work, setting up & cleaning up and sometimes, just by showing up and listening. AND I'm greatful to God for giving me this wonderful, new life - so I think Him every night from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful, new life and ask Him to guide me to do His will tomorrow if it be His will.
Member: Michael P.
Location: Yreka, CA
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 1:17:39 AM
Early in my sobriety I said that I was "proud of myself" for staying sober. A loving member of Alcoholics Anonymous told me that I could substitute the word grateful for proud in any context. It works, it really does. (Where have I heard that line before?) For example, "I'm proud of my kids", becomes "I'm grateful for my kids". "I'm proud of my job", becomes "I'm grateful for my job". Right on down the line, parents, wife, car, etc., this simple formula gives the thanks to Him which is due.
Member: Kathy
Location: Northeast
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 1:31:55 AM
Kathy - alcoholic --Early on I was taught "a grateful heart won't drink". No matter how tougth things get (and they have gotten Mighty tough) ifr I start to count my bblessings in sobriety, before long the li9st just grows and grows. I pray for a grateful heart that yelds ion service to others 9n pai9n.
Member: Eric J.
Location: Northern California
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 2:08:33 AM
My name is Eric, and I am an alcoholic.
I never really know what to say at gratitude meetings. My relationship with God (or a higher power) is not always greatful. More frequently than I want to admit, I am angry with God for failing to run the world and its people the way I think He should.
I have been told repeatedly that the way I do it is wrong, and that I really MUST develope an attitude of gratitude!! Sometimes I am greatful. But I have found it also makes me feel better when I am very honest with God. He always gets His way, but sometimes I kick and scream!
Isn't Alcoholics' Anonymous WONDERFUL? :)
If you don't take the first frink, you won't get drunk. You only need to stay sober one day at a time. And any idiot can stay sober for 24 hours.
Member: John
Location: Saskatchewan
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 2:18:09 AM
Gratitude...hmmm, well i'm grateful that i am not drinking today..it's only been since yesterday though..However, being grateful for be sober for me fades after a week or so and i am right back where i started. I do believe God is and has given many chances and warnings, then why do i continue to ignore them? I need to get to a meeting...I just hope I won't chicken out again and fall back into drinking.
Member: ChuckM
Location: Alberta
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 2:45:25 AM
I'm Chuck, an alcoholic
To me gratitude is thinking positive thoughts and feeling humble for the blessings bestowed on me by doing God's will [step 11] every day.
Feelings are great but I believe action should result. Step 12 tells me what to do. I try to carry the message found in the Big Book to other alcoholics. That message is more rational than mine and is now part of my experience.
To practice the principles I understand to mean that I try not to be selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and fearfull when dealing with all God's children. By practicing step 11 every day there are many days when I do not hurt anyone.
Member: Rich R, slowly recovering compulsive person :-)
Location: Detroit
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 3:55:37 AM
Grateful? ME??? Yes, it is true today! I have so much to be grateful for. I am grateful for each new day that I wake up. One of these days I am NOT going to wake up and I'm sure I'm going to be disappointed, so I'd better treasure each and every one of these wake-ups that I have left.
This is probably going to sound dumb, but I am grateful for my handle (slowly recovering compulsive person). I'm not sure when in recovery that ditty occurred to me, but it sure is true. I heard one recovering AA put it this way: "It took me awhile in AA to realize I had lost my marbles. It took about 5 yrs in AA to get my marbles back. It took ANOTHER 5 yrs in AA to figure out what to do with them!" I heard that when I had less than 1 yr in the program, now that I am coming up on 10 yrs (12/12) I realize how true it is (at least for me). Thanks for letting me share.
Oops, I almost forgot: one really big gratitude thingee is this website and all the wonderful recovering people who post here. I have NO IDEA who is responsible for this site, but it is just like AA that you try to remain anonymous. Thanks for taking the initiative and doing so much footwork to help all the rest of us!
Member: Carol C.
Location: New Jersey
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 6:58:31 AM
Hi Carol Alcoholic.
Gratitude is a wonderful topic for this week. I do have sooo much to be grateful for and the top of my list is my sobriety because without that all the other wonderful things in my life would not be possable. I even need to remember to be grateful for problems that occur because that's what helps me to grow.
Member: Bill O
Location: Lee's SUmmit, MO
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 7:14:06 AM
I am grateful for being sober and alive today! A grateful alcoholic is a sober alcoholic, and there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for. Even if I were not able to be grateful for the big thing (sobriety), I could draw a breath and be grateful for the ability to do that.
Member: Frank C.
Location: Yreka, CA
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 9:08:15 AM
Grateful is waking up in the morning and being happy to wake up. It didn't used to be that way for me. Alcoholics Anonymous and a little willingness has changed all that. I am now happy to wake and life is exciting instead of fearfull..
Member: jon
Location:
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 9:31:32 AM
Hello. I'm an alcoholic. I've been around the fellowship for two months and, amazingly, I'm now entering my fourth week of sobriety.
I feel strong and happy and secure (one day at a time) for the first time in my life, and going to AA has definately been the best thing I've ever done.
However, sometime in the next month or so I have to travel from London to Los Angeles. It's unfortunately a trip I must take, and I'm very nervous. I've made the journey many times in the last three years and it's always been associated with drinking.
Now I'm sober I don't want to be trapped on my own for ten hours in a confined situation with free alcohol, but I can't escape the obligation to travel.
I really feel that my only hope is to find a fellow AA to make the journey with. I'm totally flexible about my date and time of travel, as long as it's sometime in the next five weeks.
Is there anyone out there (with some solid sobriety behind them) who's going to LA soon and who might like a friend to make the journey with?
Alternatively, is anyone travelling to a major US airline hub city (Chicago, New York, Dallas, etc) where I could easily make a connection to LA?
I think I'm reasonably good company, and I'd be very, very grateful for any help.
I'd be happy to meet up with anyone willing to consider travelling with me prior to booking the flight.
Thanks again,
Jon (London, England)
Member: Tom S.
Location: New York City
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 10:22:03 AM
Hi my name is Tom and I am an alcoholic. Jon, if you're unable to find a traveling partner, you might want to ask around, in meetings or intergroup, about where you could obtain "meeting tapes." Also bring a copy of your big book or some other kind of AA literature. It also helps me to bring along a list of phone numbers to call if I feel alone and in trouble. One of the most important numbers on that list should be LA intergroup so that you can feel assured that you will be able to get to a meeting as soon as you can. They told me that if I kept it simple and didn't pick up that first drink, one day at a time, that things would get better. No matter how bad it seems today, I don't have to drink over it. And by staying sober, I can work out a solution instead of "shoving it away in some drawer" only to be discovered again and again. And that's at the top of my gratitude list. Thanks for letting me share. nuevaluz@mindspring.com
Member: tony g
Location: ma
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 10:57:15 AM
iv'e tried to quit drinking on my own,never lasting long.now i know i can't not drink on my own,today i know that aa is the answer,today,to have deep down surrendered to alcohol,to realize the fight is over...thats what i'm grateful for today.i can never forget what i became when i had alcohol running through my veins.it was a soul sickness...and i'm grateful to finding God,aa,and people like you....thanks...i'm tony a "grateful" alcoholic
Member: Pam L
Location: Castleton-On-Hudson, NY
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 1:20:31 PM
I am grateful for two things most of all. I am grateful that I am an alcoholic because it forced me to reach out to others, something that is very difficult for me to do. I am also grateful that I couldn't stop drinking alone because it forced me to let other people in and they saved my life. I have been sober the last 4 years and 3 months and the past 2 have been hard years with family members passing away and alot of work related problems that have caused some serious self doubt. As I had in the past, I began to isolate and to feel sorry for myself. I am grateful that thanks to AA I can no longer get away with that. Thank you for this forum to express these things.
Member: Betty
Location: Ca
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 4:54:09 PM
It's difficult to share my feelings because I got drunk yesterday. But I do know I am grateful for AA, this site, you people and all those who came before me who can share their experiences-- before sobriety and in sobriety, so that I do not feel so alone! I don't think I have ever felt as alone as I did yesterday...
