HERE’S TO YOUR HEALTH

This week’s HTYH is a continuation of Tim’s story: Most of my life was spent making the outside of me look good but I was wrong. It’s what’s on the inside that matters and if you get the inside right; it will be reflected on the outside. I heard a guy say: A.A. stands for Attitude Adjustment and when I’m at meetings I “listen” because my Higher Power speaks to me thru people. Some of my greatest teachers are the constant slippers who cannot stay sober; they suffer and die so I don’t have to. Even new people in A.A. are my teachers, not long ago a new guy taught me something about Step One.

Procrastination is a common thread in the fabric of most alcoholics and while we were driving to Indiana, I explained this ugly truth to him. We were in my wife’s Honda Civic so I seldom looked at the fuel gage but when I did, it was on empty. When my Chevy says empty it really isn’t and I can drive about ten more miles. The exit we wanted was only a few miles farther so; I ignored the gage and ran out of gas. I learned if a Honda Civics’ fuel gage says empty, they’re dead serious about that; that’s exactly what they mean. I coasted for about another mile and pulled over to the side of the road. I didn’t want to look at the new guy especially since we had been talking about procrastination. But, when I did, he was grinning like a rat that ate the cat. New guys just wait for their sponsor to mess something up and they’re right there grinning at us when we do. He looked at me and said, “We’re powerless ain’t we?” I said, “You bet we are.” I asked him, “What do you think we ought to do about it?” He said, “I think we should admit it,” if we don’t first admit that we have a problem, we’re never going to find a solution.

If we take one word out of steps 10, 11, and 12; “continued,” “improved,” and “practiced.” Each of these words is an action word.  A.A. is a program of action not thinking. If we want to get sober we must take action. Our Big Booksays that half measures availed us nothing, it doesn’t say half measures availed us half, it says “nothing.” I don’t know about any of you but I have had enough of nothing and that’s not what I want today, I don’t want anymore “nothing.” I want every good thing that my Higher Power wants me to have. I don’t know exactly what God wants me to have, but when I say “God Thy Will not mine be done every morning,” that covers it.

I visit OH prisons today and talk to the people in there. I never liked prisons when I was in them and I don’t like them today, but I do it anyway to share my experience, strength and hope with the inmates. They have this thing in OH nowadays where a person on their way to the penitentiary has to fill out an application to get in; I was always pre-approved. I haven’t been incarcerated for a long time and there are a number of reasons for that, at least 12 of them. I was speaking at the penitentiary near Lima, OH when one of the inmates asked me if he could call me and I said yes before I remembered they call collect and now I’m accepting collect calls.

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In 1989 I went to a meeting where I heard a young lady speaking. My sponsor said, “If you hear something you like at a meeting, take it home,” so that’s what I did, I took her home. On October 16, 1993 we were married, she’s a very intelligent woman, a very educated lady who has all sorts of letters after her name, she even has a PhD after her name, but after that PhD, she got something I truly wanted her to have; a job.  To be continued…