Feb 2016
Welcome to the February edition of the Alanoclubs.com monthly newsletter.
Perspective. Where the same moment can be experienced in so many different ways depending on how you look at it. What someone may call a loss, someone else may call a win and we can see this in our daily struggle with alcohol. It is personal perspective that allows us to recognize our own victories, however big or small. The perspective we’ve gained from experience also allows us to forgive ourselves for our mistakes. We know when slipping up is not the end of the world (and, conversely, when it is) because we have plummeted to the depths of our own rock bottom and we can see how high we’ve climbed since then. Perspective is the attitude. Perspective influences how we look at things. A change in perspective can shift how we look at things so we don’t let the negative build itself up. It’s not quite as simple as looking for silver lining in every cloud, but that’s a good place to start. Go for the Attitude of Gratitude. When I find myself feeling down, I try to keep in mind others who are in worse situations and able to keep on keeping on. With the perspective this gives me, I am better able to deal. Shifting your perspective, much like attitude adjustment, is a gradual process, but well worth it in the end. Enjoy the beginnings of Spring wherever you are, Alanoclubs.com readers, and remember to take it one day at a time.
The Laughter and Learning Corner
A boy is watching television and hears the name Jesus Christ. Wondering who Jesus Christ is, he asks his mother. She tells him that she is busy, and to ask his father. His father is also busy so he asks his brother. His brother kicks him out of the room because he doesn’t have time to answer his stupid questions, so he goes downtown and sees a bum in an alley.
He asks the bum, “Who’s Jesus Christ?”
The bum replies, “Well, I am.”
The boy, not believing the bum, asks for proof. So the bum takes the boy into the bar down the street and takes him inside. They walk up to the bar and the bartender exclaims, “Jesus Christ, are you in here again?”
Did You Know: Origin of the idea that the newcomer is the most important person in the meeting.
The statement is not quoted from the Big Book, but it’s a fundamental principle of our fellowship and our program of recovery (Tradition 5 & Step 12) and it’s implied in the basic text of the Big Book.
In speaking of the purpose of meetings on page 160 the Big Book says “Aside from fellowship and sociability, the prime object was to provide a time and place where new people might bring their problems.”
If the primary purpose of holding a meeting is to give newcomers a place to find help, it follows that the newcomer is the primary reason for others to attend a meeting; the newcomer is the one who needs to understand the problem and our solution for “real” alcoholics (p.21) who want to stop drinking (p. 24-29).