Member: Timmer
Location: Peterborough, Ontario
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 5:09:27 PM
I find that i need to practise and attitude of gratitude otherwise i quickly become ungrateful. As an alcoholic i tend to want everything and by yesterday! I can quickly become ungrateful if i think of all the things i do not have or the things i could have by now if i hadn't drank for 20+ years. For me, therefore it is very important to my sobriety to list the things that i do have,....sobriety, my health, friends, the fellowship, a new lease on life through the 12 steps....the list goes on and pretty soon i can't help but be grateful....you try it!!
Member: MariaC
Location: Suffolk, England
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 5:19:20 PM
Hi. My name is Maria and I am an alcoholic. Today I am ever so grateful for AA. Without AA in my life right now I would be out drinking. I just came from a meeting and cried my eyes out because I am feeling really depressed. Right when I woke up I felt really irritated and I did not want to do anything, except go back to bed. I was sitting in the room and feeling sorry for myself, not wanting to be there. I shared on my feelings and felt a little better but I still could not stop crying. Usually when this happens I call my Mom and talk to her about how sorry I am, what an awful person I am and how life is not fair...blah blah blah. My mom always makes me feel better but today the people in AA made me feel loved and understood. They told me that it was normal what I am going through and they too felt the same way in early recovery. I have been sober for 3 1/2 weeks now and there is no way I could have done it alone. So today I am grateful for AA.
Member: Alvin R
Location: NM
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 8:11:30 PM
Alvin R here, grateful recovering one. For some reason I don't like gratitude meetings.. perhaps there's something there. I'm grateful for all I have of course, but need to actually show it more, that's getting real. I think I need to start praying my gratitude list, that should help. Been praying for willingness lately. Still self centered beyond incomprehensible rationalization! Love to all. Let's not fight, it's about our exp, str, and of course hope. I fucked up, I'm trying to do better, and I hope I can make it.
Member: Lisa B.
Location:
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 10:19:58 PM
I am an alcoholic and I am grateful that I have a place like this to turn to....I am still not sober yet, but I am getting there
Member: Jim O.
Location: Waco, Tx
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 10:34:00 PM
Hello, My name is Jim and I am an alcoholic. Today I am grateful that it does not make me mad when people pick gratitude as a topic. In early sobriety, it would not set well with me, I think probably because it is what I needed to be practicing instead of all of my self centered junk. Today I am grateful for so many things in my life. The ability to love and believe that the people in AA love me and understand me. What a gift from God. love to all
Member: Linda K.
Location: OHIO
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 10:41:14 PM
I am grateful for this site and having AA contact any time of day or night.
Member: Corinne G.
Location: British Columbia
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 11:08:11 PM
Hi friends, My name is Corinne, and I'm a happy, grateful alcoholic. A very grateful alcoholic. One thing I've learned is that sobriety doesn't promise me a rose garden. But, I would much rather go through life and life on life's terms with a clear focus and with sobriety. Picking up a drink will not only double my problems, but will also intensify my problems. A.A. and sobriety has given me many gifts, all of which I am grateful for. When I had first sobered up, I thought my life had changed 180 degrees. That was only a beginning. Today I'm grateful for all that has been given to me, including my past-the good, the bad, and the ugly. Each step I took on my journey got me to where I am today. So, today I remember to trudge the road OF happy destiny. I used to think the phrase was trudge the road TO happy destiny. Today is all we have, so make the best of it. I wish you all another 24 hours, and thank you for my sobriety.
Member: otis
Location:
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 11:22:05 PM
righton linda, you go girl yea
Member: Paula C
Location: Wimberley, TX
Date: 9/11/00
Time: 11:42:29 PM
Paula, alcoholic, gratitude is good topic. I have been in a bad place and I did not like it so I am returning to what got me sober---lots of meetings, praying, contacting God, and asking for help. I;m still sick--Love to all you AAers.
Member: Catherine B
Location: Blue Lake, CA
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 12:11:41 AM
Hi, I'm Catherine, and I'm an alcoholic. I'm Catherine the Grateful, I truly am, and it's not because life goes my way or I get what I want. I don't. Sometimes I thank God for that.
My beloved Betty, 32 years sober, says, "A grateful man is a happy man." Aint' it the truth.
I'm grateful to be an alcoholic. I love being an alcoholic and I love other alcoholics. At last, people who understand me!
I'm an alcoholic who suffers from chronic depression, and I can tell you all that it is possible to be both deeply depressed and grateful/happy at the same time. It's a paradox, like many other parts of our wonderful program.
Member: GREGG G.
Location: KENNEWICK, WA
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 12:20:10 AM
Member: stephanie k.
Location: orangeburg,s.c.
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 1:30:55 AM
I'm an alcoholic and my name is Stephanie. I have an intereting thing to happen to me the Sunday before Labor Day Monday. I dislocated my knee, again. The first time this happened I was high on "pot" playing tennis in college, 9 years before I got sober. This time I was 9 years into recovery and so, so, sober, and slip on an empty wine bottle. I am grateful, that the bottle wasn't mine. ha..ha..ha.. and I'm grateful that the drinker decided to attend a meeting. Last year he backed his car into a tree(drunk) and New Years Day 1999 he ran over our beloved family dog(drunk).Yeah I've lost a lot in the process for someone else to gain sobriety, but I am so grateful to be a witness to pain bringing on a change. I kinda like that today, especially since I remember every single ounce that got me where I am today, and for that my friends I am grateful.
Member: JACK B
Location: PALO ALTO PA.
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 2:48:48 AM
Hi I am JACK A REAL ALCOHOLIC.GRATITUDE IS A GREAT TOPIC.MY FORMER SPONSOR, TOM, GOD REST HIS SOUL TOLD ME THAT HUMILITY WILL GET ME SOBER AND GRATITUDE WILL KEEP ME SOBER. THE GREATEST GIFT THAT GOD HAS GIVEN ME IS THAT THE OBSESSION TO DRINK HAS LONG PASSED, AND THE THOUGHT OF A DRINK IS NOT PART OF THIS ALCOHOLICS MAKEUP TODAY.SOBER TODAY ONLY THRU THE GRACE OF GOD AND THIS WONEDERFUL WONDERFUL FELLOWSHIP AND FOR THAT I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL. THANKS FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE AND GOD BLESS.
Member: themomma0007@aol.com
Location: California, KY
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 8:32:25 AM
Hi! I'm Cheryl and I'm an alcoholic/addict
Let me start by saying that I think that gratitude is the heart of AA. Without it I probably wouldn't have come back. We all have allot to be greatful for some things big some things small. Yes, today I am greatful to be here and greatful for the tools I was handed when I entered the rooms. Thanks!! Mostly I am greatful for the little things that I didn't even notice in my other life. Have you noticed how beautiful the trees and flowers and squirrels and deer and grass and the mountains and stuff like that are today? I have, and for these things, I am most greatful!!!!!!!!!
I am greatful for you all and may God bless each and every one of you!!!
Thanks, Cheryl
Member: Bert.K.
Location: Victoria Australia
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 9:34:26 AM
Hi to all,me I am Bert.K. from aussie land down under,and one very grateful sober alkie. I was told a long time ago that if my attitude is gratitude I will be O.K. And you know what they were right.And after all I have so much to be grateful for "Sobriety" and that says it all for sobriety gives me life to the fullest. Thank you all for being here. I thank God for A.A. and I thank A.A. for God.
Ps. Could someone one day start the weeks topic "Bad language in A.A." just for me because I think it lowers the standard of the fellowship. Bert.K.
Member: jon
Location: London
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 9:39:12 AM
Hi I'm Jon and I'm a grateful alcoholic.
TOM, thanks for your suggestion. I've had a lot of positive feedback and good suggestions, and I'll definately search out some AA tapes. That sounds like a great solution if I can't find a fellow AA to fly with (see my earlier share).
Thanks again. You've really made my day.
Jon
Member: ob9
Location:
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 1:25:22 PM
bert k. what is bad language?????????????
just curious
Member: Joseph O
Location: Israel
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 2:08:00 PM
We read in Chapter Five, "HOW IT WORKS," ___"It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feeling we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit (which, unfortunately is not always available). The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die!"
