Sanity... and how we get there.

So I got to chair my first meeting in probably over half a year.  I read some pages out of the book pertaining to sanity, specifically from pages 56 and 57, 70, and page 84;


Pg 56 and 57:
Thus was our friend's cornerstone fixed in place. No later vicissitude has shaken it. His alcoholic problem was taken away. That very night, years ago, it disappeared. Save for a few brief moments of temptation the though of drink has never returned; and at such times a great revulsion has risen up in him. Seemingly he could not drink even if he would. God had restored his sanity. .




What is this but a miracle of healing? Yet its elements are simple. Circumstances made him willing to believe. He humbly offered himself to his Maker then he knew


 


Pg 70:
To sum up about sex: We earnestly pray for the right ideal, for guidance in each questionable situation, for sanity, and for the strength to do the right thing. If sex is very troublesome, we throw ourselves the harder into helping others. We think of their needs and work for them. This takes us out of ourselves. It quiets the imperious urge, when to yield would mean heartache.


Pg 84:
And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone, even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.


Then I added a final bit from the end of chapter 6 from page 88;
We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves.   
&
We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined. But this is not all. There is action and more action. "Faith without works is dead." The next chapter is entirely devoted to Step Twelve.


So I shared my recent experience with what sanity is to me and how I've used or attempted to use discipline to remain in that state.


A pretty good discussion ensued and a pretty good crossfire discussion as well.  Considerations were brought up such as;


"Do you feel you can be restored to sanity if you seemingly never knew sanity in the first place?"


"Have you ever worked with "God is my employer and if so, how so?"


"Can you engage in foolish decisions now and if so, will this mean you will wind up drunk?"

Step 10: Crop Report

10th Step: Crop report

I just got back from a spiritual retreat and we had a workshop on the thing. To just go through and read the step from "This thought brings us to Step 10," to "But we must go further and that means more action."

I love the 10th Step promises btw. We so rarely hear them in meetings. In fact, most meetings I go to in southern Colorado don't even cover the 10th step and beyond. Unless I go to my home group meeting and another group or 3 that our group inspired. At most meetings they like to talk about graditude, fear, the newcomer, sponsorship, and how wonderful things are now that I stopped drinking.

Let me just tell you all how I really feel. I need to stop holding back.

All I know for sure is that I need to do steps and God removes the obsession from my mind. Step 10 helps keep the pipe clear.

Well anyways, in this workshop, we talked about our experience in the 10th step. It's a lot to digest. There's a bunch of stuff in there. Some talked about working with one specific thing for a while.

For example; work on "turn". Let's say you're at work and sitting in your chair. You've drifted of into "selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear". When these crop up... We ask...

But at one point, down the paragraph, it says we resolutely turn our thoughts... This guy proposed that he's sitting in a chair and he literally turns his chair, gets up, shifts his consciousness to ... someone he can help.

There's all kinds of neat stuff in there you can practice.

I like to have 10th step buddies. Guys I call here and there and they call me here and there and we rap about our day.

I'm finding that I need the practice of the 10th Step to have something to review in the "When we retire at night" in the 11th step. How can you constructively review your day if you don't remember $#!#? You can't.

The 10th Step helps me with awareness.

Step 11 : When we retire at night... On awakening...

When we retire at night... On awakening...

... and throughout the day...
I love this step. If I had to be stuck on a step the whole year, this would be the one.

Sometimes, I do something with vigor, but it eventually loses its salt. Then stop doing it. The 11th Step gives me permission to go out and try some stuff!

Read a good book like Castaneda or Tolle or Deepak Chopra or Fox or Todd Michael or the Big Big Book or Jung, or etc.

We do other things like Centering Prayer or Buddha Meditation or Yoga or Mentations or... I once went to a 75-rock sweat with a Lakota Medicine Man... I thought I was gonna die! When I didn't, I thought it was wonderful and that I should do it again! Maybe someday...

But even the Christians of the last 2000 years have found different ways to worship. Worship, as Rick Warren (author of The Purpose Driven Life) points out, can be brought down to the otherwise mundane and rote processes of life. Bring God in, wherever you are. Do things for and with God. Why not? Why wait till morning or when we retire at night to fellowship with God? God wants to be our friend! Imagine that? For some it might be singing, dancing, cooking, knitting, doing volunteer work, working with others, yes-12th step work, etc. Just get outta yer head!

We get to practice this stuff. I'll tell you this; if you've tried this stuff you should know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, give it a try and find something that clicks with you and gets you out of your head and into the world.

Is this a sufficient substitute to booze? Heck ya!