The big words here are IF, WE and THIS. If ( If I don't do it, it won't get done thus no result ) WE ( not alone and isolated as before, but willing to connect with others in recovery groups ) are painstaking ( Painstaking: expending or showing diligent care and effort ) about this phase ( That would mean today!... Like right now) of our development. ( Our walk in recovery )

* You need to realize God helps those who help themselves. IF you are not willing to do these things.. then your not! IF that is your situation then you may as well  stop here, because with your unwillingness none of the promises will be realized.

Key words here are WE, AMAZED, HALF WAY / Your realization of these will come in a very real profound personal way... yet to achieve them we must stay connected. To go back to that isolated life style as before ( back to your old thinking ) or to go back to being connected to a group of other active addicts or alcoholics is to fail completely. The half way through thing seems to be a few words of hope and encouragement. Believe us when we say that good things will start to happen to you immediately. You may not be able to see it at first, but if you STAY with us they will always materialize!

The word new here is key because although we may remember our time before addiction, most of us graduated while in addiction to a new place in our lives ie childhood, young adulthood, adult, elder. These periods represent a NEW and different dynamic in our lives. Having crossed a new maturity threshold since we started using, we are indeed at a completly new time in our lives. Gaining sobriety in this new era presents us with a brand new experience even when discounting all the wonderrful "NEW's" in sobriety.

Believe it or not... your greatest asset will turn out to be your brokenness.

It's like the 180 thing,... so many paradoxes in recovery. You will understand this over time if you stay with us. Another thing they all said to us is... "If you forget your past your doomed to repeat it" ... this is true. It's not all about the shame and guilt of the past. As my sponsor told me I did'nt know that I did'nt know... simply errors in thinking cause by intoxication. Ask our God for forgiveness and put your faith in Him. You won't do those crazy things anymore if you stay sober because it really was not even you doing them. The truth is... it was all those spirits you kept pouring down your throat that brought on Mr. Hyde!

Comprehend: to understand the nature or meaning of.

Simply put, to get it, you have to have it, and you get to have it by staying sober. If you do not drink or drug and work the steps you will become serene, we all do and you will to. As my good friend Georgie use to put it " Time takes time"  or " Be patient or you may become one" Relax its on the way.

This program and the gifts we receive will not work on your clock... now it's God's time. Remember they ( the promises ) will always materialize, if we work for them. I can tell you this, the first time you comprehend serenity it's really cool. Don't worry when it leaves ( and it will quickly ), it will come back.  Eventually if you stay with us, you will live in a serene mind most of the time...YES you will.

The further down the scale we fall, the more experience we have to offer to others on what not to do. You must remember in recovery, it's not really that we all know WHAT to do ... it's more like... we damn sure know WHAT NOT to do!

This is a program filled with people who did not know what was wrong with them. To understand that which we did not understand before... we attend meetings to hear and see what happens to people who don't attend meetings who have what we have.

People who will not allow a loving community into their lives, who won't surrender to a loving God and won't attend group will never learn because we learn from each other. If you are still afraid to connect ( attend recovery groups ) then you will remain locked away in fear, isolation and eventually you will drink or drug again.

The other evening i was listening to some newcomers and a woman spoke up and said "she missed her meeting last week" I can tell you she will not be happy joyous and free for long. Please don't do this attend group daily and share your experience strength and hope . WE NEED YOU!

It was all brought on by the addiction! The drugs, the alcohol made us feel that way. Up all night, drunk all day how were any of us to do anything worthwhile. The time we were not on it we were off it. I am not sure which was worse.. how about you? Could we every amount to anything when every day was halloween. Always pretending to be what we were not. Living the lie.

This part is pretty amazing!

If we stay sincere in recovery, work the steps and attend regular meetings you will recieve the gift we all do... the 180. Belive it or not, you are going to change, even if only a little at a time . One of the changes we all go through is that we change from a "taker" which we all are when we come in the door into a "giver".

This wonderful work will occur over time... sometimes quickly sometimes slowly, but it will always materilize if we work for it. Work for it means that you must accomplish all the steps.

Remember these are the promises we are talking about here. They only come about as a result of working the steps. No steps, no promises.

I like the way they put this... "slip away"  This is the way many of our character defects will go if we stay with it. They will slip away.

What we have found over time in long term recovery is that we really were not the people we though we were. We realize now that for as many years as we used and used alcohol, we were indeed possessed by that spirit. The spirit of too much for ME!

Sound too wild for you?

Answer this question... honestly.

Since you have stopped drinking and drugging have you done any of those crazy things you did before.. under the influence?

We rest our case.

We all thought we had so many problems, until we stopped drinking.. then they all vanished.

This is pretty simple. As we become givers instead of takers, everything changes. We begin to understand because we maintain sobriety thus clarity of mind. The ship rights itself with God's Grace! However, most of us had not been in those waters before in our right minds, so it makes the whole thing even more of a wonderful strange adventure. As we mentioned before, most of us had changed quite a bit since we started our addictions... gotten older, gotten married, changed jobs, had kids. Coming to... can be a bit weird for some of us. Sometimes it can be sort of a vertigo sensation over time of how did I get here? Don't worry, all is well, for now you are on God's time which is a much better place to be than on yours.

Our advice to you is to let this thing happen to you! God has given you that free will choice, but please, please think for just a minute what your options are. You can crawl back under that rock you came out from under, or you can let go absolutely to a loving God and enjoy this wonder-filled transformation to your true destiny here on earth...

... so what's it gonna be?

It says " Fear Of ".

We still may not have economic security and I doubt if we will always want to be surrounded by others, but that fear will leave us as promised. Those "world sucess models" that we had beaten into our brain by others and world media, will fade away as we allow our creator rule over our lives. Believe us when we say this...  world models are not all they are cracked up to be.

Who we will become over time in recovery is who we really are and for most of us we have never even been there yet! ( beyond our wildest dreams ) If we work the steps and stay, we will become givers over time. Only takers really need fear others. As far as the money goes the same thing holds true. Most of us have discovered we really did not need as much as we thought we did.

Much falls away in recovery as we become who we really are. We realize over time that money has little to do with happiness and that true happiness can only be found in our heart of hearts.... ie..God.

I guess the thing here is to remember who is running the show now! Many of us have found in recovery that everything does not have to happen right now... timing is everything. Who's clock are we on anyway? My sponsor explained to me that when I was was not really sure about what to do, that it might be a good idea to do nothing at all.... what a concept! I can tell you that has saved me many days of consternation.

Today many of us in long term recovery have learned to called out to our God for advice on all things. Why?

... because He really does have all the answers... the right answwers....so why not ask for help?

Revelation is precisely what happens in our world as we turn things over to the Lord. He reveals to us as we allow him control over our lives. Speaking for myself I don't push my agenda too much when i am doing anything, because I want, and now prefer, His way! This strange procedure or if you like " manner of living " is what has brought us all to this wonderful new place in out lives. A place where God is indeed doing for us what we could never have done!

AMEN. This new life... a wonder-filled mysterious adventure.... sure beats OUR old way!