Gratitude! Yes! I am grateful to God for showing me the way to lift myself up out of the gutter of a totally immoral life of misery and despair! I was introduced to this climb in the rooms of AA. But things were different in those days many 24 hours ago. Today it seems many are concerned with only not drinking anymore, and resent any efforts to build some moral character out of the mess they were in! And we know that "resentment is the number one offender, it destroys more alcoholics than anything else!" It appears to me to be a resentment against their understanding of God, which must not be a very good one! If I were in such a position, I would make it my business to get a better understanding of God, which can only be found in His Word, the Bible! Go to some false-prophet and you will NEVER understand God! I have listened to active drunkards speak more wisdom about things like religion and politics, and the glory, success and fame they lay claim to, with a better understanding than you can find in the highest echelons of philosophy on this earth! What is the secret that keeps them so? They just do not care about any of it!! Many go into AA and start building up the things that drove them to drink in the first place, and instead of cursing them, like they did when they were drunk, they are now praising them! So, I think that some must resent, and hate a God they cannot understand. And, like I say, I would make it my business in such a case to get a better understanding of just what God is all about! If I didn't, I simply would not care about me! And those who are still suffering from many of the "grave emotional and mental disorders" that have affected them physically as well in their drinking and drugging days, God as I understand Him through His Word, has helped to heal me that way too!
Member: Sick of the Gratitude List
Location:
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 2:28:31 PM
How about someone sharing some ES&H about how they were finally able to get to a state of gratitude. This crap of listing the things we are grateful for is hardly helping me stay sober. Maybe if you guys would tell me about how you reached that state I could get something out of this whole thing.
I am really sick of gratitude meetings where people do nothing else except list what they are grateful for. I NEED SOMETHING TO HELP ME GET TO THAT STATE SO I STAY AWAY FROM THAT DRINK!!! Is there anyone out there who gets that? YOUR LITTLE LISTS AINT HELPING!!!!
Member: Dave B
Location: Madison, WI
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 2:40:14 PM
I am grateful to be sober and for the program. It is really that simple.
Member: scottie
Location:
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 2:46:25 PM
to "sick of the gratitude list",
do i hear some resentment in your little voice? are we having a bad hair day? are we not gratefull for anything? im gratefull theres tp in the bathroom,cause thats where im headed! and i dont care how many trees they chopped down or cut to make it either,theyll grow more.
Member: scottie
Location:
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 2:50:55 PM
hi dave b. very nicely said,...but arnt you grateful for tp?
Member: Jane J.
Location: Burbank, Ca.
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 3:35:05 PM
Hi, My name is Jane and I'm an alcoholic. I'm grateful to know that today. For a really long time I knew something was wrong with me but I didn't have a clue what it was. I thought I was going insane, that absolutely nobody understood what I was going through and that no matter how hard I tried to numb the pain, it was always there!!! Since coming to AA I have found out that I'm an alcoholic, not a bad person...a sick person. I'm not insane but I have practiced insane behavior while drinking. By suiting up and showing up for meetings and doing the step work required-taking contrary action, I don't practice insane behavior any longer. I have met people in the rooms of AA that know exactly how I feel and I no longer feel alone. As long as I choose sobriety I have a chance at the life I could only dream about while drinking. Today I trust God, the program of AA, and those who trudge with me. For these things and so much more I am truly grateful.
Member: tt
Location:
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 3:50:47 PM
right on jane you go girl
terry
Member: Russ W.
Location: land o lakes fl
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 4:00:46 PM
gratitude is a virtue that has to be nourished with good selfless acts. have you ever noticed how good you feel after helping someone out?your feeding a virtue and it is thriving and spreading.i see gratitude in action all the time and its real.i hear it even more but icant really tell if its sincere until i witness it or in my own case get off my duff and help another human being.this is what made us strong and humble; essential for our continued growth!thank you.russ w.
Member: Kent W
Location: Houston, Tx
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 4:14:13 PM
Kent, Alcholic here. Nicely said Jane. I haven't been sober a real long time, but I did want to say that I am grateful for AA. Going to meetings really gives me something I can look forward too during the day. I still get down, but now I know that I have a place to go. Thanks for letting me share.
Member: Mike P.
Location: CA
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 4:33:32 PM
Im' Mike and recently out of recovery. I'm gratful for this program and the people that I have met in it. It helps me to get my feet on the ground on a daily basis. I know that I caan't do it on my own, cuz I've tried it many times. Thank you for being there, and for bringing up this topic.
Member: g b
Location:
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 8:24:22 PM
rats------------------------------
sublimanal mess---------rats-------------
Member: Laurina
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 9:16:00 PM
Hello, I'm Laurina, an alcoholic. I'm new to this list and to AA. I have 51 days; the first 24 were in detox/rehab. I'm glad I'm not drinking, though I admit I still want to. I haven't totally embraced AA, but I know its where I belong. It's VERY hard for me to reach out and I 'm scared about the hard work ahead. But I am grateful to be where I am today instead of where I was. My process of knowing gratitude? Comparison, mostly. I am grateful to have begun caring about myself and the people who love me. That's the most important thing. I am so happy not to be in that place of fear, lonliness, anxiety and numbness. I know I'll experience those feelings again, but I'm hopeful I won't experience them in a place of isolation.
I'm glad to have a place I can share in writing. I'm not using this site as a replacement for meetings, but right now this extra layer of anonynimity helps.
Member: Me
Location: Agreeing with Sick of Gratitude
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 9:45:16 PM
Hey there Scottie:
Talk about resentments. Go back and read what you posted. No, better yet, why don't you just
SHUT UP!
Member: Rhonda K.
Location: Derry, N.H.
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 10:07:32 PM
Hello I'm Rhonda and I am an alcoholic. Anyone struggling to stay sober please go to a meeting and ask your higher power to help keep you sober. Having less than a year of sobriety I was interested in the comments about growing and thinking I'm sane again. I guess I don't know what I don't know.
Thinking of how I felt before sobriety AND AA, that makes me grateful. I never have to feel like that again. Thank you God. I love having the steps to help guide me.
Member: GREGG G.
Location: KENNEWICK, WA
Date: 9/12/00
Time: 10:38:08 PM
Member: Eric J.
Location: Silicon Valley, Ca.
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 5:34:23 AM
My name is Eric, and I am an alcoholic.
I should make it clear that I am very greatful for A.A., and my sobriety. I recently went to a meeting where we were talking about "change," and thought to myself that I may have changed for the worse. Actually I am more aware of my giant ego than I once was. Some days it is hard to remember that God is in charge, because I have all the right answers.
Reading this week's meeting has reminded me of how lucky I am to have a good hold on sobriety. My first 5 or 6 months were rather tenuous. It took several tries, but I found the right sponsor, and if this is a list, that event is to be included.
Life goes on, and in a few days, I have to visit my new dentist. I have moved since I saw the old one. I also expect they have changed dentistry since the mid '80's. I hate to go, but want to save my teeth. If I go with a bad attitude, the people who do the work will perceive that I have a problem, and things will get bad.
If I remember to stop and pray before going in, and then keep a smile on my face and my big mouth shut, things will probably be just fine.
Perhaps I am making too much of a normal event. It is tempting to turn off the computer without actually posting my comments. I really am greatful to live in a modern world and have a dentist. I sure hope I don't turn into an a**-hole!
If you don't take the first drink, you won't get drunk. You only have to stay sober one day at a time, and any idiot can stay sober for 24 hours.
Member: Kate
Location: West of England
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 6:35:08 AM
My name is Kate and I am, today, a grateful alcoholic. I woke up anxious this morning, with that scared feeling in the pit of my stomach......couldn't get anyone on the phone, thought I would log on here and see what was happening.......and as usual was given EXACTLY what I needed!!!!! Thanks to everyone here who has shared....you've helped me turn it all around and find my own gratitude again.
"Sick of gratitude lists" - How do you get to Carnegie Hall? PRACTICE!! Making a gratitude list each night is practising Altered Attitudes...At the beginning I was just grateful to be sober enough to put pen to paper and actually be able to read what I had written....and even after the worst day in recovery, having written "my sobriety" at the top of the list (tho' I often didn't FEEL grateful,that's what I was told to do, and I wanted to be well, so I did as I was told!)I always found something that day that I was truly grateful for. So, for me, it worked - because I worked it.
