Ya'll may be familiar w/this but in case someone is not: My area AA f2fs have a chip system. Different color poker like chips that mark time in sobriety. At the end of the f2f when someone gives them out, they go thru the colors and say how much time each one represents, white-24 hours or surrender, silver-30 days, black-60 days, red-90 days, and when they get to gold, some will say 180 days and some will say 6 months. Now, if I count 180 days from my last drink it will be Feb. 6, BUT 6 months from this past Aug 11 would be Feb 11......here's my dumbass question: which one is right? 180 days or 6 mos??? (I've tried to call my sponsor, she's out!!)
Thanks all for taking the time to help me w/this.......It's certainly not life threatening or affecting my sobriety, but I am curious as to your views.....
-- Edited by Doll at 07:36, 2006-02-05
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* We eventually realize that just as the pains of alcoholism had to come before sobriety, emotional turmoil comes before serenity. *
My AA has the colored chip system, too-but ours may be different. I know the colors are, because I have a 24 hour chip from my first meeting (it's silver), and a 1 month chip (it is red). We have others, not sure what colors or what they say. But as for the correct date...of course I don't know, being new to AA, but I'd guess it would be more likely six months than 180 days. Why? Well, for me, it's easier to figure six months! I mean, actually counting the days makes it harder, at least for my brain! I simplify things by figuring in months...I mean, February is 28 or 29 days depending on the year, could mess me up for my two months if I used 60 days instead, then when would it be? (My last drink was December 31st, so it's relatively easy to figure my special dates!) But since one of the AA-related mottos is "Keep It Simple" I'd think the simple month counting method is probably correct. Just my thoughts on it...
Doll, In my home group we do chips the last Tuesday of the month, have a dinner before hand , it's an open meeting, al-anons also come, big deal. I'm with Bonzo on this one, keep it simple, which one works best for you. Six months is what we say...
Did you talk to your sponsor, what did she say?
Six months, Wow! and you are doing it one day at a time and today is the day that matters the most.
Being a recovering exactly perfectly oriented perfectionist, this question seems very important to me... as something to struggle to balance and not get bent out of shape. I might even have a drink over it if I get too stressed out on it. So,,, putting first things first,,, the priority is to mark a length of time of sobriety. Dare I say that it doesn't matter whether it is exactly 180 days, or whether it is from the same date from the first month to this one, which might be 183 days? I think I'm with the opinion that from Aug 11 to Feb 11 is easier, cuz you might end up later on,,, with some other odd number,, and i'm not too good at math. Let me see,,, 180 from ummm.... 30 days hath November,, or does it? umm... the months with 30 days have something that all the rest don't have.... hmm... carry the 1 = 7 months 3 hours,,,, daylight savings time,, plus the adjustment for the teetering of the earth as it rotates,,,, which scientists don't adjust for every year and I'm not sure if this is the year or not. And when is the equinox?
love in recovery,
amanda
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do your best and God does the rest, a step at a time
Then there's green for 9 months and blue for 12 months!
Only on the SIX month one do they say days and/or months......I thought it interesting that 180 days and 6 months are the same, but not the same date!!!
And although there's no skin off my nose and it's no big deal, I'm not bent out of shape, just curiousity. AND I was counting b/c I had to make it REAL for myself. I had to double check. What a miracle I have 179 days of sobriety!!
Doll
-- Edited by Doll at 22:02, 2006-02-05
-- Edited by Doll at 22:03, 2006-02-05
__________________
* We eventually realize that just as the pains of alcoholism had to come before sobriety, emotional turmoil comes before serenity. *
wow... you took that soooo seriously! But that was the point. And I didn't say you get bent out of shape,,, I said that I'm a perfectionist like that who tends to get bent out of shape when things are not precise and absolutely accurate. Well,,, so you can take offense if you want to. I was really trying to show that we could take being accurate to the nth degree, or we can be happy with celebrating the amount of time that you are accumulating being sober without splitting the hair of a couple of days. I said "I' struggle with things like that.. I didn't say you do,,, and I said it is something that used to stress me out so that I might drink over it.. I didn't say you do. You can do what you want.. I was sharing my experience, strength and hope. My experience is that my perfectionist father, my mom, and I used to really get into things like that until we were all bent out of shape , stressed, arguing with each other, and had forgotten what the main point was,,,, and I do struggle with that now. So you can put me off if you want to. After all,, it was about you and not me, right?
Okay,, and now.. if you want a really serious answer to your serious question.... if you use 180 days to be six months,,, and then you try to double that to be a year.. you will end up 5 days off, and 6 days on a leap year.. as 180 + 180 = 360, and a year has 365 days, which divided in half would actually be 182 1/2 days.
still love you in recovery,
amanda
-- Edited by amanda2u2 at 22:22, 2006-02-05
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do your best and God does the rest, a step at a time
I said I meant what I meant... and evidently you are reading something into it that is not there,,, and I am finished with this conversation. You are twisting things up, and the more I say probably the more you will twist.
amanda
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do your best and God does the rest, a step at a time
I've reviewed this thread, to see what I can learn from it, and I notice a couple of things that I didn't notice before. In Doll's very first post, she calls her question 'a dumb ass question' for whatever reason. Nobody else did, and I should have noticed that. I came on trying to use humor, which was apparently very bad, but what I said about my perfectionist background and struggling with that is true, th0ugh apparently that wasn't understood, and my lack of mathematical skills is also true though making light of that was also misconstrued as making fun of another person. I'd like to just delete that post, but can't. I also skimmed over the central fact that Doll is celebrating 180 days today and should have congratulated her on that, since every additional sober day is cause for joy. I was put off and put on the defensive as if I was lieing about the intentions I had and the truthfulness of my statements. Oh, well.
The lesson I have learned is that some people anticipate being thought silly, and this has to be treated in a more sensitive way than I did, although if someone does misunderstand I also see that arguing doesn't always straighten it out and it is better to just detach.
In conclusion,,,,, contratulations on your 180th day. It is a real accomplishment, and I hope that you continue on the road to recovery.
amanda
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do your best and God does the rest, a step at a time
