I’m grateful for another really gorgeous morning. I’m grateful for the chance to qualify at a meeting today. I’m grateful for friends who pitch in. I’m grateful for my daughter’s birthday and grateful for all of the years since then. I’m grateful for a sunny outlook. I’m grateful to be sober today.
A quintessential NY story1:
I took this picture the other evening, I was headed somewhere in the neighborhood and just kind of liked the way the light looked through the trees. I stepped into the street, snapped this picture and headed back to a sidewalk. A woman smoking on her front stoop called out to me, repeatedly. I pulled out my airpods and gave her the universal “what can I do for you” look. She puffed on her cigarette and said, “The picture you were taking, is there something I need to know about?” My response probably seemed crazier, “Ummm, no, just liked the light.” “The What?” I put my airpods back in and continued to my destination. I believe I was listening to this2:
I very much hope you enjoyed the debut of And Now A Word From Your Sponsor:
And if not, you probably still need to read it. I’ve mentioned that I have a number of Big Books and when I started working with Tommy, I got a brand new one to use while we worked our way through the book. Like we discussed on the podcast, the methodology was pretty straightforward. I’d read a page or two and then Tommy would stop me, re-read most of what I had just read and tell me what was important and what to underline. When I compare the Big Books, the “BT” one3, there is a lot that jumps out at me, but what really strikes me is the level of doubt and skepticism in my marginalia in the BT Version. And also a kind of searching, I can see that I was trying to figure out how to apply this to my life and I just couldn’t seem to match things up.
I guess when I read the Big Book before, it was more because it was something you were supposed to do as part of getting sober. Tommy showed me the task was not fitting the proscriptions of the Big Book onto my messy life. It was to actually take up the life that Bill W. describes. I stopped looking for parallels and just started living the life outlined in the Book, as Bill wrote:
The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it.
Big Book, p. 83
The famous Big Book “Promises” that are outlined on pages 83-85 are not bestowed for stopping drinking, they are the consequence of living the spiritual life described in the Big Book:
We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities…If we have carefully followed directions, we have begun to sense the flow of His Spirit into us. To some extent we have become God-concious.
Big Book, p. 85
That’s what it took for this alcoholic to get sober and why I was so excited when Tommy volunteered/was roped into doing this. I’m also very excited about this:
You should be seeing a second installment this very afternoon, depending on subway schedules, the amount of coffee I consume and what kind of editing mood I’m in. Seriously, I’m so very excited and grateful to have all of the help I’ve had doing this!4 And of course, I’m really, really super grateful for all of you, too!
Lots going on, stay groovy and call Your Sponsor!
Thanks for Letting Me Share
This is not intended to be anything like the terrible Metropolitan Diary in the New York Times. Yes, I love living in New York, too, but not sure it makes me a better person. Wait a second…
This being a really excellent cover of Sly Stone’s, “If You Want Me to Stay.”
“Before-Tommy"
There is a clue in this picture that will unlock one of the secrets to my management style.
Love the tune and the clue. I think I got it!