Jersey Hooker

IT WORKS It works—it really does. — ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 88 In the beginning of my recovery, I was still working on my own will.  I was trying to think my way sober.  It was very exhausting.  I was "white-knuckling" it.  I would go to a few meetings here and there.  I would hear of these wonderful spiritual experiences that people were having and sharing their experiences.  I truly didn't think that was going to happen for me.  People would always say to me "keep coming back...it works if you work it..."   Reluctantly, I did keep coming back.  Each time I went to a meeting, it wouldn't strength my hope that I could find the peace and serenity I was so seeking.  Soon, that hope began to turn into a belief.  There was no denying what I was seeing.  People with worse situations than me were transforming into healthy productive people. At some point, my belief transformed into faith.  I had no doubt that God was with me every step of the way. S

NO ORDINARY SUCCESS STORY A.A. is no success story in the ordinary sense of the word. It is a story of suffering transmuted, under grace, into spiritual progress. — AS BILL SEES IT, p. 35 When I first walked through the doors of AA, I was tired and broken.  I had hit a bottom filled with despair, anger, resentments and pain.  I watched others who had stories filled with  many more trials and tribulations, yet they were at peace.  I asked myself how this could be possible.   They believed in a power greater than themselves and through each other, they stayed sober.  I didn't have faith in anything at first and I wasn't about to start trying to get it.  I was too busy fighting battles I couldn't win.  I didn't have time since around talk about some big blue book.  You have no free time when you are fighting everybody and everything. I never imagined that by following the instructions of the older members in the AA, that my life could and would be better

THE CHALLENGE OF FAILURE In God's economy, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is. — AS BILL SEES IT, p. 31 Today is different for me because I have hope.  I have faith that everything is going to be okay so long as I do the next right thing.   I can remember feeling as if everything was failing all at once.  Sometimes I had multiple issues going on in my life but It didn't mean that it was time to throw in the towel.  But that is just what I did.   I believe lots of times, I would just give up without trying, which in turn led to more issues, compounding on top of each other because of my procrastination and my fear. I was tired and defeated.  Some days I didn't have the mental energy to take on challenges in my life.  When that happened, I would do one of two things, sleep or get drunk.   I had this 'all or nothing' attitude.  I was trying to control things I couldn't co

A THANKFUL HEART I try to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits. When brimming with gratitude, one's heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love, the finest emotion that we can ever know. — AS BILL SEES IT, p. 37 I thank God everyday for leading me to AA.  I start my day with my Daily Reflection reading to put myself in the correct frame of mind.  I need an attitude adjustment the minute I wake up along with lots of coffee.  I am thankful for the life he has given me and blessings he has gifted me.   If I start to doubt God's plan for me and become ungrateful, my self seeking ways slowly creep back into my life.  I will lose sight of the plan he has for me.  I will become so wrapped up into my own world that I become of no use to others who need help.   I have to remember where God has put me and where I came from when I started my journey in recovery.  I cannot take those blessings for granted ; they are to be sha

MYSTERIOUS PARADOXES Such is the paradox of A.A. regeneration: strength arising out of complete defeat and weakness, the loss of one's old life as a condition for finding a new one. — A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 46 Hitting bottom for me was the beginning of a new life.  The Ninth Step promises tell me "...sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly."  I reached a point in my recovery where I looked back and thought, 'I am a miracle'.   It didn't feel that way at first.  I wanted my life back, my kids back, my house back, I didn't want loneliness, I was tired of guilt.  I wanted it to all go away on my terms and my timeline. Slowly but surely, with faith and action, miracles began to happen right before more eyes.  For me and others in the program as well.  God has a plan for all of us and it is on His terms, not ours.   My alcoholic way of thinking believed that things should happen on my timeline and my terms.  'Of course, the program just wasn't

I'M PART OF THE WHOLE At once, I became a part—if only a tiny part—of a cosmos. . . . — AS BILL SEES IT, p. 225 I can remember countless meetings where I thought, "I'm not one of these people, I don't need a  program".  I didn't want to mingle with anybody, I just wanted to sit through the meeting and make up some ridiculous excuse why I couldn't stay and help clean up.  Since I didn't have a car, I would usually have my ride lined up to come early and wait outside the meeting. That way I could always leave quickly and give the old "goodbye shout"  to everyone.  I felt I didn't need to hang around, after all, the meeting was over right?   It wasn't until I began doing service work that I started to understand that I was one of them.  I was now part of an 'us'.  I remember my sponsor asked me to run the registration table at a Soberfest function we were having.  I couldn't understand why she would want me to d

THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER At this juncture, his A.A. sponsor usually laughs. — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 26 I can remember when my sponsor laughed at me. I said "What are you laughing at? This is serious stuff!"  She said, "I'm laughing because I did the same thing too.."  At the time, I thought, how is any of this stuff in my inventory funny?  This woman must be crazy.   For awhile, my guilt was telling me I didn't deserve to laugh.  I was subconsciously punishing myself for my past transgressions.  Laughing meant being happy and I didn't deserve to be happy.  So when I couldn't laugh, I drank.  I laughed when I was drinking, I was always laughing (or fighting someone or something).  It wasn't real laughter.  I still felt all of these horrible emotions inside but the edge was knocked off just a bit.  Just enough for me to laugh and try to portray to others that I must be "okay" because I was laughing. My father w

I'M NOT DIFFERENT In the beginning, it was four whole years before A.A. brought permanent sobriety to even one alcoholic woman. Like the "high bottoms," the women said they were different; . . . The Skid-Rower said he was different . . . so did the artists and the professional people, the rich, the poor, the religious, the agnostic, the Indians and the Eskimos, the veterans, and the prisoners. . . . nowadays all of these, and legions more, soberly talk about how very much alike all of us alcoholics are when we admit that the chips are finally down. — AS BILL SEES IT, p. 24 When I first walked into the rooms, I felt different.  My character defects and my ego were both telling me I didn't belong there.  I was scared, nervous, anxious because I feared not being accepted.  I feared I would have to make drastic changes and that scared the heck out of me.  Some of the reasons my Ego gave me was I'm different because I didn't have to do prison time or ove

OUR PATHS ARE OUR OWN . . . there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet. — ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 25 When I began going to meetings, feeling different than everybody else was a daily occurrence.  I believe in part, this was due to not understanding the path that God had planned for me.  I had no spiritual tools to understand that my path was different than everyone else.  I was slow to catch on.  As today's daily reading states, I was showing up at meetings out of "obligation and necessity" when I first came into the program.   I became frustrated that I wasn't "getting it" like all the others I watched walk through those doors. I wanted what they had but just didn't know how to get it.  So I did the old "fake it til you make" routine.  I asked my close friends what their faith meant to them.  Everyone had different answers and different ideas which just confused me more.   The

Some of us won't believe in God, others can't, and still others who do believe that God exists have no faith whatever He will perform this miracle. — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 25 When I first began my journey in recovery, my faith was weak.  I didn't understand how something greater than myself could restore me to sanity.  I started to believe it was working for others but it wouldn't work for me.  I went to meetings and I was seeing people transform into productive members of society.  Still, I didn't have the feeling that this was what was going to help me.   I was so used to running the show, self will run riot so to speak.  It was a slow process for me, but I kept going to meetings and witnessing the wonderful gift that God was giving everyone. So I slowly and reluctantly began incorporating God in my life with daily readings, prayer,  meetings and service work.  I began to realize that faith requires action .  I can't tell you e

This is great reading for any Alcoholic, Mom or not!  I have had many discussions with my two sons about what it was like then and what it is like now... Below is the link to the article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mom-do-you-have-alcoholism_us_5873f8fae4b08052400ee54c#comments

"Intent reveals desire; Action reveals commitment." - Dr. Steve Maraboli Commitment used to cause me much anxiety.  It meant, taking part of my time do something that may or may not benefit me.  Of course I always had time to commit to drinking activities.  But doing things sober was scary for me.  All of the unresolved emotions and fears I had were travelling around with me in my back pocket.  Anxiety, low self-esteem, fear, loneliness, the list goes on...they went everywhere with me. I would ALWAYS commit to things, but when it came time to deliver, I always fell short.  My children can remember the empty promises for sure.  I would make promises I couldn't keep.  I know now why I would do that... I was trying to make myself feel better or look better at the time I was making the promise, but when it came time to deliver...it was a no go.  I was either to hungover or busy drinking.   I also found myself committing to sev

http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/alcohol/international-statistics.html

"The difference between who you are and what you want to be...is what you do." For some of us, taking action is a scary undertaking.  It means we must change something about how we act.  It means we must examine our behaviors.  Early in my recovery, I can remember being scared to take action.  There were many things I needed to remove from my life, and there were many things I needed to add to my life.  This meant changing my whole routine.  I am a creature of habit, so any change in my routine created anxiety.  Anxiety is one of my biggest triggers.   I had to learn that I was not in control and that I needed to let go of my old thinking and learn to take direction.  I needed to be teachable, learn to listen,  learn to pray, learn to trust a power greater than myself.   I needed to learn how to have faith in something greater than myself. I had to learn tolerance, patience, understanding and most of all helping others.  These are all necessary actions that