drinking.  He  couldn’t  understand  why  I  drank  so  much.  I  would  wake  up  at  night,  go  to  the kitchen  and  drink  so  I  could  fall  back  asleep,  and  of  course  he  noticed  these  types  of  things. Our  home  was  very  stressed. By  early  2010  I  was  desperately  unhappy,  and  looked  up  AA  online.  Early  Saturday  morning  I went  to  the  10  AM  women’s  meeting.  It  was  a  great  experience,  but  I  had  more  drinking  to do.  By  the  following  week,  I  decided  to  try  a  little  controlled  drinking.  That  always  gets  a laugh  when  I  tell  the  story  in  the  rooms,  but  I  thought  it  would  work. Quickly  I  realized  that  I  was  utterly  hopeless  and  miserable  again,  so  I  went  to  meetings  and sat  quietly  in  the  corner.  Though  I  was  attracted  to  AA,  I  was  too  jittery  and  anxious  to  ask anyone  to  be  my  sponsor.  I  was  sure  they  would  say  no.  Then  a  miracle  happened  after the  Wednesday  night   women’s   meeting   at   Damien.   As   usual,   I   sat   through   the   meeting without  sharing.  After  the  meeting,  a  lovely  woman  introduced  herself  and  asked  if  I  had  a sponsor.  I  said,  “No.”  And  she  said  gently,  “Well,  next  week  I’m  going  to  ask  if  you  have  a sponsor,  and  I’m  going  to  want  you  to  say  yes.” For  the  next  few  days  I  worried,  because  I  really  wanted  to  go  back  to  that  meeting,  but  I knew  she  would  ask  me.  There  was  a  Saturday  speaker  event  at  Damien.  I  heard  one  of  the women  speakers  and  at  the  end,  she  was  giving  out  her  phone  number.  A  couple  hours later,   I   called   her   and   asked   her   to   be   my   sponsor.   She   said   yes,   gave   me   some   basic instructions,  and  we  arranged  to  meet.  The  walls  came  down  quickly  after  that.  Once  we started  doing  step  work,  I  experienced  so  much  relief  and  I  started  to  build  a  relationship with  a  Higher  Power.  In  the  beginning  my  Higher  Power  was  simply  AA. Early  sobriety  is  a  turbulent  time.  There  were  lots  of  times  that  I  cried,  and  I  couldn’t  see how  things  would  get  better.  I  really  had  to  take  it  one  day  at  a  time.  But  by  taking  little steps,  a  phone  call  here,  meetings  there,  I  built  a  program  with  the  help  of  all  the  great women  in  the  program  here.  And  little  by  little,  things  did  get  better.  One  morning  I  got  up early  to  go  to  the  7:30  AM  meeting,  and  my  6  year  old  son  woke  up  too.  He  was  thrilled  to have  some  alone  time  with  me,  and  we  watched  the  sun  come  up. I  was  able  to  see  how  beautiful  he  is,  and  how  lucky  I  am  to  have  my  family.  I  no  longer  run from  responsibilities.  Life  has  challenges,  but  overcoming  them  is  part  of  the  fun.  My  family is  thriving,  and  I  draw  a  lot  of  strength  from  the  fact  that  I’m  able  to  support  them  and  keep them  stable.  These  responsibilities  are  not  so  scary.  There’s  always  a  next  right  action,  and tools  of  the  program  to  use  when  life  gets  choppy. I’m  approaching  my  3  year  anniversary.  I’m  able  to  give  back  to  the  program  that  has  given so   much   to   me.   I   can   share   during   meetings,   and   put   my   hand   out   to   newcomers,

congratulate  chip  takers.  It’s  very  easy  for  me  to  remember  when  I  first  came  in,  desperate and  frightened,  and  I’m  glad  I  can  reassure  people  that  it  does  get  better.  It  did  for  me. -­‐Anonymous

Meister  Eckhart    (c.  1260  -­‐  c.  1327) German  theologian,  philosopher  and  mystic

To  be  full  of  things  is  to  be  empty  of  God.  To  be  empty  of  things  is  to  be  full  of  God.

There  exists  only  the  present  instant…  a  Now  which  always  and  without  end  is  itself

new.  There  is  no  yesterday  nor  any  tomorrow,  but  only  Now,  as  it  was  a  thousand

years  ago  and  as  it  will  be  a  thousand  years  hence.

The  price  of  inaction  is  far  greater  than  the  cost  of  making  a  mistake.

If  the  only  prayer  you  ever  say  in  your  entire  life  is  thank  you,  it  will  be  enough.