"Serenity"

As I sit here and slowly close my eyes
I take another deep breath
And feel the wind pass through my body
I'm the one in your soul
Reflecting inner light
Protect the ones who hold you
Cradling your inner child

I need serenity
In a place where I can hide
I need serenity
Nothing changes, days go by

Where do we go when we just don't know
And how do we relight the flame when it's cold
Why do we dream when our thoughts mean nothing
And when will we learn to control

Tragic visions slowly stole my life
Tore away everything
Cheating me out of my time
I'm the one who loves you
No matter wrong or right
And every day I hold you
I hold you with my inner child

I need serenity
In a place where I can hide
I need serenity
Nothing changes, days go by

Where do we go when we just don't know
And how do we relight the flame when it's cold
Why do we dream when our thoughts mean nothing
And when will we learn to control

Where do we go when we just don't know
And how do we relight the flame when it's cold
Why do we dream when our thoughts mean nothing
And when will we learn to control

I need serenity I need serenity

A very good song. It is on my clear my head CD that I listen to when I need to clear my head and that is still everyday.

WOW, Jeramy Alcoholic, Sober since 3-17-98 Seems St Pattys Day is quite The Day!!!!!!!!!!
My story is no different than any ones. I drank to cope and built a world around the life style. There were many bottoms I found along the way and I ignored them all. I wasn't prejudice, I hated everyone equally. If people would have just done what I wanted, when I wanted, the way I wanted, the world would have been great...LOL Probably not, as I am sure I would have messed it up worse than it is now..... Then I got Lucky, as I sat in my chair I came to a realization that there had to be more to life than the life I had been existing in. Don't get me wrong I had a time of fun but those fun tickets ran out and when face to face with myself I did not like what I had found. The damaged relationships between me and my family, Girlfriends, friends, work associates, employers. The list goes on and on. Unfortunately the one common denominator was me.... I didn't know what to do so Finally I ask for help. It was the most humbling experience of my life. I checked into a Detox for 5 days then I went straight to rehab and I do mean straight there. Though it all the most important thing I learned to do was to turn my liabilities into assets. for example I by nature am LAZY therefore if I feel like drinking I put it off till tomorrow... I live in today and so far this has worked well for me this far. I dont attend as many meetings as I did for the first 10 yrs but am always in contact with those like myself who understand. Church... lets just say is for those afraid of HELL and A.A. is for those who have been there..... Thanks for the Thread Brian

18 months today! yip! who is up for an iced tea? lol

Congratz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep It Up

Thank you for posting your story Jeramy!
And great job Horriblebeast that is awesome!! I bet you have seen some very good changes take place in your life.

thanks guys! yes i have seen a whole different me come around. there are many things that haven't changed at all about me, but in order to grow i had to get rid of some old habits and behaviors. it's almost too soon to speak about it with any certainty, but so far life is 100% better off the liquor. i didn't celebrate my first anniversary because i figured sobriety is hard and i've got many more years of it to go. but i had to retool my thoughts. any day can be fun if i choose to not let negativity win, and why not pat yourself on the back for a job well done? nowadays i think about liquor like an old friend i don't mind seeing around, but am not interested in hanging out with.


great thread yemx, i am glad to see it bustling.

Happy Sunday to you all!
I am not much of a "Going to Church" guy myself. They all tend to scare me a bit. Reminds me of walking onto a "Used Car Lot".....

You get this feeling of being "BUM RUSHED" and they are always filled with "SINNERS" hoping you have lots of money!!!!!

Hehehe (little religion humor)

However.......
I do love me some "Joel Olsteen"! That guy is "INSPIRING" and has a way of keeping it simple for me.... (If you can start to.... Think right = Act right = Live right = Get right) I am lucky, my girls record it so we can watch it when I get home!!!!


"Vaya con Dios"

Mac wrote:

If you don't mind, I'll be trying to keep my real life and dogfight life separate, except for occasional instances such as earlier.

Like I've told some before: the real world is where I work on my heart: this is where I work on my mind.

Thank you all,
Mac

I appreciate that Mac, however I would like to take a minute and make sure my question of helping was not confusing or written in a way different then I had intended.

Joe's story is a very powerful one, that could ultimately help an endless number of people.

This is your mission, If you choose to accept it.

Help me to get Joe's story written and published in the Alcoholics Anonymous "Big Book".

I do understand this will be a huge feat and most likely will never happen. I also know "NOTHING VENTURED NOTHING GAINED"
I "CAN" has gotten me further in life then I can't....

I just thought with your great writing abilities, you could help us with the flow, punctuation, and influences of a younger mind. Plus using your great detective work, to help keep us on the right track! (Using them there skills for the good!!!!)

I do understand if this is far fetched and asking way to much, but I just wanted to be clear on what I was after.