Jon - I am recently back from Fort Myers, Florida. I flew by myself. I have never done anything like that in my life! I arranged it so I changed in Philadelphia......I thought a break would be good.....and a chance for a cigarette!!! I had tapes, Big Book, novel, masses of mineral water, and loads of chewing gum!! I phoned people back in my home group when I felt a bit homesick, and new contacts in Florida (through Intergroup) when I needed help or reassurance. I had a list of meetings which I got from the web. I kept myself safe, and told myself every day that I was being looked after and that everything was OK. It was a magical adventure........and I wish I could volunteer to be your travelling companion. I wish you a safe and happy trip.
Today I am one grateful alcoholic who really doesn't need to drink...........truly, a miracle. Thanks for this topic, and to everyone who has shared.
Member: Corinne B., Alcoholic here, there & hoping for sleep soon
Location: Camino, CA
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 6:41:05 AM
To the person who is sick of the gratitude lists. You raise an important point about wanting to know "how we were finally able to get to a state of gratitude," rather than just listing what we are grateful for now. I took the long road to get to that state. I had to hit an extremely low emotional bottom to finally realize that I had to do the work AA suggests we do, in order to get the results and the promises, like gratitude.
After returning to AA (11/98) from 6 1/2 years of more "research" following a 6 year period of sobriety, I went for months without meetings, and without drinking, to hit a very necessary bottom. I refused to do anything about my illness, sinking to a spot where I fully felt the incomprehensible demoralization it talks about in the Big Book, but in a dry state; thus, very fully experiencing it. This led me to a state of clarity in a way, because I started feeling like I was truly loosing my sanity for good & all.
I thought about suicide every waking hour of every day. I cried for hours on end about imagined, horrendous events that might happen eventually in life. I lived as if I were already 85 years old, as if my husband were already dead, and as if I were about to become homeless at any minute. I had zilch for energy, and couldn't see the sense in doing anything in life, because it all seemed so futile & useless, since we're all just gonna die or wind up homeless old people anyway! Eating became a bothersome necessity, as well; during this time, I lost all sense of taste and did not sleep for about 3 1/2 months, more than 20 minutes a night (about every 9th or 16th night, I slept maybe 2 hours).
When I had finally had enough of that full-on emotional, self-imposed debauch, I sought out meetings again as a last-ditch effort to save my life. Lots of little seeds got planted during the 7 or so months that the process took as described above, and somehow my desire to live life again became stronger than the one to end it. I selected a sponsor about 6 weeks after getting back into meetings and she took me through the Steps as quickly as I wanted to go. I got right on it, and within about 6 more weeks, found out something I hadn't wanted to. The folks in AA had been right all along. The answer (to happiness, fulfillment & the feeling of being a useful and productive human being with a purpose for living life) was right inside of me, and the vehicle to help me find it was the Steps.
So, in answer to your question of how I got to the state of being grateful for being alive and being able to live a full and satisfying life today, let me just reiterate - how? By hitting the lowest possible bottom I never dreamed I ever would, followed by working the Steps with a Sponsor. I won't bore you with my list.
Member: Emily B.
Location: North Car.
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 8:35:56 AM
I haven't been sober for 24 hours yet, but I already feel like I'm on the road to sucess since I came to this web site for the first time this morning. I've finally realized that I have been living a big lie. And I have been in a giant state of denial. God I feel better. And I know it's going to be a hard road to travel. Grateful? I am now for clicking on to this web site. Now, let the living begin.
Member: Sick of
Location: Gratitude
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 9:13:18 AM
Kate & Scottie, it seems you guys have the corner on what a person needs around here since you give out advice so freely. I would like to hear some ES&H from people who know what they are talking about! I don't recall asking either of you for your little reprimands or bad advice. And I hate to break the news to you Kate deary but practicing by making a "stupid" list is not as effective as you think, regardless of your dumb analogy. I asked for some ES&H not your little reprimand.
How about the two of you reading what Corrine wrote. There is some real experience to learn from there. The rest of you with your little "I am grateful for the moon" (pure crap) can all save it for those who don't want to stay sober.
Thanks Corrine for some real life experiences that I can hold onto and use. Your post helps me to see a little clearer and gives me a lot of hope. I knew there was something about this program that worked and I am glad that you provided me with the light to see some of it. For that I am grateful!
No lists needed here.
Member: james kirk
Location: uss enterprise
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 1:04:31 PM
grateful for the moon???
beam me up now scottie!!!
Member: Kim D.
Location: Bridgewater
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 1:17:25 PM
Hi everyone... my name is Kim and I am an alcoholic.
Funny... I read the posts on Gratitude and decided I wouldn't comment because I haven't had that "I'm psyched I'm sober and alive" feeling the past couple of months and surely my "gratitude" barometer is very low.
However, what Corinne B. wrote "hit home" with me... Thank you, Corinne. I, too, feel as though I am going through a "self-imposed emotional bottom" and you reaffirmed what I know in my heart to be true... that the way out of this quagmire is through the steps. My problem... booze and drugs... ceased being the problem for me 13 months ago when I got sober on 8/1/99. Now, the problem is my thinking... the way I relate to the world... my repeating character defects... all those things for which alcoholism was but a symptom. I begin a woman's AWOL tomorrow night. I know it isn't AA sanctioned so to speak, but it is 36 weeks of intense step work with all women and I am very much looking forward to going through the process. I didn't get sober to keep feeling this way and unless I do something about it, I have no one to blame but myself.
Also, what I read in Russ W.'s post is that Gratitude is an action word... not necessarily about feelings. I know that getting outside myself and helping another person, alcoholic or not, always makes me feel less a prisoner in my own mind. Thanks Russ. Therefore, I am picking up a woman I don't know tomorrow night who heard me speak on a commitment and wants to try out the AWOL. She is 3 months sober and doesn't have a car on the road yet. Gratitude? Yes... I have been booze free for 13 months and my car is on the road... even registered and insured! Wow! Stepping outside my own narrow, self-centered world is Gratitude for what I was so freely given IN ACTION.
Thanks, Corinne and Russ and for all others who share on this site and in "the halls" across the world. You never know when you're helping someone just by sharing your experience.
Peace,
Kim
Member: todd
Location:
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 2:56:05 PM
is anyone out there?help
Member: Katie N
Location: California
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 4:19:01 PM
Katie here, grateful alcoholic.. I have 4 months without a drink today. I'm sitting here at my desk, at a job love that helps me to be self supporting thru my own contributions, and looking forward to going home to a to a room I rent from some other people sober in AA. Tonight I will go to a meeting and listen to someone share their ES&H, I will extend my hand out to countless people I dont know, with love and fellowship in my heart and tonight when lay my head down and I have been blessed enough to not have taken a drink, I will wake up tomorrow without a hang over and hopefully humble enough to do it all over again. There in a nut shell are some of the things i'm grateful for and also what I try to do to remain grateful. I think its the action and the putting one foot in front of the other that adds up to gratitude. I know when I have done God's will today because I feel the gratitude, love and hope spring into what would otherwise be a lost soul.. I have changed without my knowing in the last 4 months and its sometimes only when I'm faced with situations that used to baffle me that I relize it..I believe the way to gratititude is in working the 12 steps, watching and listening, following directions and taking the action that will lead me towards the God of my understanding, as I walk this life with my HP. I will always find humility, gratitude, love and understanding in my heart.. I am for this 24 not fighting...I surrender..Thanks AA Katie
Member: Guess who...
Location:
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 7:06:36 PM
On this occasion of gratitude, (which is also called thankfulness), it is seldom heard apart from the promises that are read during aa meetings just what it is we are to expect from our efforts toward sobriety and godliness. What are the benefits then that we are to attain? Twas my question, perhaps then it is also yours? First of all we must discover that the opposite of wine is none other than milk! After all we haven't quit swallowing because we quit drinking. Milk then, is good both for the body and the soul; often too it is coupled with honey, and also butter. When I first quit drinking these were my diet, but I must confess that they came to me more from God than elsewhere. Milk then for the body, but par-excelence-for the soul. Yea tis the pure milk of the word of God that I have the most gratitude for. It could be called a land that we are going to in this new way of life figuratively speaking: To wit, The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil, olive, and honey; A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness;...a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. When thou hast eaten and are full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land he hath given thee. Now this be then a taste of that good milk whereby my soul did prosper; bread then and milk, and butter couppled with honey and the par-excelent words of God. And it shall be when, as I, thou hast grown to require meat, that also God will supply, welcome then you newcomers and taste and see that the Lord is gracious...
