WHY NOT SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE, STRENGTH AND HOPE
SHARE YOU SOBRIETY STORY!

- Just Some Thoughts-

I remember thinking when I first got around AA that I had no story of any interest to tell. I had no real drama, no funny antics, nothing particularly moving in the years that I spent in my one way love affair with alcohol. I can actually remember thinking I needed to make some stuff up so that I wouldn't be such a dull ex-drunk.

But then a funny thing happened. I ran into an old work friend at a park near my home. We began to catch up on how life was "now" and not knowing she had any problems with alcohol I didn't see any real need to use that particular visit to dwell on mine. So I skipped those moments as we tapped down memory lane. But then she made a comment about how I seemed so much more together "now" and how nice it was to see me looking healthy and happy. I just bit the bullet at that point and mentioned that I had rid myself of some of the more negative things in my life, such as alcohol. Well, that opened up an entirely new dialogue between us.

She began to talk about her own desires of late, to stop drinking, and the problems she was running into with quitting. I shared with her some of the things that worked for me and continue working for me and by the time, 4 hours later, that we left the park I had pretty much disclosed many of those things shared with only my AA friends. As I opened up more and more I couldn't help to see a sense of relief in her eyes. I knew I had touched that "I'm not the only one?" part inside us all. Gently I approached the idea of her joining me for an AA meeting later that evening. She showed no hesitation.

Later, as I drove up to the meeting, I saw her sitting in her car. Knocking on the window caused her to jump and I saw that fear in her that we all recognize. We went to the meeting together. Both sat silently and just listened. She didn't introduce herself as an alcoholic, didn't pick up a desire chip and that was fine. She was there and that was all that mattered.

Its two years later now and I still see my friend at the meetings. AA is now very much apart of her life. Looking back to that day in the park I can't help to think, had I permitted my ego to get in my way, worrying about if my story was too dull, was I tooting my own horn, do I sound crazy, etc., chances are I would have missed an opportunity to reach out the hand of AA. Maybe she would have eventually made it to AA...but I doubt it would have happened that day.

Bottom-line? We never know what part of our story might be exactly what another suffering alcoholic needs to hear. It's not about entertainment. It's not about who has the best war story. To be able to say, Today I am Sober. is too many, a pure miracle in itself.

When I think about "sharing one's story" I can't help but get a mental picture of BillW sitting around his kitchen taking inventory of his hidden bottles of gin then receiving a phone call from his old drinking buddy who was in town and wanted to come by. Prior to his friends arrival Bill planned how the evening would unfold, dinner...then drinks...lots of them like old times. When his friend arrived he opened the door and Bill knew there was something very different about his old friend. Out of curiosity and some sarcasm, Bill questioned his friend about the "new him" one who now refused a drink and who also looked "healthy and glowing." Quite the opposite of how he had looked in the past. When the man answered Bill with a simple "I've got religion". Bill braced himself for an evening filled with religious ranting. But that isn't what happened. Instead the man simply told "his story" of how mixing a spiritual idea with a practical program of action changed his life. He spoke to Bill about the acceptance that his human will had failed and he had now let God take over. Once dubbed incurable by Doctors, this man now possessed sobriety and clarity... a man raised from the dead...in a matter of speaking.
That night they sat and talked for hours. This was one of the many people instrumental in BillW's path to sobriety. I wonder what would have happened had the man not stopped by BillW's home that night. How many more years would Bill have remained "out there"? It's just another example of how you just don't know the impact your story may have on another.

So please, if you have a few minutes... share a part of your ESH... you never know whom it may touch.

Interested? Put it in an email so we can post it. Please sign it with the name you use in chat or at AA or whatever name you want but however it is signed is how it will get posted. Go ahead, reach out your hand...and tell a little bit about what has helped you in your daily path of sobriety.

SUBMIT HERE

Thank You!!!!!!!

(Click on Name to Go to Their Story Page)
Stories Submitted
Anay
Forgiven
Melinda