When I wrote before, I was very much in a hurry and you had already been on my mind as one of the players I was going to ask about lending a hand. I can get a little ahead of the "Horse on the Cart" from time to time. I hope
This has been of some help....

To anyone else that would like to lend a hand or that has working knowledge of this. Feel free to PM me or state any guidance here if you would like.

Thank you.
Hope you all have a great day!!!

Some quotes

The destiny of every alcoholic is to be locked up, covered up or sobered up.


Alcoholism: The three most dangerous words for an alcoholic-"I've been thinking"



Active alcoholism is like an elevator; you can get off at any floor.

Alcoholism: Your bottom just may be six feet under.


Acceptance: Life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you take it.

AA won't open the gates of heaven to let you in, but it will open the gates of hell to let you out.

It seems almost too simple to be true, but acceptance -- accepting things exactly as they are -- can be the key that unlocks the door to happiness.
After John 3:16, it may be one of the most quoted passages in literature. It's from Page 449 (first 3 editions, pg. 417 in the 4th edition) of Alcoholics Anonymous or The Big Book as it is widely known:

And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation -- some fact of my life -- unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.
Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.

For me, serenity began when I learned to distinguish between those things that I could change and those I could not. When I admitted that there were people, places, things, and situations over which I was totally powerless, those things began to lose their power over me. I learned that everyone has the right to make their own mistakes, and learn from them, without my interference, judgement, or assistance!
The key to my serenity is acceptance. But "acceptance" does not mean that I have to like it, condone it, or even ignore it. What it does mean is I am powerless to do anything about it... and I have to accept that fact.

Nor does it mean that I have to accept "unacceptable behavoir." Today I have choices. I no longer have to accept abuse in any form. I can choose to walk away, even if it means stepping out into the unknown. I no longer have to fear "change" or the unknown. I can merely accept it as part of the journey.

I spent years trying to change things in my life over which I was powerless, but did not know it. I threatened, scolded, manipulated, coerced, pleaded, begged, pouted, bribed and generally tried everything I could to make the situation better -- only watch as things always got progressively worse.

I spent so much time trying to change the things I could not change, it never once occurred to me to simply accept them as they were.

Now when things in my life are not going the way I planned them, or downright bad things happen, I can remind myself that whatever is going on is not happening by accident. There's a reason for it and it is not always meant for me to know what that reason is.

That change in attitude has been the key to happiness for me. I know I am not the only who has found that serenity.

Well as I walked out of my A.A. Meeting this morning. I was very fortunate to be of service.

I was called over to a man sitting on a bench slumped over and in obvious bad shape from a hard three days of drinking.

He is homeless, jobless, family has told him not to come back. In his moment of desperation, he got himself to the doors of a meeting.

Well I got him, his bike, and a backpack loaded in my truck. We are now sitting at the psych center, hoping they have room for him and the help he is going to need to get him threw his detoxing.

Wish us luck and prayers are welcomed!

Ahh they just came out and are taking him!!! Toot Toot!! Love good deeds!

i had to remind myself at work today that i don't drink anymore. the thing i was really looking forward to doing after work was coming onto this thread and saying that. thanks for being here for us yemx! i'll pop open an iced tea for ya bud!!

What's the BEST quote you've ever found YEM?

=Mi£f=Pie of Jerry wrote: What's the BEST quote you've ever found YEM?

theturkeyman wrote: i had to remind myself at work today that i don't drink anymore. the thing i was really looking forward to doing after work was coming onto this thread and saying that. thanks for being here for us yemx! i'll pop open an iced tea for ya bud!!

I tell yah what!

That one right there, really hit me right in the chest!

(Hands are shaking just trying to write this... Kind if caught me if guard there... THANK YOU!)

=Mi£f=Pie of Jerry wrote: What's the BEST quote you've ever found YEM?

I'm not Yemmy, obviously..

But I heard a very good quote just this morning, got me thinking for sure:

You can't have old habits if you never quit them..

Old habits die hard, ... if you don't kick 'em, they kick you...

Good weekend all, Birdie

Jerry,

Your last question has been a very thought povolking one for me... I posted a pretty good responce to it... However...?

I took so long to write it (forgot to copy and save it) when I hit post I got the old "kick" and lost it all. So For now here is the daily reflection from my meeting this morning.





Also....

The guy that I helped 23 LONG DAYS ago. Was there and WOW what a difference sobriety, has made in his life! Such an amazing thing to watch, the "MIRACLE" of someone getting there life back on track, and a "BLESSING" to have actually have had a small part in it!

Well this has been a real tough one! I have so many quote's, that I like it is very hard to narrow down, so I will drop just a few. I do however, really like anything that involves doing the next right thing, being a person with CODE, HONOR, and giving any situation 110%





Gunnery Sergeant Hartman:

Today… is Christmas! There will be a magic show at zero-nine-thirty! Chaplain Charlie will tell you about how the free world will conquer Communism with the aid of God and a few Marines! God has a hard-on for Marines because we kill everything we see! He plays His games, we play ours! To show our appreciation for so much power, we keep heaven packed with fresh souls! God was here before the Marine Corps! So you can give your heart to Jesus, but your ass belongs to the Corps! Do you ladies understand?