Member: Lil B.
Location: Lawndale,Ca
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 8:11:12 PM
Hi, my name is Lil Iam a alcoholic
Gratitude is a good topic for me. Iam been sober for 2 mths coming this 9/15. I am grateful for the rooms of AA and the people of AA for sharing their hopes and experiences. I also grateful for not picking up that drink one day at a time. And for God who been with me through these months for it wasnt for him I wouldnt be sober.
Member: dr. suess
Location:
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 9:25:48 PM
twas the night before christmas and all through the house not a creature was sturing not even a mouse,when all of a sudden with a bang and a clatter, down from the chimney came the mad hatter.
Member: greatful
Location:
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 10:15:36 PM
Hey u guys who have no gratitude! (or don't wish to share it in this discussion ABOUT gratitude)
LET GO AND LET GOD !
If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got. (not very much to be grateful for huh?)
Think about it ..........
If the answers lie at your feet, do you pick them up or step over them?
Member: D.B.
Location: KC
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 10:30:05 PM
Hi I am a Alcoholic and My name is Dave. I am grate full I can say my name as a babbling drunk I am. My gratitude to AA and the Members and the friends of AA that have been a part of this beautiful fellowship we have with God. I seen another Miracle tonight at a group I stopped in and seen a fellow whom has 19 months now and was one fellow I seen in and out of the program for the last 6.5 yrs He has got a few brains that were almost without any return My gratitude is to this gift of AA that has saved my sanity and my living. Pam L is another miracle that She shared her story and Sobriety that more will be revealed to us and to you.
Member: todd
Location: id
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 10:59:13 PM
i am so grateful from my head to my feet,cause god gave me eight fingers,my thumbs and my seat.he gave me a chin,mouth,eyes and nose,gave me a garden and planted a rose.but now i am old, wrinkeled,and grey;most of my teeth have faded away.with my poor sight to the mirror i see no hair on my head,most of it fell out and lays by my bed.hey but im sober!
Member: Rick
Location: Texas
Date: 9/13/00
Time: 11:17:19 PM
Hi, My name is Rick, and I am an alcoholic - and a psychologist - go figure. I have been out all week, and have read such a wonderful variety of comments from all of you. To begin with, I would like to directly address a few of you:
To Eric J. There must be a better way to go through life than to be dragged, kicking and screaming!
To Alvin R. I have found that the things that irritate me the most are sometimes the things that can help me grow and learn the most. (Not that I am hoping or looking for things to irritate me!)
To Joseph O. (and guess who?) I have read your comments for several weeks, and I think you are a deeply spiritual person. I must ask you though, can a person quit drinking without such a deep spirtual committment? Can you talk to the rest of us in a more personal way (Can I?)Is alcohol the "sin", or is it merely a manifestation or coping mechanism of the underlying issues?
To Sick of the Gratitude List, I know it doesn't seem like we are helping you stay away from the next drink. However, I ask you to remember that sometimes, all we can do is to help ourselves stay away from the next drink. Note, that the word "attitude" is also part of the word gr"atitude". This requires a complete change in the view a person takes on life - not to mention sobriety. I also ask you to please be patient and remember that there are other people here who may benefit from things that you do not! i.e. lists of things to be grateful for.
To Kim, Thankyou, and good luck on your venture. I hope to hear back from you soon.
I have a great number of things to be thankful for, but I have already taken up more than my share of room.
Good luck and peace to all of you. Rick
Member: Kay
Location: TX
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 12:06:08 AM
Kay, Alcoholic, I just met with my sponsor about doing God's will in my marriage--that of giving without expecting anything in return--an idea that I know but difficult for me because I am newly married to another AAer. I am grateful for my marriage, sponsor, and that other AAer because working this program keeps me alive even if we don't agree.
Member: Teresa C.
Location: Spfld, OR
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 12:29:22 AM
Hi I am Teresa and I am an alcoholic and I am in need of people in the program to chat with. I don't seem to get to enough meetings. could someone help me find meeting chatrooms, please. I celebrate 2 years on 11/1/00
Member: Verda G
Location: San Marcos, TX
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 12:37:43 AM
I'm Verda and an alcoholic. Thanks to all of you who have reminded me that I have so very much to be grateful for. Sometimes I get to the place where my disease tells me it would be easier to just "give in" and go back out to the clubs and the parties. But you have helped me think it through once again. I never remember waking up the next morning after a full scale drinking spree and having ANYTHING to be grateful for...not even being alive because at that moment I always wished I wasn't. When I first got sober I was so angry at those people who "still got to drink". Today I realize I too can still drink. If I want to give my disease all the things it asks of me...my home, my family, my sanity, my life. No thanks, I think I'll skip that drink JUST FOR TODAY and keep my disease at bay a little longer. And for that I AM GRATEFUL!!!
Member: Anonymous
Location:
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 3:00:59 AM
I'm grateful I don't wake up on a daily basis and throw up the lining of my stomach. I'm grateful that at night when I go to bed I don't toss and turn wondering when my probation officer is gonna catch up with me and if I'm gonna have to go to jail and for how long and...... I'm grateful for the people that god puts into my life. I'm grateful that I went back out for 10 years and really had my ass kicked by alcohol. I'm grateful that I have a driver's license and insurance. I'm grateful that I'm still alive and came back to finally realize deep down all those stupid little things they always told me, like "just do the next right thing" and "if you keep doing the same things expecting different results...." If I hadn't gone back out and gotten a DUI and gone to jail and.... well they would still just be sayings to me. If alcohol hadn't kicked my ass I never would have been able to do a complete third step, which for me was the REAL kicker of all of them. This student is more and more ready every day and therefore gets more and more teachers appearing every day and for that I can't tell you how grateful I am. I'm now able to be a father. I'm grateful I don't have to be perfect.
Member: EDDY S.
Location: TUCSON,AZ.
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 3:15:38 AM
My name is Eddy I'am an alcoholic.Hello to all.I just happened to stumble on to this web site this evening.(no pun intended)I'm totally new to the internet although Im not new to fellowship. Gratitude meetings really bothered me the first few years I was sober,mainly because I was taught in my homegroup that you expressed your gratitude through action only i.e. 12 step calls,home answering service,sponsorship etc. Today I'm OK with these meetings,having worked the steps with a sponsor and developing a relationship with a higher power.Live and let live is where its at for this drunk.We have a truly wonderful program and for that I'm very grateful. thanks to all from cyber newcommer
Member: Paul Lafferty
Location: Florida
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 8:27:37 AM
Hello My name is Paul I am an alcoholic I fell off the wagon again ,I am a single father and it is hard to get out to meetings I have no help from my sons mom ,I would like to have some help or someone to write to ,
Member: Joe B.
Location: Carrollton, Texas
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 5:40:02 PM
It's pretty sanctimonious whenever you have a gratitude meeting and they bitch and moan about it. Aren't we here to get the newcomers excited about this deal? Or are we supposed to tell our war stories one after the other and watch more people die? Anyone who comes on this site should be grateful for the computer they have in front of them that enables them to even submit their OPINION to this site. So why don't we try to pull them with a vision, like the book says, and watch some people get sober. I heard Paul once say its hard to have a bad day when you have a good attitude. Paul is Dr, alcoholic, addict.
Member: Mary K
Location: Boston (Raynham)
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 5:48:59 PM
Hi All! Mary, alcy
How to attain gratitude? If you have been homeless and now have a pillow to call your own - that is something to be grateful (aka thankful) for. If you have ever lost your license but knew someone willing to drive you somewhere, even once, that's another. If you have slept a night or many years behind bars and have regained your freedom. If your alcoholism brought you to the point where your family and/or friends shut their door in your face and because you wish to TRY to stop drinking they offer the possibility of once again having a relationship. If noone has wanted you but AAers say "Welcome. You too can have a better life". If you knew hopeless drunk who has gotton sober, that person is hope in the flesh if you allow yourself to see it. HOPE is THE primary factor one needs in order to begin to even try to recover.
