Spiritual Quote:

Success is not rightly measured by the worldly standards of wealth, prestige, and power. None of these bestow happiness unless they are rightly used. To use them rightly one must possess wisdom and love for God and man.

- Paramahansa Yogananda

January 10

We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 30

I came to Alcoholics Anonymous because I was no longer able to control my drinking. It was either my wife's complaining about my drinking, or maybe the sheriff forced me to go to A.A. meetings, or perhaps I knew, deep down inside, that I couldn't drink like others, but I was unwilling to admit it because the alternative terrified me. Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women united against a common, fatal disease. Each one of our lives is linked to every other, much like the survivors on a life raft at sea. If we all work together, we can get safely to shore.

January 09

It is truly awful to admit that, glass in hand, we have warped our minds into such an obsession for destructive drinking that only an act of Providence can remove it from us.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 21

Some Announcements

• Friday’s will be Free-Form Fridays
  • I’m going to talk about anything I want
  • Today I’m going to talk about Me
• Giving myself weekends off for now
  • A job
  • Money?
  • Help?
    • Editing?
    • You would like to submit related content?
    • Perhaps you’d like to be interviewed…
• About Ryze mushroom coffee

About Me (Let’s get a bit personal)

My History

• Almost 50 years old
• Grew up a military brat
• High school in Germany
• 4 Years in the Air Force
• Government Contract Work in Multiple Countries
• Quit Drinking Alcohol in 1998 in Japan
• Attended Therapy, Anger Management, & various Spiritual Retreats
• On my 3rd and Last marriage
• My now wife is a saint. Saint Amanda.
• 3 Sons

Education

• Attended University of Wyoming, Maryland, and Boise State University
• 2 Bachelor Degrees - Applied Mathematics / Computer Science
• Passed 2 Actuary Exams (But didn’t take the remaining 6 exams)
• Real Estate Investor / Agent
• Currently enrolled in Masters in Counseling program

Physical Events I’m Proud Of

• In high school, I finished a 100km Volksmarch in Belgium
• Since then, Finished 6 half-marathons & 2 full marathons
• Finished Sprint, Super, and Beast Spartan races

Future Goals

• To affect positive and loving change in the world
• To live in Spain
• To never be afraid of growth and change

Spiritual Quotes

It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed. - Ram Dass

January 04

We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 19

It's usually pretty easy for me to be pleasant to the people in an A.A. setting. While I'm working to stay sober, I'm celebrating with my fellow A.A.s our common release from the hell of drinking. It's often not so hard to spread glad tidings to my old and new friends in the program.

At home or at work, though, it can be a different story. It is in situations arising in both of those areas that the little day-to-day frustrations are most evident, and where it can be tough to smile or reach out with a kind word or an attentive ear. It's outside of the A.A. rooms that I face the real test of the effectiveness of my walk through A.A.'s Twelve Steps.

January 03

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 21

It is no coincidence that the very first Step mentions powerlessness: An admission of personal powerlessness over alcohol is a cornerstone of the foundation of recovery. I've learned that I do not have the power and control I once thought I had. I am powerless over what people think about me. I am powerless over having just missed the bus. I am powerless over how other people work (or don't work) the Steps. But I've also learned I am not powerless over some things. I am not powerless over my attitudes. I am not powerless over negativity. I am not powerless over assuming responsibility for my own recovery. I have the power to exert a positive influence on myself, my loved ones, and the world in which I live.

January 02

Is sobriety all that we can expect of a spiritual awakening? No, sobriety is only a bare beginning.

AS BILL SEES IT, p. 8

Practicing the A.A. program is like building a house. First I had to pour a big, thick concrete slab on which to erect the house; that, to me, was the equivalent of stopping drinking. But it's pretty uncomfortable living on a concrete slab, unprotected and exposed to the heat, cold, wind and rain. So I built a room on the slab by starting to practice the program. The first room was rickety because I wasn't used to the work. But as time passed, as I practiced the program, I learned to build better rooms. The more I practiced, and the more I built, the more comfortable, and happy, was the home I now have to live in.

January 01

The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 25

This truly is a fact in my life today, and a real miracle. I always believed in God, but could never put that belief meaningfully into my life. Today, because of Alcoholics Anonymous, I now trust and rely on God, as I understand Him; I am sober today because of that! Learning to trust and rely on God was something I could never have done alone. I now believe in miracles because I am one!