- Full Metal Jacket



James Allen
(1864-1912)
An unrewarded genius

"The thoughtless, the ignorant, and indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of law, of fortune, and chance. Seeing a man grow rich, they say, "How lucky is!" Observing another become intellectual they exclaim, "How highly favored he is!" And noting the saintly character and wide influence of another, they remark, "How chance aids him at every turn!" They don't see the trials and failures and the struggles which these men have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience; have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith they have exercised, that they might overcome the apparently insurmountable, and realize the vision of their heart. They do not know the darkness and the heart aches; they only see the light and the Joy, and they call it "luck"; do not see the longing arduous journey, but only behold the pleasant goal, and call it "good fortune"; do not understand the process, but only perceive the result, and call it "chance".

"The circumstances which a man encounters with suffering are the result of his own mental inharmony".

"Circumstance does not make the man, it reveals him to himself."

"Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err."

"Cherish your visions. Cherish your ideals. Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment, of these, if you but remain true to them your world will at last be built."

"Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves, they therefore remain bound."

There was an alcoholic walking along and he fell into a very deep hole.

He saw a preacher coming along and asked him for help. The preacher wrote out a prayer and threw it down to him.

He then saw a Doctor coming along and asked him for help. The doctor wrote out a perception and threw it down to him.

He then saw a recovering alcoholic and asked him for help.

So the recovering alcoholic jumped down in with him.

The man asked "why in the world would you do that"?

The recovering alcoholic said "I have been here before and I know a way out".

I'm 22 now. Not much drinker. Started to smoke weed ar the age of 18. To be exact on my birthday night. 05 Dec 2010.
From that point I was used to smoke once or twice a week,that too in saturdays or sundays. Everything was fun. I completed my diploma in 2011. Then I went for getting a degree. I had a 4 friends from diploma college along with me to join for degree in another college. We started to enjoy our college days,just like all. Party,booze,weed. Mostly weed or completely weed. Started a day with a roll and ended with same. Bad name in college. Debates with friends who were trying to correct us and quarrelling with them "weed is all good,unlike other drugs it is from nature". We were 5 friends including me staying in a room. We were together all the time for everything. I still remember that date,things changed.
28 Feb 2014,Evening.
One of my room mate,Rahul,met with an accident. His motorcycle crashed into a truck on his way back from college. Not much guys were around college that day. Me and one of my roommate took him to the hospital. He was unconscious. I don't want to explain how bad the real physical condition was. He was in ventilator for 8 days. He didn't regain his consciousness even once in after the accident.
He left us on 08 March 2014 evening.
All the doctor said was "he is the most unlucky man I have ever seen in my entire career. He don't have any organ failures everything was as such,even though there are a few major fractures. Long term continuous use of Weed,result-blood is not clotting any more." We ,rest 4 friends along with him was in hospital in his last days. We slept in the hospital corridors waiting for him to wake up.Cried,prayed. Nothing helped. After he left us,none of us touched that stuff again. During the next month,as I had nothing much to do, I came across DF & this forum. U all helped me to take some time away from real life issues back then.. Thnq all.
Still Love u my dear friend & miss u. You are always in my memories.
Your best friend,
Adarsh.

wow adarsh, that is one heavy story. thanks for sharing. i am glad you found dogfight. i'm glad i found it too lol. good to have you around bud.

G'day all,
This post needs to be bumped up...
I stumbled across this post wondering what is this A.A & N.A about........
To be honest, I don't often like reading as u can c from my writing skills.....
But as I read through your stories......
It Really, Really touched my Heart....
I want to say a BIG THANK YOU! All of you for Speaking Out, Reaching Out and Touching Someone......
THANK YOU!....

Mac....In reality, I used to have lots of friends and only a few close ones....
Now I don't have much friends but for sure the ones I have r my best ones...( My Wife and my children )

My father used to work as head chef for big restaurants.....
He then went and opened up a lil Take-Away, only to Fail....
Returned back working for somebody else, before he tried again.....
This time he finally succeeded... Opened up a lil restaurant.....For 20 years that lil shop thrived, lines out side the door u would not believe.... Till eventually he did not have the drive to carry on...... He then sold it to my uncle.... And the shops still there...
The morel of the story is never be scared to fail and if it fails try again... Eventually u will succeed...
The strange thing was...another uncle went the same way kinda...
Worked, failed, failed, bankruptcy, started own business.....Now owns a 2 million dollar home....

Sry getting tired now...
One more time...
thank you for this post.....it needs another bump up for ppl to read...there is help...