aa friends Community Group
Welcome. If you come to visit for the first time and have some questions feel free to ask. PM someone if you like but don't stay a stranger. We were all in the pit. We know a way out. No condemnation and no hammers. Just ask and prepare to make a load of friends.
Change
^*^*^*^*^
"Let us never fear needed change.
Certainly we have to discriminate between changes for worse
and changes for better.
But once a need becomes clearly apparent
in an individual, in a group, or in AA as a whole,
it has long been found out that we cannot stand still
and look the other way.
The essence of all growth is a willingness
to change for the better
and then an unremitting willingness
to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails."
Bill W., July 1965
c.1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 115
^*^*^*^*^
^*^*^*^*^
"Let us never fear needed change.
Certainly we have to discriminate between changes for worse
and changes for better.
But once a need becomes clearly apparent
in an individual, in a group, or in AA as a whole,
it has long been found out that we cannot stand still
and look the other way.
The essence of all growth is a willingness
to change for the better
and then an unremitting willingness
to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails."
Bill W., July 1965
c.1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 115
^*^*^*^*^
My kids were in diapers and my husband at the time was drinking alcoholically.. blackouts and all.... I needed meetings baddly, as the booze was in my home, and I was desperately trying to stay sober.
The club I frequented and the meetings there were not used to haveing little kids in them at all. the alcoholics attending the the club and most of the meetings held there did not tolerate kids well. I remember asking my sponser's sponser, if I couldn't bring my kids to meetings with me, what was I suppose to do with them???
I did not have any family members to help... no babysitter, as I was the one who was the local sitter for kids and a stay at home mom, for the 1st little while in recovery anyways.....
This woman, with close to 10 years of sobriety said to me, " What the h*@l did you do with them when you were drinking?" Well, I was quite new in recovery, & did not really know how to answer that very quickly.
After some time to process this I realized not everyone with more time than I was going to necessarily be really weller than I. My sponser had to remind me that everyone "down there" ( the club and the meetings) were sick!
I realized I obviously could not do what I used to do with my kids when I was drinking because that was irresponsible and unacceptable behavior in recovery... and also that some people just do not tolerate kids well, and that's okay... SO... with the above quote... I and another mom or two, began an A.A. group called, "Parents Without Sitters." We held one mtg. on saturday mornings, in a church who allowed us to use their play room facilities for our kids, and took turns each week watching the children.
We also held a mtg. during the week which rotated from home to next members home, every monthor so, when members were able to open their homes to it.
This was a really great thing as we all learned very early in sobriety about service work inside the group, service work at the district, and area levels too... and we began to see past our own noses to the fact that many alcoholics desiring sobriety have challenges to overcome or to deal with that may block easy access to A.A. Easy, as in what some of us may enjoy.
Out of the above quote we eventually formed an accessabilities committee at the didstrict level and then area level.. This opened many eyes to the homebound, blind, Deaf & Hard-of-hearing, wheelchair bound, members and more...... We were quite instramental in getting the Big Book In A.S.L. (American Sign Language) issue to New York and the General Conference.......so that the Deaf could have a Big Book in their own language rather than having to attempt to understand English.
I love this Quote still today and I hope I never forget to heed it's warning and suggestion.
Great posts as always!!!!!
":Stubborn" TerrieAnn