THE HALLS OF AA ARE FILLED WITH HOPE and for that I am eternally grateful. Love to all, Mary.
Member: Emily B.
Location: North Car.
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 6:30:01 PM
Paul L. I'm a single parent too and just became sober. I feel like I've been given another chance in life. DUI 2 years ago did not jerk a knot in me and then in July of last year I was kidnapped and raped on the job. TELL ME THAT'S NOT ENOUGH TO DRINK ABOUT!!!!! But, I have realized that I have been in a big world of denial. I would love to have a drink as I'm writing this but I look over and see a beautiful son that I am raising and I have the power surge through me once again. Please, don't fall off the wagon again. You might not have the strength to get up again and then who will take care of the one thing you strive for? Pray for yourself and others just like you tonight. And I will do the same.
Member: Lorrie R
Location: Michigan
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 6:58:01 PM
Hi everyone, I am an alcoholic/addict sober today by the Grace of God and the Program of Alcoholics Anonymous. As I scrolled thru the postings I found myself being grateful to be reminded that although I can lists lots of things in my life I am truly grateful since I have become sober, the questions is - how does one attain the gratitude? A couple of people have provided good information, at least in my opinion. I was told early on that AA also stood for Attitude Adjustment` not someone elses', mine. There were times that not only did I need to be "willing", but times when I had to "fake it until I made it". As alcohol and drugs left my body, eventually my mind began to clear. I could then see, hear and look at events in my life differently. One by one I began to gather my list of things for which I was/am grateful...sobriety being the top of the list. I too am a firm believer in the Big Book, Sponsorship, Service and applying the 12 Steps in my life so I can change. As I acknowledge the positive in my life today, my self-esteem has grown and hopefull my ego has shrunk. The inside successes I have been given, such as peace of mind, happiness, an enthusiasm for being alive, the gifts of new strength, courage` and faith to face new circumstances as they arrive has come. Recovery for me is an on-going process, and it comes in small increments so I can practice and experiment with new behaviors, attitudes and actions.
Whether we agree or disagree with one another in our sharings is not really the issue...anyone can stop drinking, one day at a time, if they have the desire to do so...quality sobriety., i.e. quality life takes time, desire and a lot of footwork, at least for me. We have one thing in common...our disease, but God made us unique onto ourselves, and we have the choice of following the winners, doing it our own way, stop drinking and remain miserable, or to trust God, apply the steps and be as happy as we want to be.
Member: I am grateful to be
Location: Post falls ID
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 9:01:53 PM
Hi I'm Jamie and I'm an alcholic I am grateful to be alive and sober,not only that I am grateful to have God back in my life and with that I have been given many gifts compassion, love,and a kinder heart life is finnally falling together through my higher power whom I call God, there was a time when icould have cared less if tomorrow came today I look at tomorrow as a gift, I can only grow in today but I have hope in tomorrow and for that I am grateful.
Alcholics Anonymous, work only if you allow it to work for you.
Member: crazed
Location:
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 9:36:15 PM
im with ya mary!i know jail sucks,so does the food,a lot of the guards,and them funky back-breaking matresses not to mention them itchy wool blankets and flattened out pillows that give ya and ear ache.then you always get that one friek guard who shines a flashlite in your eyes all nite long on cell checks.yea its a rotten depressing place and i aint ever going back.still sssssssssssoooooobbbberr
crazed
Member: Stephanie
Location: Daytona Beach, FL
Date: 9/14/00
Time: 11:10:47 PM
Stephanie grateful recovered alcoholic I am grateful that this forum is here to read what there is to be grateful for and to make me realize that I have no right to not be grateful! I have the gift of sobriety,a relationship with the God of my understanding,my health,and my family how dare I take that for granted! It was not too long ago that I could not handle a problem until I got drunk first, that I could not keep a job, family didn't want me around, I could go on and on. Times are financially tight for me but I am even grateful for the bills because I am learning discipline and being responsibility. The gifts of this program are enormous--Thanks for letting me share
Member: Kat
Location: Boone
Date: 9/15/00
Time: 1:42:00 AM
I'm Kat and I'm an alcoholic. I too didn't care for gratitude meetings, they seemed like brag sessions of how wonderful our lives had become. Than I heard another drunk share that he was grateful his home had burned down because if it hadn't, he wouldn't have moved into his apartment building where he meet the newly sober drunk sitting beside him. He was grateful to be of service so of course he had to be grateful for the fire that allowed it to happen. That story had a big impact on me. I find that my whole attitude changed, instead of moaning when shit happens, as it does in life, I look for that thing to be grateful for and thank my god for it. I never was good at lists so I just have to thank my god constantly, or as often as my formally wet brain will allow, for all the wonders of this life, good and bad, that he allows me to experience. I am truly grateful to be sober, alive, and a member of AA.
Member: Joe A. DOS 2/19/71
Location: Portland, OR
Date: 9/15/00
Time: 2:06:34 AM
{{{AA-type hugs to all from Joe A. of Portland.}}}
In re gratitude lists, one of the best suggestions I have heard in my 29+ years of sobriety is this: there are times when we find it impossible to make a gratitude list because we are no getting the things we wanr. When that happens, you might like to look around you and see what other people are getting and you are not that you DON'T want. Are you blind? Do you have AIDS or leprosy? When make a list like this, see if you cannot feel a real sense of gratitude. "But for the grace of God, there go I."
Member: STILL GRATEFUL
Location: AND FREE
Date: 9/15/00
Time: 2:30:57 PM
Dear Crazed
YOU GOT PILLOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Member: Mike M
Location: old cape cod (MA)
Date: 9/15/00
Time: 4:17:29 PM
One thing they told me when I came into AA was to watch out for self pity. If anything, gratitude is just my release from self pity and selfish thinking. It sure can be nice thinking about or listing the things I like or have gone my way. But what is the point? My feeling of self-esteem comes from trusting in God, cleaning house and helping others. It is nice to share that I have a lot to be grateful for... job, house, friends, health and on and on. Be sure I am not substituting a gratitude list for a personal inventory and I'll be on the right path. Gratitude lists are good but not enough.
It's nice to be back. My computer broke a few weeks back and I have missed all the great sharing. I have joined this group.
Peace, Mike
Member: Edie R.
Location: S.C.
Date: 9/15/00
Time: 5:49:48 PM
Hello, I'm Edie an alcoholic. Kate talked of coming here and hearing just what she needed to hear. So many times that has happened to me. Or a day when I'm feeling kind of low and the telephone rings and it's someone with a positive message, someone that I need to talk to. I call these things miracles from God and they always leave me feeling good all over.
One time when I was having a hard time with my teenage Daughter and was feeling a lot of shame at the way she was acting, a man in AA said to me " if you don't like the way you are feeling, then change the way you are thinking". It made a big difference in my life and I hope it will in yours too. I can definitley see where attitude has lots to do with graditude.
I really like what Mary Kay says, "the word around here is hope". Let's all try to spread some around.
Love, Edie
Member: Simon R
Location: uk
Date: 9/15/00
Time: 6:44:07 PM
My name is Simon, and I'm an alcoholic and For the first time I genuinly believe that! I must do. Or why else are the tears streaming down my face and why do I feel so joyous in saying it at the moment?
Im grateful for all the postings I've just read. I'm grateful to be alive. I'm grateful for the belief (at long last) that I am an alcoholic.
Tomorrow I am going to a meeting again. I haven't been in 6 months. I'm going to say it again. My name is Simon and I'm an alcoholic. I never thought I would look forward to doing that!
God Bless and protect you all.
Member: Tom H.
Location: Ca.
Date: 9/15/00
Time: 7:15:59 PM
I'm new to this discussion group, but I would like to join & participate.
Member: cz
Location:
Date: 9/15/00
Time: 7:37:15 PM
tom h., ok......let er rip.......start participating.............just push the keys on your computer.....................
cz
Member: Larry W
Location: Blythe CA
Date: 9/15/00
Time: 8:54:37 PM
Gratitude is an action word I was taught and shown by the people who were there when God 1st and 2nd stepped me through the door.. I don't always show it but know when I am not by how I feel..Hey Crazy those state vacation homes suck huh?
