here is one of mine, ( ive got lots) . i would like to hear some of yours. this one is about the time i was early in recovery. long enough to have made some good friends. i hit a very low spot, made a decision to get drunk, i however thought i should call my 2 friends to tell them so as to spare them hearing it through the AA grapevine. the phone was busy, both numbers. after 2 hours i got tired of waiting (found later they were indeed talking to each other). this was early afternoon. i laid down and fell asleep. i woke up the next morning. i had slept about 16 hours, i believe God kinda knocked me out! the desire to drink was gone. i love these stories and its my favorite topic at a meeting. so, how about it? whats your favorite story?
One that comes to mind, it was a Friday, had a bad week, so i made up my mind i would go to this Friday night meeting, i dont usually attend. and after the meeting, if i didnt feel better, i was going to stop and get something to drink!!! during the meeting this guy shows up just smashed, we ask him to sit and listen, but he just went on and on. after we got him calmed down the meeting continued, i didnt stop and get that bottle that night, as i seen my self in this guy not so long ago, some one or thing had put me in that meeting for a reason that night, i havent had the desire now for some time, wagon
Too many to tell here... But the biggest so far, besides the obsession to drink being removed.... was a child hood fear, fear of the dark, that grew over time into paranoia, night tremmors, nightmares, countless endless nights, praying for the sun to come up... that lasted well into adult hood. 45 years of this torture... Removed in a moment. A few months after I got sober I was on my way to bed, and that familiar feeling came over me. Always could tell when a bad night was comming... I stepped back and closed my eyes, and said, "God, please remove this fear". Woke up and it was the next day. Havnt had a bad night since. That was two years ago. Can you imagine... forty five years of suffering... relieved in the blink of an eye. Ive seen many miracles and have had quite a few spiritual experiances since. The Big Book says, "we asked God to remove these and at once we began to outgrow fear"... It's true.
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My warranty on tomorrow has run out. My guarantee on the past is void. Nothing is going my way... and I like it like that.
Honestly, just getting through those first few days of sobriety. I am thankful for that miracle and I often think of it when the craving pops up--it was a gift and not one I want to throw away. Thanks for sharing your experiences, friends. This got me thinking about my own spiritual experiences related to sobriety and I realized haven't been involving my HP in my recovery lately. I miss the feeling and growth that I experience when putting my faith in a higher power. I hope more people post their experiences here--they're inspiring. Great idea. I feel good just thinking about it. :)
My spiritual experience is a wonderful one (I think!). I first went to AA and stayed for just eight weeks. I had been given lots of 'phone numbers, but I destroyed them all except one when I decided not to keep going. Eighteen months later when I had hit my rock bottom I 'phoned the lady whose number I had kept. It was a Friday evening and I wanted to know the time of a local meeting the next day and I thought she would know.
Not only did she know, but she was sharing from the top table that day. It is a meeting that she very rarely goes to. She gave me a lift and she became my sponsor. In over eighteen months I have never seen her attend that meeting again.
My Higher Power was certainly watching over me that day.
Take care,
Carol
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss
Thanks for the inspiritional post, Cindy, yeah I'm joking with the spelling! My most recent spriritual experience & there have been a few in steady succession since I joined A.A. was on Thursday night. I've always considered myself a spiritual person since a lttle girl & been told so by a few also but my sprituality couldn't cure me of my depression or alcoholism. Putting down the drink & coming to A.A. helped me deal with those. My spirituality & curiosity led me here, call that HP if you will. I think the depression was a physiological response to the substance as it lifted after the first 10wks dry & A.A. helps to re~program my thinking to something a lot more positive (when I'm not identifying too closely with people's illnesses!) I realised on my way to that meeting that I don't have to play a 'When.. then...' game with my recovery. I've spent the last few weeks full of fear with my new job, it coinciding with this new recovery & scared that I couldn't do the two together. I felt raw & inadequate was desperately focused on my defects to try & get rid of them. I couldn't ask 'God' or my Higher Power to remove them as I wasn't tuned in with it but I realised that I don't have to wait for this recovery to come along & then get better. I realised that I can be as well as I want to be right now & I know what I want from inside me. A.A. can help remind me of these but it's nothing if I don't take action or set my mind to its positive purpose. I came into A.A. with an inferiority/superiority complex & all my naval~gazing on Step4 was getting me down. My realisation was that I CAN put down the negative thinking & allow myself to embrace all the good qualities I DO have & with help from A.A. these are slowly becoming more finely~tuned all the time with the gifts that people share. I was getting the idea that we're not supposed to have self~belief, it's all God~given & this was killing me spiritually cuz I couldn't believe. Think I've been floating around more in the Agnostic arena for a while but I realised that as long as I can do a quick spotcheck on my motives I can let go of the ego~self & allow that God~self to shine through. The love, the honour, the listening, the learning, the productivity & the best behaviours whilst always learning from mistakes in an open~minded way. God's not out there, it's inside me & I either embrace it or shrink. I receive so much support from those nearest & important to me that if I take it for granted or allow it to pass without using it for my enhancement then I'll wallow in self~pity & ironically not acheive my aims which are ultimately to be useful & helpful. I walked up the steps & into the room & looked around. I saw the people there & realised the friends I've made & the little portions of everyone's story I've been told. I saw with fresh eyes & was grateful. Felt amongst my own 'good & bad' & realised just seeing this can burst me forth with inspirition! My management wants me to succeed; My members want me to succeed. It's only up to me to hear the message & choose to accept them rather than killing myself spiritually with self~doubt. No, I said, I won't listen to my negative thoughts, the disease. I will only hear & allow for the goodness & offer it back. I can work this program to the best of my ability. No one has offered it to me on a silver platter. I have to work for it. I have to offer myself unself~pityingly to this simple program & exercise it in all my affairs. Left to my own devices I might forget this & take a drink (for whatever crazy reason) Coming to meetings can be a miracle but it's only a switch. I have to turn it on & allow it to channel for good & in gentle concentration. This is Just for Today. I shared it because I don't want to forget & I want to share in the way others have shared with me. Sorry to have elongated my post! Tis my grandiosity ;) I hope it gave you something as it did me. Whether my ego is still at large or not I don't know or care because I know I will learn & I will be here to do so. Thanks for listening. Thanks for everything you all add to my sobriety. I feel safe, thanks, Danielle x
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Progress not perfection.. & Practice makes Progress!