Member: EllenK
Location: Los Angeles
Date: 9/15/00
Time: 11:26:59 PM
I'm Ellen. I'm an alcoholic. I just found this meeting. I like that it follows the traditions and concepts. Gratitude. I have been away for two weeks in a difficult situation and couldn't get to meetings. I got home Monday night late and went to my women's meeting Tuesday night where I was scheduled to lead on Tradition I. That was healing and I'm grateful. Wednesday night I remembered the wrong time, went an hour late and missed the meeting! Last night all was dark, then a replacement secretary came as I was about to leave and he said we would have the meeting. He has about 20 years and in his sharing he used the program language so much it was like listening to the big book. When I'm hurting I love the familiar words,I can cry just to hear, "rarely have we seen....", the promises, and meeting each other on the road to happy destiny. I'm grateful for the program, for the language, for the group that holds me when I feel lost and reminds me when I forget... just like a grandsponsor said early on, "just let us love you until you can love yourself. Thanks for letting me share.
Member: Shannon S.
Location: Southern Cal.
Date: 9/15/00
Time: 11:47:43 PM
Shannon alcoholic here. Happy to be sober. Gratitude and how to get grateful. There is a process refered to as "acting as if". Sometimes I just have to act grateful until I become grateful. There is a very long list of things I am grateful for today. One thing I have learned in AA - attitude is everything. Anytime I become ungrateful its because I am focused on myself. This problem can be solved immediately by attempting to help someone else. I wish us all infinite sobriety and serenity. Thank you all for sharing.
Member: Yvonne
Location: Scotland
Date: 9/16/00
Time: 3:24:41 AM
Hello Everybody,
I phoned a wonderful lady from my home group last night as I was feeling tired and low and needed her help to talk me out of some serious drinking thinking. She told me amongst many other things that a grateful alcoholic will not pick up a drink. I wasn't sure that I understood.....it just sounded too simple. But when I started to think of all the good things that sobriety has brought into my life I realised what a positive emotion gratitude is. Instead of feeling sorry for myself because I missed having a drink so much, I started to realise just how much I had achieved by not drinking and how much more I could continue to achieve. By consciously being grateful for every small thing I'm starting to look at the positive aspects of life rather than dwelling on the negative. I think that by being grateful for my sobriety I will begin to accept my alcoholism as a positive force in my life rather than being resigned to it. I've been sober for 30 days now and am finally starting to trust that AA works if I'm prepared to let it
Love Yvonne
Member: IG KIM
Location: Korea
Date: 9/16/00
Time: 10:18:22 AM
Hello, everyone. I am Kim, an alcholic in Korea. I am always grateful for this site because I am not able to attend the AA meeting regularly because of my business. Contact with you on this site is very helpful to me. I feel relaxed after reading this articles. Gratitude is a good word and has powerful energy which can change low into high, self pity into self esteem , anger into serenity, uneasyness into comfort, and boredom into pleasure. In other words, gratitude is a universal doctor to me. So I am trying to be grateful for everything, even alcholism, which leads a new life. I wish you a good luck. Thank you for letting me share.
Member: Larry C
Location: San Francisco, CA
Date: 9/16/00
Time: 1:13:13 PM
I am grateful that I am sitting at my computer on a Saturday a.m., instead of sitting on my ass in a bar. I don't like cross talk, so I'll just say to the member from Silicon Valley that if any idiot can stay sober for 24hrs, how did my "Lost Weekend" turn into half of my lifetime. I ask only to lay my head down on my pillow tonight sober!!!
Member: Bonnie C / 5/30/80
Location:
Date: 9/16/00
Time: 3:27:49 PM
Hi extended family, bonnie/alcoholic here (((ROOM-HUG))) a heartfelt *welcome home* to all that are new here, a big thank you to those that share their hearts here on a reg basis from the bottom of mine.
cant get into coffee pot right now but please let them know this is posted here. UPDATE on my friend in the coma, whose son was flown in to pull the plug, She responding, shes laughing, her eyes have life in them, shes still on life support since her lungs are still full of fluids but your prayers were heard. I thought maybe God would take her home to end her suffering and it will be a long road back but He must have great plans for her life. Grateful??? OH YEAH!!!! that I have another chance to see my friend alive. Who knows how long any of us have here but for some unknown reason we are miracles that have been spared from death, if we're reading here. What we do with that chance is what will determine the quality of our lives after we get here. I'M GRATEFUL FOR THE ONES THAT TOLD ME: 90 meetings in 90 days,(i went to at least one meeting a day for the first 5 yrs - 2 to 5 a wk there after) get a sponsor, read the book, get phone #s of alot of people of your sex, use them, if one cant talk call the rest, if they cant talk call AA central in your phone book -- you'll only get out of this program what you put in -- that you will not get it by osmosis, you have to do the work, just going to meetings, doesnt do it, just getting a sponsor, doesnt do it, just doing the steps doesn't do it, just praying, doesnt do it, its the whole package that does it -- to make a gratitude list at the end of the day in my journal and read it the first thing next morning -- to get a sponsor -- to read 60 thru 63 & 449 thru 452 each day + what your sponsor tells you to read or write -- to be honest with myself even when the truth hurt -- to do the right thing even when it was inconvienient (waiting for the miracle to happen) -- to the ones that told me that all my old thinking had to go so God could clean it up and give me back my new way of thinking -- to give God everything so He could clean them up and give them back in the way they were to be in my life (people, places, things) -- to walk the walk instead of just talking the talk -- to hang with the ones who walked the walked and to avoid bullshitters & the angry ones unless they asked for help -- that AA isn't for those that need it, but just for those that want it -- that you never fail on a 12 step call if you stay sober -- to remain teachable -- that God can't heal what i don't reveal -- that sobriety isn't sexually transmitted -- that i definatly had one more drunk left in me but odds weren't good for another recovery -- to look for one miracle in each day (some days it was as simple as i can see, hear, speak, walk) I complained about my shoes until i met the man without legs, that type of thing. -- the ones that said that pain was the touchstone to growth, that the joy that lay on the other side of the pain was just as intense, that serenity and peace would someday be mine, that the anger would someday be just a memory to share with someone still hurting, oh my friends you didn't lie to me, the most important person in this room sits behind your keyboard, you are so important to this fellowship and to me. Dear God please bless all who venture here. thank you dear hearts for your prayers for my friend, please keep it up YOU are making a difference in that girls life, whether its for a day or 50yrs, its a miracle, her son got to look in his moms eyes and she got to look back, priceless, the smallest whispered prayer has been heard. tis powerful. love and hugs, bon -- bonzoc@webtv.net
Member: bon
Location:
Date: 9/16/00
Time: 4:08:26 PM
bon/alky - forgot the most important one that was told to me, don't drink or use no matter what happens and this too shall pass
Member: crazed
Location: but sober!
Date: 9/16/00
Time: 5:59:16 PM
amen to that larry! and it is no vacation!
crazed
Member: Chris H.
Location: Florida
Date: 9/16/00
Time: 7:49:18 PM
Hi all- Chris Alcholic-addict/Bulimic here...As usual this is a great topic for me. I am in a learning place with gratitude...I too hve a Chronic Disease and suffer from depression...Gratitude has been hard for me to learn , and in the 6 yr. i'vwe been in the Program, I have not always been successful. I, Greatfully.too have a sponsor who stresses that gratitude list...I do one everymorning with my meditation...I can't say that it has always been long or that I have alsways felt it, but it has been the discipline of doing it that has helped. Even when I have felt the most depressed, I have done my gratitude list, I may not have felt it, but it paved the way for when i did. IF I only did it when I felt Gratitude I don't think it would have sunk in as well. As for now , I am really trying to be greatful even though things around me aren't so great..I am learning that this is the only point of salvation for me when I am so down...Sometimes I just keep on walking and my HP reminds me not to quit "the Quest" , because He has greater things in store for me...If IT weren't for this program , the 12 steps and the people I have met, mt life would be a dead end...Thanks for being here---I am so greatful for this sight...it has really given me a lot of serenity...Thanks guys!
Member: Robert J
Location: PA.
Date: 9/16/00
Time: 10:30:10 PM
Hi Robert Alcoholic Talking about Gratitude I Just look around me and noice a change I Know for me my sponsor tells me when I think I have it so bad make a gratitude list it helps alot I think to myself I had the oportunity to fly for the frist time in my life and im 39 now to Minnesota to the International Convention that was my higher power and this program which made that posible for that I am truly Gratefull so if I think I have it so bad I need to take alook back from which where I come and thank GOD for my sobriety I am truly bless
Member: TOM W.
Location: REEDLEY CA.
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 12:15:54 AM
MY NAME IS TOM AND I'M AN ALCOHOLIC. I AM GRATEFUL I AM A RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC INSTEAD OF A DRUNK ! I DO NOT SHUT THE DOOR ON MY PAST. GOD REMOVED THE COMPULSION TO DRINK FROM ME. I'M GRATEFUL FOR THAT BECAUSE I REMEMBER THE WAY IT WAS.I DON'T DWELL ON THE PAST EITHER BECAUSE MY FRIENDS IN AA TAUGHT ME THAT GOD LOVES ME AND SO DO THEY. GOD DOES NOT MAKE JUNK ! THE STEPS OF THE PROGRAM WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO LOVE YOURSELF AND OTHERS. FOR THAT I AM FOREVER GRATEFUL. THANK YOU LORD AND THANK YOU FRIENDS IN AA.
Member: Alice M.
Location: Eastcoast
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 1:29:26 AM
I am Alice, a grateful recovering alcoholic. I am having a difficult time writing this because I in in awe of this program. There are so many things that have happened in the last 20 years of sobriety that I never would have imagined. I remember sitting in the rooms in my first year sober and listening to people share and thinking "I can't do that...this seems so hard" and today I am so grateful that you taught me that it is all just one day at a time...one step at a time. I have found all the things in the BB to be true and that "rarely have I seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed the steps". That sounds trite and cliche-ish but it is the truth. There have been many times when I tried to hold on to my own ideas and do things my way...I did not drink but definitely put my sobriety at risk (after the fact I realized what I had done). Left to my own devices I am sure I would not be sober today. My awe today is that so many of you have helped me to keep sobriety first. I well remember what it was like to not be able to say no to a drink. What it was like to be drinking because I had to, not because I wanted to. To not be able to not drink. I thank my HP that I am a sober member of AA...I don't deserve such a gift.
Member: Joe O>
Location: Eastern Canada
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 6:51:13 AM
HI, TO sick of gratitude meeting. I would like to ask what he {she} wants from A.A. when that is figured out and hopefully it is achieved then gratitude will be obvious
Member: JOE O.
Location: eastern canada
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 7:11:18 AM
to sick of gratitude list, I suggest you figure out what you want from A.A., then try to get it. when hopefully you do gratitude will be obvious to you
Member: Rick L.
Location: Walton, Ky.
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 7:16:32 AM
Hi to all of you, Rick Alcoholic here. Really needed to hear all the wonderful things said here today. Always can count on hearing what I need to hear at a meeting
Member: Pete B.
Location: southwest MI
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 7:57:46 AM
Hi, I'm Pete, an alcoholic....
When I came back into AA many moons ago, I was very fearful, anquished, confused ... and as the early months of meetings rolled by and some times the "gratitude" topic would pop up,I would groan silently. I just couldn't understand why these people were grateful. It took a long time for me to get the message, and yes, there was a person in my home group that suggested I make a gratitude list...and to this day I haven't. However, I know that gratitude is extremely important to my sobriety...it is a cornerstone of my program. In the "negative" times of my life (self pity mostly), I've had the presence to think and be grateful. This is like throwing water on a fire ... it works for me.
I thank my Higher Power at the end of each day for keeping sober and for the smallest things immaginable...
So I finally learned what gratitude means. I figure if I lead a good sober life as best as possible .... this is and will be my gratitude to God. When one slices through all the BS of life, and when it comes time, there is nothing else except me and the Higher Power. What will I have to show for ??????????????
God bless you all ... peace and serenity !!!!
Member: its i
Location:
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 1:12:33 PM
im soooooo confused.
it is i
Member: Diane
Location: KS
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 1:32:43 PM
Graditude? Every day that I am alive, and not drinking is an occasion to be grateful. Looking back on so many years of drinking, and 12 yrs. of sobriety, I find myself thinking: Thank God and AA I don't have to do that any more! Glad I found this site. Diane.
Member: me
Location:
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 2:52:31 PM
in thine ownself be true. amen
Member: Jules M.
Location: VA
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 4:17:49 PM
Jules, alcoholic
Somedays it seems I cant muster anything to be greatful for but I have to think harder and realize there is so much. Sobriety has not taken away the bad days, but I know AA can help me get through them. I am greatful for the guidance I have found in AA, my awsome sponser, The 12 steps, and of coarse Im greatful that I wake up actually feeling good (pysically and emotionally) each day. I am aproching three months and cant wait to pick up that chip. I am so happy that with God and the fellowship I have regained my life. God Bless
Member: tlc
Location:
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 4:31:16 PM
if i only had a brain......
tlc
Member: Ray H
Location: Niagara Falls, NY
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 5:43:56 PM
Ray, a Gratefull Recovering Alcoholic
Well, Gratitiude is the one thing I think we all have if we are in recovery. Gratitude is experianced everyday, just by having sobriety. I am also so gratefull for the people and things I have been able to experiance in the room of AA. These things I would never have been able to meet, do, or feel if I stayed out drinking. In the people I have found an honest love, someone who cares for me just as I am. No better, no worse than them, but as an equal. An I ma not refering to any one person, I am looking at the grup in whole. The things I have been able to do with out picking up are too many count but to name a few; the stress and fear of going back to school, go through a difficult child custody and seperation and now divorce (not something I want, she does), have problems at work ....and HANDLE THEM!! I now wake up happy to be here and look forward to whatever GOD sends my way. Even if it's adversity I can look at it as a challange, not a problem. These are just some of the things my life has afforded me in the program.
I am a VERY GRATFULL Alcholic....One day at a time.
Thanks for letting me share
Member: Chris F.
Location: Arizona
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 6:59:12 PM
Grateful huh? I'm grateful for the life the things I've learned in AA have given me. I had a very strong start in AA and am grateful for it, where I presently live and with my work hours, I'm not able to go to many meetinfs at all. I stay in touch with other alcoholics in recovery and never have the desire to drink, which I'm VERY grateful for. I've discovered a friends of Bill W. chatroom on yahoo and use it quite a bit to try and help the newcomers. I am grateful to all of you that keep this organization going
Member: William.Allen...
Location: N.Carolina...
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 8:15:41 PM
Member: William.Allen...
Location: N.Carolina...
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 8:19:16 PM
Hello,I am william & I am an alcholic. Today I am greatful for everything that my H-P has given me today.
Thanks for letting me share...
Member: Tony L.
Location: Nevada
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 8:30:42 PM
Hello - I'M basically back again in the rooms with approximately 26days. I decided to drink when I had alittle under two years. It has been hard to get 30days under my hat. I have to keep reminding myself that drinking days have long passed and at times it is hard to let go of old habits. I keep coming back and by the grace of GOD I will get what some of you have out there - I'm very grateful to be sober today - have a beautiful day!
Member: h.r.
Location:
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 8:46:57 PM
i am grapeful i know longr drincx thou furmented fruts.
hernando r.
Member: Bert.K.
Location: Victoria Australia
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 9:34:18 PM
well ob9 if you dont know what bad language is I am just grateful we havent got many members in the group like you,it demeans A.A. and what about to stand up CLEAN up to stay up,I'm pleased I dont behave like I used to 19 years ago. I hope all in this discussion topic room have a great week. (sorry for the second posting) Love to all.
Member: Stacie G.
Location: Flagstaff
Date: 9/17/00
Time: 10:19:12 PM
Hi, this is my first time to speak out. This started out as a project for one of my classes, but I soon realize that if I don't watch my step I have the characteristics of becoming an alcoholic. I'm in college and of course I go to parties and drink. Well I thought it started out that way, but it soon erupted into drinking on school nights and not going to classes. If I don't act soon I may be struck as an alcoholic. For the first time speaking about this I'm glad I got this out in the open. this issue I'm glad I got it out in the open.